The Real Fifth Gospel of Jesus

Sometimes a mystery is solved with tenacious sleuth-work. At others, it is about the plain dumb luck of being at the right place at the right time. Then there are times that a mystery is solved because facts slap you in the face for being stupid enough to see a mystery in the first place. When National Geographic is touting The Gospel of Judas as the "lost gospel" and the Gospel of Thomas is being dubbed the fifth gospel, I marvel at what producers and authors would have us believe is tenacious sleuth work.  To me, it is much ado about nothing while facts full of portents are ignored.

In a previous post, we suggested how a typical documentary would build a case for the "mysterious fifth gospel" beginning with Jesus' statement in John 16:12:  "I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (verse 12). We noted how Luke makes a statement in the preface to Acts informing us that the Gospel of Luke represents what "Jesus began to do and teach." The obvious implication is that Luke's second volume, Acts, represents an account of things that Jesus continued to do and teach. So Jesus WAS teaching after His ascension.  There is more He had to say than just what is in the four Gospels, as His statement in John 16:12 plainly declares.

Now here comes the obvious. Jesus gave the answer to the question raised in John 16:12 with a statement in the very next verse! John 16:13 declares:  "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come." Jesus had "many more things" to communicate to His disciples. They could not bear them because they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. This deficiency was remedied on Pentecost, and the Spirit began His work of "disclosing" what Jesus "continued" to speak, a "fifth gospel," if you will, that imparted to the disciples the "many more things" for which they were not ready on Good Friday. 

This body of "many more things" has come to us packaged in written form in the New Testament. The Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John represent what Jesus "began to teach." The remainder of the New Testament represents the "many more things" that Jesus taught. You could say that the New Testament has two primary divisions:  "Beginnings" and "More Things." You could also name them "The Four Gospels" and "The Fifth Gospel." 

(I admit that the term "fifth gospel" has been so sensationalized that the phrase probably is not salvageable for us. But if you can get past the associations, the phrase does well capture the idea that the four gospels and the remainder of the New Testament are BOTH "the teaching of Jesus.")

This is PROFOUND truth for anyone who wants to make disciples. When Jesus defines disciples as those who are observing ALL that Jesus has commanded, this requires them to be devoted to "Beginnings" and "More Things." This is our essential curriculum. If we are going to help disciples "observe all that I [Jesus] commanded you," then we must not neglect any portion of the New Testament. This is what makers of disciple makers give to others. You won't find it in the Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Judas, but you will find it in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John plus the "fifth gospel" which spans Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation.

Comments

[Jeff]

What do we do, then, with the Old Testament? I know you're not saying it's insignificant, but it seems like you're saying that it has lesser significance to us, our faith and sharing the Gospel than the New Testament has.

[Alex Marshall]

The Old Testament has a lot of significance. When Jesus was teaching what is recorded in the four gospels all his audience knew was the Old Testament so he spent a lot of time addressing themes developed in the Old Testament (his discussion of the law in the Sermon on the Mount is a great example). Same is true of the writers of the New Testament when they were writing it. Though they had some knowledge of the the other writings that would come to be part of the New Testament, by in large, they seem to rely on their knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures. Something like 1/4 to 1/3 of the New Testament is quoting the Old. So while not all of the Old Testament law may apply to us in the New Covenant, to really understand the New Testament I think you need to have a good grasp on the Old. Or maybe a better way of saying that would be the better you understand the Old Testament the more you will understand the New Testament.

Likewise, if the four gospels are what Jesus began to teach, then we might say they lay the foundation for what shows up in the rest of the New Testament. So the more you understand Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the more sense the Epistles and Revelation are going to make.