A Historical Jesus

A Historical Jesus
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The Good News According to Thomas

2.1 Those who seek shouldn't give up until they find.

4.1 Many of the first will be last.

5.1 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing covered up that will not be exposed.

9.1-5 Pay attention: A sower went out with a handful of seeds and scattered them around. Some seeds fell on the ground and were eaten by the birds. Other seeds fell on the rock and so they did not take root in the soil and produce grain. Other seeds fell among the thorns and were suffocated and eaten by insects. But other seeds fell on good soil which produced a good crop. It yielded between sixty and a hundred grains per measure.

10.1 I have set the world alight and, look, I'm tending it until it burns properly.

14.4 When you visit a place, when you travel around, when people give you a place to stay, eat what they give you.

14.5 What goes into your mouth will not defile you. Actually, it's what comes out of your mouth than does the defiling.

20.2-4 It's like the mustard seed which is the smallest of all. Yet when it is sowed in the soil a large plant grows and shelters the birds of the sky.

21.10 Anyone with two good ears had better listen!

22.2 Those who can enter the kingdom are like babies at the breast.

26.1-3 You notice the splinter in your friend's eye, but not the plank in your own. Only when the plank in your own eye is removed will your sight be good enough to take the splinter out of your friend's eye.

31.1 No prophet is welcomed on his home ground.

32.1 A city built on a high mountain can't fall, nor can it be concealed.

33.1 For nobody lights a lamp and then puts it underneath a basket or in a concealed position. It's usual to put it on a lamp stand so that all who come and go can see its light.

34.1 If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a hole.

35.1 It's impossible to break into a powerful man's house without first tying his hands. Only then can one loot his house.

36.1-2 Don't get over-anxious from morning to evening and from evening to morning about what you're going to wear.

39.3 On your part, be as devious as snakes and as straightforward as doves.

41.1-2 The person who has something in reserve will be given yet more; and the person who has nothing will have even that taken away.

47.2-4 A servant can't be loyal to two bosses. He will respect the one and despise the other. Nobody drinks matured wine and then immediately wants young wine to drink. Young wine isn't put into old wineskins because they might break; and mature wine isn't put into new wineskins because it might spoil.

54.1 Good for the poor! For the heavenly order belongs to you.

55.1-2 Anyone who doesn't reject his father and mother can't be my supporter; and whoever doesn't reject brothers and sisters isn't worthy of me.

57.1-4 The way God does things is like this: A farmer had some seed. But during the night an enemy came along and sowed weeds among the seed. The farmer didn't allow his workers to pull up the weeds. Instead he said to them, "Don't do that, because if you pull up the weeds you'll also pull up the wheat. When it comes to harvest time, then the weeds will be easy to see and can be pulled up and burned."

62.2 Don't let your left hand know what your right is doing.

63.1-3 There was once a rich man who had much money. He said, "I'm going to invest my money so that I can sow, plant, harvest and fill my store rooms with produce and not be hard up." He was thinking these things secretly to himself - but the same night he died.

64.1-11 A certain man was about to receive guests. As soon as the dinner was ready, he sent his servant out to call in the guests. The servant went to the first and said to him, "My master invites you." The person responded, "Some traders owe me money and they are visiting me tonight. I have to go along and advise them, so please excuse me from the dinner." The servant went to another and said to him, "You've been invited." This person said to the servant, "I have bought a house and have been called away for a whole day. So I won't have enough time." The servant went to yet another and said to him, "My master invites you." This person said to the servant, "My friend is going to get married and I have to organise the reception. I can't come, so please excuse me from the dinner." The servant went to another person and said to him, "My master invites you." This one said to the servant, "I've bought an estate and have to go and collect the rent. I won't be able to come. Please excuse me." The servant came back and said to his master, "The people you invited to your dinner have asked to be excused." The master said to his servant, "Go out into the streets and come back with whomever you find to have dinner."

65.1-7 A man owned a vineyard which he rented out to some farmers to work the land. He could then take in the crops from them. One day he sent his servant to get the vineyard's harvest from the farmers. But they took him and beat him up to the point of death. So the servant returned and told his boss everything. His employer said, "Perhaps he was unfamiliar with their ways." So he sent another servant, but the farmers beat that one up also. The owner then sent his son. "Perhaps they will show him some respect," he said. However, the farmers knew that he was heir to the estate, so they seized him and killed him.

68.1 Good for those who are hated and persecuted. They will find a secret place where nothing can hurt them.

69.2 Good for those who are ill-fed. The person in want will have his stomach filled.

71.1 I'm going to knock down this entire building, and nobody will be able to rebuild it.

72.1-2
Someone said to Jesus, "Instruct my brothers to share my father's estate with me." Jesus said to him, "Man, who made me into someone who divides properties?"

76.1-2 The way God does things is like a businessman who had some goods. Then he found a pearl. The businessman was prudent, so he sold his stock and bought that one pearl for himself. You should be like that - go for the really valuable things that stand the test of time.

76.3 So also with you - go for those riches which are not at risk, which last, and which are not destroyed by moth and worms.

78.1-2 Why have you come out into the countryside? To see a reed vibrating in the wind? Or perhaps to see someone dressed in expensive clothes like politicians and powerful people? They may be well dressed, but they don't know what's really true.

79.2-3 The most fortunate people are those who have listened to what God wants them to do.

86.1-2 Jackals have their dens and birds have their nests, but this man has nowhere to lie down and rest.

89.1-2 Why do you wash the outside of your cups? Isn't it obvious that God is as much interested in what's happening inside of us as in how things look on the outside?

92.1 Seek and you will find.

93.1 Don't give holy things to a dog or throw pearls to pigs.

94.1 The person who seeks will find. For the one who knocks, it will be opened.

95.1-2 If you have money, don't lend it at interest but rather give it away - even to someone from whom you won't get it back.

96.1-2 The way God does things is just like a woman who took a little bit of yeast, put it in the dough, and made large loaves of bread out of it.

99.2 Those who are here now and who do what God wants are my brothers and my mother.

100.1-4 They showed Jesus a gold coin and reminded him that the Roman authorities demanded taxes from everyone. Jesus said to them, "Give to the Emperor what belongs to him, and give God what belongs to God."

107.1-3 The way God does things is rather like a shepherd who owned a hundred sheep. The biggest one strayed off, so he left the ninety-nine and searched for it until he found it. Because he'd made all this effort he said to the sheep he'd rescued, "I value you more than all the rest."

109.1-3 The way God does things is like a man who didn't know that a treasure trove lay hidden in his field. When he died he left the field to his son, who didn't know about the treasure either. He inherited the field and then sold it. The buyer ploughed it, found the hoard, and was able to invest in all sorts of projects.

113.2-4 The new order won't appear just because you're looking for it. It's not something about which one can say, "See, here it is!" or "Look, it's over there!" In fact, the way God does things is obvious - but people just don't see it.

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