The Judas Factor; Part III

Although scholars are divided on how Judas is characterized in the recently discovered Gospel of Judas, if approached from Preston Harold’s point of view the disputes may be lessened. These disputes are based upon how a few select words are interpreted.

Take, for instance, how the Greek word paradidomi is interpreted in the canonical gospels. Does it mean “betrayed” or “handed over?” Does it mean both? How one decides to interpret that word makes all the difference in how one interprets the character and destiny of Judas. If one takes Harold’s testimony into account, it is difficult not to interpret paradidomi the way that it was used in the first century up until the gospel accounts of Judas were written, that is simply as “handing over,” with no intimations of betrayal at all. Yet when the word is translated in the gospels in connection with Judas, it is always rendered as “betray.” Maybe that’s because Judas himself accounted his deed after the fact as a betrayal, not being able to live with himself.

In the accounts of the betrayal, there is implication that Jesus had discussed Judas’ role with him. Jesus announces that He is to be betrayed and describes the fate of the betrayer. Judas asks, “Surely it is not me, rabbi?” Jesus answers, “Is it not?” This suggests that Judas had been instructed, had not fully comprehended the implication in what he was to do, faltered when it came to him, and would have faltered when Jesus handed him the sop, save for Jesus’ command: “Be quick with what you have to do.”

This passage continues, “None of those at table understood why he said this to him; some thought that, as Judas kept the money-box, Jesus told him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the poor. So Judas went out immediately after taking the bread.”

To add insult to injury to Judas, at this point in John’s gospel John tells us that “Satan entered into (Judas).” Of course this is true in the original Hebrew sense of the word “Satan,” which means not an evil entity, but rather is a title of one who initiates a trial and thus brings the protagonist to fulfill God’s calling as his true purpose. Yet Christian interpretation has heavily elucidated this phrase as a negative mark and stain upon Judas. Why this mark and stain doesn’t also pertain to Peter, whom Jesus Himself actually called Satan at one point, is beyond me. In fact, how we interpret Judas’ deed says nothing about Judas and everything about us and our acceptance of reality, for we are not really angry at Judas. He was just following instructions. We are angry at Jesus. We are angry that we need to die to ourselves. We are angry that Jesus actually did die to show us in no uncertain terms that it is truly the way. We want a king, an unquestioned ruler to confirm our biases and bless us with his undefeatable power. We want a power grab. But Jesus says “no” to this request and we hate Him for it. And so it’s so much easier just to make Judas the scapegoat for our hatred of Jesus and His way, no?

There seems no doubt that Jesus could have stopped Judas with a word, but Son of man must follow the path outlined by Scriptures….Judas appears to be the first to die in service to Jesus: Jesus outlined an action and gave Judas both the signal and the command to perform it. As Judas kissed Jesus to betray Him, Jesus called him, “Friend.” Would He have chosen this moment to be ironical, sarcastic, hypocritical?

Truth speaks truth. Jesus called Judas friend. At the last supper Jesus said: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” Moffatt translates Jesus’ words at the moment of betrayal, “My man, do your errand.” There was still a Scripture to be fulfilled – and Judas had an errand to do before it could be fulfilled – this Judas did before he killed himself. The prophecy reads:

…and I took the thirty silver pieces, the price of him who had been priced, whom they had priced and expelled from the sons of Israel; and I gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had bidden me.

As the Lord had bidden me. The fulfilling of this prophecy bespeaks the interaction between Jesus and Judas. The money “bought” earth – “bought” matter.

Jesus did not have to bid Judas to hang himself. He knew he would be unable to live with himself after his act. As Judas acquits his role, a boundary is provided for Light’s action.

Until next time, peace.

The Judas Factor; Part II

To continue with our thread of thought from the last installment, we must remember that Preston Harold understands Jesus’ ministry as an enactment of the drama of light in the quantum realm. Harold tells us that

Jesus, Light, stays in consciousness long enough to determine the load upon the elect-ones, then retires into the unconscious domain. Jesus appears to have “fixed the load” upon Judas, to have cast him in the role of the one measure the system “loses” in the course of time.

The loss of this measure appears to be directly concerned with the acquisition of matter or the conversion of energy to matter, and the return of matter to the field or into a field, for Judas was involved with matter in keeping the purse, and he was handed the sop of bitter herbs or bread, “my body,” my matter, as the signal to collect his reward in silver – precious matter. Of his own volition, Judas finished himself – into matter, and the silver was returned to “purchase” a potter’s field.

It is incredible to me how accurately the drama of Jesus and Judas represents the activity of light and the quantum field. Once the parallels are uncovered as Harold masterfully does here, one cannot help but wonder at the precision of the symbolism with which the gospel writers conveyed the story. Judas’ purse and silver as his matter and his giving himself over to it; how could it be otherwise? The inevitability, the destiny of it all is stunning. Any thinking person cannot help but be moved, not just by the accuracy of the parallel here between science and religion, but also by the emotional toll placed upon Judas. Even Jesus stated that His handing over must take place, but woe to the one who does the deed: “And The Son of Man goes just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom The Son of Man is betrayed; it would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” –Matt:26:24

The mystery of Judas touches many thinking men. (Ernest) Renan says:

“Without denying that Judas of Kerioth may have contributed to the arrest of his Master, we still believe that the curses with which he is loaded are somewhat unjust….if the foolish desire for a few pieces of silver turned the head of poor Judas, he does not seem to have lost the moral sentiment completely, since when he had seen the consequences of his fault he repented, and, it is said, killed himself.”

In our next post we will delve further into the inevitability and destiny of Judas’ deed. Until then, peace.

The Judas Factor; Part I

Jesus promised not heaven, but everlasting life. Life must be lived in the material realm which is shared by good and evil. In it they are reconciled through the one measure that both separates and rejoins the two frequencies that constitute light’s “household” or wave-group, providing a boundary for its action.

Preston Harold here reminds us that we don’t follow Jesus to go to heaven, but to gain everlasting life. And just to make sure that we don’t conflate everlasting life with a heaven beyond, he reinforces that there is no manifestation of life without matter. Scripture reinforces this thought in the Book of Revelation where John confesses to us that he saw a new heaven and a new earth, a new type of mind and a new type of body. The two separate frequencies of mind and body, good and evil, have been reconciled and rejoined through the one measure, Christ, who provides the boundary for the new Jerusalem. But the one measure, Christ, also separates. He doesn’t bring peace, but the sword. He sets the 2 against 3 and the 3 against 2. This is where Judas enters the picture.

In the material realm, the second law of thermodynamics reigns supreme – the law that says any physical system left to itself and allowed to distribute its energy in its own way does so in a manner such that entropy increase while the available energy of the system diminishes. These two aspects of the physical realm are dramatized in the strange play between Jesus and Judas.

If one reduces the diminishing effect of the second law to the smallest or simplest operation conceivable, he must show that one iota of the source energy of a system, or one representative of the energy of a system, must be made unavailable, or “lost,” as the cycle of one full operation is completed, or simply when the time has come. At Jesus’ death, the “system” the disciples represent, left to itself, diminishes by one as Judas dies, and an outside source of energy must be incorporated if another full cycle is to be completed.

Harold says St. Paul comes from the outside to fulfill this role, but what about Matthias? We don’t hear anything about Matthias after he is chosen to replace Judas. Regardless, I think we know what Harold is getting at here. And with that we will look forward to continuing our exploration of the Judas factor in the next installment. Until then, peace.