i again want the forum to be in Silence for a few days

[Guest guest]

Dear Violet and All,

 

Namaste! i bow to the Spirit that resides in you!

 

i am stunned by " The Mysteries of the Kingdom " . What a masterpiece of

sheer enlightenment! You are truly an angel Violet for giving us

Jesus' supreme knowledge of the soul, the Father, Mother and the

Spirit World. i am so comforted, empowered and assured by all that

Jesus reveals to mortals like us.

 

Without question the Saviour has now fulfilled the final promise -

that He will send the Comforter in the name of His Father, the

incarnation of the Holy Spirit who " will recall to their minds Jesus'

teachings, will enable them to understand truly and completely, and

will develop and expand them into new and wonderful truths. "

 

But we have to thoroughly comprehend " The Mysteries of the Kingdom "

first in order to realize better Shri Mataji's message and vision of

salvation and the Kingdom of God. Thus i would like the forum to be

in Silence for a few days again so that we can contemplate its sheer

depth. This is such an awesome post and i am so grateful to Violet.

Thank you, my blessed sister!

 

regards to all,

 

jagbir

 

Note: i had just sent this email to the moderators:

 

" Thanks for the email. i am backlogged but will complete all the GSM

posts sooner or later. Hope you do not mind the delay because the

Jesus activity needs to be addressed right away. This is an extremely

important topic that is crucial to the future success of Sahaja Yoga.

i really hope you can see the vast vision of Jesus and the Comforter

in overcoming all the corrupted religions and their entrenched

rituals/worship/mantras/visualizations etc., etc., that snare seekers

and lead them away from Self-realization. Their solution is simple -

Silence/Prayer/Worship of the Self/God/Holy Spirit/Adi Shakti/Brahman

within. That is the only way humans can truly worship God Almighty in

Spirit and Truth .......... and there is no dogma, theology, rituals,

mantras, visualizations etc., etc to argue and fight about. Other

than that, there is no hope to spread Shri Mataji's Blossom Time as

religious folks will insist their religion is the best path. i

believe we can project the vision of Jesus and Shri Mataji to all,

including SYs. " (end)

 

When the Comforter is recalling to our minds Jesus' teachings, and

enabling us to understand them truly and completely, and have

developed and expanded them into new and wonderful truths, why must

we stoop, grovel and beg the ignorant and arrogant to give up all

their rituals, worship, mantras, visualizations, deities, treatments,

subtle system mindset, preachers, gurus, religious conditioning etc.?

Why waste time and energy on those who are blind and deaf to the

Blossom Time, unable to wake up even after feeling the Cool Breeze of

the Holy Spirit/Mother Kundalini? Why insult the Saviour by spreading

the worship of the SYSSR and its lemons-and-chillies mentality? Why

insult your own Self by indulging in the study of their 1001 catches

and cures? Why mingle with those who give self-realization to

bicycles, cats and dogs ..... all in the name of Sahaja Yoga? Why

join those against the declaration of the Blossom Time to all the

nations and peoples? Why let your own conscience and consciousness be

corrupted by all these rituals of such pettiness and ignorance? Most

important of all, why imperil your own soul from entering the Kingdom

of God?

 

So just follow the way Jesus Christ preached/announced the Truth

without patronizing, as He knew many will oppose/reject it! Other

than being absolutely assured that we will not be fed to the lions,

it is no different today as it was than 2000 years ago.

 

There is so much we can accomplish by just telling the Truth about

the Comforter's Blossom Time. For that we need more articles like

" The Mysteries of the Kingdom " ....... because we too are collectively

enriched, convinced and comforted that our faith is not blind!

 

--

 

" Lost for 1,600 years, the Gospel of Judas was discovered in Egypt in

the 1970s. Nearly thirty years later, when it reached scholars who

could unlock its meaning, it was clear this was a major discovery.

The Gospel of Judas alters our understanding of how early Christians

viewed Jesus' death, why Judas 'betrayed' Jesus, and why God allowed

it.

 

'Reading Judas' explores the meanings of the Gospel, unpacking its

startling claim that not only did Jesus 'ask' Judas to betray him,

but also Judas did not commit suicide; instead, he was killed by the

other disciples. Far from seeing Jesus' death as a sacrifice for

sins, this Gospel opposes Christian leaders who claimed that God

desired Jesus' death and the death of Christian martyrs.

Instead Jesus' teaching points toward a spiritual understanding of

our relation to God as freedom from the powers that rule the world.

