The Gospel of Judas
Reading & sermon preached by Reverend Carolyn Patierno
March 9, 2008

Reading:  The Gospel of Judas

1:1-2
This is the hidden word of the pronouncement, containing the account about when Jesus spoke with Judas Iscariot for eight days before he observed Passover.

9:1-21
Judas said, “teacher, just as you listened to all of the, now listen to me also.  For I have seen a great vision.”

But when Jesus heard, he laughed.  He said to him, “Why are you getting all worked up, thirteenth god?  But you too speak and I will hold you up.”

Judas said to him, “I saw myself in a vision.  The twelve disciples were stoning me; they were persecuting me severely.  And I came also to the place after you.  I saw a house but my eyes were not able to measure its extent.  But some elders of great stature were surrounding it, and that house was roofed with greenery.  In the midst of the house was a crowd.  Teacher, let me be taken in with these people.”
           
Jesus replied.  He said, “Your star is leading you astray, Judas, since no mortal human offspring is worthy to enter the house that you saw.  For that is the place which is preserved for the holy ones, the place where neither the sun nor the moon will rule them nor the day, but they will stand firm for all time in the realm with the holy angels.  Behold, I have told you the mysteries of the kingdom and I have taught you about the error of the stars and … upon the twelve realms.” 

10:1-2
Jesus said, “Come and I will teach you about the things that no human will see.  For there exists a great realm and a boundlessness whose measure no angelic race has comprehended. 

15:14-16
“Behold, everything has been told to you.  Lift up your eyes and see the cloud and the light which is in it and the stars which surround it.  And the star that leads the way, that is your star.”

Then Judas lifted up his eyes.  He saw the luminous cloud and he entered into it. 

16:1-9
Then their chief priests murmured because Jesus entered into the guest room for his prayer.  And some scribes were there watching closely in order to catch him at prayer, for they were afraid of the people because he was held to be a prophet by them all.

And they approached Judas.  They said to him, “What are you doing in this place?  You are the disciple of Jesus.”

But as for him, he answered them according to their will.  Then Judas received some copper coins.  He handed him over to them.

Well, as it turns out, I bit off a bit more than I could chew on this one.  The Gospel of Judas a sermon series at least … even better, an adult learning session or two … or 10 as it raises a plethora of questions - really compelling questions having to do with the nature of God, the nature of worship, Jesus’ teachings, and Christian history.   So for today, we’ll only touch on one sliver of “why?”  Why is this Gospel important?  Why did it remain hidden in a cave for 1500 years? 

I remember first hearing about this discovery.  I was in my car, listening to National Public Radio and there was a story on the discovery.  What?  I was aghast.  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.  Judas is among the most maligned figures in human history and the villain is always the most intriguing character, right? 

Yet, I have a feeling that like me, many of you have wondered about Judas’ story.  Was he really as much of the villain as the Gospel stories make out?  Hey, I saw Jesus Christ Superstar and I’ve wondered ever since. Those of you familiar with this show, will remember the powerful musical number in which Judas cries out in agony, claiming that he did only what needed to be done in order to fulfill the prophesy.  And then he hangs himself. 

“What was that about?” my teenaged self wondered.   Only doing what the prophesy demanded?  Setting events in motion?  What?

As it turns out, Christians and plenty of others have wondered the same throughout time.  And with this Gospel we are given a bit of insight into another side of the story. 

Just a bit of background.  This gospel was written, like all the canon’s gospels, long after Jesus is believed to have lived.  The author is not literally Judas of Iscariot.  The author is unknown.  Like the materials discovered at Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945, this gospel is considered “Gnostic” meaning “knowledge” in this case, mystical knowledge, knowledge of God and the essential oneness of the self with God.  God as spirit and light within.  If that sounds New Age-y to you, you should know that the beginnings of Gnostic spirituality arc back to the mid second century.  Such spirituality made the early church leaders very nervous.  Nervous because the Christian church was in its early stages and as yet not clearly defined.  These church leaders, operating under the oppressive watch of the Romans, were determined to establish the universal church the cornerstones of which became: clergy, cannon, and creed. 

And this context is what I’ve chosen to concentrate on this morning.  In her novel, The Handmaiden’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses the phrase, “context is all” as a consistent refrain.   We would do well to remember this point as we consider Judas’ Gospel.

In their book, Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas & the Shaping of Christianity, authors Elaine Pagels & Karen L. King note the following:

[T]he Gospel of Judas, even in its fragmentary state, shows us far more than a glimpse into one particular dispute.  It also offers a window onto the complex world of the early Christian movement and shows us that what later historians depicted as an unbroken procession of a uniform faith was nothing of the kind.  The traditional history of Christianity is written almost solely from the viewpoint of the side that won, which was remarkably successful in silencing or distorting the other voices, destroying their writings, and suppressing any who disagreed with them as dangerous and obstinate “heretics.”    xvii
           
It will no longer be possible to tell the story of Christianity the same way.  Gospels we had never known now invite us to enter the extraordinarily dynamic world in which Christianity was shaped.  xxiii

So, again we are reminded that history is always written by the winners.  But here we have a remarkable opportunity to glimpse the tensions that shaped Christianity.  Like most history, it isn’t pretty like most history, there are many surprises.

