Monthly Archives: August 2013

ON LOVE; PART CCCLXII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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The Gospel of Thomas

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.

(11) Jesus says: “This heaven will pass away, and the (heaven) above it will pass away. And the dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what was dead, you made it alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?“

(12) The disciples said to Jesus: “We know that you will depart from us. Who (then) will rule [lit., ‘be great’] over us?”  Jesus said to them: “No matter where you came from, you should go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being“

(13) Jesus said to his disciples: “Compare me, and tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him: “You are like a just messenger.” Matthew said to him: “You are like an (especially) wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him: “Teacher, my mouth will not bear at all to say whom you are like.”  Jesus said: “I am not your teacher. For you have drunk, you have become intoxicated at the bubbling spring that I have measured out.” And he took him, (and) withdrew, (and) he said three words to him.  But when Thomas came back to his companions, they asked him: “What did Jesus say to you?”  Thomas said to them: “If I tell you one of the words he said to me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me, and fire will come out of the stones (and) burn you up.”

In the last essay we broke down some of the twelfth saying from the Gospel of Thomas and its import and relation to the overall teachings of the Master. Understanding that each gospel writer addresses his task from his own perspective and style, we make the same allowances for Thomas’ work and; we must also work into our thinking the view of the translators and the commentators whose interpretations do seem slanted toward the church view that these ideas are either heretical or Gnostic or both. As we have said from the beginning, we are holding judgement as we try to relate these ideas to the words of the Master and His apostles from our perspective of Truth and not the doctrines which appear influential in the available translations that we have. We like to think that we understand the intent of the Master and of His apostles through our understanding of the accepted gospels and so far much of the Gospel of Thomas, when viewed from our perspective, seems to fit into our understanding and this despite the difficulty we have in reasoning through his words while looking for some glimpse of revelation on which we can expound; this is of course the same way in which we view the accepted gospels except we have been doing this for a long time. However, despite the many years of reading and pondering the sayings of the Master and His apostles, we still find revelation, we still get a glimpse of deeper meanings and we still catch onto phrases and sayings that we simply glossed over in the past and can then find new meanings and new directions. In this vein we can see the ideas that came to us in reading Thomas against Matthew and Luke in regard to heaven passing away as in the eleventh saying and heaven and Earth passing away in the synoptics; here we always viewed the Master’s words as meaning heaven and Earth but we have come to realize not that this is a reference to ALL things. And not that this is a physical reality, although it likely is, but that there is in the synoptics a comparison to His word, His Truth which IS forever. In Thomas however this idea is offered in a different context, one where we must look at all things under heaven as a part of the dead, as in having no spiritual Life, as the Master builds for us a picture of the man who IS spiritually alive and who will NOT die in his realization of eternal Life as He goes on to explain how the man in the world give Life to all things by his attention to them; it is these that will pass away, these things of the world and the carnal Life.

We set out on this twelfth saying with no idea of how this could work in our understanding of Life; we discussed the question of who will be greatest by referring the three times in the accepted gospels where the Master admonishes His disciples for seeking greatness and telling them that the greatest among them is the greater server and He reminds them, in teaching and by reminding them of His own example, that it IS the responsibility, the duty, of the disciple to serve. With this in mind we tried to place Thomas’ question into one of these times that the disciples seek for the greater or before it but, since we KNOW that the Twelve do not quite get it based upon their asking three times with the last being after the supper, there could be yet another occasion. However, the answer is not the same; here the answer is couched in much mystery as it refers them ALL to James the Just, who is assumed to be James the son of Alphaeus, also believed to be the Lord’s brother. Now this IS contrary to the ideas of the gospels were Peter is referred to as the spiritual leader of the group and this IS also seen in the relationship between Peter and the Master, his acting as spokesman for the group and words such as these from the Master: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted , strengthen thy brethren” (Luke 22:32). Here we should see that they ALL are not complete as disciples and apostles, they had not completely overcome the carnal nature and this is the reference here to conversion and we can likely understand this in the ideas above where after at least these three times there is yet no understanding of the Master’s point on serving.

It is this understanding and wanting to give this Gospel of Thomas the necessary leeway to agree with the words of the Master in the accepted gospels that brings us to the very name of James the Just which is shown in the interlinear version as Jacob the Righteous. Believing that in the name Jacob, from which James is the translated Greek rendering, we can find a solution to our James versus Peter ideas above as well as some clue to the Truth of the end of the saying that appears to tell us that it is in regard to James that the Master says “for whose sake heaven and earth came into being“. Understanding also that the Master’s teachings are couched in parable and proverb and that they are at times intentionally unclear we will try to look at this name Jacob and all that it means in search of better understanding of these words for ourselves as the common understanding makes no sense whatsoever in regard to our understanding of the teaching and the intent of the Master and His apostles.

