INNER CIRCLE: Killing Your Inner Man

INNER CIRCLE: Killing Your Inner Man February 23, 2024

IMAGE: Keith Giles[MidJourney]
Saying 98

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who wanted to kill a powerful man. He drew the sword in his house and drove it into the wall, that he might know his hand would be strong (enough). Then he slew the powerful man.”

 

At first, this saying may shock us with the sudden shift to violent imagery, but we need to step back and realize that Jesus is always seeking to surprise us with unexpected ideas that stimulate us to reconsider our assumptions.

The violence here in this saying invites us to look beyond the literal and to imagine the metaphorical applications of the concepts. The Kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill someone more powerful than himself.

That sounds like an analogy of the True Self and the Ego, doesn’t it? The Ego feels more powerful as it usually has control and subverts our True Self at every turn.

So, if our True Self wanted to kill the Ego, how would it do that? Wouldn’t it make sense to practice the murder of the Ego “in his house”?

The house metaphor shows up often in The Gospel of Thomas as an allusion to a framework or system of thought. In some cases, the “house” is the world system that perpetuates the illusion of separation.

In other cases, the “house” is a metaphor for our own inner being which must be rebuilt from the inside out. In this case, the “house” is the internal sense of self-identity.

So, the sword must be driven “into the wall” of the house because this is where the illusion of separation has taken hold. To kill the “powerful man” or Ego, we must first have the strength to drive the sword into the very foundation of our own identity where these divisions take hold. The house itself must be the place where we drive the deadly sword before we attempt to slay the Ego persona.

This saying pairs well with the Lion and the Man of Saying 7 where the Lion must be consumed by the Man so that the Ego becomes subordinate to the True Self.

Here, the sword is driven first into the house itself to test our willingness and resolve to accomplish the great assassination of our Ego.

Are we willing for the entire house to be demolished if that’s what it takes to slay the powerful Egoic self?

If not, we are not truly prepared to finish the task at hand.

If so, then we know we have what it takes to plunge the sword into the heart of the Ego which thrives on the illusion of separation.

**

Would you like to learn more about The Gospel of Thomas? My online course, INSIDE/OUTSIDE takes a deeper dive into this text and it’s totally self-paced so you can start whenever you like and revisit the lessons anytime you want. The entire course is just $19.99 so what are you waiting for? Learn more and register here today>

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.

His latest book, Second Cup with Keith is available now on Amazon HERE>

"What is love? Luke 10:24 and Matthew 22:37 are Jesus' commands which all the LAW ..."

INNER CIRCLE: What Is Within You?
"I highly suggest reading; Harari, Yuval Noah. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from ..."

INNER CIRCLE: What Is Within You?
"Thank you for this wonderful and inspiring article. I nearly didn't stop and take the ..."

Spiritual Lessons From Braiding Sweetgrass
"The disciple of the father of lies, in the year of our Lord 325, did ..."

INNER CIRCLE: There Is No Sin

Browse Our Archives