ON LOVE; PART CDLXXIV
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.
(96) Jesus [says]: “The kingdom of the Father is like [a] woman. She took a little bit of yeast. [She] hid it in dough (and) made it into huge loaves of bread. Whoever has ears should hear.“
(97) Jesus says: “The kingdom of the [Father] is like a woman who is carrying a [jar] filled with flour. While she was walking on [the] way, very distant (from home), the handle of the jar broke (and) the flour leaked out [on] the path. (But) she did not know (it); she had not noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down on the floor (and) found it empty.“
(98) Jesus says: “The kingdom of the Father is like a person who wanted to kill a powerful person. He drew the sword in his house (and) stabbed it into the wall to test whether his hand would be strong (enough). Then he killed the powerful one.“
(99) The disciples said to him: “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them: “Those here, who do the will of my Father, they are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter the kingdom of my Father.“
(100) They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him: “Caesar’s people demand taxes from us.” He said to them: “Give Caesar (the things) that are Caesar’s. Give God (the things) that are God’s. And what is mine give me.“
(101) “Whoever does not hate his [father] and his mother as I do will not be able to be a [disciple] of mine. And whoever does [not] love [his father] and his mother as I do will not be able to be a [disciple] of mine. For my mother […], but my true [mother] gave me life.” 14
We left off in the last essay with the beginning of our look at the one hundred first saying from Thomas’ Gospel where we find an expansion of sorts on Thomas’ fifty fifth saying and what we see as an attempt to explain this idea of hate without removing it or changing it as we find in the Gospel of Matthew. The idea from Matthew is a valid one, we do not question this as the idea of Loving God must come first for the aspirant and the disciple and this we should see and take from the first part of the Great Commandment which we read as: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). Here we use Matthew’s version as we are comparing this to his other words and there should be some continuity here insofar as this apostle’s view of the Master’s teaching and His thoughts. We should also note that in the apostle’s version of our subject saying: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38), we find his view that the Master’s words are construed as this ‘loving less‘ is necessary for being worthy of Him. It is in the context of these two sayings, this from Matthew and the other from Luke, that begin to build our understanding that this being accounted worthy is the same as discipleship and while there are many other places where this idea shows through as well, none is as straightforward as the words from Thomas fifty fifth saying which contains both ideas in a single verse; the Master says there that: “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple of mine. And whoever does not hate his brothers and his sisters (and) will not take up his cross as I do, will not be worthy of me“.
Now we have always seen this word hate as a difficult idea to defend in this scripture and we have, as have many in the doctrinal church, taken to understand this idea of hate as ‘to love less‘ and this as a compromise between the hate of Luke and the idea of NOT Loving any more than God. Here however in this current saying from Thomas Gospel we may have an even better ability to understand the reality this way to eschew the carnal ideas of family. In this saying, through the problems of the missing manuscript, we can see a novel approach to understanding this dynamic of hate as it compares to the reality of Love; we must however remember that this IS a parabolic saying that can lead a man to discipleship and which must be rightly understood by such a man. The Interlinear version of this saying tells us: “Whoever-hates-his-[father] not, and-his-mother, in-my-way, he-can-become-[disciple] to-me not; and whoever-loves-his-father not, and-his-mother, in-my-way, he-can-become-[disciple to]-me not”. As we take this up again we repeat our way of looking at these ideas from Thomas’ Gospel, that we have not studied any of these sayings, save for a cursory look and perhaps an advance view based on the comments from another saying which IS True here from the fifty fifth, and that we are developing our thoughts ‘on the fly’ if you will. We generally do not look at the Interlinear until the day our our discussion and here this is True; we did not see this until yesterday. We point this out here so that any seeming contradictions that may be found in our day to day writing can be better understood and generally it is the final thought that we offer on the next day that is become our True thought.
Here then in this saying which melds Love and hate into the Master’s words, we find that we have other sayings that can help to explain the pertinent points. As we said in the last post the key words to this first part of this saying are in the Master’s stipulation of “in-my-way” which is rendered by others as “as I do“. This places a criteria upon this idea of Love, which we should clearly understand from His many words on Love, as for this idea of hate for which we DO NOT have clear understanding. we do have several other sayings to draw upon. To be as accurate as is possible we will restrict our view of other sayings that may explain this idea of hate to others that feature similar ideas of family. As we discuss above we do have the ideas from Matthew and Luke from their own versions of this saying as well as the ideas from Thomas’ fifty fifth saying where we can find the combination of the ideas of the being accounted worthy and discipleship and here there should be no doubt that Jesus words saying worthy of Him are the same as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom; there can be no other reality here. In this we should see the synergy of these four sayings from the various sources as well as our reliance upon the idea that one must Love family less than the Master and therefore less than God. None of this however allows us to understand hate from the perspective of this saying where one should Love family as He does and hate family the same way; while Love less than can be see as the Truth of this, it does not explain Thomas use of these ideas.
