This concludes the Gospel of Thomas. Please join me for a study of Psalm 31 at http://31stpsalm.blogspot.com/.

Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of Heaven." (114 Thomas)

What is male? What is female?

We tend to think in physical terms. This is the result of our positivist and empiricist heritage.

Prior to the last three-hundred years the question, especially in a religious context, would have been more broadly cast.

I wonder what words for male and female Peter and Jesus used?

They were probably speaking Aramaic to each other, but the meaning of their Aramaic would have been influenced by their religious understanding.

In Hebrew scripture the two most common words for male are 'iysh and zakar.

In Genesis we read, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24). Man, father, and one are all 'iysh.

The Hebrew 'iysh is derived from 'anash meaning sick, desparate, woeful, incurable.

Also in Genesis we read, "He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:2) Both male and Man are translations of zakar.

The noun zakar is - except for context - the same as the verb zakar. The verb means to remember, to think, to be mindful.

I suppose that Peter could have meant 'iysh. What if Jesus replied with zakar?

His disciples said to him, "When will the (Father's) imperial rule come?" He said, "It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' 'Rather, the Father's imperial rule is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it." (113 Thomas)

We live in God's domain.

We are usually blind and deaf to it. But we are immersed in God's domain.

We are distracted. We are preoccupied. We are afraid.

Beauty abounds. Love abounds. Grace abounds. We are inheritors of abundance.

Yet we often reject the reality of abundance for the illusions of worry.

The synoptic parallel is Luke 17:20-21. Above is a Russian icon of the Apostle Thomas.

Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh." (112 Thomas)

It is not flesh or soul. It is flesh and soul. God's domain celebrates the wholeness of physical and spiritual.

It is not a matter of one depending on the other, nor even of mutual dependence. It is shared strength.

The Coptic translated above as depends is, perhaps, better translated as "clings." This is an attachment born of separation.

We are separate from God. But this is not our birthright nor our destiny. Our fulfillment is found in reunion.

Flesh and soul, self and God, past and future, you and me converging in the now.

Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say, "Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy"? (111 Thomas)

For better or worse death-avoidance is not - yet - a major motivation for me.

Finding myself is a major motivation.

It is likely that finding myself will require a death and rebirth of the self.

I am preoccupied with self rather than source-of-self.

Intellectually I accept losing this self in order to become the self intended by God. Practically I am far from doing so.

Jesus said, "The one who has found the world, and has become wealthy, should renounce the world." (110 Thomas)

Thomas is very Greek in his tendency to perceive the material and spiritual worlds in tension.

Yet he consistently communicates that God's domain is present in the world.

If this world is God's domain, what is the source of tension... or is Thomas misperceiving reality?

There are moments when I seem to experience God's domain. There are many days when I do not. What is the difference?

The Coptic for world is kocmoc. This is a loan word from the Greek koxmox or cosmos.

In daily language koxmox suggested an arrangement, the opposite of chaos. Chaos is disorganized potential. Cosmos is organized potential.

Pythagoros used the word for his "world system." But it could also be used to suggest a superficial cosmetic.

When I am outside God's domain I am usually preoccupied with myself or I am distracted by some passing illusion... cosmetic concerns.

I know God's domain when I allow myself to experience the totality of God's creation... the cosmos.

Above is Thomas in stained glass from the Church of St. Thomas in Harty, Kent.

Jesus said, The (Father's) imperial rule is like a person who had a treasure in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know (about it either). He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished. (109 Thomas)

God's domain has long been with us, but most of us have not recognized it.

We are as likely (more likely?) to find God's domain by accident as when actively seeking.

God's domain is as a great treasure. All that we might need or desire is provided.

Many or most or even all who find God's domain misuse the treasure.

Matthew's gospel also tell's us that God's domain is as a treasure hid in a field. There the treasure is found by accident and secured by stealth, even by fraud.

The 13th chapter of Matthew is one kingdom parable after another. It begins with the sower of seeds, then the parable of the weeds, then the mustard seed, then yeast. After the treasure in the field comes the pearl of great price, then the parable of the net, and the chapter ends with the neighbors of Jesus rejecting his teaching.

They knew Jesus better than any others and yet rejected him. They refused to recognize what could be clearly heard and seen. I wonder how often I make the same choice?

Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him." (108 Thomas)

What is intimacy? Something physical, often sexual, is the typical understanding.

In my experience listening and being heard are the most intimate human acts.

When we speak of our deepest fears or profoundest hopes and someone hears us there is a joining.

When we can listen to another - question another - without judgment or agenda and come to some understanding of the other from the other's perspective, there is an enfolding of one into the other.

Jesus will listen to us. Are we willing to talk? Are we ready to question Jesus? Are we able to listen carefully?

Jesus said, The (Father's) imperial rule is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninetynine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, "I love you more than the ninetynine." (107 Thomas)

The toil expended to recover that which is lost binds us to what we are seeking. Whether we find it or not, our relationship with it is deepened.

It is a mistake to suppose the shepherd held the biggest sheep in any special regard before it went astray. A more helpful insight is that no matter how "big" we may be, we can lose ourselves. Nor was it the going astray that prompted the love. The first reaction was more likely concern or annoyance. But the toil of seeking, rewarded by recovery, has distinguished this big loser from the many others in the heart and mind of the shepherd.

Increasingly I give thanks for my flaws and failures. They encourage self-criticism and impel me to seek God. I am encouraged by Jesus' assurance that God is seeking after me, working with me, and will receive me with particular love when I am found.

The synoptic parallels are Luke 15:3-7 and Matthew 18:12-14.

Above is a 17th Century depiction of Thomas and the risen Jesus by Gerard van Honthorst.

Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain, move from here!' it will move." (106 Thomas)

In the Psalm assigned for today we read, "With my whole heart I seek you." (Psalm 119: 2)

In the gospel assigned for today we read of Jesus condemning the Pharisees and scribes, "For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23: 27-28)

Our hearts are often divided. We may seek fame or fortune, security or comfort, more than we seek God. We may seek to hide our division - even from ourselves - but the offspring of division will continue to multiply.

