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Only those having a child-like sense of openness, wonder, and imagination will be able enter the Divine power space.
Only those like children will welcome me and experience Divine Home-Energy.
Only those like children will welcome me and experience Divine Home-Energy.
(July 9, 2022) Mark 9:33-37, Mark 10:13-16 (negative version), John 13:20, John 12:44-45, Thomas 46, Thomas 22; Validity = 1.7 (Mark copied in Matthew 10:40-42, Matthew 18:1-5, Luke 9:46-48, Luke 10:16)
This authentic teaching of Jesus comes in independent positive and negative forms with the negative form using the words "not" or "never." The two forms also come with different contextual spins. Yet both forms are associated with the example of a child except in the Gospel of John which does not accept the idea that the developing the sacred space is dependent on human action. In contrast, Thomas only has the children reference because that tradition could not imagine that Jesus would not be welcomed.
Grafting a spiritual way of life onto the existing rule base way of life would have been the first reaction Jesus' new followers. Yet Jesus was pointing out that this does not really work. Eventually the demands of the spirit will conflict with some rule. People cannot simply modify their old rule-based religion with a kinder, gentler spiritual approach. They must make a compete break with dogmatic rules in order to come into alignment with the Divine.
The New Path of the Spirit does not Mix with the Old Path of the Law.
The New Path of the Spirit does not Mix with the Old Path of the Law.
(July 9, 2022) Mark 2:21-22, Q (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13), Thomas 47; Validity = 1.02
This teaching has thee components which have been clustered together in the sources. These are:
- An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear.
- Young wine is not poured into old wine-skins, or they might break
- No one can serve two masters
Only Thomas has all three. The other sources have two out of the three. Like many other authentic teachings of Jesus, this teaching became orphaned and could not be understood in the context of apocalyptic Christianity.
The Q source only preserved the teaching about serving two masters because it was spun in such a way so that is could be understood by apocalyptic Christians which is that a person cannot serve both money and God. In contrast, Thomas spins it as a slave who cannot honor each master equally. Because each spin is only attested in one source it is a product of that source's oral tradition and not part of a real Jesus teaching.
Jesus saw that legalism contrary to following a spiritual life having the life goals (virtues) 0f connection, balance, and growth. While rules have their place as quick guidelines they are secondary to the virtues. As Christianity became more apocalyptic it became more legalistic. Still the nature based spirituality of the European Pagan past and the teachings of Jesus kept spirituality alive in the west. That did not happen in China which went legalistic with the teachings of Confucius (551–479 BCE) with the consequences that continue to be seen today. The above image references legalism's occurrence in ancient China. (image from https://www.slideshare.net/eben_cooke/3-chinese-belief-systems)
Watch out for the Teachers of the Law.
Watch out for the Teachers of the Law.
(July 9, 2022) Mark 12:38-40, Q (Matthew 23:1-6, Luke 11:42-46), Thomas 39, Thomas 102: Validity = 1.25 (Luke 20:45-47 is copied from Mark)
Jesus warned about the teachers of the law but why he did so is not exactly clear. Most likely he followed the explanation given in Thomas about how they actively opposed the spiritual path based teachings of Jesus in favor of their rule based approach. After Christians became rule based themselves this reasoning no longer made sense so Christians adopted other reasons such as the Pharasees being attention seekers and oppressors of the poor.
This idea of hypocrisy among the Pharisees became a popular one in the New Testament being further developed in Mark and Luke but mostly in Matthew (Mark 7:6, Matthew 6:2, 6:5, 6:16, 15:7, 22:18, 23:13-29, 24:51, Luke 12:56, Luke 13:15). None of these supposed teaching have enough validity to claim that Jesus actually taught them. Also, all these entries except for Matthew chapter 23 have an apocalyptic spin showing that they developed late. Yet even if we did not have this original teaching we could still discern that Jesus said something about the hypocrisy of Pharisees just from these many late developing oral traditions.
"You will know them by their fruit. "San Jose, California flood relief workers.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. People to not pick figs from thistles and grapes from thorn-bushes.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. People to not pick figs from thistles and grapes from thorn-bushes.
(July 9, 2022) Q (Matthew 12:33-37, Luke 6:43-45), Matthew 7:16-20, Thomas 45; Validity = 0.93
If people do not have to follow rules how can one determine a quality person? The answer is that you know people by their fruit which has the following characteristics as described by the Apostle Paul:
(Galatians 5:22 , NIV) But the fruit ( karpos ) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Both Matthew sources put an apocalyptic spin to this teaching not not found in the other sources. The Matthew Q source inserts a phrase about the Day of Judgement while Matthew's own oral tradition inserts a phrase about "bad trees" which represent Israel being cut down and thrown into the fire. The judicial murder of Jesus' brother James in 62 C.E. by the Jerusalem temple authorities poisoned this Jerusalem community's relationship with their fellow Jews and forced them into exile. This community's outlook is reflected in Matthew
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