The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot (2 page)

1.
Jesus began his ministry as a teacher in the lakeside village of Capernaum.

2.
He taught his growing band of followers that the time of God's appearance in Israel was at hand, and that they should ignore any instructions given by corrupt local officials,
a brood of vipers fleeing from the wrath to come
.

see
Matt 3:7

3.
Israel was facing its moment of truth, and the time had come to accept only God as the nation's Lord and King.

see
Mark 1:14–15;
Matt 4:12–17

4.
Jesus' message quickly spread throughout Galilee, and people travelled great distances to hear him preach.

5.
While he was standing by the Sea of Galilee, the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God
.

Luke 5:1

6.
He saw Simon and his brother Andrew, two local fishermen who were casting their nets into the sea. They had laboured unsuccessfully throughout the night, and were making their final cast.

7.
Jesus watched as they pulled their empty nets out of the water.

8.
He said to Simon:
Cast your net once again, but this time on the other side of the boat
.

see
Luke 5:4

9.
Simon ignored the stranger's advice, telling him that he knew exactly where the shoals of fish made their breeding grounds, and did not need to be told where to cast his net.

10.
Andrew remained silent as he gazed at the figure standing on
the shore. Unlike his brother, he decided to take the stranger's advice.

11.
Andrew cast his net on the other side of the boat, and almost immediately it became so full that it took all of Simon and Andrew's strength to haul the catch on board.

12.
Simon was overwhelmed by the stranger's authority, and leapt out of the boat and into the sea. He waded to the shore and fell at Jesus' feet.

13.
Jesus looked at the two men and said:
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men
.

Matt 4:19;
Mark 1:17;
Luke 5:10

14.
Simon and Andrew left their boat and followed Jesus.

15.
As the three of them walked along the shore together, they came across James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were fishermen, who were repairing their nets and separating their catch after a night's work.

16.
Jesus also called on them to follow him, and they immediately abandoned their boats and followed in his footsteps without question.

17.
These four fishermen were the first followers of Jesus of Nazareth.

see
Mark 1:16–20;
Matt 4:18–22;
Luke 5:1–11

18.
They gave up their livelihoods, leaving behind their families, their hired servants and all their possessions in order to follow Jesus.

19.
From Jesus of Nazareth's early days as a wandering teacher, his authority inspired confidence and passion among those who gave up everything to follow him.

20.
Jesus returned to Capernaum with his four disciples, Simon, Andrew, James and John.

21.
It being the Sabbath, they made their way straight to the Synagogue in order to worship, and found the sacred place in turmoil.

22.
A man possessed of a demon had entered the building, and
was screaming profanities and disrupting the worshippers as they gathered to hear the Torah read and explained.

23.
Jesus walked towards the man.

24.
The man panicked, and started waving his arms and shouting:
Go away, Jesus. I know who you are, God's Holy messenger
.

see
Mark 1:24;
Luke 4:34

25.
Jesus, exercising the same authority that his disciples had experienced when he called them away from their boats, said firmly:
Be silent, and come out of him!

Mark 1:25;
Luke 4:35

26.
The possessed man fell to the ground, and all around stared down at him, assuming that he must be dead. No one dared to approach Jesus, as they were fearful that he might also be possessed by demons.

27.
Jesus bent down and took the man by the hand, and instructed him to return to his home

28.
Some who had witnessed what had taken place turned to his disciples and asked:
Who is this man? And by what authority does he cast out demons?

Mark 1:21–28;
Luke 4:31–37

29.
The disciples were unable to answer their questions, and news of what had taken place quickly spread throughout Galilee.

1.
Jesus and his disciples left the Synagogue and went to the home of Simon.

2.
When they arrived, they were told that Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Simon's family were fearful for her life, and advised him and his friends to leave quickly, as they too might catch the disease and possibly die.

3.
Jesus showed no such fear, and asked to be taken to the sick woman.

4.
Jesus stood by the woman's bedside, leant down and took her gently by the hand.

5.
Simon, the other disciples and the rest of the household could not hide their surprise. They also began asking among themselves:
Who is this man?
Jesus appears to be a man of God, and has shown he has power over demons, but he has touched the hand of a woman who is not his wife, which is a public breach of Jewish traditions of purity.

