ON LOVE; PART CDLXXXIII
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.
(109) Jesus says: “The kingdom is like a person who has a hidden treasure in his field, (of which) he knows nothing. And [after] he had died, he left it to his [son]. (But) the son did not know (about it either). He took over that field (and) sold [it]. And the one who had bought it came, and while he was ploughing [he found] the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whom he wished.“
(110) Jesus says: “The one who has found the world (and) has become wealthy should renounce the world.“
(111) Jesus says: “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth. And whoever is living from the living one will not see death.” Does not Jesus say: “Whoever has found himself, of him the world is not worthy“?
(112) Jesus says: “Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul. Woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.“
(113) His disciples said to him: “The kingdom – on what day will it come?” “It will not come by watching (and waiting for) it. They will not say: ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.“
(114) Simon Peter said to them: “Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said: “Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you.” (But I say to you): “Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” 14
In this one hundred tenth saying from the Gospel of Thomas we have the same ideas that we find in the accepted gospels albeit at times Thomas words are seemingly in a more direct form. This directness however is more a matter of view. Here in this saying the statement is direct and general and does not say anything that IS different from “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich” (Luke 18:22-23). Here in the Master’s discourse with this “certain ruler” who is called a “young man” by Matthew and is referred to as “came one running” by Mark IS everyman as IS the one to whom the ideas in Thomas’ Gospel are directed. And the message is the same although it is framed differently as there IS NO effective difference between renouncing and selling ALL to give to the poor. This idea of finding the world is but a way of expressing that it IS worldly riches that are spoken about here and the point IS that it matters NOT how one should come upon their wealth. From a doctrinal perspective this seems a bit too direct and while there is no lack of directiness in the Master’s words from Luke as He continues to tell ALL how difficult it IS for one with riches to find the Kingdom, they ARE NOT understood by most; we read:
“And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:23-27).
The idea here is clear and to those who may believe that these words from Thomas are perhaps a Gnostic idea, that one should not have wealth, we should try to see that these same likely DO NOT see themselves in Master’s words to this rich young ruler as we call him and who IS intended to be everyman who desires the Kingdom of God. And this idea at the end of Luke’s version; the answer to the question of “Who then can be saved?” IS NOT an out for those who believe that they can keep the riches and still be ‘saved’ as the reality of the Master’s words that say “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” is really but our assurance that if one Truly desires the Kingdom of God, that he will come to forsake those things of the world.
From Thomas perspective this ALL is wrapped up in a single admonition from the Master that simply says that in one’s Life in the world, should he become wealthy, he should renounce such wealth or, as the Interlinear frames this, he should abdicate it which has the same effect but which can include most every perspective up to and including the king. And this idea of wealth, like so much else that is scriptural, is an idea that IS self defined and we should ever understand that there IS NO safe harbor in one’s reaching out for the Kingdom; there IS ONLY the single mindedness of the disciple. And these other related sayings from Thomas also tell us the same message albeit from a different angle or different perspective:
- The reality of our previous saying, the hundred ninth, shows us that one can come into such treasure, found by the man and not KNOWN by the Father and the Son and while in the ineffective rendering of the end in most translations we should try to see the reality that one DOES NOT lend at interest but rather gives to ALL who may ask as the Interlinear parabolically frames this. Here again we must see that this reality IS for the man who would be accounted worthy of the Kingdom and not the man who has no such interest as that man can go on in his Life as does the unjust steward in the parable that we read in Luke’s Gospel. There he he is commended for his actions as he proceeds in his carnal ways regarding which the Master says “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness“. In Luke’s Gospel it IS this parable that leads up to the Master’s words that tell us that: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:9, 13).
- The Truth to the eighty first saying which tells us that “whoever-has-become-rich, let-him-become-king,>and he-who-has-he (a) power, let-him-abdicate” (Thomas 81; Interlinear Version) IS NOT any different. The approach here shows us both sides of the equation if we can see this clearly. It is the man whose focus is on the world, as IS the focus of the unjust steward, who can be seen addressed in this first part, that if he become rich that he should pursue his riches as does this steward, while in this second part we can see the necessary actions of the one who seeks the Kingdom, that if he should come into such power, that he should give it up for the sake of the Kingdom. On both sides of this we can see that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon“. Here we should note that to the one who IS sincerely and Truly seeking the Kingdom, that riches are eschewed and would be rejected out of hand…this man would not become rich. Here in this idea of power we should also be able to see that this idea reaches beyond the physical and into the psychic.
- And this is pointed out clearly in ALL of the translations of the the ninety fifth saying which we read as “If you (plur.) have money, do not lend it out at interest. Rather, give [it] to one from whom you will not get it back” (Layton). Here we have the idea that if we have money or the influence of money that we should just give it away and this is the same idea as we find in the synoptic gospels which frame it differently but which ALL mean the same thing. Matthew tells us that the Master says “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away“, while Luke frames this as “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again“, and in the these we should see the same as we see from Thomas.
