IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 836

ON LOVE; PART XDXXV

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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.“

We left yesterday’s essay to be only about United Nations Day and some important information about the United Nations and its work, especially the Millennium Development Goals which, if you read the summary and the text of the report, we are running behind the stated goals. The issues ARE NOT only in money itself but in those things that money can buy and which many nations likely have in surplus as well as debt relief and other non-monetary assistance. This program is one that involves the resources of nations and not individuals but since nations are made up of individuals, we do have somewhat to say on the matter. Here we see the importance of promoting the United Nations and its missions and especially the Millennium Development Goals which few likely have any knowledge of. Individual giving is of course a good way to deal with the overall problem but this likely does not count against these goals or may be calculated into their structure already. There are many worthwhile organizations to whom one can give and it is wise to pick those that do use the most of their donated dollars for the actual cause and little for admin and advertising. Our point here however is what we can do to get our own governments to do more, to stop the political machinations that prevent the maximum giving and which slow down the processes. We should each do whatsoever we can to both give and to promote the United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals and, as we leave this topic, we repeat again our Values to Live by, each of which should help us to see how we can each do more.

Values to Live By:

• A Love of Truth—essential for a just, inclusive and progressive society;
• A Sense of Justice—recognition of the rights and needs, of all.
• Spirit of Cooperation—based on active goodwill and the principle of right human relationships;
• A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for group, community and national affairs;
• Serving the Common Good— through the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

One last note, which comes from the 2013 Millennium Development Goals report, and which can perhaps give us some idea of the breadth of this problem of abject poverty; we read that: Finally, the ministerial-level Development Committee of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank endorsed the goals proposed by the World Bank Group to reduce the incidence of extreme poverty (defined as living on the equivalent of $1.25 per day) to no more than 3 per cent of the world’s population by 2030. Here we should note first that the level of extreme poverty IS $1.25 per day, a number that one in the developed world can not even imagine as being sufficient to Live. Second we should note the number of people living in this abject state of whom the objective is to reduce this to 3% of the worlds population; the 3% value is more than 215 million people based upon today’s population and more than 252 million people based upon the projected population in 2030. The World Bank extimates that there were 1220 million people (1.22 billion) living in this way in 2010 and this is approximately 4 times the current popultation of the United States. Here we can see that the 3% goal is a lofty one and while we do not KNOW today’s number, we can be sure that it is in the range of about 1 billion people.

These are our brothers, these are our neighbors, and while we do understand the realities of Life and perhaps the necessary nature of Life in undeveloped countries for many incarnating Souls, we should also understand our responsibility to help them to live a better Life by giving what one can and by supporting the efforts of the United Nations and the Millennium Development Goals. Repeating the words of the Apostle John from the last essay:

“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).

Returning to our discussion of the sayings of the Master from the Gospel of Thomas, we should summarize what it is that we had found in the fifty ninth saying that we left off with two essays back. As we noted, the different translations of this can give one different understandings of the Master’s intent:

• Jesus said: “Look upon the Living One so long as you live, that you may not die and seek to see him, and be unable to see him” (Blatz).
• Jesus said, “Consider the one who is alive while you (plur.) are alive, lest you die and then seek to behold that one – and you will not be able to behold” (Layton).
• Jesus says: “Seek to see Him who is living, while you are living; rather than to die and to seek to see Him <only> when you can no longer see Him!” (Doresse).
• Jesus said, “Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die, and seek to see him, and be unable to do so” (Lambdin).
• 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)” (Patterson and Robinson).
• Jesus said, “Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see” (Patterson and Meyer).
• *Said-JS55 this: “Look after-he-who-lives while you(pl)-are-living, lest that you(pl)-die, and ()you(pl)-seek to-look at-him, and you(pl)-can-find-power not” (Interlinear Version).