 

Encompassing the serious questions of Christianity (Why do we suffer?

Can women be leaders? How did early Christians find meaning in Jesus'

death?), 'Reading Judas' throws open the world of the early

Christians and shows that there are many interpretations of the

Christian faith. It lets us see afresh this diversity of viewpoint

even within the New Testament itself. "

 

Reading Judas - The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity,

Paper-back Cover

Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King

Penguin Group – London, England

ISBN 978-0-713-99984-6

 

 

 

The Mysteries of the Kingdom – Chapter Four

 

P.77) " The 'Gospel of Judas' does not stop with condemning erroneous

views about God and sacrifice, or practices of eucharist and baptism.

On the contrary, such criticism of mistaken church leaders marks only

its beginning. From this point, this gospel goes on to show " divine

mysteries " revealed only to Judas – about God, about Jesus and the

divine source whence he comes, and about how he – and the disciple

who follows him – may enter that spiritual reality.

 

Jesus teaches Judas that at death, the bodies of all human beings

will perish – there is no resurrection of the flesh. Only the souls

of the great and holy race will be lifted up when their spirits

separate from them (Judas 8:3-4). At the beginning Judas does not

really understand, for when he has a dream, Jesus laughs at him, a

clear indication that Judas has made some error. But rather than

dismissing Judas, Jesus promises to support him. He encourages Judas

to speak about his distress when he dreamed that " the twelve "

disciples were stoning and persecuting him. But Judas also had a

vision of the heavenly Temple – a glorious vision of a great house

filled with brilliant light, and, high above, dense green foliage

(Judas 9:9-12). (P.78) People would immediately recognize this as the

infinite light in which God dwells – the house of God. That, of

course, is what Jews called the Jerusalem Temple; but what Judas

sees - in stark contrast to " the twelve's " dream about bloody

sacrifice in the earthly Temple – is the spiritual reality beyond

this world, the divine reality that Israel's prophets often described

simply as " light " , the glory of God's presence, at which humanly

built " houses of God " , from the Jerusalem Temple to the cathedral at

Chartres, can only hint.

 

But when Judas asks to go there and join the distinguished elders who

surround the divine presence, Jesus rebukes him: " Your star is

leading you astray, Judas " (Judas 9:15). This shows that although

only Judas, of " the twelve, " caught a glimpse of what Jesus meant

when he began to speak to them about the mysteries that are beyond

the world – for Judas alone perceived that Jesus came from the

immortal realm above (Judas 2:22-23) – he still has not fully

understood what Jesus is trying to tell him. No mortal is worthy to

go there, Jesus insists, because that place is reserved for the holy

ones – that is, for people who are no longer subject to the sun and

moon and the other angels who rule over the realm of chaos. So even

though Jesus has already told Judas that he is able to reach the

immortal realm (Judas 2:27), the disciple still doesn't understand

fully Jesus' most central teaching – that for human beings to gain

eternal life, they have to perceive the deeper vision of God that

emerges from within. That is why Jesus began by challenging the

disciples " to bring forth the perfect human. " (P.79) Those who do so

discover that they have within them spiritual resources of which they

were unaware.

 

For in the process of bringing forth the perfect human, one becomes

aware of the deeper meaning of the 'Genesis' account, which tells how

God created humankind:

 

Then God said, " Let us make humankind in our image, according to our

likeness... " So God created humankind in his image, in the image of

God he created them; male and female he created them " (Genesis 1:26-

27).

 

If human beings are created in the image of the divine, why is this

image so hard to perceive and why does it take such courage to

discover? Here Jesus goes on to explain that creation " in the image "

refers to our original, spiritual nature, hidden deep within what we

seem to be as ordinary men and women. It is that original quality of

human being that was created in the image of a spiritual being called

Adamas, who dwells in the light, where the true God dwells, hidden

even from the angels (Judas 11:1-2). The human Eve, too, is created

after the image of the heavenly race – because, like Adamas, Eve is

also a heavenly being – and it is she who most deeply represents

humanity's spiritual nature. For within the luminous cloud of light

where Adamas dwells on high there also dwelt Eve. In Greek her name

( " Zoe " ) means " Life, " drawing on the wordplay found in Hebrew, in

which " Eve " means " life, " as the 'Genesis' account shows: " The man

called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living "

(Genesis 3:20). (P.80) Here Jesus teaches that " the whole race " of

humans should seek eternal life 'in her name' (Judas 13:2-4). What

this means for human beings now is that those who come to recognize

their true nature are children of these 'spiritual' parents – not

children like Cain and Abel, enmeshed in the story of the first

murder, but children who resemble the lesser-known one, Seth, whom

'Genesis' says Eve bore to Adam as their third son:

 

When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God ...

