Child Of Zion

 

Here is a recent translation of Thomas’ gospel. As far as I know, this is a fair reflection of Jesus sayings when he was here. I am confident that the keys to the kingdom of God are hidden in these sayings of Jesus, so it seemed a good idea to present them as a permanent resource for anyone who frequents this site. I intend to arrange these sayings by subject in the future, and add scripture references and commentary where it seems appropriate. I will leave this article as it stands however, because if you are serious about seeking God, then you’re better off asking him than relying on anyone else for understanding.

Two things I would like to suggest to seekers; to keep the seventh day Sabbath holy, and obey Jesus in his instruction to “pray that our flight might not take place in winter or on the Sabbath,” which is a command that does not require understanding, only obedience. It is likely that these two acts of obedience are crucial to receiving understanding of God’s mysteries.

 

 

The Gospel of Thomas

 

These are the secret sayings spoken by the living Jesus and set down by Judas Thomas the twin

 

1. And he said: whoever interprets the sayings accurately shall not taste death.

2. Jesus said: Let him who seeks not cease until he finds. and, finding, he will be troubled. And, troubled, he will marvel. And he will reign over all.

3. Jesus said: If your leaders tell you, see, the kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of heaven will be before you. If they tell you, it is in the sea, then fish will be before you. But the kingdom is inside you and outside you. When you know yourselves you will be known; and you will know that you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, you live in poverty and you are poverty.

4. Jesus said: The man aged in his days will not hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and the man shall live. For many that are first shall be last and shall become a single one.

5. Jesus said: Know what is in front of you and what is hidden from you will be revealed.

6. His disciples questioned him, saying: Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give to charity? Shall we observe rules in our eating? Jesus said: Do not lie nor do what you hate. For all things are revealed before heaven. Nothing hidden will not be revealed, nothing covered will remain uncovered.

7. Jesus said: Blessed is the lion that the man eats, and the lion becomes man. Cursed is the man that the lion eats, and the lion becomes man.

8. And he said: Man is like a wise fisherman who casts his net into the sea and hauled it out filled with little fish. Amongst the them the wise fisherman found a large, fine fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea and had no trouble choosing the large one. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

9. Jesus said: Behold! A man went out to sow. He filled his hand with seed and scattered it. Some fell on the road and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell onto the rock and did not take root and produce heads of grain. Some fell on thorns which choked it; and worms consumed it. and some fell on good soil; it produced a good crop, yielding sixty or one hundred and twenty per measure.

10. Jesus said: I have thrown fire upon the world. And behold! I stand guard by it until it blazes.

11. Jesus said: This heaven will pass away, and the heaven beyond it likewise. The dead do not live nor will the living die. In the days when you ate what is dead, you made it alive. When you come into the light, what will you do? When you were one, you became two. But when you become two what will you do?

12. The disciples said to Jesus: We know that you will leave us. Who will be in charge after you? Jesus replied to them: When you are there, you shall go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.

13. Jesus said to his disciples: Compare me to something: What am i like? Simon peter answered: You are like a true messenger. Matthew answered: You are like a wise philosopher. Thomas answered : Master, I am completely unable to say what you are like. Jesus said: I am not your master. For you have drunk from and become drunk with the bubbling spring that I poured out. And he withdrew with him and said three things to him. When Thomas returned to his companions they asked him: What did Jesus tell you? Thomas answered them: If I tell you only one of the things he said you will take up stones and stone me; and the fire that come out of the stones will consume you.

14. Jesus said to them: If you fast you will bring sin upon yourselves, and, if you pray, you will receive condemnation, and, if you give charitably, you will hurt your spirits. If you go into a land, traversing its regions, eat what those who receive you put before you, and heal the sick among them. For you will not be defiled by what enters your mouth: it is what comes out that will defile you.

15. Jesus said: when you see someone not born of women, fall down upon your faces and worship. He is your father.

16. Jesus said: people may suppose I have come to impose peace on the world. They are not aware it is conflicts I have come to impose: 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 up each alone.

17. Jesus said: I shall give you what no eye has seen nor ear heard nor hand touched, what has not entered the human heart.

18. The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what our end will be. Jesus said: Have you found the beginning then that you are looking for the end? For where the beginning is the end shall be. Blessed is he who will stand at the beginning: He will know the end and not taste death.

19. Jesus said: Blessed is he who existed before his being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will be your servants. For you have five trees in paradise, unchanging in summer or winter; and their leaves do not fall. He who knows them will not taste death.

20. The disciples said to Jesus: Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like. He told them: It is like a mustard seed, the smallest seed of all. But when it falls on cultivated soil, it puts out a great shoot and becomes a shelter for heavens birds.

