101 Let go of your parents

LG101

Jesus said:
Who does not hate his father and her mother, like me,
can’t become a student of mine.
And whoever does not love his father and her mother, like me,
can’t become a student of mine.
Because my mother gave birth to me,
but my true mother gave birth to me.

 This logion is a continuation of logion 55. It also says:

Who doesn’t hate father and mother,
can’t become a student of mine

Here is added:

And whoever does not love his father and mother, like me,
can’t become a student of mine.

In the explanation for logion 55 it became clear that we can understand the word ‘hate’ as ‘let go’. And then it becomes understandable that you can let go of your parents and love them at the same time. That is what it was all about in Logion 55. So we can also understand that here.

Then that does not explain the meaning of the final sentences of this login:

Because my mother gave birth to me,
but my true mother gave birth to me.

That clearly goes a step further. For the meaning of that we must discover who or what is meant by the two mothers.

It is almost obvious to see the first mother as the biological mother, because he “gave birth to Jesus for death.” Death is a symbol word in Gnostics. That will therefore not be the intention.

This is about the image of ‘the mother’ that you can carry within yourself, but also the image of ‘the father’.

Becoming a free person, a Christ in the Gnostic language, means not only that you detach yourself from your parents in the practice of your life, but that you also have to let go of your internalized parents, the internalized images of your parents. Only then can you really build a free relationship, not only with your parents, but also with yourself.

Then a different kind of parenthood can arise within yourself. In a way, you become your own father and mother. That inner parenting of yourself is no longer connected with your real parents, but with something bigger in yourself, the royal autonomy that was spoken about in Thomas 2, the Christ in you. From that mature, free self-determination you can once again incorporate your actual parents into your feelings of love for your fellow man.