The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot

viii. THE DAVIDIC THRONE: King David was Israel’s second and greatest king. He ruled from about 1010–970BC, and built an empire that stretched from Egypt into present-day Iran. Psalm 89:4 and 2 Sam 23:5 speak explicitly of an everlasting covenant between YHWH and David. There are many understandings of how this promise was to be fulfilled. One of them is that YHWH will raise up a ‘Son of David’ who would be restored to a royal throne in Jerusalem. He would once again establish the glory of Israel by means of great military victories. Christians believe that Jesus does fulfil the promises of the Davidic covenant (see Matt 1:1; Rom 1:3), but Jesus never accepted the role of a potential military leader. The Gospels suggest that the first disciples may have followed him in the hope that he would.

ix. THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES: The Scribes were largely a servant group. They were men who studied the law and served as legal consultants to anyone who required their expert services. Thus, there were Scribes of the Sadducees and well as Scribes of the Pharisees. The Pharisees emerged in Israel during the two centuries before the Christian era. At that time Jewish leadership, including the High Priest, was controlled by foreign powers, initially the Hellenistic leaders, and then the Romans. The Pharisees (whose name probably reflects the concept of being ‘cut off’ from corruption) attempted to live a strict Jewish life, obedient to the commands of the Torah. They opposed corrupt leadership and suffered a great deal because of their faith. They travelled wherever there were Jews, but their base was always the Synagogue, where the Torah was the centre of Jewish worship. Their focus on the Torah and Synagogue ensured mobility; thus they survived the Jewish War and eventually produced what is known as Rabbinic Judaism.

x. UNDER A FIG TREE: There is a Jewish tradition that a person reflecting on the Torah should do so under a fig tree. The Jewish texts are late, but probably refer to a widespread and early tradition of the learned men of the law sitting under a fig tree to study scripture.

xi. THE SON OF GOD: Judas does not believe that Jesus is the ‘Son of God’, as is found in the Johannine tradition (AD 100), and as it was eventually understood and defined by the Church at Nicea (AD325) and Chalcedon (AD451): Jesus as the second person in the Trinity. Judas does believe in the messianic ‘son of God’, as expected in Israel on the basis of such texts as Ps 2:7 and 2 Sam 7:14.

xii. SIN AND SICKNESS: The Hebrew Bible often links the punishment of sin with sickness and death (2 Sam 12:13–23; 24:1–25). Only God has authority over sickness and sin.

xiii. CONFLICT STORIES: The description of the conflicts between Jesus and the Jewish leadership, found in The Gospel According to Judas 6:9–15, is based on Mark 2:1–12. Judas’ account suggests a mounting crisis. The initial response to Jesus’ miracles is surprise. By the time he has performed all of his miracles, the Jewish Elders have judged him to be a blasphemer, and only worthy of death.

xiv. THE DECAPOLIS: This term refers to a group of Hellenistic towns located in Transjordania, the region to the north-east of the river Jordan. The word in Greek means ‘ten cities’, but it is difficult to trace the exact names of ten cities. The following nine have been identified: Abila, Canata, Dius, Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos, Pella, Phildelphia and Scythopolis. These cities were largely inhabited by Gentiles, who followed Greek customs and religion.

xv. THE TWELVE: The list of the twelve disciples in The Gospel According to Judas 8:30 reflects the lists in the Christian Gospels. Judas Iscariot is always named last. The placing of Judas’ name at the end of the list and his delineation as the one who betrayed Jesus were all part of the early Christian determination to blacken Judas’ character.

xvi. JESUS’ SERMON: The sermon of Jesus, beginning with the ‘beatitudes’, is loosely based on Jesus’ sermon on the plain as found in Luke (6:20–49), rather than the longer, better-known version of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5, 6 and 7).

xvii. OUR FATHER: The version of the ‘Our Father’ found in The Gospel According to Judas 9:37 is based on the Lucan version of this prayer (Luke 11:2–4). It is very brief, and full of urgent promises that look to an imminent fulfilment. The version in the Gospel of Luke is likely to be closer to the words that Jesus actually taught the disciples than the elaborate and better-known form of the prayer, found in Matt 6:9–13, which is currently used in most Christian liturgies and prayer books.

