IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 860

ON LOVE; PART CDXLIX

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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.

(76) Jesus says: “The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant is prudent. He sold the goods (and) bought for himself the pearl alone. You too look for his treasure, which does not perish, (and) which stays where no moth can reach it to eat it, and no worm destroys it.“

(77) Jesus says: “I am the light that is over all. I am the All. The All came forth out of me. And to me the All has come.” “Split a piece of wood – I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there.“

(78) Jesus says: “Why did you go out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind, and to see a person dressed in soft clothing [like your] kings and your great/powerful persons? They are dressed in soft clothing and will not be able to recognize the truth.“

(79) A woman in the crowd said to him: “Hail to the womb that carried you and to the breasts that fed you.” He said to [her]: “Hail to those who have heard the word of the Father (and) have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say: ‘Hail to the womb that has not conceived and to the breasts that have not given milk.’”

(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.“

(81) Jesus says: “Whoever has become rich should be king. And the one who has power should renounce (it).“

In the last essay we looked at the ideas presented in the seventy eighth saying from the Gospel of Thomas. Here we find that although the name of John the Baptist IS NOT used by Thomas, the reality IS that this is who and what he is speaking of, this is the same story from the Master that we find in the synoptic gospels of Matthew and Luke. We should remember here that very few of the Master’s sayings according to Thomas include context; most ALL are free form renditions of the Master’s words and, as we have previously said, perhaps this IS because Thomas does not see the need to embellish upon what he sees as should already be understood. Here, as in many of the other sayings that we have discussed, we see Thomas getting right to the point of the Masters’ words and offering such in a more poignant way that do Matthew and Luke. Both of these synoptic writers DO allude to this reality as they distinguish how the Master separates the nature of the Baptist as a man in the world from the nature of those rich and powerful, from the nature of those who may live in kingly attire and places. The idea offered here is clear; that the Baptist is the more spiritual man, the disciple, and the man who IS NOT seeking worldly pleasures but IS steadfast in his service to the Lord.

Thomas seems to assume this in his more straightforward words; while he acknowledges that the Baptist will NOT be found in soft clothing, he does not embellish on this but goes to the Truth of the saying in ALL versions as he says that the person who is the great and powerful in this world will NOT come to KNOW the spiritual Truths and here we should KNOW that it IS NOT because they are rich or powerful or great in the eyes of men that they will NOT KNOW….it IS because it IS these ideas that they focus upon and NOT the spiritual. And so much of the Master’s teaching is intended to tell us this same thing. The idea of the “reed shaken by the wind” is a bewildering one that is found in ALL versions of these words about the Baptist. It is rather clear what a reed is, that it is a bamboo like plant part that grows up straight and it is also clear that the idea of wind here IS as a strong wind according to the lexicon ². This likely has to do with a comparison for what the people went to see when they went to see John; did they go merely to see this idea of a “reed shaken by the wind“, that is were they perhaps sightseeing? Or, as in the next phrase, were they going to see some great and powerful man in fine clothing. The answer for those who were seeking something of spiritual import, they who were going to see the one that they had heard about, IS a resounding NO. Some commentary paints this as to be about the preconceived ideas that one may have had of John, that by his style that he was reed like but this is not consistent with nature of the whole of the saying. Nor is this from John Gill who says in part that: when you first went out to him, did you take him to be an unstable, inconstant man? Like a reed shaken with every wind! If you did, you were mistaken; he was firm and stable in his sentiments and ministry, his preaching was not yea and nay, his doctrine was all of a piece; he stood to it, that he was not the Messiah, but his forerunner ⁸. While this is a rather bewildering reference to us today, we do not see the ideas of the commentators on it and we will leave this in the simplicity that we see above, that it is a comparison in the question what they went to see as the Master asks: “Why did you go out to the countryside?” or, as this is framed in the synoptics: “What went ye out into the wilderness to see?” (Matthew 11:7, Luke 7:24).

In the end then the idea here IS that if they went to sightsee or see something of the wild or if they went expecting to see someone in soft clothing, neither of these did they find in John the Baptist. They found a man in John who “was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 1:6). They found John of whom the Master tell us IS “A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee” (Matthew 11-9). In this we should see the nature of the prophet vs the nature of the man in fine clothing, the nature of the disciple against the ordinary man of the land; in this we should see the nature of the servant of God who “takes no thought” (Matthew 6:25) for the ways of the world nor for how he may be viewed by others. And this IS our lesson, while it may be hard to stand out in this way that the Baptist does, it is only hard from the perspective of the little self of the personality; for the True self, this IS the Way of the disciple and the way to God.

Our next saying, the seventy ninth, is another that has similar words by the Master in the accepted Gospels and in this is another reality for the man today who would be a disciple of the Master. Luke only offers us this story of the woman and while the context is the same and the woman’s words have the same intent, the Master’s answer is the more revealing in Thomas. We read:

• According to Luke: “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it” (Luke 11:27-28).
• According to Thomas: “A woman in the crowd said to him: “Hail to the womb that carried you and to the breasts that fed you.” He said to [her]: “Hail to those who have heard the word of the Father (and) have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say: “Hail to the womb that has not conceived and to the breasts that have not given milk.” (Thomas 79)

Here is Thomas words we also find some reference to another saying by the Master that the synoptics put in different times and we should remember here that none of these gospels is Truly in sync with the times. In a part where many think the Master’s words are of the apocalypse, where others believe that the words are in reference to the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD and where still others believe that perhaps this is some combination of those thoughts, the Master says after visiting the Temple at Jerusalem: “And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” (Matthew 24:19); and in this we have the same fundamental idea as offered here in this saying by the Master according to Thomas. In Luke’s Gospel we find a saying that is closer to the words that are used by Thomas and these are offered during the procession to the crucifixion as the Master speaks to the people who follow the march saying: “weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck” (Luke 23:28-29). Here in Luke and likely in Matthew as well the Master is telling of the trials and tribulations to come and by the tenor we should see that this IS related to the near future of the sacking of Jerusalem; here we should try to see that had the Jewish rulers confounded the predictions and accepted Jesus as the Messiah and followed His teaching, that these dire days would not come upon them.

