The Judas Gospel: Bad News of Betrayal
Dr. Jeffrey Khoo
Academic Dean of the Far Eastern Bible College and
Seminary, Singapore
April 24, 2006
Introduction
According to The New York Times of April
6, 2006, The Judas Gospel together with the other Gnostic Gospels "have
produced a new generation of Christians who now regard the Bible not
as the literal word of God, but as a product of historical and
political forces that determined which texts should be included in
the canon, and which edited out. For that reason, the discoveries
have proved deeply troubling for many believers."
Is this true? Have the Gnostic Gospels produced a
generation of Christians who no longer believe that the Bible they
have in their hands today is the literal Word of God? Those of us
who are truly born-again, born of the Spirit, born from above should
not be troubled by the Judas Gospel for the Holy Spirit that
indwells us is the Spirit of truth and guides us into all truth
(John 16:13). What is truth? God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Jesus
said, "My sheep hear my voice … and they follow me" (John
10:27). The Lord says His sheep will be able to discern His good
voice of truth from the strange voice of falsehood.
The Gospel of Judas is not good news at all but
another bad news of betrayal—Jesus is betrayed once again by Judas
in this recently found "Gospel" named after him. Actually, the
title—"The Gospel of Judas"—misleads. The title gives the impression
that it was Judas himself who had written this Gospel. No, Judas
wrote no Gospel. This so-called "Gospel" was not written by Judas
but by some unknown person who for some twisted reason wanted to
revise Biblical history by turning the villain Judas Iscariot into a
hero—the best and most loyal disciple of Jesus.
Now, let me critique the Gospel of Judas
(according to the text released by the National Geographic Society),
and offer three reasons why this Gospel is a fictitious and spurious
one.
The Judas Gospel is a Heretical Gospel
The Gospel of Judas begins like this: "The
secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation
with Judas Iscariot." The fact that the Gospel of Judas is
introduced as a "secret account" lets out the "secret"
that it is an unorthodox gospel created by the Gnostics who were
known for their "secrets." Prof Tan Kim Huat of Trinity
Theological College writing for The Straits Times on April
14, 2006 asked: "Is Gnosticism a variety of Christianity or is it
a mutation so dangerous that it should be treated as a heresy?"
Our answer to his two-part question is, "No, Gnosticism is not a
‘variety of Christianity’ but a totally different religion
altogether that is occultic, and yes, it is definitely a heresy by
the infallible and authoritative standards of the divinely inspired
and preserved Scriptures."
What is Gnosticism and who were the Gnostics? The
word "gnostic" comes from the Greek ginosko which
means "to know." Gnosticism was a 2nd century cult
which used the name of Christ to spin a heretical brand of
Christianity teaching that (1) salvation requires secret knowledge
outside of the Bible that is accessible only to the privileged
elite; (2) matter is evil; and (3) Jesus did not really come in the
flesh.
The gospel of Christianity is no secret but
clearly revealed in the Written Words of God—the 66 books of the
Canonical Scriptures. The Apostle John wrote referring to the
Canonical Gospels: "But these are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye
might have life through his name" (John 20:31). The Written
Words reveals to us the Living Word, and it is sufficient for us to
know how to find salvation in Christ, the only Saviour of the world.
What is the gospel? The word "gospel" (euangelion)
literally means "good news." The Apostle Paul in 1
Corinthians 15:1-4 explains what is the gospel: "Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye
are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
Christ crucified and resurrected is the good news of the forgiveness
of sins and eternal life for those who will put their trust in Him.
This knowledge of the gospel is not secret but
open. The knowledge of salvation is not far from us, but very near
us. The Apostle Paul tells us in Roman 10:8-9, "But what saith
it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy
heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." But the Gnostics add to the gospel. They say that it is
not enough to know Christ and His resurrection, one must attain to
some hidden and mysterious knowledge before one can truly know God
and live forever. The Gnostic formula for salvation works like this:
"Gospel + Secret Knowledge = Salvation." It is "another
gospel." Anything that adds to the perfect redemptive work of
Christ and the pure content of the Gospel of Christ is heteron
euangelion, "another gospel" (Gal 1:6).
The Gospel of Judas can shake the faith of the
believer. May we not be so easily shaken in our faith like some of
the Christians in the Galatian Church. Paul wrote to chide and warn
them, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not
another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the
gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man
preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him
be accursed" (Gal 1:6-9).
The Judas Gospel has a Different Jesus
What kind of Jesus does the Judas Gospel present?
