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April 20, 2006
The Judas Gospel
I've already been getting questions from a number of people about the "The Judas Gospel." News about this document has been coming out around the world and most of Japan's newspapers have reported on it, as well. The April 7th morning edition of the Daily Yomiuri News (and some others) featured a front-page article with a photo. In response, I hurriedly prepared a message entitled "Understanding the Judas Gospel" to give at our monthly meetings in Tōkyō and Ōsaka last week (any of you who might want a copy of it on tape or CD -- Japanese-language only -- can order one from us for ¥700 apiece). Here's an outline of my major points.
In contrast to all the hubbub in the media, here are the points we need to keep our hearts fixed upon:
- Background
The document is a papyrus manuscript found in Egypt in 1970. From there, it passed through the hands of various dealers in antiquities until it was bought by a Swiss dealer in 2000. Most recently, it has been deciphered by the National Geographic Society of America and the contents published in their magazine (the Japanese edition will be out on April 28th).- What's It About?
The manuscript was written sometime during the third or fourth century AD. The original was written in Greek sometime before that. The current document under discussion is an ancient Coptic translation of the Greek.
Naturally, the author of this document was not Judas Iscariot. After betraying Jesus, the Scripture says that Judas went out and committed suicide, so he certainly wouldn't have had time to write such a document. Most scholars are of the opinion that it was probably written by some Gnostic sect much later.
Gnosticism was a movement that spread throughout the Middle East during the first and second centuries AD and manifested itself more as a philosophy than as a religion. Gnostics' assertion was that salvation could be gained through the possession of certain speciall knowledge ("gnosis"). Their worldview was a thoroughgoing dualistic system. That is, they insisted that things of the spirit are pure and mystical whereas things of the flesh are sinful and degraded. Because of this, they believed that the creator of the world in the Old Testament was not the true God, but one of a lesser group of gods known as "demiurges." This movement had a considerably negative influence upon early Christianity.
The Judas Gospel states that Judas betrayed Jesus on the orders of Jesus Himself. Supposedly, this would enable the release of Jesus' spirit from His flesh and thereby be an act of service to Him. The reason Jesus asked this of Judas was apparently because Judas was the only one among the disciples who had gained sufficient "gnosis" to understand the importance of this order. The mainstream media's take on this is that this information has the potential of completely overturning our understanding of early Christianity. This reason alone has created the big sensation.- How Should We Understand It?
It should come as no surprise that a manuscript of this type has come to light. There are about 20 verifiable documents that purport themselves to be "Gospels." Among those, four have been determined to be authentic and are included in the New Testament. The Judas Gospel, of course, does contain some material of value. It's useful for studies in the relationship between early Christianity and Gnosticism. However, in terms of what it can tell us about the historical Jesus and Judas, it has no value whatsoever.
We should remember that the appearance of a counterfeit allows us to re-confirm that which is genuine. The truth of the matter is that the doctrines of Christianity have been purified down through the ages as a result of battles with heresy. This manuscript find may well be a golden opportunity for folks in this age to learn the truth about the Bible. Gnosticism whould have long ago disappeared from the face of the earth, but, as we can see, it continues to survive by re-inventing itself. Some of its more recent "faces" have been the New Age Movement, Jesus Christ Superstar (musical and 1973 movie), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988 movie), The Da Vinci Code (book and soon-to-be-released movie), etc.
The "True Gospel" is just what John 3:16 talks about:For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
In closing, I'd like to report briefly on the April 8th Easter worship service in Kumamoto Prison. I announced this at the end of my March 16th post and asked for your prayers, so here's how it went. We had a team of about 40 which consisted of myself, Pastor Yōji Nakamura and some members of his Kumamoto Harvest Church. About 150 prisoners attended (approximately 20% of the total prison population). In every way, it was a thoroughly evangelistic meeting. We showed one of our Harvest Time programs featuring former Yakuza gang boss Yoshiyuki Yoshida and his wife, then I spoke for about three minutes. Pastor Nakamura spoke last and during his invitation, several men raised their hands indicating their desire to follow Christ. At the start, the atmosphere was very heavy and dark. However, by the end of the meeting, it was as if a refreshing breeze had blown through the place. I'd particularly like to thank all of our co-workers for their prayers and support for this event.
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of the Old Testament. Problems with heresy usually develop as people get away from a thoroughly Hebrew understanding of the Bible. Philosophies like Gnosticism (which deny the God of the Old Testament) have absolutely nothing useful to say about biblical truth.
- God has already done His part. God loved. He loved us so much that He gave up His Son for us. Whether Judas betrayed Jesus or not is beside the point. God Himself determined that Jesus had to die on the cross.
- There is something that humans must do to be saved. And that is, simply put, we must believe. It's not by "gnosis" that we are saved, but it's by grace through faith.
As you're reading this, I'll have been in the U.S. since Monday for a series of meetings and some video taping. I'll return on the 26th, so I'd like to ask your prayers upon these remaining few days of the trip. Have a great weekend in Y'shua's precious name.
Kenichi Nakagawa
Posted by HarvestTV at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)