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In Mark, Jesus predicts his death, the disciples fail to understand, and on the road they argue over which of them ranks first. The Gospel of Thomas keeps that sequence, but its disciples already know he will leave and ask who will lead them.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Mark 9:34
New Testament
31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
Gospel of Thomas 1:12
Nag Hammadi
11 Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it alive; when you come into the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?” 12 The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you will leave us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you should go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.” 13 Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me and tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a righteous messenger.” Matthew said to him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say whom you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring I have measured out.” And he took him and withdrew and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you even one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me, and fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”
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Notes and References
“... The disciples’ question may have some relation to Mark 9.31–34, which like GTh 12 consists of a passion prediction (although a different kind of ‘departure’ is possible in Thomas), followed by the disciples asking which of them is the leader. In Thomas, after the death of Jesus, the disciples are envisaged as dispersed, but they are to congregate around ‘James’. [...] 12.1 The disciples said to Jesus, ‘We know that you will depart from us.’ On sayings introduced by the disciples, see ad GTh 6. The reference here may be to Jesus’ passion or a form of ascension. The disciples are very knowledgeable here by comparison with the canonical Gospels, where they are shocked (e.g. Mk 8.31–32) or confused (e.g. Mk 9.31–32) by Jesus’ passion predictions. 12.1 Who will be leader over us? As noted, this question might echo Mark 9.33–34, with its discussion of which disciple was the greatest (compare Coptic Mark’s [...] with [...] in Thomas). The implied answer wished for (as is explicit in Mark) might well also in Thomas be one of the disciples themselves. ...”
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