CHAPTER XXV
REPUTED SAYINGS OF JESUS FOUND IN EGYPT
Early Collections of the Words of Jesus. Translation of Sayings Found in 1897. Comments. Translation of a Leaf Found in 1904. Comments. Opinions as to these Sayings.
The Gospel of Luke begins with the words: “Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,”—words which imply that there were in the early Church many attempts at Gospel writing. Some of these attempts apparently took the form of collecting the sayings of Jesus. At Oxyrhynchus in Egypt two different leaves of papyrus have been found on which such sayings are written. The first of these was found by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897; ([Fig. 301]). It begins in the middle of a sentence, but it is a sentence the beginning of which can be supplied from Matt. 7:5. When complete the sentence runs thus:[604]
[Jesus saith, Cast out first the beam from thine own eye], and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
On this saying compare Matt. 7:5; Luke 6:42.
The second one runs:
Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the kingdom of God; and except ye keep the sabbath, ye shall not see the Father.
This saying does not occur in the Gospels, and has given rise to wide discussion among scholars.
The third is as follows: