IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 837

ON LOVE; PART XDXXVI

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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The Gospel of Thomas

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.

(58) Jesus says: “Blessed is the person who has struggled. He has found life.”

(59) Jesus says: “Look for the Living One while you are alive, so that you will not die (and) then seek to see him. And you will not be able to see (him).“

(60) <He saw> a Samaritan who was trying to steal a lamb while he was on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples: “That (person) is stalking the lamb.” They said to him: “So that he may kill it (and) eat it.” He said to them: “As long as it is alive he will not eat it, but (only) when he has killed it (and) it has become a corpse.” They said to him: “Otherwise he cannot do it.” He said to them: “You, too, look for a place for your repose so that you may not become a corpse (and) get eaten.“

(61) Jesus said: “Two will rest on a bed. The one will die, the other will live.” Salome said: “(So) who are you, man? You have gotten a place on my couch as a <stranger> and you have eaten from my table.” Jesus said to her: “I am he who comes from the one who is (always) the same. I was given some of that which is my Father’s.  I am your disciple! Therefore I say: If someone becomes <like> (God), he will become full of light. But if he becomes one, separated (from God), he will become full of darkness.“

(62) Jesus says: “I tell my mysteries to those who [are worthy] of [my] mysteries. Whatever you right hand does, your left hand should not know what it is doing.“

Over the last few days we have been looking at and discussing our thoughts on the United Nations, United Nations Day and the Millennium Development Goals along with our Quote of the Day during that period and before called Values to Live By. We should All be able to understand the inter-relatedness of these Values with the work of the United Nations in the need for Love as the Master teaches as it IS in this Love that we find those Values of Truth, Justice, Cooperation, Personal Responsibility and the ability to see and move toward polices and practices that DO serve the Common Good. These ARE, ALL of them, True Christian Values and these are, ALL of them, found under the umbrella of the Master’s teaching on Love.

We added to these ideas the Lord’s Prayer as the new Quote of the Day in the last post along with a brief explanation of our meaning or rather the meaning that we see in this prayer that ties this to our Values to Live By. In the text of this prayer that is again below as our Quote of the Day we should see the ideas that we set forth as ideas that are the progressive reality of this prayer, a reality that the Master intended that we see and that IS intimately tied to the Master’s Great Commandment and the Golden Rule which are both intended to enable each of us to see His Truth in our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions. When we pray as men in this world we are generally praying for something for ourselves; this is the way that much doctrine teaches prayer. However, it is our understanding that there IS NO teaching from the Master that sets this idea for us and that it IS the created doctrines and ideas of men that promote this type of prayer; this can be easily seen by any who can look past doctrine and read His words on prayer; there is naught for the self in the world in the intent of any of His words and. when asked about prayer, the Master responded with the Lord’s Prayer that we are here discussing and which is found in greater detail in the Prayers and Meditations section on our front page.

It is unfortunate that there are many Christians that do not see the Lord’s Prayer as the Master intended; some see this only as a model for how to pray and at the same time they do not follow the selflessness of that model; others see His instruction simply as that a man pray to the Father and yet others decry this prayer as a Catholic prayer because it is used in the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox traditions making it unfit for some Protestants. This prayer may well be intended as a model, a model that is used in an unselfish way as man prays for the same realities that we have in our Values to Live By, but the greater reality is likely in the fact that this IS the prayer that the Master offered when He was asked by His disciples; we read from Luke’s Gospel that: “one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The other source for this Great World Prayer is found in Matthew’s Gospel where it is offered by the Master unsolicited at the end of His dissertation on how NOT to pray as the Jews did; we read: “when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye:” (Matthew 67-9). In our view there is no uncertainty here  yet the doctrinal church sees otherwise and, as we have covered these ideas before (In the Words of Jesus part 133) we will here offer an abbreviated critique of the doctrinal view:

• John Gill says this regarding the prayer.  That is, in such a concise and short way, without much speaking and vain repetitions; making use of such like words and expressions as the following: not that Christ meant to pin down his disciples to these express words, and no other; for this prayer is not a strict form, but a pattern of prayer, and a directory to it, both as to brevity, order, and matter; for we do not find the disciples ever making use of it in form; and when it is recited by another Evangelist, it is not in the selfsame words as here; which it would have been, had it been designed as an exact form. Besides, Christ does not bid them pray in these very words, but “after this manner”; somewhat like this: not but that it is very lawful to use the very express words of this prayer in any of the petitions here directed to ⁸.  Mr. Gill misses the point here by attributing the Master’s giving this prayer to a rebuttal of the ways of the Jews only; he does not see the content and the nature of the prayer itself and he chooses NOT to relate the words from Luke’s version which, in answer to the question asked, ARE “When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven” (Luke 11:2). Mr. Gill goes on to relate his argument to the ways that the Master is said to pray as he cites that the Master’s prayers are not like this but different and here we should note that IT IS the disciples and not the Master that call His words prayer as He has that outward conversation with the Father who IS ‘in the Master’ and who IS ‘ONE with the Master’ and, more importantly, Jesus KNOWS this. And we should note here as we noted in our ideas on Thomas’ sayings, that the Master DOES NOT tell them to pray nor does he tell them the meaning of prayer but rather leaves this to them and offers them the Lord’s prayer for when they do pray.
• The Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible tells us this of the version in Matthew:  That this matchless prayer was given not only as a model, but as a form, might be concluded from its very nature. Did it consist only of hints or directions for prayer, it could only be used as a directory; but seeing it is an actual prayer–designed, indeed, to show how much real prayer could be compressed into the fewest words, but still, as a prayer, only the more incomparable for that–it is strange that there should be a doubt whether we ought to pray that very prayer. Surely the words with which it is introduced, in the second utterance and varied form of it which we have in Luke 11:2, ought to set this at rest: “When ye pray, say, Our Father.” Nevertheless, since the second form of it varies considerably from the first, and since no example of its actual use, or express quotation of its phraseology, occurs in the sequel of the New Testament, we are to guard against a superstitious use of it. How early this began to appear in the church services, and to what extent it was afterwards carried, is known to every one versed in Church History. Nor has the spirit which bred this abuse quite departed from some branches of the Protestant Church, though the opposite and equally condemnable extreme is to be found in other branches of it ⁸. Here the writers appear to be saying that this is intended as the prayer to pray but, at the same time, they are saying that it should not become the subject of superstitious use and they seemingly write against the Protestants that use it as such as well as the others that take the stance of not using it at all. The writers here also miss the point of the prayer, of its own intent and its own use in bringing forth that Love that the Master teaches.
• A more recent writer, W. W. Fereday, says this: No devout mind will ever question the absolute perfection of the prayer itself, seeing that it came from One with whom neither error nor flaw are possible. Here is a Truth, this prayer is given by the Christ and as such it should be seen for the absolute perfection of the prayer itself. Having said this the writer goes on to say that: But we may legitimately question whether it was intended for the perpetual use of His people, and under all circumstances. Even that which is divinely excellent may prove injurious to the soul if wrongly applied. Spiritual intelligence in the ways of God is of the greatest possible importance to us all. ** Again, there is little understanding exhibited for the nature and the construct of this Great World Prayer.
• Adam Clarke, a biblical scholar from the 18th century, tells us of the ways of the Jews regarding prayer and alludes to the idea that this is based on those ideas. However, he then tells us that: We do not sufficiently consider the value of this prayer; the respect and attention which it requires; the preference to be given to it; its fulness and perfection: the frequent use we should make of it; and the spirit which we should bring with it. He then adds that: unless we are divinely instructed in the manner, and influenced by the spirit of true devotion, even the prayer taught us by Jesus Christ may be repeated without profit to our souls*. Here there is a seemingly better understanding of the nature of the prayer itself and a point is made that the mere repetition of these words as is done by many in the world today is without profit. Here we should understand that the very meaning of prayer IS as a supplication and an invocation to the Godhead for some reality to come into being in this Earth and by its very nature it CAN NOT be without profit as it does in some way reflect itself to the God Within which IS the object of our prayers and our way of communication with the Godhead Himself. In this light many refer to the ideas from the Apostle Mark’s words in Chapter Eleven which we will discuss below.
• Alexander Maclaren, a 19th century expositor says this: The pattern of prayer. We call it the Lord’s Prayer, but it is so only in the sense that He gives it. It is our prayer for our use. His own prayers remain unrecorded, except those in the upper room and at Gethsemane. This is the type to which His servants’ prayers are to be conformed. ‘After this manner pray ye,’ whether in these words or not. And the repetition of the words is often far enough away from catching their spirit. To suppose that our Lord simply met the disciples’ wish by giving them a form misconceives the genius of His work. He gave something much better; namely, a pattern, the spirit of which we are to diffuse through all our petitions*. Here perhaps we can see the greater reality of the Master’s words, that even if we can see them as a pattern, whatsoever we do pray should retain this pattern which is primarily as a selfless prayer that speaks of our and us rather the I and mine and which asks nothing for the self in the world.