When it comes to riches and worldly things the Master’s message IS clear and, like so many other things that He says, this idea is largely ignored. And as we can take from the Parable of the Unjust Steward, this is all right to be so for the man whose focus IS upon the things of the world. It is for the man who strives toward the Kingdom to see this reality of worldly riches and goods and that there IS no safe harbor in this area although many millions of men believe that there is such from the Old Testament teachings and perhaps some isolated ideas gleaned from the New. The Master’s point here IS abundantly clear and for those that see these words as not applying to them, those who believe that they do have safe harbor in the idea that “with God all things are possible” ARE NOT seeing the Truth clearly but are seeing through the eyes of their doctrines. We see His words and we struggle to accept them because we ARE in the world and in this light we should ever remember His saying that “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) and understand that this IS addressed to us ALL.
Our next saying, the one hundred eleventh, is a strangely worded saying but one that contains some of the deeper Truths of discipleship and the Kingdom of God. The first part is a statement of fact that likely CAN NOT be rightly discerned in a doctrinal view of Life and Spirit. In this idea of “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth. And whoever is living from the living one will not see death” should be viewed together as the first part is dependent upon the second part although this IS not how it is stated. Remember the parabolic method of the Master’s speaking in ALL the gospels and understand that to accomplish this second part here one must be expressing the Love and the Power of the Soul, the living one, and that this idea of death IS NOT the death of the physical body by the the death that we experience as men who are spiritually dead and living in and focused upon the world and the self in the world. The New Testament IS filled with this same idea of seeing and tasting death and it IS in the right understanding of this idea that we can come to Truly understand the whole concept of sin.
In the parabolic writing of the Apostle Paul, not the parable that goes along story lines but in his way of expressing the hidden Truths, we find much that can help us to understand the words of the Master and this IS in our view the sole purpose of the epistles; to clarify and to amplify the words of the Lord. We should understand here however that this clarification still requires right discernment and this only comes to the man who IS Truly striving and interpreting the apostles’ words as Truths separated from one’s ideas of self and the desires of the self. Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23) and we should easily see here that this IS NOT the death of the body; this message however is missed by many who account this saying to mean that this is the death of the body because of sin and had not there been the ‘original sin’ of Adam and Eve, there would be no death. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible says this: By sin, is meant every sin, original sin, actual sin, every kind of sin, lesser and greater: the “death” which sin deserves, is a corporeal death; which is not owing to the original nature and constitution of men; nor merely to the divine appointment; but to sin, and the decree of God, on account of it; which is inflicted on Christless sinners, as a punishment for sin, though not on believers as such, because Christ has took away the sting and curse of it: a death of diseases and afflictions also follows upon sin, as its proper demerit; which are properly punishments to wicked men, and are occasioned by sin in believers 8. This goes on but there should be enough here to get the point that this death is sorely misunderstood. Our reality here is that the Truth of this death is in relationship to one’s True Life, the Life of the Soul, the Christ Within; this quality of Life that must be expressed in discipleship and in attaining the Kingdom and it IS sin that keeps a man from this; it IS his focus upon the self and the self in the world.
The apostle clarifies this further by telling us that “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6) and here we should be able to equate these ideas; that “to be carnally minded” is that same sin of which he speaks above saying “the wages of sin is death” and that the “gift of God“, the “eternal life” IS the “life and peace” that comes to the man who IS “spiritually minded“. And we also have the words of the Apostle James who tells us this about sin and death: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15). Here we should try to see James’ reality, that the temptations that can draw one away are based in one’s own desires and when a man acts upon these it IS sin, and in this sin IS death, the spiritual death of the man in the world. And so we should see these same ideas in this saying from Thomas’ Gospel, that the man who IS spiritually focused, “spiritually minded” as Paul frames this “will not see death” as we read in the Master’s words. Rather the man who IS so focused and is so in the fullness of his Life in this world will see this metaphoric reality that “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth” which we can see in the Light of the Master’s words “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And this IS of course the objective and the goal of ALL men.
In this saying from Thomas’ Gospel we have another where one’s understanding can be influenced by the way that these words are translated; we review our standard translations:
- Jesus said: “The heavens will be rolled up and likewise the earth in your presence, and the living one, (come forth) from the Living One, will not see death or <fear>, because Jesus says: He who finds himself, of him the world is not worthy” (Blatz).
- Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in your (plur.) presence. And the living from the living will not see death.” – Doesn’t Jesus mean that the world is not worthy of a person who has found the self?” (Layton).
- Jesus says: “The heavens and the earth will open (?) before you, and he who lives by Him who is living will not see death”, because (?) Jesus says this: “He who keeps to himself alone, the world is not worthy of him” (Doresse).
- Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will be rolled up in your presence. And the one who lives from the living one will not see death.” Does not Jesus say, “Whoever finds himself is superior to the world?” (Lambdin)
- Jesus says: “The heavens will roll up before you, and the earth. And whoever is living from the living one will not see death.” Does not Jesus say: “Whoever has found himself, of him the world is not worthy”? (Patterson and Robinson).
- Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”Does not Jesus say, “Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy”? (Patterson and Meyer)
- *Said-JS99 this: “The-heavens will-be-rolled-up, and the-earth, in-your(pl)-presence ( ); > and he-who-lives out of-he-who-lives, he-will-look not on-death; > because JS100 -speaks of-it this- whoever-falls upon-it himself, the-world b e-worthy of-him not” (Interlinear Version, original).
Layton calls this finding “the self” but the reality of this saying is the converse to this in our view as we see the self as the men in the world; in the idea of himself there is a different dynamic at play as we can see that to find oneself IS to find one’s Truth. We should also see that some frame the end of this as a question as to what Jesus says and here we would assume that this part IS Thomas himself that IS speaking. Both Blatz and the Interlinear frame this as a statement and while this does not make ALL that much difference, we can see it stronger as a statement than as a question. Doresse uses the idea of open in place of rolled up and here we find a Coptic word that is only found in this saying and while there is no added reference we can see that the Coptic word is different than the one that is otherwise rendered as open but we should note that this Coptic word is also used by once. Here again there is little difference as both are intended as metaphors; the heavens and the Earth do not roll up nor do they open. We also note that Blatz and Layton render the idea of the “living from the living” as a statement based on the former part while the others interject that it IS he who IS “living from the living one” as a separate saying. Here again we have a metaphor and not a real state of living and this we interpret above as to show the man who is living as the Soul who IS the True man and the living one. There is some commentary on this saying which we repeat:
- Bentley Layton writes of the last sentence here: “probably a comment added to the text by an ancient reader and later erroneously incorporated in the text.” (The Gnostic Scriptures, p. 399).
- Jean Doresse writes that the last part “introduces an explanation or conclusion of one of the editors of the Gospel of Thomas; cf. 65. He draws a comparison between the person who lives by ‘Him who is living’ (the Risen Jesus) and the person who has achieved solitude and unity.” (The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, p. 377).
- Funk and Hoover write: “In vv. 1-2, Jesus speaks as the redeemer sent from God to reveal the secrets of the universe. Such an understanding of Jesus’ identity belongs to the early Jesus movement, not to Jesus himself.” (The Five Gospels, p. 530).
- Gerd Theissen describes one theological motive of Thomas: “Dualistic anthropology: the world and with it the human body are devalued and become a synonym for death. The Father’s kingdom of light, knowledge and eternal life are to be attained only by radical ‘fasting from the world’ (27): ‘Whoever finds himself is superior to the world’ (111).” (The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide, p. 40).
Mr. Theissen has found the right idea here but he does so in a way that implies that this IS wrong, that this IS Thomas dualistic view and thereby IS Gnostic. The reality here IS that when one looks at the Master’s words as we do above and NOT through doctrine, that this is essentially the message for the man who would Truly find the kingdom of God. We can not see the foundation for Funk and Hoover’s remarks as this would have to apply to many sayings in Thomas as well as in the accepted gospels. Finally, the idea that this end part is an editor’s note is but opinion and Mr. Doresse ideas of solitude and unity are misplaced as are so many of these similar references to solitary ones and solitude. This idea is rendered by the Interlinear as “single one” which we see in the idea of single minded and this Truly is the the idea of living by him who is living; not the risen Christ per se by the Christ as the Love and the Power of God.
There are several sayings that have a similar theme in Thomas’ Gospel which we present here from our regular Patterson and Robinson translation:
- (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.“
- (58) Jesus says: “Blessed is the person who has struggled. He has found life.“
- (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.“
- (110) Jesus says: “The one who has found the world (and) has become wealthy should renounce the world.“
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.
This is the Prayer of Saint Francis which we repeat again from a previous post as our Quote of the Day. If we were all to accept these ideas as guiding Lights in our lives, we would be expressing the Love and the Faith that the Master teaches. It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912*. Regardless of the True authorship, the sentiments revealed in this prayer are genuine and are in keeping the intent of the teachings of the Master and His apostles. We should note here that the dying is not necessarily the death of the body but the death of the carnal man in the world when one is born again. In this context we read this about Saint Francis: Francis was the son of a wealthy foreign cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life**. Here is the antithesis of the rich young man of the gospels. While he may not have authored this prayer, many do attribute it to him and in reading about his Life one can easily see these ideas in his heart.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
This is a prayer that is Truly in line with the teachings of the Master and the ideals encapsulated in this should be those that govern our lives and our prayer should be that ALL can see Life in this same way. We should try to see the reality of these words in the verses above regarding feeding and visiting the least of His and our brethren; in these words is a deeper meaning, as clearer expression of Love and, we should look at the Master’s words above as an expression of Love and not merely in the terms that He presents as this is the intent of the entirety of His teachings.
Additional background information on Saint Francis of Assisi can be found in a rather lengthy article in the Catholic Encyclopedia; a link to this is provided below.†
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/
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- † Link to New Advent http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06221a.htm*
- Wikipedia contributors. “Prayer of Saint Francis.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
- **Wikipedia contributors. “Francis of Assisi.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
