The Anti-Gospel of Yeshu the Magician
Chapter 1: Yeshu's Controversial Parentage "The haughty evil spirit jests in the book with a threefold mockery. First, he mocks God, creator of heaven and earth, with his son, Jesus Christ, as you may see for yourself if you believe, as a Christian, that Christ is the son of God. Secondly, he mocks all Christendom, because we believe in such a son of God. Thirdly, he mocks his own Jews by giving them such a scandalous, foolish, doltish thing about brazen dogs and cabbage-stalks, etc., which would make all dogs bark to death, if they could understand it, at such raving, ranting, senseless, foaming mad fools. Is not this a master of mocking, who can effect three such great mockeries? The fourth mockery is that herewith he has mocked himself, as we shall one day to our joy see, thank God!" -Martin Luther, Righteousness (”Werke”), Wittemberg, 1566, vol. 5, p. 515. Tertullian, writing 1300 years earlier but also familiar with some of the elements of the story, writes his own scathing rebuke of the Jews in the form of a sadistic fantasy, imagining himself looking upon the Jews on Judgment Day while being allowed to mock them in the afterlife, saying: This is your carpenter’s son, your harlot’s son; your Sabbath-breaker, your Samaritan, your demon-possessed! This is He who you bought from Judas; this He who was struck with your reed and fists, dishonored with spittle, and given a drink of gall and vinegar! This is He who His disciples have stolen secretly, that it may be said He has risen, or the gardener abstracted that his lettuces might not be damaged by the crowds of visitors! A similar response is given by both Christians, but Tertullian lived during a time when Christianity was a minority, and he confined his Anti-Jewish rhetoric to sadistic fantasy. Martin Luther lived during a time when Christianity was the decisive majority, and his vile treatises helped inspire multiple generations of pogroms and minor holocausts that would culminate into the Nazi Holocaust. This booklet is a tradition [handed down] man to man; one may only copy it [by hand], not however have it printed. The wise at such times will see it, but keep silent, for it is an evil time. He must keep silent, a consequence of the long and bitter exile. One reads it, God forbid, not openly or before young girls and before the frivolous, still less in front of Christians who understand German, [then] will he [the reader] receive his wages and his deed precede him, for it is strongly prohibited to publish it, rather one discloses it only to the initiated, for you cannot know what the day shall bring forth, and behold, even his saints trusts he not... I have coped it from three booklets which do not come from the same country but never the less agree with each other. I simply wrote it in the language of the wise [Hebrew] for he has chosen us from all the nations and has given us the language of the wise... Judgment in modern times on the historicity of the Toledot amongst Jews has been mixed. Some believe that there is no relationship between Yeshu and the historical Jesus, while others think that he is a literary device used by Rabbis to satirize the relationship between Jews and early Christians. Others do believe that it refers to the historical Jesus. The fact that the name has been found with the epithet Ha-Notzri, or “the Nazarene,” makes it hard to believe it’s a coincidence. In the year 671, the fourth millenary [of the world], in the days of Jannaeus, the king, a great misfortune happened to the enemies of Israel. King Alexander Jannaeus was the successor to his short-lived younger brother, Aristobulus, and the second man after Aristobulus to call himself King of Judea since the Babylonian Exile. He ruled between 103 and 76 B.C., some 100 years before the Gospel Jesus is said to have lived. The year 671 would mean Yeshu was born in the year 93 B.C. Confirming this date is Epiphanius, the bishop of Salamis from the late 300s A.D., a heresiologist and strong defender of the new Orthodox faith. In Panarion, or “Medicine Chest,” he wrote: For with the advent of the Christ, the succession of the princes from Judah, who reigned until the Christ Himself, ceased. The order [of succession] failed and stopped at the time when He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Alexander, who was of high-priestly and royal race; and after this Alexander this lot failed, from the times of himself and Salina, who is also called Alexandra, for the times of Herod the King and Augustus Emperor of the Romans; and this Alexander, one of the Christs and ruling princes placed the crown in his own head... After this a foreign king, Herod, and those who were no longer of the family of David, assumed the crown. However, the same church father later places Jesus’ birth in 2 B.C. without even realizing the discrepancy. Jesus living 100 years B.C. was not lost to Jewish history after the first few centuries either, as the 12th century Spanish philosopher, physician, and historian, Abraham ben Daud, is recorded in Dr. Adolph Neubauer’s Medieval Jewish Chronicles from 1887 as saying: The Jewish history-writers say that Joshua ben Perachiah was the teacher of Yeshu ha-Notzri, according to which the latter lived in the day of King Janni; the history-writers of the other nations, however, say that he was born in the days of Herod and was hanged in the days of his son Archelaus. This is a great difference, a difference of more than 110 years. This seems to indicate that the history of Yeshu was not a tradition, but the tradition of Judaism all the way up to the 1100s. There was a certain idle and worthless debauchee named Joseph Panthera, of the fallen tribe of Judah. He was a man of fine figure and rare beauty, but spent his time in robbery and licentiousness. He lived in Bethlehem of Judea. Nearby there lived a widow, who had a daughter named Miriam, of whom mention is several times made in the Talmud as a dresser of women’s hair. Epiphanius confirms that Joseph Panthera is the same Joseph from the gospels, saying that Jesus’ grandfather was named Panthera. The Talmudic explanation referenced here says that adulteresses were known as the curlers of women’s hair. Something else extraordinary shows up when we read the Aramic version of “Mary, the dresser of women’s hair”: Miriam m’gadela nashaia. This seems to have been the original root of the name Mary Magdalene, which may explain the oral tradition of her being an adulteress. We’ve already seen reason to believe Yeshua the Nazarene may have been mistranslated as Jesus of Nazareth, and now a similar situation has cropped up in which Miriam m’gadela may have been mistranslated as Mary of Magdala. This daughter was betrothed by her mother to a very chaste, gentle, and pious youth named Jochanan. Now it happened that Joseph occasionally passed by Miriam’s door and saw her. Then he began to have unholy affection for her. So he went to and fro about the place, and at length the mother said to him, “What makes you so thin?” He replied, “I am madly in love with Miriam.” Then, said the mother, “I would not deny you favor; see if she is willing, and do with her as you please.” Obeying her counsel, Joseph Panthera went frequently by the house, but did not find a suitable time until one Sabbath evening, when he happened to find her sitting before the door. Then he went into the house with her, and both sat down in a dormitory near the door, for she thought he was her betrothed, Jochanan.
After this point, the text switches to Latin, the ancient version of the V-chip. A different version of the Toledot reads: It was at night on the eve of the Sabbath, when drunken he crossed over to her door and entered in to her. But she thought in her heart that it was her betrothed Jochanan; she hid her face and was ashamed. He embraced her; but she said to him: touch me not, for I am in my separation. He took no heed thereat, nor regarded her words, but persisted. She conceived by him.
