Judas by Marvin W. Meyer

Author:Marvin W. Meyer [Marvin Meyer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061746000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

The Concept of Our Great Power

CHAPTER FIVE

The Traitor in the “Round Dance of the Cross”

THE “ROUND DANCE OF THE CROSS,” OR “HYMN OF JESUS,” is a song included within the Acts of John, and it is said that Jesus taught this song and the accompanying dance to his disciples before he was handed over to be crucified. This lovely, mystical hymn has been used in literature and film, and Gustav Holst set it to music in The Hymn of Jesus. In the “Round Dance of the Cross,” Jesus sings the verses of the hymn, and the disciples respond, antiphonally, by singing “Amen” as they dance in a circle around Jesus. The verses Jesus sings consist largely of aretalogical self-predications—“I am” statements—which are frequently riddlelike and paradoxical in character. The textual history of the Acts of John and the “Round Dance of the Cross” within it is complicated, but it is often assumed that the Acts of John was composed in Syria in the latter part of the second century or a bit later. The “Round Dance of the Cross” seems to employ themes derived from the Johannine tradition, and it may reflect the Gnostic concerns of the mystical followers of the great teacher Valentinus.

Although Judas Iscariot is not referred to by name in the “Round Dance of the Cross,” two passages are of interest for our examination of Judas traditions. In the introduction to the hymn, which contains comments that disparage both the Jewish people and the Jewish God as being lawless and describe their God as the serpent, Jesus invites the disciples to join him in song before he is handed over to the Jews. After singing together, Jesus says, they will be able to go out to face what is to take place—namely, the events surrounding the delivering up of Jesus to his death. Near the conclusion of the hymn, Jesus declares to the disciples that he is their God but not the God of the traitor. Although the reference to the traitor is somewhat ambiguous, it seems to designate Judas as the traitor, who is no longer associated with the divine Christ but who stands condemned, estranged from God.

THE ROUND DANCE OF THE CROSS 1

[94] Before he (Jesus) was apprehended by the lawless Jews, who have received their law from the lawless serpent,2 he gathered all of us together and said, “Before I am handed over to them,3 let’s sing a hymn to the Father and hence go to face what lies ahead.”

So he told us to form a circle and hold each other’s hands, and he stood in the middle and said, “Respond to me with ‘Amen.’”

The Song

He began singing a hymn and declaring,

Glory to you, Father.

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