"The Palestinian dilemma, and the return."
Gospel of Thomas: Saying #37
His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us and when shall we see
you?"
Jesus said, "When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments
and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then you
will see the son of the living one, and you will not be afraid."
Here Jesus was saying to his disciples that his return would not be in this
life but in a subsequent one, after the disciples have once again been
children. For it is only by being children that one can enter the Fathers
kingdom.
Gospel of Thomas: Saying # 21
Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?"
He said, "They are like children who have settled in a field that is not
theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'let us have back our
field.' They will undress in their presence in order to let them have back
their and to give it back to them. Therefore I say; if the owner of a house
knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and
will not let him dig through into his house of his domain to carry away his
goods. You then be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great
strength lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which
you expect will surely materialize. Let there be among you a man of
understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his
hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."
Note: The passage in saying # 21 that alludes to the interlopers in the field
that "undress" to allow the original owners back onto the disputed field…is a
direct reference to the passage in saying # 37 that gave the apostles a timed
"cue" as to when the "son of the living one" would return. The disputed
Palestinian territories and the hotly contested Capital of Jerusalem are the
backdrop to this parable and the "cue" to this hidden prophecy.
Be armed with great strength, for wisdom silences a thousand guns.
JIM
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