ON LOVE; PART XDXXVII
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
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.
(58) Jesus says: “Blessed is the person who has struggled. He has found life.”
(59) Jesus says: “Look for the Living One while you are alive, so that you will not die (and) then seek to see him. And you will not be able to see (him).“
(60) <He saw> a Samaritan who was trying to steal a lamb while he was on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples: “That (person) is stalking the lamb.” They said to him: “So that he may kill it (and) eat it.” He said to them: “As long as it is alive he will not eat it, but (only) when he has killed it (and) it has become a corpse.” They said to him: “Otherwise he cannot do it.” He said to them: “You, too, look for a place for your repose so that you may not become a corpse (and) get eaten.“
(61) Jesus said: “Two will rest on a bed. The one will die, the other will live.” Salome said: “(So) who are you, man? You have gotten a place on my couch as a <stranger> and you have eaten from my table.” Jesus said to her: “I am he who comes from the one who is (always) the same. I was given some of that which is my Father’s. I am your disciple! Therefore I say: If someone becomes <like> (God), he will become full of light. But if he becomes one, separated (from God), he will become full of darkness.“
(62) Jesus says: “I tell my mysteries to those who [are worthy] of [my] mysteries. Whatever you right hand does, your left hand should not know what it is doing.“
We used our time in the last post to discuss again the Lord’s Prayer, a prayer that was given to us by the Master Himself and which is seem by some as the words that we should use and by others as the pattern or form of the prayer that one should pray. For those who believe that it is the words to be used, we say that they should not be used as to be seen as “vain repetition” as it is in reference to the Jew thus praying that the Master offers us this prayer according to the Gospel of Matthew. Rather than the daily or weekly recital of the Lord’s Prayer in religious service, it would likely be better that men understood somewhat exactly what it is that this prayer IS about and there IS likely NO shortage of commentary on this that can be used to ascertain some meaning and, of course, it is the selflessly motivated explanations which would be the ones to use as the Master’s teaching are never about any kind of gain for the man in the world. For those who see this as a pattern or a form of prayer, then it should be used as such and the prayers that are modeled after this pattern should be selfless and should accomplish the same ideas of affirming God and the God Withing who CAN accomplish the ideas of the first part in the Life of everyman which IS that the Will of God be expressed in one’s own Life through one’s expression of the precepts of the Kingdom Within, one’s own Soul.
If for no other reason, this Lord’s Prayer should be used by the Christian World because it IS the LORD’S PRAYER; He gave it to us. He gave it not to be used as “vain repetitions“, and not to be ignored or quibbled over in doctrine…..He gave it to us to be used for our personal spiritual growth, to turn the minds of men from the self, from the I and the mine, to the world, to the US and the OUR’s. There IS much depth in the individual ideas of this Prayer and it would serve us ALL well to seek that depth; to understand it and to teach it.
We return now to our discussion on the sixtieth saying from the Gospel of Thomas which is as we noted two posts back a rather obscure saying from the perspective of its words when viewed carnally. Let us try here to find the spiritual meaning for this saying that has NO match in the accepted gospels. We should start here with the premise that the Master DOES NOT mean to imply that there is any importance to what happens to the body after death as the dead body will be eaten, especially in those days, by something as the very function of decomposition is itself devouring. In the end of the last essay that discussed this saying we looked to the word rendered here as repose as perhaps a key to understanding the underlying ideas of the Master. The first part of this saying is rather meaningless from a spiritual perspective as it merely sets the stage for the last verse by the Master. How Jesus or the group came to see the woman, that the lamb is stolen or carried or taken to Judea or whether the Master and His disciples were going to Judea does not matter in the least. It appears that the idea that is rendered as stalking above is a rather difficult saying to discern for these translators as we see stalking rendered by Patterson and Robinson which goes with their idea of stealing while in the Interlinear renders this as around but does so parenthetically so as to show that they are not sure of the meaning. Others render this as the question by the Master to His disciples asking “(What will) this man (do) with the lamb?” (Blatz, Doresse) while Lambdin renders this as “He said to his disciples, “That man is round about the lamb” which removes the idea of the question but still leads into the disciples’ answer. Layton renders this as it is unknown saying: “He said to his disciples, “This <. . .> . . . the lamb“.
While our view IS that this does not matter to the understanding of the Master’s point, we cite these ideas to show the reality of translation and we should understand that these same types of transnational variances occur with the Greek text of the accepted New Testament as there are many places where there is no True certainty of what the message is Truly intended to be. Here again these parts do not matter and we can surmise by the answer that the Master did ask a question about the fate of the lamb. The answer is rather universally the same as we find above: “So that he may kill it (and) eat it” which is the most natural thing for a man to do with a lamb in those days. The Master’s answer here is strange to us from a carnal perspective and in a way the Master is stating a matter of fact regarding the lamb and most anything that one would eat in a worldly sense and here again there is general agreement among the translations as to Jesus’ answer as He says: “As long as it is alive he will not eat it, but (only) when he has killed it (and) it has become a corpse”.