When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of

a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth

(Genesis 5:1,3)

 

All humanity, then, belongs to " the incorruptible race of Seth "

(Judas 11:5), since everyone is a child of Adam and Eve, created

according to the likeness and the image of God.

 

Why, then, does Jesus speak of 'two' kinds of human races? Why is it

that not everyone automatically understands the spiritual nature? To

help Judas understand, Jesus tells him that Saklas was the one who

decreed that human beings should only live for a short time and then

perish. People have been led astray and polluted with the foolish

" wisdom " of the world (Judas 8:7), because the rulers of chaos and

oblivion " lord it over them. " They've come to believe that this life

of the flesh, our present life in this world, is all that really

exists. (P.81) When they try to imagine eternal life, they imagine it

only as living on forever in the flesh, just as Justin, Irenaeus, and

Tertullian say. But Jesus insists they are wrong. Although he 'Gospel

of Judas', like the New Testament gospels, says that Jesus' teaching

offers a path to eternal life, the key to that path is not what

happens to the physical body; it is understanding humanity's

spiritual connection to God. Those who understand the deeper secrets

of creation, aware that they are created " in the image " of the divine

source, may come to dwell above in the realm of the Spirit.

 

Jesus explains to Judas that God did not abandon humanity to the

lower angels but made sure that Adam and those with him learned that

the image of God they carry deep within makes them superior to the

rulers of chaos (Judas 13:16-17). Judas is astonished when he hears

this. At first he can't believe it is true, but gradually he comes to

understand what it means. Jesus explains that because everyone

received a divine spirit, everyone can worship God truly. Those who do

so free themselves from the power of the lower angels, so that when

their physical bodies die, their souls – now joined with spirits of

the great and holy race above – ascend to the heavenly realm above

(Judas 8:2-4; 9:22; 13:12-15). Judas finally understands Jesus'

teaching, so that this time he does not turn his eyes away, but he

lifts up his eyes so that he sees the cloud of light, and he enters

into it (Judas 15:15-19).

 

Yet the 'Gospel of Judas', like the New Testament gospels, shows that

Jesus' teaching is not limited to words; he also teaches through what

he does. (P.82) What he reveals is not complete when he finishes

speaking – but only when he dies. His death demonstrates that the

death of the body is not the end of life, but only a step into the

infinite.

 

But does the 'Gospel of Judas' then, teach resurrection – a term it

never mentions? The answer depends on what 'resurrection' is taken to

mean. For here, as in the case of the crucifixion, Judas's author

plunged into controversial discussions that engaged believers of his

time, a question that still troubles many today: What appened 'after'

Jesus died?

 

That Jesus " rose from the grave " to new life is a fundamental theme

of Christian teaching; certainly it is the most radical. For even

though most people believed in eternal life, the insistence of

certain Christians like Irenaeus that their bodies would be buried,

decompose – and yet rise again at the appointed time – was met not

only with disbelief but with horror. [1] Christians themselves were

unclear about what kind of body this resurrected body would be. When

Paul wrote about the resurrection, although his words are often

mistaken as arguing for physical resurrection, he himself clearly

says the opposite: " What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this:

flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the

perishable inherit the imperishable " (1 Corinthians 15:50). Without

claiming to understand exactly what happens, Paul acknowledges that

resurrection is a mystery, in which, he says, " we will all be

changed " from physical to spiritual existence (1 Corinthians

15:51:53). (P.83) Accounts in other New Testament writings give

different accounts of Jesus' resurrection, since what mattered most

to these writers was their conviction that Jesus was somehow still

alive, and not to specify any particular way this may have happened.

