ON LOVE; PART CCCLXXXI
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.
(26) Jesus says: “You see the splinter that is in your brother’s eye, but you do not see the beam that is in your (own) eye. When you remove the beam from your (own) eye, then you will see clearly (enough) to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
(27) “If you do not abstain from the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not make the Sabbath into a Sabbath, you will not see the Father.”
(28) Jesus says: “I stood in the middle of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found all of them drunk. None of them did I find thirsty. And my soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their heart, and they cannot see; for they came into the world empty, (and) they also seek to depart from the world empty. But now they are drunk. (But) when they shake off their wine, then they will change their mind.”
(29) Jesus says: “If the flesh came into being because of the spirit, it is a wonder. But if the spirit (came into being) because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has taken up residence in this poverty”
In the last essay we looked at the twenty fifth saying from Thomas’ Gospel and found it to be typical of the Master’s message of Love and while some of the commentary seemed to question its validity based upon the idea of brother versus neighbor, the message IS Love nonetheless. Here we should bring to mind the words of the Master according to John where the word neighbor is never used but where, at the same time, there is a profundity of Love in the Master’s teaching. As we have said in the past, each of the Gospel writers gives us their rendition of these events based upon what they perceive to be happening and what they understand from what is being said and all do add some personal opinions. None of these completely match and John’s Gospel is notably different from the others and in understanding this, why would it be such a stretch to see the ideas of Thomas in this same Light. Our simple answer is that the early Church Fathers took exception to some of what Thomas says in his writing and here, whether this is Thomas or not, is the issue; that they did not like the presentation nor the more mystical content and, they did take to themselves the authority to decree what was and what was not scripture. While this may have been decided by councils of many, it was surely influenced by the early Fathers whose writings are still relied upon and we should note here that this whole idea of the council and its determinations is contrary to the teachings of the Master who railed against the Pharisees and the other religious leaders of the Jews for their creation of doctrines that became a far cry from the original teaching of Moses and the Prophets. Perhaps this is the way it was foreseen to work out, by the works of men who were “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:19). Paul writes somewhat of this in a much misunderstood part of his Epistle to the Colossians as he says:
“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh” (Colossians 2:20-23).
In the timelessness of scripture the idea should be taken that that this IS NOT directed at the Jewish religion only but at ALL religion where these things become true and this would include the Christian canonical laws established in this first Council of Nicaea. In the more rightly rendered last part of this saying we can get the better understanding of the apostles words as we read in the New American Standard Version: “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence“. Here, the appearance of Wisdom but with no True value can be seen clearly as well as our own ideas of illusion and of glamour and in the vanity that Paul speaks of in regard to the whole of the race of men: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). And we are in so many ways yet trapped in these doctrines, many of which wrongly color the Truth of the words of the Master, doctrines which are held firmly as the creeds and confessions of the many various denominations and sects of the ONE True Christianity which is lost in the morass of conflicting thoughts and opinions.
Our words from Thomas are the Master’s message of Love as are our own words and any words that proclaim that this Love is more important that any other factor. Here we read that we should “Love your brother as your Life. Guard him like the pupil of your eye” (Our own version based upon the available texts). Here we Love ALL as we Love our selves; is this not the Master’s message and it should not matter that the word used is brother or is neighbor as we should ever count the words of the Christ, the Avatar of Love, in their broadest sense as we likely do ALL KNOW deep down that this IS Truly His intent as He tells us as well that we should: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” and He tells us why as well saying: “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” (Matthew 5:44-47). Here, whether we believe that this will make of one a child of God or that it will bring to him greater realization of this eternal Truth does not matter, IT IS THE LOVE THAT MATTERS. So Thomas says that it is the Master’s message to Love your brother and as we pointed out in the last essay the Master does tell us, albeit in a different context, that “all ye are brethren” (Matthew 23:8) and this we showed as He IS speaking to ALL by the words that the beginning of the chapter that tell us so. But we should not have to find His words concerning this topic of Love as He Himself has elevated this to great heights in His teachings which unfortunately have been supplanted by doctrine. And Thomas adds for us that the Master also adjures us to guard or protect our brothers and this is largely left to our own devices and thoughts and, as we discussed, does not mean only in times of physical confrontation….it means at ALL times.
Our next saying is the twenty sixth and here we have the Master’s thoughts regarding our own attitudes in Life and one that is the same thought and intent as we find in the synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke. In the synoptics this idea is framed through a rhetorical question while here in Thomas it is a straightforward statement. The commentary on this saying is:
- Marvin Meyer quotes ‘Arakin 16b in the Babylonian Talmud for a comparable story: “It was taught: Rabbi Tarfon said, ‘I wonder whether there is a person of this generation who accepts admonition? If someone says to him, “Remove the chip from between your eyes (or, eye teeth),” he would say to him, “Remove the beam from between your eyes (or, eye teeth).”‘” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 81).
- Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “The saying is very slightly modified from a saying related in Matthew 7:3, 5 and in Luke 6:41-42. In the Coptic version it leads without a break into Saying 28, and thus seems to imply that the beam in the Gnostic’s eye is his absolute rejection of fasting and Sabbath observance. He ought to explain the spiritual meaning of these actions to his Jewish, or Jewish-Christian, brothers, or potential brothers.” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 146).