[vii]

6.
Jesus knelt by the woman's side and whispered in her ear. Even as he spoke, her fever was calmed and they were all amazed.

7.
Jesus stood up, and quietly asked the woman to rise, which she did immediately.

see
Mark 1:29–31;
Matt 8:14–15;
Luke 4:38–39

8.
Later, full of joy, the family sat down with Jesus and broke bread
.

9.
After resting, Jesus and his disciples left Simon's home and set
out for the village of Nazareth, a journey that would take them several hours.

10.
When they reached the foothills that led into the village, they heard the sound of a bell, warning them that a leper must be near at hand. The disciples, fearful for their health and religious purity, held back, while Jesus continued to walk towards the sound of the bell.

11.
As Jesus rounded the next bend, he came face to face with the leper. The sick man fell on his knees and cried out:
If you wish, you can make me clean
.

12.
Jesus smiled, stretched out his hands and continued walking towards the man saying,
I do wish. Be clean
.

Mark 1:40–42;
Matt 8:2–3;
Luke 5:12–13

13.
The disciples stepped forward cautiously and watched in disbelief as the leprosy deserted the man, and they were all amazed:
Jesus not only drives out demons, but can heal all manner of sickness
.

see
Mark 1:34; 39;
Matt 4:23; 9:35

14.
They repeated among themselves:
Who is this man?

15.
Some of his new followers remained uncertain, because Jesus had openly flouted the purity laws of Israel: he had touched a woman and healed her, and taken a leper by the hand and made him clean.

16.
Could it be that this man, who brought hope and healing to the afflicted, was the long-awaited Messiah? Were they therefore the chosen ones who would accompany him on the journey to Jerusalem, where the Davidic throne would be restored?

[viii]

17.
When Jesus heard them discussing these things, he warned them against saying that he was the Messiah.

see
Mark 8:30;
Matt 16:20;
Luke 9:21

18.
Jesus turned to the leper and forbade him to tell anyone the name of the man who had cured him.

Mark 1:40–45;
Luke 5:12–16

19.
But the leper could not hold his tongue, and ran into the town and shouted from the rooftops that it was Jesus of Nazareth who had made him whole.

20.
Being heralded by such news made it difficult for Jesus to enter that place because the local people came out of their homes and surrounded him as he made his way to the Synagogue.

see
Mark 1:45;
Luke 5:15

21.
Jesus' reputation as a great teacher had already spread throughout Galilee, so the leader of the Synagogue invited him to select a passage from the Torah and explain it to those who had assembled to hear him.

22.
Jesus chose a passage from the Prophet Isaiah where it is written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the release of captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed
.

Isa 61:1

23.
Jesus looked up to find that all those present were staring at him in silence. Some had been told of the curing of the man possessed of demons, while others had heard about the healing of the sick woman, and even more had learned about the cleansing of the leper.

24.
The leader of the Synagogue asked Jesus to explain the passage he had just read. Jesus' response was simple:
Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing
.

Luke 4:21

25.
One or two of the Pharisees murmured among themselves:
Is this not Joseph's son?

26.
Jesus answered:
A prophet is never without fame, except in his own country
.

see
Luke 4:22–24;
Matt 13:57;
Mark 6:4

27.
Others, who still wanted to believe, continued to ask:
Who is this man?

1.
Jesus came to the river Jordan to be baptized by John, who had prophesied:
I myself did not know who he would be, and for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel
.

John 1:31

2.
After he had baptized Jesus, John proclaimed:
I saw the spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it stayed with him. I had not been made aware that he was the one until God, who had sent me to baptize with water, said, ‘This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased
.'

see
John 1:32–34;
Mark 1:11;
Matt 3:17;
Luke 3:22

3.
From that moment, John was convinced that his days as a prophet of the Lord were numbered, and he told Andrew, one of his disciples:
I am not the Christ, I have been sent before him
.

John 3:28

4.
Pointing to Jesus, he said:
Here is a man of God; it is time for me to stand aside and allow him to carry out God's will
.

see
John 1:29,
34; 3:30

5.
On hearing these words, Andrew left his Master and ran after Jesus. Aware that he was being followed, Jesus turned and asked:
What are you searching for?

