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In Mark and Luke, Jesus uses children to explain how to receive the kingdom. In the Gospel of Thomas, nursing infants prompt a different answer, that people must unite opposites to enter, connecting childhood with the removal of divisions.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Mark 10:13
New Testament
13 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
Luke 18:15
New Testament
15 Now people were even bringing their babies to him for him to touch. But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them. 16 But Jesus called for the children, saying, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
Gospel of Thomas 1:22
Nag Hammadi
22 Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These little ones being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the kingdom as little ones?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same—so that the male will not be male and the female not be female—when you fashion eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].” 23 Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.”
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Notes and References
“... Luke follows the [...] account of Jesus' blessing of the little children fairly closely (cf. Matt 19:13-15). However, Luke eliminates the details of Jesus' anger and affection (see p. 95). Moreover, he improves at times the Greek style, using brephe, "babies, infants," in v. 15a, instead of the [...] paidia, "children" (10:13), which he retains, however, in v. 16b. [...] Another form of the story is preserved in Gos. of Thom. § 22: "[...] saw children being nursed. He said to his disciples, 'These children who are being nursed are like those who enter the kingdom.' They said to him, 'If we become children, shall we enter the kingdom?' Jesus said to them, 'When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one so that the male not be male or the female female, and when you put eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, and an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].'" This form seems to be remotely inspired by the Synoptic saying of Jesus about children and the kingdom, but it is an elaborate reworking to affirm gnostic teaching about the primordial unit. ...”
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