ON LOVE; PART CDXLI
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.
(68) Jesus says: “Blessed are you when(ever) they hate you (and) persecute you. But they (themselves) will find no place there where they have persecuted you.“
(69) Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their heart. They are the ones who have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are those who suffer from hunger so that the belly of the one who wishes (it) will be satisfied.“
(70) Jesus says: “If you bring it into being within you, (then) that which you have will save you. If you do not have it within you, (then) that which you do not have within you [will] kill you.“
(71) Jesus says: “I will [destroy this] house, and no one will be able to build it [again].“
(72) A [person said] to him: “Tell my brothers that they have to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to him: “Man, who has made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples (and) said to them: “I am not a divider, am I?“
(73) Jesus says: “The harvest is plentiful, but there are few workers. But beg the Lord that he may send workers into the harvest.“
(74) He said: “Lord, there are many around the well, but there is nothing in the <well>.“
(75) Jesus says: “Many are standing before the door, but it is the solitary ones who will enter the wedding hall.“
We completed our look at the sixty ninth saying from the Gospel of Thomas in our last essay; overall we find that while these Beatitudes ARE NOT among those offered to us in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the spirit of these ideas IS. In Matthew we have this set of a Beatitude and an what seems to be an explanation: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” and then we have the ideas of this Beatitude that says: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:10-11, 6). In this combination we should be able to see the same ideas expressed the combination of the sixty eighth and the sixty ninth Beatitudes from Thomas. This is so when we understand that the idea of righteousness should be assumed to be the topic and the reason for persecution in Thomas rendering of the Master’s words as there would be no other reason for these words from the Master, especially in these times where there IS but a single homogeneous society in which the Master is beginning to create changes. Here, if one were to speak out in the Truth of the Master’s teachings he could be persecuted; not because of the Master, that one believes in Him, however but because of the sense of righteousness that is held by the man in his speaking out. From the perspective of the one who IS persecuting this could be seen as any reason including the mere affiliation with the Master but to the one being persecuted we should see that it IS in his righteousness that he is being persecuted.
This IS the greater reality of this idea of righteousness, that one IS DOING what IS right with God, and we should understand here that from the perspective of the man who Truly follows the Lord that this IS beyond any ideas of doctrine. This righteousness IS in the realm of Truth ONLY and here we can see that the righteous activities of the man in the world are a sign that a man IS Truly keeping His words and living his Life in the example set by the Master; this man IS the disciple and the man who is Truly striving toward that High Calling. Understanding this we can then understand the idea that this man is blessed and this IS the same message that we get from both Matthew and Thomas; and from Luke as well as in his words we must make the assumption again that it IS righteousness that one is persecuted for. In the end of Thomas’ ideas on this first saying on being persecuted we find the more obscure idea that we interpreted two posts back as that the Master is assuring the disciple that those who do this persecution have no place, no position whatsoever in regard to righteousness and Truth. Today we can add here that in these words the Way of the disciple of the Christ is defined; this man, this disciple, is ever speaking the Truth of God and not the doctrines of men and in so doing he will always be unpopular and he will always be persecuted by those who feel superior but who are as well sensing their inability to stand against the inconvenient Truths. In the next saying from Thomas we get a different perspective on persecution, one that we DO NOT readily see in Matthew’s words but one that is not denied as well. We have interpreted this, with the help of one of the Thomas’ commentators who quotes Clement of Alexandria, as self-persecution and this does make much sense as this idea of “Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their heart” can only point to this and this especially when we understand that the nature of the heart is the consciousness of the man in the world. It IS this consciousness that stands either in the world or in righteousness and it IS this consciousness that IS the battleground for the aspirant and the disciple who are Transforming their lives. It is this man that comes to KNOW God.
The final part on hunger is again in regard to righteousness according to Matthew and again this righteousness must be assumed in the words of Thomas and of Luke. As we discussed, what else would the Master be speaking about in regard to being blessed and hungry? Can one be blessed for hungering after the things of the world? Can one be blessed for hungering for food? Except for that ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness“, these ideas on hunger of course make no sense, especially in the spiritual perspective of the Master’s teaching. In the end here the man, the aspirant and the disciple, are blessed in their righteousness and have found God by way of their righteousness and their hunger and thirst for this state of being and, while we do not KNOW the reality of this word blessed, this man is blessed again if he is persecuted for achieving this High Calling and he is blessed as well for the struggle of self-persecution which he endured and which is perhaps the most difficult of ALL.
Our next saying, the seventieth, seems to be a riddle of sorts from first glance but the reality IS that it likely does hold the reality of the whole of the Master’s teachings. Here again the translators ideas play a part in how this saying is seen and the meaning that it offers. We list our regular translations:
- Jesus said: “If you have gained this within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have this in [you], what you do not have in you [will] kill you” (Blatz).