The offspring of wholeness is creative power. When our division from God is closed, when our intention is God's intention, our purpose God's purpose, then whatever we might undertake will be achieved.

The synoptic parallels are Luke 17:5-6, Matt 17:19-20, Matt 21:18-22, and Mark 11:20-25.

Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore." (105 Thomas)

We can be impatient with those who offer essential insights. Their explanations can be subtle or sometimes complicated and often contrary to our preconceptions.

As a result, we may resist their insights and berate their contributions. Too often we exclude them and seek to undermine them.

Yet... to know our origins can be important to knowing our destiny. To know the mystery of our beginnings can help us resolve many other mysteries.

They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and let us fast." Jesus said, "What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal suite, then let people fast and pray." (104 Thomas)

In the synoptic gospels Jesus also compared himself to a bridegroom. Here is what Mark relates, "And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days." (Mark 2: 19-20)

In Mark the disciples are the children of the bridechamber. Another translation is more simply "wedding guests." In yet another translation they are "attendents of the bridegroom." The Greek used in Mark is huios. Most often this referred to any male offspring, implying a sense of dependence on the father. It is also the Greek that is used when Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man. Are each of us huios?

Is the bridegroom gone? We can more readily agree with Thomas that he has left the bridal suite. The marriage has been consumated. The days of wedding celebration are ended. But the bride and groom remain among us. The mystical union of one and the other persists and from this union proceeds offspring and blessings. Are we, perhaps, as adopted children, both attendants to and descendents of the union?

Above is an icon of the Twelve Apostles, including Thomas.

Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive." (103 Thomas)

This translator has made a couple of choices worth noting. Others have translated "rebels" as thieves or brigands.

When the image of a thief is used, we are more likely to perceive a relationship with Luke's quotation of Jesus: "And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through." (Luke 12:39)

There is a bad tear in the Thomas manuscript which explains a variety of translations for what the forewarned collects or musters or gathers. Some translators simply indicate a lacuna. But coptic letters are legible and are very close to the coptic menter. The "imperial resources" used above strikes me as awkward. Others offer "domain" or "kingdom."

I am, perhaps, overly influenced by Luke. There the parallel saying is used as a preface to, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." (Luke 12:40)

It seems to me that because I am forewarned I should get going, gather the kingdom received from my father and revealed by Jesus, and be fully prepared. Much of what Jesus taught related to knowing, accepting, and experiencing God's domain available to us here and now.

Jesus said, "Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat." (102 Thomas)

Sometimes we really need to get out of the way.

Why are we taking a position? What is the value?

Too often our concerns are non-productive, both for others and ourselves.

The dog has claimed turf where he does not belong. It is not a good place for him and it hurts others.

We are to be as passers-by, helping not hindering.

"Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple]. For my mother [. . .], but my true [mother] gave me life." (101 Thomas)

What is it to hate? What is it to love?

More to the point: How did Jesus hate and how did he love?

The Greek for hate is miseo. In the four gospels Jesus is quoted twenty-one times speaking this word. Most of the quotes warn his followers they will be hated by others or explain why Jesus is hated.

Jesus encourages hate only in the parallel versions of the saying above. Here is how Luke renders it: "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)

Several Greek words are used for love. Jesus speaks of agapao forty-eight times. He speaks of agape on eight occasions. Jesus discusses phileo in seventeen verses. Here is what he says in Luke 6:27, "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you."

Clearly love is the more prominent and favored act.

Hate is endorsed only for what would separate us from God.

Above is an early 19th Century Russian icon of Thomas encountering the risen Jesus.

They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "The Roman emperor's people demand taxes from us." He said to them, "Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine. (100 Thomas)

There are those who perceive that the best translation of the Golden Rule is "do unto others as they want."

If he wants money, give him money. If she wants respect, give her respect. If he wants obedience, give him obedience.

Scripture tells us that thanksgiving belongs to God. Why do we so often give what is not wanted and hold back what belongs to God?

The synoptic parallels are Mark 12:13-17, Matthew 22: 15-22, and Luke 20:20-26.

The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." He said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father's domain." (99 Thomas)

Jesus explains that his intimacy is extended to all who do what his Father wants.

The same scene is reported in the synoptic gospels. There many have perceived a rejection of family. In Thomas the tone suggests an expanded sense of family.

Scholarship on this saying in Thomas and the other gospel versions tends to focus on insiders and outsiders.

I am told the literal Coptic translated above as "Those here" is actually "those-in-these-places." Not just those with Jesus, but those in any place who do what God wants are in relationship with Jesus and God the Father.

We come into relationship with God not by what we believe, not by who we follow, but by what we do.

The synoptic parallels are Mark 3:31-35, Matthew 12: 46-50, and Luke 8:19-21.

Jesus said, The Father's imperial rule is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one. (98 Thomas)

How is God's domain as an assassin?

The assassin is prepared to take a significant risk. The assassin envisions his act. The assassin practically prepares for his act. The assassin takes action.

The assassins best known to those listening to Jesus were the Zealots, terrorist freedom fighters against Roman oppression.

To receive God's domain may require a killing of the self we have known.

In order to know the freedom of God's intention, we may be called to assassinate the self we have become.

Above is Thomas encountering the risen (and headless) Jesus.

Jesus said, The [Father's] imperial rule is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty. (97 Thomas)

God's domain is not what we expect.

It is as a woman, said to a culture that oppressed women.

God's domain travels distant roads.

It is as a broken vessel.

God's domain is a spilling out of life's sustenance.

It is oblivious to loss.

Jesus [said], The Father's imperial rule is like [a] woman who took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears had better listen! (96 Thomas)

Two ears - and a bit of context - help us hear.

It is worth recalling that one of the most common rituals of Jewish life, both then and now, is to remove all leaven from one's possession before celebrating Passover.

This is part of recalling the need to escape Egypt so quickly there was no time for yeast to rise. But it is also often used as a spiritual metaphor for giving up pride.

I am not sure modern Christians have anything truly analogous. But thinking of Lenten disciplines, it is akin to saying, God's domain is like a woman who took a little chocolate, bourbon, and beef and made them into a feast.

