Gospel of Thomas Saying 8 Then he says: "A man is like a skilled fisherman who cast his net into the sea. He brought it up out of the sea full of little fishes, and among them the skilled fisherman found one that was big and excellent. He threw all the little fishes back into the sea; without hesitating he chose the big fish. He who was ears to hear, let him hear!
The man is the one who has consumed the lion transforming the beast into a human being. Such a person has let go the attachment to all lesser and petty desires in order to fulfill the inmost heart’s desire the higher desire, all desire energy drawn inward and upward into one holy desire passion for the Beloved. The difficulty and the internal conflict you experience in the form of desire and fear reflects the opposition between the bestial part of the soul or the female part of the soul and the inward man the male part of the soul. All sorrow and suffering comes from ignorance. In ignorance one cannot discern between lesser desires and the greater desire. Add more…..the power of ignorance dissolves along with the internal conflict
The great fish is a symbol of the truth already out there in the world when we find it we have to put it first in our lives to follow Jesus and give exclusive allegiance to him as God’s Messiah.
The big fish is the heavenly man and the Christ-self you must put on. It is Jesus Christ the son of God the saviour you must put on both morally and corporeal. And fish is a symbol of Christ Jesus: Greek: Ichthus Jesus Christ, son of God, saviour.
Some also think that man corresponds to the Kingdom and the fisherman to the net in Matthew. Alternatively, the man is the son of man who is like a wise fisherman the net into the sea is the harvest at the end of the age the great fish is the body of Christ the little ones are those who will be rejected.
8)# And He said, "The Kingdom is like a wise fisherman [one who seeks the truth prudently] who cast his net [neural net – used to sift through the water (thoughts and ideas of mankind by word or written)] into the sea [tribes, tongues, peoples and nations] and drew it up from the sea full of small fish [the works and teachings of men (in the lower/outward {fleshly} forms) who are without the life in them - i.e. from the numerous Judean and Christo-pagan denominations]. Among them the wise fisherman [one with a discerning spirit] found a fine large fish [the Keys of Knowledge (true hidden teachings) of Messiah]. He threw all the small fish back into the sea [discounted all of the religions of the world] and chose the large fish without difficulty [he recognized immediately that this truth was a prize worth keeping and the rest had to be discarded for their lack - this is "Christ in you the hope of glory"]. Whoever has ears [two ears so as to hear both upper/inward and lower/outward teachings - see V.33] to hear, let him hear [what the spirit is telling him]."
I think there's a broader truth here, that doesn't have to do with the Christian doctrine of heaven and hell. This parable strikes me that man who has a pure desire for the divine, for truth, in his search for his true self (the net being his search), draws in an abundance of little fish (theories, beliefs, theologies, distractions, the cares of this world). But the wise fisherman isn't distracted by the abundance of small fish, but rather is able to see past them to recognize and embody the greater truth, disregarding that which is not true and does not resonate with the divine.
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