This first section shows Jesus as the emissary of the highest, unknown god rather than the lower, creator god whom the Israelites - and thus the disciples - worship.
One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he [approached] his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, [he] laughed.
The disciples said to [him], "Master, why are you laughing at [our] prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right."
He answered and said to them, "I am not laughing at you.are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god [will be] praised."
They said, "Master, you are[...]the son of our god."
Jesus said to them, "How do you know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me."
This confrontation escalates as the disciples continue to argue that Jesus is the son of "their" god, that is Yahweh; so Jesus challenges them:
"[Let] any one of you who is [strong enough] among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face."
They all said, "We have the strength."
But their spirits did not dare to stand before [him], except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away.
Judas [said] to him, "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you."
You should hear some echoes of Peter's confession at Banias about Jesus. Barbelo is one of the names applied to Thomas' Great Invisible Spirit, the highest, unknown god. There is also resonance with gnostic reference to the "Standing One" as the image of the gnostic believer.
Later, the disciples ask Jesus about a vision they've had of priests sacrificing people in the temple in Jesus' name. Jesus tells them that the disciples are those priests and that they have seen their great transgression thinking that Jesus is from Yahweh, and that the people they are sacrificing are those who will follow them in their incorrect beliefs.
Then Judas asks Jesus to explain his own vision.
Judas said to him, "In the vision I saw myself as the twelve disciples were stoning me and persecuting [me severely]. And I also came to the place where[...]after you. I saw [a house...], and my eyes could not [comprehend] its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that housea roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was [a crowd—two lines missing—], saying, 'Master, take me in along with these people.'"
[Jesus] answered and said, "Judas, your star has led you astray." He continued, "No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels.
By this point, you should not be surprised that Judas is - in this gospel - the only one who 'gets it'. Recalling the gnostic myth, Judas' handing over Jesus becomes not a betrayal, but an act of devotion:
"But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."
"And then the image of the great generation of Adam will be exalted, for prior to heaven, earth, and the angels, that generation, which is from the eternal realms, exists. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star."
It is only fair to give a moment of rebuttal for at least one scholar who suggests there is a serious problem with this translation. April DeConick of Rice University says that Judas is not seperated "for" the holy generation, but "from" the holy generation. I haven't seen her alternate translation, but we should discuss what sense that makes with the rest of the content that we've seen in these two groups of readings.
Hope to see you Monday @ 7!
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