There are important differences between this version and the very similar teaching in Luke and Matthew. The synoptic versions are practically identical:

And again he said, ‘To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. (Luke 13:20-21)

Thomas says God's domain "is like a woman..." Both of the synoptic gospels focus on the yeast. Thomas tells of the outcome. Matthew and Luke emphasize the leavening.

What do you hear of God's domain?

[Jesus said], "If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won't get it back." (95 Thomas)

Consider replacing "money" with other words: time, skill, or talent. Vegetables from the garden. Apples from my tree. Eggs from the hen house. A ride to town.

It is much more difficult for most of us to give money away than to give away anything else.

Recently someone said they needed money. I was not sure they did, in fact, need the money. I was feeling rather needy myself.

But I gave what they said they needed. I had it. The giving away would have no immediate effect on me.

It did, however, have an effect. I am still trying to decide why I gave it. What would it mean if I defined value as giving rather than receiving?

According to legend St. Thomas was hired by a South Indian king to build a palace. The Apostle received the money and gave it to the poor. When the king came to inspect the construction site Thomas explained he was building the king a palace in heaven. The king was furious and ordered Thomas put to death. But at the last minute the king's dead brother appeared in a vision and confirmed that a glorious place in heaven had been erected exactly as Thomas described. Thomas was allowed to live and continue his work.

Above is Thomas holding an architect's square.

Jesus [said], "One who seeks will find, and for [one who knocks] it will be opened." (94 Thomas)

What am I seeking?

The first prayer I can remember offering was a request to remain child-like in my engagement with the world.

The words whispered were something like, "Dear God, help me avoid the not-seeing of most grown-ups."

At age nine or ten I perceived that as most moved from childhood they would adopt a predictable set of explanations and expectations.

In effect they would stop seeing, stop seeking, and choose a kind of intellectual and spiritual stasis that seemed to me false and often boring.

I prayed for God's help in seeking the new, surprising, and always changing.

The synoptic parallels are Luke 11:9-13 and Matthew 7:7-11.

Don't give what is sacred to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don't throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might . . . it [. . .]." (93 Thomas)

They might... what? We cannot be sure. Our sources are insufficient to know.

There is a parallel saying in Matthew's gospel: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (Matthew 7:6)

It is a teaching in tension with most of what we know Jesus to have offered us.

In Matthew the injunction against dogs and pigs seems to contradict an immediately prior instruction to avoid judging others (see the whole chapter). Without judging how do we know dogs or pigs?

Perhaps the teaching has less to do with what is impure (dogs and pigs) and has more to do with what we define as sacred or holy.

To be sacred - the Hebrew is qodesh - is to be put aside, set apart, and consecrated for special use. It is a common ecclesiastical term having to do with temple rituals.

Is it possible that our typical rush to judgment hears an unintended judgment in the teaching of Jesus? Perhaps Jesus loves the innocence of dogs and pigs. Perhaps Jesus is not warning us about dogs and pigs, but instead is warning us to avoid a tendency to define God as safely separate from most of our living.

But I cannot be sure, my sources are insufficient.

Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them. (92 Thomas)

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke - as above -we are assured that if we seek, we shall find.

In the Gospel of Mark we are also assured of finding what we seek. The language is less parallel, but the shared teaching may be more apparent:

Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea”, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (Mark 11:22-24)

Mark tells us that faith in God and lack of doubt are the paths to finding. Thomas adds the precondition of seeking what Jesus has pointed us toward.

Above is an altarpiece giving primary attention to Thomas' discovery of the risen Christ.

They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you." He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment." (91 Thomas)

This is my common experience, perhaps our common experience.

We know so much. We can spend our days in detailed examination of great mysteries.

But too often this knowledge and seeking after more knowledge can simply distract me from the present moment and the one in my very presence.

I increasingly perceive that God-is-with-us. The wholeness and fulfillment of God is accessible today, now, in this present moment.

But we must notice. Even more we must choose to be in the moment.

The synoptic parallels are Matthew 16:1-4 and Luke 12:54-56.

Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves." (90 Thomas)

There is an echo of Matthew's gospel and also of Sirach's book of wisdom.

In Matthew we read, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

In Sirach we read, "Put your neck under her (wisdom's) yoke, and let your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by. See with your own eyes that I have laboured but little and found for myself much serenity."

A yoke is a wooden crosspiece used to guide a pair of oxen. It is always a pair. Yoke derives from the ancient sanskrit meaning team. It has the same origin as yoga.

Are we invited to yoke ourselves to Jesus? Rather than Jesus running the yoked team, does Jesus join us in the yoke?

Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don't you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?" (89 Thomas)

A similar saying is found in Luke and Matthew. But there the saying is given a context - critique of ritual - and advocates a clear meaning - reforming the essential self rather than attending to superficial forms.

Here context is missing and the meaning is ambiguous.

We might discern that no matter how dirty the outside of the cup, it is the inside and the maker that matters. We are each made of God. No matter what we do to tarnish and foul the outside, we cannot corrupt the inside.

The synoptic parallels are Matthew 23:25-26 and Luke 11:39-41. Above is an icon of Thomas the Apostle by Sister Kathleen Homberg.

Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'" (88 Thomas)

Through scripture, reason, prophecy, tradition, and intuition we can claim a pearl of great price. It is a pearl that has been waiting for us to claim it, but often we are not even aware of its existence, much less our claim on it.

When we are told of it and receive it we realize that rather than claim it, we have been claimed. We know this is the beauty that has been absent and for which we have been left wanting. Now that we have found it we will not leave it for any distraction. We will give it our longing and receive fulfillment.

We also realize it is a beauty that we do not own, but can only share. We are surprised the many others with a claim are not yet with us. When will they come and take what belongs to them?

A respected scholar writes of Logion 88, "The meaning of this saying is simply unknown..." and notes that Thomas has a tendency to "make assertions that are mystifying, secretive, dark, and impenetrable."

Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two." (87 Thomas)

Our soul - our essence - should depend on God. Our soul, our body, our all is fulfilled only in relationship with God. When we try to depend on anything - or anyone - else we are choosing failure and misery.