From our perspective we have here a rather simple yet parabolic saying. While the commentaries portray the living one as Jesus speaking of Himself, this is not necessarily True and here we see the idea as presented in the Interlinear, which is word for word from the Coptic, as presenting a different idea than do most of the other translations. In this is the reality of Life as we do see it, that it is here in the crucible of Life in this world that one must progress toward that unity of Soul and one’s expression of the Power and the Love of the Soul in the world. It is in this same tone that the Master offers the parable of the Ten Virgins and others with similar messages; there is a time to come to Him and to the reality of the Christ Within. Here in Thomas this IS what He is telling His disciples and whosoever is listening: this IS the opportunity to look upon the Inner man, the True man, the Christ Within as once you leave this Life the opportunity is gone and in the afterlife you may want to find him but you will not be able.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is the same albeit very different and we must here remember that these are parables and that the outer story need not be the same as the inner meaning. We read in Matthew:

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered , saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:1-14).

Here the message is also in the opportunity and in being ready; in the parable above one does not KNOW when the bridegroom may come and this can represent the eschtalogical ideas of doctrine as that this is the Master’s second coming and the end or we can see this in the same Light as we should see the words from Thomas; that the opportunity to meet the bridegroom, the True self IS here and now and that they should be ready as they DO NOT KNOW when this opportunity may end. This IS not the quite the way that we have previously seen this parable but we did note in the past that it IS the ten virgins that are likened to the Kingdom, the Kingdom that IS within us ALL. Here we should remember that the Master is speaking to His disciples alone and that they are not yet sure of their reality and their place and here perhaps we can see the wise and the foolish. The Wise being those disciples that are ever ready for the time of the arrival, the time to go out and meet one’s own Truth and reality, the Christ Within the Kingdom while the foolish are those who do not see the urgency, who do not see the need to be ready and then are not ready when the time arrives. Again, this IS a parable and there need not be any sense to the ideas of the bridegroom and the virgins there need only be the idea that one MUST be ready; even at the stage of spiritual development of the disciple, one must ever be ready and here we should remember the ready example that we have in the Life of the Apostle Peter who we KNOW is not yet ready as he nears the time of the Master’s death.

So here then in this parable is the same message that we should see in these words from Thomas’ Gospel, that the disciple MUST be ready, he must find the fullness of his spiritual reality while he is here in this Earth as once he dies his opportunity will be lost. There are other similar ideas as we have said, ideas that tell us that we must be ready and many of these can be seen as addressed to His disciples; the better understanding however is that they DO apply to ALL and that ALL should ever be ready to whatsoever degree that they are able. In the end of the previous chapter to the Parable of the Ten Virgins we find these words from the Master:

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:42-44).

Here again the doctrinal approach is that this is based in eschatology as it follows some other sayings that lean in this direction but which do have other meanings in the Life of man as well. Here again we have parabolic language that is interpreted by doctrine as the end, the return of Jesus, but which can as easily represent the demise of the disciple and here we should note that they, His disciples, likely KNOW that He is not speaking about the end of days to them in those days or that they believe that tthey would be alive at such time and some commentators claim. This doctrinal philosophy is but a creation of men who CAN NOT otherwise discern His words; here we should look at the first and the last parts as integral parts of this parable of the goodman and the preceding and succeeding parables. The “Lord doth come” is spoken to the disciple and for him this should represent the idea of his own Soul coming to take away the Life in the world and the end part can be seen in this same way as even in the parablolic words the Son of man there is the same idea, the Soul, the Christ Within. ALL of these related sayings here in the twenty forth chapter and the twenty fifth chapters of Matthew are intended to instruct and remind the disciples that they must ever be ready, that there IS NO putting off the completion of their service to the Lord, and to their own Souls and while His ideas are framed in the idea that it can become too late, the greater reality IS in their need to DO and to DO NOW. This is the same message that we should take from the fifty ninth saying of the Gospel of Thomas.

