Baptism, Divine Names, Eucharist

God is a dyer. Like the good dyes, called true, die with what have been dyed in them, this is the way it is with those whom God has dyed, because his dyes are deathless. They are deathless on account of his colored remedies. However, those whom God baptizes, he baptizes in water ‹and power›. It is not possible that anyone could see something that has been decreed unless he becomes like it. This is not the way it is with the man who dwells in the world. He sees the sun without becoming the sun, and he sees the sky, and the earth, and everything else without becoming them. This is the way it is with truth, however: You have seen some things there, and you have become them. You have seen the Spirit, and have become Spirit. You have seen Christ, and have become Christ.⁠a You have seen the [Father, and you] will become Father. Consequently, [here] you see all things, and you do not [see yourself]. You, however, will see yourself in [that place], because you will [become] what you see. Faith obtains, love gives.⁠b [No one can] [obtain] apart from faith. No one can give apart from love. Consequently, we believe so we can obtain. However, we give so we can love, because if someone does not give out of love, he will not profit from what he has given. He who has not obtained the Lord is still a Hebrew. The apostles who lived before us named in this way: “Jesus the Nazarene, Messiah,” that is, “Jesus the Nazarene, Christ.” The last name is “Christ,” the first is “Jesus,” the middle one is “the Nazarene.” “Messiah” bears two meanings, both “Christ” and “he who is measured.” “Jesus” in Hebrew means “salvation,” “Nazara” means “truth.” “The Nazarene” is consequently the (man of) truth. “Christ” was the one who was measured. “The Nazarene” and “Jesus” were the ones who were measured. If a pearl is cast down into the mud, it will not be more despised, nor will it be (more) precious if anointed with balsam. It remains, on the contrary, ever valuable to its master. This is the way it is with the children of God: Wherever they are, they remain ever valuable to their Father. Should you say, “I am a Jew,” no one will be moved. Should you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be distressed. Should you say, “I am a Greek,” “a barbarian,” “a slave,” [“a free,”] no one will be troubled.⁠c [Should] you [say], “I am a Christian,” the [world] will shake. If only [... of] this kind, the one [who ...] will be unable to bear [hearing] his name. God is a Man-eater.⁠d Consequently, the Man was [sacrificed] to him. Before the Man had been sacrificed, animals were sacrificed, because those to whom they sacrificed were not gods. Glass vessels as well as pottery vessels come to be with fire. If, however, glass vessels get broken, they are refashioned, because they came to be with a breath. By contrast, if pottery vessels get broken, they are destroyed, because they came to be without breath. A donkey turned a millstone, finishing (the equivalent of) a hundred-mile walk. When it let loose, it found itself still in exactly the same place. Some men do a lot of walking, and they make no progress toward any destination. When evening overtakes them, they have seen neither any city nor any village, nor anything man-made nor of nature, as well as any power and any angel. These despicable people have worked for nothing. The Eucharist is Jesus, because in Syriac it is called “Pharisatha,” that is, “he who is spread out,” because Jesus came crucifying the world.⁠e The Lord entered Levi’s dyeing-place, and took seventy-two colors, and cast them into the vat, and took out all of them white, and he said: “In this way the Son of the Son of Man has come [as] a dyer.”