Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh was I seen of them, and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them, and my soul grieveth over the sons of men, because they are blind in their heart [and see not], poor, and know not their poverty.
This saying also is not found in the Gospels. It is difficult to tell whether it was thought to have been spoken by Jesus before or after the resurrection.
The fourth saying is difficult of translation and interpretation, since the text is not at all clear. As emended by Harnack and Swete, it would run:
Jesus saith, Wherever there are two they are not without God, and if one is alone anywhere, I say I am with him. Raise the stone, there thou shalt find me; cleave the wood, and there I am.
This saying has given rise to much discussion and to a large literature, but reference can here be made only to Henry van Dyke’s poem Felix. With the last part of the saying Matt. 18:20 should be compared.
The fifth saying is as follows:
Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither doth a physician work cures upon them that know him.
The first part of this is akin to Luke 4:24; Mark 6:4; Matt. 13:57, and John 4:44. The last part of it is not in the Gospels.
The sixth one reads:
Jesus saith, A city built on the top of a high hill and firmly established can neither fall nor be hid.