The concept of a woman being ignorant of the man she has slept with is hardly realistic, but is found in other literary devices throughout ancient mythology. For example Cupid’s nightly affair with Psyche in a dark castle can impress us with a motif about blind love, but the reasoning behind the exculpation of Mary is inexplicable. References to her in the Talmud speak of Panthera being Mary’s lover, not her rapist. In Origen’s book Contra Celsus, the second century philosopher Celsus is said to have identified Mary as “a poor woman of the country, who gained her substence by spinning, and who turned out of doors by her husband, a carpenter by trade, because she was convicted of adultery.” According to Celsus, Panthera is a soldier. Since the Toledot says nothing about Mary being convicted of adultery nor mentions her living as a spinner, it can be assumed that Celsus is using a different but very similar source. After three months, Jochanan was told that his betrothed was with child. In great agitation, he went to his teacher, Simon ben Shetach, and telling him about the matter, asked him what he ought to do.
According to the Talmud, Simon ben Shetach was a nasi, or “prince” of the Sanhedrian, Jerusalem’s supreme court in 90 B.C., as well as brother to Queen Salome, the wife of Alexander Jannaeus. The teacher inquired, “Do you suspect anyone?” Jochanan said, “Nobody, except Joseph Panthera, who is a great debauchee, and lives near my house.” The teacher said, “My son, take my advice, and keep silent; for if he had been there he will surely go there again. Therefore, be wise, and get a witness, so that you may bring him before the Sanhedrin.” The young man went home and was sorely troubled during the night. He thought to himself, “When this thing becomes known the people will say it was my doing.” Therefore, to avoid the shame and disgrace, he ran away to Babylon and there took up his abode.
Many scholars argue that the accusation of bastardry is only a Jewish reaction to the Christian tradition of the Virgin Birth and so should not be considered historical. However, the fact that Jesus had a questionable paternity can also be extrapolated from the fact that the Gospel of Mark makes no mention of a father figure. The Gospel of Matthew, in its own subtle way, reminds readers familiar with the Old Testament of other women who, though showing questionable sexual morals, were nevertheless important to Jewish history. Ron Miller describes this in his book The Hidden Gospel of Matthew: Five women are mentioned in [Matthew’s] genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (she is not mentioned by name but as “the wife of Uriah”) and Miriam, Jeshu’s mother. Now if any women were to be mentioned, one might expect Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachael, the great matriarchs of the Jewish people. Not only are these three exemplary women not mentioned, but it must be admitted that those chosen to be included seem less than apt candidates for Judaism’s social register. Tamar poses as a prostitute and Rahab is one; Ruth and Bathsheba are foreigners. Does this cast some aspirations on Miriam, too? Does it suggest some taint on Jeshu’s birth? Was there something unusual about the birth of Jeshu?
Ruth was a Moabite who was sent by her mother onto the threshing floor to sleep with a rich land owner named Boaz, who by her fathered David’s grandfather, Obed. Ironically, this Moabite impurity should have made it impossible for David to even join the congregation according to the Law, yet David’s sons were made priests. Bathsheba also cheated on her husband Uriah, and married David even after he had her husband killed, yet their union produced Solomon. But let us now return to where the Jew is introduced, speaking of the mother of Jesus, and saying that “when she was pregnant she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera;” and let us see whether those who have blindly concocted these fables about the adultery of the Virgin with Panthera, and her rejection by the carpenter, did not invent these stories to overturn his miraculous conception by the Holy Ghost: for they could have falsified the history in a different manner, on account of its extremely miraculous character, and not have admitted, as it were against their will, that Jesus was born of no ordinary human marriage. It was to be expected, indeed, that those who would not believe the miraculous birth of Jesus would invent some falsehood. And their not doing this in a credible manner, but (their) preserving the fact that it was not by Joseph that the Virgin conceived Jesus, rendered the falsehood very palpable to those who can understand and detect such inventions. Is it at all agreeable to reason, that he who dared to do so much for the human race, in order that, as far as in him lay, all the Greeks and Barbarians, who were looking for divine condemnation, might depart from evil, and regulate their entire conduct in a manner pleasing to the Creator of the world, should not have had a miraculous birth, but one the vilest and most disgraceful of all? -Origen, Contra Celsus, Book 1, Ch. 33
Origen admits that scholarly experts found it very hard to dispute the Panthera story even in his own time. He instead brings up that important philosophers like the Pythagoras and Plato were believers in physiognomy, that bodily features have been adapted to the habits of the soul within it. Thus, a person’s appearance can give insights into their personality, and by this logic Origen attempts to defend the accusation of bastardry by asserting that God would never have allowed his Son to have been born in such disgrace. Yet a comparison might be made to Moses, who in Exodus is said to be the son of his father’s aunt (6:20), but in Leviticus is made to deliver a law against such incest (18:12). And I will ask of them as Greeks, and particularly of Celsus, who either holds or not the sentiments of Plato, and at any rate quotes them, whether He who sends souls down into the bodies of men, degraded Him who was to dare such mighty acts, and to teach so many men, and to reform so many from the mass of wickedness in the world, to a birth more disgraceful than any other, and did not rather introduce Him into the world through a lawful marriage?... Why, from such unhallowed intercourse there must rather have been brought forth some fool to do injury to mankind?
One thing that the Toledot texts and Origen both agreed on is that people are unworthy by virtue of the circumstance surrounding their birth. The stigma of being a bastard has often been translated throughout countless cultures throughout history as a mark of shame. Following Origen’s line of thinking, one might ask why God would have chosen the Messiah to born into a peasant family. In dye time Miriam brought forth a son and named him Yehoshua, after her mother’s brother. She sent the boy to a teacher named Elchanan, with whom he made progress in learning, for his mind was very bright. And it came to pass by and by that he met the senators of Sanhedrim at Jerusalem. It was then the custom that whoever met those senators should cover his head and bow down. But this boy as he walked past them bared his head, and touching his forehead saluted the principal only. Then all began to say, “What impudence! Probably he is a bastard.” And one of them said, “Indeed he is a bastard, and the son of an adulteress.”
