Invocation

Om May no harm be done Here, May this desire be motivated by Love. May what is not beneficent wither to obscurity.

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The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is extra to the canonical gospels in the New Testament of the bible. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried and hidden after the declaration of a strict canon of Christian scripture, where any works that were not selected for inclusion in the new testament were ordered to be destroyed. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD as a collection of sayings of Jesus.

Our Commentary on Verse 039 of Thomas Gospel.

These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.

Gospel of Thomas Saying 39 - Pharisees and Scribes restict the scriptures.
Jesus said, "The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves."

The Pharisees were the strict religious controlling sect and the Scribes were writers of the Law for the Pharisees. A modern generalisation is that the Pharisees were hypocrites. With the aid of the scribes, they interpreted and administered religious law which gave them power and wealth. Their people were taught to believe that if they obeyed the word of the law, they would enter heaven.
It was the Pharisees who accused Jesus of breaking the law of the Sabbath by working, because he picked some grains of corn to eat. This charge was designed to stop him preaching.
So, by enforcing strict adherence to their interpretation of the scriptures, the Pharisees prevented any other teaching, including that from Jesus.
The ultimate reason for this parable from Jesus is to highlight the dangers a truth seeker or preacher is always in from those who’s minds are afflicted with the ignorance of duality, as were the minds of the Pharisees who desired wealth and power.

The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them
The key to knowledge lay in the scriptures, but the Pharisees prevented, through their laws, any other understanding of the scriptures but their own. The law kept hidden the true scriptural knowledge from being taught.

”They themselves have not entered”
The Pharisees understanding of the divine was limited, through their seeing of duality, to this material world. Their desire for worldly material gain kept them in ignorance and from seeking or "entering" the path to the higher truth of Divine Nondual Consciousness.

”nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to”
The strict religious practices and observances imposed by the Scribes and Pharisees prevented others from teaching this higher truth to those others who wished to hear it.
The Pharisees, as explained, tried to criminalise Jesus through their laws, for working on the Sabbath. This was an attempt to prevent him from spreading his teaching of higher truth.

”You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves."
This last saying gives the meaning and purpose of this teaching from Jesus.
In this world that is dominated by an understanding limited to duality, with its resulting ignorance, there are resulting dangers.
The Pharisees could not realise their own true identity with the nondual divine. They could only see their material forms as being separate from ‘others’. Consequently, they sought gain and mastery over the ‘others’. They feared those ‘others’ lest they gained more wealth than them, that is, gained more of this material world than them.

Jesus is urging all seekers of higher knowledge to be alert for those who might become fearful and therefore dangerous to those who behave differently to themselves. The Pharisees were content with their worldly power and possessions. They were hostile to any teaching or behaviour that might threaten their power and security.
Jesus is telling all seekers to maintain their air of innocence, ”innocent as doves." or more accurately to maintain their appearance of being peaceful and harmless ”wise as serpents" so as not to arouse the suspicion, and violence, of those who see danger from those who seek a different path to themselves.

All verses of the Thomas Gospel.

Ohm   peace,   peace,   peace.