9 The Eighth Act of Thomas--Son of God
Call to worship:
Philippians 2:6-8
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
The Eighth Act of Thomas is a very rich embroidery of amazing stories, including an exorcism, and yet another talking donkey; to be sure, these stories are of interest, but the main subject of today's presentation has to do with a somewhat peripheral concept that appears at the beginning of the act, and which is developed, in a sideways flight, later on in the act; this concept, which we mentioned last week is: the semantic distinction between the term "Son of Man" as opposed to the term "Son of God".
The terms "Son of Man", and "Son of God", carry with them various connotations concerning the character of MAN as he stands in a "special relationship with God". The spiritual devotee is always seeking to clarify and enhance this "special relationship". This relationship involves the devotee's identification with the Father, and melding his will with the Father in unity. When all is said and done, in this regard, the historical significance of Jesus may be succinctly summarized like this: through a ritual act, a "Son of Man" made a great sacrifice, performed a great miracle, and became a "Son of God", in order to redeem the sins of man, and to cancel out the curse of Adam.
This was an act of great power. Indeed, as we develop this idea, we will come to think of the "Son of God" as a "Being of Power", then we can see Him as a "Being of Responsibility", and lastly we must see Him as a "Being of War". So we need to consider what our special relationship to God is, and what war-cry we will shout from the highest mountaintops of Alaska.
But before we go any deeper into that, let us get into the story of the Eighth Act of Thomas. This act is a continuation of the Seventh Act, the tale of the Captain: it begins with Thomas on the road; it turns out, that he's going to the Captain's house to exorcise the two demons, a so-called father and son, (a big one and a little one), who are possessing the Captain's wife and daughter. Remember that Thomas is a missionary, and moves from town to town preaching the Good News. Being irresistibly attractive to a host of followers, there develops a little caravan of devotees walking along with Thomas. The folk (especially the Captain) are so devoted to Thomas that they honor him by bringing forth a chariot for him to ride in--a chariot drawn by an unspecified number of beasts. About halfway there, the animals get exhausted and can't pull the chariot anymore.
This is very embarrassing for the Captain, who immediately starts back for more animals; but Thomas stops him and points out that there is a herd of wild asses roaming around right there. Thomas calls upon the asses, and they come together, and crowd around him like Bambi licking the hand of Snow White. He says, "I need four of you to pull this chariot."
The fortunate four, the strongest, are chosen, and the entourage proceeds on to the city. The other donkeys follow along for awhile, eager to please the apostle. This scene, with the donkeys all crowding around trying to be chosen by Thomas, reminds me of the episode in C. S. Lewis' Perelandra, where all the porpoise-like animals crowd around the Queen, competing with each other for her attention, and an opportunity to serve. How like these porpoises are we, crowding around the feet of the Master, trying to attract his favor. Eventually Thomas sends the donkeys on their way, and the donkeys recede back toward their pasture, until they can be seen no more.
The group arrives at the Captain's house.
Right outside the house Thomas orders one of the donkeys to speak to the demons possessing the wife and daughter. The donkey speaks directly to the demons (we will see that there is a kind of father/son situation embedded in this scenario), and a speech blossoms forth from the mouth of a dumb beast, like an ocean of light; the speech is a veritable Hall of Fame catalogue of heroic Christian behavior, chasing down and destroying evil:
"Judas Thomas the apostle and disciple of Jesus Christ saith unto you: Come forth hither: for on your account am I sent and unto them that pertain to you by race, to destroy you and chase you unto your place, until the time of the end come and ye go down into your own deep of darkness.
Unto you I speak, the enemies of Jesus that is called Christ:
unto you I speak that shut your eyes lest ye see the light:
unto you I speak, children of Gehenna and of destruction, of him that ceaseth not from evil until now, that always reneweth his workings and the things that befit his being:
unto you I speak, most shameless, that shall perish by your own hands.
