Spiritual Growth Through Fiction And Scripture
A Study Guide for use with the novel The Lost Epistle of Jesus
Prepared by the author, The Reverend Evan Drake Howard, Th.D.
Printable Version
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: to know Christ more deeply through a six-week interactive encounter with the Bible and the novel The Lost Epistle of Jesus.
STUDY ONE: THE SPIRITUALITY OF PLACE
I. Introduction
Just as the Christ story occurred in a certain geographical and historical setting, so do the stories of our lives. Our bodies and souls inhabit specific times and places. Everything that happens to us, and in us, happens at a particular location at a particular moment or in a series of moments. These experiences shape our present and future—who we are now and who we will become. Because of the power of these experiences, we develop relationships with the settings where they occurred. In these settings we knew love or alienation, joy or sadness, success or failure, hope or despair.
Even if we leave a place, the place never leaves us. This is particularly true of the settings in which we feel God's presence. For some of us, walking on an ocean beach, smelling the salty air, and reflecting on the vastness of the sea bring God near. For others, hiking in the deep woods or climbing a mountain trail opens us to God. Still others find solitude in the desert, or on a bike ride, or in a cottage beside a lake.
Equally powerful are the spiritual encounters we have amid the stresses of daily life. God may come to us when we're washing the dishes or changing a diaper, when we're driving our car or walking on a crowded sidewalk, when we're watching our child's soccer game or completing an assignment for school or work.
Such experiences engage us on numerous levels—the level of the mind or the body, the emotions or the spirit, or all of these levels at once, or some combination of them. Wherever we are, what happens in us is as important as what happens to us.
II. Life in the Time of Jesus
The setting of the Christ story has fascinated every generation of New Testament readers. Palestine in the time of Jesus was an arid land conquered repeatedly by foreign invaders. It lay at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, measuring one hundred and twenty-five miles from north to south, and fifty miles from the Sea to the Jordan River. In this evocative setting, herds of sheep grazed on the sparse grass of rural pastures, tended by weather-beaten shepherds. Poor families labored in sprawling olive groves, vineyards, and wheat fields. Fishermen trimmed their sails and cast their nets on the Sea of Galilee. Jewish pilgrims trudged the dusty roads to bring their sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Passage through Palestine was the route of choice for armies and caravans traveling among the great empires of the Fertile Crescent. Some caravans had as many as three thousand camels, horses, and donkeys. They carried medicines, spices, clothing, perfumes, farm equipment, literature, and other goods to distant lands.
About one hundred years before Jesus began his ministry, the Roman general Pompey conquered the Jews (63 BC). In Jesus' day, Emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus, the stepson of Augustus Caesar, maintained order by appointing governors to oversee distant provinces such as Judea. The deprivation created by the oppressive Roman taxes kept many people poor. The men worked as farmers, herders, fishermen, carpenters, masons, stonecutters, and the like. The women tended to the children and to the household chores. Wives and children were considered the property of men. One of every five or six people in Palestine was a slave. People who were blind, lame, mentally ill, or afflicted with leprosy often became beggars. At the same time, some Jews got rich by working as tax collectors for the Romans. This was the setting in which Jesus conducted his ministry.
III. Fiction as a Vehicle of Spiritual Imagination
As The Lost Epistle of Jesus opens, Judith Silva has been dramatically affected by the Roman occupation of Jerusalem. She's heartbroken over the death of her younger brother, Reuben, who was run over by a Roman chariot and killed.
The relationship of the Jews to the Romans becomes a critical influence on the choices Judith makes and the person she becomes. The same was true of the historical Jesus. When his story intersects with hers through fiction, it does so amid the political, military, religious, and social dynamics of the time. The other major characters in the novel—Gabriel and Dismas Latronum, Nicodemus ben Gorion, and Mary Magdalene—are also affected by these dynamics. As readers, we go with them to Qumran, to the homes of Simon the Pharisee and Nicodemus, to Caesarea Philippi and Jericho, and eventually to the cross and the empty tomb.
Fiction becomes the vehicle by which we place ourselves in the Christ story. By entering into the struggles of the invented characters, we reflect on our own struggles. As we experience Christ in relationship to and with these characters, we deepen our appreciation of how he relates to us. In this way, the setting of the New Testament becomes our setting, too.
Even if we never visit the Holy Land, reading historical fiction can enrich our imaginings of what it was like in Jesus' day. So enriched, we don't just read the Christ story; we live it, and it lives in us, the source of our joy and peace, strength and hope.
