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The Gospel of Philip's warning against approaching the king naked may recall Matthew's guest without wedding clothes. The shared image makes clothing a condition of admission to the king, connecting Philip's meal and garments with a wedding feast.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 22:11
New Testament
10 And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all they found, both bad and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Gospel of Philip 4:15
Nag Hammadi
He said on that day during the Eucharist: “He who has joined the perfect, the light, together with the holy Spirit, may he join together the angels also with us, together with the images.” Despise not the lamb, because without it no one can see the door. No one can approach the king naked. The heavenly man possesses more children than the earthly man. If the children of Adam are many, despite (the fact) that they die, how many more will be the children of the Perfect Man, these who die not, but are born perpetually? The Father begets a Son, and the Son is unable to beget a Son, because someone who has been begotten is unable to beget. The Son, by contrast, gets brothers, not sons.
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Notes and References
“... The parallel with John 10:9 partially depends on whether the scribe of the Gos. Phil. made an error. The text states, ‘Do not despise the lamb, for without it, it is impossible to see the door (ⲉⲡⲣⲟ),’ but some scholars have emended the text to read ‘the king (ⲉⲡ<">ⲣⲟ),’ since the following lines state, ‘No one will be able to go in to the king (ⲉⲡ"ⲣⲟ) if he is naked.’ In the first reading, it is possible that the author used the term ‘door’ from John 10:9 (ⲁⲛⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲣⲟ) and ‘the lamb’ relates to the pastoral imagery of John 10:1–19.50 The ‘lamb’ is the basis for seeing and entering to the king, and it may be associated with the Eucharist (ⲧⲉⲩⲭⲁⲣⲓⲥⲧⲉⲓⲁ) in 58.11, but also the idea that the ‘lamb’ covers up nakedness (58.14) is similar to 57.8 where the Eucharist provides ‘clothing.’51 In the second reading, seeing and going to the ‘king’ has similarities with the parable of the Wedding Feast (Matt 22:11–14).52 ...”
Zelyck, Lorne R.
John among the Other Gospels: The Reception of the Fourth Gospel in the Extra-Canonical Gospels
(p. 118) Mohr Siebeck, 2013
* 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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