And what I shall say of your destruction and end, and what I shall tell, I know not."
Notice in this speech that the donkey says he knows not what he will tell. This may be interpreted as, "I can't express the destruction that awaits you," or it might mean literally, "I don't know what I am going to say next--I am just a dumb donkey--it's the Holy Spirit Who is putting these words into my mouth." To be sure, the common defense of psychic mediums, against the accusations of skeptics, is that they never ever know what is going on with them, that the voices they hear and the visions they see are EXTERNAL to them, not generated internally by them. I have suggested several times that the Christ consciousness that spoke through Jesus, also often speaks through others as well. Thus, the "Son of God" speaks the "Word of God" without willing. His words are driven by spirit, by the Will of the Father. "Thy will be done not mine." "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
[Sidebar: We will encounter, several times today, the idea of God as a kind of cosmic WILL. We will suggest that the expression of the Father's WILL, through ACTION in the material plane, is a pretty good description of the activities of a "Son of God".
From Schopenhauer's System in Its Philosophical Significance,
By William Caldwel, we read:
"We may say that the will of the world is God, and that through a renewed or perfected will man becomes the son of God."
Back to Thomas--the donkey chastises and warns the demon:]
"For there are many things and innumerable to the hearing: and however great your bodies, they are too small for your retributions. But unto thee I speak, devil, and to thy son that followeth with thee: for now am I sent against you."
[Sidebar: Here is the bit about the demon's father. Remember that there are two demons, one old and large, the other younger and smaller. We know that the big demon is either the FATHER of the younger demon, (by the way, this is the same demon that Thomas exorcised out of the woman in the city), or appearance means nothing and they are BOTH equally ancient spawn of the Devil. In any case, this line opens up the subject of obedience to the created ESSENTIAL nature.]
"And wherefore should I make many words concerning your nature and root, which yourselves know and are not ashamed? but Judas Thomas the apostle of Christ Jesus saith unto you, he that by much love and affection is sent hither: Before all this multitude that standeth here, come forth and tell me of what race ye are."
It is extremely interesting that the vehicle used to exorcise the demons is not Thomas himself but one of the donkeys. Thomas' delegation of responsibility to a layman, in performing acts of spiritual power, is a pattern we see repeated throughout the Gospel of Thomas: for instance, in The Fourth Act of Thomas, Thomas calls on the young man, who killed the girl, to administer the rite of resurrection; and in this Act, he first calls on the Captain to supplicate Jesus, and then a donkey is called upon to order the demons out of the wife and daughter. It is clear from this that Thomas is not as interested in salvation through grace, as he is in the correction of Karmic imbalance through restitution; that is to say, Thomas' ministry, as teacher as well as healer, is aimed at getting the devotee to realize the God-consciousness within himself, so Thomas doesn't always step in and work the miracle with his own hands, but he delegates authority of spirit, and invites the characters in the story to work their own miracles, in order to undo their own unfortunate pasts.
One very broad implication of this type of threatening language, i.e.,
"however great your bodies, they are too small for your retributions"is that a "Son of God" is also a "Soldier of God"; that there is always a war going on between good and evil. Thus, a "Son of God", a "Soldier of God", is he who conquers the land dominated by evil and claims it for good. You would have thought this was obvious from all our mythology, where battles between good and evil are the prime subject, from our literature, movies, and songs, all praising the altruistic super-hero who "fights for truth justice and the American Way"; but, "Oh well," we think, "those are just stories, just made-up fiction, they're not real life." Ha ha.
Perhaps the best word to characterize the behavior of a "Soldier of God" would be: allegiance. The son performs the will of the Father through allegiance, and eventually through identification with the Father. But don't forget that it's in the nature of evil to extract allegiance from its sons, just as it is in the nature of good to extract allegiance from its sons. We will encounter an example of this presently.
