Thomas 1:77 … The Light within it All (06/10/17)
“I am the Light that is within everything … I am All; All came from me and All has returned to me. Split a piece of wood and I Am there. Lift up a stone and you will find me there as well.” ~ Jesus (Gospel of Thomas 77)
First & foremost, it can be quite enlightening to juxtapose this verse from Thomas with the opening passage of John*; realizing that “the Word” in the latter passage is not a reference to Jesus Christ specifically, but rather the Greek “Logos” – a term used at the time to refer to the Inner Divinity (or the Life Essence or “the Soul”, or “the Holy Spirit”, or “the Spirit of Truth”, or “the Advocate Within” etc) that resides within all sentient beings … And when we keep this Truth in mind, the other statements that Jesus makes about “the Light” become far less arrogant-sounding (see Matthew 18:3-4 & Matthew 23:12) and far more profound (see Matthew 4:16, Matthew 5:16, Luke 11:34-35, John 8:12 + John 14:12, John 12:35-37 et al).
Second, note as well that “the Light is within everything” – the same way as “the Kingdom of God” is within each of us (see Luke 17:20-21), the same way God Himself resides within us (see John 14:20-26), and the same way that the ability to choose Love – the ultimate key to any & all Salvation – rests ever within us as well (see Matthew 7:21-24, Matthew 18:3-4, Matthew 24:12-14, John 13:15-17 et al).
Third, it is also interesting to juxtapose the phrase “split a piece of wood and I Am there; lift up a stone and I Am there as well” with Luke 17:20-21, where the translation of the Greek can very well be rendered as “The Kingdom of God is not coming [in the future] with things that can be observed; nor will they be able to say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘Look, there it is!’ For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is already both within and all around [the Greek “entos,” often translated errantly as “among” or less errantly as “within” – see Strong’s #1787] you” …
Indeed, while the Light might indeed be within everything, this Truth means nothing until our own Light is set in motion with Love – a Love that then releases the Light within all things and all beings nearby.
Amen … Let it be so.
*see John 1:1-16 – “In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. It was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through the Logos, and without it not one thing came into being. What has come into being through the Logos was life, and the life was the light of all people … This true light, which lights up everyone, was coming into the world … Indeed, from the Logos’ fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
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