Why the "Gospel of Judas" is Irrelevant

Much is being written and spoken about the newly-revealed existence of the so-called “Gospel of Judas.” I find the whole “mystery” to be quite irrelevant on a number of different levels.

“Judas, who is known from the Bible as the betrayer of Jesus, gave Jesus over to the authorities, an act that ultimately lead to Jesus’ crucifixion. However, the new text tells a different story: Judas was a co-conspirator with Jesus. Judas only turned Jesus in after Jesus asked him to. It also tells that Judas was Jesus’ greatest supporter and closest confidant.”

First, there are roughly 50 known Gospels, nearly all of which have been hidden from the masses by the Roman Catholic Church, among others. What do they say? Why reveal the contents of this one but not others? Second, on a theological level, I find the notion that Jesus sought death to be anathema to the known body of his teachings. Jesus preached an ethic of self-determination, one that embraced our earthly lives with fearlessness, humility and verve. The notion that Jesus would seek physical death as a means of “liberating” his soul is completely contradictory. Third, what difference does it make? The fact of the matter is that we’ll never know the truth. Whether Judas turned on Jesus, and the motivations for Judas’ actions, is history, not theology. It can never be answered; it can only be argued ad nauseum by people that were not present. Fourth, the “gospel” was written nearly 300 years after Jesus’ death. Can a person living in 2006 write accurately about the death of, say, George Washington? Isn’t it likely that there would be some personal opinion and “spin” added in? Fifth, I don’t trust the media. How many people in the world really know what this “gospel” says? It could just be an attempt to confuse people and stoke new religious interpretations. It could be one big hoax.

Most importantly, the “gospel” distracts people away from the essential teachings of perhaps the wisest man to ever walk the face of the earth.

“I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).”

The few people who truly understand spirituality can discern the difference between earthly, political doctrines designed to control people, on the one hand, and the true essence of Jesus’s timeless spiritual awareness that transcended human history, race, religion and geography, on the other. All around the world, people are fighting over who’s religion is superior, whose confers more legitimate land rights, and whose is the true religion for mankind, etc. Anyone who adheres to these idiotic, senseless doctrines is limited, insecure and self-protective. They can have this “gospel” and fight over it.