Gospel of Judas

The Earthly Ministry of Jesus
When Jesus appeared on earth, he performed miracles and great wonders for the salvation of humanity. And since some walked in the way of righteousness while others walked in their transgressions, the 12 disciples were called. He began to speak with them about the mysteries beyond the world and what would take place at the end. Often he did not appear to his disciples as himself, but he was found among them as a child.

Scene 1
Jesus dialogues with his disciples: the prayer of thanksgiving or the eucharist
One day he was with his disciples in Judea, and he found them gathered together and seated in pious observance. When he approached his disciples, gathered together and seated and offering a prayer of thanksgiving over the bread, he laughed. The disciples said to him, "Master, why are you laughing at our prayer of thanksgiving? We have done what is right." He answered and said to them, "I am not laughing at you. You are not doing this because of your own will but because it is through this that your god will be praised." They said, "Master, you are the the son of our god." Jesus said to them, "How do you know me? Truly I say to you, no generation of the people that are among you will know me."

The disciples become angry.
When his disciples heard this, they started getting angry and infuriated and began blaspheming against him in their hearts. When Jesus observed their lack of understanding, he said to them, "Why has this agitation led you to anger? Your god who is within you and . . . have provoked you to anger within your souls. Let anyone of you who is strong enough among human beings bring out the perfect human and stand before my face." They all said, "We have the strength." But their spirits did not dare to stand before him, except for Judas Iscariot. He was able to stand before him, but he could not look him in the eyes, and he turned his face away. Judas said to him, "I know who you are and where you have come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you."

Jesus Speaks to Judas Privately.
Knowing that Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him, "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the 12 disciples may again come to completion with their god." Judas said to him, "When will you tell me these things, and when will the great day of light dawn for the generation?" But when he said this, Jesus left him.

Scene 2
Jesus appears to the disciples again
The next morning, after this happened, Jesus appeared to his disciples again. They said to him, "Master, where did you go and what did you do when you left us?" Jesus said to them, "I went to another great and holy generation." His disciples said to him, "Lord, what is the great generation that is superior to us and holier than us, that is not now in these realms?" When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to them, "Why are you thinking in your hearts about the strong and holy generation? Truly I say to you, no one born of this aeon will see that generation, and no host of angels of the stars will rule over that generation, and no person of mortal birth can associate with it, because that generation does not come from . . . which has become . . . The generation of people among you is from the generation of humanity . . . power, which . . . the other powers . . . by which you rule." When his disciples heard this, they each were troubled in spirit. They could not say a word. Another day Jesus came up to them. They said to him, "Master, we have seen you in a vision, for we have had great dreams . . . night . . ." He said, "Why have you . . . when you have gone into hiding?"

The disciples see the temple and discuss it.
They said, "We have seen a great house with a large altar in it, and 12 men - they are the priests, we would say - and a name; and a crowd of people is waiting at that altar, until the priests . . . and receive the offerings. But we kept waiting." Jesus said, "What are the priests like?" They said, "Some . . . 2 weeks; some sacrifice their own children, others their wives, in praise and humility with each other; some sleep with men; some are involved in slaughter; some commit a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness. And the men who stand before the altar invoke your name, and in all the deeds of their deficiency, the sacrifices are brought to completion . . ." After they said this, they were quiet, for they were troubled.

Jesus offers an allegorical interpretation of the vision of the temple.
Jesus said to them, "Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests who stand before that altar invoke my name. Again I say to you, my name has been written on this . . . of the generations of the stars through the human generations. And they have planted trees without fruit, in my name, in a shameful manner." Jesus said to them, "Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar - that is who you are. That is the god you serve, and you are those 12 men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar . . . will stand and make use of my name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to him. After him another man will stand there from the fornicators, and another will stand there from the slayers of children, and another from those who sleep with men, and those who abstain, and the rest of the people of pollution and lawlessness and error, and those who say, 'We are like angels'; they are the stars that bring everything to its conclusion. For to the human generations it has been said, 'Look, God has received your sacrifice from the hands of a priest' - that is, a minister of error. But it is the Lord, the Lord of the universe, who commands, 'On the last day they will be put to shame.' " Jesus said to them, "Stop sacrificing . . . which you have . . . over the altar, since they are over your stars and your angels and have already come to their conclusion there. So let them be ensnared before you, and let them go . . . generations . . . A baker cannot feed all creation under heaven. And . . . to them . . . and . . . to us and . . . Jesus said to them, "Stop struggling with me. Each of you has his own star, and everybody . . . in . . . who has come . . . spring for the tree . . . of this aeon . . . for a time . . . but he has come to water God's paradise, and the generation that will last, because he will not defile the walk of life of that generation, but . . . for all eternity."

