Thomas 37: When You Strip Without Being Ashamed
Anyone who has given a two-year-old a bath knows the routine. The clothes come off, and before you can get the water running, the kid is gone, tearing down the hallway and shrieking with joy. The clothes stay in a heap on the bathroom floor, usually with a footprint on them. That’s more or less the picture Jesus reaches for in saying 37 of the Gospel of Thomas. The disciples ask when they’ll finally see him, and the answer involves taking off your clothes and stomping on them like a little kid. I want to look at what that image meant to its first readers, and then at what it might mean for someone who isn’t standing at the edge of a baptismal pool. ...