ON LOVE; PART CCCLVIII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
The Gospel of Thomas
These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.
(8) And he says: “The human being is like a sensible fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea filled with little fish. Among them the sensible fisherman found a large, fine fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, (and) he chose the large fish effortlessly. Whoever has ears to hear should hear.”
(9) Jesus says: “Look, a sower went out. He filled his hands (with seeds), (and) he scattered (them). Some fell on the path, and the birds came and pecked them up. Others fell on the rock, and did not take root in the soil, and they did not put forth ears. And others fell among the thorns, they choked the seeds, and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced good fruit. It yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.“
(10) Jesus says: “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.”
In the last essay we looked at saying number eight and found that it IS a rather logical look at the way of the spiritually Wise man; it IS one such Wise man that can effortlessly choose the larger fish and let ALL the little fish go and we noted that a rendering of the Coptic word as without hesitation or without trouble better accentuates the state of mind of the Wise man and these renderings are found in various translations. The ideas of the fish and the fisherman are but the example and they bear little on the Truth that this story reveals to those who ARE seeking greater spiritual reality as the crux of the Master’s message is in the comparison of the net to the heart or the mind of the Wise man. Now we understand heart as the totality of the personality, the mind and the emotions and their effect upon the physical form, but the idea of mind works here as well and we should see that this net IS cast and it catches every which thought and emotion and that it catches the spiritual ideas, the Wisdom from above if you will, represented by the big fish as well as a man in the world has but one personality or one mind with which to process ALL. It is the average man who must sort through ALL of these thoughts and feelings and pick out the one’s that he chooses to entertain and then discard the rest and this is the Master’s point; that the Wise man will discard the little fish, the thoughts and the emotions from the world, without hesitation, and concentrate his focus upon the large fish, the spiritual ideas from above. This is not dissimilar to the ideas that we put forth yesterday of the Master’s teaching on God and mammon where we can see the little fish as the preponderance of thoughts and ideas of and for the self in the world; thoughts and ideas that take up the time and the attention of the man and keep his focus away from the things of God and in this IS the Truth of that statement of fact offered by the Master: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:31). We can choose one over the other or we can alternate our attention but we CAN NOT do both.
The Apostle Paul gives us some additional understanding of these words in a saying that we recently discussed where he is admonishing his readers, disciples and aspirants, to act similarly, without hesitation, when faced with the ways and the wiles of the world; the apostle says:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Here the Wise man does the same as in the parable that the Master gives us, he KNOWS that he IS in the world and that the nature of the world is not the True enemy but rather his own inherent thoughts, attitudes and actions, his own strong holds ARE. He KNOWS as well that all those little fish are the “imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God“; every thought and emotion that is for the self in the world and that may tend to raise ones carnal opinion of himself in both his own eyes and others. And, it IS in throwing “all the little fish back into the sea” that we can be seen as taking them captive, not allowing them to take away the attention from the Inner Life of the Soul, the Christ Within.
As we started with this parable we could not see a ready understanding of its import as a saying by the Master and some of this is due the lack of vision that we read in the commentaries by others who DO NOT relate these words to the reality of the Master’s teachings but, as we can see, there IS a reality here that is easy to discern with an open mind and away from the doctrines that seem to pronounce realty by a sense of authority in their interpretations and comments. Our next saying is one that is a mainstay of Christianity and one of only two that are explained for extra clarity by the Master. One would think that the extra explanation would serve to give one fullness the Master’s intent of the importance of these words in the Life of the man who seeks greater spiritual reality but, there is a greater tendency for the man in the world who believes that he attends to the Master’s sayings to also believe that he IS the “good ground“. The parable from Thomas Gospel and then the explanation from the Gospel of Luke:
- (9) Jesus says: “Look, a sower went out. He filled his hands (with seeds), (and) he scattered (them). Some fell on the path, and the birds came and pecked them up. Others fell on the rock, and did not take root in the soil, and they did not put forth ears. And others fell among the thorns, they choked the seeds, and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced good fruit. It yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.“
- “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear ; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear , receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:11-16).
Here we should take the point of the Master’s words as they reflect the Truth of the Way of the disciple, as the way of the “good ground” and this point IS that they hear the word and that they “keep it” as it IS in the keeping that ALL things are possible. This IS the message of the ages and one that is repeated over and over as we see in the Master’s words which we have previously posted and discussed including:
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
- “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).
- “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
The first two here are really one longer series of verses which we break up here to show the importance of these in separate sayings and the reality that His message IS clearly that one should keep His words or the Will of the Father which are of course one and the same. The KEY IS ever in the doing and, to highlight this which is seen in all three sayings, we repeat again those words from James that tell us, also clearly, that we are but deceiving ourselves if we ARE NOT doing.
