Didymus Judas Thomas - "the Twin" and Its Profound Implications

We’ve been discussing The Gospel of Thomas in our Censored Scriptures class. What struck me this time in my re-reading of different sayings and my review of different aspects of The Gospel of Thomas is the meaning of the name "Thomas." In Aramaic, "tūmā" means "twin." John's gospel (11:16) and Thomas make reference to Thomas' being "the twin." 

(beginning of the gospel) These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which “Didymus Judas Thomas” wrote down

"Becoming" or already "being" Jesus' twin seems like a significant matter because it suggests becoming "like" Jesus, or even, a mystical union with the person of Jesus, which is, after all, the goal of the transformative way in Christianity. This is strongly echoed in saying #108 where Jesus says,

He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.“

What does that imply? Another book also found among the Nag Hammadi writings called The Book of Thomas the Contender spells out its implications in an insightful way:

• "Now, since it has been said that you are my twin and true companion, examine yourself, and learn who you are, in what way you exist, and how you will come to be. Since you will be called my brother, it is not fitting that you be ignorant of yourself. …
• “…And I know that you have understood, because you had already understood that I am the knowledge of the truth. So while you accompany me, although you are uncomprehending, you have (in fact) already come to know, and you will be called 'the one who knows himself'. For he who has not known himself has known nothing, but he who has known himself has at the same time already achieved knowledge about the depth of the all. So then, you, my brother Thomas, have beheld what is obscure to men, that is, what they ignorantly stumble against."

The dominant thought in the above lines is contained in the injunction "Know yourself!"  I interpret that to mean: the image of God, the image of Christ is already embedded and embodied in our deepest core, in our authentic selves. When we go past the superficial levels of our personhood and delve into our innermost core (e.g., Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle), there we come upon the presence of God and the image of Christ. 

This teaching of Thomas then is profoundly mystical. It is furthermore echoed in the various teachings of the mystics (Christian or otherwise) and implied in various spiritual exercises such as Centering Prayer. 

It can also have a potentially active dimension. If our identity as Christians can be described as “being a twin of Christ,” that also implies that as we go out into the world, we are like “other Christs” because we are his twin-siblings. We therefore should be agents of compassion, forgiveness, inclusivity, and (distributive) justice in the world, just like our twin brother Jesus.