21. Mary said to Jesus: What are your disciples like? He answered: They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, give us our field back. They will strip off in front of them in order to return it to them, and will make restoration. So i say: If the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will not let him break into his house and steal his possessions. You then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves powerfully that thieves cannot find a means to come at you. For it will happen as you are expecting. Let there be a person of understanding amongst you. When the grain ripened, he came quickly, sickle in hand, and harvested it. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

22. Jesus saw some babies at the breast. He said to his disciples: These little ones being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to him, then if we are babies, then shall we enter the kingdom? Jesus told them: when you make the two into one, and the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper as the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that male will not be male nor female, female; when you make an eye in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter.

23. Jesus said: I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand. And they will stand as a single one.

24. His disciples said: Teach us of the place where you are, for we must go in search of it. He told them: Who has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and it sheds light for the whole world. If it sheds no light then there is darkness.

25. Jesus said: Love your brother as your soul: keep him as the apple of your eye.

26. Jesus said: You see the mote in your brothers eye, but not the beam in your own. When you take that beam out of your own eye, then will your sight be sufficient to take the mote out of your brothers.

27. If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not keep the sabbath as sabbath, you will not see the father.

28. Jesus said: I stood in the midst of the world and appeared in flesh to them. I found them all drunk and none of them thirsting. My soul was in pain for the sons of men for they are blind in their hearts and do not see. They came empty into the world and came seeking also to depart empty from it. But now they are drunk. When they have shaken off their wine they will repent.

29. Jesus said: If the flesh has come into being because of the spirit, it is a wonder. But if the spirit has come into being because of the flesh, it is a wonder of wonders. Yet I marvel how this great wealth has appeared in this poverty.

30. Jesus said; Where there are three gods, they are gods. Where there are two or one, I am with him.

31. Jesus said; No prophet is accepted in his own village. A doctor does not heal those who know him.

32. Jesus said; A city built and fortified upon a high mountain cannot fall nor can it remain hidden.

33. Jesus said; What you hear in your ear, proclaim from your rooftops. For no man lights a lamp and sets it under a bushel nor puts it in a hidden place. No, he sets it on a stand so that all who come and go will see it’s light.

34. Jesus said; If one blind man leads another, they will both fall into a ditch.

35. Jesus said; No one can enter a strong man’s house and take it by force without tying his hands. Then he can plunder his house.

36. Jesus said; Do not worry from morning to evening or evening to morning what you will put on.

37. His disciples said; When will you be revealed to us, and when will we see you? Jesus said; When you take off your clothes without shame and place them beneath your feet like little children and trample on them, then you will see the son of the living one without fear.

38. Jesus said; Often have you desired to hear these words that I am saying to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. The days will come when you will seek me and not find me.

39. Jesus said; The Pharisees and the Scribes have received the keys of knowledge and hidden them. They have not entered nor permitted those to do so who desired to. But as for you, be wise as servants and innocent as doves.

40. Jesus said; A vine has been planted away from the father. But as it has not strengthened, it will be pulled up by it’s roots and be destroyed.

41. Jesus said; He who has something in his hand will be given more. And he who has not will be deprived even of the little that he has.

42. Jesus said; Be passers – by.

43. His disciples said to him; Who are you to say these things to us? Jesus answered; You do not recognize who I am from what I say. No, you have become like the Jews. For they love the tree and hate it’s fruit, or they love the fruit and hate the tree.

44. Jesus said; He who blasphemes against the father will be forgiven. And he who blasphemes against the son will be forgiven. But he who blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, neither on earth nor in heaven.

45. Jesus said; They do not gather grapes from thorns nor figs from thistles, for they yeild no fruit. A good man brings forth good from his storehouse. A bad man brings forth evil from the evil storehouse of his heart and says evil things. For out of his heart’s abundance he brings forth evil.

46. Jesus said; From Adam to John the Baptist none born of women is greater than John the Baptist so that he should avert his gaze. But I have said that whoever among you becomes as a child will know the kingdom and be greater than John.

47. Jesus said; A man cannot ride two horses nor draw two bows. A servant cannot serve two masters or he will honor one and disrespect the other. A man does not drink matured wine and immediately desire to drink the new. Nor is new wine poured into old skins for fear they burst. Nor is matured wine poured into new skins for fear it spoil. An old patch is not sewn on to a new garment for it would tear.

48. Jesus said; If two make peace with one another in this one house, they will say to the mountain, Move, and it will move.

49. Jesus said; Blessed are the solitary and the chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you came from it and you will return to it again.

50. Jesus said; If they say to you, Where have you come from? Tell them, We have come from the light, from where light came into being from itself. It came and showed itself in their image. If they say to you, Is it you? Answer, We are his sons, the chosen ones of the living father. If they ask you, What is the sign of the father in you? Answer, It is movement, and repose.

51. His disciples said to him, When will the rest of the dead happen, and when will the new world come? He said to them, What you are waiting for has come, but you do not know it.

52. His disciples said to him, Twenty four prophets spoke in Israel, and they spoke of you. He said to them, You have disregarded the one who is alive before you and have spoken of the dead.

53. His disciples said to him, Is circumcision of benefit or not? He said to them, If it were of benefit, fathers would beget their children from their mothers circumcised. But the true circumcision in spirit has become wholly profitable.

54. Jesus said; Blessed are the poor for yours is the kingdom of heaven.

55. Jesus said; whoever does not hate his mother and his father cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross as I do will not be worthy of me.

56. Jesus said; He who has known the world has found a corpse, and he who has found a corpse, the world is not worthy of him.

57. Jesus said; The fathers kingdom is like a man who had good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed a weed among the good seed. The man did not let them pull out the weed. He said to them, No, in case you pull out the weed and the wheat with it. For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be easy to see and will be pulled out and burned.

58. Jesus said; Blessed is the man who has labored. He has found life.

59. Jesus said; Look on the living one as long as you live, in case you die and try to see him and cannot.

60. They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples, Why does he carry the lamb? They said to him, So that he may kill it and eat it. He said to them, While it is alive he will not eat it, but only if he kills it and it becomes a corpse. They said, Otherwise he will be unable to. He said to them, You also, seek for yourselves a place of rest, or you may become a corpse and become eaten.

61. Jesus said; Two will rest upon a couch. One will die, the other live. Salome said, Who are you, man? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table, as if you have come from someone. Jesus said to her, I am the one who comes from what is whole To me it was given out of the things of my father. Salome said, I am your disciple. Jesus said, Therefore I saywhen one is whole one will be filled with light, but when one is divided, one will be filled with darkness.

62. Jesus said; I reveal my mysteries to to those worthy of my mysteries. What your right hand does, let not your left hand know.

63. Jesus said; There was a rich man possessed of much money. He said, I will use my money so that I may sow, reap and plant, and I will fill my storehouses with fruit that I may want for nothing. These were the thoughts in his heart. And that night he died. Who has ears, let him hear.

64. Jesus said; A man was receiving guests. And when he had prepared the dinner he sent his servannt to invite the guests. He went to the first and said to him, My master invites you. He answered him, Some money of mine is in the hands of some merchants. They are coming to me this evening. I will go and give them their orders. I beg to be excused from the dinner. He went to another and said to him, My master invites you. He answered, I have bought a house and they require a day’s attendance from me. I shall not have time. He went to another and said to him, My master Invites you. He answered him, My friend is going to be married, and I am to organize the dinner. I am unable to come. I beg to be excused from the dinner. He went to another and said to him, My master invites you. He answered, I have bought a village and am going to collect the rent. I shall be unable to come. I beg to be excused. He went and said to his master, Those you invited to the dinner have begged to be excused. The master answered his servant, Go out on to the roads, and bring back anyone you can find to have dinner. Neither the buyers nor the merchants will enter the places of my father.

65. He said; A man had a vineyard. He gave it to husbandmen that they might work it and he receive the produce from them. He sent his servant so that the husbandmen might give him the produce of the vineyard. They seized his servant, they beat him and almost killed him. The servant came and told his master. His master said, Perhaps they did not know him. He sent another servant, and the husbandmen beat him also. Then the master sent his son. He said, Perhaps they will respect my son. Those husbandmen, knowing he was the heir to the vineyard, seized him and killed. He who has ears let him hear.

66. Jesus said; Show me the stone that the builders rejected. It is the cornerstone.

67. Jesus said; He who knows all but is lacking in himself is altogether lacking.

68. Jesus said; Blessed are you when they hate you and persecute you and find no place, wherever you have been persecuted.

69. Jesus said; Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their hearts. They are those who have truly known the father. Blessed are those who hunger that the stomach of him who wishes it may be filled.

70. Jesus said; When you bring forth what is inside you, what you have will save you. When you do not have that inside you, what you do not have will kill you.

71. Jesus said; I shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it again.

72. A man said to him; Speak to my brothers that they may divide my fathers possessions with me. He answered him; Man, who made me a divider? He turned to his disciples and said to them; I am not a divider, am I?

73. Jesus said; The harvest is indeed great but the workers are few.. But beg the master that he may send out workers to the harvest.

74. He said; Master, there are many around the well, but no one in the well.

75. Jesus said; There are many standing at the door, but it is the solitary that will enter the bridal chamber.

76. Jesus said; The kingdom of the father is like a merchant who had a load of merchandize, and found a pearl. The merchant was wise. He sold the load and bought for himself a single pearl. You also, seek for his treasure that does not cease but endures, where no moth arrives to devour, nor worm destroys.

77. Jesus said; I am the light that is over everything. I am everything. Everything has come forth from me, and everything has reached up to me. Split a piece of wood. I am there. Raise up the stone, and you will find me there.

