The Gospel of Judas.

The "Gospel of Judas," a papyrus manuscript discovered in the 1970s in a cave in the remote Egyptian desert at El Minya, has recently been translated from the original Coptic script into English, under the auspices of the National Geographic Society (whose website promotes it as "...one of the most significant finds of the last century").

Judas Iscariot, a man whose name is synonymous with perfidious betrayal, in this version becomes a favoured disciple, the one entrusted with his Lord's most distressing command; namely to bring about Jesus' ultimate goal, crucifixion, by turning Jesus over to the Jewish Temple authorities.

The existence of a "Gospel of Judas" has long been known; indeed Irenaeus, when Bishop of Lyon, France denounced it as heretical in the year 180 AD. What had not been known until now was its content. It purports to reveal secret words spoken to Judas by Jesus just days before Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples in Jerusalem, thereby setting in motion events that would culminate on a cross on the lonely hill called Golgotha.

So far preliminary academic debate about the Judas manuscript has turned on veracity, dating, and provenance; the preliminary consensus appears to be that the manuscript is early in origin (second to fourth century), Gnostic in derivation, and quite possibly authentic. Its provenance is murkier, with parts of the Gospel of Judas being bought and sold like carpets at an oriental bazaar, and by traders in antiquities whose prior claims to "holy relics" suggest that skepticism is desirable.

The text has Jesus telling Judas that because of what Judas must do he will be "persecuted severely... by the other disciples" and "cursed by other generations." And what is it that Judas should do? He must transcend the loyalty of the other disciples by "... sacrificing the man that clothes me...". By so doing, Judas will become not the great betrayer, but God's instrument in bringing about the redemption of humanity. The authentication of the new manuscript will require careful, meticulous academic scrutiny; even if it is authentic, it may not materially alter any christian understanding of the events of Passion Week. But it is just possible that the Gospel of Judas might shed some light on at least three mysteries--mysteries as it were embedded within the great mystery of the Crucifixion.

First, what was it exactly that Judas betrayed? Jesus' teachings and movements were well known to the Temple authorities. He taught daily, openly. Jesus Himself expressed astonishment, for this very reason, at the manner of Judas's betrayal: "Do you take me for a bandit that you have come out with swords and cudgels to arrest me? Day after day I was within your reach as I taught in the temple, and you did not lay hands on me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled." (Mark 14; 49-50 NEB).

Second, at the Passover supper Jesus clearly told his disciples not only that He was about to be betrayed but who the betrayer was. So why did none of the eleven stop Judas? In what company of men would betrayal be taken so passively?

Third, why was Judas included not only in the Passover meal, but (as the synoptic Gospels suggest) in the new Passover, the first Eucharist, when Jesus gave the disciples bread and wine, telling them that these were His body and blood, freely given up for them and for all? Surely because Judas was, in some sense, part of the divine plan; although it should be remembered that Jesus also said of Judas, "it would be good for that man if he had not been born" (Mark 14; 21).

Certainly Jesus died for Judas--he died for the sins of the whole world. Forgiveness is for all who seek it.

Even Judas.

The resurrection bifurcates human history: it signals passage from darkness to light; from sin to salvation; from the old covenant to the new.

In this transformative, divine drama, Judas Iscariot played a unique part. Whether or not the newly translated Judas manuscript is genuine, it just might assist us in understanding better what that part was.