IV. Meditative Exercise
Take a moment to reflect on where you have lived, the people you have met, the formative experiences you have had. Consider what these places mean to you, especially the ones you consider important to your spiritual growth. What did you feel or see, touch or smell in these places? Looking back, do you have any insights into what God may have been saying to you through them? If so, how have you responded?
V. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. As you reflect on Judith Silva and Dismas Latronum fleeing into the Judean desert and joining the Zealots at Qumran, read Numbers 14:1-10 and Matthew 4:1-11. (Note: The Bible quotes and references in this guide are from the New Revised Standard Version.)
In these passages, the desert is a place of testing. In the midst of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, the Israelites lose their faith. Even Jesus undergoes his severest test when he is famished and vulnerable. When Judith and Dismas run away, the desert quickly becomes a metaphor of their relationship. Reflect on how desert experiences come to all long term relationships. If we persevere, these experiences can be remembered as places of God's faithfulness. By contrast, when is the desert a place of death? Can it also become a place of new life? Which was it for Judith? For Dismas?
2. Read Psalm 13:1-3; Psalm 22:1-2; and Psalm 77:1-10 (or as many verses of these Psalms as you wish) and reflect on Gabriel Latronum's despair when he experiences betrayal. How do these Psalms speak to the feelings associated with unrequited love? Discuss these feelings in relation to Gabriel's attempted suicide at the Temple and how God was both absent and present in that unique place.
3. Read John 1:1-5 and John 8:12, passages that proclaim Christ as the light of the world. Then review Chapters 22 and 32 of the novel, in which Judith finds herself in Zedekiah's Cave and in a Roman prison. How did the light of Christ come to her in these places? How does the light come to us in our darkness?
STUDY TWO: THE CHALLENGE OF THE CHRIST STORY
I. Introduction
For Christians, the Christ story animates the heart of the spiritual life. It also plays a major role in The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Often called "the greatest story ever told", the drama of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection has helped to make the Bible the best-selling book of all time and Christianity a global religion. At one extreme, the Christ story is celebrated with incense and elaborate rituals in "high church" Roman Catholic masses. At the other extreme, Pentecostals celebrate the story with shouting, clapping, and speaking in tongues. The Reverend Jerry Falwell, a fundamentalist Baptist, and Bishop John Spong, a liberal Episcopalian, both find inspiration in the story, as do the Reverends Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson, whose views on politics and religion could hardly differ more.
Such diversity illustrates that we relate to the Christ story in deeply personal ways. The relationship stems from our unique hurts and hopes, our personality types, and our particular ways of understanding ourselves and the world. The story engages both our minds and hearts. On the intellectual level, Christ informs our understanding of the big questions—the nature of God, the problem of evil, the possibility of redemption, the future of the world, etc. On the level of the heart, his life, death, and resurrection mediate God's love and presence to us.
The power of this story makes it impossible to relegate Jesus to a minor role in a novel. Although his appearances are relatively brief in The Lost Epistle of Jesus, he has a major effect on the primary characters and overall plot of the book. Judith Silva, Gabriel and Dismas Latronum, Nicodemus ben Gorion, Mary Magdalene, and Judas Iscariot all find their destinies entwined with his. As we read the novel, we place ourselves not only in the life situations of the fictional characters but also in Jesus' life situation. This is a natural and potentially healing phenomenon. The mythologist Joseph Campbell uses the phrase "the hero's journey" to describe the Christ story. We read the story as both observers and participants. It's the story of the historical Jesus, whose experiences were uniquely his. But it's also the story of the universal Christ, whose joys and sorrows are ours as well.
II. Fiction's Potential to Deepen our Understanding of Christ
The Lost Epistle of Jesus employs fiction as a vehicle for theological reflection and spiritual development. No actual document written by the historical Jesus has ever been discovered (he did, however, write on the ground while intervening for the woman caught in adultery, as recorded in John 8). In the novel, the "lost epistle" is a device to help readers apply Jesus' teachings to complex situations, such as those requiring radical forgiveness or commitment to nonviolence. This radical element of Jesus' teachings is often lost, and fiction can help to recover it. It can also challenge widely accepted Christian understandings that stem from questionable readings of Scripture, such as the perception that God is exclusively male.
