In Gospel of Thomas is the sentence:
(4) Jesus said: "The old man will not hesitate to ask a little child
seven days after the place of life, and he will live
.
(4b) For many who are first will be last, and they will be a single
. "
Here we meet a stunning paradox. Traditional wisdom is to find the old man . Not here! And yet again! In this respect, the old man has the wisdom to ask a child of seven days from the place of life.
The infant who can not even form words, knows the place of life. This verse is usually understood as an allusion to baptism and the associated imagery of the candidate as a small child. If so , then that only the most superficial and banal statement level is taken.
In a sense, a child of seven days to the place of life, in fact, directly or close. Everything but the child is still the archetypal embodiment of life, growth and the beginning of something new. The child, the infant represents a special kind of promise There is a sense of life pur!
other hand, is also true that life is revealed apparently the author's opinion, especially in the vulnerable nakedness of the blandness and, in the ancient understanding, little respected young child. It is this statement related to other, authentic, Jesus words, where large, the kingdom of God, hidden in a tiny one, as in the parable of the mustard seed.
The comparison is still in another aspect. Who wants to find the place of life, must be willing to stoop too low: the old man down to the child. The place of life is hidden in inconspicuous spot. Only those who are ready to raze the inconspicuous, will find him.
speaks for this interpretation also verse 4b, where the famous saying of Jesus to be the first to the last appended is associative. The verse will end with the Gospel of Thomas recurring formula " and they will be a single . Of these, but some other time.
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