John 1:38

6.
Andrew fell to his knees and answered:
The authoritative teacher of the Torah prophesied by John the Baptist as a man of God
.

see
John 1:35–36

7.
From that time, many of the disciples of John the Baptist became followers of Jesus.

8.
Although John's days as a prophet were coming to an end, this did not prevent him from speaking with conviction whenever he taught the traditional beliefs of Israel.

9.
He even dared to challenge the legality of Herod's marriage to Herodias, who had previously been betrothed to Philip, Herod's brother.

10.
John proclaimed, for all to hear, that it was an adulterous union for Herod to marry the wife of his brother, even though the marriage had taken place after Philip's death.

11.
These words, often repeated, angered Herod and, for his courage and faith, John was arrested and thrown into prison.

12.
Despite having witnessed what had taken place when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, John remained unsure what God intended for Jesus of Nazareth.

13.
While he was locked away in prison, John gave orders that two of his disciples should seek out Jesus, and when they found him ask:
Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?

Luke 7:19;
Matt 11:3

14.
One of those disciples was Judas Iscariot.

15.
And when they found Jesus, he did not immediately answer John the Baptist's question.

16.
But in the same hour Jesus cured many infirmities and plagues and cast out evil spirits, and to many that were blind, he gave sight.

17.
And finally, turning to Judas, he said:
Go your way and tell John what things you have seen and heard
.

Luke 7:22;
Matt 11:4

18.
When John the Baptist heard these words, he looked up to heaven and proclaimed:
This is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
.

John 1:29

19.
After this proclamation by John, Judas quickly retraced his steps to Galilee and sought out Jesus.

20.
Once he had found him, he committed himself to his ministry.

21.
Judas was inspired by his new Master, who taught with knowledge and authority. He was
unlike the Scribes and Pharisees,
who preferred to walk about the town in their long robes, and expected reverence when they took the most prominent places in the Synagogue, following which they made a pretence of making long prayers
.

see
Mark 12:38–40;
Matt 23:2–7;
Luke 20:46–47
[ix]

22.
Judas was moved by Jesus' words and his interpretation of Israel's sacred texts.

23.
After Judas had been told all that Simon, Andrew, James and John had experienced, and what they had given up to follow Jesus, he too wanted to become a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth.

24.
Judas' faith in his new Master became so passionate, that he told everyone whom he encountered:
We have found the long-awaited Messiah
.

25.
One of those to whom Judas passed on the good news was Philip, who was so moved by Judas' words that he also gave up everything to follow Jesus.

26.
He in turn told his friend Nathanael:
We have found the Messiah, as foretold by Moses: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph
.

27.
However, Nathanael, a pious and cautious man, was not immediately convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. He reminded his friend Philip that Nazareth was a village with no biblical tradition, and that there was no evidence to be found in the Torah that suggested the Messiah would come from Galilee.

28.
Nathanael proclaimed:
Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

29.
Philip responded:
Come and see
.

30.
When Jesus first saw Nathanael walking towards him, he said:
Behold a genuine Israelite who is without guile
.

31.
Nathanael was amazed, and asked Jesus:
How can you know me?

[x]

32.
Jesus responded with the words:
Before Philip called upon you, I saw you sitting under a fig tree
.

33.
Nathanael bowed his head and declared:
Rabbi, you are the son
of God, you are the King of Israel
.

[xi]

34.
Nathanael also gave up all his worldly goods to follow Jesus, and because of his pious reputation, many others joined him and became followers.

35.
They all began to spread the good news, telling everyone of the coming of a new kingdom for Israel that would no longer be occupied by the pagans from Rome.

36.
Jesus did not openly acknowledge Nathanael's declaration that he must be the expected one, the Messiah, and therefore the fulfilment of the Davidic promise.

37.
When they were alone, Jesus said to Nathanael:
Because I said I saw you under a fig tree, do you therefore believe that I am Rabbi, son of God and King of Israel? Much more will be made known to you, and far more will be required of you before God's promises are fulfilled. For the moment, follow me
.

see
John 1:35–51

38.
Jesus made it clear to all his disciples that should anyone suggest that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected one, the Messiah, they were to be ignored, even denied.

see
Mark 7:36;
8:30 etc

39.
Judas could not understand why his Master would deny his sacred calling.

40.
He, like his fellow disciples, therefore continued to ask:
Who is this man?