Some versions of this saying render the first sentence as “…those who are worthy of my secrets”, but this rendering seems more in line with the rest of Jesus’s saying from Thomas. No one is “worthy” or “unworthy.” There are only those who seek, or who are awakened, in contrast with those who are asleep or who are blind.
In this context, the saying is simply that those who seek shall find, and to those who knock the door shall be opened, as we read in Matthew 7:7-8:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
The encouragement to us, then, is to remain hungry, and thirsty for the truth. If we do, we will be filled and quenched, as Jesus says in his Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5:6].
The second part of this saying is also repeated in the Synoptic Gospels, but in this context, it takes on a new meaning.
When we read this statement in Matthew 6:3-4 it is in the context of giving to the poor:
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
However, in this saying from Thomas, the phrase is used to tell us something about seeking out the mysteries of Christ and having those mysteries revealed to us.
To break down the “left hand/right hand” reference it’s helpful to understand that, in the ancient middle eastern world, the left hand was used to wipe one’s bottom after defecation and the right hand was used for eating. Those two distinctions were obvious to anyone living in the First Century in that region, so we cannot discount their usage here outside of that context.
Allegorically, the left hand would stand for the Ego; that part of ourselves that is dominated by the us/them mentality, as seen in Saying 7 where the Lion is equated with our false self. The right hand, then, would stand for the True Self, or the “Man” from Saying 7 which represents the enlightened person who has awakened to the Oneness of all things in Christ.
Read in this way, what Jesus is urging us to realize here is the importance of abandoning our Ego Self – the left hand – in favor of emphasizing what our True Self – the right hand – is doing.
So, we might rephrase this entire saying in this way:
“To those who seek to understand the Mystery, I will reveal the Mystery. Do not let your Ego know what your True Self is doing.”
This saying is helpful because it reminds us to continually seek to live from that place of unfolding mystery, and it warns us not to feed our Ego which seeks to dominate and control, whereas our True Self lives out of the reality of Oneness and only seeks to be at rest and to live at peace with all things, which are all made whole in Christ.
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Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” He hosts the Second Cup with Keith podcast, and co-hosts the Apostates Anonymous podcast, and the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast. Find out more about his online courses HERE>
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