Let us now review the material on the Son of Man/God from last week, beginning with the term as it appears in Thomas, to whit:
"for neither am I aught, nor he, but Jesus only; for I also am a man clothed with a body, a son of man like one of you;"
The expression "Son of Man" has always held a subtly mysterious meaning for me, mostly because of the unique position Christians give to Jesus as the one and only "Son of God". There seems to be a confusion here, a God/Man dichotomy, and I cannot decide whether it is a mere semantic fluke, or if there is a real distinction between a "Son of God" and a "Son of Man". Clearly, Thomas identifies with the body with which he clothes himself, and refers to himself as "a son of man like one of you". Still there is the implication that he is somehow more; the "more" which is Thomas is linked to the "more" which is Jesus Christ.
From Wikipedia we read:
"Son of man" is a phrase used in the Hebrew Bible, various apocalyptic works of the inter-testamental period, and the Greek New Testament. In the indefinite form ("son of man", "one like a son of man") used in the Hebrew Bible and inter-testamental literature it is a form of address, or contrasts human beings against God, or signifies an eschatological figure due to come at the end of history. The New Testament uses the earlier indefinite form while introducing a novel definite form, "the son of man."
The "one like the son of man" in the vision of Daniel 7 probably did not represent the Messiah, but later Jewish interpretations such as the Similitudes of Enoch, 4 Ezra, and the New Testament writers did consistently interpret it this way.
Son of man came to serve refers to a specific episode in the New Testament. In the Gospel of Matthew 20:20–28 and the Gospel of Mark 10:35–45, Jesus explains that he "came as Son of man to give his life as ransom". The ransom paid by the Son of man is an element of a common doctrine of atonement in Christianity."
From JewishEncyclopedia.com, we read:
"In the Old Testament "son of man" is always translated in the Septuagint without the article as anthropou.
It is employed as a poetical synonym for man, or for the ideal man, e.g.
"God is not as a man, that he should lie nor as a son of man, that he should be changed" (Numbers 23:19).
"Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself" (Psalm 79:18).
The Prophet Ezekiel is addressed by God as "son of man" more than ninety times, e.g.
"Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee" (Ezekiel 2:1).
This usage is confined to Ezekiel except one passage in Daniel, where Gabriel said:
"Understand, O son of man, for in the time of the end the vision shall be fulfilled" (Daniel 8:17).
SON OF MAN, In Contrast to Deity:
The rendering for the Hebrew "ben adam," applied to mankind in general, as opposed to and distinct from non-human relationship; expressing also the larger, unlimited implications of humanity as differentiated from limited (e.g., national) forms and aspects of human life. Thus, contrasted with the "sons of God" ("bene Elohim") are the "daughters of man" ("benot ha-adam"), women taken by the former, non-human or super-human, beings as wives (Gen. vi. 2 et seq.).
As expressing difference from God, the term occurs in the blessing of Balaam:
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" (Num. xxiii. 19).
"Son of man" is a common term in the Psalms, used to accentuate the difference between God and human beings. As in Ps. viii. 4 (A. V. 5), the phrase implies "mortality," "impotence," "transientness,"as against the omnipotence and eternality of God.
Psalm 8:4-8"4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas."
From Dr. Ron Rhodes' Reasoning from the Scriptures we read the following discussion:
If Jesus was the Son of God, why did He call Himself the Son of Man?
"This sounds like some kind of contradiction at first glance, but in fact there is no contradiction. An examination of Scripture reveals that the phrase “Son of Man” carries broad significance.
First of all, even if the phrase “Son of Man” is a reference to Jesus' humanity, it is not a denial of His deity. By becoming a man, Jesus did not cease being God. The incarnation of Christ did not involve the subtraction of deity, but the addition of humanity. Jesus clearly claimed to be God on many occasions. But in addition to being divine, He was also human:
Philippians 2:6-8"6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
He had two natures (divine and human) conjoined in one person.