This saying is often read as despising the body. Greek philosophy especially neo-Platonism mistrusts the body as a highly corruptible form that can impede our experience of the ideal. This is inconsistent with Torah and Jesus.

For Jesus and Torah the body is the creation of God and is very good. One body has great potential. Two bodies together multiply their individual potentials. But avoid depending on that which is dependent. Instead and together, depend on that which is source and completion.

Jesus said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lie down and rest." (86 Thomas)

Some have translated the Coptic as directly parallel to the Greek version of this saying found in Luke and Matthew: Foxes have their dens and birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.

The Greek is almost certainly a translation of Aramaic spoken by Jesus as remembered thirty or more years after the crucifixion. This is a rather complicated listening game, but Jesus probably referenced the son(s) of Adam.

Whether this refers to all of humankind or is an indirect self-reference is a matter of judgment. It is often understood that the Son of Man is Jesus. It could also be that the Aramaic original was meant to suggest a shared identity: Jesus is and each of us are sons of Adam.

Jesus was and each of us are pilgrims. We are as passers-by. We should not mistake our current condition as anything but temporary. From Luke and Matthew it is clear we should avoid anything that will distract us from making the journey.

To not have den or nest is an advantage. We are unencumbered and encouraged to continue on our way. Jesus is ready to walk with us if we are ready to walk with him.

Above is a map of ancient spice routes. Thomas is said to have begun his missionary work in what is modern Iraq and Iran, proceeded to Southern India and, perhaps, made it as far as China.

Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death." (85 Thomas)

Adam was given every good thing. In his Eden there was abundance and peace. Adam was not even troubled by the knowledge of good and evil. All was his to enjoy as he might desire. He walked with God.

In our world there is also abundance, but it is hoarded by some and withheld from others. There is violence, war, and fear. We know both good and evil, and can be confused by which is which. We often choose paths far from God.

Yet we are blessed beyond Adam. He was exiled for his sin. Our sins have been forgiven. He was cast out. We are invited to return. Through the love of God we have far exceeded Adam. But we must accept the invitation.

Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!" (84 Thomas)

We are, as explained in Genesis 1:26, made in the likeness of God.

According to Thomas our particular image was created from a preexisting and eternal image that persists in the mind of God.

In reconciling with this ideal version of ourselves we will find fulfillment.

This fulfillment does not, however, promise to be carefree and easy. Rather, how much we will have to bear!

God evidently intends that we join in a great task.

Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light." (83 Thomas)

Remember the forms and ideals of Socrates and Plato? Proposed five centuries before Jesus, here the concept is applied by Jesus to explain our imperfect understanding of God.

Most scholars doubt this is an authentic quotation. I tend to agree. But this does not eliminate all value. It is helpful to consider a distinction between outer form and inner essence.

We each share in the Father's light. Each of us are fundamentally creatures of the light. Yet we have assumed diverse forms.

Each of our forms, truly and properly expressed, reflect some particular aspect of the ideal. The form is not so much untrue as partially true. We are each of the light.

Our form may be damaged, broken, or destroyed. But this does not extinguish the ideal - the light - which shines eternally. There are even occasions when the ideal is better perceived in a broken form.

Above is a St. Thomas Cross from Finland. The filigree suggests how a form can differ from an ideal by elaboration.

Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father's) domain." (82 Thomas)

Fire attracts. The warmth of a winter fire, the dancing flame of a campfire, the soft glow of candlelight draw us close.

Fire threatens. Last evening 72 homes in Paradise, California were engulfed in flames.

The reign of God both attracts and threatens. The attraction is final fulfillment. The threat is to be totally consumed.

In the life of Jesus we encounter one totally consumed, yet he is also a distinctive personality and free to choose.

Perhaps in this instance our fear of fire is misplaced.

Jesus said, "The one who has become wealthy should reign, and the one who has power should renounce (it)."(81 Thomas)

In the synoptic gospels Jesus warns of wealth. Here he seems to endorse it.

Even if we transform the worldly into the spiritual, why should the spiritually wealthy reign while the spiritually powerful give up authority?

One scholarly source comments, "This paradoxical saying is a puzzle to interpreters of the Gospel of Thomas."

The saying is usually treated as two verses, the first dealing with wealth and the second dealing with power.

What if, instead, we read it as a single sequence? It helps the sequence to know that wealth was understood as the result of street-smarts or worldly wisdom.

So, perhaps... Let the one who is wealthy have political authority in the world, but once assuming power may he become wise enough to renounce power.

Let us understand the world, let us know what is required for success in the world. May we use this wisdom to better understand our self and the world.

Self-knowledge is the foundation of power. The one who exercises self-control will, almost certainly, gain authority over others.

But worldly wisdom, self-knowledge, and authority are only milestones on the path. The pilgrim will renounce each as the journey continues toward the wholeness of God's intention.

Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the body, of that one the world is not worthy." (80 Thomas)

It is easy to be distracted by the world's beauties and troubles and never know the world.

To know the world - engage and understand the world - is worth a great deal.

As we know the world, we will also better understand the nature of our own creation.

In knowing the world, though, there is always separation: subject and object.

In full self-knowledge there is reconciliation and wholeness. In this wholeness we may come to know God.

For the self reconciled with God even the entire world seems somehow small.

Above is Thomas encountering the body of the risen Jesus.

A woman in the crowd said to him, "Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you." He said to [her], "Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, 'Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.'" (79 Thomas)

What external event, validation, or success do you perceive would fulfill your purpose, make you happy, or confirm your value?

I hear the woman congratulating Jesus and pronouncing her own desire for such a son. I worry her son or sons might even be standing nearby.

Jesus tells her - and us - that these externalities are ephemeral. They will disappoint, they will fail, they will bring trouble.

Instead, lucky, blessed, barack, בָּרִךְ, are we if we have heard the word - the creative intention - of God and we have organized our life around that word.

The word of our Creator - and the relationship with our Father - is always a source of blessing... even luck.

The synoptic parallel is Luke 11:27-28.