There are two places in Thomas’ the synoptic gospels that we can find similar ideas of family; the one is the ninety ninth saying from Thomas that we alluded to in the last essay and which we discussed a few days back along with our understanding of the synoptic versions. The other is Jesus remarks regarding the very nature of His presence with us 2000 years ago which we find in Matthew, in Luke and in Thomas as:
- From Thomas: 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“ (Thomas 16).
- “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
- “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” (Luke 12:49-53).
The point here in these sayings is the line of demarcation between the one who accepts and believes on the Master and the one who DOES NOT and it matters not that this line is formed within a family causing the type of rift that is seen here in His words. We should try to see these rifts as the hatred that the Master speaks of in our subject saying; this IS hatred for a cause however; not of the person but of the persons beliefs. And, while these rifts cut both ways, the Master’s point is on His own behalf in our saying as His words are “as I do” and not as the non believer would. And here, from the perspective of the acceptor and the believer, we should see the further idea of Love as the one who accepts the Master’s teaching WILL Love those even that he may hate in this context. Can we see these ideas? We can see the reality here of the Master who is continually attacked for His views and His ways by the religious leaders of the day while at the same time professes Love for them ALL in His teaching and in His actions as well.
Our other example is found in the ninety ninth saying that we recently discussed where we read:
The disciples said to him: “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them: “Those here, who do the will of my Father, they are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter the kingdom of my Father” (Thomas 99).
This saying has parallels in the synoptics as we discussed in our essays on saying ninety nine and while they are the more colorful they do carry the same message although here we KNOW that it is His disciples who announce the arrival while in the synoptics the messenger is unknown. The Truth here is similar to the idea above in that these are relationships formed in the world and of the world and as such they have no spiritual significance. Here, as we discussed previously, the brothers and the mother of the Master are disciplic in their view but this does not matter as His words ARE NOT so much about them as the ARE about the principal that carnal relatives ARE NOT to be seen above any other person; ALL ARE equal in the eyes of the Lord as He Loves ALL equally and explains that those closest to Him are those who are keeping the will of the Father. Here again we can find Love and hate, not of the persons but of their ways; if the mother or the brother IS NOT keeping His word they are but the people of the world who go about their carnal business unawares, but those who are with Him, who keep His words, can be deemed as ONE with Him and thereby become those closest to Him supplanting any worldly relationships. Here, while the idea of Love and hate as it regards family is more hidden in His words, it IS surely there as hate IS NOT hate as we commonly understand it and can Truly be seen in the view of the Apostle Matthew as Loving less. Loving ALL things that are of God, which includes those that ARE expressing His will by their ONENESS in doing so, “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). Here we must be willing and able to see this idea of Love through the words and the ideas, that this Love IS then for ALL things but that it IS on the Godly part and not the carnal that it is concentrated. These sayings that use this idea of hate are difficult to see because the very idea of hate is contrary to His teachings on Love and it still seems that the better ideas are found in Matthew’s version where we find that this hate is to Love less. In the current saying we do get some help as the hate has additional criteria attached and that IS that we should hate as the Master does and which idea we try to find in our cited sayings above. We will not go further into the last part of this saying as the text is uncertain and, in the way that it is construed it gives us the same ideas of lines of demarcation between the carnal and the spiritual.
The next group of sayings from Thomas’ Gospel are:
(102) Jesus says: “Woe to them, the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in a cattle trough, for it neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat.“
(103) Jesus says: “Blessed is the person who knows at which point (of the house) the robbers are going to enter, so that [he] may arise to gather together his [domain] and gird his loins before they enter.“
(104) They said to [Jesus]: “Come, let us pray and fast today!” Jesus said: “What sin is it that I have committed, or wherein have I been overcome? But when the bridegroom comes out of the wedding chamber, then let (us) fast and pray.“
(105) Jesus says: “Whoever will come to know father and mother, he will be called son of a whore.“
(106) Jesus says: “When you make the two into one, you will become sons of man. And when you say ‘Mountain, move away,’ it will move away.“
(107) Jesus says: “The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them went astray, the largest. He left the ninety-nine, (and) he sought the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep: ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’“
(108) Jesus says: “Whoever will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself will become he, and what is hidden will be revealed to him.“
Our next saying, one hundred second, is from this new list and in this one we have a similar intent to one of the woe’s pronounced by the Master in Matthew’s Gospel but with a different way of expressing the idea. This word rendered here as trough is rendered as manger in most other translation including the Interlinear but we should not think that this means manger as in the place of Jesus birth, as the cave or the barn stall. It is possible that the Greek word from Luke is mistranslated into the English manger as that word does mean: a box or trough in a stable or barn from which horses or cattle eat 7 and this IS how we should see this Coptic word that is used only here in this saying, as a trough. In this relation the words from Luke’s Gospel actually do make sense as well as it IS there that Mary laid the Child and this is where the shepherds find Him; however, there is another place where the Luke uses the word to explain where an ox is kept. Nonetheless the English word manger with the idea of the trough are correct and this does work best in this idea of a dog sleeping in one and thereby inhibiting the cattle’s feeding. The available commentary on this includes:
- J. D. Crossan writes: “Strictly speaking this is not, of course, a definite variation of Gos. Thom. 39a. But Quispel has said that ‘these words have the sensuousness of good tradition’ (1957:204). And Wilson described it as ‘a similar saying agaisnt the Pharisees’ to Gos. Thom. 39a. He even goes on to say that ‘the fact that it is a proverbial saying need create no difficulty: the originality lies not in the saying, but in its application, in the rapier-like thrust of the attack. These would seem to be grounds for including this among those apocrypha with some claim to authority’ (1960a:76-77).” (In Fragments, pp. 33-34).
- J. D. Crossan writes: “The ‘dog in the manger’ is apparently a Greek proverb going back to ‘very ancient times’ (Moravcsik: 85). (1) It is included among the Greek proverbs attributed to Aesop: ‘a dog lying in the manger who does not eat himself but hinders the donkey from doing so’ (Perry, 1952:276). (2) It is also among the Latin fables as follows: ‘A dog without conscience lay in the manger full of hay. When the cattle came to eat of the hay he would not let them, but showed his teeth in ugly mood. The oxen protested: “It is not right for you to begrudge us the satisfaction of indulging our natural appetite when you yourself have no such appetite. It is not your nature to eat hay, and yet you prevent us from eating it”‘ (Perry, 1952:696; 1965:597). (3) Lucian of Samosata (c. A.D. 125-180) gives the following version in ‘Timon, or The Misanthrope’: ‘Not that they were able to enjoy you themselves, but that they were shutting out everyone else from a share in the enjoyment, like the dog in the manger that neither ate the barley (ton kithon) herself nor permitted the hungry horse to eat it’ (Harmon: 2.342-343). (4) Again, in ‘The Ignorant Book-Collector,’ he says: ‘But you never lent a book to anyone; you act like the dog in the manger, who neither eats the grain (ton kithon) herself nor lets the horse eat it, who can’ (Harmon: 3.210-211). One notes, of course, the inevitable oral variations on dog (male or female), the fodder (hay or grain), and the hindered animals (donkey, cattle, horse).” (In Fragments, pp. 34-35).
- R. McL. Wilson writes: “This is of course a familiar fable, and Grant and Freedman give references which show that it was proverbial in the second century. As they say, however, its occurence in literary or semi-literary sources does not mean that it was otherwise unknown. Thomas might have picked it up anywhere. More important is the question raised by Bauer, as to whether it may not be an authentic saying of Jesus. As Bauer says, Jesus often made use of popular proverbs, and a possible context in which this saying might have been uttered can be found in Luke xvii. 1 ff. The fact that it is a proverbial saying need create no difficulty; the originality lies not in the saying, but in its application, in the rapier-like thrust of the attack. There would seem to be grounds for including this among those agrapha with some claim to authenticity.” (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, pp. 76-77).
While interesting, these comments only point to the idea that this may have been a rather popular saying but what they list likely ALL comes from times after the Master and, for all we KNOW, Jesus may have coined this saying. This does not matter however as it is His prerogative to use common sayings to make His point and it IS the point here that matters. This saying IS most closely aligned to another that is more straightforward as we read the Master’s words saying: “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). Also, as Mr. Crossan writes above, there is a similarity here to the thirty ninth saying from Thomas’ Gospel which we read 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). The underlying message in ALL of these is the same.
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 are using yet another mantram as our new Quote of the Day and this is again one that we have posted many times. Here in the form of an affirmation we should be able to understand the intent which IS to make these realities as part of our everyday thinking and our everyday understanding of our nature. Here again, as we see in our words above on the Mantram of Unification, we have the same dynamics: Love, service and healing. Here however the motivation IS more upon the idea of service and when we can see that this service is offered in Love and that this service IS one of healing we can Truly understand this affirmation.
Affirmation of the Disciple
I am a point of light within a greater Light.
I am a strand of loving energy within the stream of Love divine.
I am a point of sacrificial Fire, focussed within the fiery Will of God.
And thus I stand
I am a way by which men may achieve.
I am a source of strength, enabling them to stand.
I am a beam of light, shining upon their way.
And thus I stand.
And standing thus, revolve
And tread this way the ways of men,
And know the ways of God.
And thus I stand.
From previous posts we repeat that today’s Quote of the Day is called the Affirmation of the Disciple and is spoken from the perspective of the Soul and not from that of the man in form. It is the Soul that we are in this life on Earth, housed in this ‘temple’ of flesh and it is the Light of the Soul that must flow through this ‘temple’ in order that we may say with the Christ “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) which is our goal and our destiny. Speaking then as the Soul we affirm our reality and true existence in God and in His Three Aspects of Light and Love and His Will. As this Light and Love and Will flow through our conscious personalities and forms we, as disciples, take on the nature of the second stanza being able to offer to the world a better way through our service and our Love for all, encouragement to righteousness through our strength of purpose, and the Light which shines in accordance with the Master’s instructions to “Let your light so shine before men” (Matthew 5:16) and illuminates the Path. Finally we realize that we are standing in this world and walking as men but, as conscious Souls in form, we know the way and the ways of God and are able to say with the Christ that “I am not of this world” (John 8:23).
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/
- 7 Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011
