ON LOVE; PART CCCLXIV

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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.” ¹⁴ 

In the last post we began our look at this thirteenth saying; we noted that the available commentaries do not offer any observations regarding the meaning of these words to the disciples nor to us here today. We noted as well that the question asked IS NOT the same as the question asked in the accepted gospels and that the answers by Peter and by Matthew are not contrary to anything in reality as Peter is seeing the Master’s divinity as a righteous angel and Matthew is telling a Truth saying that the Master IS as a Wise philosopher. In Peter’s answer there may be found some controversy against his recorded words in the synoptic gospels as he says “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) or simply “Thou art the Christ” (Mark 8:29); one’s view of this would be dependent upon what one believes in the word angel. We understand the angel as a divine being and perhaps that we ARE ALL angels as this word is intended to be used; in spiritual terms the idea of messenger makes little or no sense except in the view of the activity of certain angels in scripture who do bring messages. As we have discussed, we do take our understanding from some of the more esoteric spiritual ideas and from the Master’s words in the New Testament; first where He speaks of children and notes that “their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10) and then in that place where the Master is speaking of the one who has been accounted worthy of the Truth of the Kingdom in discipleship; here Jesus says: “they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:  Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God” (Luke 20:35-36). Here the idea of equal takes away some from our reality and we should see here two things; first that the better rendering is “like the angels” or “as angels” and second that this IS the revelation of a mystery to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and IS naturally couched in parabolic terms; the first saying here is offered to His disciples alone. We should note here that the idea of messenger DOES NOT work in either of these particular sayings.

We noted as well that Thomas answer is either that He DOES NOT KNOW whom to compare the Master to or that he DOES NOT KNOW how to express what he sees in the Master in words and we of course would lean toward the latter. If we can assume that Thomas has some more insight than the others at this time, we can then see the reality of this verse; that he sees things that he CAN NOT say in words which is a thing that we ourselves deal with in writing our essays; we can sometimes glimpse a Truth yet not be able to find words to express it. This IS the way that we will look at the answer offered by Thomas and we proceed then to the Master’s words. Here in the Coptic language we do not KNOW if the idea of Master and teacher are as interrelated as they are in the Greek of the accepted gospels. We should note however that this Coptic word is rendered as Master in most of the available translations as well as in the interlinear version. While this Greek word didaskalos has the meaning of teacher, there is a reality to its use as Master insofar as addressing Jesus; while He may be one’s teacher, He IS teaching such things as would compel the earnest student to follow Him faithfully as one’s Master. This IS the way that this should be applied in the New Testament and this is the way that this idea is applied in most every world religion. We should note as well that in many places the idea of teacher, much like the word messenger above, does not work in the context in which it is offered and that Luke uses another word that is rendered Master to refer to Jesus and, he appears to use them both in similar contexts. We should also note that the individual apostles writing the gospels use the these different words in the same context as in the time of the storm when the Master was asleep on the ship:

• Luke tells us that the disciples “awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). Here Luke uses the Greek word epistates as Master. Strong’s defines this word simply as master ³ while the lexicon tells us that it means: any sort of superintendent or overseer ².
• Mark, speaking of this same event tells us that the Master: “was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). Mark uses the word didaskalos which Strong’s tells us means: teacher, instructor, one who provides instruction, implying authority over the students or followers ³. The lexicon here is more verbose and tells us: 1) a teacher 2) in the NT one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man a) one who is fitted to teach, or thinks himself so b) the teachers of the Jewish religion c) of those who by their great power as teachers draw crowds around them i.e. John the Baptist, Jesus d) by preeminence used of Jesus by himself, as one who showed men the way of salvation e) of the apostles, and of Paul f) of those who in the religious assemblies of the Christians, undertook the work of teaching, with the special assistance of the Holy Spirit g) of false teachers among Christians ². We should note here that the lexicon is markedly doctrinal in its approach to this and that there is naught in this that Truly reflects the idea of calling Jesus Master as the disciples presumably intend the word used.

Here in this particular saying the idea of teacher is rather misplaced and the intent of Luke as Master is more along the correct lines; Mark however means the same thing using his word and we should note here that Matthew chooses to call the Master Lord saying: “And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish” (Matthew 8:24-25). Here the Greek word kurios is rendered as Lord and we KNOW this meaning in our use here and Strong’s tells us that this means: lord, master ³; this of course could have been rendered as Master as well and it is rendered as such in several translations; on an interesting note, Young’s Literal Translation renders this as Sir.

Now ALL this is just to show that the word rendered as Master and Teacher from the Coptic would have to have the same uses as the word used in our example from Mark’s Gospel, didaskalos, and while we have no way of KNOWING this fact we will proceed as though it does while understanding that this word may refer to Master alone. If the reference is to the Master alone, we would have some degree of conflict with some sayings in the accepted gospels:

• We read in Matthew’s Gospel: “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ” (Matthew 23:8-10). Here there is yet another Greek word that is rendered as Master, kathegetes of which Strong’s gives us the meaning of: teacher; derivative of a verb “to guide, to explain”³.
• In John’s Gospel we read this: “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am” (John 13:13). John uses didaskalos here which is rendered as Master and as a Teacher and even Rabbi in other translations.

