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In Luke, Jesus describes a king who sits down before a battle to work out whether his army can win. In the Gospel of Thomas, a man who means to kill a powerful man first tests his sword on the wall of his own house, and only then strikes.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 14:31
New Testament
28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him. 30 They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? 32 If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.
Gospel of Thomas 1:98
Nag Hammadi
97 Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Father is like a woman who took a little yeast, hid it in dough, and made big loaves. Whoever has ears should hear.” 98 Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stabbed it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful man.” 99 The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them, “Those here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother; they are the ones who will enter the kingdom of my Father.”
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Notes and References
“... Jesus said, "The kingdom of the father is like a certain man who wanted to kill a powerful man. In his own house he drew his sword and stuck it into the wall in order to find out whether his hand could carry through. Then he slew the powerful man." The Parable of the Assassin (or the Powerful Man) - another kingdom parable - is like the Parables of Building a Tower and the King Going to War (Luke 14:28-30,31-32) in that the three speak of considering the cost or testing oneself before carrying through what is ultimately being planned. Here the would-be assassin tests his strength before he does the deed; likewise, the hearer should test to see whether he has strength sufficient to carry through. The implication is that whoever seeks the kingdom should count the cost. ...”
Hultgren, Arland J.
The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary
(p. 444) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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