Acts 20:35 … To Give is to Receive (11/06/16)
“It is more Blessed to Give than to receive.”
~ Jesus (quoted in Acts 20:35)
Yes, on its face this verse reiterates one of Jesus’ most important teachings – namely, that it is more Peace-full and more Peace-engendering and more Power-full to Give selflessly to others than it is to receive from them. And yet this verse has two additional important notes of intrigue as well …
Firstly, this saying is directly attributed to Jesus in this particular passage, even though this quote is nowhere to be found in any of the Gospels! This means – quite simply – that biblical literalists are herewith forced to accept that the contents of extra-biblical sources must also count as valid Scripture; that the Gospel of Thomas and the Apocalypse of Peter and the Gospel of Judas (and any other non-canonical manuscripts that have satisfied the basic legitimacy standards of modern biblical scholarship) must also be generally accepted as being equal facets of The Word of God.
Secondly, and much more importantly, while on its face it is indeed more blessed to Give than it is to receive, the more enlightened practitioner of The Way of Christ knows quite well that – because this is indeed the case – it is actually one of the greatest Gifts to purposefully receive a Gift from another, and thereby allow them to receive the Blessing inherent in their Giving … And once the Giver is also aware of this dynamic, then his Giving becomes a Receiving for the Giver thereof, and that Receiving becomes a Gift for the Receiver thereof, which then becomes another Gift, which then becomes an additional Reception – and so on & so on & so on; with each transaction become more and more entwined until the Giving & the Receiving – and ultimately the Giver and the Receiver – literally become ONE.
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