In his book The Writer's Journey (Studio City, CA: Michael Weise Productions, 1998), Christopher Vogler applies Campbell's understanding of the hero's journey to the process of writing a screenplay. Analyzing the Christ story according to Vogler's structure will help us place ourselves in its drama. Such an analysis might look like this: Jesus leaves the ordinary world of Nazareth in order to heed his call to adventure, which is his obedience in proclaiming the kingdom of God. He meets a mentor in John the Baptist and crosses a first threshold in his baptism and temptation in the wilderness. He then enlists allies and confronts enemies in his calling of the disciples and his clashes with the Pharisees. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he expresses reluctance about his ability to complete his mission. Finally he faces a supreme ordeal in his Passion. Then, after his resurrection, he returns to offer the elixir of eternal life to all who believe in him.
In The Lost Epistle of Jesus, Judith Silva and Gabriel Latronum take the hero's journey as well. The elixir they seek is true and lasting love. Judith leaves the ordinary world of Jerusalem to follow what she perceives as the call to adventure in the desert, with Dismas. She is reluctant to do this because she knows it will hurt Gabriel, but she overcomes her hesitancy and does it anyway. Only later does she realize what a terrible mistake she has made.
Gabriel also leaves his comfortable home. At the Temple he meets Nicodemus and must overcome his reluctance to heed his advice. When he finally does heed it, he pursues Judith in the desert and then goes with Nicodemus to meet Jesus. Like Judith, Gabriel must overcome his hesitancies, meet allies and enemies, and learn from a mentor. Nicodemus plays this latter role, teaching both Judith and Gabriel the insights of forgiveness, lasting love, and spirituality found in the epistle. These characters, as well as Dismas, Mary Magdalene, and Judas, take their own mythic journeys, and their stories intersect at key points with the journey of Christ.
III. Meditative Exercise
Pause and reflect on your life. Can you identify your unique mission? Have you received a "call to adventure" or gone through any of the stages typical of a hero's journey? In silent prayer, meditate on how the Christ story brings you hope and encouragement for this journey.
IV. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. Read Mark 15:21-45 and reflect on it along with chapters 34 & 35 of The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Discuss how Jesus' "supreme ordeal" intersected with the ordeals of Judith, Gabriel, and Dismas. How does the Christ story relate to our supreme ordeals today?
2. Read Matthew 28:1-10 or other accounts of the Resurrection in the Gospels. Then relate these accounts to the end of The Lost Epistle of Jesus, beginning with Chapter 38. How is Jesus transformed by his resurrection? How are the characters in the novel transformed over the course of the story? How do your answers apply to your own possibilities for transformation?
3. Read Luke 15:3-7 and 11-24 and then relate these parables to Judith's life in the novel. What were the key events that led to her redemption? How do these events resonate with the parables in Luke 15 and with our lives today?
4. Read John 12:24 and apply it to the experiences of Judith, Gabriel, and Dismas. What had to die in their lives in order for them to find the true meaning of love? When and how did they discover this meaning? What from their experiences applies to yours?
STUDY THREE: AN INVITATION TO HOLISTIC CHRISTIANITY
I. Introduction
Few New Testament texts can rival the theological depth or spiritual richness of the third chapter of John. A key phrase from this chapter—"You must be born again"—became the rallying cry of Evangelical Christianity. Equally prominent is the sixteenth verse, a favorite for Sunday School children to memorize: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."
The third chapter of John features a nighttime conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus. A member of the Jewish governing council called the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus remarks that no one could perform the "signs" that Jesus has done unless he was sent from God. Jesus answers, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" (vs. 3).
Confused about what this means, Nicodemus takes the saying literally. He asks, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" (vs. 4).
In response, Jesus explains that he is speaking about a spiritual process, not a physical one. "What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit" (vs. 6). In the course of the conversation, Jesus reveals his identity as the Son of God and Man, the One who offers eternal life to all who believe in him.
Nicodemus must have been deeply affected by this conversation and perhaps became a "secret disciple" as a result of it. We know this because of the two other references to him in the New Testament, both in the Gospel of John. In the seventh chapter, when Jesus stirs controversy at the Temple, the chief priests want to arrest him. But Nicodemus questions whether the law permits an arrest without a hearing. At this, the Pharisees mock him by asking, "Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?" (John 7:52).
Later, after Jesus' death, Nicodemus risks the wrath of both the Romans and the chief priests by associating himself with a crucified man. He arrives with a hundred pounds of spices and helps Joseph of Arimathea to embalm and bury Jesus (John 19:38-42).