This next saying, the sixtieth, is yet another one that is seemingly obscure on the surface. There are several ways to look at this but the differences do not alter the intent of the saying. Above we find the idea that the Samaritan is stealing the lamb but this is the only translation so rendered; the Interlinear states this as “a Samaritan taking a lamb” and most others render this as carrying a lamb. There is also the confusing idea of who is going to Judea, the Master, the Samaritan or even the lamb and again, these differences do not matter at all in the whole of the idea which we can see as a message on Life and death and the idea of repose which we have previously discussed. The available comments on this saying include:

• Jean Doresse writes: “This dialogue recalls a notion found in the apocryphal II Epistle of Clement: ‘The Lord said indeed: You shall be as lambs in the midst of wolves! Peter replied: And if the wolves rend the lambs? And Jesus said to Peter: After their death, the lambs have nothing further to fear from the wolves. You also, fear not those who kill you and cannot then make you suffer anything further. But fear him who after your death has power to cast your soul and your body into the gehenna of fire! Know then . . . that the promise of Christ is great . . . as also the Repose of the Kingdom . . .!'” (The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, p. 375).
• Helmut Koester writes: “But at least one correction in the translation of the parable of the Samaritan Carrying a Lamb, suggested by Hans-Martin Schenke, needs to be emphasized: Gos. Thom. 60 is usually translated ‘They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his (i.e., the Samaritan’s) way to Judaea.’ But the text should certainly be restored to provide the following translation: ‘He (i.e., Jesus) saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb, when he (i.e., Jesus) was on his way to Judaea.'” (Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 106).
• Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “It may be that Jesus is the lamb, but the details of the saying remain incomprehensible. More probably, the lamb is the world (see Saying 6 and Commentary). Note that the ‘place’ of rest is ‘within,’ as in Saying 25.” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, pp. 166-167).
• Funk and Hoover write: “This is a complex dialogue culminating in the obscure saying in v. 6. The words attributed to Jesus in vv. 2 and 4 are probably incidental dialogue (holes in the manuscript make the text difficult to interpret) and so are the creation of the storyteller. The meaning of the pronouncement in v. 6 is unknown. The term ‘rest’ is a special Thomean or gnostic category, meaning ‘salvation’ (the term is discussed more fully in the comments on Thom 51:1-2). The saying as a whole is reminiscent of Thomas 7, which is also probably the invention of Thomas or his community. For the Thomean use of the term ‘carcass’ compare Thomas 58. All of these are reasons for thinking Thomas 60 is the special language of Thomas and not Jesus. In addition, there is no trace of this kind of language elsewhere in the words attributed to Jesus.” (The Five Gospels, p. 506).
• Gerd Ludemann writes: “The meaning of this logion consisting of a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples is obscure. Nevertheless it is certain that ‘alive’ (v. 4) is a key word linking it to Logion 59 and Logion 58. The Gnostics are to seek a place of rest (= salvation) for themselves (v. 6), so that they are not consumed by the world, like the lamb, and become a corpse. As the living beigns that they are they cannot be eaten and become corpses (v. 4).” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 620).
• Stevan Davies writes: “This theme is peculiar to Thomas in early Christian writing. It stems from the observation that people do not eat living animals but dead ones (saying 60), an observation contrasted with the possibility of eating that which is living, which would entail living from the living one rather than from dead animals (saying 111).” (http://www.misericordia.edu /users/davies/thomas/jblprot.htm)

Doresse comment is consistent with Christian doctrine and ideas about the nature of Life and of the Soul while Koester merely states some rather meaningless idea about who is going to Judea. Grant and Freedman accept the incomprehensible ideas here in this saying and go on to postulate an idea in which we can see some merit. The rest of these fall back into the comments on the Gnostic trend of the saying and its relation to other sayings in this gospel while this last one comment is itself rather cryptic. We should remember here our own ideas on this world rendered as repose and we should note that here in this saying some also render this word as rest. Our ideas on repose include the Truer understanding of resurrection and its freedom as well as the peace, stillness, tranquility and harmony for the Soul that no longer has to endure this cycle of Life, death and rebirth? In our view, this idea of repose is inclusive of rest.

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 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 above, 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!

• 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