ON LOVE; PART CCCXCVIII
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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.
In the last essay we discussed the thirty ninth saying from Thomas’ Gospel and found it largely the same as those similar thoughts from the synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke and while at first we did see two separate thoughts, we were able to tie them together in the end. We should note here that just as there are several occasions where the words of the Master in the accepted gospels are the same but the context is different, that this is the same thing that is happening in this case with Thomas purported recollection of the Master’s words The context of the end part of this saying is different than the context of the synoptic Gospel of Matthew and the shorter but similar saying from Luke where we read that the Master tells the seventy as He sends them out: “Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). In Luke’s Gospel we have a word of caution under which one could assume that the disciples already KNOW the fuller version of His words from earlier when Jesus sent forth the Twelve as recorded by Matthew where we read: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The context here is clear and is different that the similar saying from Thomas that ties this caution to the words that the Pharisee and the scribe say rather than the disciples being sent forth; we read Thomas as: “The Pharisees and the scribes have received the keys of knowledge, (but) they have hidden them. Neither have they entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves!” (Thomas 39).
Noting that here in Thomas the words are much the same but the context is different can help us to better understand the saying from the synoptic gospels where one would generally assume that the Master is cautioning them against physical harm and riotous attitudes against them as many of the commentaries tell us. Thomas presentation opens us for us the Master’s continued caution to them to “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1) where in they should be ever aware of the false teachings of which He says in yet another place “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). While this is a later teaching it is against the same idea of those who teach convincingly their own doctrines and that it IS against these that the disciples should ever be on guard; here we should understand that these very disciples to whom the Master speaks are among the “very elect“. So then it is not a bad thing that they understand this from the additional concern of what is is that they hear and see from the Pharisee as well as what harm they may do. The first part here in Thomas’ Gospel is much the same as in the accepted gospels except that in Thomas the Master is speaking to His disciples about the pharisees and the scribes while in the synoptic versions He is speaking directly to the Pharisee and scribes who are called the lawyers in Luke’s Gospel. And while there are different words used, the intent and the direction are the same; the Master is speaking to those who interpret the law to the people for their observance and the woe is because they have substituted their doctrines in place of the Truth of the law. The Master’s words from Thomas claim the same; they had the Truth and they hid the Truth behind their own doctrines thereby keeping it from the people. We should ever be aware then of the way that this has continued throughout history and how it effects most every religion, denomination and sect.
Our next group of sayings from the Gospel of Thomas are:
(40) Jesus says: “A grapevine was planted outside (the vineyard) of the Father. And since it is not supported, it will be pulled up by its roots (and) will perish.“
(41) Jesus says: “Whoever has (something) in his hand, (something more) will be given to him. And whoever has nothing, even the little he has will be taken from him.“
(42) Jesus says: “Become passers-by.“
(43) His disciples said to him: “Who are you to say this to us?”….”Do you not realized from what I say to you who I am? But you have become like the Jews! They love the tree, (but) they hate its fruit. Or they love the fruit, (but) they hate the tree.”
(44) Jesus says: “Whoever blasphemes against the Father, it will be forgiven him. And whoever blasphemes against the Son, it will be forgiven him. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither on earth nor in heaven.“
(45) Jesus says: “Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor are figs picked from thistles, for they do not produce fruit. A good person brings forth good from his treasure. A bad person brings (forth) evil from the bad treasure that is in his heart, and (in fact) he speaks evil. For out of the abundance of the heart he brings forth evil.“
This next saying, the fortieth is one that is not matched in the accepted gospels but we can link this to those verses from the Apostle John’s Gospel regarding the branches and the vine albeit from a very different perspective and one that can perhaps shed some needed Light on the words from John where we read:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned . If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will , and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).
There are many interpretations of these words from John and if we can take a step back from them and look at Thomas rendering of his recollection we can perhaps find the common ground. In John the Master is the vine and the man in the world is the branch while in Thomas the vine is the man in the world: Before we continue let us look here at the commentary on Thomas’ version which is rather limited:
- Gerd Ludemann writes: “These verses come close to Matt. 15.13. Verse 2a is not contained in Matt. 15.13, but can well be understood as an elaboration by Gnostics who are concerned with inner fortification. Similarly, the use of ‘vine’ instead of ‘planting’ is not a reason for dismissing a genetic relationship to the text of Matthew. A dependence of this logion on Matthew is virtually certain, for Matt. 15.13 derives from Matthean redaction.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 610).
- Funk and Hoover write: “This is another illustration of a proverb that Jesus may have adopted. Vines planted without the assistance of the Father will not survive; they will be pulled up by the roots. The reference to being pulled up by the roots gives a slight apocalyptic tinge to the saying. This nuance is, of course, alien to Thomas.” (The Five Gospels, p. 495)
Now while we may see here a relationship to the Master’s words from John’s Gospel, these commentators do not but rather connect it to the Master’s words from Matthew which say: “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up“. The context in this saying is that this is a part of the Master’s comments against the Pharisees as He instructed them and His disciples and followers on the ways of the Pharisee, on their hypocrisy and Jesus makes this statement upon hearing from His disciples “Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?” (Matthew 15:12-13). Here the context is very specific and based in this we do not see the connection to the Master’s words from Thomas’ Gospel as these seem to be directed at His disciples and not at the Pharisee.