The Judas Gospel presents a Jesus who has a habit of laughing at
people. He laughs at his disciples for saying grace, he laughs at
their questions, he laughs before he speaks, he laughs after he
speaks. The word "laugh" appears eight times in the Judas
Gospel. This compares with only twice in the whole New Testament and
that only in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus said in Luke 6:21, "Blessed
are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh." In Luke 6:25, Jesus
warned that those who laugh now will weep later, "Woe unto you
that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep." In John 11:35, we
find Jesus weeping. Jesus was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief" (Isa 53:3). He did not come into this world to have
a jolly good time, but to suffer, to bleed, and to die for us so
that we might be saved.
The Judas Gospel also presents Jesus not as the
Creator but a creature. The disciples referred to Jesus not as "the
Son of God" (ie, God Himself) but "the son of our god."
The Gnostic Jesus also says that his god is different from the god
of his disciples. In the world of the Gnostics there are many gods
and many levels of divinity. The highest level is pure spirit. This
is typical of the Gnostic thinking that all flesh is evil. Since
Jesus is in the flesh, Jesus must be evil and could not have come
from the supreme God who is pure Spirit. Then where did Jesus come
from? Judas is the one who has the answer. In the Gospel of Judas,
Judas tells Jesus, "I know who you are and where you come from.
You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo." Barbelo is one of
the inferior gnostic gods from the lower levels of the immortal
realm. Jesus himself confesses to Judas that he is not God but one
of the twelve angels created by God. Jesus is the first of the
twelve angels who is "Seth" and called "Christ." This is pure
nonsense.
The truth is Jesus is God and the Creator of the
world. In the very first verse of the Gospel of John, we read, "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God." This Word is none other than the Living Word—the Lord
Jesus Christ—who created the universe: verse 3 says, "All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made." This invisible God and Creator became a human being and
took on human flesh to be our Saviour. John 1:14 says, "And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth." The flesh of Jesus was not at all sinful, evil or bad,
but utterly sinless, pure and perfect, "full of grace and truth."
The mystery of Jesus Christ is a mystery
revealed, not for a secretive and elite few but for all to know and
believe so that they might be saved from their sins. The Apostle
Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy great is
the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified
in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory." John 3:16 says, "For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only (uniquely) begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life."
The Judas Gospel is a False Text
The Judas Gospel is one of the many false gospels
written by the Gnostics. How many Gnostic Gospels were there? Some
say 15, some say 30, some say 80. The experts are not even sure.
Christians have always recognised only the Four Canonical
Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—to be the inspired Words of
God. The DaVinci Code and the National Geographic Society are
saying the very opposite—the Gnostic Gospels are true and the Four
Gospels false.
Now, how do we know that the Four Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we have today are true and not the
recently discovered Gnostic Gospels like the Gospel of Judas?
Christians have long had answers to such attacks on the Words of God
and they are in the twin doctrines of the Verbal Plenary Inspiration
(VPI) and Verbal Plenary Preservation (VPP) of the Holy Scriptures
as taught in Psalm 12:6-7, Matthew 5:18, 2 Timothy 3:16, and 2 Peter
1:21.
The divinely inspired or God-breathed (theopneustos)
New Testament Scriptures were those written by God’s special
servants, namely, the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Now it is argued
that the Gnostic Gospels were also written by Apostles like Thomas
and Judas. Why were the Gospels of Thomas and Judas not included in
the Bible? The answer is simple. They were not gospels written by
the Apostles in the first place, nor written by eyewitnesses, nor
written in the first century but appeared only two to three hundred
years after the death of Christ, after the Apostles of Christ had
passed away, and after the Four Canonical Gospels had long been
written, read and received as Holy Scripture by the Church. Ireneus,
the Bishop of Lyons, testified in the 2nd century: "Matthew
published a written gospel for the Hebrews … Mark also, the disciple
and interpreter of Peter, transmitted to us in writing the things
preached by Peter. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book
the gospel preached by him. Lastly, John, the disciple of the Lord,
who had leant back on His breast, once more set forth the gospel,
while residing at Ephesus in Asia." Ireneus’ testimony can be
trusted for he was a disciple of Polycarp who died a famous death as
a martyr of Christ, who was also a disciple of the Apostle John.
What is more is that the Four Canonical Gospels
of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John fulfilled all the prophecies of the
Old Testament Scripture concerning the Jewish Messiah and His
redemptive mission on earth. There are about 300 prophecies
concerning Christ’s first coming. These prophecies were given
centuries before Christ came and they have all been fulfilled
precisely and completely (eg, Isa 7:14 and Matt 1:21-22, Jer 23:5
and Luke 3:23, Mic 5:2 and Matt 2:1, Ps 22:16 and Luke 23:33). The
Four Gospels on the basis of the Old Testament give us "a more
sure word of prophecy" (2 Pet 1:19). The Judas Gospel on the
other hand can make no such claim for it contradicts the Old
Testament Scripture concerning who Christ was and what He came to
do.
