ON LOVE; PART XDXXXV
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.
(63) Jesus says: “There was a rich person who had many possessions. He said: ‘I will use my possessions so that I might sow, reap, plant, (and) fill my storehouses with fruit so that I will not lack anything.’ This was what he was thinking in his heart. And in that night he died. Whoever has ears should hear.“
(64) Jesus says: “A person had guests. And when he had prepared the dinner, he sent his servant, so that he might invite the guests. He came to the first (and) said to him: ‘My master invites you.’ He said: ‘I have bills for some merchants. There are coming to me this evening. I will go (and) give instructions to them. Excuse me from the dinner.’ He came to another (and) said to him: ‘My master has invited you.’ He said to him: ‘I have bought a house, and I have been called (away) for a day. I will not have time.’ He went to another (and) said to him: ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him: ‘My friend is going to marry, and I am the one who is going to prepare the meal. I will not be able to come. Excuse me from the dinner.’ He came up to another (and) said to him: ‘My master invites you.’ He said to him: ‘I have bought a village. Since I am going to collect the rent, I will not be able to come. Excuse me.’ The servant went away. He said to his master: ‘Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his servant: ‘Go out on the roads. Bring (back) whomever you find, so that they might have dinner.’ Dealers and merchants (will) not enter the places of my Father.“
(65) He said: “A [usurer] owned a vineyard. He gave it to some farmers so that they would work it (and) he might receive its fruit from them. He sent his servant so that the farmers might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant, beat him, (and) almost killed him. The servant went (back and) told his master. His master said: ‘Perhaps <they> did not recognize <him>.’ He sent another servant, (and) the farmers beat that other one as well. Then the master sent his son (and) said: ‘Perhaps they will show respect for my son.’ (But) those farmers, since they knew that he was the heir of the vineyard, seized him (and) killed him. Whoever has ears should hear.“
(66) Jesus says: “Show me the stone that the builders have rejected. It is the cornerstone.“
(67) Jesus says: “Whoever knows all, if he is lacking one thing, he is (already) lacking everything.“
We began our look at the sixty fifth saying from the Gospel of Thomas in the last essay and we noted that the Thomas’ commentaries do nothing to help us to see the reality of the Master’s message here. We noted as well that they and the other commentators who we use regarding the accepted gospels DO NOT see the reality of this parable, or most any parable, as we do. We see that the Master has couched deeper spiritual realities within the stories and the sayings that He gives us while most others see a more of a juxtaposition of the carnal ideas and while this juxtaposition is a part of the parabolic nature of many of His sayings and stories, it is the deeper spiritual value that we should seek. Of course there are times where what we say appears even to us to be a stretch but this is because the spiritual realities are yet beyond our vision and we do our level best to try to see what the Master intended for us to see. In the last parable, the sixty fourth, we found the same spiritual meaning in all of the versions but we needed the version from Matthew to unlock what is as apparent in the others but which is at the same time not spoken of directly. This is of course the comparison of the “king, which made a marriage for his son” with “The kingdom of heaven“; and, as we said, this is but alluded to in the other versions which ALL should be see as that the invitation to the feast itself IS one’s invitation to the Kingdom or any other spiritual idea that one would want to insert here be it the Gospel, the Christ Himself, etc;. Here we DO see the same carnal relationships of the story in regard to the Jews who do not accept the Master’s teaching but prefer their own way and are then bypassed while others of every ilk are invited to the table. Here in this carnal relationship the very idea of the Kingdom. or the Christ Himself makes no sense as these ARE, according to the Master’s own words, reserved for those who ARE keeping His words; those accounted worthy of Him. We do not understand the doctrinal concept of the Gospel here.
Here then the doctrinal interpretation of the story is rather close to the actual story with only the substitution of the Jews for the original invitees and the multitudes of everyman being substituted for by the doctrinal idea of the gentile being the difference, the juxtaposition if you will. From here many go into the eschatological ideas based in the way that Matthew presents this and most ALL miss the Truth of the message which for us IS that there IS an open invitation to this feast which represents the Kingdom of God and that those invited guests rebuff the Kingdom in favor of their worldly pursuits and the ending message here is that this invitation will move on to others, not as the story goes, but in the reality of one’s own approach to the Kingdom, that the invitation will move away from the man who does not accept it and it will fade and ,as we said in the last essay, it will become fainter and fainter as the man is more and more engrossed in the minutia of his Life in the world. Here then IS our own reality; that one will NOT see this as we do so long as he may believe that the Kingdom of God is for everyman who may affirm his belief, or be baptized in that doctrinal way. One will only see our approach to this and to many other parables if one believes that the Way to the Kingdom IS by keeping His words as they are most clearly stated in His word; a clarity that IS however obfuscated and obnubilated by the very thoughts, attitudes and actions of men in the world which the sayings are intended to clarify.