Jesus said, "Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth."(78 Thomas)

Where and how can we find the truth?

Beginning at about twelve I regularly hiked or biked to the counryside outside my small hometown.

Often I would go with two or three or even nine or ten friends. As often I would go alone.

Our wilderness consisted of the remains of strip-mining from thirty or forty years before.

The flat Illinois prarie had been transformed into hills, forested ridges, outcropings of rock and shale, lakes, ponds, creeks, and waterfalls.

In the marshy bottoms cattails extended for hundreds of yards. In summer the tall green fronds were taller than me. In winter the dried reeds stood tall against wind and snow.

Red wing blackbirds especially favored the cattails, as did turtles and frogs, as did I especially in late winter and early spring.

In that season I would find a clearing in the reeds open to the sun. No wind penetrated. The only sound was the occasional scratching of one reed against another.

Cattails are wonderful at reclaiming wounded land. The marshy places of my youth are now grassy meadows.

Cattails were wonderful for healing my adolescent wounds and the memory is healing still.

Yes, I have gone to the countryside to see a reed shaken by the wind.

The synoptic parallels are Matthew 11:7-15 and Luke 7:24-30.

Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." (77 Thomas)

Most scholars argue this is not an authentic saying of Jesus. It is viewed as atypically self-laudatory and typically Gnostic and pantheistic.

It reminds me of the opening to the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."

The distinction between pantheism (bad) and immanence (good) can be too subtle for me.

The stone is not God, but I can find God in the sparkling and persistent crystals. The wood is not God, but in its veins and texture I may perceive the hand of God.

God is with us. God is within us. God is about us. God is the creator of all. In God's creation we can discern the patterns and principles to which our creator calls us. God created and saw that it was good. May we also see.

While scholars do not accept it as a parallel, it is also worth comparing 77 Thomas to John 8:12. Above is a mosaic of the Apostle Thomas by Studio Icona.

Jesus said, The Father's imperial rule is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and then found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. "So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys." (76 Thomas)

God's reign is like the full parable, not just the pearl. The kingdom of heaven is like any of us who finds something so valuable that we do whatever is necessary to claim that value.

The value - the pearl - motivates this action. But we must recognize the value. We must also be willing to take action, accept risks and change in order to receive the value.

God's reign reorders our motivations and selects new targets. God's reign is experienced in how we choose to advance God's purposes.

The synoptic parallel is Matthew 13:45-46.

Jesus said, "There are many standing at the door, but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite." (75 Thomas)

The prior saying is unusual in standing alone as a follower's statement. Is this the the answer to the implied question?

We thirst for intimacy with God, consumation of our relationship with God, a unification of two as one. In this way we yearn for the bridal suite.

Many experience this longing but only the manoxoc will be fulfilled. This is Coptic for alone, a single person, a solitary, it eventually was used for spiritual contemplatives.

I wonder about using singular as in, "only the singular will enter the bridal suite." To me this suggests knowing our particular identity, our specific purpose, our true self.

Perhaps we can only know God as we work with God to know our singular role within God's intention.

He said, "Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well." (74 Thomas)

The Thomas gospel's lack of context can be both troublesome and enabling. In this case there is no recognized scriptural parallel.

Out of context the intended meaning of the Coptic is unclear. Depending on context "nothing" can be "no one." There is no way to be sure which is more accurate.

If we stay with nothing, I read this as a warning about false faith: If we choose badly our thirst shall not be quenched.

If we go with no one, I read this as a warning about superficial faith: why do we gather around the shallow drinking trough instead of entering into the depth of the well itself?

In either case, we are encouraged to carefully consider the source of our faith.

To the left are steps to the Siloam pool outside Jerusalem. In the case of many ancient wells, especially in the Middle East, it is necessary to walk into something like a cave to reach the water. The steps can be better seen by clicking twice on the the picture.

Above is the Apostle Thomas from the Kizhi Monastery in Karelia, Russia.

Jesus said, "The crop is huge but the workers are few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to the fields." (73 Thomas)

We know this phrase from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. The synoptic parallels point toward a harvest of healing.

Luke expands considerably on what Jesus says in Matthew and Thomas. From Luke we get a sense the Lord of the Harvest will come in awful judgment.

But without Luke we only know the potential is great, the opportunities are fantastic, and the task is beyond our current capacity.

In all three gospels the harvest is closely tied to - perhaps identical with - experiencing the reign of God.

In all three gospels the harvest is ready - today, now, this very moment - for our grateful gathering and our joyful devouring.

The synoptic parallels are Luke 10:1-16 and Matthew 9:35-38.

A [person said] to him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not a divider, am I?" (72 Thomas)

The twelfth chapter of Luke provides more context. In the physician's gospel we read, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a mans life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." (Luke 12:13-21)

Thomas has flattened - or perhaps opened - the narrative. The surely purposeful implication is that Jesus brings wholeness not division.

Yet we also read in Luke, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." (Luke 12:49-53) And from 16 Thomas, "Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there will be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone."

Jesus seeks to make us whole and coherent with our origins. He does offer the shalom of knowing and abiding with God.

But this wholeness cannot be achieved by the double-minded or the doubly committed or by those who choose possessions over relationships. We must be divided from what distracts us from God's intention.

Jesus said, "I will destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to build it [. . .]." (71 Thomas)

This is an unfinished fragment of a saying preserved without context. There is a scholarly consensus that the "house" is the Jerusalem temple.

Sunday's gospel spoke of another house: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:24-27)

Sometimes I am sure that Jesus is destroying my house. One brick at a time, he is bring down the walls of pride and self-satisfaction, fear and self-assertion that I have erected.

Is Jesus moving my house from the sand to the rock? Or is he giving me the chance to build a different house? Or is he preparing me to live house-less?

I don't know, it is not finished.

Above is a statue of St. Thomas the Apostle, perhaps from the Vatican.

Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you." (70 Thomas)

What is within? I am reminded of Jesus explaining in Luke 17:21, "In fact the kingdom of God is within you."

A scholar named Doresse has translated saying 70 as, "Jesus says: "When you have something left to share among you, what you possess will save you. But if you cannot share [among you], that which you have not among you, that [ ... ? ... will ...] you.

The passage from Luke can also be translated as, "In fact the kingdom of God is among you."

Which is it, among or within? One word suggests the single contemplative, the other points to the community of faith.

If the kingdom of God is within me then surely it is also within you and all of us. If I do not recognize it in you, have I really found it within me?

Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who have been persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have truly come to know the Father. Congratulations to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled." (69 Thomas)

Satisfaction is an impediment to knowing God. Physical hunger and emotional hurt can be gateways to knowing God.

If we do not need God - or if our need is no more than infatuation - there will always be distractions and excuses.

The closer we come to existential uncertainty the better prepared we may be for essential engagement.

Hunger and emptiness can make room for God, no longer excluded by self-indulgence, but welcomed with thanksgiving.

Self-satisfaction is almost always the opposite of self-fulfillment. True fulfillment comes in finding the self intended by God.

Jesus said, "Congratulations to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted." (68 Thomas)

One way of understanding Jesus is as a radical realist. He seeks to share with us his understanding of ultimate reality.

The fundamental reality of self is found in the nature of our relationship with God: subject and object.

The fundamental reality of space is also dependent on the relationship of ultimate subject and ultimate object.

Where this relationship is obscured - even oppressed - reality is absent, such a place does not have existence.

The parallel in Matthew's beatitudes reads, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

We might also hear Jesus telling us that the kingdom of heaven is the only place that has existence. Any other place is an illusion.

Above is the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore - or Chennai - India. The original temple was destroyed by the Portugese to build a church commemorating the martyrdom of St. Thomas, perhaps on the temple grounds.

Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking." (67 Thomas)

Another translation offers, "He who knows the All, but fails to know himself, misses everything."

Scholars dispute if the knowing all is an earnest know thyself, a dismissive know-it-all, or a mystical knowing of the universe.

In any case none of this knowledge is of value if we lack in ourselves.

In very everyday ways we are aware of this truth. We have met those who pursue knowledge primarily to compensate for self-doubt. The self-doubt undermines the credibiltity of their knowledge.

There are no gospel parallels to this saying, but it reminds me of the prologue to Corinthians 13: "If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

Tielhard de Chardin counsels, "First, develop yourself... (this) is the collaboration, trembling with love, which we give to the hands of God, concerned to attire and prepare us for the final union through sacrfice. Understood in this way, the care which we devote to personal achievement and embellishment is no more than a gift begun." (The Divive Milieu)

Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone." (66 Thomas)

What is rejected will become what is most essential. What others (most?) considered insufficient will become what is essential. What seems bad will become very good.

This aphorism also follows all of the synoptic accounts of the parable of the vineyard. In Mark, Matthew, and Luke the saying is used to explain the parable. In this way we are - or thousands of sermons have - led us to understand that the rejected Jesus is the keystone.

But to me it seems likely Jesus was referencing Psalm 118:22, here in context:

כ זֶה-הַשַּׁעַר לַיהוָה; צַדִּיקִים, יָבֹאוּ בוֹ.
This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter into it.
כא אוֹדְךָ, כִּי עֲנִיתָנִי; וַתְּהִי-לִי, לִישׁוּעָה.
I will give thanks unto Thee, for Thou hast answered me, and art become my salvation.
כב אֶבֶן, מָאֲסוּ הַבּוֹנִים-- הָיְתָה, לְרֹאשׁ פִּנָּה.
The stone which the builders rejected is become the chief corner-stone.
כג מֵאֵת יְהוָה, הָיְתָה זֹּאת; הִיא נִפְלָאת בְּעֵינֵינוּ.
This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
כד זֶה-הַיּוֹם, עָשָׂה יְהוָה; נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בוֹ.
This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

In the psalm the gate is our troubles, our "straits" in the King James version. All the challenges, troubles, and hurts... all that I am inclined to reject... can bring us through the wall that separates us from fulfillment, completeness, wholeness.

If we will love and honor Reality - especially at its most difficult - there we can find purpose and we will rejoice and be glad in it.

He said, A [. . .] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard's crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, "Perhaps he didn't know them." He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, "Perhaps they'll show my son some respect." Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen! (65 Thomas)

We are reasonably confident of the farmers' motivation.

The parable is explicit the owner was seeking to collect his portion of the crop.

But how do we explain the owner's persistent naivete and willingness to risk his son?

And what will the owner do now? In the synoptic Gospels' version of the story he will destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.

In Isaiah the owner destroys the vineyard.

If the last 2000 years provides a clue the owner will continue to send his servants and invite us into covenant with him.

The scriptural parallels are Isaiah 5:1-7, Mark 12:1-9, Matthew 21:33-41, and Luke 20:9-16.

Above is another illustration of Thomas encountering the risen Christ.

Jesus said, Someone was receiving guests. When he had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests. The slave went to the first and said, "My master invites you." The first replied, "Some merchants owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner." The slave went to another and said, "My master has invited you." The second said to the slave, "I have bought a house, and I have been called away for a day. I shall have no time." The slave went to another and said, "My master invites you." The third said to the slave, "My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me from dinner." The slave went to another and said, "My master invites you." The fourth said to the slave, "I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me." The slave returned and said to his master, "Those whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused."The master said to his slave, "Go out on the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner." Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father. (64 Thomas)

"Please excuse me." There is always an excuse and usually a good excuse for not attending, not paying attention, not accepting the invitation, not entering into the joy of God's purpose.

There are practical and urgent matters that have claimed our attention. Surely God understands. Surely he will excuse us.

I expect God understands all too well. Despite our busy boorishness we continue to be invited. But until we accept the invitation we have chosen to exclude ourselves from the full experience of God's love.

The synoptic parallels are Luke 14:15-24 and Matthew 22:1-10.

Jesus said, There was a rich man who had a great deal of money. He said, "I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing." These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen! (63 Thomas)

By the standard of most of the world I am rich. Yet I spend a great deal of my time and energy thinking about how to accumulate more.

