Gospel of Thomas: Thomas 98

Thomas 98:   Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one.”

In Thomas 98, we see Yeshua reveal a metaphoric action, where a person had the desire to destroy something powerful. This person is symbolic of the collective consciousness (Holy Spirit), because it links God, the Father/Source to the Son (all sentient beings). The collective consciousness is the invisible Light, it has intention, and it is the conduit between all dimensions. It is not the nature of the Holy Spirit and the Source to want to kill anything. This is an abhorrent and negative action, which is not the way of the Spirit realm. The material universe thrives on chaos. Violence and death are necessary mechanisms of its evolution. This can be seen throughout the animal kingdom and through people of dubious ambition, seeking control and power. These traits are an aspect of the lion, which Yeshua refers to in Thomas 7. The action of killing, we see in Thomas 98, is therefore a metaphoric one. It represents the ending of a powerful hold on those whom the Source seeks to join with—the ones most loved (Thomas 107).

In the second line of Thomas 98, the person tests the way the Light of the Father could be realised in this realm, a realm unlike Its own nature. The thrust into the wall was the Light of the Source searching for a place to aggregate in this physical realm (the powerful one). This became the breath of life within human beings. The breath of life is ‘the sword’ entering into this dimension, from the realm of the Spirit—the stable element, the inner layer, penetrating through into this unstable one. The purpose was to inspire particular souls to create a path to God, the Source. This was done to find out whether his hand would go in—the ‘hand’ is Yeshua. In the symbol of this sword, we see messengers and prophets as the part of the sword known as the ‘edge’. The edge cuts through the wall (the physical barriers found in this realm). This action has nothing to do with physical violence. It is an ideological and metaphoric battle, similar to what we see between the Christian orthodoxy and what we see here, in the Gospel of Thomas (see commentary for Thomas 16). In 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree we see Yeshua release the sword and open His hand for humans to grasp onto.

The very tip of the sword, known as the ‘point’, represents the first evolving primates. When primates had the capacity to think in abstract terms, create tools, music, dance, and draw images, this was the soul forming within humans (the flesh). Closest to the handle we have the raised middle known as the ‘fuller’, giving the sword weight and strength as it meets the ‘cross guard’, which separates the handle grip from the blade. The fuller and cross guard are representative of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, who sought to remove suffering in this life. Finally the handle, where the hand (Yeshua) grips the sword, was John the Baptist, who heralded the entry of Yeshua into this realm. Why did this ‘thrust’ into the wall take so long to complete? Under the mechanisms of evolution, which required time to create bodies capable of abstract concepts, the sword penetrated very slowly. Logical, since time in the Spirit realm is experienced as a whole, rather than a linear progression of physical light in this realm.

In the last line of Thomas 98, Yeshua tells us that the action of the collective consciousness (Holy Spirit) ‘killed the powerful one.’ The action of placing His hand (Yeshua) into this realm, had a significant result for humanity. The powerful one is something humans find very alluring. It is this material world and everything people experience in it, both good and bad (see commentary for Thomas 7). The gratifying experiences humans have in this life give momentary pleasures. Typically, it stops them from considering if there is anything better. This life often prevents people from comprehending what Yeshua means when He says to ‘live’ or to ‘taste death’. The negative experiences humans have in this life make them begrudge their predicament. They may become envious of others who are in a better emotional, financial, or social position. This is another aspect of the lion in Thomas 7. When Yeshua (the hand of God, the Source) entered into this realm, He destroyed the notion that this is the first life we have, and the last. When Yeshua placed the flesh that clothed Him on the cross, He killed the powerful one with that weapon. This is what Yeshua came to do and this sword is the kind the lion fears most.

The Last Supper (described in the New Testament) carries a strong message, which relates to the story within Thomas 98. When Yeshua speaks about His body and blood being consumed by us, we suddenly realise what this symbolic action means. It is about sustaining the Soul, in order to kill the powerful one. His Body is the knowledge that carries us through this realm—to mature into an enlightened Spirit. After all, it is while we are in the physical body that we aggregate the Father’s Light. Our physical movement through this realm involves learning and growth (Thomas 86). It is not an accident that we see Yeshua’s body as the bread, which is linked to the establishment of this realm, in Thomas 96 and 97. These are symbolic analogies and threads. Through consuming the wisdom He brings us, we are sustained and we are made strong in Spirit. The knowledge of truth becomes our metaphysical body.

Yeshua’s blood is symbolic of the Light that is over all things and flows through everything (Thomas 77). It is active through the Holy Spirit—the collective consciousness, linking all benevolent Spirits. Yeshua says His blood is the wine we drink—we see in Thomas 47 it is the new wine, which must not be spoiled by other, man-made, ideologies. Unlike bread, which is sustenance, ensuring life, wine is an added pleasure. It can emulate euphoria, akin to the feeling of being connected to the Source, through the collective consciousness. The sensation a glass of wine may also bring is similar to the calm and relaxed feeling people have when they are connected to the Source. There is a danger of becoming intoxicated—we see this in Thomas 28. This is the paradox and the fine line humans walk on in this world. It is an aspect of the powerful one, which represents the desire for quick and convenient solutions. This is characteristic of a person’s physical existence. Through this analogy, we see that keeping the material and spiritual realms separate is necessary, otherwise we start to impose one on the other. This is when people create sin for themselves, through the mechanisms of ritual and dogma. The wine people have become drunk on is evident in the apostles’ questions to Yeshua: ‘Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?’ (Thomas 6). The new wine and bread is here, in Yeshua, through the Gospel of Thomas, carried in the new wine skin, which is 77^th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree (Thomas 47).

Go to audio extracts from 77th Pearl: The Perpetual Tree on YouTube