Many believe that the recital use of the Lord’s Prayer can be seen as the same “vain repetitions” that the Master railed against as done by the Jews and perhaps this IS True if these recitals are not heartfelt by the man who prays. This however is overcome by instruction and not by simply ignoring the nature of this prayer; for some this will remain as the “vain repetition” but for the ardent prayer, the follower of the Christ, this IS a prayer of great importance. The movement of many to detract from this as a prayer is based in doctrine and in the minds of men who do not see the reality of the Master’s words or who prefer that a prayer uttered be for some personal gain. Any who look intelligently at the Master’s teachings will easily see the falsity of this last point as NONE of the Master’s words are for personal gain. And this sense of personal gain is the sense of many and naught can change this except the Truth and this Truth must come to each man himself; this is the only way to ward off the teachings of some doctrine that paint the words of the Master according to Mark as that they are saying that a man should pray for what he wants in this worldly Life. We read this from Mark:

“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:20-26).

From our perspective there ARE a number of points here the first of which IS that the Master is speaking to His disciples, men who have given up ALL as we read in Matthew: “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matthew 19:27). Being men who have forsaken ALL for the Kingdom, we should be able to see that whatsoever that they would want would NOT be of the world as this saying from Mark is ofttimes painted for use today. Second is the degree of faith that IS required, it is the same faith that would be required to move the mountain, a faith that a man who is focused in the self and the self in the would could never muster; this is faith without doubt, this is the ultimate of KNOWING as we see in our frequent discussions about the Apostle Peter who has such certainty, such KNOWING, that he can heal others by his will to do so alone. Finally there is the reality of forgiveness which is intimately tied to these ideas of praying and which IS also an expression of that Love that the Master teaches us and which comes through the man who IS focused upon the things of God.

In our view there IS NO mortal man who is not totally focused upon God who can believe as the Master tells us above and thankfully this IS True. It IS ONLY the spiritually focused man who KNOWS that whatsoever he dictates to happen WILL happen and it is based in our own spiritual nature of Truth and Love and it IS thereby equally True that there is naught that would be prayed for by the True KNOWER that is for the self nor the self in this world. This is the same idea that we should see in the Lord’s Prayer and perhaps this IS why this prayer is not seen as it should be seen; there is naught for the self.