The various translations that we use all render this saying in the same general terms although each dresses it a bit differently. The wording of this in the Interlinear is a bit strange when seen in English as it reads: “Blessed(are)they, ()-who-have-listened to-the-word of-the-father; they-have-watched over-him in (a) truth“. While we can see the interpretation of this in the idea of keeping His words, this is not quite what it does say; it seems more to say that in the listening is the keeping and that in the keeping, it is the word that will protect the man who IS so blessed. The end result is of course that it IS the one who keeps His word who IS blessed. Some of the available commentary on this saying tells us:

• Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “The first part of this saying comes from Luke 11:27-28, though the word ‘nourished’ is derived from Luke 23:29, which Thomas uses as the second part of the saying. The word of the Father, then, is that sterility is better than pregnancy. Just so, in the Gospel of the Egyptians, Salome says to Jesus, ‘I did well, then, by not bearing [children]’ (Clement of Alexandria, Strom., 3, 66, 2). For Jesus really came ‘to destroy the works of the female’ (Strom., 3, 63, 2).” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 179).
• R. McL. Wilson writes: “Once again, as Grant and Freedman show, it is not difficult to find a Gnostic explanation, but this does not mean the association of sayings from entirely different contexts. The obvious suggestion is association by key-words, the references to womb and breasts having caused the attraction of the second saying ot the first; yet the whole fits well together, and it might be argued that it was originally a unity.” (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, p. 81).
• F. F. Bruce writes: “Two quite independent sayings are conflated here. Jesus’s reply to the woman who says how wonderful it must be to be his mother indicates that to do the will of God is more wonderful still (Luke 11.27 f.), but this is merged with his words to the weeping woman on the Via Dolorosa (Luke 23.29). The two sayings are linked by the common theme of bearing and suckling children, but the historical perspective of the second (the impending siege and capture of Jerusalem in A.D. 70) is here replaced by a suggestion that motherhood is incompatible with ‘hearing the Father’s word and keeping it in truth’. As regularly (except in Saying 100), ‘God’ in the canonical text is here replaced by ‘the Father’.” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 143).
• Funk and Hoover write: “Thom 79:3, which has a parallel in Luke 23:29, has possibly been retained by Thomas because of its ascetic interest: the procreation of the race is not necessarily a good thing. This kind of asceticism seems to have been shared by the Qumran community, which some scholars believe was celibate, although it must be noted that not all Essenes were celibate.” (The Five Gospels, p. 516).
• Gerd Ludemann writes: “The basis of these verses is Luke 11.27-28, as v. 28 derives from Lukan redaction and ‘word of the Father’ (v. 2) clearly derives from the redaction of Thomas. ‘Word of the Father’ is typical of Thomas, as he avoids the term ‘God’. ‘Truth’ (v. 2) picks up the same word from 78.3.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 630).

Again, in our view these comments do miss the point of this saying as they relate more to the apocalyptic value than to the reality of the Life lesson of keeping His word. The ideas that relate this to a Gnostic idea against women or childbearing is rather absurd as it IS the purpose of this worldly creation to procreate and continue until ALL is Redeemed; similarly the idea that motherhood can be incompatible with hearing and keeping His word. In the realm of motherhood and fatherhood, the blessed, the disciple and the man accounted worthy, must only understand the reality of that Love that the Master teaches us and see that the child IS NOT of any greater value than any other which we see clearly in the Master’s teachings that:

• “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
• “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” (Matthew 10:37).

And the sense of asceticism in these commentaries, like the similar sense in the last saying, IS unfounded in the text of the saying from both Thomas and Luke above. While it may be more entertaining to look as the eschatological ideas of sayings such as these, it is generally of no benefit. We may KNOW that this will ALL end and in the end it will not matter; the Master tells us to ever be ready and this readiness IS ONLY found in keeping His word as we find in this saying regarding the one who IS blessed. And, while the technical idea of blessed may be wonderful as noted above or happy as we find in the lexicon, the reality of this word has a deeper spiritual context and especially when it is used by the Master. The end surly will come and we KNOW not when and the Master’s admonition is that we be ready which refers to NOW and to ALWAYS. Here in this saying this end part IS NOT the reality nor the point; the reality is the Master’s simple answer to the woman as He tells her and us who it IS that IS Truly blessed. The Truly blessed IS the disciple and the man who has Truly been accounted worthy of the Kingdom and this IS the man who “have heard the word of the Father (and) have truly kept it“. This IS our reality and regardless of how this is painted by the doctrines of the churches, no matter how this is presented in the many different denominations and sects, this IS the Truth…..it is the man who keeps His word that IS blessed, that IS accounted worthy and that IS His disciple.

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!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/