His disciples said to him, "Who are you to say these things to us?" "You don't understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather, you have become like the Judeans, for they love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree." (43 Thomas)

Recently I was the only visitor at a hotel's free snack bar. The two young women working the room ignored me and continued their intense discussion.

"You don't know anything about Sodom and Gomorrah, do you?" the brunette accused.

"I used to go to church," the blonde responded meekly. "I don't know as much as I should, but I know about the wife turned into a pillar of salt. I know about Lot getting drunk."

The brunette was dismissive, "It's just like being in school, you've got to understand the details before you can get the..."

"I know that Jesus was a good man, a great teacher," the blonde interjected. "But I don't know, being Son of God... I don't know, that's hard."

I had enough cheese, crackers, and carrot sticks. But I didn't want to leave. It would have been interesting to hear where the discussion went.

Where did this Jesus come from? What tree produced him? His fruit can seem exotic. We often honor his precepts, but resist his example. It is hard.

The closest synoptic parallels are Matthew 7:15-20 and Luke 6:43-45

Jesus said, "Be passers-by." (42 Thomas)

Be wanderers. Be sojourners. Be hitch-hikers.

Keep going. Keep moving. Don't settle down.

Continue to explore. Continue to seek.

Travel light. Take nothing with you. Find what you need on the road.

Be as family to strangers. Your neighbors are each you encounter.

We are only passing through this life. Our destination is elsewhere.

Jesus said, "Whoever has something in hand will be given more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little they have." (41 Thomas)

What is the something? Jesus is almost always discussing spiritual matters. Perhaps it is faith or hope or love. It might be poverty or mourning or mercy.

Whatever spiritual "thing" we have, it will be the source of abundance. We will receive more. In the canonical gospels it is implied more than we deserve.

But why would others be deprived of what little they have? The answer may be related to having something "in hand."

In the Hebrew scriptures to have something in hand - yad - is to be able to use it, apply it, fully experience it... not just to hold it.

Spiritual things can be superficial, ephemeral, even silly. If spiritual things are merely decoration or self-serving superstition they have no substance and quickly dissipate.

But when spiritual principles are put to work, when we build something with them, when we plant them in the soil of daily life, they begin to multiply.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands - O prosper the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:17)

The canonical parallels are Mark 4:21-25, Matthew 13:10-13, and Luke 19:11-27. Above is stained glass showing the symbols of St. Thomas: a carpenter's square, that he used as an architect and builder and a spear and arrows with which he was martyred.

Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its root and will perish." (40 Thomas)

If I had more understanding of Coptic I would want to consider the deeper meanings of "planted apart." Especially out of context the intention of the speaker can be difficult to discern.

My immediate sense is that apart means separated or detached. So I might think of religious traditions outside the Judeo-Christian experience. They will wither away?

The English word apart can also suggest independent, isolated, or alone. This might suggest individuals who, for whatever reason, are outside the community of faith. They are to be welcomed?

For twenty years I have tried to grow concord grapes on my mountainside. Shortly after the first vine was producing a few grapes a utility crew killed the vine with herbicide. Last year a late frost eliminated any chance of grapes from the new vine.

If I found a grapevine growing anywhere on my property I would either carefully replant it or I would protect and nurture it wherever it might be. Even if it was growing apart, I would go to it and care for it.

The canonical parallels are Matthew 15:10-20 and John 15:1-17.

Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves." (39 Thomas)

In Matthew's gospel these are two widely separated teachings. I find the combination in Thomas helpful and meaningful.

In Matthew 10:16 we read, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." But the wolves are not specified.

Above Jesus seems to target the wolves as those who have hidden the keys of knowledge. To reclaim the keys of knowledge we are encouraged to paradox.

We are to be as shrewd, sophisticated, anc stealthy as a serpent: the most common symbol of satan. But we are to do so with the innocence of a common symbol for the Holy Spirit.

Does this suggest the ends justify the means? I don't pretend to be sure. I am certain this is treacherous ground.

In the Garden with Eve and in the Wilderness with Jesus - perhaps scripture's most complete accounts of satan - the means employed are psychological persuasion.

In each setting the adversary encourages self-assertion and self-glorification. Eve succumbs. Jesus successfully resists through self-sacrifice and glorification of God.

When we encounter wolves - individuals who are greedy and selfish - we are allowed, even encouraged - to use these unfortunate motivations to advance God's intention.

But for us to avoid being trapped in our own shrewd snare we must be very careful that we deploy these persusasive tools in a spirit of self-sacrifice and service to God.

Jesus said, "Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me." (38 Thomas)

We have also been told, "seek and you will find, knock and the it will be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

Yet despite deep desire and sincere seeking we are sometimes separated from Jesus. We cannot hear him. We cannot find him.

In my own life such separation has, so far, been the result of my own choice. Jesus and I have been walking along when suddenly I turn a different way. I have left him, he has not left me.

We know too of saintly men and women who, despite remaining on the same path, tell of a painful separation that can last for years.

I suspect the seeming absense of Jesus depends on what aspect of Jesus we are seeking. If I am looking for sympathy, I may not perceive the gift of accountability... or the reverse.

The closest canonical parallel is John 7:32-36. Above is Thomas encountering the risen Christ from the church of St. George the Victorious in Edmonton, Canada.

His disciples said, "When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?" Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid." (37 Thomas)

In the second chapter of Genesis we read, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves."

We have eaten fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this knowledge is very seldom helpful to us. Despite what we know, we too often choose badly. We are left ashamed of ourselves.

There is nothing evil in nakedness. But there can be evil in seeking to possess another or denying our vulnerabilty to each other or in focusing our desires too narrowly. What we know is not nearly as helpful as how we relate to one another and especially how we are in relationship with God.

We are to be open with one another and with God. We are to love one another, God, and ourselves so deeply and naturally that even the frailities and foolishness of being naked will not make us ashamed, but only draw us closer.

Perhaps we will only see Jesus when we recognize Jesus in the nakedness, need, vulnerability, beauty, and glory of one another.