- Jesus said, “If you (plur.) produce what is in you, what you have will save you. If you do not have what is in you, what you do not have [will] kill you” (Layton).
- Jesus says: “When you have something left to share among you, what you possess will save you. But if you cannot share [among you], that which you have not among you, that [ … ? … will …] you” (Doresse).
- Jesus said, “That which you have will save you, if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you (will] kill you if you do not have it within you” (Lambdin).
- Jesus says: “If you bring it into being within you, (then) that which you have will save you. If you do not have it within you, (then) that which you do not have within you [will] kill you” (Patterson and Robinson).
- Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you” (Patterson and Meyer).
- Said-JS65 (this) “When you(pl)-should-beget-that-one in-yourselves, the-one which-have-you(pl)-him, he-will-save-yourselves; > if not-have-you(pl)-that-one in-you(pl), the-one which not-have-you(pl)-him in-you(pl), he-will-kill- \ -you(pl)” (Interlinear Version).
From our perspective there IS NO question as to what this saying means and we should see here that language is the enemy in Truly understanding these Coptic words. Most of these translations can be interpreted the same way and from this the rendering from Doresse seems odd and does not seem to be in line with our sense here of the Master’s message or that of the others translators. However, none of these clearly captures what we see in the simplicity of the Interlinear Version which, when read without a doctrinal view and without a predetermined idea of some Gnostic intent says a Great Truth. When in the Life of the man in form he can beget or produce that Inner man, “the-one which-have-you(pl)-him“, then that man has found his salvation, his deliverance. We should note that this world rendered as save appears here in this saying only and therefore we have no help for a better understanding but, when we see this word that is called sav(ed) from the Greek we get the meaning of “make whole” and “heal”. It is in this light that we should see this as well as the opposite view and the word rendered as kill. Commentary on this saying includes:
- F. F. Bruce writes: “This Gnosticizing variant of Saying 41 may refer to the heavenly light, which is the salvation of those who possess it but the destruction of those who lack it.” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 140);
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “This is a Gnostic version of the synoptic saying already reproduced in Saying 42 [41]. The Gnostic ‘begets’ within himself the kingdom or Jesus or light and will be saved by what he begets; the non-Gnostic has nothing and will be killed by this nothing (ness).” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 174).
- Funk and Hoover write: “This saying reminded the Fellows of the gnostic idea that one’s salvation depends on possessing – and recognizing in oneself – a piece of the divine, sacred spark, a fragment of the ‘light,’ which signals one’s true origin in the one high God, the ultimate source of other divinities, including the creator God. If one possesses it and recognizes it, salvation is assured (note Thom 24:3, where this same idea is explicit). If one does not possess the divine spark, there is nothing one can do about it. Such a deficiency is alsu alluded to in Thomas 67. Because of the affinities of these ideas with gnostic views and their remoteness from what is otherwise known of Jesus, the Fellows designated the saying black by common consent.” (The Five Gospels, p. 513).
- Gerd Ludemann writes: “Thomas’s formulation is dualistic. It is a matter of life (= salvation) and death. Salvation is manifestly connected with knowledge of one’s own self, one’s heavenly origin, which is light. Otherwise, if the knowledge is not attained, the result is death.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 626).
While all seem to have some grasp upon our reality here, it is only Mr. Ludemann that sees this clearly. His word knowledge however we would understand as realized so that the man who can realize this Inner self through his Earthly Life IS saved and we should understand that in this realization IS also the doing, it is not merely knowing. These others make this rather basic Christian teaching a Gnostic one and we see the presumed relation to Thomas’ saying forty one as only incidental. The reality of this that IS lost in these translations, IS NOT lost in the Interlinear and this is what we cite above, that ALL have this Inner man but NOT ALL beget this in their Life in the world…NOT ALL realize this presence. This idea of beget us a difficult word but one that is used in another place as “beget to-you(rselves) a-sin” (Thomas 14:2 Interlinear) which idea is rendered by others as “give rise” and “bring forth” among other ideas; this should help us to grasp the intent of this word. For us the idea of “bring forth” works best in the context of our current saying where we can read this then as that “ALL have this Inner man but NOT ALL bring forth this in their Life in the world”.
This saying then can take on a rather simple tone of saying that if a man in the world can “bring forth” the Love and the Power of the Inner man, that he IS saved, made whole and even healed of the afflictions of Life in this world. Conversely, the man who CAN NOT accomplish this is dead and the wording here should again be seen from the perspective of the man in the world; that “if not-have-you(pl)-that-one in-you“, that Inner man operating in one’s Life in this world, that this man remains dead in sin, perhaps killed by the absence of what some of the commentators correctly see as the Light. The inner message here is that same one that is taught us throughout the New Testament and that IS framed by the Master as: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). In the doctrinal approach not ALL men have this Light but this IS NOT so; ALL men have this Light but not ALL men realize this Truth and not ALL men care to let it shine.
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.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
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/
