Controversial Thomas Verse "I will guide Mary to make her a male"

[Rainbow Mage]

I would put forth that Jesus wasn't actually being literal here, because earlier in Thomas he said true enlightenment comes when male and female become one and the same, so that people no longer see male or female.

Rather, Jesus was speaking to Peter's primitive way of thinking, hence it follows Peter's statement:

"Peter said: Master make Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."

Jesus replied: "Truly I tell you I will guide her to make her male, for all females who become males will enter the kingdom."

Earlier in Thomas: "They asked him when the kingdom would come. Jesus replied: When you make the outside as the inside, and the inside as the outside, and the male and the female become one and the same, so that there is no longer male or female. When you fashion an eye in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, and an image in place of an image, then you will enter the kingdom."

He is telling Peter there is no such thing as male or female truly, but Peter was still primitive minded.

 

[Requia]

It's more traditional to talk about how its controversial but completely dodge the topic of what it means, rather than trying to explain.

 

[Gruffudd]

There is an interesting parallel in the Gospel of John (which some scholars believe depends on the Gospel of Thomas):

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,”

More generally, the transgression of gender runs throughout early Christian writings. Paul has, "There is no male and female in Christ Jesus". Matthew has, "eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." Later, in the Martyrdom of Perpetua, the eponymous martyr has a vision in which she becomes a man to fight with the devil.

 

[ImmortalPhoenix]

From the below quote I believe it is a reference to the male and female becoming one in a soul. The positive and the negative becoming One. That is true essence of God.

"They asked him when the kingdom would come. Jesus replied: When you make the outside as the inside, and the inside as the outside, and the male and the female become one and the same, so that there is no longer male or female. When you fashion an eye in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, and an image in place of an image, then you will enter the kingdom."