Thus the gospels include a wide range of stories about people who

claimed to have seen Jesus alive after he died. Some suggest that

they saw him in a vision. When, for example, Stephen is being stoned,

he gazes into heaven and sees Jesus at the right hand of God (Acts

7:55-56). Others are ambiguous. For example, the disciples on the

road to Emmaus didn't recognize Jesus for hours, and when they did

he " vanished, " leaving them with the conviction that somehow –

spiritually – he was still alive (Luke 24:13-31). In the 'Gospel of

John', Mary of Magdala is the first to encounter the risen Lord, but

she initially mistakes him for the gardener; the disciples out

fishing don't at first recognize him either (John 20:15; 21:4). How

could such intimates not recognize him? Yet others claimed not only

that they had seen him but that they had touched and felt his body,

raised out of the grave back to life. Those who told such stories

insisted that his resurrection was an actual physical event. The

'Gospel of 'Matthew', for example, says that the disciples take

hold of Jesus' feet (Matthew 28:9). One story in the 'Gospel of Luke'

tells that when the disciples saw Jesus, they were astonished and

terrified, naturally assuming that they were seeing a spirit. But,

they said, Jesus challenged them: " Touch me and see; for a ghost does

not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. " Since they still

did not believe he was physically present, he asked for something to

eat, and as they watched in amazement, he ate a piece of broiled

fish. (P.84) The point is clear: No spirit could do that (Luke 24:37-

43). But even in these cases, it is an unusual physicality, for Jesus

seemingly walks through solid walls and locked doors and asks not to

be touched (John 20:17-19).

 

Concerned to show that Jesus was somehow alive, as we have seen, the

gospel writers included the various reports they had heard, without

creating a single coherent narrative. But the stories they told

raised questions among readers who asked what 'resurrection' actually

meant. From the late first century through the second, as Christians

discussed this question, certain leaders insisted on one single

version, declaring that Christians " must " believe that Jesus rose

bodily from the dead – what they called " the resurrection of the

flesh. " [2]

 

Christians who deny this, Ignatius wrote, make Jesus' death into a

sham. " It's really 'they' who are a sham! " he exclaimed. Jesus was

really crucified and died, and was really raised from the dead –

otherwise, he insists, I would be dying to no purpose (Ignatius

Trallians 9-10). His own sacrificial death, like Jesus' death on the

cross, is no spiritual metaphor but the reality of painful torture

and dying. For those facing the possibility of martyrdom, views like

those in the 'Gospel of Judas' or the 'Apocalypse of Peter' made no

sense of their suffering – or Jesus' death. It clearly offended their

sense of justice. Irenaeus insists that since suffering occurs in the

body, the righteous should be rewarded in the body. Otherwise why

does God allow his beloved children to suffer so? [3]

 

(P. 85) It is this kind of thinking that the author of the

'Apocalypse of Peter' challenges. If God will grant us mercy only if

we suffer, what kind of God is this? Such leaders are wrong, he

claims, to teach " the little ones " that " good and evil are from one

source " – the one God ('Apocalypse of Peter' 77:30-32). Instead he

insists that Jesus came to free people from slavery and suffering,

and to forgive the sins they had committed in error ('Apocalypse of

Peter' 78:8-15).

 

What meaning, then, does Jesus' death have? Jesus shows Peter that he

should not fear death, because what dies is only the mortal body, not

the living spirit. To show him this, Peter is given a vision of

Jesus' passion to prepare him to face his own suffering and death.

The Savior reveals to Peter that if he perceives the crucifixion not

with his physical ears and eyes but with spiritual apprehension, he

will be able to perceive the truth. The one into whose hands and feet

they drive the nails is only the fleshly part; the living Jesus is

untouched by this suffering and death ('Apocalypse of Peter' 81:4-

24). [4] Peter expresses astonishment, for in a kind of double

vision, he seems to see one person being seized and nailed to the

cross while another, joyful and laughing, stands nearby. When Peter

asks Jesus what this means, Jesus explains that when the body suffers

mortal agony, it releases " the Spirit filled with radiant light "

(83:9-10). Human beings are not saved by dying as martyrs but only by

accepting God's forgiveness and standing fast against those who teach

error and violence.

 

(P.86) Why do other Christians not see this? The author of the 'Gospel

of Judas' suggests that it is because they believe in the resurrection

of the flesh. Yet Christians like this author, while rejecting the

idea of bodily resurrection, do not reject life after death. On the

contrary, they suggest other ways of envisioning what that life might

be. The 'Gospel of Philip', for example, calls belief in resurrection

of the flesh the " faith of fools. " Resurrection, this gospel claims,

far from being a single historical event in the past, refers instead

to the way that Christ's presence can be experienced here and now.

Thus, those who are " born again " in baptism, symbolically speaking,

also are " raised from the dead " when they awaken to spiritual life.

Another anonymous Christian teacher, asked by a student named

Rheginos to explain resurrection, wrote in reply an interpretation of

what Paul had taught. Although resurrection does not involve the

physical body, the teacher tells Rheginos, it is indeed a reality:

 

....do not think the resurrection is an illusion. It is no illusion,

but it is the truth! Indeed, it is more fitting to say the world is

an illusion, rather than the resurrection, which has come into being

through our Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ ('Treatise on the

Resurrection' 48:10-19).

