Texts in Conversation
In John, Jesus promises to explain openly what he once said indirectly. In the Gospel of Thomas, he also contrasts earlier silence with present willingness to explain, but now the disciples no longer seek answers.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
John 16:25
New Testament
24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive it, so that your joy may be complete. 25 “I have told you these things in obscure figures of speech; a time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in obscure figures, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
Gospel of Thomas 92
Nag Hammadi
91 They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.” He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you do not recognize the one who is before you, and you do not know how to examine this moment.” 92 Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. In the past I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you do not seek them.” 93 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, lest they throw it on the dung heap. Do not throw pearls to pigs, lest they… [trample it].”
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Notes and References
“... It is with sayings 92 and 38 that we find a further layering of this tradition. Saying 92.1 is a variant of saying 94.1: Gos. Thom. 92: (1) Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. (2) In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them.” However, there has been added an elaboration that seems reminiscent of John 16:12–15, 25–28: [...] John 16:25–28: “I have been talking to you in figures of speech. The time is coming when I’ll no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you about the Father in plain language. [...] A past is imagined where Jesus did not answer what the disciples had asked about. The stress is now placed upon the present, when Jesus is “willing to tell” but the disciples “are not seeking.” ...”
Dewey, Arthur J.
""Keep Speaking until You Find . . . ": Thomas and the School of Oral Mimesis" in Cameron, Ron, and Merrill P. Miller (eds.) Redescribing Christian Origins
(pp. 111-112) Society of Biblical Literature, 2004
* 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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