Saying 82: Whoever Is Near Me Is Near the Fire
Whoever is close to me is close to the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom.
Commentary
Quoted by Origen and Didymus the Blind as a saying of Jesus, which puts it in circulation in Egypt well before the Nag Hammadi copy was buried. Proximity is not made comfortable: the choice is fire or distance.
Parallels
Luke 12:49; Mark 9:49
Sayings on the same themes
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- Saying 55 Saying 55: Hating Father and Mother Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple; whoever does not hate brothers and sisters and carry the cross…
- Saying 22 Saying 22: Making the Two Into One Nursing infants are like those who enter the kingdom. When you make the two one, the inside like the outside, the male…
- Saying 14 Saying 14: Fasting Brings Sin Fasting brings sin, prayer brings condemnation, almsgiving harms the spirit; go into any land, eat what is put before you, heal the…
- Saying 3 Saying 3: The Kingdom Within and Without If your leaders say the kingdom is in the sky the birds will get there first; if in the sea, the fish.…