Further, Scripture indicates that Jesus was not denying His deity by referring to Himself as the Son of Man. In fact, it is highly revealing that the term “Son of Man” is used in Scripture in contexts of Christ's deity. For example, the Bible says that only God can forgive sins (Isaiah 43:25; Mark 2:7). But as the “Son of Man,” Jesus had the power to forgive sins (Mark 2:10). Likewise, Christ will return to Earth as the “Son of Man” in clouds of glory to reign on Earth (Matthew 26:63-64). In this passage, Jesus is citing Daniel 7:13 where the Messiah is described as the "Ancient of Days," a phrase used to indicate His deity (Daniel 7:9).
Further, when Jesus was asked by the high priest whether He was the “Son of God”, He responded affirmatively, declaring that He was the “Son of Man” who would come in power and great glory.
Matthew 26:63-64:"63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
This indicates that Jesus Himself used the phrase “Son of Man” to indicate His deity as the Son of God.
[Sidebar: It is also interesting that when Jesus is asked if He is the Son of God, He answers that He is the Son of Man, but the Son of Man riding the clouds of Heaven. Thus, we begin to see hints of particular scriptural affirmations of the concept of Father/Son unity, or certainly, failing that, the concept of Christ/Human unity.
Back to Dr. Rhodes:]
"Finally, the phrase “Son of Man” also emphasizes who Jesus is in relation to His incarnation and His work of salvation. In the Old Testament, the next of kin (one related by blood) always functioned as the “kinsman-redeemer” of a family member who needed redemption from jail. Jesus became related to us “by blood” (that is, He became a man) so He could function as our Kinsman-Redeemer and rescue us from sin."
The significance of the relationship "by blood" of Jesus to the World cannot be overestimated. In Rudolf Steiner's Christian philosophy, Jesus' blood sacrifice is a doctrinal cornerstone; it is the shedding of blood that forged a transcendental link between Jesus and all of Mankind. There is a whole lecture about it called The Etherisation of the Blood:
"When a man stands in front of us today in his waking state and we observe him with the eye of clairvoyance, certain rays of light are seen streaming continually from the heart towards the head. Within the head these rays play around the organ known in anatomy as the pineal gland. These streamings arise because human blood, which is a physical substance, is perpetually resolving itself into etheric substance. In the region of the heart there is a continual transformation of the blood into this delicate etheric substance which streams upwards towards the head and glimmers around the pineal gland. This process — the etherisation of the blood — can be perceived in the human being all the time during his waking life. . .
"Just as in the region of the human heart the blood is continually being transformed into etheric substance, a similar process takes place in the Macrocosm. We understand this when we turn our minds to the Mystery of Golgotha — to the moment when the blood flowed from the wounds of Jesus Christ.
This blood must not be regarded simply as chemical substance, but by reason of all that has been said concerning the nature of Jesus of Nazareth it must be recognised as something altogether unique. When it flowed from His wounds, a substance was imparted to our Earth, which in uniting with it, constituted an Event of the greatest possible significance for all future ages of the Earth's evolution — and it could take place only once. What came of this blood in the ages that followed? Nothing different from what otherwise takes place in the heart of man. In the course of Earth evolution this blood passes through a process of “etherisation.” And just as our human blood streams upwards from the heart as ether, so since the Mystery of Golgotha the etherised blood of Christ Jesus has been present in the ether of the earth. The etheric body of the Earth is permeated by the blood — now transformed — which flowed on Golgotha. "
In this excerpt, Steiner is suggesting that physical blood has a supernatural component which invests it with inscrutable power. Such was the power of Jesus' blood that it served as a sufficient ransom for the whole of Humanity.
So, as we can see, from the fore-going comments, the term "Son of Man" is variously interpreted, but which nevertheless always points to the ideal HUMANITY of Jesus, and His followers.
So what about "Son of God"?
