In the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Mary is illustrated to be a woman that is well versed with the teachings of Jesus. Peter asks Mary what Jesus has said to her that he did not say to the others. Mary then shares her knowledge with the other disciples but they do not believe her. They start to doubt that Jesus even spoke to her in the first place. It makes sense at that time period since women usually had less authority than the men. Jesus choosing to only tell her the teachings made the other disciples slightly resentful.
This book was most likely excluded since it goes against mainstream teachings, such as how women weren’t typically in leadership roles and how sin doesn’t really exist. Most believe that the death of Jesus washed people’s sins away but instead Jesus explains how only in good works can sin be absolved. I find this interesting because that is similar to how in the Quran, good works cancel out bad deeds. Jesus also says “It is your love for things that deceive you” which makes me think of how people find “love” in things that drain them such as alcohol. It is a false love that traps you into a constant cycle of self destruction.
Jesus points out that the attachment to material items go against your true nature. This makes me think of Buddha since that was his main belief. If the Gospel of Mary Magdalene is legitimate then it would certainly raise some questions about the religion and why it has elements of so many other religions. Since Mary is a key figure to witnessing Jesus’s resurrection, it raises only one question for me. If ‘sin’ is only to be erased by good works, then what was the point in Jesus’s crucifixion?
Gospel of Judas
Jesus’s image is depicted in this Gospel in a fashion that differs from my personal image of him. When the disciples made a statement about Him being the “Son of God” Jesus asks the disciples “How do [you] know me? Truly [I] say to you, no generation of the people among you will know me.” This completely contradicts John 14:9 which states “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” This statement from Jesus caused the disciples great anger. One thing that popped out for me was how Jesus told Judas he would give him insight on the mysteries of the Kingdom, not for him to expect to go there but to grieve since someone else will replace him.
In the canonical Gospels, Judas is the one that betrays Jesus and is usually described as the antagonist, but the Gospel of Judas paints him in a different light. Jesus explains to Judas how his “star is led astray” and how he is fated not to enter the Kingdom. Judas’s betrayal instead serves a more meaningful purpose. Jesus tells Judas to turn Him in, in order to separate His spirit from His flesh.
Baptisms are a common practice within Christianity to cleanse your body of sin. Essentially wiping your slate clean. But in the Gospel of Judas, Jesus says that baptisms will destroy the whole generation of the “earthly Adam.” This idea directly opposes the whole point of a baptism. Implying that instead of the cleansing of the spirit, it will lead to the destruction of mankind.
The birth of Adam and Eve is also illustrated differently. Instead of God being the one that creates humans after his image, it’s Saklas and his angels who create Adam and Eve in the image of God. If God wasn’t the one who created us then that would mean that Saklas is our Father, not God. This Gospel is hard for me to fathom since all my life I’ve been told that the Lord is our Father.