When the Blessed One had said these things, he blessed them all saying, “Peace be with you! Bear my peace within yourselves. Beware that no one leads you astray, saying, ‘Look over here!’ or ‘Look over there!’ For the Child of Humanity [Son of Man] is within you. Follow it! Those who seek will find it. Go then and proclaim the good news of the age. Do not lay down any rules beyond what I determined for you, nor give a law like the lawgiver [Moses], lest you be confined by it.” When he had said these things, he departed. [Gospel of Mary, Chapter 4]
As we see in some of the sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas, the words of Jesus in Mary’s Gospel often mirror sayings from the New Testament Gospels, but with slightly different wording. In this case, what Jesus says here sounds similar to what he says in Luke 24:36 and in John 20:19 and 20:26 when he appears to his disciples after the resurrection: “Peace be with you!”
Significantly, in John’s Gospel, the verse just before Jesus appears to the disciple and says, “Peace be with you!” says:
“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.” [20:18]
So, the mention of Jesus speaking peace to his disciples in Mary’s Gospel is entirely consistent with what we read in both Luke and in John.
In Mark 13:20-22 and Matthew 24:22-24, during what’s known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus warns his disciples not to listen when people claim that the Messiah/Christ is “over here or there”.
In Luke’s Gospel, the wording is about the Kingdom of God:
“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” [Luke 17:21-22]
Here, in Mary’s Gospel, the warning is worded to suggest that the disciples must avoid anyone suggesting that the “Son of Man” or the “Child of Humanity” is to be found anywhere other than within us. This suggests that there is an interchangeability between these concepts: Messiah, Kingdom of God, and Son of Man/Child of Humanity.
In Orthodox Christianity, these sayings have been interpreted as being specifically directed to Jesus himself [as we see in Mark and Matthew], or about the Kingdom of God to come [as we see in Luke].
However, in Mary’s Gospel, the corrective appears to be that those terms are meant to be understood as inward realities that exist within each human being. Christ/Messiah, Kingdom/Heaven, and Son of Man/Child of Humanity are all one thing. They are all synonyms for the Christ within us and the Divine Humanity shared by everyone.
“Follow it!” Jesus says, urgently and forcefully to his disciples. “Those who seek it will find it.”
His final words in this chapter conclude by inviting them to “proclaim [this] good news [gospel] of the age,” and reminding them not to “lay down any rules beyond what I determined for you.”
Those rules that Jesus gave to us are simply these:
“Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and…to love your neighbor as yourself.” [Luke 10:24; Matthew 22:37]
We also have a new command from Jesus that is mentioned in John’s Gospel which says:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” [John 13:34]
The followers of Jesus are not to create new rules or laws for anyone to follow.
Love is the only law.
To emphasize this point, Jesus immediately departs and leaves his disciples alone in silence to contemplate the magnitude of this statement.
If only more of his followers would heed his advice today.
**
The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>
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 co-hosts The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast and his solo podcast, Second Cup With Keith which are both available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean or wherever you find your podcast fix.
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