II. Letting Fiction Expand our Thinking
The key question that underlies The Lost Epistle of Jesus is, What if Jesus had more to teach Nicodemus? Suppose Jesus had written him an epistle, and imagine that it contained a message not only for Nicodemus, but for all humanity. What would the epistle say? In the novel, the content of the epistle stems from both the teachings of Jesus in the canonical Gospels and from a "holistic" interpretation of his life and faith. The teachings are holistic in that they address the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. In illuminating the unity of the masculine and the feminine, they invite readers to reclaim the well-being that was theirs at birth, but that the scars of life have obscured.
As the novel opens, Nicodemus ben Gorion has studied the epistle and understands that mysterious things must happen to bring it to distant times and places, where people will need it to survive. He eventually becomes a mentor to Gabriel Latronum, Judith Silva Latronum, and Mary Magdalene, but first he must undergo a profound conversion.
In John 3, Nicodemus's problem is that he thinks literally instead of holistically. Literalistic thinking stifles creativity and integrative understanding. Its one-dimensional perspective may work in the study of math, science, or even the law, but faith is multi-dimensional, more like poetry or art, and oriented not only toward earth but also toward heaven. Jesus' response—that one must be born anew—suggests that the Spirit works from within to transform the entirety of one's life.
Jesus' focus in John 3 demonstrates his holistic thinking. The spiritual life is about the kingdom of God, the nature of believing, and knowing the difference between heavenly and earthly things. It's about salvation and eternal life, how to be "saved," how light differs from darkness, and how life in the Spirit works. The epistle addresses these topics by relating them to such concerns as heartbreak, forgiveness, prayer, spiritual knowledge, the healing of sexual wounds, living in the present moment, integrating the darkness within, and many others. The healing flows from God's grace, which is our unmerited and unconditional acceptance by our Creator through the work of Christ.
John emphasizes grace in the first chapter of his Gospel, but in the third chapter, Jesus stresses the role of the Spirit. In his commentary on John, Raymond E. Brown notes that the Hebrew word for Spirit (ruah) is feminine, and that the Greek verb that John uses, gennan, can either mean "to be born" or "to be begotten." Brown argues that the masculine sense of "to be begotten" fits John's thinking best, but Brown also notes that some translations prefer the feminine rendering "to be born" (The Gospel According to John, I-XII, New York: Doubleday, 1966, p. 130).
In John 3 the focus of Jesus' teaching is clearly on spiritual transformation. Our life in God's kingdom—or, conversely, God's reign in our lives—begins when we are "reborn from above," that is, from heaven. We cannot do this regenerating work ourselves; it's a miraculous work of the Spirit. By this work we are transformed from within so that we have a whole new life. The fictional epistle written by Jesus applies this transformation not only to our souls but also to our intellects, emotions, attitudes, and relationships. The epistle describes a process of being and becoming—a process that begins with faith in Christ and grows into deeper levels of trust.
The novel speculates that Mary Magdalene played a key role in leading Jesus to this holistic spirituality. So powerful was his passion for her that he spent hours in prayer to manage it. This led to his discovery of the union of the masculine and feminine within, and to his profound freedom and insightfulness. The novel suggests that all people have access to wholeness in Christ but most never find it. Captive to their own wounds and passions, and to the seductions of the world, they squander their spiritual potential. This potential can only be realized through an ongoing process of awakening.
III. Meditative Exercise
Close your eyes and meditate on the phrase "born anew" or "born from above." Focus on your breathing and repeat part of the phrase while inhaling, the other part while exhaling. During this process, consider the parts of your life still in need of transformation. Invite God to begin this process now.
IV. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. Read John 3:1-21 and discuss whether you hear these verses differently after reading The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Does the idea of Jesus writing an epistle appeal to you? Share why or why not and how you respond to the epistle's contents.
2. What does the phrase "holistic Christianity" mean to you? What contributions might a holistic interpretation offer to Christianity and to religion in general? Refer to Galatians 3:28-29 as you formulate your answer.
3. In Chapter 7 of The Lost Epistle of Jesus, Judith and Dismas are hiding in Nicodemus's storage chamber. They hear Nicodemus explain to Gabriel why a "sinful woman" could not tempt Jesus. Do you accept Nicodemus's explanation of Jesus as a "whole person?" Why or why not?
4. The New Testament contains examples of both dramatic and more subtle conversion experiences. For instance, Saul of Taursus was thrown from his horse by Christ's presence, whereas Timothy's faith was nurtured over time by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. Conversion is also presented as happening more than once, as in the case of Peter, who is "reconverted" after the Resurrection and after his vision of the clean animals. How might our experience of conversion incorporate these elements and become truly holistic?