78. Jesus said; Why did you come into the field? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man dressed in soft clothing? …Your kings and potentates are dressed in soft clothing, and they will not be able to know the truth.

79. A woman in the crowd said to him; Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you. He said to her; Blessed are those who have heard the word of my father and have truly kept it. For there will be a time when you will say; Blessed is the womb that has not conceived, and the breasts that have not given milk.

80. Jesus said; He who has known the world has found the body, and of him who has found the body the world is not worthy.

81. Jesus said; Let him who has become rich become king, and him who has power put it away.

82. Jesus said; He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom.

83. Jesus said; Images are manifest to a man, and the light within them is concealed in the image of the light of the father. He will be revealed, but his image is concealed by his light.

84. Jesus said; When you see your likeness, you are glad. But when you see you images that came into being before you, and that do not die nor become manifest, how much can you bear?

85. Jesus said; Adam came into being from great power and wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For if he had been found worthy, he would not have tasted death.

86. Jesus said; Foxes have their holes and birds have their nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head, and rest.

87. Jesus said; Wretched is the body that depends on a body, and wretched is the soul that depends on these two.

88. Jesus said; The angels and the prophets will come to you and give you what is yours. And you also, give them what you have, and say to yourselves; When are they coming to take what is theirs?

89. Jesus said; Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not see that he who made the inside is also he who made the outside?

90. Jesus said; Come to me, for my yoke is easy and my lordship gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.

91. They said to him; Tell us who you are that we might believe in you. He said to them; You study the face of heaven and earth. But you do not recognize him who is before you. Nor do you know how to study this moment.

92. Jesus said; Seek and you will find. In those days the things you asked me about I did not tell you. Now I am willing to tell them, but you do not seek them.

93. Jesus said; Do not give what is holy to the dogs in case they throw them on the dung heap. Do not throw pearls before swine in case they…..

94. Jesus said; He who seeks will find, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

95. Jesus said; If you have money, do not lend it at interest. But give it to him who will not return it to you.

96. Jesus said; The fathers kingdom is like a woman who took a little yeast and hid it in dough and made large loaves from it. He who has ears, let him hear.

97. Jesus said; The fathers kingdom is like a woman carrying a jar filled with meal on a long walk. The handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her on the road. She failed to notice her loss. When she reached her home, she put down the jar and found it empty.

98. Jesus said; The fathers kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill someone powerful. At home he drew his sword and drove it into the wall to find out the strength of his hand. Then he killed the powerful man.

99. The disciples said to him; Your brothers and your mother are standing outside. He answered them; Those here who fulfill the will of my father are my brothers and my mother. It is they who will enter my father’s kingdom.

100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him; Caesar’s men demand tribute from us. He answered them; Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, give to God the things that are God’s, and give to me what is mine.

101. Jesus said; He who does not hate his father and his mother as I do cannot be a disciple of mine. And he who does not love his father and his mother as I do cannot be a disciple of mine. For my mother….. but my true mother gave me life.

102. Jesus said; Woe to them, the Pharisees. For they are like a dog sleeping in a cattle manger. It neither eats nor lets the cattle eat.

103. Jesus said; Blessed is he who knows to what part the robbers are coming, so that he may get up, gather his…. and arm himself before they arrive.

104. They said to Jesus; Come, let us pray today and fast. Jesus answered; Then what sin have I committed or how have I been worsted? But when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, that is the time that they should fast and pray.

105. Jesus said; He who knows father and mother will be called the son of a prostitute.

106. Jesus said; When you make the two into one, you will become sons of man. And when you say, “Mountain, move,” it will be moved.

107. Jesus said; The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. The largest of them wandered off. He left the ninety-nine and searched after the one till he had found it. After this effort he said to the sheep, I love you more than the ninety-nine.

108. Jesus said; He who drinks from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.

109. Jesus said; The kingdom is like a man who had in his field a hidden treasure of which he was unaware. And after his death he left it to his son. The son was also unaware, and after taking possession of the field, he sold it. The purchaser came and ploughrd it and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to anyone he chose.

110. Jesus said; Let the man who has found the world and become rich renounce the world.

111. Jesus said; The heavens and the earth will be rolled up before you. And he who is living in the living one will not see death. For Jesus says; Of him who finds himself, the world is not worthy.

112. Jesus said;Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul. Woe to the soul that depends on the flesh.

113. His disciples said to him; When will the kingdom come? Jesus said; It does not come by one’s looking for it. They will not say, “Look, here!” or “Look, there!” But the fathers kingdom is spread out over the earth, and people fail to see it.

114. Simon Peter said to them; Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of the life. Jesus said; Look, I shall lead her, so as to bring her to maleness, that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

The Forgotten Gospels, Tim Newton, published by Constable and Robinson Ltd, London, 2009.

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