Beyond the Walls, an online inclusive church service, sometimes goes outside traditional scripture to find its pearls. For two Sundays in October, this means contemplating the Gospel of Thomas. In 1945, a complete manuscript of this gospel was discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt. It contains 114 sayings of Jesus, overlaps with parables in the canonical gospels, and is generally understood to be a Gnostic text.
On October 4th, I gave a sermon focused on Saying 97, which depicts a woman journeying home with a jar of flour. Without her realizing, the jar breaks open and spills the meal. Only when she reaches home does she realize what happened. It’s one of those parables that makes you scratch your head, especially because the Gospel of Thomas offers no interpretation. What is more, the Gospel of Thomas claims to provide secret sayings which, if interpreted correctly, will bring the reader eternal life. So interpretation seems kind of important 🤔
What is the Kingdom of the Father like?
Here is video of the sermon (about 15 minutes), preceded by a reading of sayings 82, and 96-97. One need not have read the Gospel of Thomas to consider this excerpt. Jump right in and have a look:
Questions for Wheat & Tares Readers
Have you read the Gospel of Thomas? What are your thoughts on its teachings?
What scripture from outside the standard works/Biblical canon have you previously encountered? What did you like? What did you find problematic?
Do you have a favorite saying of Jesus, from any gospel? Why is it your favorite?
I have read the Nag Hammadi texts. My take is that Gnosticism is exemplary of the mysticism that is part of most world religions. I find some elements fascinating and others nonsensical. But then again, Buddhist koans still bewilder me.
One oral tradition about Jesus comes to us (if I remember correctly) from the Sufi tradition. It tells of an event in which Jesus and his disciples were on the outskirts of Jerusalem walking on the road. They come across the carcass of a dead dog. The disciples are repulsed be the odor and sight of decay.
Jesus’ response is very positive, and he admires the beauty of the dog’s teeth, embedded in the decaying skull, comparing them to pearls. The story implies that Jesus seemed hardwired to recognize the positive, even in a situation with overwhelming negatives.