The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot
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John 1:31
2. After he had baptized Jesus, John proclaimed: I saw the spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it stayed with him. I had not been made aware that he was the one until God, who had sent me to baptize with water, said, ‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.’
see
John 1:32–34;
Mark 1:11;
Matt 3:17;
Luke 3:22
3. From that moment, John was convinced that his days as a prophet of the Lord were numbered, and he told Andrew, one of his disciples: I am not the Christ, I have been sent before him.
John 3:28
4. Pointing to Jesus, he said: Here is a man of God; it is time for me to stand aside and allow him to carry out God’s will.
see
John 1:29,
34; 3:30
5. On hearing these words, Andrew left his Master and ran after Jesus. Aware that he was being followed, Jesus turned and asked: What are you searching for?
John 1:38
6. Andrew fell to his knees and answered: The authoritative teacher of the Torah prophesied by John the Baptist as a man of God.
see
John 1:35–36
7. From that time, many of the disciples of John the Baptist became followers of Jesus.
8. Although John’s days as a prophet were coming to an end, this did not prevent him from speaking with conviction whenever he taught the traditional beliefs of Israel.
9. He even dared to challenge the legality of Herod’s marriage to Herodias, who had previously been betrothed to Philip, Herod’s brother.
10. John proclaimed, for all to hear, that it was an adulterous union for Herod to marry the wife of his brother, even though the marriage had taken place after Philip’s death.
11. These words, often repeated, angered Herod and, for his courage and faith, John was arrested and thrown into prison.
12. Despite having witnessed what had taken place when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, John remained unsure what God intended for Jesus of Nazareth.
13. While he was locked away in prison, John gave orders that two of his disciples should seek out Jesus, and when they found him ask: Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?
Luke 7:19;
Matt 11:3
14. One of those disciples was Judas Iscariot.
15. And when they found Jesus, he did not immediately answer John the Baptist’s question.
16. But in the same hour Jesus cured many infirmities and plagues and cast out evil spirits, and to many that were blind, he gave sight.