According to the Book of Deuteronomy, a bastard does not share in the congregation of Yahweh, nor his or her children to the tenth generation (23:2). The name Yeshu has in fact been used in Jewish literature as an acronym yemach shemo vezichro, “May his name and memory be obliterated.” Refusing to utter the name of a heretic was a common Jewish practice. For example, in Acts of the Apostles, a Roman soldier confuses Paul’s Messiah with another nameless Egyptian “who started a revolt and led 4,000 terrorists out into the desert” (21:38). Using it in this instance implies that the name of Jesus originated as a term used in place of his real name so that it would be forgotten and lost to history. To have such a name become the focal point of the most popular monotheistic religion in recorded history would be an irony of epic proportions. In those days there was a stone in the temple on which was inscribed the inexpressible Name of God. For when David laid the foundation [of Solomon’s Temple] he found a certain stone at the mouth of an abyss on which the name was engraved, and taking it up he deposited it in the Holy of Holies. But when the wise men feared that perhaps some studious youths might learn this name and bring destruction upon the world (which calamity God forbid), they made by magic two brazen lions, and placed them at the entrance of the Holy of Holies, one on the right and the other on the left. If, therefore, anyone draw near and learn the hidden name, when he went away, the lions would roar, so that in his fright he would forget the name forever. Now, when the report that Yeshu was a bastard had spread abroad, he left Galilee and, coming secretly to Jerusalem, he went into the temple and there learned the sacred letters. And when he had written the hidden name on a piece of parchment, and spoken it, that he might feel no pain, he cut open his flesh and enclosed therein the mysterious parchment. Then, having again pronounced the name, he closed up the flesh. As described in Frank R. Zindler’s book, The Jesus the Jews Never Knew, the Talmud refers to something similar to this, asking, “Did not the son of Stada bring enchantment out of Egypt in the cutting which is in the flesh?” Zindler aptly suggests that this verse about Ben Stada probably refers to a tattooing, which was widely practiced at the time but was forbidden by in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus (19:28). Zindler also compares this reference to a passage in Revelation which seems to confirm this “secret message on the body”: I saw heaven standing open and there before me on a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Logos of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule with an iron scepter.” [Psalm 2:9] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of King and Lord of Lords. -Revelation 19:11-16
Yeshu Ben Stada, or “Jesus, Son of Stada,” is known in Jewish tradition to be the same person as Yeshu Ben Panthera, although the exact relationship of what the names represented were already of divided opinion amongst rabbis when the subject appeared in the rabbinical commentaries in Babylon: Ben Stada was Ben Panthera. Rab Chisda said, “The husband was Stada, the lover Panthera.” [Another said,] “The husband was Paphos ben Jehuda; Stada was his mother”; [or] “his mother was Miriam the women’s hairdresser”; as they would say at Pumbeditha, “she was unfaithful to her husband.” -Babylonian Gemara
Returning to the Toledot: But to enter the temple it was necessary to use magic and incantations, otherwise how could the most holy priests, the descendants of Aaron, have allowed him to go therein. Therefore it is manifest that Yeshu did all this by the art of magic and the power of an impure name. Then he went to the place of his nativity [birth] and with loud voice cried out, “who are these bad men who report me to be a bastard and of impure birth? They are themselves bastards and impure. Did not a virgin bear me? Did not my mother conceive me in the top of her head?”
Clearly, Jesus must be referring to a spiritual mother when he speaks of “the virgin” giving birth to him. The “birth from the head’ seems to be used in the same symbolic way as the birth of the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena, from the head of Zeus. This idea of “mental birth,” is perhaps best understood in the word “conception,” similar to the Greek word, Logos, which although is translated as “Word” or “Logo,” but can also mean thought, reason, or logic. A particularly interesting reference to the bastard accusation comes from an apocryphal gospel as well: Jesus said: “Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore.” -Coptic Gospel of Thomas, verse 105 Returning to the story: Indeed I am the son of God, and concerning me the prophet Isaiah spoke, saying, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and will give birth to a son, and will be called Emmanuel.”[7:14]. “Did I not form myself, and the heaven, earth, sea and all things contained therein?” Then they all answered and said, “Make known by some sign, and show by a miracle that thou art God.” He, answering, said, “Bring hither to me a dead man, and I will restore him to life,” The people made haste, and having dug into a certain sepulchre, found there nothing but dry bones. And when they told him that they had found only bones, he said, “Bring them here.” And when they were brought, he put all the bones together and covered them with skin, flesh, and nerves, so he that had been a dead man stood up on his feet alive.
The reference to Isaiah is also made in the Gospel of Matthew, which is commonly considered to be a particularly Greek mistranslation from the Septuagint, the Hebrew word in Isaiah translated as “virgin” actually being the word “maiden.” The people seeing this, marveled. Then he said, “Do you wonder at this? Bring here a leper and I will cure him.” And when they had brought a leper he restored him to health in like manner through the Name of God. When the people saw this, they fell down and worshipped him, saying, “Verily, you are the Son of God.” And it came to pass, after the fifth day, that the dismal tidings were brought to Jerusalem, the most holy city, and there all the things were told which Yeshu had done. Then the degenerates rejoiced greatly; but the old man, the devout, and the wise wept bitterly; and in the greater and the lesser Sanhedrim there was sore lamentation. At length they all resolved to send messengers to Yeshu, saying among themselves, “It may be that by the help of the Lord we shall capture him, bring him judgment, and condemn him to death.” Therefore they sent Ananias and Achasias, most honorable men of the lesser Sanhedrin, who went and fell down before Yeshu in adoration, thereby increasing his wickedness. Therefore, thinking that they were sincere, he received them with a smiling face and appointed them leaders of his wicked flock. Then they began to appeal to him: “Look, the leading citizens of Jerusalem have sent us ambassadors to you, praying that you would deign to come to them, for they have heard that you are the Son of God.” Then said Yeshu, “What they have heard is true, and look, I will do all that you ask, but upon this condition: “That all the senators of the greater and lesser Sanhedrin, and those also who have defamed my nativity, shall come forth and worship me, receiving me even as servants receive their lords.” The messengers, returning to Jerusalem, “We will do all that he asks.” Therefore, the men went again to Yeshu and declared that they would do whatever he desired. Then Yeshu said, “I will go with you at once.” Chapter 2: Yeshu and Queen Helene And it came to pass that when Yeshu came to Nob, which is near Jerusalem, he said to them, “Have you here a good and comely donkey?” And when they replied that one was at hand, he said, “Bring him here.” And a beautiful donkey being brought, he mounted upon him and went to Jerusalem. And he entered the city all the people sallied out to meet him. And raising his voice he said to them, “Concerning me the prophet Zachariah testified, ‘Behold, your king comes to you, just and having salvation, lowly and sitting upon a donkey, and a colt the foal of a donkey’.” These things being known, there was great weeping and rending of garments, and the devout men went and complained to the queen. (She was Queen Helena, the wife of King Jannaeus mentioned above; she reigned after the death of [her] husband. She is otherwise called Oleina, and had a son Nunbasus, the king, otherwise called Hyrcanus, who was slain by his subordinate Herod.)
Now things are really getting interesting. If Jesus was related to the wife of King Jannaeus, that would make him a possible heir to the Kingdom of Judea. That would give him far more legitimacy to the throne of David in the eyes of ancient Jews than being a peasant. If Jesus was only a peasant, as the gospels seem to support, then it didn’t matter how much of David’s blood was in him. Any claim by right of blood would be nullified by the fact that any peasant could have the blood of a king from 1000 years ago. Salina helps us somewhat, for it is not so far from Helena (Oleina, Hilani, etc.), and s and h are philologically interchangeable. It is well known to all students of Christian origins that a certain Helen (Gk. Helene, Lat. Helena) was fabled to have been a harlot whom Simon Magus took about with him; Simon himself said that his Helen was the Sophia, but that is another story. Now in the Simon legends this Helene is also called in Greek Selene, the “Moon,” while in the Simonian myth Simon (Shimeon, Shemesh) himself corresponded with the “Sun.” Thus in Augustine (“De Haer.,” I.) and elsewhere we find Selene and not Helene, while in the Clementine Recognitions (ii. 14), preserved to us only in Latin translation of Rufinus, we find the name of sizing of Simon, who in the parallel passage of the Greek Clementine Homilies (ii. 23) is called Helena, given as Luna. From this we deduce that Helene is a play on Selene either for mystical or controversial purposes, for with the Ben Pandera instance before us we cdan readily see who that in those days of feverish theological polemics, a mystic teaching could easily be turned into a personal scandalous legend for controversial purposes.
