{"id":8381,"date":"2013-11-17T17:57:24","date_gmt":"2013-11-17T22:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/?p=8381"},"modified":"2013-11-17T17:57:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-17T22:57:24","slug":"in-the-words-of-jesus-part-859","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newagedevelopments.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/17\/in-the-words-of-jesus-part-859\/","title":{"rendered":"IN THE WORDS OF JESUS\u2013Part 859"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON LOVE; PART\u00a0CDXLVIII<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

GoodWill\u00a0IS Love in Action<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391\u03a9\u2022\u0391<\/span><\/h6>\n

The Gospel of Thomas<\/span><\/h2>\n

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas<\/em>\u00a0wrote\u00a0them down.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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(76) Jesus says:\u00a0“The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had merchandise and found a pearl.\u00a0That merchant is prudent. He sold the goods (and) bought for himself the pearl alone.\u00a0You 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.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(77) Jesus says:\u00a0“I am the light that is over all. I am the All.\u00a0The All came forth out of me. And to me the All has come.”\u00a0“Split a piece of wood \u2013 I am there.\u00a0Lift the stone, and you will find me there.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(78) Jesus says:\u00a0“Why did you go out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind,\u00a0and to see a person dressed in soft clothing [like your] kings and your great\/powerful persons?\u00a0They are dressed in soft clothing and will not be able to recognize the truth.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(79)\u00a0A woman in the crowd said to him: “Hail to the womb that carried you and to the breasts that fed you.”\u00a0He said to [her]: “Hail to those who have heard the word of the Father (and) have truly kept it.\u00a0For there will be days when you will say: \u2018Hail to the womb that has not conceived and to the breasts that have not given milk.<\/em>\u2019”<\/span><\/p>\n

(80) Jesus says:\u00a0“Whoever has come to know the world has found the (dead) body.\u00a0But whoever has found the (dead) body, of him the world is not worthy.<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n

