THE GOSPEL OF JOHN DAVID

<-- Would you read a Gospel by this guy?
The Da Vinci Code was playing again the other night. Isn't that the one heavily influenced by the "Gospel" of Judas? CNN presented this gnostic work as "something that will turn religious belief on its head", that "will change our perception of the relationship between Jesus and Judas.” Another newspaper headline read something like, "New Document Sheds Light on Judas and his Relationship with Jesus.” The problem is that it wasn’t written by an original apostle, or even a cousin of an original apostle!

A couple of years ago, news shows covered it as if a gnostic gospel was a new phenomenon. The early Church and even the New Testament already dealt with gnosticism! But I thought I’d share with you a secret Gospel that I discovered. It’s the Secret Gospel of John David. The fact that this is my first and middle name is no coincidence! Now there are only fragments of this because the scroll is very old and cheap... and was purchased from Walmart. It has those [....] just like the Gospel of Judas, 'cause of the holes in the paper, uh, I mean scroll.

Thus begins the mysteries of the secret Gospel of John David A Gospel so secret that he’s not even sure what it's about. When he had heard it he went out and sort of forgot what it said!

11 The Lord said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” John David said, “Could you repeat that, please?”
12 The Lord said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first?” [ … ] John David said, “But Lord, what about the guy in the middle?”
14 The Lord replied, “John David, you are like a rock.” And John David said, “Lord, will thou build thy church upon me?” [ …] and the Lord said, “No, John David. You are like a rock in this way: intelligence.”
17 And the Lord, when he walked with John David along the beach, left no footprints in the sand. And John David, when he saw it, said, “Now that’s impressive! Can you show me how to do that?!?” And [....] told John David to climb to the top of the temple and jump... Thus ends the Gospel of John David!

The Gospel of Judas, though older than the Gospel of John David, was still written well after all the disciples were in heaven. A book written in the late second century by people who cannot claim to be or even know eyewitnesses to Jesus, can not change the facts of the New Testament. The New Testament was written mostly if not completely by eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ in the flesh, several decades (in some cases centuries) before these other "gospels” came out.

If you're interested in learning more about the reliability of the Four Gospels, one excellent, though intellectual book is, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Richard Bauckham). An easier read is, The Reason For God (Timothy Keller), which has a couple of chapters about the Gospels.

Happy Friday!

The Story of Jesus is True!
John 19:35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.

John 21:24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Luke 1:3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke 24:46 He said to them, “Scripture says that the Messiah would suffer and that he would come back to life on the third day. 47 Scripture also says that by the authority of Jesus people would be told to turn to God and change the way they think and act so that their sins will be forgiven. This would be told to people from all nations, beginning in the city of Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to these things. (GW)

1John 1:1 The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. 2 This life was revealed to us. We have seen it, and we testify about it. We are reporting to you about this eternal life that was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us. (GW)

(See also 1Corinthians 15)

[Photo by Cheryl Byrd]