Division and Destruction

It seems that quite a bit of related materials fell into my lap at once as I was writing my article, Dichotomy. First, I read the F. F. Bruce article on the Gospel of Thomas, which in turn cited passages from the traditional Gospels. I soon realized that I had a lot of scriptures to back up my comments in the article. Interesting how that stuff happens. Certainly not by fluke.

In the four traditional Gospels, Jesus of course speaks of love, caring for one's brother, caring for the poor and sick, honoring one's parents, and so on. But there is another side of him that is more prevalent in the Gospel of Thomas, yet is also there in the four other Gospels when you start looking. This is where he speaks not of unity, but of division and destruction—referring more to the end of times. We are there now, so we must heed these words.

In Matthew 10 Jesus says:
34 Do not think that I came to send peace upon the earth; I came not to send peace, but the sword.
35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36 And a man's enemies shall be they of his own household.

A similar passage is found in Luke 12: 51-53.

And in the Gospel of Thomas:
(16) Jesus says:
(1) "Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the earth.
(2) But they do not know that I have come to cast dissension upon the earth: fire, sword, war.
(3) For there will be five in one house: there will be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father.
(4) And they will stand as solitary ones."

(55) Jesus says:
(1) "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple of mine.
(2) And whoever does not hate his brothers and his sisters (and) will not take up his cross as I do, will not be worthy of me."

In other words, we must be willing to give up family ties to destroy the Matrix.

Jesus also warns his disciples not to waste time on those who will not hear the truth. In Matthew 10, he says:
14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words; going forth out of that house of city, shake off the dust from your feet.
15 Amen I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that city.
16 Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.

Jesus also points out that we all need to make a choice in priorities. In Luke 16, he says:
13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [wealth].

In the Gospel of Thomas:
(47) Jesus says:

(1) "It is impossible for a person to mount two horses and to stretch two bows.
(2) And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters. Else he will honor the one and insult the other.
(3) No person drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine.
(4) And new wine is not put into old wineskins, so that they do not burst; nor is old wine put into (a) new wineskin, so that it does not spoil it.
(5) An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because a tear will result."

To put it into more contemporary terms, one cannot cooperate with the Matrix and expect to be liberated from it.

This saying from the Gospel of Thomas also combines that of Matthew 9: 16-17, Mark 2: 21-22, and Luke 5: 36-39, (the garment and the wine).

In the Bruce article on the Gospel of Thomas, he point out that from a Gnostic viewpoint, the putting new wine into old wineskins and using an old patch for a new garment signifies "the true Gnostic will not allow his new doctrine to be encumbered with relics from the past."

We need to be ready always to grasp new knowledge and let go of old mindsets. Our lives depend on it.

Jesus speaks of destruction. In Matthew 24:
2 And he, answering, said to them: Do you see all these things? Amen I say to you, there shall not be left here a stone upon stone that shall not be destroyed.

And in Luke 21:
22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled, that are written.
23 But woe to them that are with child and give suck in those days; for there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.

And in the Gospel of Thomas:
(71) Jesus says:
"I will [destroy this] house, and no one will be able to build it [again]."

(Once the Matrix is destroyed, it will never exist again.)

(10) Jesus says:
"I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes."

So, in summary of all this, if we can accept the Gnostic idea that Jesus came not as a "redeemer for our sins," but as one who was able to give us the information, knowledge, we need to destroy the Matrix and be liberated, we must also accept the idea that we have the responsibility to be the destroyers. I am not talking about doing violence and physical damage, I'm talking about our minds and our wills. It is a war of minds, you know, and as our minds get stronger, they lose their power. We cannot let any ties to this false physical world keep us from doing what we are here to do. And yes, I do believe this entire physical world, as we know it now, will be destroyed. WE CANNOT PUT NEW WINE INTO OLD WINESKINS. Those of us that can transcend the physical destruction will survive. Some people are awaiting the return of Jesus, but I say it is us, and we are already here to finish what he began.