The puzzle may yet be answered by the addition of fourth possibility into the mix. Queen Cleopatra Selene, the daughter of Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra III, ruled over Syria as co-regent alongside her husband/brother Ptolemy IX Lathyros. Ultimately she divorced her brother and remarried four more times in order to keep up with the changing politics of the region. Having five different husbands, her persona may be represented in the Gospel of John as the Samaritan woman with five husbands that Jesus meets at Jacob’s Well near Shechem. Unlike Helene, she lived around the same time as Simon Ben Shetach and Joshua Ben Perachiah, ruling from 115 to 81 B.C. This would also answer the riddle of why the queen would be unfamiliar with Jewish law, and although many of the miracles done by Yeshu are done in Upper Galilee just as they are done in the gospels, the Toledot repeatedly places the queen in Jerusalem, which could only be the seat of Alexander Jannaeus’ wife Salome. Jesus said, “Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live.” This saying makes more sense if it is applied to Queen Salome: In the Sepher Toledot Yeshu, Queen Salome accepts Jesus as a prophet, which could have become the basis for referring to her as a student. The table and couch signifies wealth, and it was the infighting between her two husbands, Aristobulus I and Alexander Jannaeus, and her two sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, that divided the Jewish Kingdom and caused it to fall to the Romans. Aristobulus I died and Alexander Jannaeus lived. Aristobulus II died and Hyrcanus II lived. Here the gospel writer may have wished to compare the spiritual unity of the risen Jesus to the political unity that the living Jesus did not accomplish. Now the wise men, perceiving her design, said to her, “Do not, oh royal mistress, undertake to do this, or else you will become his accomplice; for by his sorceries he leads men into error and crime.” At the same time, they explained to her the whole matter of the Name of God, and then added. “It is for you to impose punishment, for he deserves the worst.” Then they narrated the history of Joseph Panthera. Therefore, the queen said, “I have heard you and will consent to this. Bring him to me and let me hear what he says, and see what he does; for everybody tells me of the great miracles he performs.” The wise men replied, “We will do as you say.”
The full law from Deuteronomy is: “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other elohim [gods]” (elohim you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. Yahweh your Elohim is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is Yahweh your Elohim you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against Yahweh your Elohim, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way Yahweh your Elohim commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.” (13:1).
But the bastard answering, said, “Did not Isaiah prophecy concerning me? And are not these the words of my great forefather [David] concerning me: “The Lord said unto me, ‘Thou art my son; this day have I begotten you?’” [Psalms 2:7] “And in like manner in another place he said, ‘The Lord said until my lord, sit at my right hand.’” [Psalms 110:1] “And now I will ascend to my heavenly father and will sit at his right hand, and you shall behold it with your eyes. But you, Judas, shall not attain this.” And now Yeshu uttered the almighty name, and there came a wind and lifted him up between heaven and earth. At once Judas invoked the same name, and the wind also suspended him between heaven and earth; and thus both soared round about through the air. At the sight of these things all were astonished. But Judas again recited the name, and seizing the wretch sought to hurl him down to the earth. Then Yeshu also invoked the name for the purpose of bringing Judas down, and thus they wrestled together. At this point the texts diverge somewhat. In each of them, Jesus either proves stronger or the equal to Judas, so Judas is forced to befoul him in one unpleasant way or another. This makes them both ritually unclean. Much the way the Nazarite Samson lost his super strength after having his hair cut, this impurity causes both of them to lose their power of flight and they both come crashing to the ground. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a group numbering about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus; he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field: there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called the field in their language Akeldama, that is Field of Blood.) -Acts 1:15-19
Imagine “Matthew” and “Luke” being grilled by Roman centurions about how Judas died. Matthew tells one Roman guard that Judas hung himself. Luke tells another Roman guard that Judas “fell.” When asked for details about how Judas “fell,” the only thing Luke adds is that he fell at such a distance, his intestines spilled out onto the ground. What do you think those two centurions are going to believe when they compare stories? It sounds rather like he got thrown off a cliff and Matthew made up a cover story. Therefore being rendered impure, they were both deprived of the use of the Name of God until they were washed. Then a death sentence was brought against Yeshu, and they said to him, “If you would be free, do the things which you have been wanting to do so far.” But Yeshu, when he found himself unable to do them raised his voice in lamentation saying, “David, my forefather, prophesized concerning me, saying, “Yet for your sake we face death all day long.” [Psalm 44:22]
Jesus’ critics telling him to work a miracle in order to make himself free mirrors the situation in the Synoptic gospels in which Jesus is mocked by one or both of the bandits he is crucified with and asked to save himself from the cross. When his disciples and the wicked crowd that adhered to him saw these things, being exposed to the danger of death, they fought with the elders and the wise men of Jerusalem, and enabled Yeshu to escape from the city. So Yeshu went quickly to Jordan; and when he had washed and purified himself, he declared again the name and repeated his former miracles. Moreover, he went and took two millstones, and made them float upon the water, and seating himself on them he caught fishes before the multitude, which they then did eat. When the report of this reached Jerusalem, all the wise and devout men began to weep and to say, “Who will dare to risk death by going and taking away from this bastard the Almighty Name? See, we pledge ourselves that he shall enjoy eternal happiness.” Then Judas offered himself to go; to whom the wise men said, “Go in peace.” Therefore Judas went in disguise, and mingled among the wicked fellows. The Jordan was believed to be a sacred river, which many scholars believe is why John the Baptist chose it in order to baptize people. Floating the millstones is reminiscent of Jesus walking on water, found in all four gospels. Feeding the multitudes with fish is also found in each of them, but is seen as a separate event (in John’s case, directly preceding the walking on water). About the middle of the night God put the bastard into a deep sleep, and Judas enchanted him in his sleep. Then Judas entered Yeshu’s tent, and with a knife cut his flesh and took out from him the sacred parchment. Yeshu awoke out of sleep in fright by a great and horrid demon. Therefore he said to his disciples, “You shall know now that my heavenly father has commanded me to come to him; because he sees that I have no honor among men.” Then his disciples said, “What is to become of us?” He answered, “Oh blessed ones, great will be your reward if you keep my words, for you shall sit at my right hand with my heavenly father.” Then they all lifted up their voices and wept. But Yeshu said, “Do not weep, for a great reward is in store for your piety; only beware not to transgress my words.” To which they responded, “Whatever you command we will do, and whoever proves disobedient to your commands, let him die.” Then said Yeshu, “If you listen to my words and obey my commands you will treat me with favor and justice. As you go to fight for me at Jerusalem I will hide myself by mingling with you so that the citizens of Jerusalem will not notice me.” These things Yeshu spoke deceitfully, that he might go to Jerusalem and enter the temple and again obtain the knowledge of the name. Not in the least suspecting his evil intent, they all respond, “All things that you command we will do, nor will we depart from it a finger’s breadth, either to the right or to the left.” Again he said, “Make an oath to me.” So they all from the least to the greatest, bound themselves by an oath. And they did not know that Judas was among them, because he was not recognized. Afterwards Judas said to the attendants, “Let us provide for ourselves uniform garments, so that no one may be able to know our master.” This device pleased them, and they carried it out.
