One of my favourite passages from any gospel of the first three centuries comes from the Gospel of Judas.
"You will exceed all of them, for you will sacrifice the man who clothes me."
- Jesus speaking to Judas
As a little bit of context for those who are unfamiliar with the text--Judas shares with Jesus a vision he has had in which the other apostles are cursing his name and stoning him to death. Jesus in return tells Judas that it is possible for him to reach the heavenly realm of Barbelo, but in order to do so he will have to suffer a great deal.
Rather than this Gospel being an account of the greatest betrayal in history, it flips the common perception on its head by claiming that the act of "betrayal" was actually Judas' ultimate act of love and servitude. It is Judas who makes it possible for Jesus to escape the material trappings of his body and return to his spiritual home. This is common gnostic theme, which claims that the world and everything in it is like a cage, with the exception of the divine spark within us all, which is itself trapped within our cage of flesh. By helping bring about Jesus' crucifixion, Judas allows Jesus to leave the material world and return to his heavenly abode where he belongs.
And in my opinion, Judas' suicide makes a lot more sense if he never wanted to commit the act in the first place. Anywhoo, now that I've sufficiently bored you all I'll return to my book review. Look for it within a couple of hours!
Rather than this Gospel being an account of the greatest betrayal in history, it flips the common perception on its head by claiming that the act of "betrayal" was actually Judas' ultimate act of love and servitude. It is Judas who makes it possible for Jesus to escape the material trappings of his body and return to his spiritual home. This is common gnostic theme, which claims that the world and everything in it is like a cage, with the exception of the divine spark within us all, which is itself trapped within our cage of flesh. By helping bring about Jesus' crucifixion, Judas allows Jesus to leave the material world and return to his heavenly abode where he belongs.
And in my opinion, Judas' suicide makes a lot more sense if he never wanted to commit the act in the first place. Anywhoo, now that I've sufficiently bored you all I'll return to my book review. Look for it within a couple of hours!
