61. Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live." Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone." Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father." "I am your disciple." "For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness."
This passage is similar to Luke 17:30-36 where two are in bed and only one is taken. Interestingly, Jesus also goes on to speak of the carcass (dead body) in the Gospel of Luke as well. Many Christians believe that the N.T. passage is referring to a physical rapture, or taking away, of the true believers from the world into heaven. Yet do some believe that heaven and the Kingdom of God are physical places that we must go to? Jesus was in heaven while walking the earth. The Kingdom of God was here because Christ was here. Even today, the Kingdom remains within us. We must go into our spirit to find Christ and His Kingdom. The true rapture is when your spirit takes your soul into the Kingdom! Only a spirit mature and qualified can accomplish this feat. Our rapture is of the spirit and not of the flesh. In fact, this is supported by Thomas:61 where Jesus says nothing about them being taken way, but rather he says that one lives and the other dies. This is the real key to understanding this passage. Every human being has two different natures/identities- one must live and the other must die.
Jesus again goes very deep in this particular saying. He says, I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father. For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness. This notion of TWO becoming ONE is fairly common in the Gospel of Thomas, but it is not as apparent in the New Testament. However, even in the other Gospels, there are some clues left behind by Jesus to help us understand this duality. For example, Jesus taught us to address God as our Father when we pray. Yet, he also criticized the Pharisees calling them sons of hell and stating that the devil was their father. Did they have TWO fathers? Yes, the duality of this world divides us, but the love of Christ unites us.
Now, the person called Salome is believed to be a woman to whom Jesus is speaking. Jesus explains to her that he (Christ) is the ONE who is whole. In fact, Christ Jesus says, I AM the ONE. Man has two natures and therefore has a decision to make. He must either continue to live as flesh and die, or live as spirit and live. Do we trust that God is our Father and that we are His children? Paul made it clear that we must live according to the spirit and not the flesh. Our natural self (flesh) will die, but our supernatural self (spirit) will live. Jesus goes on to say that if we are whole (living in Christ) and not divided (double-minded), we will be filled with light, which is the glory of God. One day each of us will finally see our old self as crucified, so our new resurrected self can live for God.