There are two parallels to the Gospel of John here. One of them comes from shortly after Jesus predicts Peter’s denial, when Jesus begins to comfort his disciples, saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms...” (14:1), very similar to “Do not weep, for a great reward is in store for your piety...” Just a little further down, the Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey my command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever -- the Spirit of Truth.” (14:15). Jesus predicts that the Holy Spirit will come in his name and “teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.” (14:26). This reminder no doubt refers to the later apostles who taught not through an ethical tradition handed down from the first disciples but from divination. Then they journeyed to Jerusalem, there to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Passover]. Now when the devout men saw Judas they rejoiced with great joy, and said to him, “Point out to us, we ask you, what remains to be done. (For he had secretly withdrawn himself and come to the elders and wise men of the city.) Then Judas related all that had happened, and how he had obtained the name from the bastard. Therefore they rejoiced, and Judas said to them, “If you will obey my orders, tomorrow I will deliver this fellow into your hands.” Then said the wise men, “Have you enough knowledge of his going and coming?” Judas replied, “Everything is known to me. Look, he goes to the temple to attend the sacrifice of the paschal victim, but I have sworn to him by the Ten Commandments not to deliver him into your hands. And he has with him 2000 men. You should be prepared tomorrow, and know that the man before whom I bow down in adoration, he is the bastard. Act bravely, attack his followers, and seize him.” Simon, son of Shetach and all the rest of the wise men danced for joy, and they promised Judas to obey his orders. The next day Yeshu came with all his crowd, but Judas went out to meet him, and falling down before him, he worshipped him. Then all the citizens of Jerusalem, being well armed and mailed, captured Yeshu. And when his disciples saw him held captive, and that it was vain to fight, they took to their legs here and there, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping. Meanwhile the citizens of Jerusalem, waxing stronger, conquered the bastard and his crowd, killing many of them, while the rest fled to the mountains.
The descriptions of how Yeshu and Jesus are arrested are in completely different contexts, and yet a closer look shows some of the ideas to be complementary. In this story, Yeshu is captured in broad daylight while in disguise, and Judas points him out by falling down in worship before him. In the gospels, Jesus is not disguised, so presumably the only reason Judas is needed to point him out at all is because it’s dark. In this setting, Jesus was “hiding in plain sight” from within the city while in the gospels the reason Judas is needed is to bring them to where Jesus is. The Synoptic gospels have Judas betray Jesus with a kiss and tell his captors, “Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me.” The Gospel of John seems particularly focused on the subject: Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
It could be said that John is arguing against silence that Jesus had not intended to escape his fate. Jesus certainly has to make an effort to turn himself in. But notice that while this gospel has no kiss, Judas “standing there with them,” falls to the ground, apparently out of fright. Yet this is notably done when Jesus says, “I am he,” in reference to his earlier statement in the fourth gospel, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (8:58), meant to symbolically identify Jesus with God. The picture of Judas falling down to Jesus in order to identify him to his enemies is morphed into Judas and the Romans falling to the ground in worship of Yahweh. Then the elders of Jerusalem brought Yeshu into the city, and bound him to a marble pillar, and scourged him, saying, “Where now are all the miracles you have done?” Then they took thorn branches, and weaving a crown out of them, put it on his head. Then the bastard becoming thirsty, said, “Give me some water to drink.” So they offered him vinegar. Having tasted it, he cried out with a loud voice, “My forefather David prophesied concerning me, saying, ‘And they gave me gall for meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink’.” They answering, said, “If you are God, why did you not make it known before you drank the vinegar was offered to you?” Then they added, “You do stand now upon the verge of the grave, nor will you at last convert gall into good fruit.” But Yeshu, weeping bitterly, said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Then the elders said, “If you are the Son of God, why do you not deliver yourself out of our hands?” Yeshu replied, “My blood is shed for mortals, for Isaiah prophesized, “And from his wounds we are healed.” The same day was the preparation for the Sabbath and also the preparation for the Passover. The Toledot has no mention of the Last Supper, first referenced in 1 Corinthians and also present in the Synoptic Gospels. Unlike John, the Synoptic Gospels have Jesus crucified the day after Passover so that the Last Supper is enacted as a formal Passover meal. John places the crucifixion on the day of Passover, depicting Jesus as the symbolic paschal lamb that’s slaughtered for Israel’s sins. The Gospel of John has no description of the Last Supper, instead making a glossed over reference to an evening meal beforehand (13:1). In Corinthians, Paul takes credit for the revelation that Jesus broke bread with his disciples on the night he was betrayed (11:23). Since the bread/body and wine/blood metaphor is a distinctly Pagan sacrament, having been preceded by Mithraism, and because traditional Judaism is so antithetical to the concept, a great number of scholars believe that the sacrament must have begun with Pauline Christianity. By adding Paul’s vision for the old Jesus into his gospel, Mark gave accreditation to an already existing sacrament. The Epistle to the Hebrews and Cerinthus’ version of the Gospel of John made it a point to say that “the flesh is of no avail” and that ceremonial foods were unneeded. It was not until the final editor created a Presbyter version of John that Communion would be added back in, but not in the form of a story, but as rhetorical arguments made by Jesus, in effect validating a sacrament had had not yet introduced. The chronology of the gospel went unedited however, thus continuing to pay tribute to Jesus on the same day as Passover. Then, taking him out to the place of punishment they stoned him to death. Then the wise men commanded him to be hung on a tree, but no tree was found that could support him, for all, being frail, were broken. His disciples seeing this, wailed and cried out, “Behold the goodness of our Master Yeshu, whom no tree will sustain. But they knew not that he had enchanted all wood when he was in possession of the name. But he knew that he would surely suffer the penalty of hanging, as it is written, “When any man shall be judged to death for an offense and shall be put to death, then you shall hang him. Then Judas, when he saw that no wood would hold him up, said to the wise men, “Behold the subtlety of this fellow, for he has enchanted the wood that it might not sustain him. But there is in my garden a great stem of a cabbage [carob tree?]; I will go and bring it here; perhaps it will hold the body.” To whom the wise men said, “Go and do so.” So Judas went at once and brought the stalk, and on it Yeshu was hanged. Toward night the wise men said, “It is lawful for us to break one letter of the divine law in regard to this fellow; we must do to him what the law demands, even though he did seduce men.” Therefore, they buried him where he was stoned.
