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José Estênio |
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Judas and the
injustice of men
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Certainly
influenced by
the teachings of
the Roman
Catholic Church,
we have learned
that Jesus
Christ was born
on 25th
December of year
1 (One) of the
Christian era,
and that he died
at thirty-three
years of age,
after a
three-year
ministry. This
count, through
the hourglass of
time; would have
been established
by the monk who
lived in Rome
between the
years 500 and
545 and was
named Dionysius
the Small; from
the hypothetical
birth date of
Christ,
replacing the
previous method
where it was
made from the
foundation of
Rome, still five
hundred years
after the death
of Jesus of
Nazareth.
According to
historians, the
monk Dionysius
would have
translated
several
ecclesiastical
works from Greek
into Latin and
produced a kind
of table with
the date of
Easter in a
sequence of
years. The term
"Christian Era"
would have been
coined by him to
designate the
years after 753
years from the
founding of
Rome.
For Ivan René
Franzolim, there
are strong
indications that
Jesus must have
been born in the
749th
year after the
foundation of
Rome, so four
years earlier
than that which
had been
attributed by
the monk
Dionysius; thus
the month and
day of His
coming into the
world is
unknown. It is
believed that it
was the Emperor
Constantine I
“the Great”, who
reigned from
306-337 and who,
in 336 ruled
that the birth
of Jesus would
be celebrated on
25th
December across
the whole Roman
Empire, taking
advantage of the
celebration of
the winter
Solstice in the
East and the
rebirth of the
sun in the
Mediterranean.
Officially, this
date as dies
natalis was
determined by
Father Julius I,
who was pope
between 337 and
352.
Combining
historical
information to
that provided by
the spirit
author Emmanuel,
and which are
found in the
book "Two
Thousand Years
Ago",
psychographed by
Chico Xavier,
one can conclude
that it is
possible that
Jesus died on
the afternoon of
3rd
April, a Friday,
in the year 33,
at the age of
thirty-six or
thirty-seven,
and His ministry
took place from
year 28 to year
33. So in this
year of 2013,
when we rewrite
this article,
1980 years have
passed since the
return of the
Master of
Nazareth to the
Spirit World.
Judas Iscariot
- Humanity,
especially
followers of
Catholicism;
during these two
thousand or so
years; recalls
yearly the
occasion of the
"holy week"; the
scourge, the
torture, the
trial and death
of Jesus; a
morbid, sadistic
and tragic
repetition,
showing a
defeated,
vanquished,
languid Christ.
During these
holy days so
called by
Catholicism, men
in mock piety,
bemoan the
tortures
inflicted on
Jesus. Here it
is appropriate
to recall a
ballad written
by Octávio
Serrano Caumo
quoted by him in
his excellent
article "Jesus
Died to Save
us", published
in the
"International
Journal of
Spiritism",
edition March
2008: In his
sadism that
amazes, man
always does
this, on every
holy week ,
kills Jesus
Christ once
again.On
this same
occasion, in a
preposterous
nonsense, using
a wickedness
that clashes
with the
teachings of the
Divine Master,
another
personality is
remembered. Not
in such falsely
pious manner,
but with true
scorn, with
authentic scorn,
with genuine
derision and
real vitriol.
This personality
is Judas
Iscariot, one of
the Twelve
Disciples of
Primitive
Christianity,
replaced after
his suicide by
the Apostle
Matthias. We all
know the way he
is remembered.
Not much is
known of the
genealogy of
Judas Iscariot.
His demeaning
behaviour
towards Jesus
may be the
reason for the
Evangelists to
refer to him so
little.
According to the
Jewish historian
Josephus (37-103
d. C.), the
nickname
Iscariot stems
from Carioth or
Keriote,
hometown of that
Apostle. There
are historical
records that
Judas Iscariot
would have been
the treasurer of
the primitive
Christian
community,
because he was a
skilled
marketeer. It is
also known that
Iscariot was an
intelligent,
loving and
restless
character.
After all, what
motivated Judas
to fail,
betraying the
Master? Was it
his ambition for
power or was a
religious-political
idealism? Or was
it just pride
and envy? These
are questions
that remain to
this day without
a safe,
conclusive
answer, and
everything
remains in the
field of
conjectures of
historians.
The explanation
given by Judas
- In an
interview with
Humberto de
Campos, in his
book "Chronicles
Beyond the
Tomb", Judas
reveals that he
was in love with
the socialist
ideas of Jesus,
considering Him
the New King of
the Jews, both
by His divine
magnetism, by
the psychic
phenomena he
practiced, and
by His word of
clarification.
Judas says that
he saw in
politics and
popular revolt
the only
instrument which
could facilitate
the release of
the Jews, as he
was hostile to
Roman
domination. In
parallel, he
considered Jesus
a serious
obstacle to his
desire to come
to power, given
that Jesus had
his option for
the poor and
humble,
rejecting
command and
wealth. Although
he deeply loved
the Son of Mary,
his ambition and
his desire to
hasten the
victory made him
devise the plan
that culminated
in the
crucifixion and
all that we know
of Martyrdom.