"The term "Son of God" is sometimes used in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible to refer to those with special relationships with God. In the Old Testament, angels, just and pious men, the descendants of Seth, and the kings of Israel are all called "Sons of God." In the New Testament, Adam, and, most notably, Jesus Christ are called "Son of God," while followers of Jesus are called, "Sons of God.""
In C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters the demon declares:
"We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons"."
And in his Mere Christianity, we read:
“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God."
In Boethius' On the Catholic Faith we read:
"And now at the last days of time, in place of prophets and other men well-pleasing to Him, God willed that His only-begotten Son should be born of a Virgin that so the salvation of mankind which had been lost through the disobedience of the first man might be recovered by the God-man, and that inasmuch as it was a woman who had first persuaded man to that which wrought death there should be this second woman who should bring forth from a human womb Him who gives Life.
Nor let it be deemed a thing unworthy that the Son of God was born of a Virgin, for it was out of the course of nature that He was conceived and brought to birth. Virgin then she conceived, by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God made flesh, Virgin she bore Him, Virgin she continued after His birth; and He became the Son of Man and likewise the Son of God that in Him the glory of the divine nature might shine forth and at the same time the human weakness be declared which He took upon Him."
I like this bit:
"for it was out of the course of nature that He was conceived and brought to birth"
because it emphasizes the MAN component, the natural-MAN-conceived-and-brought-to-birth-through-a-course-of-nature component, of the expression "Son of Man". It also shows how natural (karmic) laws may realize events consequential of created "essential nature".
But in this last sentence:
"and He became the Son of Man and likewise the Son of God that in Him the glory of the divine nature might shine forth and at the same time the human weakness be declared which He took upon Him,"
we encounter the conclusion which we are wending toward; that is: the "Son of Man" and the "Son of God" are linked in a transcendental unity. Perhaps the terms are mere representations of episodes, or phases, which occur, chronologically, in the soul's development, i.e.: when we are born of flesh, still under the shadow of Adam's curse, (as Jesus certainly was, when first incarnated), we are Sons of Man, but when we perceive our own divinity with the spiritual eye we become "Sons of God"?"
Here is the first section of a prayer appearing at the beginning of The Eighth Act of Thomas, where the evolution of Jesus from a Son of Man into the Son of God is detailed in a beautiful way:
"And Judas Thomas the apostle of our Lord lifted up his voice in praise and said:
"Glorious art thou, God of truth and Lord of all natures, for thou didst will with thy will, and make all thy works and finish all thy creatures, and bring them to the rule of their nature, and lay upon them all thy fear that they might be subject to thy command.
And thy will trod the path from thy secrecy to manifestation, and was caring for every soul that thou didst make, and was spoken of by the mouth of all the prophets, in all visions and sounds and voices; . . ."
Note the expression "secrecy to manifestation": clearly the meaning here is that the physical manifestation has no appreciation of the "secret knowledge" of spirit, or, so we say, the "cloud of unknowing".
"And thou, because thou art Lord of all, hast a care for the creatures, so that thou spreadest over us thy mercy in him who came by thy will and put on the body, thy creature, which thou didst will and form according to thy glorious wisdom."
[Sidebar: note the expression,
". . . which thou didst will and form according to thy glorious wisdom."
This sentence is harmonious with the concept from last week: that the intellect is the medium through which divine thought forms become manifest in mundane reality; that thought may become an ORGAN of spiritual sensitivity. The expression also appears in the proper chronological declension, that is to say, from higher to lower: "will" followed by "form".
"He whom thou didst appoint in thy secrecy and establish in thy manifestation, to him thou hast given the name of Son, he who was thy will, the power of thy thought; so that ye are by various names, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, for the sake of the government of thy creatures, for the nourishing of all natures, and ye are one in glory and power and will; and ye are divided without being separated, and are one though divided, and all subsists in thee and is subject to thee, because all is thine."
