LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM 319
(33) Matthew 9:37
The harvest is abundant but the field workers are few.
This line refers to those ready for the harvest and for gathering into the barn,
to go through faith into rest, and be prepared for salvation and receiving the
word.
(34) John 4:36
The reaper is taking his wages.This is said because the savior calls himself a reaper. And the wages of our lord
are the salvation and restoration of those reaped, which means, his rest upon
them. "And gathering the grain for eternal life" means either that what is gath-
ered is the fruit of eternal life or that it is itself eternal life.
(35) John 4:37
So sower and reaper alike may be happy.The sower is happy because he sows, and because he is already gathering part
of his seeds. Likewise, the reaper is happy because he is reaping. The first
began by sowing, the second by reaping. Both could not begin with the same
task, since sowing is first and reaping afterward. When the sower stops sowing,
the reaper is still reaping. But for the moment both do their own work and
share a common joy when they consider the perfection of the seeds. "One
sows, another reaps." The earthly son^27 above the place^28 sows.^29 The savior,
who is also the earthly son, reaps and sends the angels down as reapers known
through the students,^30 each for his own soul.
(36) John 4:38
Others worked and you entered their work.
These seeds were sown neither through nor by them. Those who worked are the
angels of the dispensation, through whom as mediators the seeds were sown
and nourished. The work of sowers and reapers is not the same, for the former
in cold and rain work and dig up the earth and sow, and through the winter- Or "human son," "son of man."
- The place probably refers to the place of god, as a circumlocution for god.
- See Matthew 13:37.
- See Matthew 13:39.