xviii. THE COMMUNITY AT KHIRBET QUMRAN: The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (circa 1947) led to the uncovering of a fortress-like building at Khirbet Qumran, close to the Dead Sea, which housed a community of pious Jews. The building stood from about 150BC until AD70, when it was destroyed by the Romans. It is widely accepted that a group of Jewish sectarians, known by other first-century witnesses as the Essenes, had gathered at Khirbet Qumran. They lived in community, and were hostile to a Jewish leadership that compromised the traditions of Israel in order to maintain good relations with foreign powers. Since 1947, many scrolls, some containing biblical texts and others containing texts that had been composed at Qumran, have been unearthed. The texts mentioned (Community Rule, Rule of the Congregation, The War Scroll) were written by the Essenes at Khirbet Qumran.

xix. THE MESSIAH AND THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN: The link between the gift of the manna and the messianic era had already been made in Judaism during the first century. The citation from 2 Baruch in The Gospel According to Judas 10:26 comes from a document that can be dated from the end of first century AD.

xx. CAESAREA PHILIPPI: The town is unknown before the time of Antiochus IV of Syria, but is identified around 200BC as Panion. This name already reflects the cult to Pan that was discovered there. In 20BC Augustus handed over the district to Herod the Great, and after his death it fell into the hands of his son, Philip, who renamed it ‘Caesarea’ in honour of the Roman Emperor. However, it was known as ‘Caesarea Philippi’ to distinguish Philip’s Caesarea from the beautiful Herodian seaport to the south, the seat of the Roman government at the time of Jesus. This is the name found in the Gospels, including The Gospel According To Judas 11. At a later date it reverted to Paneas, and this is the name that is still to be found in the contemporary Arabic word Banias.

xxi. SON OF MAN: This expression, found throughout all four Gospels, is only ever used by Jesus to speak of himself. It is perhaps the clearest indication of Jesus’ own understanding of his person and mission. It is an expression that is widely used in Ezekiel to indicate the humble human status of the prophet. It is also found in Daniel 7:13–14. The meaning of the expression in Daniel is widely debated among biblical scholars, especially as Jesus seems to use it in a way that looks back to Dan 7:13–14. It clearly refers to a figure who will overcome all opposition and return in glory. In the Gospels, Jesus also associates the Son of Man with suffering (see Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32–34), and some suggest that a suffering Son of Man is already implied by the experience of the people of Israel at the time Daniel was written.

xxii. PETER THE STUMBLING BLOCK: In the Gospel of Matthew, this play upon words using Peter as the stumbling block is very clearly spelt out. The Evangelist reports Jesus’ blessing of Peter as ‘the rock’ (Greek: petros/petra) (Matt 16:18). But when Peter tries to prevent Jesus’ journey to the cross, Jesus calls him ‘Satan’ (Aramaic: satana) and goes on to explain that this means he is a ‘stumbling block’ (Greek: skandalon).

xxiii. ABBA/FATHER: Jesus spoke Aramaic, and on one occasion in the Gospels (Mark 14:36) he uses the Aramaic word Abba, and the Evangelist translates it for his Greek readers as ‘father’. The term was used by children who thought of their father in a way that was respectful, obedient and loving.

xxiv. MOUNT TABOR: This small mountain, reached by means of a very steep climb, is located south of Nazareth, on the road to Judea. It is difficult to be certain what actually happened during the strange encounter the disciples have with the transfigured Jesus. It is also impossible to be sure where it took place. The Orthodox traditions generally locate the transfiguration on the more spectacular Mount Hermon. The link and subsequent confusion were inspired by the juxtaposition of Hermon and Tabor in Psalm 89:12: ‘The north and the south – you created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.’

xxv. JESUS’ PASSION PREDICTIONS: Jesus’ predictions of his passion during this journey to Jerusalem have developed in the telling. Jesus most likely spoke of his forthcoming death in words very close to: ‘The Son of Man will be given into the hands of men and they will kill him.’ He probably also spoke, in faith and hope, of his ultimate vindication by God. By the time the Gospels were written, this vindication is expressed in terms of what the early Church believed had actually taken place: resurrection on the third day.

xxvi. THE STRANGER FROM GALILEE: At this point the dependence of The Gospel According to Judas on the traditions that formed the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) becomes evident. Jesus comes to Jerusalem for the first time. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is seen regularly in Jerusalem.

xxvii. JESUS AS A PROPHET: Many historical-critical studies of the ‘pre-Easter Jesus’ have come to the conclusion that Jesus and his disciples understood him to be a prophet.

