Jesus' body saved the world, not himself

April 23, 2006 -- Second Sunday of Easter

By Fr. Michael Stubbs

	Fr. Mike Stubbs

Suicide pacts are all the rage. Periodically, a suicide bomber in Iraq or Israel will blow up himself and a crowd of innocent people. Just a few days ago, scholars announced the discovery of the Gospel of Judas, which claims that Jesus and Judas entered into a suicide pact. According to this ancient document, Jesus persuaded Judas to turn him over to the Romans. In other words, Judas betrayed Jesus as a favor to him.

The Gospel of Judas reflects the beliefs of the Gnostics, a heretical group from the early centuries of Christianity. While the Gospel of Judas purports to base itself upon historical facts about Jesus, it takes considerable liberty with them. Think of it as a 2nd century equivalent of the Dan Brown novel, The Da Vinci Code.

The mass media have focused upon the role assigned to Judas in the Gospel of Judas, and how that role differs from the role he plays in the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In those gospels, which were accepted into the Christian New Testament, Judas appears as a traitor, not as Jesus' obliging friend.

On the other hand, I believe it is more instructive to examine the Gospel of Judas' view concerning Jesus and his death. That also sharply contrasts with the canonical gospels' view of Jesus. The difference between the two more clearly delineates the nature of Gnosticism and Christianity.

For Christians, the death and resurrection of Jesus brought salvation to the world. In contrast, the Gnostics believed that salvation came from the secret knowledge, the "gnosis," that Jesus revealed to a chosen few. For the Gnostics, Jesus' death allowed him to escape the body which held his spirit prisoner. He did not die to benefit the world, but to bring himself release.

The Gnostics disparaged the material world and the human body as being evil. In contrast, Christianity looks upon the world as the creation of God, pronounced good by its Creator. Because the human race was created in the image and likeness of God, the human body is also good.

According to our Christian faith, the birth of Jesus brought further dignity to the human body. Through the mystery of the Incarnation, God took on human flesh. For Christians, Jesus' body did not imprison his spirit. Instead, Jesus' body served as the means of our salvation. His body hung upon the cross to save the world. It was that same body which rose from the dead on Easter.

The Gospel of John appears at times to have been written in order to oppose Gnostic beliefs and to defend Christian ones. That explains its emphasis upon the Incarnation. Sunday's gospel, John 20:19-31, shows us a good example of that.

The Risen Christ appears to the disciples. He invites the doubting Thomas to touch the wounds in his body. Even though his body is glorified in the resurrection, it is the same body which hung upon the cross. Through death, Jesus has not escaped from his body, but has transformed it. The appearance by the Risen Christ refutes the Gnostic claim.

(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)