Friday, May 25, 2012

standing outside

His disciples told him: Your brothers and your mother are standing outside. He responded: These here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother. These are the ones who will enter the Kingdom of my Father. Saying 99, The Gospel of Thomas.

"Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." Already we see a distinction, a barrier. Jesus' earthly kin would not come in to where he was. After all the fanfare of his birth, his mother may have thought he would be a great Rabbi within the Temple, but here he was, on a different course, wandering the streets and visiting in the homes of the riff-raff, the scum, the societal outcasts.

They stood outside. When told they were standing out there, Jesus did not rush out to greet them. Instead, he strengthened the understanding of the distinction. "These here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother."

Earthly bonds of kinship give way to spiritual linking of souls. All who live in accord with the Father, the Source, The-One-Who-Breathes-Us are spiritual kin. These are the ones who will enter the kingdom and, indeed, are already in the kingdom which is present even now.

1 comment:

  1. the riff-raff, the scum, the societal outcast.

    "Beware, you may entertain Angels Unaware"
    thx, brother geo.

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