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.