Reaping the Evil Weed

Thomas 21. Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?"

He said, "They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs.
When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give us back our field.' They
take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and
they return their field to them.

For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming,
they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break
into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions.

As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great
strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get to you, for the trouble you
expect will come.

Let there be among you a person who understands.

When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it.
Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"We are now going to examine certain sayings within the Gospel of Thomas.

(37) His disciples said: On what day wilt thou be revealed us, and on what day
shall we see thee? Jesus said: When you unclothe yourselves and are not ashamed,
and take your garments and lay them beneath your feet like little children, and
tread upon them, then [shall ye see] the Son of the living One, and ye shall not
fear.

This saying is to be contrasted with the situation expressed in saying number
65:

(65) He said: A good man had a vineyard. He gave it to husbandmen that they
might work it, and he receive its fruit their hand. He sent his servant, that
the husbandmen might give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his
servant, they beat him, and all but killed him. The servant came (and) told his
master. His master said: Perhaps they did not know him. He sent another servant;
the husbandmen beat the other also. Then the master sent his son. He said:
Perhaps they will reverence my son. Those husbandmen, since they knew that he
was the heir the vineyard, they seized him (and) killed him. He that hath ears,
let him hear.

In each case, an owner sent his son to a field he owned. In one case the son was
received by people undressing themselves. Saying number 65 describes an
alternative situation.

It seems that the vineyard is cursed.

(40) Jesus said: A vine was planted apart from the Father, and since it is not
established it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed.

(28) Jesus said: I stood in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in
flesh. I found them all drunk, I found none among them thirsting; and my soul
was afflicted for the sons of men, for they are blind in their heart and they do
not see. For empty came they into the world, seeking also to depart empty from
the world. But now they are drunk. When they have thrown off their wine, then
will they repent.

Saying 37, along with saying 21 showing an alternative to a vineyard:

(21) Mary said to Jesus: Whom are thy disciples like? He said They are like
little children dwelling in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the
field come, they will say: Yield up to us our field. They are naked before them,
to yield it up to them and to give them back their field. Therefore I say: If
the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will keep watch
before he comes, and will not let him dig into his house of his kingdom to carry
off his vessels. You, then, be watchful over against the world. Gird up your
loins with great strength, that the brigands may not find a way to come at you,
since the advantage for which you look they will find. May there be among you a
man of understanding! When the fruit was ripe, he came quickly, his sickle in
his hand, and reaped it. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

In the case of the vineyard, when the son of the owner came to pick up the
profits, he was murdered. Saying 21 has the owner of the field coming, and the
children strip off their clothes, and by doing so, they return the field to the
owner. Then it speaks about being prepared for thieves. However, we saw that, in
the case of the vineyard, the thieves were the workers of the field. The thieves
are not on the outside, they are on the inside.

Saying 21 is offering an alternative model of security. There are two additional
sayings within Thomas that are associated with the saying under discussion.

(103) Jesus said: Blessed is the man who knows in what part the robbers are
coming, that he may rise and gather his [domain] and gird up his loins before
they come in.

(35) Jesus said: It is not possible for anyone to go into the strong man's house
and take it (or him) by force, unless he bind his hands; then he will plunder
his house.

To gird one's loins means to lace a rope around your legs in order to tie the
fabric of your robe in place so as to be prepared to fight. In the second case,
hands are generally bound with rope as well.

Let's now look at what happens when the owner returns:

(37) His disciples said: On what day wilt thou be revealed us, and on what day
shall we see thee? Jesus said: When you unclothe yourselves and are not ashamed,
and take your garments and lay them beneath your feet like little children, and
tread upon them, then [shall ye see] the Son of the living One, and ye shall not
fear.

They should put their clothes beneath their feet and tread on or trample them.
Remember that this is being compared to a vineyard, where grapes are tread on or
trampled beneath the feet. Here clothes are being tread on, which suggests that
clothes are the product of these new fields just as grapes are the product of
vineyards.

The same product that is made into clothes can also be made into rope, ideal for
girding one's loins or for binding hands. But this material isn't for making
high quality fabrics, instead it was used to make sackcloth.

(78) Jesus said: Why came ye forth into the field? To see reed shaken by the
wind? And to see a man clothed in soft raiment? [Behold, your] kings and your
great men are they who are clothed in soft [raiment], and they [shall] not be
able to know the truth.

So, to review, Thomas presents two agricultural models, one produces wine, this
can be equated with Rome and the Johannine branch of Gnosticism. The alternative
to this is a model that seems to correspond to hemp production.

Hemp was used to produce sackcloth which was used for clothing by the poor and
by the majority during periods of mourning, ashes and sackcloth. Hemp was also
used to produce rope.

Now, I apologize. I don't have an agenda. This is how I read the text. Combined
with verses such as:

(57) Jesus said: The kingdom of the Father is like a man who had [good] seed.
His enemy came by night, he sowed a weed among the good seed. The man did not
allow them to pull up the weed. He said to them: Lest perhaps you go to pull up
the weed, and pull up the wheat with it. For on the day of harvest the weeds
will be manifest; they will be pulled up and burned.

Given my reading that the owner was lying to the servant, he put the bad weed in
his field himself and that he was protecting the bad weed from being pulled up
prematurely, but he assures the servant that it will be burnt, wink, wink.

It seems ridiculous; there wasn't a weed versus alcohol cultural war two
thousand years ago. Thomas doesn't date from the sixties. Hemp was used in the
production of sackcloth and the mind-altering effect of cannabis was known, but
still, the presence of such a message, hidden within the Gospel of Thomas… I
find it amazing.