• In “Our Father” we recognize the brotherhood of man.
• In “which art in heaven” we identify the God Within who IS ever in the Kingdom Within and here we see our direct link to OUR God.
• In “hallowed be thy name” we testify of the spiritual nature of our supplication, in reverence to the holiness of His name.
• In “thy kingdom come” we are praying that the ways of the Kingdom become the ways of the world and that through the God Within this should begin with each of us ourselves as well as in the uniformity of OUR.
• In “thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven” is a testimony that the precepts of the True man, the Soul, the God Within, in the Kingdom called heaven will become the precepts by which we Live in the world; again this is such that it must begin with each man individually as we pray for this for ALL.
• The next verse begins another part of this prayer. the first part is for the acknowledgement of God and the God Within, His sanctity and the need for His Kingdom and its ways to come into the Earth through the God Within as a prayer for one’s own expression and for ALL. The next part begins with the realities of Life in this world as we say “Give us this day our daily bread” which should be understood as for ALL and we should see that based in the first part we are invoking our own God Within to this and not that that One Boundless, Immutable, Eternal and Infinite Presence will make this happen for ALL men as seen in the idea of US. Here we should find the idea of the personal responsibility of each to assure the daily bread for ALL
• Next we implore our own God Within individually and en masse saying: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us“; here we can try to see that we are distancing ourselves from whatsoever we may have done in this world of men as trespasses, we look past them and, at the same time, by the Power of Love as the Master teaches us, we look past whatsoever another has done that we man consider as trespass as well. In this idea of forgiveness we should see the reality of looking past, of total forgetfulness of ALL, and it IS in this Light that we can find place to “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” (Matthew 5:44) as in True forgiveness it becomes as though we have no enemy nor person that will curse and hate…we look past this ALL.
• In the words “And lead us not into temptation” we should remember that we are speaking in this prayer to our own God Within and it is this idea that allows this supplication. This idea of temptation should not be seen only in relation to evil only as this is understood and as we have in the next verse but should be seen in the broadness that relates the God Within to the outer world. KNOWING that the God Within will not tempt the carnal man, we should understand that there is a depth to this that is missed and even our own previous thoughts on this are suspect. Perhaps the Truth is in the better way of rendering this in our language as ‘let us not be tempted‘ as this IS a logical way to address these ideas as a thing that one would ask of God. There are many views on this saying that make little or no True sense and for us today we will leave this as though is DOES say ‘let us not be tempted‘.
• Finally we have the idea of “but deliver us from evil” and here we should note that the Greek word alla which is rendered as but is a conjunction and can be rendered otherwise. In the rendering as but the idea of temptation is drawn to evil and effectively says ‘don’t tempt us but deliver us‘ with evil as the subject. Now as we understand evil as simply the ways of the world, this can work for us but in the common understanding of evil we CAN NOT see how this can be a rational thought. The basic thought here from our view today is that we are asking for ourselves and for ALL that we not be led into temptation by the ways of the world and, that if we should be, that we can be delivered from that temptation by the Love and the Power of the God Within to whom we address our prayers.

This is our view of the Lord’s Prayer and this is somewhat different from our previous understanding of this prayer. Essentially however we do have the same ideas, that there is naught here for the self but that this IS a prayer to God as seen through our God Within and the intent here is for it to effect ourselves and the many selves that are found in the word US. In these ideas IS the intent of the Values to Live By and the offering of our own Love to ALL.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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 present here again what we call the Lord’s Prayer and do so as it relates to our ideas above on the Millennium Development Goals. One could say that it is the responsibility of God to take care of these billions of people but this one would be short sighted and unawares of the Truth of the Master’s words and the Word of God. In the Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) we should see that He did not do this to these people, it is the natural way of the Plan of God that puts men where they can best progress and in this time of much escalated population growth we find the situations that we find. From the Master’s words on Love and in sayings like that from John which clearly tells us that: “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18); we should be able to see our own role here and, for those of us who can believe that we are aspirants to discipleship, we should be able to see it ever clearer in this prayer as we pray that His Kingdom would come, the Kingdom that is within us ALL, and that His Will be done which IS our Will if we are among those who DO keep His words and strive toward the realization of the Kingdom of God for He does tell us clearly that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). And, we should note that the ideas of us and we in the rest of this prayer are in reference to ALL men, ALL of the nearly 7.2 billion that are here in this Earth today….and so IS the idea of OUR.

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

[For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.]

Amen.†

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
• † From the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; this version is from the Book of Common Prayer of 1662
• ^* This is in the public domain and available through internet search from a variety of sources.
• **STEM Publishing: The writings of W. W. Fereday: Thoughts on the Lord’s Prayer.