 

Struggling to speak, as Paul had, of " mystery, " this teacher suggests

that resurrection is " the revelation of what is, and the

transformation of things, and a transition into newness. " (P.87) Yet

descriptions like these, he acknowledges, are only " the symbols and

the images of resurrection " ; Christ alone, he says, brings us into

its reality ('Treatise on the Resurrection' 48:30-49:9).

 

We noted before that the 'Testimony of Truth' deplores Christians

foolish enough to believe that if they die as martyrs, they are

guaranteed salvation, thinking, the author says, that " (i)f we

deliver ourselves over to death for the sake of (Christ's) name we

will be saved. " But while imagining, as Justin did, that they

would be resurrected and rewarded as Jesus had been, the author of

the 'Gospel of Judas' insists that they are only precipitating

themselves into violent death.

 

Yet the second-century Christians who wrote such " revelations "

recognised that they, too, were living at a time when Christians were

often killed for their faith. Even those who refused to glorify

martyrdom, or even admit it is " God's will " , recognized that they

also lived under constant threat of arrest, torture, and execution at

the hands of Roman magistrates. Those who put aside the idea that

Jesus died as a necessary sacrifice for sin or that martyrs will

be resurrected were still left, after all, with questions these

teachings were meant to solve: How can one deal with suffering? What

kind of meaning can be found – if any – in Jesus' suffering and death,

or that of anyone else, including our own? Two writings found in the

Tchacos Codex [5] – the same ancient book that contains the 'Gospel

of Judas' – offer clear answers. Both the 'First Apocalypse of James'

and the 'Letter of Peter to Philip' imagine scenes in which various

apostles face imminent – and violent – death. (P.88) Jesus gives

them " revelations " about his own suffering and death that explain why

they, too, must suffer and die.

 

The author of the 'First Apocalypse of James', for example, writes

about Jesus speaking with James, telling him that just as he himself

will be captured and killed, so will James be stoned. The story

reports that James " was afraid, and wept; and he was very distressed. "

As he and Jesus sit down together upon a rock, Jesus proceeds to tell

him what to do, and how to face the powers that threaten his life. As

in the 'Gospel of Judas', Jesus reveals to him that he comes from a

divine source, to which he will return. The Savior returns after

the resurrection and reassures James that " [n]ever have I suffered in

any way, nor have I been distressed. And this people has done me no

harm. " [6] Like in the 'Gospel of Judas', Jesus' death in the 'First

Apocalypse of James' is meant to free people from the power of the

lower-world rulers. Your death, Jesus tells James, will deliver you

from them. [7] He allows the crucifixion in order to expose the world

rulers, for when they try to seize him, he overpowers them – proving

that they are powerless as well as wicked. [8] When James learns that

death only means giving back " the weak flesh, " he wipes away his

tears and is comforted. Like Judas, James too must suffer and die,

but both learn from Jesus' example that death releases the fetters

that bind them to the unjust rulers.

 

Similarly, the 'Letter of Peter to Philip' tells how the disciples

gathered together on the Mount of Olives, where they prayed to

Jesus, " Son of life, Son of immortality, who is in the light, Son,

Christ of immortality, our Redeemer, give us power, for they seek to

kill us " ('Letter of Peter to Philip' 134:2-9). (P.89) Out of a great

light shining across the mountain the voice of Jesus tells them that

it is necessary for them to preach salvation to the world, but that

when they do, they will suffer, because the powers that rule the

world are against them. You " are fighting against the inner man, " he

tells them, but the Father " will help you as he has helped you by

sending me " – stressing that death is only that of the fleshly body,

not of the spirit. [9] They are comforted when he assures them that

they need not be afraid, because " I am with you forever. " In the end,

Peter acknowledges that the Lord Jesus " is the author of our life, "

and they all go out filled with power, in peace, to preach and heal.

For these Christians, the fact that Jesus had suffered and died meant

that he knew what they were facing – and promised to be with them.