The Gospel of Judas was written in the 2nd
century long after Judas had died. And if it were true that Judas
was Jesus’ best disciple and a hero, then Judas should be basking in
glory or martyred, but he committed suicide! Why? The truth is Judas
was a crook and betrayed his Master out of his own wicked heart
(John 6:70-71, 12:4-6). The fact is that the Gnostics were the ones
who plagiarised the names and terms of the Four Gospels to invent
their own strange gospel of secret knowledge and man-made gods. The
stories found in the Gnostic Gospels are spurious. For instance, the
Gospel of Thomas teaches that only men can enter into heaven, women
cannot. If a woman wants to get into heaven, she must first become a
man. And this was what Jesus did—He turned Mary Magdalene into a man
so that she could go to heaven. Now how does one square this with
The DaVinci Code which claims that Jesus married Mary Magdalene?
They contradict!
The Biblical doctrine of the VPP of Scripture
identifies for us where the true Biblical texts are today. VPP tells
us that the true Scripture resides in the continuously used and
always existing majority manuscripts which have been traditionally
received by God’s people and kept pure throughout the ages by the
special providential hand of God Himself. These texts as identified
by the Trinitarian Bible Society are the Hebrew Masoretic Text and
the Greek Textus Receptus of the great 16th Century
Protestant Reformation, the Authorised or King James Bible being the
best English translation of these divinely preserved and authentic
texts.
The Gnostic Gospel of Judas is disqualified as an
authentic text because (1) it was not continuously used, (2) it is
just one compared to the thousands of copies we have of the
Canonical Gospels today, (3) it disagrees drastically with the Words
and doctrines of the original, preserved and received Gospels, and
(4) it was rejected by the Spirit-guided Church since the beginning
for its heresies. Bishop Ireneus for instance knew about the Gospel
of Judas in about AD 180 and wrote against its claims, "They
[i.e., the Gnostics] declare that Judas the traitor was
thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing
the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the
betrayal: by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus
thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this
kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas."
The Judas Gospel cannot qualify as an authentic
text because it does not fulfil Jesus’ criterion of verbal
authenticity to the jot and tittle (Matt 5:18). The Judas Gospel has
many gaps and many missing words and sentences. Brackets and
ellipses indicating lost words or sentences are seen throughout. The
translators often had to fill in the blanks by guessing what the
words were, and writing them into the text. Such remarks as [----one
line lost----], [-----one line missing-----], [----about five lines
missing----] are found throughout the text. The fact that the Gospel
of Judas has not been preserved intact by God’s singular care and
providence is one evidence that it is not divinely inspired
Scripture, not at all.
Conclusion
The divinely inspired Gospels have always been
preserved by God and received throughout the ages by His faithful
Church. They were never lost only to be found thousands of years
later. If what the modernists and textual critics claim is true,
that the original and true Gospels are the Gnostic Gospels and not
the Four Gospels we have in our Biblical Canon today, then all the
Christians who died for their faith under the Roman regime, in the
days of the Protestant Reformation, and in anti-Christian countries
today have all died in vain believing in a wrong book and a false
message. Can this be so? God forbid! For it is written, "The
words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou
shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Ps 12:6-7).
But what do we have today? We are living in a
postmodern age of relativity and uncertainty that anyone who dares
to believe and defend the present perfection of the Holy Scriptures
should be castigated as "foolish," extreme," "schismatic,"
"heretical," "cultic," and "unregenerate." On
the other hand, those who say that the Bible contains missing verses
and passages, insignificant mistakes and redundant words, are
considered "godly" and "scholarly." Is it no wonder
that Psalm 12 should end with these words, "The wicked walk on
every side, when the vilest men are exalted" (Ps 12:8)? We are
nevertheless comforted by the Words of the Psalmist in the Bible we
have in our hands today that the Lord will not only preserve His
Words but also His people who are oppressed and persecuted by the
rich, the powerful, and the unbelieving, "For the oppression of
the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the
LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him" (Ps
12:5). God help us!
Judas is alive today in all who deny God’s only
begotten Son, and reject His forever infallible and inerrant Words.
The Judas Gospel is the bad news of betrayal all over again. We are
living in days of Deformation, not Reformation! May the Lord keep us
faithful until He comes again. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus"
(Rev 22:20).
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