Parable of the empty jar

The Parable of the Empty Jar, also known as the Parable of the Woman With a Jar is a parable attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas.http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gthlamb.html G. Thomas 97
 
==Authenticity==
The scholars of the Jesus Seminar gave the Parable of the Empty Jar a "pink" rating, indicating 
that it is in their opinion probably an authentic saying of Jesus. The scholars of the Seminar noted parallels with the parable of the leaven, which immediately precedes the parable of the empty jar in the Gospel of Thomas and the parable of the mustard seed: in all three the kingdom starts with something "unnoticed or unexpected or modest".
==Interpretation==
This parable has been given a wide variety of interpretations. It may be a warning against letting the "Kingdom", which according to Thomas 3 is "inside of you and outside of you"Gospel of Thomas (Lambdin Translation) - The Nag Hammadi Library slip away like the lost flour
: it may also be a simple warning against self-confidence.
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The emptiness of the jar may represent an empty life: "people who live their lives in the world [...] carry jars they think are full, but discover, even after much activity, that they are empty".
Another interpretation is that the parable refers to "the imperceptible coming of the Kingdom".
One commentator recasts the emptiness of the jar in a positive light by highlighting the contrast of the image of the empty jar with the expected ending of the woman finding a full jar: such a "happy ending" would be "fairy tale religiosity" whereas "emptiness in the world is what is critical to eventual spiritual fullness".
==References==
Empty Jar