(81) Jesus says:\u00a0“Whoever has become rich should be king.\u00a0And the one who has power should renounce (it).<\/em>“<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In the last post we discussed the relationship between the Master’s straightforward pronouncement that “I am the light of the world<\/em>” (John 8:12, 9:5), and His more lengthy saying above from Thomas’ Gospel. Here in Thomas, while the thought is the same, the overall idea is more complex and attempts to put into a single phrase those same ideas that we find spread across the Gospel of John. From the Apostle John’s Prologue we find the ideas that Christ IS the ALL\u00a0and that ALL came forth from Him as an aspect of God which is encapsulated in the strange but meaningful idea of the Logos<\/em> which Christianity sees simply as the Word<\/em> but which IS so much more. The apostle tells us clearly that:\u00a0<\/span>“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made<\/em>” (John 1:1-3) and if we substitute Logos<\/em> for Word<\/em> in this saying we will likely be able to get a more succinct picture of this reality. Logos<\/em> is of course the Greek word untranslated much as is Christos<\/em> and Satanas<\/em> which are used in English as their Greek words. Christos<\/em> is seldom rendered as anointed<\/em> and Santanas<\/em> is most always rendered as Satan<\/em> although the meaning behind this is adversary.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As we discussed near the end of our last essay, the last part of this first section that is rendered as “And to me the All has come<\/em>” is better seen in a current or a future tense as the reality of this return to the ALL is not yet accomplished. As this is rendered in the Interlinear, “has-the-All\u00a0-split(open) up to-me<\/em>” we see a question posed which is taken to a positive note by all the translators and this is True of the prior words as well which tell us that “has-the-All come out of-me<\/em>” and which can be seen and understood as it is presented here, as a reflection on the more dynamic statement that “I am the-All<\/em>“. Here in the Interlinear we have the reality that He IS the ALL and in saying this it is but the logical fact that the ALL has come from Him as He IS; and it is but the logical fact that the ALL will open<\/em> up to Him or, as this word is rendered elsewhere, the ALL will reach<\/em> up to Him. What we see here is the muddling of a message by the understanding of the translators and while we ARE NOT versed in Coptic we are versed in common sense and this way of rendering these words does fit will with the reality of the message and the reality of the Christ in the world. This is the same message that we get from John in the Prologue to his gospel as seen in combination with the words of the Master who makes these ideas real as He parabolically shows us of the ONENESS of ALL, of the Father of the Son and of the Truth of Man as a Soul. We can see these realities in these words:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • “I and my Father are one<\/em>” (John 10:30).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us<\/em>” (John 17:21).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit<\/em>” (John 15:5).<\/span><\/li>\n
  • “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you<\/em>” (John 14:20).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    We should understand here that the Master is speaking to men in the world and that the message is one of realization<\/strong><\/em> and not of separation; that is, that it is not only these who are ONE with Him but it IS ALL who can realize the Truth; a Truth that the Master alludes to in the final saying above. This IS the message from Thomas as well and while he may paint the Master’s words differently, they DO say much the same things: He is the ALL, ALL comes from Him and ALL returns to Him because ALL are part and parcel of the ONE God and he speaks these words from the perspective of\u00a0“I and my Father are one<\/em>“. So we should be able to see here that He IS the ALL, He is ONE with God and that ALL come to be ONE in Him in realization<\/strong><\/em> as men in the world. Here we should ever remember that they are already ONE spiritually and, if we look and try to see the reality in these words from Thomas’ Gospel, perhaps we can see that reality that ALL will reach<\/em> back to Him. Again, the totality of this saying from our perspective tells us that: ”I am the Light of the world, ALL things come from me and ALL things open (reach) to me<\/em>‘.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The rest of this saying is a repetition of a part of the thirtieth saying from the Greek text and here in this context these words are a continuation of what we have been discussing. He is the ALL, ALL things come from Him and ALL things reach back to Him and as an example of this picture of the Transcendence and the Immanence of the Christ as ONE with God we have these simple ideas to show us that no matter where one may look, he will find God; He IS in the timber<\/em> and He IS under the stone.<\/em>\u00a0Here we can see the Omnipresence of God and that simple saying that God IS everywhere. As we discussed in the last post, doctrine is rather opposed to this idea of Immanence as it can be seen in some of the ideas of pantheism<\/em>; here they try to separate God from His creation and view Him only as Transcendent but then what of Paul’s words that clearly say “Christ in you, the hope of glory<\/em>” (Colossians 1:27), here of course we are talking about the Soul, the anointing of the Spirit which IS God in form. And this is a sort of companion statement to go with the one we closed the last essay with; Paul says in this same epistle that “Christ is all, and in all<\/em>“. Again the point here should be seen as that regardless of the doctrinal inability to see Christ or God as a part of this corrupt existence as they may see it, there is much Truth in these words and in so many other sayings; and this IS clearly seen in these ideas from the Master from John’s Gospel above. God IS; God is Transcendent and ALL things are part and parcel of His existence; and God IS Immanent, He is omnipresent and within ALL of this Creation which IS inseparable from His existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Our next saying, the seventy eighth, is in regard to John the Baptist as we read similar words from the Master in the synoptic gospels:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • “And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what went ye out for to see? 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. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist<\/em>” (Matthew 11:7-11).<\/span><\/li>\n
    • “And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he<\/em>” (Luke 7:24-28).<\/span><\/li>\n
    • “Jesus says:\u00a0Why did you go out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind,\u00a0and to see a person dressed in soft clothing [like your] kings and your great\/powerful persons?\u00a0They are dressed in soft clothing and will not be able to recognize the truth<\/em>” (Thomas 78).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      While Thomas is simpler and the context is likely different the idea is the same. In Luke and Matthew the story is about the Baptist while here in Thomas there seems to be the underlying lesson to the listener that the rich and the powerful; “They are dressed in soft clothing and will not be able to recognize the truth<\/em>“. The other translations of this saying are much the same as we have from Patterson and Robinson above and while we will not list them here we should note that this end part on recognizing<\/em> the Truth is a bit diluted as compared to the Interlinear which Blatz captures for us saying “they [will] not be able to know the truth<\/em>“; from our perspective there is a large difference between recognizing a thing and KNOWING it. The available commentary on this saying include:<\/span><\/p>\n