STUDY FOUR: JESUS, MARY MAGDALENE, AND US
I. Introduction
How can we grow spiritually by examining Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene? Perhaps the answer lies in embracing more of our own humanity. If we can discover God's love and grace through this mythic relationship, perhaps we can nurture more of these qualities in ourselves and our relationships.
The plotline involving Jesus and Mary Magdalene provides an important anchor for The Lost Epistle of Jesus. This extraordinary man and woman grow by struggling with their feelings for one another, and eventually Judith and Gabriel learn from their growth.
The struggles begin as part of the novel's backstory: Divorced by her husband, Mary Magdalene flees Magdala to take refuge with her aunt and uncle in Jerusalem. While there, she encounters Jesus of Nazareth, and he drives out the demons associated with the trauma of her divorce. Mary becomes a follower of his, and a deep and soulful bond develops between them. On occasion they even kiss. Their closeness, however, troubles Jesus. He knows that his mission will place him in grave danger. If he marries and has children, his wife and family will be devastated by his death.
As he wrestles with his conflicted feelings in prayer, he receives the healing revelations about which he writes in the epistle. Unfortunately, before he can share these revelations with Mary Magdalene, the incident involving the prostitute at Simon ben Ephraim's house occurs, and Mary flees in anger. This sets in motion the events that will introduce her to Gabriel Latronum. Later, she provides guidance to both him and Judith and helps to reunite them.
II. The Biblical and the Fictional Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene's name appears twelve times in the New Testament. All of these, with the exception of one reference in Luke 8:2, occur at the end of the Gospels, in the crucifixion and resurrection scenes. Because Mary stayed with Jesus at the cross and then announced his resurrection to the male disciples, she became known as "the apostle to the apostles."
Mary was from the fishing village of Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Gospels attest that she was a loyal and courageous disciple of Jesus "from whom seven demons had gone out" (Luke 8:2). She must have loved Jesus deeply to stay with him through his suffering and then go to the tomb with embalming spices on the first Easter morning. These scant facts are all we know about Mary Magdalene from the Bible.
Two other sources, however, have produced fictionalized portraits of Mary. The first comes from church history. In a sermon in 591 AD, Pope Gregory the Great conflated the Mary mentioned in John 12—the woman who anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume and wipes them with her hair—with the unnamed "sinful woman" in Luke 7 who does the same. Identifying this woman as Mary Magdalene, Pope Gregory popularized the image of her as a repentant prostitute. Not until 1969 did the Roman Catholic Church declare that there is no biblical basis to support Pope Gregory's conflation. Yet the image of Mary Magdalene as a repentant prostitute lingered in the public consciousness, heightened by works such as the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Weber, and the novel The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis, which became a movie by the same title.
Another source of information about Mary Magdalene comes from the so-called "Gnostic Gospels." Mary has a prominent role in several of these, including one that bears her name, in which she is shown in conflict with the male disciples, particularly Peter. The portrait of Mary Magdalene found in the Gospel of Philip is woven into the novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Philip calls Mary Magdalene the companion, partner, or consort of Jesus. In a particularly dramatic passage (63-64), Philip says, "The companion of the [savior] is Mary Magdalene. The [savior loved] her more than [all] the disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth]" (quoted in Marvin Meyer, The Gospels of Mary, HarperSanFrancisco, 2004, p. 49). Although this passage suffers from serious textual problems, its spirit indicates that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were very close.
III. A Third Perspective on Jesus and Mary Magdalene
As noted above, two opposite depictions of Mary Magdalene have become prominent. One of these, influenced by Pope Gregory, portrays her as a reformed prostitute; the other, influenced by The Da Vinci Code, imagines her as the wife of Jesus and the mother of his child.
The Lost Epistle of Jesus offers a third perspective: What if Jesus and Mary Magdalene loved each other deeply but chose, on Jesus' initiative, not to marry or become involved sexually? The reasons behind this choice emerge over the course of the novel and have a major influence on its outcome.
IV. Meditative Exercise
In a moment of quiet, reflect on how you, like Mary Magdalene, have been healed by Christ. How is this healing still going on, and how are you showing your love for the healer?
V. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. Read Hebrews 4:14-16 and reflect on the humanity of Jesus. In light of these verses, do you find the portrayal of his relationship with Mary Magdalene in The Lost Epistle of Jesus plausible? Compare this portrayal with those offered by Pope Gregory and Dan Brown. Which do you prefer and why?