Judas asks Jesus about that generation and human generations.
Judas said to him, "Rabbi, what kind of fruit does this generation produce?" Jesus said, "The souls of every human generation will die. When these people, however, have completed the time of the kingdom and the spirit leaves them, their bodies will die but their souls will be alive, and they will be taken up." Judas said, "And what will the rest of the human generations do?" Jesus said, "It is impossible to sow seed on rock and harvest its fruit. This is also the way . . . the defiled generation . . . and corruptible Sophia . . . the hand that has created mortal people, so that their souls go up to the eternal realms above. Truly I say to you . . . angel . . . power will be able to see that . . . these to whom . . . holy generations . . . " After Jesus said this, he departed.

Scene 3
Judas recounts a vision and Jesus responds.
Judas said, "Master, as you have listened to all of them, now also listen to me. For I have seen a great vision." When Jesus heard this, he laughed and said to him, "You 13th spirit, why do you try so hard? But speak up, and I shall bear with you." Judas said to him, "In the vision I saw myself as the 12 disciples were stoning me and persecuting me severely. And I also came to the place where . . . after you. I saw a house . . . and my eyes could not comprehend its size. Great people were surrounding it, and that house had a roof of greenery, and in the middle of the house was a crowd . . . saying, 'Master, take me in along with these people.' " Jesus answered and said, "Judas, your star has led you astray." He continued, "No person of mortal birth is worthy to enter the house you have seen, for that place is reserved for the holy. Neither the sun nor the moon will rule there, nor the day, but the holy will abide there always, in the eternal realm with the holy angels. Look, I have explained to you the mysteries of the kingdom and I have taught you about the error of the stars; and . . . send it . . . on the 12 aeons."

Judas asks about his own fate.
Judas said, "Master, could it be that my seed is under the control of the rulers?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Come, that I . . . but that you will grieve much when you see the kingdom and all its generation." When he heard this, Judas said to him, "What good is it that I have received it? For you have set me apart for that generation." Jesus answered and said, "You will become the 13th, and you will be cursed by the other generations - and you will come to rule over them. In the last days they will curse your ascent to the holy generation."

Judas teaches Judas about cosmology: the Spirit and the Self-Generated.
Jesus said, "Come, that I may teach you about secrets no person has ever seen. For there exists a great and boundless realm, whose extent no generation of angels has seen, in which there is a great invisible Spirit, which no eye of an angel has ever seen, no thought of the heart has ever comprehended, and it was never called by any name. And a luminous cloud appeared there. He said, 'Let an angel come into being as my attendant.' "A great angel, the enlightened divine Self-Generated, emerged from the cloud. Because of him, 4 other angels came into being from another cloud, and they became attendants for the angelic Self-Generated. The Self-Generated said, 'Let . . . come into being . . . ' and it came into being . . . And he created the first luminary to reign over him. He said, 'Let angels come into being to serve him,' and myriads without number came into being. He said, 'Let an enlightened aeon come into being,' and he came into being. He created the 2nd luminary to reign over him, together with myriads of angels without number, to offer service. That is how he created the rest of the enlightened aeons. He made them reign over them, and he created for them myriads of angels without number, to assist them.

Adamas and the Luminaries.
"Adamas was in the first luminous cloud that no angel has ever seen among all those called 'God.' He . . . that . . . the image . . . and after the likeness of this angel. He made the incorruptible generation of Seth appear . . . the 12 . . . the 24 . . . He made 72 luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit. The 72 luminaries themselves made 360 luminaries appear in the incorruptible generation, in accordance with the will of the Spirit, that their number should be 5 for each. "The 12 aeons of the 12 luminaries constitute their father, with 6 heavens for each aeon, so that there are 72 heavens for the 72 luminaries, and for each 50 of them 5 firmaments, for a total of 360 firmaments . . . They were given authority and a great host of angels without number, for glory and adoration, and after that also virgin spirits, for glory and adoration of all the aeons and the heavens and their firmaments.