Here in these two sayings we have the use of words that are generally understood as teacher and in the one the Master is taking this word kathegetes to be only used in reference to Christ and in the other he tells us that didaskalos is the right title for Him Himself. Of course we should note that the choice of the Greek words used is of the writer and not the Master and that here they are both leaning toward teacher and not Master. Getting back to the saying at hand from Thomas’ Gospel, we should note that there IS NO clarity to these words in the accepted gospels but that at the same time the Master is acknowledging the correctness of the title as teacher and in both sayings; here, although they are rendered as Master, these words do lean strongly toward teacher. Having never looked this hard at the use of these words, our own use of the idea of the Master comes into question although we do use the word in the way that it is most times intended in the Gospels when referencing Jesus; He is our Teacher, our Lord and our Master and this word we use, Master, covers them ALL.

There is a deeper Truth in the Master’s words in our subject saying that is clearer when the whole segment is viewed together: “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“. Here we should try to see the total reality; that the Master CAN NOT be saying that He IS not the Teacher from the perspective of being such as we have the testimony above that tells us that He is the Teacher and the Lord and in these words the Spiritual Master that we understand Him as. What then is He saying? Remembering our ideas from the last saying regarding the Anointing which we understand as the Christ Within and the Soul, the first Master that every aspirant and disciple will meet, we can look at this a bit differently. These words to Thomas are simple and reference the idea that He, the Master, has given them of the water of the bubbling spring but that the bubbling spring IS their own, their own Souls, their own Anointing, their own Teacher and Master and while He Himself may be saying the words of Wisdom, it is from the Inner man that this Truth comes to one’s conscious awareness. Can we see here that He is saying that I am not your teacher or your Master, I am but showing you the way to that inner bubbling spring that you have been drinking from. Much as we read spiritual ideas or listen to spiritual sermons and such, it is not these things that open up into our own consciousness, it is the reality of such words that is reflected from within and which becomes that Wisdom from above; the outer hearing and seeing teaches the carnal mind and at the same time, if there is Truth, it calls forth that realization from the Inner man and this IS a part of one’s ongoing revelation of divinity.

The last words in this saying, those between Thomas and the others, should be seen as they are offered; that Thomas received from the Master access to some mystery or mysteries that were revealed to him from His own Soul through the three words that the Master gave him. Our understanding here should be from Thomas perspective, that if the Master had wanted ALL to KNOW these words, He would have offered them to ALL; this is simple and clear and so is Thomas response which is a dramatized way of saying this Truth: I can’t tell you these things as they were offered to me alone and are of the mysteries. In our assumption from above, that Thomas had a deeper understanding than the others, we should be able to see these ideas as we present them and it is likely that in due course all of the disciples could receive separate words or meanings that they were prepared for individually. It took us many words to get here for this saying but it is our objective to relate these ideas to the ideas of the accepted New Testament and we believe we have done this and at the same time exposed some of the Truths of the thirteenth saying.

We should add here our thoughts about this project that we have embarked upon. Again, it is our objective to put these sayings from Thomas’ Gospel against the words of the accepted New Testament; not the doctrinal understanding, but our own view of the breadth and the meaning of the words of the Master and His apostles. What we discover and reveal is of course our own opinions of the veracity of the sayings and little of what we say will agree with the doctrinal approach of either the commentators on these words from Thomas, which we will continue to share, nor will they agree with the mainstream church doctrines regarding either the Gospel of Thomas or the accepted New Testament. We will continue to look for threads of depth in these words as we do in the accepted New Testament and in this exercise we will likely learn much from each. As in today’s ideas, we do not KNOW if our view is right but we do KNOW that it is in accordance with our own established beliefs and a better view of the sayings than is currently available.

The next group that we will work with are:

(14) Jesus said to them: “‘If you fast, you will bring forth sin for yourselves. And if you pray, you will be condemned. And if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. And if you go into any land and wander from place to place, (and) if they take you in, (then) eat what they will set before you. Heal the sick among them! For what goes into your mouth will not defile you. Rather, what comes out of your mouth will defile you.“

(15) Jesus says: “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your face (and) worship him. That one is your Father.”

(16) Jesus says: “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the earth. But they do not know that I have come to cast dissension upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in one house: there will be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father. And they will stand as solitary ones.“

(17) Jesus says: “I will give you what no eye has seen, and what no ear has heard, and what no hand has touched, and what has not occurred to the human mind.”

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.

Today’s quote of the day is a repeat of the Mantram of Unification which is an affirmation of the Oneness of the human family from the perspective of the disciple and the aspirant and any who hold these ideals as important. In this we find the essence of the two ideas that we have discussed from Values to Live By and that these are firmly grounded in the desire to Love not hate; to serve and not exact due service and to heal and not to hurt. It is Love shown as Truth and justice that is at the heart of this mantram.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek 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/