We noted in the last post that Jacob IS one of the Patriarchs of the Jewish Tradition and here we should see that he is the grandson of Abraham and the son of Issac and then, in his turn, that he is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. We should KNOW here that in that time of wrestling with God, or His angel, that the name of Jacob is changed to Israel and this is not an uncommon idea in ancient Jewry. While we do not understand this we should see that Abraham became such as the Lord says: “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Genesis 17:5). We see similarly with Abraham’s wife as we read: “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her” (Genesis 17:15-16). Now there are reasons embedded in the ancient language for these changes and one must wonder if today’s view of this is based in tradition or in actual knowledge of the language; nonetheless, these names are changed and there is significant meaning to the changes. This brings us to Jacob who, after he ‘wrestles’ with God or with His angel whom he deemed at first to be a man, has his name changed from Jacob to Israel. We read this in the Book of Genesis:

“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint , as he wrestled with him. And he said , Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Genesis 32:24-30).

This then is the change of Jacob’s name to Israel and there is another verse further on that repeats this; we read: “And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel” (Genesis 35:10). Now there is no reason offered for this repeating of the changing of Jacob’s name to Israel and perhaps the reason is that in the first instance it is not clear that this change comes from God; we must remember here that these are very superstitious and very barbarous times and that we cannot understand here today how these interactions between God and man occur nor can we rely on tradition to explain these things properly. This being said, let us look at the name Israel. The lexicon tells us that this name means God prevails ^2a but we should be able to see that this comes from its doctrinal usage. Strong’s tells us that this Hebrew word rendered as Israel means: he struggles with God ³ and we would think the same idea applies here, that this is doctrinal understanding. There is not single understanding of the meaning of Israel and perhaps this from Wikipedia can help us to understand: Israel is a Biblical given name. The patriarch Jacob was given the name Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl; “Triumphant with God”, “who prevails with God”[1]) after he wrestled with the angel (Genesis 32:28 and 35:10) The name already occurs in Eblaite and Ugaritic texts as a common name.[2] Commentators differ on the original literal meaning. Some say the name comes from the verb śarar (“to rule, be strong, have authority over”), thereby making the name mean “God rules” or “God judges”.[3] Other possible meanings include “the prince of God” (from the King James Version) or “El fights/struggles”.[4] “The Jewish Study Bible” of Oxford University Press says on page 68 “The scientific etymology of Israel is uncertain, a good guess being ‘[The God] El rules.'”[5] Jacob’s descendants came to be known as the Israelites, eventually forming the tribes of Israel and ultimately the kingdom of Israel, from whence the name of modern day Israel **.

An alternate and more common rendering of the verse above in which Jacob IS named as Israel tells us that: “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (American Standard Version) and in this idea we do have more to work with in developing our premise that there is some factual basis for these words from Thomas Gospel. In this idea of striven we should we should see the broader understanding; the lexicon tells us that this Hebrew word sarah which is rendered here as striven can mean: contend, have power, contend with, persist, exert oneself, persevere ^2a while Strong’s tells us that this means: to struggle, contend ³ and in these we could get the picture that Israel IS between God and man, struggling with each or perhaps better having power with each as we can get from the King James idea of “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men“. We should note that this word in the King James that is rendered as prince is not identifiable in the interlinear but with our inability to read Hebrew there is no surprise here; there is likely a variation in source documents. With or without this idea of prince, we are ready to make our presentation on these words from the Gospel of Thomas.

With parabolic intent the Master uses the name of the Patriarch Jacob, in many ways the Father of Israel and an acknowledged father of the people as we read in from Deuteronomy: “That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” (Deuteronomy 30:20). Of course we should remember that God changed the name Jacob to Israel many years earlier and that this name had become the name for ALL the people and the nation, and that this IS KNOWN to all as the Lord speaks in those terms calling the people before and after they find their homeland the “children of Israel“. And this then is our context, that Jacob becomes Israel and in this identity he is seen a the one who has power with God and with man and this IS the position of the Soul, the Christ Within for us yet today. It is through the Soul that the man Truly seeks and finds God; it is the Soul that prompts the man in the world to righteousness, it is the Soul of which the Master speaks in answer to the disciples question of “Who (then) will rule [lit., ‘be great’] over us?”, it is Soul that the Master reveals to “he who hath ears to hear” as he says that they should go to Jacob the Righteous, called Israel, and KNOWN as the one who hath power with God and men.

Of course our premise here may not be right but it is so much more sensible than the way this is seen in the doctrinal approach or in the understanding of the commentators as there is literally no sense in the last words when seen in their view. However, when we can see this as the Soul, as ALL Souls both individually and corporately; it is easier to comprehend how the Master can say “for whose sake heaven and earth came into being” when we can see Him referring to Jacob, to Israel who hath power with man and God and the Soul as the natural reality of this idea of Israel. It is easy to see the logic in the Master’s words that tell the disciples who are yet looking for the greatest, for a leader, that they must look within, they must rely upon the Inner man, which IS the Soul, the Christ Within and this is as we have been writing about through our essays since the beginning.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him

Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can meet

Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.

(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)

From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.

For us today this saying shows us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. We may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father.“

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ^2a Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
• ** Wikipedia contributors. “Israel (name).” WWikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Jul. 2013.