No matter our current condition we can feel vulnerable and want more. The sense of vulnerability and neediness is real.

But when we look to money, investments, and our own plans to fill these needs, we are looking into a bottomless pit.

Jesus honored honest work. Many of his parables are drawn from the world of work. He was attentive to the requirements of our daily bread.

But we should avoid the error of thinking that the benefits we derive from work will cause us to "lack nothing." I cannot possess what is most valuable, but I can love it.

The synoptic parallel is Luke 12:13-21.

Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." (62 Thomas)

A mystery is something hidden, something secret, but also more. It is something tantalizing, something powerful.

To understand a mystery - to break its code - intellectual consistency is often unhelpful, even an impediment.

A mystery is inconsistent with our expectations otherwise it is not a mystery. A mystery is incoherent with the facts or at least our initial impression of the facts.

In the book of Daniel there is an Aramaic word - raz - that may be the word Jesus used. In that book of mysteries we read: "But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind." (Daniel 2:30)

To know mystery open your mind to paradox, open your life to ambiguity, expose what you believe to its contradiction.

If the left does not agree with the right do not be troubled, rather seek another way. Be open to an understanding that transcends your current categories.

We create categories, frames, and more as tools for understanding. But some understanding is beyond the scope of our present tools.

Above from the Hunterian Psalter is Thomas encountering the risen Jesus and Jesus saving Peter. In each case an interesting coincidence of faith and doubt, being open and closed, understanding and ignorance.

Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live." Salome said, "Who are you, mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone." Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father." "I am your disciple." " For this reason I say, if one is (whole), one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness." (61 Thomas)

A more literal translation of the Coptic has Jesus saying, "I am he-who-exists out of-he-who is equal or fully integrated or whole.

Whole - the Greek is holos - is all, completely, entire, full, throughout. Jesus is quoted as using holos when he quotes scripture: "And you shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and will all your soul, and will all your mind, and with all your strength."

The Shema quoted by Jesus is from Deuteronomy 6:5. Here the Hebrew for all or whole is kol which also means totality, everything, anything, completely, and continually.

We are called to wholeness. We are called to God. Jesus comes from what is whole. So do we. We are to return and in returning complete ourselves.

Does our return also complete God?

(He saw) a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, "(. . .) that person (. . .) around the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "He will not eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed it and it has become a carcass." They said, "Otherwise he can't do it." He said to them, "So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten." (60 Thomas)

The most common exegesis on this saying emphasizes finding rest or salvation in order to avoid becoming a dead thing and eaten. So it may be. Given the corruption of the text we are even less capable of certainty than usual.

I wonder why the Samaritan might be taking a lamb to Judea. If killing and eating was the only purpose that could more easily be done staying in Samaria. The Samaritan seems to be going to unusual trouble.

A carcass becomes a source of nourishment. A carcass can extend life. At Easter my family traditionally celebrates by eating roasted lamb, recalling the sacrificial death that offers the promise of eternal life.

Certainly I would like to be a source of nourishment. I would like to contribute to celebration. Such seems more helpful and meaningful than to be at rest.

What seems dead to the world may still be the source of enormous potential.

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." (59 Thomas)

What is our purpose? What is our goal? Maintaining our focus is critically important. We must keep our eye, ear, and every effort aimed at the source and meaning of life.

Last evening I began a little book written in 1927. The author insists that in all we are and do we are able to advance God's reign.

"Each one of our works, by its more or less remote or direct repercussion upon the spiritual world, contributes to perfect Christ in His mystical totality... In fact, through the unceasing operation of the Incarnation, the divine so thoroughly permeates all our creaturely energies that, in order to encounter and embrace it, we could not find a more appropriate milieu than that of our action."

"To begin with, in action I cleave to the creative power of God; I co-incide with it; I become not only its instrument but its living prolongation. And since there is nothing more personal in a being that its will, I merge myself, in a sense, through my heart, with the very heart of God. This contact is continuous because I am always acting; and at the same time, since I can never find a limit to the perfection of my fidelity or the fervour of my intention, it enables me to assimilate myself still my narrowly, and indefinately, to God." (The Divine Milieu by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

Teilhard argues that this can be true of all action, no matter how otherwise practical or humble. No action need be - should be - perfunctory. All action can work to advance God's intention.

I have just started the book, but it is my impression the author perceives that sanctifcation of our activities is not just possible, but assured if we will keep looking at the living one.

Above is a window featuring an architect's square, symbol of the Apostle Thomas, emblematic of how our earthly work can advance heavenly purpose.

Jesus said, "Congratulations to the person who has toiled and has found life." (58 Thomas)

We often have very mixed attitudes toward our work-life. It can be an important source of identity, opportunity for creativity, and offer a rich web of relationships.

There are also days when our toil can seem tedious, frustrating, and even soul-sucking. I expect Jesus was referring to both the positive and negative aspects of work.

In the pre-industrial economy work required finding a way to achieve a purpose in the midst of randomness. Most of the work was agricultural. The farmer would work with nature or fail.

Even in most of the trades - textiles, leather, smithing, cooperidge, and such - both supply and demand were unpredictable. One did what one could.

During the last two centuries we have experimented with a very different approach to work: we have attempted to exercise precise control and complete predictability.

We have achieved a great deal. In medicine, engineering, science, and more we have created what our ancestors would consider nothing short of miraculous.

But we have also discovered - or rediscovered - the limits to our control. We have learned that in exercising control we can sometimes squeeze out creativity; in seeking more security we can increase our vulnerability.

In our toil we have come to recognize a reality beyond our control. This reality can be discerned and, if accurately discerned, we may find fulfillment within its domain.

We toil. In our toil we can perceive reality unfolding. In this reality we may even discern the reign of God.

Jesus said, The Father's imperial rule is like a person who had [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, "No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them." For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned. (57 Thomas)

I have creative potential. I have seed.

Among my seeds are certainly some that grow rapidly but do not produce what I had anticipated.

My weeds and my wheat grow beside one another, their roots tightly tied. Often I cannot distinguish one for the other until each are nearing maturity.