The last saying from above, “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.” IS again one that seems to be rather obscure and one that can be seen as related to a number of different sayings from the four accepted gospels and epistles. Let us look briefly at those saying where the idea of fire is of a positive nature and NOT related to hell fire or any ideas along those lines:
- “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16). This is of course John the Baptist commenting on the baptism that would come from the Master.
- “I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I , if it be already kindled?” (Luke 12:49). Here Vincent tells us that this fire is: A spiritual impulse which shall result in the divisions described in the following verses 4.
- “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) which is a repetition of this from the Old Testament: “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).
In these sayings we should note that there IS a spiritual component to this idea of fire as we can see it as a part of the Nature of God and as a tool, so to speak, of the Master and while the Master tells us that He has come to cast this spiritual component in Luke’s Gospel, in Thomas’ He tells us that this is already done. Available commentary offers only comparison to the words from Luke above (Luke 12:49) and to a Gnostic text that carries a similar idea of which we read:
Marvin Meyer writes: “The gnostic document Pistis Sophia 141 has Jesus utter a nearly identical saying. Jesus, who is called Aberamentho, says, ‘For this reason I said to you, “I have come to throw fire upon the earth,” that is, I have come to cleanse the sins of the whole world with fire.’ See also Gospel of Thomas saying 15.” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 73)
In viewing this commentary and all of these sayings today, we must try to keep in mind that the idea here of sin is not in the gross offenses that one man can perpetrate on another nor is it only those ideas that ARE highlighted by the church down the centuries; sin is the misplaced focus, by degree, which keeps a man entombed in the illusion and the glamour of Life in the world as opposed to the Master’s admonition that we keep His words and that we be counted among the doers. Sin can be seen in much the same way as we point to above regarding the “good ground“; here most ALL men seem to see sin in others and not themselves. This said, there is also a doctrinal preconception of fire and most ALL references are seen in similar context, which is like that which Mr. Meyer points out above, that fire, and whatsoever one can imagine that this means, cleanses sins or else fire punishes men in hell for their transgressions. But the reality that is missed is that ALL focus in the world IS transgression and we can clearly see this in the words of our most blunt apostle; James tells us that: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Here again however many believe that this idea IS only those gross offenses as they choose not to see the context in which this idea of transgression IS offered. In the completeness of James’ words we can easily see that the transgression IS in not Loving as the Master teaches and in the respecting of one person above another as he says: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:8-12)
Sin aside, as it is not our issue here nor is the idea of what the allusions to hell and punishment Truly regard, we still have our saying from Thomas’ Gospel and the better way of viewing this is as it IS stated, without introducing ideas from doctrine and tradition. The simple saying that “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes” tells us a factual Truth, that the fire has been cast and, if we allow Vincent’s idea to help us here we can see the greater Truth. Vincent calls the fire a spiritual impulse and here, if we merge this with our own understanding that the Christ is the Love of God man manifest to men, that He IS “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9) and in His divinity and through His example and His teaching, Jesus has cast the fiery spirit of Love upon the Earth, a Love that was never seen in such spiritual impulse and force before. And he sets the whole of the world ablaze in this Love and He guards this in the hearts of men until such time as they can overcome their own selfish nature and burning desires and let this Love and Power of the Christ Within flourish upon the Earth thereby burning away the illusion and the glamour, the vanity according to Paul, that feeds this selfish nature of men. Can we see here the words of the Baptist who tells us that the Christ baptizes us in the Holy Ghost and in fire plus our own understanding that the fire is the Love of the Christ Within and the Holy Ghost is His activity in Life in this world and, of course, baptism IS the immersion of the man, the consciousness of the man, in these ideas which ARE the expression of the Christ Within, the Soul, in the world of men. And can we see the greater Truth here in that saying of old as the very nature of the God Within consumes ALL sense of self in the world with that fire of Love.
None of these things are clearly stated but if we can look away from doctrine and tradition and seek the Truth of His words we can see what we say here and even more profound understandings. Finally the wording of the saying from Luke above can be seen here also in greater Light; first the rendering of “send fire on the earth” is rendered in other translations as cast fire, as it is in Thomas version and while this may seem unimportant, this brings a better understanding of the factual nature of this saying and His own response to Himself and if we relate this to those divisions that He speaks of in the following verses or not we should get the idea that it is not so much He that is to do this if the spark which He brings takes to flame in the hearts of the people to whom He is teaching.
The next sayings from Thomas Gospel that we will discuss are:
(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 died. 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.”
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!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 14 The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