- R. McL. Wilson writes: “Fitzmyer notes some differences between the Greek and the Coptic, but thinks what is preserved of the Greek is nearer Luke (vi. 42) than Matthew. This passage poses a somewhat delicate problem for the investigator: Is this merely an abbreviation of the Synoptic saying or has elaboration taken place in the Synoptic tradition as early as the hypothetical Q? Both Matthew and Luke put the first sentence in the form of a question, and both add a further question before the final ‘Thou hypocrite! first cast out the beam. . . .’ The Coptic here has a temporal clause instead of the imperative, but as Fitzmyer notes the Greek appears to have corresponded to that of the canonical Gospels. This raises once against the question of the relation between the Coptic Thomas and the Oxyrhynchus fragments, and in this case it is difficult to see why the change should have been made. As it is, the version in Thomas is terse and to the point, and a case might be made out for expansion in the canonical tradition. But a decision here is extremely difficult.” (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, p. 58).
- Funk and Hoover write: “Thomas’ version of this humorous comparison is simpler than the form found in Q, which suggests that the latter has been expanded. . . . Thomas does not use the word ‘phony’ – someone who pretends to be someone he or she isn’t – so this element may be secondary. The Q version is also redundant (lines 4-5 in the Q version repeat lines 1-2).” (The Five Gospels, p. 488).
- Gerd Ludemann writes: “The key words ‘brother’ and ‘eye’ link Logia 26 and 25. Logion 26 corresponds to Q (Matt. 7.3-5/Luke 6.41-42) and as the simpler construction may also represent the earliest stage. But it is also conceivable that Thomas has simplified an earlier saying, the centre of which was reproof of the brother, and put self-correction at the centre.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 603).
Here most of the comments are again about the comparisons and sources. Mr Grant’s ideas are rather obscure to us and much of the last three comments are in regard to Q which is a hypothetical written collection of sayings of Jesus defined as the common material found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke but not in their other written source. According to this hypothesis, this ancient text was based on the Oral Tradition of the Early Church. This is of course theory which is held by many bible ‘scholars’ and which discounts the idea that these writers simply reported what they perceived as important and in the way that they understood and heard the words of the Master.
The meaning of these words should however be clear as we read the three versions:
- From Matthew: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).
- From Luke’s Gospel: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke 6:41-42).
- From Thomas: “You see the splinter that is in your brother’s eye, but you do not see the beam that is in your (own) eye. When you remove the beam from your (own) eye, then you will see clearly (enough) to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Thomas 25:1-2).
The idea here is of course that one should not try to correct one’s brother who has some small deficiency when one has a much larger and similar deficiency of his own; hence the mote and the beam and the splinter and the beam. Vincent tells us this regarding this saying from Matthew’s Gospel: Mote ( κάρφος ); A.V. and Rev. The word mote, however, suggests dust; whereas the figure is that of a minute chip or splinter, of the same material with the beam. Wyc. renders festu, with the explanation, a little mote. In explaining the passage it is well to remember that the obstruction to sight is of the same material in both cases. The man with a great beam in his eye, who therefore can see nothing accurately, proposes to remove the little splinter from his brother’s eye, a delicate operation, requiring clear sight. The figure of a splinter to represent something painful or annoying is a common oriental one. Tholuck (“Sermon on the Mount”) quotes from the Arabic several passages in point, and one which is literally our Lord’s saying: “How seest thou the splinter in thy brother’s eye, and seest not the cross-beam in thine eye?”4.
From our perspective neither the mote or splinter or the beam is the point of this saying but rather that one realize his own state of being before trying to correct another and this much like smoking parents telling their children not to smoke. Here in His parabolic way the Master’s lesson should clearly be that we are not to go about correcting the actions of others when we are doing much the same things ourselves and in every day fare we can see the antithesis of the Master’s words at work in the world of men and likely in our personal lives as well. The Buddha says this for us as well albeit from a more direct perspective; He says:
“Love yourself and watch – today, tomorrow, always. First establish yourself in the way, then teach, and so defeat sorrow. To straighten the crooked You must first do a harder thing – straighten yourself. You are your only master. Who else?” (Dhammapada; on Yourself).
A greater lesson is also encapsulated in this ONE idea from the Master and that IS idea IS in relation to Love and our sayings from yesterday. In the Truth of this Love, this respect that allows others to do as we ourselves would, we can clearly see the idea of the words that follow this saying in Matthew and precede this saying in Luke:
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12)
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).
These words cover most ALL things.
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 reprise here a Quote of the Day that we have not used for quite some time along with the scripture references and our original comments. There is no greater tool in our possession than to Love and there is no greater understanding of this Love as in our expression of GoodWill.
GOODWILL IS
LOVE IN ACTION
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: James 2:8
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Galatians 5:14
Our Quote of the Day is a stylized version of the footer that has been a part of this blog from the beginning. It is in a few words our motto and our slogan and as we have posted so many times, it is the method par excellence of bringing about a world in Peace and in Harmony. The words of the Master that accompany our motto here are the source for our understanding of GoodWill and our method of practice and the words of His apostles are their echo of the second part of the Greatest Commandment as enunciated by the Christ. Let us all strive to do our part for in so doing we are doing as the Master instructed; we are striving to enter at the strait gate into His Glorious Kingdom.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 14 The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