This mixing complicates the harvest. But by watching and gathering carefully the wheat and weeds can be separated.

Moreover all is well: some weeds feed the animals and others have medicinal use. The dried stalks of both wheat and weed are good for kindling, brickmaking, and winter bedding.

All is well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well. (Julian of Norwich)

The synoptic parallel is Matthew 13: 24-30.

Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy." (56 Thomas)

Most scholars do not accept this as an authentic saying of Jesus. There are no canonical parallels. The dismissive stance regarding the created world is inconsistent with core teachings of Jesus. Still there are spiritual possibilities.

The man of worldly knowledge is as a butcher who knows how to kill and cut up the calf to sell its meat for money. He knows how to kill. He knows how to take apart. He knows how to sell. This is the way of the world.

If the man knows how to deal with dead things, "of that person the world is not worthy." This is a double paradox. Our first (purposeful?) impression may be that this person is not worthy of the world. But the opposite is said.

Knowing about the carcass of worldy things is cause for praise: The world is not worthy of that person. That person is worth more than the world. If the skilled butcher recognizes the greater value of creating, of bringing together, and of giving away - if the butcher fully understands the difference between death and life - then that person knows something very close to God's truth.

I wonder if this knowledge is related to being as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove?

Above is a Jan Luiken illustration from the Martyrs Mirror of the Apostle Thomas about to be burnt alive.

Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me." (55 Thomas)

Each of the synoptic gospels include a very similar saying. The most extensive treatment is found in Luke 14:25-33 .

Jesus encourages us to clear, consistent, and meaningful priorities. What is my purpose? What is the current context for achieving my purpose? What are my capabilities for achieving this purpose in the current context?

Context and capability may change. Jesus is urging us to persist in purpose. More than this, Jesus is urging us to join him in choosing God's purpose.

Too often I am satisfied with a melange of hopes, dreams, and vague possibilities. I fail to choose. Because I have not made a clear choice, I am easily distracted. I seldom choose evil. But with no clear purpose I wander from one indulgence to another.

The outcome is also vague. Jesus calls us to clarity, purpose, and power as co-creators of God's reign.

Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven's domain." (54 Thomas)

In modern translations the beatitudes have become the congratulations. Instead of blessed are the poor, we read congratulations to the poor.

What is gained by the new translation comes at considerable expense.

Jesus almost certainly used the Aramaic word barak which is very closely related to the Hebrew bawrak.

This is to kneel: to be so overcome with a sense of praise and thanksgiving that one falls to his or her knees.

There is also the sense of being fulfilled and completed. So in the forty-fifth psalm we read, "You are fairer than the sons of men, Grace is poured upon your lips; Therefore God has blessed you forever."

Congratulations suggests an objective observation. To be blessed is much more an engagement with God and an experience of wholeness.

His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision useful or not?" He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect." (53 Thomas)

I am skeptical of this saying's origins. If it was known at the time of Paul surely reference would have been made to the authority of Jesus in seeking to extend the good news to the uncircumcised gentiles.

But the shift from useful to profitable catches my attention. If the saying arose in the generation after the crucifixion, it would probably have circulated in Greek.

In ancient Greek the most common word for useful is euthetos or well-placed. In the gospel of Luke Jesus is quoted as using euthetos to suggest being well-matched or deserving as in, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God ."

A common Greek word for profitable is sumphero or bring together. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus is quoted four times using this word to mean better as in, "If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

So often I want to be well-placed or fit in with the expectations of my society. There is a social heirarchy that I seek to climb, even as this heirarchy separates us into winners and losers. Much better is bring together, to carry with others, to collect in order to help, or to help others (all meanings of sumphero).

God certainly understands our inclination to fit in, but God calls us to the greater task of bringing together.

Above is an icon of the Twelve Apostles.

His disciples said to him, "Twentyfour prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead." (52 Thomas)

Each morning I turn to something written long ago. I give it close attention. I work to listen to it, learn from it, and know its meaning for me. I love the process.

But then I turn to the remainder of my day. Am I as attentive to living expressions of God's intention? Do I listen as carefully to these very present signs, symbols, and manifestations? Do I love to engage with them? Do I love them? Not usually.

The reign of God is at hand, waiting for me to reach out for it. But I am quite often just too busy to notice.

His disciples said to him, "When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you are looking forward to has come, but you don't know it." (51 Thomas)

The reign of God - the new world - has already arrived, but we do not know it.

In the Gospel of Mark we read, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." (Mark 1:14-15) At hand - yad - within our power, within our grasp, able to be embraced.

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells us, "the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

The reign of God is not a place for the dead. It is the place of our present fulfillment. God reigns today.

We ought not wait, but find this power and fulfillment, follow it, believe and know.

Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'" (50 Thomas)

In both language and form this is one of the most distinctively Gnostic of the sayings.

Yet in John we read Jesus saying, "I am the light of the World." (8:12) And in Matthew we also read of Jesus telling all his listeners, "You are the light of the world." (5:14)

We are of the light, come from the light, and have motion and rest in the light.

For any student of Plato - and there were certainly some among the Gnostics - the reference to motion and rest is remininisent of the dialogue on the communion of classes in the Sophist. (see Ancient Greek Online)

In the Sophist Socrates and Theaetetus establish the interrelationship of the "Great Kinds", the reality of both being and non-being, and the danger of imitative, false, insincere appearances that have neither motion nor rest and are therefore unreal.

Jesus is quoted as using philosophical language to establish our shared identity with the source of elemental reality.

Above is an icon showing St. James and St. Thomas.

Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the (Father's) domain. For you have come from it, and you will return there again."(49 Thomas)

The Gospel of Luke quotes Jesus as congratulating those who are poor and explaining they will experience the kingdom of God. (6:20)

In Luke he also congratulates the hungry, those in mourning, and those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed on account of the Son of Man. (6:21-22)

When I am in trouble I tend to be much more open to God. When I am undeniably out of control I am much more ready to depend on God.

When alone I am much more likely to hear God. When alone there have been a few moments when I have entered a very different domain.

I don't know about being chosen. Rather it seems it is left to me - to us - to choose.