Saying 51 - Arrival Of Repose And A New World

Nag Hammadi Coptic Text

BLATZ (51) His disciples said to him: On what day will the rest of the dead come into being, and on what day will the new world come? He said to them: What you await has come, but you do not know it.

LAYTON (51) His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come to pass, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "That (repose) which you (plur.) are waiting for has come, but for your part you do not recognize it."

DORESSE 56 [51]. His disciples said to him: "On what day shall rest come to those who are dead, and on what day shall the new world come?" He said to them: "This <rest> that you wait for has (already) come, and you have not recognised it."

 

Funk's Parallels

GThom 113
His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" "It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, Behold, here or Behold, there. Rather, the kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it."

POxy654 3
Jesus says, "[If] your leaders [say to you, Behold], the kingdom is in heaven," the birds of heaven [will precede you. If they say] that it is under the earth, the fish of the sea [will enter, preceding] you. And the [kingdom of God] is within you [and outside (you). Whoever] knows [oneself] will find this. [And when you] know yourselves, [you will understand that] you are [children] of the [living] Father. [But if] you do [not] know yourselves, [you are] in [poverty], and you are the [poverty]."

GThom 3
Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, Behold, the kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, It is in the sea, then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and you are the poverty."

Luke 17:20-21
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Luke 17:22-25
And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

Matt 17:9-13
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Matt 24:23-28
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Mark 9:9-13
And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

Mark 13:21-23
And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

DialSav 16
The Lord said, "There was darkness and water and spirit upon [water]. And I say [to you, ... what] you seek [after ...] inquire after [...] within you [...] the power and the [mystery ...] spirit, for from [...] wickedness [...] come [...] mind [...] behold [...]."

 

Scholarly Quotes

Treatise on the Resurrection 49:9-25 also presents resurrection as something that has already happened:

"So do not think in a partial fashion, Rheginos, nor conduct yourself in accordance with this flesh for the sake of oneness, but flee from the divisions and the bonds, and already you have the resurrection. For if one who will die knows about oneself that one will die - even if one spends many years in this life, one is brought to this - why not regard yourself as risen and brought to this?"

(The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 90)

Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write:

"The question is Thomas's equivalent for the Pharisee's question about the coming of the kingdom in Luke 17:20; the answer is like the answer in Luke 17:21: 'The kingdom of God is within you.' Because, like the earthly Jerusalem (Luke 19:42, 44), the disciples are still blind, they do not (fully) recognize its presence - in Jesus."

(The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 161)

R. McL. Wilson writes:

"Of the latter Bartsch observes that Gnostic Umbildung is unmistakable, and that the idea of the 'new world' comes form such works as 2 Peter (iii. 13) and Revelation (xxi. 1); but the motif of the disciples' lack of understanding is definitely old. Bauer at one point offers an interpretation which would explain logion 51 in the context of the earthly life of Jesus, but quotes also a Naassene text which shows how the version in Thomas might have developed."

(Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, p. 82)

F. F. Bruce writes:

"The theme of 'rest' is carried on from Saying 50. But the expectation of rest after death is here transformed into an assurance that the Gnostic has attained true rest already. This kind of transformation, not unlike that which Paul describes ironically in 1 Corinthians 4.8, is sometimes referred to as an 'over-realised eschatology' (cf. 2 Timothy 2.18)."

(Jesus and Christian Origens Outside the New Testament, p. 133)

Funk and Hoover write:

"The question posed in v. 1 employs the characteristic Thomean term 'rest': this term is a synonym for salvation in Thomas (see 50:3; 60:6; 90; in addition, the Greek fragment of Thomas 2 adds the additional verse: 'and having reigned, one will rest.') The term 'rest' with a similar meaning is not unknown in other texts, both Christian (Matt 11:28-29; Rev 14:13) and Judean (Sir 51:26-27), but it carried special significance among gnostic Christians and Platonists. To achieve 'rest' meant to find one's place again in unity with the highest God. (In developed gnostic systems, at the beginning was the incomprehensible, invisible, eternal, and ungenerated Forefather, Depth; Depth gave rise to a female counterpart, Silence. Together they produced the next pair of Aeons, which eventuate in fourteen such pairs, each pair with lesser power and memory of its origin than the previous pair. At the lowest level is Wisdom and the creator God. Salvation consists in reascending the ladder of divine emanations and rejoining the godhead.)"

(The Five Gospels, p. 502)

 

Visitor Comments

The knowledge and wisdom is already inside you. You are not at the level of understanding to grasp its truth.
- Stephen

This is clearly criticising the sects who concern themselves entirely with a future Apocalypse and not with mystical teachings. Like sayings 3 and 113, it is saying that we need to transform ourselves, not wait for the world to be transformed.
- Mystic-Oli

The theme of movement/rest is not just a metaphor for life in this world. We are points of perception in an Absolute Reality of Universl Mind. We become symbiotes of a physical body at its birth for a life of movement and actions. We return to a life of rest at its (the bodies) death in which we contemplate our actions while in movement and the right intentions and goals of action. We are already in the life of birth, death and resurrection but do not understand. Birth and death do not exist for our souls, only for our temporary bodies.
- active mystic

A student in a school has not so far graduated. This commentary is for such
- Thief37

You already are what it is you are seeking. Your true nature is not something to be gained but something to be recognized.
- SoStill