We come next to the more meaningful parts of this saying; first the Master tells the disciples of the nature of the eating of a lamb, that is must be dead and then we find the disciples raising a seemingly unwarranted question or comment saying “Otherwise he cannot do it” which is in regard to the man eating the lamb alive. This is however a statement or a question that opens the door to the Master final answer which has for its purpose the idea that a living thing can not be devoured; He says: “You, too, look for a place for your repose so that you may not become a corpse (and) get eaten” as we have above and which is rendered similar by all. Layton renders this as “He said to them, “You (plur.), too, seek for yourselves a place of repose, lest you become a carcass and be devoured” and we cite this particular translation so it uses the better idea of devoured; this makes much more sense that eaten in this context.
In addition to the word repose that we cited above and in the last essay, there are two other key words here for us to understand in this most parabolic saying; alive as in the saying from the disciples which the Master answers and the idea of a corpse which we found also in another saying and which is reworded to be dead body in yet another:
- (56) Jesus says: ”Whoever has come to know the world has found a corpse. And whoever has found (this) corpse, of him the world is not worthy.“
- (80) Jesus says: “Whoever has come to know the world has found the (dead) body. But whoever has found the (dead) body, of him the world is not worthy.”
The understanding that we put forth for this fifty sixth saying was in regard tot he world as the corpse, the dead body, and a place of spiritual death for the True man, the Soul, if this becomes the focus of his Life. Here in these sayings (In the Words of Jesus parts 830-831) we find perhaps the seed thought that we can use to understand this sixtieth saying; that the world IS the corpse and thereby the ways of the world are death and when the aspirant and the disciple come to KNOW this Truth, they become, as Lambdin rendered, “superior to the world“; others render this as that the world in not worthy, and to which we add that it is not worthy of their divine expression. Taking these same ideas to our current saying and understanding that the idea of alive is the opposite of this death in the world, it is the nature of the disciple and the aspirant and by degree ALL who strive toward the Kingdom; ALL who are changing their focus from the world of death to the Life of the spiritual man.
Here then we add the idea of repose as we have identified it from other sayings where it is tied to and can be seen much the same as the Truth of resurrection, the coming to Life of the Soul as the expression of the Life in form and the realization of eternal Life and the Kingdom of God. We came upon this word rendered as repose in the fiftieth and in the fifty first sayings from Thomas Gospel; in the former it is offered in relation to God while in the latter it is offered in relation to the disciple and it is rendered alternately as resurrection and as rest. We have been discounting the idea of rest as this is included in our view of the meaning of repose which is peace, stillness, tranquility and harmony for the Soul that no longer has to endure Life in this world. We should better explain this idea to say that while this puts the man beyond the need to continue in this cycle of death and rebirth, this also put the man in that position where the world has no effect upon him while he is still in it; it is here that the man can say with the Master that “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This repose can be seen then as the resurrection and its freedom forever.
So we have the idea of death and the corpse as the world and the man then who IS focused upon the world, we have the idea of alive as the awakened man, the man whose focus is in the Truth of the Soul, the Christ Within, and we have the reality of this message from the Master; that the disciple must find for himself that state of repose; of peace, stillness, tranquility and harmony, that place where he can say “I have overcome the world“. And the moral of the Master’s story is that if the disciple CAN NOT complete his work, if any man chooses not to find this repose, that he is yet bound to this world and will be devoured by its ways. Remember here that this IS a parable.
The next saying from Thomas’ Gospel is the sixty first which seems to be a combination of several ideas from the accepted gospels; this is a saying that sets forth several Truths, some clearly and others couched in parabolic sayings. This is a rather lengthy saying and there are parts where the different translations can afford one a different meaning and with this in mind we will divide this into parts for our discussion as follows:
- Jesus said: “Two will rest on a bed. The one will die, the other will live.” Salome said: “(So) who are you, man? You have gotten a place on my couch as a <stranger> and you have eaten from my table.“
- Jesus said to her: “I am he who comes from the one who is (always) the same. I was given some of that which is my Father’s.“
- “I am your disciple! Therefore I say: If someone becomes <like> (God), he will become full of light. But if he becomes one, separated (from God), he will become full of darkness.“
Some of the commentary on this saying includes:
- Marvin Meyer writes: “‘as if you are from someone’: literally, ‘as from one.’ The meaning of the Coptic is unclear. It may possibly be understood to mean ‘as if you are from someone special’ (so Harold W. Attridge, ‘Greek Equivalents of Two Coptic Phrases,’ pp. 30-32). Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi Codex II, 2-7, 1.74, notes two additional possibilities: The Greek for ‘as a stranger’ may have been mistranslated ‘as from one,’ or the Greek fr ‘as from whom’ may have been mistranslated ‘as from someone.'” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 93).
