I love finding new “lost manuscripts” that don’t get the publicity they should. Some discoveries make headlines for decades and others barely a mention. This particular text is one that has been over looked. The so called “Gospel of the Savior” is from a collection of fragments at the Berlin Egyptian Museum and was purchased from a dealer back in 1967. It would not be until the 1990s that the fragments came out of hiding to be conserved and translated. I am using the book Gospel of the Savior by Charles W. Hedrick and Paul A. Mirecki for referencing. Bart Ehrman has made a translation of this gospel in the early 2000s, but I do not have a copy (right now), so I can’t compare the two translations. The name “Gospel of the Savior” is not the text’s true name. That has been lost, but like other ancient texts in a similar situation, it has been given a title. This collection of fragments is a dialogue gospel. It features Jesus talking to his disciples. It survives in Sahidic Coptic and dates after the fourth century. It is believed to be from a Greek source, possibly second century. I won’t get into any of the technical analysis of the text, the book I mentioned earlier does a pretty good job of that and I highly recommend picking up a copy. That being said, what does the text say?
As I mentioned earlier, this is a collection of various fragmented pieces. A lot of pages have missing content and only scattered words remain. I will not comment too much on those pages, but rather focus on the pages that remain intact enough to follow a comprehensive narrative. I will refer to the page numbers that are given to the text in the book. If you get a copy, you will know what I am talking about. If you don’t, it may seem odd.
Page 97 has Jesus conversating with Andrew. Jesus states a few lines such as “Blessed is the one who will eat with me in the kingdom of the heavens. You are the salt of the earth, and you are the lamp that illuminates the world.” Other fragment parts include “Do not sleep nor slumber…” and “the garment of the kingdom, which I bought with the blood of the grape (or vine)…” Andrew replies but his response is missing. The text continues on the next page with Jesus stating “If I have cared for the things of the world, it is also fitting for me to go down to Hades because of the souls that are bound in that place.” So referring back to the first line of Jesus, that is very similar to Luke 14:15 (“Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ESV) The salt of the earth and lamp reference is mentioned in Matthew 5:13 & 14 (13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” ESV).
Page 98 has quite a bit of text that survives. It has Jesus giving a revelation with joy. He mentions that “now therefore while you are in the body, do not let matter rule over you: Arise, let us go away from this place. For the one who will hand me over is near.” As you can see, this is taking place right before Judas betrays him. Jesus mentions that they will all flee from him and be left alone. He states “but I do not remain alone for my Father is with me. I and my Father, we are a single one.” Page 99 continues on this narrative. Jesus states he is the good shepherd and will lay down his life for you, and that you should do the same for your friends, as this will please the Father. He mentions there is no greater commandment than this. Jesus also mentions he was divine, but became human and then the text cuts off. It resumes with one of the disciples asking how much time will pass before they are summon out of the world, and the text cuts off.
Page 100 is pretty fragmented but there is a section that describes a viewing of the ascension to heaven. One of the disciples is talking about becoming spiritual bodies and approaching the heavens. Entities in that realm were afraid of seeing them ascend. A vision of the savior is mentioned before the text abruptly ends.
The next page is 105 and it is very fragmented. There is one complete sentence intact which states “The one who does not receive my body and my blood, this one is a stranger to me.” A very pro-Eucharist stance there! Page 106 is extremely fragmented but what is left, it seems like it is Jesus telling his disciples not to weep over him but rejoice for his impending bodily end.
Page 107 remains mostly intact. It starts with Jesus telling his disciples not to be disturbed when they see him (in regards to post resurrection). The disciples asks him what kind of body will he appear in when he reveals himself. John then speaks and asks that the Lord not to reveal himself in all his glory, but rather a different form of this glory so that they (the disciples) could see him without fear and despair. Jesus tells them that he will appear to them in a form that they can witness him, but not to touch him until he goes to the Father. This is similar to when Jesus tells Mary Magdalene in John 20:17 ( Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ESV). Now the really interesting tidbit comes next when Jesus says “And if one is near to me, he will burn. I am the fire that blazes; who is near to me, is near to the fire; who is far from me, is far from life.” Sound familiar? Why, this parallels saying 82 of the Gospel of Thomas! That saying is: “Jesus said, “Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father’s) kingdom.“ I absolutely love the fact a Thomas saying pops up in another discovered text! The text fragments a bit after this before continuing with Jesus stating “As for me, I am in your midst as a child. Amen. A little longer I am in your midst.”
My next post will finish up the Gospel of the Savior. If this text sounds interesting to you, be sure to pick up the book I mentioned at the beginning!
bP
Culmination of Wisdom 