The assumption has always been that it was Paul who was being symbolic when he said Christ was “nailed to a tree” and that it was Mark who was being historic when he presented Christ as crucified on a cross. From this renewed perspective, we now must ask the question: who is the one really using allegory here? The Greek word stauroo, which is rendered “crucify” in Paul’s epistles actually has the primary definition of “staked.” In a similar ambiguity of linguistics, the word for cross, stauros, mentioned several times in Paul’s epistles, is primarily defined as “an upright stake.” Amazingly enough, there is no evidence throughout any of Paul’s epistles, authentic or pseudo-graphical, that indicate that Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross. In fact, no book in the Bible except for the four gospels and Acts does! On the contrary, early Christian sources from all sects uniformly identify the Jews as the sole killers of Jesus. The reference in 1 Thessalonians that blames the Jews for the death of Jesus instead of the Romans is thought by many scholars as being far too anti-Semitic to be authentic, but this would mean that it’s just a co-incidence that the version of events in anti-Christian literature matches that of an anti-Semitic forgery. Tertullian also kept record of such a tradition, writing in his Latin work, Against Judaism, that the Jews did not even contend that Jesus performed miraculous healings, saying, “it was not on account of the works that you stoned him, but because he did them on the Sabbath.” This same sentiment is reflected in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus says, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning me?” (10:32). Now about the middle of the night his disciples came and sat down by the grave under the brook. Judas, seeing this, took away the body and hid it in his garden under a brook. Diverting the water elsewhere, he buried the body in the channel and then brought the water back. On the morrow, when the disciples came again and sat down to weep, Judas said to them, “Why do you weep? Look and see if the buried man is there.” And when they looked and found he was not there, the miserable crowd cried out, “He is not in the grave but has ascended to heaven.” For he foretold this himself when alive, and as if concerning himself the saying was interpreted, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me; Selah.”
The Gospel of Matthew reports that after the guards at Jesus’ tomb pass out in terror at seeing an angel come to the tomb and roll the stone away from it. Afterwards, the Roman guards report this to the Jewish chief priests, who pay them a large sum of money to report that Jesus’ disciples came in the night and stole him away, so that “this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this day.” (28:15). Meanwhile, the Queen, finding out what had been done, commanded the wise men of Israel to appear; and when they came she said to them, “What have you done with this man who you have accused of being a sorcerer and a seducer of men?” They answered, “We have buried him according to the requirement of our law.” Then she said, “Bring him here to me.” And they went and sought for him in the grave, but did not find him. Then returning to the Queen, they said, “We know not who has taken him from the grave.” The queen answered and said, “He is the Son of God and has ascended to his Father in heaven; for thus it is prophesized for him, “For he shall receive me; Selah.” Then the wise men said, “Do not allow these thoughts into your mind, for surely he was a sorcerer”; and they gave proof by their own testimony that he was a bastard and the son of an adulteress. The Queen replied, “Why do I exchange words with you in vain? For if you bring him here, you shall be found innocent, but if not, none of you will survive.” They all responded in these words: “Give us time that we can determine the outcome of this affair. Perhaps we may find him there, but if we do not succeed, do unto us whatever pleases you.” She allowed them three days time, and they departed, grieved at heart, lamenting, and not knowing what to do.
Although the origin of the Christian tonsure has been lost to history, it is clear that shaving the head to show contempt towards the importance of fashion was being widely practiced by the 300s. Nazarite Christians like James the Just made an oath against applying the razor to his hair and the early Christian writer Tertullian considered it a perversion to change the face God had meant someone to have. But the Greek Orthodox church claims the tradition came from Paul, who shaved his entire head. A special tonsure was known to have been practiced by Celtic Christians in the 400s, which used a triangular pattern and left the hair in the back long, some claiming authority from the disciple John. Roman Christians were less accommodating to the practice; Jerome, for instance, believed it best not to go in either extreme but to keep one’s hair short. Some Roman Christians suggested the Celtic tonsure as originating from Simon the Magus. Tonsuring itself had been practiced hundreds of years earlier by Buddhists. After these things the strife between the Nazarenes and the Judeans grew so great that it caused a division between them, and a Nazarene meeting a Judean would kill him. The trouble increased more and more for 30 years, when the Nazarenes, having increased to thousands and myriads, prohibited the Israelites from coming to the greater festivals in Jerusalem. Then there was great distress among the Israelites, like what it was in the day the [golden] calf was forged, so that no one knew what to do. The pernicious faith increased, and there came forth 12 men (bad offspring of foul ravens), who wandered through the twelve kingdoms and spread false doctrines among mankind. Some of the Israelites followed them, and these being of high authority, strengthened the Yeshuitic faith; and because they gave themselves out to be apostles of him who was hanged, the great body of the Israelites followed them.
In this story, “the Twelve” are neither disciples of Yeshu, nor related in any way to Cephas. Compare this to Paul’s chronology in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the [Old Testament] Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” -1 Corinthians 15:3-11
Just like in the Toledot, Cephas is not considered one of “the Twelve,” but they are at least contemporary with one another. There is also no indication from Paul that the Twelve knew Jesus during his lifetime. Mark makes mention of “the Twelve” 11 times, but only once are they designated as apostles (3:14), and only then on some versions of the gospel, which means it’s probably another late addition. What Paul does not say here, nor in any of his epistles, is that Jesus had lived during his lifetime. Rather, his appearance to Paul was the last of a long list of appearances, each separated by an unknown duration. However, the fact that Paul mentions that most but not all are still living some time in the 50s indicates that the visions could have taken place long before 30 A.D., the date Jesus was supposedly crucified. Therefore, Simon Son of Cephas went into the sanctuary and wrote out the Almighty Name, and cut his flesh with a knife and placed it inside. Then going from the temple, he drew up the writing, and when he learned the name he went away to the chief city of the Nazarenes.
No explanation is given here for why “Simon Cephas” suddenly becomes “Simon, son of Cephas.” It has long been assumed that Simon, Peter, and Cephas were all one and the same person. And raising his voice he cried out, “Whatsoever believes in Yeshu let him come unto me, for I am sent by him.” Soon a great multitude drew near to him, as many as the sands of the sea, and said to him, “Show us something to confirm to us that you are sent by him.” And when he asked what sign they required of him, they replied, “The miracles which Yeshu performed while alive, you do these also and show us.” Therefore he commanded them to bring there a leper; and when they had brought him, he laid his hand upon him and he was healed. Again he asked them to bring to him a dead man, and when one was brought he laid his hand upon him and he revived and stood upon his feet. The wicked men seeing this fell down to the ground, before him, saying, “Without a doubt you are sent by Yeshu, for when he was alive he did these things for us.” Simon Cephas then said, “I am sent by Yeshu, and he has commanded me to come to you. Give me an oath that you will do all things that I command.” So at once they all exclaimed, “We will do all that you command.” Then Simon Cephas said, “Know that he who was hanged was the enemy of the Israelites and their law, because of the prophecy of Isaiah, saying, “Your new moons and appointed holidays my soul hates. Moreover, be it known to you, that he did not delight in the Israelites, even as Hosea prophesized, “You are not my people. And although it be in his power to sweep them from the earth in one moment, nevertheless he did not wish to utterly destroy them, but desired that there should ever be in your midst witnesses of his hanging and stoning. Moreover, he underwent those great sufferings and sorrows that he might redeem us from hell. And now he exhorts and commands you no longer to abuse any of the Judeans; but if a Judean says to a Nazarene, “Go with me one mile,” let him go with him two miles. And if a Judean strikes a Nazarene on his left cheek, let him turn the right also; that in this world they may have their reward, but in the world to come may be punished in hell. If you do these things, you shall be worthy to sit with him in his seats. Look, this also he requires of you, that you do not celebrate the Feast of the Passover, but that you hold sacred the say on which he died. And that, instead of the Feast of Pentecost, keep holy; and on the 8th day afterwards observe the memory of his circumcision.” All responded to these words, “Whatever you say, we will do; remain with us now.” To which he said, “I will abide with you if you will allow me to abstain from all food according to his precept, and only eat the bread of misery and drink the water of sorrow. But you must build me a tower in the middle of the city on which I may sit even until the day of my death.” The people answered, “We will do as you say.” This seems to be a reference to the Catholic church in Rome claiming that the “stone” of Peter’s church was actually a reference to the city of Rome. After the death of Rabbi Simon Cephas there arose a man name Elias, a wise man but of corrupt mind who went to Rome and publicly said: “Know you that Simon Cephas has deceived you, for your Yeshu gave to me his commands, saying, “Go and tell them: “Let no one believe that I despise the law; for whoever wishes to be initiated by circumcision I will allow him. But he who refuses to observe this, let him be plunged into foul water, nor indeed if he abstains from this shall he incur danger... This also he requires: that not on the 7th day but the 1st on which the heavens and the earth were created you shall worship.” And he added other bad instructions. But the people said, “Confirm to us by a miracle that Yeshu has sent you.” And he said, “What miracle do you expect?” Scarcely had he spoken when a stone fell from a huge wall and crushed his head. So perish all your enemies, Oh Lord; but let those who love you be even as the sun when it shines in it’s strength.