In this current parable this same way of juxtaposition continues from the perspective of the doctrinal approach to the Master’s words and again there is some validity in this approach of assuming that the Master IS addressing this to the Jews, historical and current, as the husbandmen or, as Thomas is rendered above, the farmers, who kill the prophets and then, by prediction, they kill the Son who IS representative of the Christ. The purpose here, from the perspective of the story, would be that the Jew’s could keep the fruits of the land which IS ‘lent’ to them by the landowner who IS seen as the Lord. Here, while this does not flow properly, we can see this interpretation and this IS the gist of what we read in the two commentaries with which we closed our last essay. Just what are the fruits that the husbandmen refuse to give and why would the prophets or the Master be coming for such fruits remains a mystery here in this carnal interpretation of this parable. We however believe that there MUST be a timeless and a spiritual purport in each and every parable and saying of the Master and it is these interpretations that we seek. Here in this particular parable this is a more difficult task than in most.
We must remember here that this IS a parable and in our understanding there need not be a literal connection between the ideas presented and the spiritual ideas intended. Here we have the idea of the householder who plants a vineyard although in Thomas this is painted a bit differently; above we read [usurer] which we know, by way of the brackets, as an uncertain rendering. Usurer is a rather strange rendering considering that the Interlinear calls this “a man of justice” and that this is rendered by others as “a good man“, a kind man, and “an [important man]“; we should see that the idea of a usurer offers a very different connotation and we should note that in another version of the Patterson and Robinson translation that we have above, this the word is left undefined. Based upon the preponderance of the renderings then we should see this a “a good man“. This man gives out this plot of land that is planted with the fruit producing vines to the husbandmen or the farmers to work the land and to bring forth the fruit and here we should likely understand fruit as we see it in so many of the Master’s sayings and especially those where He tells us that it IS by the fruit that we can KNOW a man. Next we read that the householder or the good man sends forth servants to take a share of the fruit for the householder and the story here has no time line so that we can assume that this is a current event and not necessarily from the distant past as would be the idea of the prophets that are wounded and killed. Finally, the householder sends his own son who IS killed outright. This IS the story and on the surface of this there is no apparent message to the man who looks at this carnally instead of spiritually.
As we did say this is a rather difficult parable to interpret spiritually based upon the nature of the story and the ideas that are presented by doctrine but it IS one that DOES HAVE a spiritual purport as there IS NO other reason for the Master’s telling this parable save to make a spiritual point. That the prophets came and were ofttimes killed and wounded we KNOW from His other words as He tells the Jews: “Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets” (Matthew 23:31) and “Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them” (Luke 11:47); in these we should see that the killing is done by the fathers and NOT by those to whom Jesus is speaking. The Master also tells them about the Son in this parable and this interpreted as the crucifixion by many but this is a thing that ONLY the disciples are told beforehand. Here then there IS NO practical lesson in this parable for the Jews who DO NOT understand that Jesus IS the Son. What then can we say about this Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, a name that is given by the doctrines that we discuss above.
First that the householder IS the spiritual man, the Soul, the God Within and the vineyard IS this Life in the Earth which IS planted by the householder. The representation here is that the Soul puts this Life into the world with the intention of its producing much fruit and how this is explained or understood is not here a part of this story. We can see this householder as God Transcendent if we wish and then that it IS He who puts the man in the world; the idea that He expects fruit remains. The husbandman or the farmer IS the activity of the personality, the carnal man, in the world who should be producing this fruit in the vineyard which is representative of the Life in the world. This next part is the more muddy for us as the idea of servants coming can only be understood by us as that the Soul, the householder or even God, is prompting the Life of the husbandman to produce fruit and to render that fruit to the ‘glory’ of God; this is those good things, that a man does in the world by striving to keep His words, this is the Love and the brotherhood expressed to the world of men. This prompting is however largely ignored by the husbandman who goes about his business as a man in the world and in this ignoring we should see the ideas presented as being ill treated, wounded and even killed as this IS what does happen to the prompting when it is ignored. Again remembering that this IS a parable and that there IS a hidden spiritual Truth that we must uncover, we come to the end, to the coming of the Son and in this we can perhaps see that last ditch effort by the householder, the Soul, the True man, to get the attention of the husbandman and to wrest from the Life, the vineyard, the fruits that he is sent to gather.