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “Unfortunately we do not know what Salome, prominent in the Gospel of the Egyptians, meant by her question, or what Jesus meant by his answer, though it may contain reminiscences of John 5:18 (‘He called God his own Father, making himself equal to God’; cf., Philippians 2:6) and Matthew 11:27 (‘All things have been delivered to me by my Father’ cf., Luke 10:22). If it is the deserted bed which is full of light, we may have a reflection of the Naassene rejection of sexual intercourse (Hippolytus, Ref., 5, 7, 13); see Saying 23 and Commentary.” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, pp. 167-168).
- Jean Doresse writes: “The main part of this paragraph is taken from some apocryphal gospel (perhaps the Gospel of the Egyptians?). It centres on Salome’s question to Jesus: ‘Who art thou? Where have you come from, to sit on my couch and eat my table?’ (the couch of course being the place where they reclined at table). Then, this reference to the couch probably led to the artificial addition at the beginning of the sentence, of the passage: ‘Two will lie down on one bed . . .’ The next step was an addition by the editor (another example of such a commentary introduced by the editor is found in 115): from the association of these two texts, he tried to bring out the idea that duality is the source of death and darkness, while unity – isolation, solitariness – leads to light and life. Thus the phrase: ‘Because of that . . .’ no doubt introduces the editor’s comment: ‘Because of those two sayings (“Two will lie down . . .” and “Salome says . . .”), I will give you the following teaching. . . .'” (The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, p. 375).
- Funk and Hoover write of 61:1, “Live or die”: “Most of the Fellows were of the opinion that the version in Thomas was older than the Q version because it is simpler. However, in its Thomean form it was probably a piece of common wisdom: death strikes when we least expect it and rather arbitrarily. Two on a couch probably refers to a dinner party or symposium – a place one is least likely to anticipate death. This context is confirmed by the remark of Salome in v. 2: ‘Who are you, mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.’ Jesus is here represented as an intruder at a dinner party.” (The Five Gospels, p. 507). “Thom 61:5 has no parallels. It picks up themes that are important elsewhere in Thomas, especially the theme of ‘light’ (Thom 11:3; 24:3; 50:1; 83:1-2) and the concept of unity as opposed to division (Thom 11:4; 22:4; 106:1). The remark here is reminiscent of the claim, in 24:3, that ‘there is light within a person of light.’ Persons of light come from the light, that is, they come from the Father who is light (83:1-2). These themes are characteristic of Thomean Christianity; since they do not have echoes elsewhere in the gospels, they are foreign to Jesus.” (The Five Gospels, p. 507).
- Gerd Ludemann writes of 61:3: “Jesus comes from the One, who is equal. Jesus has a divine origin and is equal to God (cf. John 5.18).” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 620). “This verse presents two possibilities: either one is – like God – equal (cf. v. 3) and is filled with light or one is separated from God. Then one is filled with darkness. On the concept of light cf. 11.3; 24.3; 50.1; 83.1-2. The theme of division is mentioned in 72.1-3.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 621)
- F. F. Bruce writes: “The translation of Jesus’s conversation with her [Salome] is uncertain, but the main point seems to be that the perfect state involves a return to the pristine unity of male and female (cf. Saying 4). ‘He who is the Same’ (others render ‘who is my equal’) is synonymous with the Father of Jesus, who is unchanging perhaps in the sense of being undifferentiated.” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 137).
Again most of these commentaries miss the point of that this should be seen as a teaching by the Master. Some discount these as sayings by Thomas based in their normal view that these are later Gnostic writings while others try to paint part of this as a saying from a dinner party or a symposium; still others believe that parts of this are artificially added to the text. We see this as we say above, as some rather deep and important sayings that are stated outright as the saying on light, with other parts are hidden in parabolic words but for both of these ideas to be seen clearly, we must first look at the different renderings for each part.
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 present here again what we call the Lord’s Prayer and do so as it relates to our ideas above on the Millennium Development Goals. One could say that it is the responsibility of God to take care of these billions of people but this one would be short sighted and unawares of the Truth of the Master’s words and the Word of God. In the Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) we should see that He did not do this to these people, it is the natural way of the Plan of God that puts men where they can best progress and in this time of much escalated population growth we find the situations that we find. From the Master’s words on Love and in sayings like that from John which clearly tells us that: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18); we should be able to see our own role here and, for those of us who can believe that we are aspirants to discipleship, we should be able to see it ever clearer in this prayer as we pray that His Kingdom would come, the Kingdom that is within us ALL, and that His Will be done which IS our Will if we are among those who DO keep His words and strive toward the realization of the Kingdom of God for He does tell us clearly that “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” (Matthew 7:21). And, we should note that the ideas of us and we in the rest of this prayer are in reference to ALL men, ALL of the nearly 7.2 billion that are here in this Earth today….and so IS the idea of OUR.
- Our Father, which art in heaven,
- hallowed be thy name;
- thy kingdom come;
- thy will be done,
- in earth as it is in heaven.
- Give us this day our daily bread.
- And forgive us our trespasses,
- as we forgive them that trespass against us.
- And lead us not into temptation;
- but deliver us from evil.
- [For thine is the kingdom,
- the power, and the glory,
- for ever and ever.]
- Amen.†
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/
- † From the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; this version is from the Book of Common Prayer of 1662