Pursuing our own thoughts then what can we say about this relationship to the ideas presented by the Master in John’s Gospel. In John the man in the world is the branch and the whole of this is a parabolic saying that has naught to do with branches and vines but is rather an example of how one should be joined to the Master. The branch has no sustenance without the vine and in this parable the sustenance is spiritual, it is “the word which I have spoken unto you” and it is through this sustenance that the branch bears fruit. This idea then of abiding in Him is for the sake of this sustenance, the the purpose of the sustenance is that one bear fruit, and the admonition is that one continue therein and not break himself away from the vine. Here we should see that the overriding lesson is about the fruit of the vine being found in its branches and, as we KNOW, the fruit is the proof of the disciple as the Master tells us at the end here saying: “ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples“.
In this all we should try to see the reality of the first few verses as well and understand that the branch that is a part of the vine but which is not producing fruit is drawing on the sustenance but returning nothing and in the Master’s parabolic view this is useless and therefore that branch will be severed. We should try to see in this our own reality that is found in our focus and in the ideas set forth by James for added understanding as he tells us “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). In this combination of thoughts we should see that DOING His word IS keeping His word and this IS the fruit of the vine; the word IS the sustenance and keeping His word IS the fruit. What then of the branch that is taking the sustenance but not producing the fruit? It is cut off from the vine and this is a most natural thing as this is the reality of focus; if one is not producing fruit it is because his focus is on the world and not on the Truth of the sustenance which would produce fruit and in this focus the man will fall away and this even as he pretends that he is still attached.
In the purging of the branches that do produce fruit, the disciples and the aspirants of the world who strive to keep His words, we should see the steady growth of the Kingdom Within and the steady production of fruit and we should remember the Master’s words regarding this production both as being His disciple as well as being visible to the world of men as in ALL cases, speaking of the disciple and the True teacher, the Master tells us that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). It is in the idea of purging that we find the subsidiary ideas of cleaning and pruning and there is some confusion here in these very similar Greek words which are rendered by others as that the branch is pruned and then is clean, or as we have above where it is purged and then is clean or as others render it is pruned and is then found trimmed. None of this matters if we can get the right understanding of these parabolic sayings which tell us that the branch that IS producing fruit will be kept healthy by the husbandman, the mans own spiritual Will if we can say it that way, and will remain in that state where he can continue in such production season after season. Again we have a most natural thing happening; that by the focus upon vine and the sustenance that the vine provides, the vine will produce fruit and ever growing focus for tomorrow so that there will ever be more fruit. This ever growing focus is the purging or the cleaning or the pruning or whatsoever word one could choose to explain the ever increasing way that the branch can “bring forth more fruit“.
What then of the way that this is presented by Thomas: “A grapevine was planted outside (the vineyard) of the Father. And since it is not supported, it will be pulled up by its roots (and) will perish“? This may be a separate thought by the Master or it may be a shortened version of the Master’s words that we have been discussing; either way, the idea is much the same as our interpretation of the words from John albeit less along the parabolic lines insofar as being a full parable story. The vineyard of the Father is the Kingdom Within and outside of this Kingdom there is a grapevine planted and this is the life of the man in the world. The only support for this is from the Father wh, the husbandman, who give it Life and who can bring this grapevine closer to the vineyard by affording it the same sustenance that He provides for the vineyard thereby expanding the vineyard to include the grapevine. This grapevine will produce no fruit if it receives no sustenance and here we can look at the rendering of this in the interlinear where we read the word fortified in place of supported; other renderings regard the vine as not established, not sound and not strong but from our perspective the idea of fortified brings the best understanding and this followed by the idea of supported as both are given to allow sustenance and nourishment. Here we can try to see again our idea of focus, that by the focus of the man, the grapevine of the parable, upon the vineyard, the Father, the husbandman, the spiritual man, will provide the nourishment needed to produce fruit. However, if the grapevine, the man in the world, is focused upon the world around him instead of the vineyard, then there is no sustenance, no nourishment and thereby then no fruit.
We must ever remember the parabolic value of most ALL that the Master says and we should note as well that it is not unlikely that He may repeat these things to His disciples in different ways at different times. Here in our view these ideas from John and from Thomas are the same but are presented in different ways much like the ideas above from the last saying where the intent is the same but the context is varied. Both Thomas’ and John’s versions of the Master teaching on the vine are intended to give the same idea; that it is the vine or the branch that produces fruit that IS the disciple and those that do not are uprooted or cut off from their spiritual reality, their spiritual nourishment and sustenance and this being cut off should be seen as the natural action on a man’s Life as determined by his focus and his fruit.
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.
We repeat here a Quote of the Day that we spent much time with over the course of our essays. In this affirmation we find the Truth of discipleship as we have been ever been expressing and here we can relate our themes of the last few days; “take no thought” for the things of the world and that we approach the Kingdom and discipleship in the nature of the little child, in humbleness, meekness, unashamed in any way and unassuming. The message that this imparts for us today IS that it IS the Soul that is at work in the world of men as it expresses to some degree the purpose, power and the will through Life in this world. These words are from a meditation offered to his students by our Tibetan brother and in which we find greater understanding of the message of the Master. This IS Truly the way of the disciple.
My Soul has purpose, power and will; these three are needed on the Way of Liberation.
My Soul must foster love among the sons of men; this is its major purpose.
I, therefore, will to love and tread the Way of Love.
All that hinders and obstructs the showing of the Light must disappear before the purposes of the Soul.
My will is one with the great Will of God; that Holy Will requires that all men serve.
And unto the purposes of the Plan I lend my little will.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 14 The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