“Selah” is used to conclude Pslams in the Old Testament. It happened that R. Eleazar ben Dama was bitten by a serpent. Then came Jacob of Kephas Sama, to heal him in the name of Yeshu Panthera. But R. Ishmael suffered him not. Eleazar said to him: I will bring you proof that he has the right to heal me. But he had no more time to utter the proof; for he died. R. Ishmael said to him: “Blessed are you, Ben Dama, that you went in peace from this world and did not break through the dence of the wise, for it is written: “And whoever breaks through a fence, a serpent shall bite him,” not a serpent has bitten him, but [it means that] a serpent should not [sic] bite him in the time to come.
Better to die within the faith of Judaism than to be healed in the name of Yeshu according to Rabbi Ishmael, who was a contemporary of Akiva. There is a similar story in the Gemara that tells of the son or grandson of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi having something lodged in his throat and so goes to one of the men of Ben Panthera. The man whispers a verse over the youth and when Yehoshua asks what he said the man replies that it was a “certain verse” from a “certain man.” The rabbi replies that it would have been better that his son or grandson been buried than to hear that verse. “And so it happened to him, “as it were an error which proceeds from the ruler.’” This is a reference to Ecclesiastes: “There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler: Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.”(10:5). Who is the teacher and who is the disciple? Who between the two were wiser? Moses or Jethro? Was it not Moses, father of the prophets and head of the wise? And the Torah, moreover, bears witness to him: And from now on there arises no prophet in Israel like unto Moses. Also, Jethro was an alien, yet he taught Moses worldly wisdom, as it is written: Set you over them rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds. But if you say that Jethro is greater than Moses, then there would be an end to the greatness of Moses.
When the “wise ones” hear this, they’re shocked at his shamelessness and enquires after him and Simeon ben Shetach explains to them that he’s a bastard. This part is very similar to the Gospel of Luke in which Jesus astounds the teachers of law at the temple with his knowledge and then acts disrespectfully towards his worried parents (2:47). “I am the Messiah, and they, so to rise up against me, are children of whores, for so it is written in the Scripture: For they are the children of whores.” [Hosea 1:2]
After healing a lame man and a leper, Jesus is taken before the queen. Jesus tells the queen that Isaiah prophesized him in scripture saying, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse.” (11:1). The queen asks the wise men if that really was in scripture, which they do admit to, but retort that the scripture also said the Messiah would “smite the earth with the rod of his mouth.” Jesus assures the queen that he is the Messiah and then stuns her by announcing that he can raise the dead. And so the queen let him go and he began to gather many apostates around him, causing a great schism in Israel. Then: Yeshu went to Upper Galilee. The wise assembled together, went before the Queen and said to her, “Lady, he practices sorcery and leads men astray there.” Therefore she sent out horsemen concerning him, and they came upon him as he was seducing the people of Upper Galilee and saying to them, “I am the Son of God, who has been promised in your law. The horsemen rose up to take him away, but the people of Upper Galilee suffered it not and began to fight. Yeshu said to them, “Fight not, have trust in the power of my Father in heaven.” The people of Galilee made birds of clay; he uttered the letters of the Shem, and the birds flew away. At the same hour, they fell down before him. He said to them: Bring over to me a millstone. They rolled it to the seashore; he spoke the letters, set it upon the surface of the sea, sat himself upon it, as one sits on a boat, and floated on the water. They who were sent saw it and wondered; and Yeshu said to the horsemen: Go to your lady, tell her what you have seen! And the wind raised him from the water and carried him unto dry land.
Once again Yeshu and Judas Iscariot have a Magic Contest in which Judas befouls Jesus and he is sentenced to death. It is said that his head was covered and he was hit with a pomegranate staff, and that they knew the Name of God had left him because he could not identify who had struck him. One version says that 70 elders with 70 staves beat him in this manner. This incident where Jesus is blindfolded and asked to identify who hits him is found in all three Synoptic gospels. He began to speak to his companions before the Queen: “Of me it was said: “Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? But of them he said, “The proud waters.” And of them he said, “Stronger than rocks make they their support.” When the Queen heard this she reproved the apostates and said to the wise men of Israel, “He is in your hand.”
But Jesus gets some help from his disciples: They departed from the Queen and brought him to the synagogue of Tiberias and bound him to the pillars of the ark. Then there gathered together the band of simpletons and dupes, who believed on his words and desired to deliver him out of the hand of the elders; but they could not do so, and there arose great fighting between them.
The disciples are actually able to overpower the guards: Then were the elders afraid, and the apostates bore him off from them, and his 310 disciples brought him to the city of Antioch, where he sojourned until the rest-day of Passover.
As we have already seen, Antioch is a city very special to Christians, and the author of Acts says that it was the city where people first called themselves Christians. They said to him: “What is your name?”
A very similar scene appears in the Talmud, listing five disciples instead of four: Matthai, Neqai, Netzer, Buni, and Thodah. For each, it is asked if the man must die, quoting a Bible verse in defense. But for each, a different Bible verse is given condemning them, and each of the five men are put to death. His disciples fled and scattered themselves in the kingdom; three of them to Mount Ararat, three of them to Armenia, three to Rome, and others to other places, and misled the peoples, but everywhere where they took refuge, God sent his judgment upon them, and they were slain. But many among the apostates of our people went astray after him; there was strife between them and the Israelites, confusion of prayers and much loss of money. Everywhere the apostates caught sight of the Israelites they said to the Israelites: You have slain God’s Anointed! But the Israelites answered them, “You are children of death, because you have believed on a false prophet!” Nevertheless, they went not forth from the community of Israel, and there was strife and contention among them, so that Israel had no peace. When the wise men of Israel saw this they said: [It is now] 30 years since that rogue was put to death, until now we have no peace with these misguided ones, and this has befallen us because of the number of our sins, for it is written: “They have moved me to wrath with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities” [those are the Christians, who worship that which is not God; with a base people will I provoke them- that is, with the Ishmaelites]. This last part is rendered with problems and is thought to be a late addition. It seems to be insinuating that God punished the Christians by sending the Muslims on them. The wise said: How long will the apostates profane Sabbaths and feasts, and slay one another? Let us rather seek for a wise man who may take these erring ones out of the community of Israel. It is now 30 years that we have admonished them, but they have not returned to God, because they have taken it into their heads that Yeshu is the Messiah, and so may they go to destruction and peace be with us.
