gospel of Thomas 60

[They saw] a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judaea. He said to his disciples, "That man is round about the lamb."

They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it."

He said to them, "While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse."

They said to him, "He cannot do so otherwise."

He said to them, "You too, look for a place for yourself within repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten."

This is one of the long, rather wordy parables from the Gospel of Thomas. I much prefer the short, punchy sayings; none of this dialogue back and forth. But let's see what we can make of this little discussion between Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus is saying, the arms of the Samaritan are round the lamb. The lamb is representing you, me, a human being. And the arms of the Samaritan I interpreters as life, existence, God. We are being held, whether we know it or not, as a foetus in a womb is held by the mother.

And yet, this parable goes on to talk about killing and eating – death. What do you think happens when we die? We cease to exist as individuals, yes. But everything we are, really, returns to whence it came. The matter disperses. We go up in smoke. We are eaten by worms. But that's the physical part of us. Our essence, our spirit, returns to the source, returns to life itself. We return to God.

But don't take this romantically. Don't think that means that you, as an individual, are going to be sitting in some heavenly paradise. No. Everything individual about you will cease. But the energy that is at the core of your being will merge once more with that great potential that underlies all that is; and underlies you as you yet walk alive on this planet, as a human being.

This to me is what Jesus is saying in this parable. But also he is urging us: you too, look for a place for yourself within repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten. It is our fate, our inevitable end to become a corpse and be eaten: physically by the worms, and spiritually by existence. That will happen one day anyway. And really our life here, as a human being, is about preparing for that moment – the moment of death.

We can enjoy life, yes, live it to the full, feel fulfilled by life. And yet, if we omit or forget to do this important, essential piece of work on ourselves, then in the moment of death there will be a great tragedy.

So here Jesus is urging us to find a place for ourselves within repose. Look at the word he chooses: repose. We need to become at ease with who we are. And then death will not be a tragedy. It will be a culmination, a glory.

But we must do our homework, whilst we yet live. We must find that essential part of ourself, allow it to breathe, and express itself. And through this, we become restful, peaceful in our being – at ease in the world, with who we are, and with the rest of existence. And from this space, this space of repose, we are ready. We are ready for that moment of death. We are ready to be eaten.