The Gospel of Thomas Fully Interpreted: Logion 51 to 60
Logion 51
His disciples said to him, “When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?” He said to them, “What you look forward to has already come, but you do not recognize it.”
Interpretation:
There are those who have studied and learned every word of the scriptures, but without the spiritual understanding of them, they are only able to interpret those scriptures literally. This leads them to believe that the scriptures speak only of the things of this material realm. It is because of this that they believe that they are in and of this world. They believe that they are physical beings, and that heaven is a place in this material realm/universe. People with such beliefs are regarded as the ignorant and dead; ignorant because they do not understand the Truth or the Holy Spirit or the Light of Understanding.
The disciples had looked forward to receiving the spirit, and through understanding the receiving of peace. They were also waiting for the new world (kingdom) to come.
They had already received the Light of Understanding from Jesus, and their inner world had already changed, but they had not recognized these things.
That which is most obvious is usually the most difficult to recognize.
Logion 52
His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them spoke in you.” He said to them, “You have omitted the one living in your presence and have spoken (only) of the dead.”
Interpretation:
The Twenty-four prophets are the Twenty-four elders who all spoke in the name of Truth, but they did not possess the Spirit of Truth, which is the light of spiritual understanding, because of this they were regarded as dead.
Jesus possessed the Word and the Spirit, and so he was the one living.
It is written that the word without the spirit is a dead letter.
The letter kills, the spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV.
Knowledge without understanding results in ignorance. When that knowledge is of spiritual things and is absent of understanding, then it is the Self’s soul that is in peril.
Logion 53
His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision beneficial or not?” He said to them, “If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable.”
Interpretation:
The message here is that physical circumcision is not natural, if it were they would be born already circumcised. It is actually MGM, male genital mutilation. Physical circumcision may be beneficial physically, but it is not beneficial spiritually.
Spiritual circumcision is the overcoming of the soul’s basic instinct, of wanting to fulfil its unrighteous desire with the unrighteous mind, which then gives birth to unrighteous spirits. It is that type of mind that in the Book of Revelation is referred to as the whore of Babylon.
Logion 54
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.”
Interpretation:
Blessed are the poor, for they are neither merchants nor businessmen who lust after the things of this world. Such souls will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Anyone can be wealthy and powerful in this world, but only if they are prepared to give up their empathy, and therefore their conscience first.
Is it not written Mark 8:36 KJV: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
See also in Matthew 5:3 KJV: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Logion 55
Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in my way will not be worthy of me.”
Interpretation:
Whoever does not hate the unrighteous part of his desire (father), and the ignorant part of his mind (mother), cannot become a disciple to me.
And whoever does not hate his soul companions who have unrighteous desire and ignorant minds, and be prepared to suffer and be sacrificed in my way will not be worthy of; the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Logion 56
Jesus said, “Whoever has come to understand the world has found (only) a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world.”
Interpretation:
Whoever has come to understand the world will have realized that there is no Spirit of Understanding in it.
It is the Spirit that gives Life, and so without the Spirit, all that remains is that which is a corpse.
Whoever has within them the Spirit of Understanding has Life, and that which has life is superior to that which does not.
The dead rule this outer world, but the living rule their own inner world.
Logion 57
Jesus said, “The kingdom of the father is like a man who had good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The man did not allow them to pull up the weeds; he said to them, ‘I am afraid that you will go intending to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.’ For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be plainly visible, and they will be pulled up and burned.”
Interpretation:
This logion is a shortened version of the parable of the tares (weeds) of the field. The full version is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30 KJV.
In Matthew 13:36 KJV the multitudes were sent away and the disciples then asked Jesus to declare (make clear) to them the parable of the tares.
In Matthew 23:37-39 KJV Jesus makes clear seven aspects of the parable: He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
We can now look at each of those aspects separately and I will reveal their meanings.
- He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
The Son of man is a reference to the soul that is the first and True Image of the Self. It is the image of Truth, righteous desire, and Understanding. It is the True Image of the Self as a God, and that image is referred to as a soul.
Jesus was the Truth, and his teachings were the seeds of Truth. When those seeds were received by souls that possessed righteous desire, they too grew in Love, Truth and Understanding and became sons of God.
In John 1:12-13 KJV it is written: But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
- The field is the world
The field is the surface of the subconscious mind, it exists within, and that surface is the place where the lower part of the conscious mind ends. This lower part of the conscious mind is the domain that the Self’s soul was given to rule over. The inner spiritual world is likened to the material world, which is divided into three. There is the earth, the atmosphere and the space above the atmosphere.
- the good seed are the children of the kingdom.
The good seed are the souls that have received the seeds of Truth and have themselves become the Truth. They are the children of the kingdom of heaven. They are the children of the Self’s righteous desire and the enlightened mind.
- the tares are the children of the wicked one
The tares are the children of unrighteous desire and the ignorant mind that has no Light of Understanding. They are not a True Image of the Self.
- The enemy that sowed them is the devil
The devil is a reference to unrighteous desire, which exists in the divided heart.