 

All three of these works from the Tchacos Codex, including

the 'Gospel of Judas', stress that anyone who sets out on the

spiritual path and criticizes the ignorant and wicked powers that

rule the world will be persecuted and will suffer – as Jesus

repeatedly tells Judas. When Judas asks what good this will do

him, Jesus tells him that although people will curse him, in the end

he will rule over them all when he turns upward to the holy race

(Judas 9:26-30). The more Judas understands, the more he realizes

that he will be cursed and reviled in this world for doing what Jesus

orders him to do. Yet as the 'First Apocalypse of James' and

the 'Letter of Peter to Philip' show, Jesus' disciples are called to

teach and heal, and so stand against the powers of the world –

both those fallen angels in the heavens and the people who act like

them, killing Jesus and stoning Judas. [10] (P.90) Finally, although

the 'Gospel of Judas' does not encourage martyrdom, ironically – or

better, paradoxically – it portrays Judas himself as the first

martyr. This gospel reveals that when Judas hands Jesus over, he

seals his own fate. But he knows, too, that when the other disciples

stone him, they kill only his mortal self. His spirit-filled soul has

already found its home in the light world above. Although Christians

may suffer and die when they oppose the powers of evil, the hope

Christ brings will sustain them. These revelations offer courage and

comfort to anyone who anticipates suffering and death – and so to

everyone.

 

But how can such a gospel be 'good news' – since that is what " gospel "

means? The author of the 'Gospel of Judas' implies that everyone has

the power to surpass the angelic powers, because, as Jesus teaches

Judas, it is only people themselves who keep the spirit confined

within the flesh (Judas 13:14-15). By seeking the spirit within

themselves, they can overcome the rulers of chaos and oblivion, see

God, and enter the heavenly house of God above. And they can do this

even as they live in this world. Just as both Jesus and Judas enter

the luminous cloud while living on earth, so those who follow them

may lead the life of the spirit and know God here and now. The body

cannot confine the knowing spirit any more than can death, which is

but the final release to God. (P.91) Just as every life seems to end

in the tragedy of death, the 'Gospel of Judas' ends as Judas hands

Jesus over to the enemies who will kill him. As this gospel tells it,

Judas knows that doing so – even at Jesus' request – will lead the

other disciples to hate him and stone him to death. What makes

this " good news " , however, is what he has discovered through Jesus'

teaching and his death: that what dies is only his mortal self, and

that his soul, filled with the spirit, already recognizes its home in

God. In seeking a vision of God within, the 'Gospel of Judas' takes

its place alongside a wide variety of new discoveries from Egypt,

written to transmit what they thought Jesus actually taught. Some

took their initial inspiration from the 'Gospel of John'. The 'Secret

Revelation of John', for example, claims to reveal " mysteries " that

the Savior gave to " John, his disciple ... the brother of James, the

sons of Zebedee " ('Secret Revelation of John' II.1:2-3). [11] This

tells how John, grieving for Jesus, went to the Temple to worship.

But after a Pharisee mocked him for allowing Jesus to deceive him and

turn him away from the traditional Jewish teaching, John could not

bring himself to go inside. Instead, he turned away and walked into a

solitary place in the desert, tormented with grief and doubt.

Suddenly, John says, the earth shook and brilliant light blazed

around him. Terrified, John then saw Christ appear in the light,

changing forms, appearing first in the form of a child, then as an

old man. He heard him speak: " John, John, why are you doubting and

fearful? ... I am the one who dwells with you always. I am the

Father. I am the Mother. I am the Son " ('Secret Revelation of John'

II.9:11-12). (P.92) Just as in the 'Gospel of Judas', the Savior

comforts John by instructing him about the whole universe, the truth

of God, and the origin and salvation of humanity. As John's terror

subsided, he came to see that the spiritual life the Savior embodied –

and that he experienced within himself – lives; and with joyful relief John

realized that this is the " light that shone in the

darkness, " and that darkness cannot overcome (cf. John 1:5).

 

Another gospel that Irenaeus knew and denounced, the 'Gospel of

Truth', also began from reflection on what Paul and the 'Gospel of

John' had taught, that Jesus' death reveals God's love for us – but

takes it in a different direction. Without contradicting the familiar

teaching that Jesus' death atones for sin, this gospel opens by

saying that " the gospel of truth is joy to those who have received

from the Father of truth the grace of knowing him. " Speaking of the

" terror and fear " we feel when we live apart from God, it goes on to

say that Jesus came into the world as a " hidden mystery " to bring

light to all who were distressed and living in darkness ('Gospel of

Truth' 18:15-18). But instead of a sacrifice offered for human sin,

the 'Gospel of Truth' pictures Jesus on the cross as " fruit on a

tree " – like fruit on the tree of knowledge in 'Genesis' 2:17.