We start with Iraneaus.   He was a church father of the second century when the arguments about the cannon – what stories would be included in the Bible – were at full tilt.  The claims to authorship were very much tied into the developing Christian identity, for these voices would determine the feel and foundation of the emerging faith tradition. 
There was much at stake not the least of which was who would be in charge.  Iraneaus himself became a bishop and as such held much authority.  He was the one who named the cornerstones I mentioned earlier as the chief focus:  clergy, cannon, and creed.  With others like him, he was determined that a uniformity of belief and worship was essential to ensure the survival of the tradition and its people.    As such, Iranequs vehemently denounced any writing that stood in opposition to these ideas.  

What ideas?  There were several.  Today we’ll concentrate on one:  the question of martyrdom.  

As you know, martyrdom plays a big part in the Christian story.  What you may not know is that there was a significant rift regarding its meaning.  There were those in Iraneus’ camp who glorified martyrdom calling the martyrs  “great heroic saints whose courage and faith testified to the truth with their tortured bodies.”  They believed that this sacrifice would bring the martyrs closer to God.

For those who objected to such reasoning, the questions they asked were these two:  What does such teaching say about God?  And how does it impel people to act?

For the Judas author, the disagreement came with the meaning the church fathers assigned to such an ultimate sacrifice.  He understood that these deaths were most certainly sacrificial in nature.  However, he parted ways from the church fathers who insisted that such a death ensures that God’s reward will be to raise each from the dead – literally, physically.  Both of these irked the Judas author – first the idea that the flesh was of equal or greater importance than the spirit and second in the implied nature of the “God” that was being worshipped. 

Say Pagels & King:

For Iranaeus, suffering and even death are meant to teach people about the greatness and goodness of God in granting eternal life to a sinful humanity.   But the author of the Gospel of Judas not only denies that God desires such sacrifice, he also suggests that the practical effect of such views is hideous:  It makes people complicit in murder.  By teaching that Jesus died in agony ‘for the sins of the world’ and encouraging his followers to die as he did, certain leaders send them on a path toward destruction – while encouraging them with the false promise that they will be resurrected from death to eternal life in the flesh.  pg. 74

In the gospel of Judas, Jesus explains to his favored one that this God is but a lower form of the true God – that the apostles are fooling themselves and in doing so, are leading others astray.  In this version, it is these 12 who are betraying Jesus in encouraging what only a vengeful God would demand.   Jesus spends quite a bit of time laughing at these twelve for their misguided ways. 

It is, indeed, quite a different story. 

Is the story of Christianity incomplete without these deliberately silenced perspectives?  Many scholars say, “Sure.”  But do they belong in the canon?  This question is different.  That so many stripes and colors of Christianity exist all using the same book for worship, learning, guidance and heritage, inspires a sense of unity, in theory at least.   Pagels & King offer the idea that these gospels belong where they themselves have placed them: within the annals of Christian history.  It allows us to understand both the context and outcome of the tensions of the early Christian communities and in doing so, hold a richer perspective.

Why do we need said richer perspective?  It’s important to be reminded that those who write history are typically “the winners.”  it is important to be reminded that as that is so today, so it was so in centuries gone by.   It’s important to access insight into context as, “context is all.”  The Judas author may sound strident and angry but he likely knew that he was not on the side of the powerful.  He had much to say and tried to do so in a way that would influence the path Christianity was taking.

In doing so, the author chooses one of the most compelling characters – Judas – and presents him not as the reviled one but rather as Jesus’ chosen one.  The one to whom Jesus confides the greatest mysteries.  The one upon whose actions the passion story will hinge. 

Isn’t that interesting?  ?  I shared with you that I was so excited to read this text when I first heard of its existence.  Whether or not one identifies as Christian doesn’t eliminate one’s curiosity after all.  But curiosity isn’t the whole of it. 

As we are heading into the Christian Holy Week, to hold this other side of the story is to nurture a new understanding.   This understanding may actually have less to do with Jesus’ last week and ultimate death but it more to do with the communities that rose up a century later, and tried, each in their own way, to preserve what Jesus had begun.  In the 21st century, we can disagree with their methods and even with their faith stances.  But we can empathize with their all too human attempts at survival. 

We hold this history in our minds as we hold Unitarian Universalism’s heritage close.  May it illuminate this holy seasons in ways unexpected and enriching.

May it be so. 

TOP