In the written
work entitled
"The Four
Gospels" one can
find two
messages from
Judas himself
and one of the
four
evangelists, all
by then already
in the Spiritual
realm and being
guided or
assisted by the
Apostles. Such
messages are
signed jointly
by Joseph of
Arimathea and
Simon of Cyrene,
which bring
clarifications
about the
betrayal. In the
second message
transmitted by
Iscariot he thus
expresses:"Oh!
How great is
this God who
allows that the
guilty child
finds in his own
unworthiness,
the fulcrum that
will help him to
rise to
perfection. Oh!
how good is He
who is always
ready to forgive
those who
sincerely
repent, who
thinks with His
beneficent hands
the wounds of
our guilty
hearts, who
pours in them
the balm of hope
and healing with
the aid of
atonement! "
At the end of
the messages,
the Evangelists
add: "(...)
Judas is today a
regenerated
Spirit in the
crucible of
repentance, of
remorse, of
atonement, of
reincarnation
and of progress.
He has become
one of the
humble and
active helpers,
devoted to
Christ. This
example shows
that you must
never repel any
of your brothers
and even less,
exclude him from
the peace of the
Lord. "
A
message from
Judas
– We will find
another touching
message from
Judas in the
book "Life and
Acts of the
Apostles" by
Cairbar Schutel.
Such
communication
was received on
September 12,
1916 in the city
of Rio de
Janeiro, through
mediumship, and
proven by a
clairvoyant, who
said he had seen
in the instant
of transmission
"a man with a
beard and black
hair, wearing
white robes,
surrounded by a
large halo of
light-blue light
that surrounded
another light
halo of a
velvety
dark-blue.
Around the
Spirit and
scattered, there
were floating
flakes of green
light, making
the effect of
the apparation
stunning."
Because it is a
beautiful prayer
of praise to God
and
Jesus-Christ, we
reproduce it in
full:
"Judas, my good
friends, returns
today to the
world to declare
before men the
truths that have
been inspired in
him by Our Lord
Jesus Christ -
the Great and
Beloved Master
–whom, in a
moment of
blindness,
darkness, and
extreme
weakness, he
betrayed,
selling him to
the enemies.
Jesus, my good
friends, the
Messiah, the one
sent by God to
save the world
where you live
today, has
already forgiven
Judas Iscariot’s
weakness and
blindness. God,
in His infinite
mercy, granted
by the mouth of
His beloved Son,
pardons the one
who was once an
unfaithful
traitor,
perjurer, a
false and
criminal
disciple of the
Messiah; and has
never ceased to
mourn and
sympathize with
the weakness and
misery of his
disciple.
I come, my good
friends, in the
name of my
Beloved Master -
Saviour of the
World – to tell
you something
that interests
you. I attend to
your presence in
order to restore
the perverted
truth, distorted
by men
interested in
conserving the
path of error
and falsehood. I
stand before
you, my good
friends, to
confess
gratefully for
the immense
evidences of
love that were
given to me by
God and our Lord
Jesus Christ. "
Judas recognizes
his mistakes
- "I appear here
before you, my
beloved brethren
and companions
in order to
atone for the
mistakes that I
practiced and,
at the same time
chanting hymns
to the Infinite
Wisdom and
immaculate
purity of this
admirable
Master, the
incomparable
goodness of this
heart all made
of sweetness and
love! I come to
sing hosannas to
the sublime
wisdom of the
Creator and
erect a prayer,
in which all of
you shall
accompany me,
because in this
prayer we will
ascend to the
Father in Heaven
and Jesus, who,
during this
time, extend his
merciful sight
on this backward
planet, a world
of atonement and
suffering, tears
and pain.
Repeat with me,
my dear
brothers:
'Jesus, our
Saviour, Son of
God and Sublime
Light that
lightens our
path to guide us
on earth and in
Eternity! Lord,
here are Your
children, headed
by one who
deeply erred in
the World, the
greatest of all
criminals who
trod the surface
of this planet,
here we all are,
Lord, having
before us the
most perfidious
and faithless of
Thy disciples
and here we find
ourselves
standing up with
the weakest
criminal of your
sons - Judas
Iscariot! We,
Lord, are also
weak, and have
practiced great
mistakes,
immense guilt
weighs upon us,
major sins
require us to
bend the
forehead before
Thee, Lord! We
have, Jesus, our
soul covered
with sores, our
hearts poisoned
by the most
impure feelings
that have fed
it; we feel our
spirit battered
by reviewing our
spiritual past,
full of crimes
and serious
misconducts. We
are, Lord, still
slaves to
matter, feeling
the entrails
devoured by
sinful desires,
the soul
trapped, chained
to matter that
retains it to
the surface of
the Earth, where
it cannot become
unattached for
the bright
regions without
firstly purging
itself of the
impurities and
the blemishes
that sins have
left on it and
where vices have
produced deep
grooves, the
miseries of the
flesh launched
traces which
will hardly be
erased! We have
good Jesus, the
hands painted
with the blood
of our brothers,
the feet full of
putrid mud of
the dungeons and
repugnant
middens where we
walked for a
long time; we
have also
conserved in the
hands the
tarnishes of the
currency in
exchange for
that which we
sold our
conscience, we
betrayed our
brethren, we
still keep on
the lips the
signals of low
moral principles
, the impurity
of the passions
that we feed
into our hearts;
we bring stamped
on the forehead
the stigmata of
our vileness, of
our decay,
misery and
prostitution to
which we indulge
in life; we
retain in the
eyes traces of
our cruelties,
the brightness
of the pleasures
and criminal
delights during
this earthly
experience we
have had. "
The prayer
continues
- "Our body,
Lord, is the
book in which
the written
history of our
abuses and our
transgressions
is found. Our
souls, Jesus,
are the mirror
in which all our
attacks on the
laws of God and
all violations
of Thy Gospel
are reflected in
this moment. Our
consciousness
is, at this
time, the shroud
where Thy effigy
is stamped, but
so faintly that
we hardly
recognize it.