- the harvest is the end of the world
The end of the world is the end of the soul’s journey of learning; a journey in search of Truth and Understanding. The harvest is the gathering in of knowledge, which is food for the soul. It is a time of judgement where good is separated from evil, a time of choice where all things become undivided once more. It is the end of the tribulation. It is where the final battle ends and the soul becomes the conqueror.
- the reapers are the angels
It is fitting that this is the seventh, because it is about the Self’s and the souls righteous spirits (angels). They are the spirits that each give their Light of Truth to the soul, thereby enlightening it and giving it everlasting Life.
In logion 40 to 43 speaks of how the soul is filled with righteous passion and how that passion burns up all that is not good and right in its kingdom.
The souls that are the children of unrighteous desire will be exposed to all, and their reign of unrighteousness will be ended. They will be left with nothing and no-one to deceive. Their wailing and gnashing of teeth will be because they will realize that their souls will be extinguished after they leave their physical bodies, therefore their whole life journey was worthless.
Whoever has the Spirit of Understanding let him understand.
Logion 58
Jesus said, “Blessed is the man who has suffered and found life.”
Interpretation:
Unfulfilled desire is the cause of all the soul’s sufferings and the most difficult of desires for the soul to fulfil is the desire for Understanding.
Blessed is the soul that has questioned the knowledge that he has and has found Understanding (life).
Cursed is the soul that has not questioned the knowledge that he has, and therefore is content with ignorance, and therefore death.
If you seek and continue seeking you will suffer along the way, but you will find Understanding (life).
Faith in knowledge without Understanding is no more than blind faith, and it is the soul that is blinded. Blind faith is no more than a crutch for the spiritually crippled.
If those who teach you prevent you from questioning the knowledge that they give you, then it is not to Life that they lead you but to death.
Truth has no fear of questioning. Neither do those who understand it.
Life is worth suffering for, death is not.
Seek and you will find.
See also in 1 Peter 4:1 KJV: Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.
Logion 59
Jesus said, “Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see him and be unable to do so.”
Interpretation:
Pay attention to righteous desire while you have understanding, lest you lose your understanding and seek to see him and be unable to do so.
It is when the soul loses its understanding that it begins to question whether righteous desire is of benefit or a hindrance to the soul. It can no longer discern the value of Love or why it believed in it.
It is when the soul seeks the understanding of righteous desire which it once possessed that the dark night of the soul begins.
The question that the soul seeks an answer to is; was I a fool for putting the souls of others before my own pleasure and possessions, or was it the right thing to do? Did I suffer for nothing or for something?
Look at this world the way it is and what it should be like, and logic alone will make you realize that Love is the only Way.
Logion 60
<They saw> a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples, “That man is round about 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 when he has killed it and it has become a corpse.” They said to him, “He cannot do so otherwise.” He said to them, “You too, look for a place for yourself within repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten.”
Interpretation of:
This logion is quite big and so I will break it down and explain each part separately.
<They saw> a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea.
Samaritans are described as:
Guardians/Keepers/Watchers of the Torah/Law. In other words; The Old Testament.
The lamb is likened to the Spirit of Understanding.
Judea is a reference to the Kingdom, whose capital is Jerusalem. It is likened to the Kingdom of Heaven and the New Jerusalem that will come down from Heaven.
Interpretation of:
He said to his disciples, “That man is round about the lamb.”
This means that the soul of the Samaritan was embracing the Spirit of Understanding.
Interpretation of:
They said to him, “So that he may kill it and eat it.”
Notice that this was not a question, it was a statement.
The disciples knew that the Samaritan had already consumed the knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures, (the Word) and it had become part of his soul, but the Samaritan had not yet consumed the Spirit of Understanding, which gives life to the Word.
The disciples knew that the only reason the Samaritan was carrying the Spirit of Understanding was so that he could kill it and eat it. This is because he was unable to comprehend the Light of Understanding in the Spirit, and so that Light which is the Life would have to be removed before he could consume it, and make it a part of his soul.
Interpretation of:
He said to them, “While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse.”
While the Spirit of Understanding contains the Light of Life, the Samaritan will not be able to consume it, because it would cause a conflict with his materialistic beliefs. Only when he has removed the Light from the Understanding and it has become a corpse (dead) will he be able to consume it and make it a part of his soul.
The Word is the Truth, but it is the Spirit of Understanding that gives Life to the Word. Life can only come from Life, and so that which does not possess Life is dead.
Every soul and every spirit is regarded as dead if it does not possess the Light of Understanding, and those who are unable to see the Light are regarded as blind.
Of what worth is any knowledge or any soul without the Spirit of Understanding?
Interpretation of:
They said to him, “He cannot do so otherwise.”
The disciples understood and they were in agreement.
Interpretation of:
He said to them, “You too, look for a place for yourself within repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten.”
The place within where repose (rest) is found is in the soul that possesses Truth and Understanding. Without the Spirit of Understanding the soul becomes a corpse that is eaten by death. So the message is; look within your soul for understanding.