[Sidebar: The broad implication here is that the Son of Man must come to Earth to Serve Mankind. Key words in the sections are,
"Manifestation":
(meaning something from the supernatural world
(either "Will" or "Power of Thought)
appearing in the natural world, and
"Form":
(meaning articulate expression defined by objective parameters).
Remember that there is much emphasis in the Gnostic Gospels on the "essential nature" of created beings. All this talk about the Son of Man and the Son of God leads us to consider the "essential nature" of Man AND God. Momentarily we will encounter, once again, the idea that Satan's minions, though disobedient to God, are obedient to he whom they consider to be their father. Thus obedience to an "essential nature" is to be found even in infernal beings. But we'll get to that in a minute.
First I want to read this very interesting quote from a lecture, given in 1912 by Abdul Baha; these beautiful words suggest a quite unusual palette of imagery concerning how the spirit becomes flesh and vice versa:
"The Sun of Reality is one; its bestowal is one; its heat is one; its rays are one; it shines upon all the phenomenal world, but the capacity for comprehending it differs according to the kingdoms, each kingdom receiving the light and bounty of the eternal Sun according to its capacity. The black stone receives the light of the material sun; the trees and animals likewise are recipients of it. All exist and are developed by that one bounty. The perfect soul of man—that is to say, the perfect individual—is like a mirror wherein the Sun of Reality is reflected. The perfections, the image and light of that Sun have been revealed in the mirror; its heat and illumination are manifest therein, for that pure soul is a perfect expression of the Sun.
These perfect mirrors are the Messengers of God Who tell the story of Divinity, just as the material mirror reflects the light and disc of the outer sun in the skies. In this way the image and effulgence of the Sun of Reality appear in the mirrors of the Manifestations of God. This is what Jesus Christ meant when He declared, “the father is in the son,” the purpose being that the reality of that eternal Sun had become reflected in its glory in Christ Himself. It does not signify that the Sun of Reality had descended from its place in heaven or that its essential being had effected an entrance into the mirror for there is neither entrance nor exit for the reality of Divinity; there is no ingress or egress; it is sanctified above all things and ever occupies its own holy station. Changes and transformations are not applicable to that eternal reality. Transformation from condition to condition is the attribute of contingent realities
. . . ."
The whole idea of the Christ Consciousness as a REFLECTION of Eternal God is so vivid and palpable, and yet one wonders, what is it reflected from? What surface is it that impedes the flow of eternity in the petty pace of Man? It must be man himself--man, his false egocentric picture of himself--that halts the Christ vibration at the material level and, so halted, there rejoices in it's own being, even though it animates merely the the flesh of the earth.
Back to Thomas:
Finally comes the exorcism: in the end, Thomas rids the wife and the daughter of the pesky demon, who turns out to be the same demon that Thomas had previously exorcised from the single woman in the city. The drama surrounding Thomas' confrontation with the demon includes much memorable dialogue. In the dialogue between Thomas and the demon, we hear talk of the "Son of God" on Thomas' side, and "Son of Satan" on the demon's side. Both express allegiance to their fathers' purpose. The demon's long and rambling self-portrait is straight out of the Screwtape Letters, and gives a very interesting and detailed picture of the demonic mindscape.
"And the devil said: I beseech thee, give me leave to depart even whither thou wilt, and dwell there and take commandment from thee, and I will not fear the ruler that hath authority over me. For like as thou art come to preach good tidings, so I also am come to destroy; and like as, if thou fulfil not the will of him that sent thee, he will bring punishment upon thy head, so I also if I do not the will of him that sent me, before the season and time appointed, shall be sent unto mine own nature; and like as thy Christ helpeth thee in that thou doest, so also my father helpeth me in that I do; and like as for thee he prepareth vessels worthy of thine inhabiting, so also for me he seeketh out vessels whereby I may accomplish his deeds; and like as he nourisheth and provideth for his subjects, so also for me he prepareth chastisements and torments, with them that become my dwellingplaces (Syr. those in whom I dwell); and like as for a recompense of thy working he giveth thee eternal life, so also unto me he giveth for a reward of my works eternal destruction; and like as thou art refreshed by thy prayer and thy good works and spiritual thanksgivings, so I also am refreshed by murders and adulteries and sacrifices made with wine upon altars (Syr. sacrifices and libations of wine), and like as thou convertest men unto eternal life, so I also pervert them that obey me unto eternal destruction and torment: and thou receivest thine own and I mine.