2. Read Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:18-25, then discuss them along with Chapter 18 of The Lost Epistle of Jesus. What do you think of the guidance that Nicodemus gives Gabriel from the epistle? How might this integrated view of gender be relevant to today's conflicts over sexuality and male and female roles?
3. Read Luke 7:36-50 and John 12:1-8. What is your response to how these scenes are depicted in the novel?
4. Realizing that we don't know how Jesus or Mary Magdalene looked, discuss their physical appearances as described in the novel. How do you respond to these?
STUDY FIVE: LESSONS FROM THE TRAGEDY OF JUDAS ISCARIOT
I. Introduction
Judas Iscariot is one of the last people anyone would want as a spiritual guide. The mention of his name conjures up a host of negative words—liar, cheater, fraud, hypocrite, betrayer. But can only exemplary people give us insight into ourselves? Or can a man with a bad reputation—even one of the worst in history—help us to understand ourselves better? Perhaps comparing the Judas of the New Testament with the Judas of The Lost Epistle of Jesus can aid our spiritual formation in surprising ways.
The New Testament offers scant information about Judas Iscariot. It tells us nothing about how he looked, why or how he became a disciple of Jesus, or what he believed about him. When Judas's name appears in the Gospels and in the beginning of the book of Acts, it's always in reference to his betrayal of Jesus. Clearly the New Testament writers want to emphasize the tragedy of this man's life.
Some scholars speculate that Judas was from Kerioth in Judea, making him the only non-Galilean disciple. They also suggest that "Iscariot" may be a corrupted form of "Sicariot," which comes from Sicarii, the name given to the dagger-wielding Zealots intent on a military victory over the Romans.
For the purposes of this study, the Gospels of Matthew and John are the most interesting. Matthew stresses that Judas not only betrayed Jesus, but also was paid thirty pieces of silver by the chief priests, and later repented and committed suicide.
John places Judas in the room when Jesus is anointed by a woman called Mary (whom Pope Gregory the Great identified as Mary Magdalene, but who could have been Mary of Bethany or one of the other Marys mentioned in the Gospels). We learn that Judas was in charge of the purse, and that he was a thief. It's noteworthy that in all of the Gospels, Judas takes the initiative in betraying Jesus. The chief priests don't come to him; he goes to them. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark simply report that Judas goes to the chief priests; Luke and John emphasize that he did so because Satan or "the devil" entered into him.
The Lost Epistle of Jesus sets forth the possibility that Judas could have gone to Pilate before he went to the religious authorities. After all, Pilate, not the chief priests, had the power to crucify Jesus, and the Jewish historian Josephus portrays Pilate as ruthless enough to do so on his own accord. Moreover, if Pilate knew that Jesus was from Galilee—a bastion of Zealot activity and a breeding ground for revolutionaries—he would have been alarmed by the cleansing of the Temple. This action alone would have been sufficient to get Jesus crucified. The novel shows Pilate taking the initiative, through Judas, to win the support of the Jewish leaders. By securing their approval he could crucify a popular Galilean rebel without inciting a revolt. In this scenario, the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus is shifted from the Jews to a corrupt political/military regime.
An important detail that supports this alternative scenario is the presence of soldiers in the arresting party. In the New Revised Standard Version, John 18:3 reads: "So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons." The detachment of soldiers could not have been sent by the Sanhedrin, only by Pontius Pilate.
II. Judas's Role in The Lost Epistle of Jesus
In the novel we first meet Judas at Qumran. He sustains an injury in a Zealot attack on a Roman supply convoy. Sidelined, he stays in camp to recuperate while the other Zealots attack again the next day. Alone with Judith Silva Latronum, Judas tries to lure her into a sexual relationship. When Dismas returns, she reports the incident to him, and he attacks Judas. As the fight is broken up, Judas lies and accuses Judith of being the one who sought his affections.
Banished to Mount Arbel by Barabbas, Judas meets Jesus of Nazareth on the Plain of Gennesaret and becomes his disciple. But when Judas encounters Mary Magdalene, he falls in love with her. He wants her for his wife but knows that she loves Jesus. In order to win Mary, Judas believes that he must eliminate Jesus and attain the acclaim that the masses are lavishing on the Nazarene. This motivates Judas to devise a scheme to have Jesus killed. Instead the plan leads to tragedy for all involved.