Through this image the 'Gospel of Truth' transforms the meaning of

the eucharist. For while eating from the tree of knowledge in

Paradise " brought death " upon those who ate it, eating this true

" fruit of the tree of knowledge " brings life. Thus the 'Gospel of

Truth' suggests that those who partake of Jesus, sharing in the bread

that symbolizes his body, discover the " hidden mystery " – that is,

their own connection with God. (P.93) By participating in this

intimate communion they come to know God – not through the intellect

but through the knowledge of the heart – and to know one another. In

this way, the 'Gospel of Truth' says, " he discovered them in himself,

and they discovered him in themselves " ('Gospel of Truth' 18:29-31).

 

Like a poet, the author of the 'Gospel of Truth' offers a second

image of the cross. As in a dream, the cross becomes a wooden post on

which imperial edicts are published for all to see. But what Jesus

" published " on the cross was God's will. For as a will is opened only

when someone dies, so through dying Jesus opened up God's will for

everyone to see: " ... Jesus appeared. He put on that book. He was

nailed to a tree. He published the edict of the Father on the cross.

O, such great teaching! " ('Gospel of Truth' 20:23-28). What Jesus

" published, " so to speak, was the names of all God's beloved children,

and what God wills is simply this: that they all come to know and

love him, and one another.

 

What kind of God, then, wills only this? Contradicting believers who

warn of God's wrath and judgment, the 'Gospel of Truth' declares that

those who really know him " do not think of him as small, or harsh, or

wrathful, " as others suggest, but as a loving and gracious Father

('Gospel of Truth' 42:4-9). Poetic, sometimes lyrical, this gospel

declares that God sent his son not only to save us from sins

committed in error but to restore all beings to the divine source

whence they came, " so that they may return to the Father and to the

Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness " ('Gospel of Truth' 24:6-9).

(P.94) Thus to all who wander this world in terror, anguish, and

confusion, Jesus reveals a divine secret: that they are deeply

connected with God the Father, and with the divine Mother, the Holy

Spirit. To those who experience life in this world as a nightmare,

this message offers hope that " You are the perfect day, and in you

dwells the light that does not fail " ('Gospel of Truth' 32:31-34).

 

A third interpretation of Christ's passion, inspired by the 'Gospel

of John', is the remarkable poem called the 'Round Dance of the

Cross'. [12] The anonymous Christian who wrote this poem, noting that

the 'Gospel of John' never tells the story of the " last supper " in

which Jesus tells his disciples to eat bread as his body and drink

wine as his blood, apparently writes an episode to supply what is

missing, and to suggest that something else happened that night. The

'Acts of John' tells how, after dinner, Jesus led his disciples

outdoors, and invited them to dance and sing with him:

 

Before he was arrested ... he assembled us all, and said, " Before I

am delivered to them, let us sing a hymn to the Father, and go to

meet what lies before us. " So he told us to form a circle, holding

one another's hands, and he himself stood in the middle and said,

" Answer 'Amen' to me. "

 

Then, as the disciples circled him, dancing, Jesus began to chant a

hymn:

 

" Glory to you, Father. " And we, circling around him, answered him,

" Amen. "

" Glory to you, Word [logos]; glory to you, Grace. "

" Amen. "

" We praise you, Father; we thank you, Light, in whom dwells no

darkness. "

" Amen. "

 

After the praises, Jesus continues this mystical chant as the others

dance and chant in response to each phrase:

 

" I will be saved, and I will save. "

" Amen. "

" I will be released, and I will release. "

" Amen. "

" I will wound, and will be wounded. "

" Amen. "

" I will eat, and I will be eaten. "

" Amen. " ...

 

" I will play the flute. Dance, everyone. "

" Amen. " ...

 

" I am a light to you who see me. "

" Amen. "

" I am a mirror to you who know me. "

" Amen. "

" I am a door to you who knock upon me. "

" Amen. "

 

(P. 96) As the dance progresses, Jesus invites those who dance to see

themselves in him:

 

" You who follow my dance, see yourself in me, as I speak;

And if you have seen what I am doing, keep silent about my mysteries. "

 

Through the dance and the singing, Jesus reveals the mystery of his

passion: that he is going to suffer in order to show them their own

suffering, so that they come to understand – and so transcend – it:

 

" You who dance, understand what I do; for yours is the human passion

which I am to suffer. You could by no means understand what you

suffer unless I had been sent to you by the Father, as the Word. You

who have seen what I suffer, learn about suffering, and you will be

able not to suffer. "

 

