Saying 111 - The Living Will Not Die

Nag Hammadi Coptic Text

BLATZ (110) Jesus said: He who has found the world (and) become rich, let him renounce the world.

LAYTON (110) Jesus said, "The one who had found the world and become rich should renounce the world."

DORESSE 114 [110]. Jesus says: "He who has found the world and become rich, let him renounce the world!"

 

Funk's Parallels

GThom 11:1
Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away..."

Ps 102:25-27
Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Isa 34:4
And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

Luke 16:16-17
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.

Luke 21:32-33
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Matt 5:18
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matt 24:34-35
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Mark 13:30-31
Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

DialSav 56
[Matthew] said, "Tell me, Lord, how the dead die [and] how the living live."

Heb 1:10-12
And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

Rev 6:12-14
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

 

Scholarly Quotes

Bentley Layton writes of the last sentence here:

"probably a comment added to the text by an ancient reader and later erroneously incorporated in the text."

(The Gnostic Scriptures, p. 399)

Jean Doresse writes that the last part

"introduces an explanation or conclusion of one of the editors of the Gospel of Thomas; cf. 65. He draws a comparison between the person who lives by 'Him who is living' (the Risen Jesus) and the person who has achieved solitude and unity."

(The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, p. 377)

Funk and Hoover write: "In vv. 1-2, Jesus speaks as the redeemer sent from God to reveal the secrets of the universe. Such an understanding of Jesus' identity belongs to the early Jesus movement, not to Jesus himself." (The Five Gospels, p. 530)

Gerd Theissen describes one theological motive of Thomas:

"Dualistic anthropology: the world and with it the human body are devalued and become a synonym for death. The Father's kingdom of light, knowledge and eternal life are to be attained only by radical 'fasting from the world' (27): 'Whoever finds himself is superior to the world' (111)."

(The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide, p. 40)

 

Visitor Comments

When one realizes his true being of wisdom and peace (his true self), it is a greater existence than the heavans and the earth, one with the Universe.
- Henry