Fool's Silver

FOOL’S SILVER (LUKE 21:37-22:6)

The fight for the inclusion of books into the New Testament canon at the Synod of Rome in 382 produced few winners and many losers. The Christian leaders of the time accepted four gospels and rejected at least three dozen gospels. As befitting its name, the Gospel of Judas was one of the biggest losers. Experts agreed it was probably written in Greek in the second century, about a century and a half after Jesus’ death. Scholars also agree that the National Geographic version unveiled in 2006 was a Coptic translation dated to the fourth or fifth century.

Gospel of Judas was one of many Gnostic texts excluded by the church fathers but made a celebrity in the Da Vinci Code. The second century church leader Irenaeus mentioned the existence of the Gospel of Judas in 180 AD.

http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=1594

The National Geographic manuscript claims that Jesus revealed “secret knowledge” to Judas, who is the hero, Jesus’ most senior and trusted disciple and the only one who knows Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God, and instructed him to turn Him over to Roman authorities. In the Gnostic text, Judas is given private instruction by Jesus and is granted a vision of the divine that is denied to other disciples, who do not know that Jesus has requested his own betrayal. Rather than acting out of greed or malice, Judas was just carrying out or following orders. (“Long-lost Gospel of Judas Recasts ’Traitor’: USA Today 4/6/2006)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-04-06-judas_x.htm

The most revealing passages in the Judas manuscript begins with a typical Gnostic introduction: “The ‘secret account’ of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week, three days before he celebrated Passover.” The account goes on to relate that Jesus refers to the other disciples, telling Judas “you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.” By that, scholars familiar with Gnostic thinking said, Jesus meant that by helping him get rid of his physical flesh, Judas will act to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus. In the diversity of early Christian thought, a group known as Gnostics believed in a secret knowledge of how people could escape the prisons of their material bodies and return to the spiritual realm from which they came. (“Gospel of Judas’ Surfaces After 1,700 Years,” New York Times 4/6/2006)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/science/06cnd-judas.html?ex=1301976000&en=83f990ac468000df&ei=5088

No one likes to be accused of being a Judas. No parent wants to give his son that name. There is nothing positive about the name. So who is Judas? He is one of the greatest villains in the Bible. The Bible blurs his character by calling him “Judas, one of the Twelve” (Luke 22:3) and also “Judas the traitor” (John 18:5). He is the treasurer (John 13:29), a thief and a traitor (John 12:6, Lk 6:16). Just as the snake is the villain in the Old Testament, Judas is the villain and the snake of the New Testament, succeeding where the devil failed to “entrap” Jesus at the onset of Jesus’ ministry.

Judas is a more complex character than many thought. Who was Judas? Hero or villain? What was Judas’ sin? Was it impulsive or intentional? Did he lack money? Why did he regret later and hanged himself?

Your Company Determines Your Character

22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. (Luke 22:1-4)

Here are some of my favorite quotes on friendship:

“Money might make you wealthy, but friends make you rich.”

“Best friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere.”

“A friend will ride in the limo with you, but a real friend will ride the bus with you when then limo breaks down.”

“A new friendship is like an unripened fruit - it may become either an orange or a lemon”

“He who follows the crowd has many companions.” (German)

“You are known by the company you keep.”

George Washington said, “Tis better to be alone than in bad company.”

“Be slow in choosing a friend, slower in changing.” (Benjamin Franklin)

“A true friend never gets in your way--unless you happen to be going down.”

Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616) Spanish novelist of “Man of La Mancha” fame: “Tell me what company thou keepst, and I’ll tell thee what thou art.”

French poet Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813) : “Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends.”