The Struggle and the Power

Last week, several people excitedly asked me if I’d heard of the discovery of the Gospel of Judas. The timing of this news is rather interesting coming the week before the holiest week in the Christian calendar. The Gospel of Judas, a tattered 66 page, leather-bound codex was actually found in the 1970’s in a cave near El Minya, Egypt- having surfaced after 1,700 years. It moved through the shadowy world of antiquities dealers until more recently when the National Geographic Society became involved in its translation and preservation.[1] It may offer new insights into the relationship between Jesus and Judas[2], the disciple whose very name has become synonymous with “traitor”, “betrayer.” The Judas manuscript begins, “ The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during the week, three days before he celebrated Passover.” Jesus refers to the other disciples, telling Judas “you will exceed all of them.”[3] This discovery “portrays Judas not as a betrayer of Jesus but a most favored disciple and willing collaborator.”[4] US News and World Report had an article about a new book, entitled The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family and the birth of Christianity by James Tabor, Professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina.[5] Tabor makes a case for John the Baptist as not just a messenger but a partner with Jesus. Jesus’ brother, James, also played a large role. They did seek a peaceful change, but a dynastic change, nevertheless. Tabor says that “Jesus was an apocalyptic visionary and a preacher of ethics.”[6] He took things in hand and tried to make things happen. Judas was ordered by Jesus to betray him so that his mission could be fulfilled.

This view of Jesus as engaged in a political struggle for power brings to mind the struggles for power today and the suffering inherent in these struggles. I find myself interested in what life was really like not only for Jesus but for his followers and family members. I am interested in how the political struggles play out in personal lives. As a woman with a son nearing the age when he will have to register for the selective service, this anniversary of Jesus’ death, I slip my feet into Mary’s sandals at the foot of the cross, where her son, Yeshua Bar-Yoseph died a torturous death. And later… her son, James, was stoned to death for his religious- perhaps political activities.

But today is Easter- when Christians celebrate that Jesus came to life again- that there is life after death. You notice several crosses in our sanctuary in the lamps and on our steeple. When you go back outside, you can take a look. You can see that they are empty crosses in the protestant tradition. The message is that torture and death are not the final answer. So I’ve been thinking about how Mary may have made meaning out of her devastating losses. Did she believe that her son, Yeshua, rose again? That his body came to life? I don’t know, of course, what she believed. But this joyous day, Easter, is a time when we acknowledge that joy is not a simple thing. Even when devastating things happen it is possible to find a deep peace, that passes understanding. Perhaps this is what Mary would say: [7] (pause)

“After my son’s death, his friends, both men and women… visited me, comforted me. There was always one of them with me during my deepest grief. They told me stories and I told them stories. We celebrated Yeshua’s life… and the ministry he offered his people. They even listened when I told them the same stories over and over again. I wish my son could know how appreciated he was by so many… how we continue to celebrate his life. Each one of us made a decision to change our lives to be more like the best qualities of my son. It changed each of us a little, day by day. That way we kept his life alive … in our lives… and in the lives of those we influenced. When my deepest grief subsided, I joined Yeshua’s friends in their visits around our countryside. I praise God that I have lived life long enough to see his love and love like his… spreading into peoples lives- even people who never knew him. That is my Easter joy.” (pause)

And maybe if Mary were living today… in a culture where women have a voice in public and political affairs, she would be protesting the violent conflict that took both her sons. So that her joy and peace would come in the comforting company of friends, faith in God’s love and in her activity to prevent the kind of suffering and death that visited her precious ones. When Betty Foster and I were sitting together to plan this service, we talked about what Mary’s experience might have been like. Frankly, I was feeling a bit depressed about it. But Betty said that Easter is about joy rising out of the darkest places. Perhaps Mary took comfort in knowing that Jesus was doing just what he wanted to do. He died in the midst of a life of great purpose, effectively delivering a healing, teaching, hope-giving presence and message for peaceful change in all areas of life.

Jane Rzepka writes, “We know that when something as wonderful as the message of Jesus comes along, in real life- it does not die forever. The message comes back to life. We know that when goodness, and righteousness, and love emerge in the midst of humanity, they continue to rise up and come back to us. We know that hope does not die; hope comes back to life. And so it was with Jesus. It was if he was not dead. That is resurrection.”[8] So may it be!

[1] US News and World Report, April 17, 2006.

[2] The New York Times, April 6, 2006. ‘Gospel of Judas’ Surfaces After 1,700 Years. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html

[3] New York Times, ibid.

[4] New York Times, ibid.

[5] US News and World Report, April 17, 2006.

[6] US News, ibid.

[7] Idea and some quotes and paraphrase from a sermon by Rev. Francis Buckmaster, Easter, 1999, First Parish in Portland, Unitarian Universalist, Maine.

[8] Quest: Church of the Larger Fellowship, Unitarian Universalist. Our Kind of Story. Volume LXII, No. 4 April 2006.