Judas comes close to wholeness but never finds it. He spends time with Jesus and hears him preach and sees him heal, but never gives him his heart. Judas dramatizes the consequences of denial. He never acknowledges his alienation or attempts to deal with it. Instead he tries to find inner peace by changing the outer situation, and it doesn't work. Even when given the opportunity to listen and learn from Gabriel Latronum, Judas refuses. Rather than welcome the epistle's wisdom, he mocks and scorns it. His obsession runs so deep that no one can penetrate it.
The novel emphasizes how dangerous an obsessed, disintegrated person can become. Such a person is capable of violence against others and even against himself.
III. Meditative Exercise
During a time of silence, take a moment to wrestle with your own darkness. Where are the pockets of alienation within you? What do you need from God in order to be healed? In the quietness, ask to have your needs met
IV. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. Read Matthew 26:14-16. Do you accept that Judas's act of betrayal was motivated solely by money? What is your response to the expanded motivation proposed in The Lost Epistle of Jesus?
2. Read I Corinthians 15:20-26 and 45-50. In these passages, the Apostle Paul sets up a correspondence between Adam and Christ. The Lost Epistle of Jesus suggests that the first human was both masculine and feminine, and that Christ also incorporated characteristics of both genders. What do you think of this, and how do you respond to the novel's portrayal of Judas in light of it? Discuss whether your faith supports a holistic or a separatist model of gender identity.
3. Read Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 15:8-10. Although Jesus most often used the image of a loving father to describe God, in these verses he also used feminine images. What are the implications of this for your faith?
4. Read Matthew 5:1-12 and Matthew 18:1-5. Can you hear the feminine side of Jesus in these passages?
5. Refer to Chapter 30 of The Lost Epistle of Jesus and share your impressions of the revelations that Gabriel Latronum receives as he reads the epistle.
STUDY SIX: FOLLOWING THE WAY OF PEACE
I. Introduction
What can we do about oppression and evil? The question resonates deeply in the New Testament and in The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Christianity teaches that to find an answer, we must acknowledge the darkness in the human heart. Pride and anger, lust and greed motivate acts of violence and fuel the fires of war. Today terrorism and nuclear weapons have increased the potential for suffering and death to unprecedented levels. Religion plays a powerful role in this complicated equation. Often co-opted to justify and legitimate violence, religion also motivates work for peace.
Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the One sent by God to establish the reign of peace on earth. Indeed, one of his prominent titles is "Prince of Peace." He not only preached a gospel of peace but also embodied that gospel in decisive nonviolent actions. During his lifetime injustice and oppression stalked the land. The Romans were only the latest conquerors of the Jews. Earlier conquerors included the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks. But the Roman occupation was especially hated because the Jews had known a period of independence in the second century BC under the Jewish priest-kings called the Hasmoneans. Descendants of the priestly family called Hasmon, these priest-kings reigned over a nation whose boundaries nearly equaled those of King David's time. The Hasmoneans centralized Jewish worship in the Temple in Jerusalem and brought prosperity to the city.
Conditions changed dramatically after the Roman conquest in 63 BC. By the time of Jesus, Rome maintained control of Judea through its army, under the command of the governor, Pontius Pilate. Entrusted with supreme military and judicial power, Pilate enforced an oppressive system of taxation. Because he disliked both the Jewish people and their country, he spent most of his time in Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean, only coming to Jerusalem during the major festivals. The Roman garrison in the city was called the Antonia Fortress. As a way of asserting his authority, Pilate insisted that Caiaphas, the High Priest, who was also appointed by Rome, store his priestly garments in the Antonia. The fortress stood next to the Temple and towered over it, allowing soldiers to watch for any signs of uprisings. During the time of Jesus, there were at least six of these at various sites around the country.
The uprisings were led by a group called the Sicarii (daggermen) or "Zealots," so named because of their zealousness for the Law of Moses. The Zealots operated from secure strongholds in Galilee, particularly from their fortresses on Mount Gamla and Mount Arbel north of the Sea of Galilee. The Zealots refused to pay taxes or to participate in any activity that hinted of idolatry. Their goal was to drive the Romans from their land by military means. The book of Acts (5:37) mentions one of the Zealots' famous leaders, Judas the Galilean, who led a rebellion when the first Roman governor, Coponius, conducted a census for taxation purposes. This census, the only one ever conducted in Judea, was probably ordered by Augustus around the time of Jesus' birth.
