The Lost Sheep and the Son of Man

Reading Thomas 106–108 Forward and Backward

The Gospel of Thomas is often read as a collection of independent sayings. In this series, I have been examining the text sequentially, reading consecutive sayings as potential units rather than treating each saying in isolation.

Again and again, sayings that initially appear unrelated have revealed unexpected connections. Sayings 106–108 provide another example.

Read forward, they describe unity, recovery, and revelation. Read backward, they appear to tell a different story entirely. The focus shifts toward succession, recognition, and the emergence of a new understanding.

The sayings read:

(106) Jesus said, “When you make the two into one you will become sons of man, and when you say, ‘O mountain, go elsewhere!’ it will go elsewhere.”

(107) Jesus said, “What the kingdom resembles is a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, strayed away. He left the ninety-nine and sought the one until he found it. After having toiled, he said to the sheep, ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’”

(108) Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I, too, will become that person, and to that person the obscure things will be shown forth.”

The Forward Reading

The sequence begins with unity.

Jesus speaks of making the two one. The result is becoming “sons of man.” Once this state is achieved, even a mountain can be commanded to move.

The mountain functions as a symbol of permanence. Mountains do not move. They represent stability, certainty, and established order. Yet Jesus presents the son of man as someone capable of moving what appears immovable.

The next saying introduces a shepherd searching for a lost sheep.

Thomas differs from the Synoptic versions in a subtle but important way. The sheep is not merely lost. It is described as the largest sheep.

Its significance precedes its wandering.

When the shepherd finally finds it, he says:

“I love you more than the ninety-nine.”

The final saying then explains how hidden things become visible.

The disciple drinks from Jesus’ mouth.

The disciple becomes like Jesus.

Jesus becomes like the disciple.

Only then are the obscure things revealed.

Read in this direction, the movement is relatively straightforward:

Unity.

Recognition.

Revelation.

Reading Backward

When the sayings are reversed, the relationships between them begin to change.

The process now begins with Saying 108:

“Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I, too, will become that person.”

The statement is remarkable because it is reciprocal.

The disciple becomes like Jesus.

Jesus becomes like the disciple.

The distinction between teacher and student begins to collapse.

This immediately alters the way we read Saying 107.

The shepherd finds the sheep and says:

“I love you more than the ninety-nine.”

Traditionally, this is understood as affection for a lost sheep.

But Thomas never says the sheep is special because it became lost.

Instead, Thomas emphasizes that it was already the largest sheep before it wandered away.

The sheep was distinguished before it left the flock.

Why Does the Shepherd Love the Sheep?

Once Saying 108 is placed first, another possibility emerges.

The shepherd loves the sheep because he recognizes himself in it.

The sheep has gone where the others would not go.

It has left the common pasture.

It has entered unfamiliar territory.

The shepherd understands because he once made the same journey.

The story begins to resemble a narrative of succession rather than rescue.

The sheep becomes the next shepherd.

The disciple becomes the next teacher.

The son of man becomes the next son of man.

Making the Two One

This brings us back to the opening saying.

“When you make the two into one you will become sons of man.”

The saying is often interpreted as the reconciliation of opposites.

Yet in light of the reverse reading, another possibility appears.

The two are the shepherd and the sheep.

The teacher and the disciple.

The predecessor and the successor.

The realization is not that two different things have been merged.

The realization is that they were manifestations of the same pattern all along.

The shepherd was once the sheep.

The sheep eventually becomes the shepherd.

The two become one.

Moving the Mountain

The second half of Saying 106 becomes especially intriguing in this context.

“When you say, ‘O mountain, go elsewhere!’ it will go elsewhere.”

In the I Ching, Mountain represents stillness, stopping, and established boundaries.

Every successful system eventually creates a mountain.

A point where inquiry stops.

A place where the answer is considered settled.

The ninety-nine sheep remain there.

The largest sheep does not.

It wanders beyond the accepted boundary.

Into strange pastures.

Into unfamiliar territory.

Into new ways of seeing.

From the perspective of the flock, the sheep is lost.

From the perspective of the shepherd, the sheep is following the very path he once followed.

The mountain moves because the stopping point moves.

What one generation accepts as final, the next generation discovers is only a beginning.

The Son of Man

This may explain why Jesus does not say “sons of God.”

He says “sons of man.”

The title is not unique.

It is reproducible.

A son of man is someone who moves beyond the current mountain.

Someone who discovers that the accepted boundary is not the final boundary.

Someone who sees what previous generations could not see.

Read backward, the three sayings form a single movement:

The disciple becomes like the teacher.

The sheep becomes the shepherd.

The two become one.

The mountain moves.

And suddenly the shepherd’s words sound less like affection and more like recognition:

“I love you more than the ninety-nine.”

Because he knows exactly where that sheep has been.

All images by the author and AI

Feuilleton of Independent Arts.