And when the devil had said these things and yet more the apostle said: Jesus commandeth thee and thy son by me to enter no more into the habitation of man: but go ye forth and depart and dwell wholly apart from the habitation of men. And the devils said unto him: Thou hast laid on us a harsh commandment: but what wilt thou do unto them that now are concealed from thee? for they that have wrought all the images rejoice in them more than thee: and many of them do the more part worship, and perform their will, sacrificing to them and bringing them food, by libations and by wine and water and offering with oblations. And the apostle said: They also shall now be abolished, with their works. And suddenly the devils vanished away: but the women lay cast upon the earth as if were dead, and without speech."
[Sidebar: Notice that demons always want to argue right up to the point where they disappear. It is the litigious Satan whom we need to watch out for: we all tend to be suckers for a nicely trimmed argument. All the demons in Thomas seek to justify themselves by referring to some essential nature, claiming that their nature has determined a behavior that could never be deferred to higher channels; he insists the he is the OPPOSITE of Thomas, of God, of Good. There must be a fairness in Hell that there is not in Heaven--after all, who would really ever want what he DESERVED? That must be part of the reason lawyers have such a bad rap, since they are descended from the minions of Satan.
I think maybe the most important point of the sermon has to do with the idea of "Son" as an extension of "Father": identification with the Father, in Will and, ultimately, in Personality. But an interesting narrative detail is how the demon affirms his right to be what he is on the basis of creation--on the basis of how he is a "natural" and "obedient" extension of his father. Then one has to ask the question: was Satan created by the Father, and given an "essential nature" designed by the Father, or is Satan a SEPARATE entity, who exists on an equal but OPPOSITE footing with the good--is evil the "natural" flip side of good? In a dualistic universe this is an inescapable conclusion. It comes back to our discussion of the battle between good and evil--over how many dimensions does this battle extend?
So the demon, as a son of his father, and Jesus, the Son of His Father meet in opposition. In all our stories the Good wins. A question to ask is: "Does the Good always win?" Is the Good all-powerful? How can we doubt? The "Soldier of God", joined with the Father in identification and allegiance, does the Father's bidding in this great war which we know can only end one way.
Notice also, at the end of the interview with the demon, Thomas not only casts out the demons but casts out all worshipers of idols--which means the whole religious population of that country.
At first, it seems strange that the Gospel of Thomas has so many stories of demon possession and exorcism, since the canonical gospels of Jesus only include a small number of them. The subject of demons has been so vulgarized by pulp fiction, that the truth of demons has become somewhat obscured from our sight; as scientifically hip, moderne people, we are reticent to participate in anything remotely resembling superstitious behavior. Nevertheless this sermon, for me, has emphasized something I don't think about nearly enough: that is that we are in a battle for good, and our actions make a difference. Furthermore, they either promote or defeat the temptations of the devil, as they either promote or defeat our aspirations in life.
Back to Thomas:]
"And the apostle said: They also shall now be abolished, with their works. And suddenly the devils vanished away."
Unexpectedly then, the ass, gifted with speech, speaks again, and actually chastises Thomas for his slowness of action, for sitting around doing nothing; this part is funny, because just a few paragraphs before, Thomas himself was chastising his entourage for standing around doing nothing, instead of moving along. It just goes to show how the Christ Consciousness speaks through all the characters in this story; it clearly indicates that we are not hearing the intellect of an ass, but the Christ Consciousness speaking through the donkey:
"And the wild asses stood together and parted not one from another; but he to whom speech was given by the power of the Lord -while all men kept silence, and looked to see what they would do- the wild ass said unto the apostle:
"Why standest thou idle, O apostle of Christ the Most High, who looketh that thou shouldest ask of him the best of learning? Wherefore then tarriest thou? Why delayest thou, good disciple? For lo, thy teacher desireth to show by thy hands his mighty works."