What we know about Pilate comes primarily from the writings of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. According to Josephus, Pilate ruled with an iron fist and crucified dissenters. Josephus reports that Pilate offended the Jews by having his troops bring ensigns emblazoned with Tiberius Caesar's image into Jerusalem. He also placed golden shields with inscriptions to Roman gods on Herod's palace on Mount Zion. On both occasions the Jews forced him to remove the symbols of idolatry and oppression. The Jews were not as successful, however, when they protested Pilate's diverting of money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct. On that occasion, Roman soldiers beat and killed many of the protesters.
Jesus comes into this tumultuous time preaching and embodying peace. In the Beatitudes he says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9). Farther into the Sermon on the Mount, he goes on, "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also" (Matt. 5:38-39). In Luke's version of the Sermon, Jesus becomes even more radical: "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you" (Luke 6:27-28).
Only when Jesus drives the moneychangers from the Temple and when he speaks of bringing a "sword" into the world does he deviate from this message. In the first instance, the moneychangers must have recognized the righteousness of his cause; otherwise how could one man drive out so many? In the second instance, he is speaking metaphorically to make a point. Emphasizing that he and his message will bring division in families, he says, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). In a parallel passage, Luke clarifies the intent of this saying by using the word "division" instead of "sword" (Luke 12:51). On another occasion, Jesus reflects on the perils of the coming age and says, "And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22: 36b). This statement, however, must be balanced against the next scene—his arrest. When Peter cuts off the ear of the High Priest's slave, Jesus heals the ear and admonishes Peter to put away his sword.
But Jesus' most powerful witness to nonviolence comes in his suffering and death. He refuses to lash out at those who mock, scorn, and sentence him. Even from the cross he cries out, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).
II. Fiction as a Witness to Peace
The conflict between the Zealots and the Romans seethes in The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Through fictional scenes, we see weapons being forged, soldiers being confronted, and wounded men being treated. We also see Barabbas and his violent Zealots contrasted with Jesus and his message of peace. That Jesus comes from Galilee and possibly aroused Pilate's suspicions factors into the drama, as does Judas's deceitful maneuverings and his decision to betray Jesus to the Roman governor and only later to the chief priests.
We also revisit the Crucifixion and see it in a new way. Although Matthew and Mark mention the two "thieves" who were crucified with Jesus, only Luke dramatizes the conversation between them. None of the Gospel writers describe the thieves as klept?s, the Greek word used of a thief acting alone (from which we get the English word kleptomaniac). Rather, Matthew and Mark call the "thieves" l?stai, which the New Revised Standard Version translates "bandits." Another translation, however, is "revolutionary." In John 18:40 Barabbas is called a l?st?s. When the soldiers and the Temple police come heavily armed to arrest Jesus, he asks if they think even he is a l?st?s. Luke is the only evangelist to call the men crucified with Jesus kakourgoi, which means "criminals."
The use of these terms suggests that, although the thieves on the cross are not called Zealots, they could have been criminals with Zealot sympathies. Were Dismas and Gesmas associates of Barabbas? We will never know for certain, but the suggestion is not outside the realm of possibility given the statement of Mark 15:7: "Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection." Could this insurrection have begun at the Temple and coincided with Jesus' cleansing of it? If so, could Dismas and Gesmas have been arrested with Barabbas? Were they in prison in the Antonia Fortress when Barabbas was released? Were they taken with Jesus to be crucified as the notorious Barabbas was set free?
These are among the questions incorporated into The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Whether events happened as portrayed in the novel is highly speculative, but reading fiction in light of Jesus' nonviolence challenges us to make his commitment our own.
III. Meditative Exercise
Close your eyes and slowly take several deep breaths. As you look within and seek God's presence, honestly confront your anger. Ask yourself who or what you are angry at and why. Allow yourself to feel your emotions without making a value judgment on them. Then ask yourself what needs to happen in order for you to let your anger go. Now invite God to help you with this process.
IV. Bible Readings and Discussion Questions
1. Read Mark 11:15-19 and discuss how the cleansing of the Temple is interpreted in The Lost Epistle of Jesus. Is this interpretation plausible? And what implications might it have for the relationship among business, politics, and religion today?
2. Read Luke 23:32-43. What effect did the novel have on your response to the story of the "thieves" on the cross?
3. Read Mark 15:6-15 and discuss how Barabbas is portrayed in the novel. How do you relate to him and the idea that he might have been a Zealot and known the thieves crucified with Jesus?
4. Does the novel's plotline involving the Zealots change how you hear Jesus' teachings on peace and nonviolence in the Sermon on the Mount? Share your reasons one way or the other.