The Treasure That Wanted to Be Lost

Reading Thomas 109–111 Forward and Backward

The Gospel of Thomas often appears to be a collection of independent sayings. Yet every so often, a sequence of consecutive sayings reveals a pattern that is difficult to ignore. Read together, the sayings seem to comment upon one another, each supplying a missing piece for the next.

Sayings 109–111 may be one such sequence.

Read in their ordinary order, they describe discovery. A hidden treasure is found. Wealth is gained and then renounced. Finally, heaven and earth themselves disappear from view, revealing a deeper reality.

Read in reverse order, however, a different story emerges. The focus shifts away from discovery and toward concealment. Rather than watching a treasure come to light, we watch it disappear beneath the surface of the world.

The sayings read:

(109) Jesus said, “What the kingdom resembles is a man who possessed a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And upon dying he left it to his son. The son was not aware of the fact. He assumed ownership of the field and sold it. And the person who bought it came plowing, found the treasure, and began to lend out money at interest to whomever he wished.”

(110) Jesus said, “The one who had found the world and become rich should renounce the world.”

(111) Jesus said, “The heavens will be rolled up and likewise the earth in your presence, and the living one, come forth from the Living One, will not see death or fear, because Jesus says: He who finds himself, of him the world is not worthy.”

The Forward Reading

The movement of the sequence initially appears straightforward.

A treasure hidden within a field is discovered by a fortunate buyer. The discovery brings wealth. Yet the next saying immediately warns that wealth is not the goal. The one who has found the world and become rich should renounce the world. Finally, the sequence culminates in Saying 111, where heaven and earth themselves are rolled up before the one who finds himself.

The progression appears to move toward something increasingly fundamental.

In Saying 109, the treasure is concealed within a field.

In Saying 110, the world itself becomes the object that is found.

But the world is not the final destination. It must be renounced.

By Saying 111, heaven and earth have disappeared from view altogether. What remains is the final object of discovery.

The sequence therefore operates through a process of uncovering by removal.

The field conceals the treasure.

The world conceals the self.

Remove the field and the treasure appears.

Remove the world and the self appears.

Seen this way, the hidden treasure of Saying 109 anticipates the final discovery of Saying 111. Both are revealed only after the surrounding container has been stripped away.

The sequence begins with a hidden treasure and ends with what may be the ultimate hidden treasure: the self.

The Reverse Reading

Reading the sayings backward produces a very different movement.

The sequence now begins with a person who has already found himself.

“He who finds himself, of him the world is not worthy.”

The search is already complete. Heaven and earth are rolled up. The visible order no longer defines reality. The self stands apart from the world.

Then comes Saying 110.

“The one who had found the world and become rich should renounce the world.”

In the forward reading, this renunciation serves as a step toward self-discovery.

In the reverse reading, self-discovery has already occurred.

The movement is now downward rather than upward.

The individual enters the world.

He possesses it.

He becomes rich.

Then he relinquishes it.

What follows is not revelation but concealment.

The treasure of Saying 109 is hidden.

More than hidden, it is forgotten.

The owner does not know it exists.

His son does not know it exists.

The field is sold.

The treasure passes from one generation to another while remaining entirely unnoticed.

Only much later does someone uncover what has been there all along.

The Difference Between the Two Readings

The contrast between the two readings is striking.

In the forward reading, the kingdom resembles a treasure waiting to be discovered.

In the reverse reading, the kingdom resembles a treasure that survives because it has been forgotten.

The owner does not recognize it.

His son does not recognize it.

The field changes hands.

Generations pass.

Yet the treasure remains exactly where it was.

This pattern appears repeatedly throughout Thomas.

The kingdom is hidden in a field.

Leaven is hidden in dough.

A pearl is hidden among merchants.

Again and again, what is valuable survives beneath ordinary appearances.

The reverse reading of Sayings 109–111 extends this principle further. The treasure is not hidden from enemies. It is hidden from everyone. Even those who possess it remain unaware of what they possess.

The kingdom survives not because it is guarded, but because it is overlooked.

Conclusion

Read forward, these sayings tell the story of discovery.

A hidden treasure is found.

The world is renounced.

The self is revealed.

Read backward, they tell the story of concealment.

A person finds himself.

He renounces the world.

His knowledge disappears beneath inheritance, property, and time.

What remains is an ordinary field concealing something extraordinary beneath the surface.

The forward reading is about revelation.

The reverse reading is about preservation.

The kingdom survives because nobody recognizes it.

The owner does not know it is there.

His son does not know it is there.

The field is sold.

Yet the treasure remains.

Eventually someone plows the field.

And the story begins again.

All images by the author and AI.

Feuilleton of Independent Arts.