Another so-called “plan” is drawn up, similar to the last one: The wise men agreed on a man whose name was Eli-Yahu, and he was very learned in the Scripture and they said to him: “We have agreed, that we will pray for you, that you will be counted as a good Israelite in the other world. Go, and do good for Israel, and remove the apostates from us, that they may go to destruction!”
Eli-Yahu is said to have brought about a reform, changing the holy day from Saturday to Sunday, adding other new holidays, including the Feast of his Circumcision, which actually was celebrated until the end of the 400s A.D. He is also said to have allowed converts that were both circumcised and uncircumcised. Although the last version has this coming from the mouth of Peter, he also tells them to go ”the extra mile“ and ”turn the other cheek.“ This causes them to separate from Israel: But Eli-Yahu who gave these laws, the not-good ones, did it for the welfare of Israel, and the Nazarenes call him Paul. After he had introduced these laws and commandments, the erring ones separated themselves from Israel, and the strife ceased.
The allegation here that Paul was originally set up by ”wise men“ who would promise him paradise in the afterlife if he only betrayed his fellow Christians is very reminiscent of how the ”wise men“ set Judas up to betray Jesus. Some equally absurd theories that Paul was a patsy for the Roman government attempting to de-radicalize Christianity has cropped up in modern times as well. Not only that, but the attributes given to Eli-Yahu are not exactly reminiscent of Paul. One noticeably irony is that although the whole point of the exercise was to attempt to stop Jews from profaning the Sabbath, etc., it is the patsy Paul himself who changes the Christians� holy day from Saturday to Sunday. Galatians has Paul ridiculing the congregation for observing ”special days“ and Colossians says that no one should be judged in regard to festivals or Sabbaths. Not until the middle of the second century did Justin Martyr first repeat a tradition of Christians meeting no Sunday and not until some time around the early 200s that Tertullian refers to it as a day of rest. A long time after, the Persian power arose; then a Christian departed from them, made mock of them, just as the heretics had laughed at the wise men. He said to them: “Paul was in error in his scripture when he said to you, ‘Circumcise yourselves not- for Yeshu was circumcised. Yeshu also said, ‘I have come not to destroy even one jot from the law of Moses, but to fulfill all his words. And that is your shame, which Paul laid upon you, when he said, ‘Don’t circumcise yourselves’.” But Nestorius said to them: “Circumcise yourselves, for Yeshu was circumcised.” Also said Nestorius, “you heretics! You say Yeshu is God, though he was born of a woman. Only the Holy Spirit rested on him as on the prophets.”
The text now seems to jump back to the first century again to speak of Simon Cephas, but upon further inspection, “Simon Cephas” turns out to be the Eldar, Simon Stylites, a famous ascetic from the mid-400s, who lived in northern Syria: Now the chief of the Sanhedrin, his name was Simon Cephas- and why was he called Cephas? Because he stood on the stone on which Ezekiel had prophesied at the river Chobar [in Babylonia], and on that stone it was that Simon heard the daughter of a voice from heaven. When the Christians heard that Simon Cephas was one of those who heard a voice from heaven, and that stores of wisdom were in him, they envied the Israelites, that so great a man was found in Israel. God brought it into Simon’s mind to go to Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles. And there were gathered together all the bishops and the Great Ancient of the Christians. They came to Simon Cephas to the Mount of Olives on the day of the great Feast of Willow-twigs [during the Feast of Tabernacles]. When they saw his wisdom, that there was not one in Israel like unto him, they tried to turn him to the religion of the Christians, and they constrained him, saying: “If you do not profess our religion, we will put you to death, and not leave even one remaining in Israel to go into the sanctuary.” This Simon Cephas is definitely a different Simon than the one from the last story. The history of the saints confirms that St. Simon Stylites did live the majority of his life in narrow spaces no larger than 20 meters. He had originally been ejected from the monastery after nearly starving himself and wearing a girdle so tight that he gave himself infected wounds. After this he shut himself up in a hut for 3 years, but crowds of pilgrims went through the desert to seek his advice out on prayer. He spoke mostly against money lending and profanity. After discovering a pillar amongst some ruins, it�s said he became determined to spend the rest of his life on it. However, not being tall enough, it was replaced several times, the last one being 15 feet high, at which point pilgrims would climb a ladder up to see him. He would not be the last to take this unique form of hermitage, as many pillar-ascetics came to follow his example. Great personages, such as the Emperor Theodosius and the Empress Eudocia manifested the utmost reverence for the saint and listened to his counsels, while the Emperor Leo paid respectful attention to a letter Simeon wrote to him in favour of the Council of Chalcedon. Once when he was ill Theodosius sent three bishops to beg him to descend and allow himself to be attended by physicians, but the sick man preferred to leave his cure in the hands of God, and before long he recovered. After spending thirty-six years on his pillar, Simeon died on Friday, 2 Sept., 459 (Lietzmann, p. 235). A contest arose between Antioch and Constantinople for the possession of his remains. The preference was given to Antioch, and the greater part of his relics were left there as a protection to the unwalled city. The ruins of the vast edifice erected in his honour and known as Qal `at Sim `an (the mansion of Simeon) remain to the present day. It consists of four basilicas built out from an octagonal court towards the four points of the compass. In the centre of the court stands the base of St. Simeon's column. This edifice, says H.C. Butler, “unquestionably influenced contemporary and later church building to a marked degree” (Architecture and other Arts, p. 184). It seems to have been a supreme effort of a provincial school of architecture which had borrowed little from Constantinople. -New Advent Encyclopedia
The story then concludes with a description of how Simon Stylites composed various kind of synagogue poetry, comparing him to a famous synagogue poet from around 900 A.D.: Afterwards he composed in his tower Keroboth, Jotzroth, and Zulthoth in his name, like Eliezer son of Kalir. He sent and gathered together the elders of Israel and handed over to their care all that he found in his mind, and charged them that they should teach it to the leaders in prayer and use it for prayers, so that they might make mention of him for good.
Although the Sepher Toledot Yeshu is undoubtedly an ancient text essential to the understanding of early Christianity, it has been profoundly missing from historic scholars. To give an idea of how estranged this text has become to scholars who could have found it instrumental to their studies, the Swedish scholar Alavar Ellegard wrote a book in 1999 called Jesus: One Hundred Years Before Christ, in which he argues the case for Jesus living 100 years B.C. almost entirely on negative evidence from the Pauline epistles and Christian apocrypha, seemingly without any knowledge of the Toledot�s existence. |