xxviii. JESUS, SON OF DAVID: Early Christians regarded Jesus as the messianic Son of David (see, for example, Matt 1:1). But in The Gospel According to Judas, Jesus does not identify himself with the Son of David. The curing of Bartimaeus is the only occasion in this Gospel where Jesus does not reject the title. It is widely agreed among scholars that the solitary acceptance by Jesus of the term ‘Son of David’ in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 10:46–52) does not refer to the messianic use of this expression, but to the Jewish tradition that looked back to the historical ‘son of David’, King Solomon, as a healer. In The Gospel

According to Judas, Judas misunderstands blind Bartimaeus’ appeal to Jesus as a healer. His question of Peter shows that he has renewed hope that Jesus is the Son of David in the sense of being the Davidic Messiah.

xxix. JESUS’ ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM: It is difficult to reconstruct what took place, historically, on the occasion of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. The scene as it is described in The Gospel According to Judas depends on John 12:12–16 and Zech 9:9–11.

xxx. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN JERUSALEM: In all four Christian Gospels, the sequence of events is exactly the same: entry, preaching, supper, Gethsemane, Jewish trial, Roman trial, crucifixion, burial, discovery of an empty tomb, resurrection appearances (not found in Mark). But the timing of these events varies from gospel to gospel, as it does in The Gospel According to Judas.

xxxi. THE SANHEDRIN: This was the highest tribunal permitted by Rome to prosecute and punish Jews according to Jewish laws. It is difficult to determine exactly who made up this body, or even if there was only one Sanhedrin. According to the Gospels, there is one Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and it is made up of both Priests and Pharisees, along with their Scribes.

xxxii. MONEY DEALERS IN THE TEMPLE: The money dealers who sat in the outer court of the Temple were performing a service essential to the purity of the Temple. It was unlawful to enter the sacred precincts of the Temple carrying any coins that bore the effigy of a human being or an animal. Thus, all who entered the Temple handed over their coins to the money dealers. They exchanged any Jewish money for Tyrian coins, which bore no image. On leaving the Temple, the worshipper would retrieve the money bearing these effigies. This detail must be kept in mind when reading The Gospel According to Judas 19:16–19. Jesus is questioned by the Pharisees in the Temple, and asks to see a coin. They show him one bearing the effigy of Caesar. No Jew should have been in possession of such a coin in the Temple.

xxxiii. PASSOVER RITUAL: It is difficult to establish exactly how the Passover was celebrated at the time of Jesus. However, a constant feature found in the various ancient traditions is the use of elements during a meal (bitter herbs, bread and wine) to recall the saving events that are recorded in the biblical account of Israel’s exodus from Egypt (see Exodus 12:1–19:26). Jesus repeats these traditions during the last supper, and his action with the bread and wine – along with his words that interpret the meaning of the symbols of bread and wine – remain a constant reminder of the Lord’s Supper in most Christian traditions.

xxxiv. THE INNOCENCE OF JESUS: The Christian Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) all point out that there was no genuine case against Jesus. The Jewish trial goes ahead on the basis of contradictory evidence, and the Roman trial that follows is punctuated with statements from Pilate emphasizing that he finds no crime in Jesus.

xxxv. INITIATION AT QUMRAN: The indication of a limitation of time that Benjamin can remain at Qumran, unless he wishes to be there for the rest of his life, reflects the evidence of first-century witnesses, Josephus and Philo, along with the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Anyone wishing to join the community was accepted for one year of probation. At the end of that year they were admitted to the ritual bathing that was a key element of Essene practice. Once admitted, the candidate had to remain a further two years, a stay culminating in a ceremony in which an oath of fidelity was taken. Benjamin has no desire to be part of this process, and thus agrees to return to Kerioth.

xxxvi. THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR: Many factors led to the eventual outbreak of the first Jewish-Roman war (also known as the Great Jewish Revolt) in AD66. The crucifixion of anyone who opposed Rome, and the flight and eventual suicide of the Essenes, are reported by the Jewish historian Josephus (circa AD37–101). He was a Jew who originally joined the Jewish revolt and fought against the Romans in Galilee, and after he was captured switched allegiance. He is the best witness we have to the events of the Jewish War, although he generally defends the Romans and blames the Jewish zealots for the outcome. The war began under Vespasian (AD66) but Jerusalem was destroyed when Titus was supreme commander of the Roman army (AD70). Both eventually became Emperors of Rome.