Can we see these ideas within this parable and do these not make more sense as a lesson to men both then and now, a spiritual lesson on how to attain the Kingdom of God? Here we should remember the Master’s own understanding of the use of the parable as He tells us as disciples and as aspirants that many things which are clarified and amplified by His apostles:
- Speaking of the man focused in the ways of the world Jesus says: “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:13-16).
- Of Matthew’s understanding of this dynamic we read: “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:34-35).
- Mark renders this recollection of the Master’s words: “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:11-12).
- Of Mark’s understanding of this we read: “And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples” (Mark 4:33-34).
The points here should be clear; in Marks words the idea of the parable is to each man “as they were able to hear it” and the idea that “they should be converted” can be seen to say our Truth, that it IS in the deeper meanings that one can be Truly converted to keeping His words and whose “sins should be forgiven them” and who should then see things as they Truly ARE. And the Master offers this same according to Matthew except that the sins forgiven is replaced with His words that “I should heal them” and in both these concepts we should see much the same thing. And finally we should understand this as Matthew paints this for us; that even in our rather straightforward view of this parable that there are the ideas and realities that have been “kept secret from the foundation of the world“. These ideas should be the testimony to the deep and meaningful nature of the parable as they are offered to us by the Master.
Our next saying is another parable and it is another that is misunderstood by doctrine. This too is one that is included in the three synoptic gospels; we read:
- “Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” (Matthew 21:42).
- “And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner” (Mark 1210).
- “And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?” (Luke 20:17).
- Jesus says: “Show me the stone that the builders have rejected. It is the cornerstone” (Thomas 66).
In ALL cases this parable follows upon the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen and many link these together as though they are one and, while there may be some affiliation, it IS NOT as is commonly thought. Some of the available commentary on this from Thomas’ Gospel includes:
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “Just as in the synoptic gospels (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17), the saying about the stone which the builders rejected is appended to the parable of the vineyard. (The Naassenes too were impressed by this mysterious saying; cf., Hippolytus, Ref., 5, 7, 35.) But Thomas deletes the synoptic reference to ‘reading’ this saying (Matthew, Mark) or to the fact that it is ‘written’ (Luke) – actually in Psalm 118 (117):22-23 – becuase he is avoiding mention of the Old Testament. See Sayings 53 and 66 and Commentaries.” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 172).
- F. F. Bruce writes: “In all three Synoptic Gospels the parable of the vineyard is followed by the quotation of Psalm 118.22: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner’ (i.e. top of the pediment). The point is that Christ, rejected by the leaders of Israel, is exalted by God (cf. Acts 4.11). Here no reference is made to its being an Old Testament quotation. Hippolytus tells us that the Naassenes spoke of the archetypal heavenly Man (whom they called Adamas) as ‘the chief corner stone’. [Refutation v.7.35.]” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 139).
- Funk and Hoover write: “The fact that the allusion to Ps 118:22 follows on the parable of the leased vineyard in Thomas as it does in the synoptics, even though Thomas lacks the allegorical overlay of the synoptic edition, indicates that the connection may have been the first step in reading the parable as an allegory, since the rejected stone was probably understood to refer to Jesus in Christian circles: the rejected stone that has become the keystone stands for the rejected Jesus, who has become the centerpiece of the new movement.” (The Five Gospels, p. 511).
- Gerd Ludemann writes: “This piece also appears in Mark 12.10-11 par. and fits in well there, because the verses give the reason for the rejection of Israel. But as they do not fit with Thomas here, it follows that they have been taken over, together with Mark 12.1-9, from the Synoptics.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 624).
Here again we do not have much of interpretive value but we do have some differences in understanding just what sort of stone this rejected one becomes. Here in Thomas we find it as the cornerstone which is alternately rendered as the “building stone” or the keystone and which the Interlinear frames as “the stone corner” but with the idea that this IS the only appearance of this word rendered corner in the whole gospel. In the synoptics this is rendered by the King James translators as the” head of the corner” and, while we usually see this as the cornerstone in our understanding of scripture we find other renderings as “the chief corner stone“, capstone, chief stone, and cornerstone although most do leave this as the King James rendering. There are many ways of looking at this and a capstone is not the same as a cornerstone and we can see in F. F. Bruce above that he relates the synoptic idea of the “head of the corner” as “top of the pediment“. Does any of this matter?
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.
As the Lord’s Prayer is given to us by the Christ for our use 2000 years ago, the Great Invocation, according to esoteric sources, was give from Him as well and whether we believe that this IS True or not we should look at this prayer as containing the same selfless invocative style as does the Lord’s Prayer and then any that are modeled after their style. We again encourage ALL to read and reread this Great Invocation and our comments as in these words can be found keys to our spiritual reality.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132
The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.
Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.
The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
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/
