Quote:
http://www.bibletexts.com/texts/parables.htm
98 Jesus said: The kingdom of the Father is like a man who wanted to kill a powerful man. While he was in his own house, he drew the sword and drove it into the wall, that he might determine that his hand would be strong enough. Then he slew the powerful man.
The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?(Robert W. Funk, Roy W. Hoover, & The Jesus Seminar (NY: HarperCollins, 1993, page 524-525) comments on this parable:
The assassin. The sheer violence and scandal of the image of the assassin suggests that it might well have originated with Jesus. It is unlikely that the early Christian community would have invented and have attributed such a story to Jesus since its imagery is so contrary to the irenic and honorific images, such as the good shepherd, they customarily used for him. In ancient society, it was expected that kings and tyrants would act violently to enforce their will. Ordinary people were expected to refrain from violent behavior, unless, or course, they were brigands or revolutionaries. The parable of the assassin is reminiscent of the parables of the tower builder (luke 14:28-30) and the warring king (Luke 14:31-32), all three of which have to do with estimating the cost of an act or the capability to perform it successfully.
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The problem with the parrallels to Luke, is that in the Thomas saying, the man has the means, and is successfull. Whereas in the Luke parables the point is that the persons don't have the means necessary, that is the builder knows he can't finish the tower, the king knows he can't win the war, and the salt has lost it's flavor and is no good. This is used to show that your life(which is good like salt is) is unable to complete what is necessary, that is why you need to be able to abandon it(take up your own cross, not have any possesions). Whereas the Thomas saying, has someone who successfully puts a sword through his own wall and then successfully kills a powerfull man.
Is it possible the Thomas saying has something to do with the destruction of the Temple? In the saying a man successfully attacks his own house(the Temple), so that he can determine wether he can destroy a powerfull man(Nero), which he then does. This might refer to the defilement of the Temple by blood in 68 CE (as opposed to it's physical destruction in 70 CE), which preceded Nero's death, and the Roman civil war that ensued.
11-06-2005, 09:11 AM