Lord Jesus! Dear
and beloved
Master! All our
sins are found
engraved in our
spirits, all our
faults are drawn
in our
conscience,
which accuses us
before Thee and
Thy Father!
Our faults are
large, our sins
immense, our
mistakes
infinite, but in
Thy goodness
there is always
place for all
pardons, in Thy
soul there are
large reserves
of mercy and
tolerance, in
Thy immeasurable
heart there is a
constant
overflow of
piety and love
for those who
suffer, who
groan and cry,
the weak, the
unfortunate and
the sinners,
like us!
Therefore, good
Jesus receive
this prayer we
offer you and
which is uttered
by the most
impure lips that
have ever
existed on
earth, dictated
by the darkest
conscience that
has throbbed in
a human being’s
hand, drawn by
the most
criminal hand
that has ever
existed on this
planet; a prayer
born of the most
guilty soul
known so far in
this world, the
weakest and most
criminal spirit
of all those who
have incarnated
on Earth. Lord,
Good Jesus,
accept the
prayer that
Judas, the
traitor of
yesterday, the
false and
perfidious from
other times,
asks us to
recite at this
moment in Your
presence so that
we, like him,
achieve our
forgiveness and
deserve of Thy
goodness the
grace to receive
from Thy Father
the same light
and the same
peace that He
gave to the most
cruel, the most
infamous
criminal and of
His children!
Jesus, listen to
our prayer and
give us what you
gave Judas for
the evil he
caused You, for
the betrayal he
practiced
against Thy
divine person,
for the outrage
he inflicted
upon Thee, in
Thy most painful
moment of Your
life of
Missionary, the
Redeemer, the
Saviour of the
world and the
Son of God! "
Judge not,
Lamennais says
- "You, you had
in Thy soul
greatness,
sweetness and
love to forgive
this false and
perjured
disciple; Lord,
forgive us too,
whose errors,
whose faults,
crimes and sins
are very far
away from the
crime and sin of
him who if
before us, in
this time of
grief and pain,
to give thanks
to the infinite
mercy of God and
the immense and
inexhaustible
fountain of
sweetness,
tenderness,
purity, immense
love - Jesus’
heart!
Forgive us,
Lord! Save us,
Jesus. "
I will say too:
"My Jesus! My
Saviour! If I
earned Your
forgiveness and
Your mercy, my
brothers may
also deserve
them because
before Judas,
all humanity,
with all its
crimes, their
sins and their
miseries, is
holy, innocent
as the most
innocent little
children who
play on the
surface of the
Earth! Forgive
mankind, then,
Lord, as You
have forgiven
the greatest of
traitors. "
The unfair trial
that we still
make towards him
today as well as
the diatribes
that we, who
called ourselves
Christians, have
launched against
Judas Iscariot,
a criminal
abject from
yesterday and
today certainly
a member of the
heavenly
phalanges of
purified
Spirits, should
be ashamed,
because we are
as much as or
even more,
offenders before
the divine laws
than he was in
those past times
of his earthly
life.
We should remind
ourselves daily
of an extract
from a message
left by the
Spirit Lamennais,
transmitted in
Paris in 1862.
This message is
in Chapter 11,
item 14, of "The
Gospel According
to Spiritism" by
Allan Kardec,
"Judge not!
Judge not, my
dear friends,
because the
judgment that ye
yourselves will
apply even more
severely, and
have need of
indulgence to
commit sins
unceasingly.
Know ye not that
there are many
actions that are
crimes in the
eyes of the God
of purity, and
that the world
considers as
even slight
faults? "
Sources:
Article "From
Pride to
Humility: Judas
and
Forgiveness," by
Roosevelt Pinto
Sampaio, found
in the magazine
"The Reformer"
September 1999.
"Life and Acts
of the Apostles"
by Cairbar
Schutel.
"Two Thousand
Years", by the
Spirit author
Emmanuel and
mediumship of
Chico Xavier.
"The Gospel
According to
Spiritism" by
Allan Kardec.
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