As they dance and respond to his chant, Jesus reveals that he suffers

to teach a paradox much like what the Buddha also taught: that those

who become aware of suffering and recognize it as universal

simultaneously find release from it. (P.97) Thus he invites them to

join in the cosmic dance:

 

" Whoever dances belongs to the universe. "

" Amen. "

" Whoever does not dance does not know what happens. "

" Amen. "

 

Those who wrote down and revered the 'Acts of John' apparently used

this chant to celebrate the eucharist. But instead of eating bread

and drinking wine " to proclaim the Lord's death " (1 Corinthians

11:26) as other Christians did, they chanted these words while

holding hands and circling in the dance, celebrating together the

mystery of Jesus' suffering and their own. Indeed, some Christians

celebrate it like this to this day.

 

Thus the " good news " of the 'Gospel of Judas' is that, as Paul

wrote, " the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing

with the glory about to be revealed in us " (Romans 8:18). For

although what happens to Jesus, so far as anyone in the world can

see, ends in the hideous anguish of crucifixion, and what happens to

Judas ends in his murder, each has hope. Those who hear this

message recognize that rather than being simply physical bodies with

complex psychological components, we are fundamentally spiritual

beings who need to discover what, in us, belongs to the spirit. The

gospel suggests that our lives consist of more than what biology or

psychology can explore - that our real life begins when the spirit of

God transforms the soul.

 

(P.98) The 'Gospel of Judas', then, seems to end in disaster: Jesus

is betrayed; Judas will be stoned to death by his fellow disciples.

But as we have seen, both have already achieved salvation. Jesus'

sacrifice signals the end of death itself by acknowledging our

fundamental spiritual nature. Gazing upward and entering into the

luminous cloud, Judas is but the first-fruits of those who follow

Jesus. His star leads the way.

 

Reading Judas - The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity,

Pg. 77-98

Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King

Penguin Group – London, England

ISBN 978-0-713-99984-6

 

 

Notes: (P.182-184)

[1] See 'Against Heresies' V.2.3.

 

[2] For discussion, see Elaine Pagels, 'The Gnostic Gospels' (New

York: Random House, 1979), pp.3-27, which indicates how this teaching

also helped legitimize the structures of church authority that

certain Christians were attempting to establish.

 

[3] " For it is just that in that very creation in which they [the

righteous] toiled or were afflicted, being proved in every way by

suffering, they should receive the reward of their suffering; and

that in the creation in which they were slain because of their love

to God, in that they should be revived again; and that in the

creation in which they endured servitude, in that they should

reign. For God is rich in all things, and all things are His. It is

fitting, therefore, that the creation itself, being restored to its

primeval condition, should without restraint be under the dominion of

the righteous " ('Against Heresies', V.32.1; ANF 1, p.561). Irenaeus

then cites Paul, 'Romans' 8:19-21 in support.

 

[4] See Robinson and Smith, 'The Nag Hammadi Library in English',

translated by James Brashier and Roger Bullard (Leiden: Brill

Academic Publishers, 4th rev. ed., 1997), p.377.

 

[5] These two works were already known from a 1945 discovery near Nag

Hammadi in Egypt, but the Tchacos Codex (TC) offers some significant

variants (see the Coptic text edited by Rudolphe Kasser and Gregor

Wurst, English translation by Marvin Meyer and F. Gaudard, notes by

Marvin Meyer and Gregor Wurst). We would like to thank Marvin Meyer

for generously allowing us to see an advance copy of the critical

edition to be published by the National Geographic Society,

Washington, D.C.

 

[6] '1 Apocalypse of James', NHC 31:18-22 (translated by Douglas

Parrott, in Robinson and Smith, 'The Nag Hammadi Library in English',

p. 265).

 

[7] '1 Apocalypse of James' TC 12:3-4.

 

[8] '1 Apocalypse of James' NHC 30:1-6; TC 16:15-21.

 

[9] 'Letter of Peter to Philip', NHC 137:21-30; TC 8:2-3.

 

[10] Compare, for example, 'Ephesians' 6:12: " Our struggle is not

against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against

the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. "

 

[11] For more on the 'Secret Revelation of John', see Karen L.

King, 'The Secret Revelation of John' (Cambridge: Harvard University

Press, 2005). All citations are from the English translation there.

 

[12] Found in the 'Acts of John' 94-96 (English translation in Edgar

Hennecke and Wilhelm Schneemelcher, 'New Testament Apocrypha, Vol. 11

Writings Relating to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects'

(Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992), pp. 181-184.