The sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas (1-21)

Last Updated on August 15, 2019

The following statements are the first 21 statements attributed to Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Saint Thomas. During the excavation of ruins in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, in 1897 and 1903, over 5,000 fragments of ancient Greek texts were recovered from an ancient library. Among them were partial sections of what was believed to be the Gospel of Thomas. The statements below are from the translation made by Thomas O. Lambdin.

1. And he said, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.”
2. Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the all.”

   Greek version, which differs from the above Coptic version:
   [Jesus said,] “Let the one seek[ing] not stop [seeking until] he finds. And when he find[s he will marvel, and mar]veling he will reign, an[d reigning] he will [rest.]”

3. “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”
4. “The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place in life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same.”
5. “Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest.”
6. His disciples questioned Him and said to Him, “Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?” Jesus said, “Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered.”
7. Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man, and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.”
8. And He said, “The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
9. “Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil and produced good fruit; it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure.”
10. “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.”
11. “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
12. The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader? Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”
13. Jesus said to His disciples, “Compare me to someone and tell Me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to Him, “You are like a righteous angel.” Matthew said to Him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to Him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom You are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out.” And He took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the things which He told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”
14. Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth – it is that which will defile you.”
15. “When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your Father.”
16. “Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary.”
17. “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”
18. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus said, “Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death.”
19. “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become My disciples and listen to My words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death.”
20. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.” He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”
21. Mary said to Jesus, “Whom are your disciples like?” He said, “They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come they will say ‘Let us have back our field.’ They will strip themselves naked in their presence, in order to let them have their field and give it to them. Therefore I say unto you, if the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him dig through into his house of his domain to carry away his goods. You then be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength, lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which you expect will surely materialize. Let there be amongst you a man of understanding! When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in hand and he reaped. He who hath ears to hear let him hear.”