Pastor's Corner by Pastor Larry

May, 2006

After thirty-five years of discovering the artifacts of the “Gospel of Judas” in a cave along the Nile River, its story began to surface a couple of weeks ago. The artifacts are currently being exhibited at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C. As the story surfaces, we learn more of the “story behind the story” regarding the whereabouts of the discovery. There are many facets of this story, such as how the documents were looted and later returned, how the documents were partially ruined after being put in a freezer, and of course, the content itself, which reveals the “real” Judas of Iscariot.

I’ll leave it for the “experts” to determine the age and authenticity and other archeological findings, such as the missing pages and fragments. According to a partial content of the document, Judas was portrayed as the “good guy” who helped Jesus get rid of his flesh in order to liberate the divine being within. Therefore, Judas should be considered as Jesus’ friend, and not a traitor. Just as the fictional book DaVinci Code, this kind of new “revelation” certainly will stir interest from many regardless of their religious background. Is there any “truth” to what was written? If it was true, our Faith would be shaken, if not crumbled.

Regardless of the authenticity of the “Gospel according to Judas,” as Christians, how should we look at these kinds of “facts”? After all, DaVinci did paint a picture of a woman sitting next Jesus, and apparently Judas (or his confidant) wrote about his special relationship with Jesus. First, we shouldn’t be surprised with these kinds of writings. The rest of the apostles   wrote to the early churches to guard against false teachings such as these. In the early church age, there were many false teachings infiltrated into the churches. Therefore, it is only expected that these documents be found sooner or later. Second, we need to realize that what is authentic isn’t necessarily the truth. Similar to the complaint about the church suppressing the DaVinci painting, Judas’ teachings were ruled heretical by early church leaders. It would be a great disservice to the truths if the church would allow these kinds of false teachings to exist within the church. I tend to believe that every Chinese who knows about history would denounce the textbook used in Japan describing the “war” with China in Nanking as false teaching. The Japanese looked at the incident as a necessary invasion while the Chinese looked at it as a holocaust. The content may be authentic, but it isn’t the truth.

I imagine there will be more doubts cast to shake up Christians’ faith. Therefore, we must stand firm in faith and at the same time, have a full grasp of the Truths by being familiar with the Scripture. The Bible always warns that the most dangerous Christian is an ignorant Christian. Before I sign off, I would also like to say that this is a great opportunity for us to dialogue with those who question our Faith. Hold on to the Truths and grasp the opportunities to share how the Truths have changed your lives.

Pastor Larry