I love how Jesus is referred to as "thy teacher". I also love how the "student" is required to reveal to Man, through miraculous acts, the Face of Christ.
"Why standest thou still, O herald of the hidden one? for thy Lord willeth to manifest through thee his unspeakable things, which he reserveth for them that are worthy of him, to hear them. Why restest thou, O doer of mighty works in the name of the Lord? for thy Lord encourageth thee and engendereth boldness in thee. Fear not, therefore; for he will not forsake the soul that belongeth unto thee by birth. Begin therefore to call upon him and he will readily hearken to thee.
Why standest thou marvelling at all his acts and his workings? for these are small things which he hath shown by thy means. And what wilt thou tell concerning his great gifts? for thou wilt not be sufficient to declare them. And why marvellest thou at his cures of the body which he worth, especially when thou knowest that healing of his which is secure and lasting, which he bringeth forth by his own nature? And why lookest thou unto this temporal life, when thou canst every day think on that which is eternal?"
But unto you the multitudes that stand by and look to see these that are cast down raised up, I say, believe in the apostle of Jesus Christ: believe the teacher of truth, believe him that showeth you the truth, believe Jesus, believe on the Christ that was born, that the born may live by his life: who also was raised up through infancy, that perfection might appear by his manhood. He did teach his own disciples: for he is the teacher of the truth who went to school that through him perfect wisdom might be known: he taught his teacher because he was the teacher of verity and the master of the wise. Who also offered the gift in the temple that he might show that every offering was sanctified. This is his apostle, the shewer-forth of truth: this is he that performeth the will of him that sent him.
Having thus spoken, the apostle stood over the women, saying: My Lord and my God, I am not divided from thee (or doubt not concerning thee), nor as one unbelieving do I call upon thee, who art always our helper and succourer and raiser-up; who breathest thine own power into us and encouragest us and givest confidence in love unto thine own servants. I beseech thee, let these souls be healed and rise up and become such as they were before they were smitten of the devils. And when he thus spake the women turned and sat up. And the apostle bade the captain that his servants should take them and bring them within (Syr. and give them food, for they had not eaten for many days). And when they were gone in, the apostle said unto the wild asses, Follow me. And they went after him until he had brought them without the gate. And when they had gone out, he said to them: Depart in peace unto your pastures. The wild asses therefore went away willingly; and the apostle stood and took heed to them lest they should be hurt of any, until they had gone afar off and were no more seen."
Note that the first thing Thomas does, when the women come out of their trance, is get them something to eat. This is just like Jesus's miracle of the Centurion's daughter.
From the foregoing story of the apostle's encounter with the power of Satan, it may be seen that the term of "Son-of-God/Soldier-of-God is not meant to be interpreted in any figurative or metaphorical sense, but rather in the absolutest sense of a warrior doing battle--a battle with evil. The mere act of going out into the world, with its temptations and compromises, and yet remaining faithful to God, and to who we really are in Christ, must make an impression in the world--a false world where so many people are pretending to be who they are. Thus are Satan's minions defeated, because they alway fold before the truth.
Some weeks ago, we talked "Humble Pride": the humility of taking the role of a servant, while enjoying the fact of your superior nature. As a "Son of God" we venture into the world not as arrogant rulers, but as servants of man, Warriors for Good; and it is in this that we find our divinity and our special relationship with God.
Let us pray: Jesus, thank you for the blood sacrifice that sanctified the world and opened the way to our legitimate claim to a place in the family of God. Amen.