The Cosmos, Chaos, and the Underworld.
"The multitude of those immortals is called the cosmos - that is, perdition - by the Father and the 72 luminaries who are with the Self-Generated and his 72 aeons. In him the first human appeared with his incorruptible powers. And the aeon that appeared with his generation, the aeon in whom are the cloud of knowledge and the angel, is called El . . . aeon . . . after that . . . said, 'Let 12 angels come into being to rule over chaos and the underworld.' And look, from the cloud there appeared an angel whose face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood. His name was Nebro, which means 'rebel'; others call him Yaldabaoth. Another angel, Saklas, also came from the cloud. So Nebro created 6 angels - as well as Saklas - to be assistants, and these produced 12 angels in the heavens, with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.

The Ruler and Angels.
"The 12 rulers spoke with the 12 angels: 'Let each of you . . . and let them . . . generation . . . angels': The first is Seth, who is called Christ. The 2nd is Harmathoth, who is . . . The 3rd is Galila. The 4th is Yobel. The 5th is Adonaios. These are the 5 who ruled over the underworld, and first of all over chaos.

The Creation of Humanity.
"Then Saklas said to his angels, 'Let us create a human being after the likeness and after the image.' They fashioned Adam and his wife Eve, who is called, in the cloud, Zoe. For by this name all the generations seek the man, and each of them calls the woman by these names. Now, Sakla did not command . . . except . . . the generations . . . this . . . And the ruler said to Adam, 'You shall live long, with your children.' "

Judas asks Jesus about the destiny of Adam and humanity.
Judas said to Jesus, "What is the long duration of time that the human being will live?" Jesus said, "Why are you wondering about this, that Adam, with his generation, has lived his span of life in the place where he has received his kingdom, with longevity with his ruler?" Judas said to Jesus, "Does the human spirit die?" Jesus said, "This is why God ordered Michael to give the spirits of people to them as a loan, so that they might offer service, but the Great One ordered Gabriel to grant spirits to the great generation with no ruler over it - that is, the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the rest of the souls . . .

Jesus discusses the destruction of the wicked with Judas and others.
" . . . light . . . around . . . let . . . spirit that is within you dwell in this flesh among the generations of angels. But God caused knowledge to be given to Adam and those with him, so that the kings of chaos and the underworld might not lord it over them." Judas said to Jesus, "So what will those generations do?" Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, for all of them the stars bring matters to completion. When Saklas completes the span of time assigned for him, their first star will appear with the generations, and they will finish what they said they would do. Then they will fornicate in my name and slay their children and they will . . . and . . . my name, and he will . . . your star over the 13th aeon." After that Jesus laughed. Judas said, "Master, why are you laughing at us?" Jesus answered and said, "I am not laughing at you but at the error of the stars, because these 6 stars wander about with these 5 combatants, and they all will be destroyed along with their creatures."

Jesus speaks of those who are baptized, and Judas' betrayal.
Judas said to Jesus, "Look, what will those who have been baptized in your name do?" Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, this baptism . . . my name . . . to me. Truly I say to you, Judas, those who offer sacrifices to Saklas . . . God . . . everything that is evil. "But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. Already your horn has been raised, your wrath has been kindled, your star has shown brightly, and your heart has . . . "Truly . . . your last . . . become . . . grieve . . . the ruler, since he will be destroyed. And then the image of the great generation of Adam will be exalted, for prior to heaven, earth, and the angels, that generation, which is from the eternal realms, exists. Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star." Judas lifted up his eyes and saw the luminous cloud, and he entered it. Those standing on the ground heard a voice coming from the cloud, saying . . . great generation . . . image . . .

Conclusion: Judas betrays Jesus.
. . . Their high priests murmured because he had gone into the guest room for his prayer. But some scribes were there watching carefully in order to arrest him during the prayer, for they were afraid of the people, since he was regarded by all as a prophet. They approached Judas and said to him, "What are you doing here? You are Jesus' disciple." Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some money and handed him over to them.