If gnosis here simply refers to
knowledge, then Jesus of Nazareth was certainly one of the greatest
gnostics the world has ever known. Indications are that Jesus traveled extensively throughout Egypt and the Far East, becoming initiated in the Mystery Traditions of various locations and cultures.
St. Paul refers to this Gnosis, drawing heavily upon the Eleusinian (Greek) Mysteries. Inasmuch, Paul was certainly a gnostic too, attaining to the same initiatic degree as did Jesus himself, albeit under different circumstances. Jesus, after all, received the Christ in a somewhat unique way, and took upon himself the special role of presenting a symbolic motif that has survived 2,100 years ... despite efforts to stamp out the Revelation.
Some teachings refer to Jesus as a Lord of Compassion, in contrast to those who are sometimes called
Masters of the Wisdom. The Theosophical Adepts are largely in this latter category, with some exceptions (such as the Master Serapis). The Tibetan Master DK emphasizes heavily that we must understand the 2nd Ray energy (emanating from the 2nd Person of the Christian Trinity, or the Vishnu branch of the Hindu Trimurti) as
Love-Wisdom.
To understand that this is indeed a dual energy it may become necessary to further explore the blended nature of Divine manifestation, but to attempt to separate Love from Wisdom completely is misguided and - impossible. Christ's own injunction along these lines may be best remembered in His instructions to the apostles as He sent them out, saying, "Be ye wise, as Serpents, and harmless, as Doves."
From a very practical level, it shouldn't take much contemplation to realize that naturally, Jesus was a
gnostic. We are suggesting, are we not, that Jesus had at least a moderate understanding of God's Plan for Humanity (let alone perfect understanding) ... as well as the wherewithal to go about a
Divinely-ordained mission of demonstrating & sharing this Plan on literally a global scale. Could this have been accomplished, even for 3 years, by anyone who
did not KNOW?
To ask if Jesus was a gnostic definitely begs the question,
Knower of what? If we mean formal Gnostic teaching, with all of its misconceptions & shortcomings, then I would still have to argue,
sure, Jesus knew plenty about that. Would he then have
taught this kind of system to his followers - and left indications sufficiently veiled that even the most clever of pontiffs and popes wouldn't see the writing in between the lines? That's a harder question to address.
Jesus had to work with what was on hand. The disciples were not ideal students. Even the degree of enlightenment of the
supposed masters of the day was at a fairly low ebb, as indicated in the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (
"you call yourself a learned master, yet know ye not these things?" etc.). Sometimes I cringe when I imagine a similar conversation between about 90% of today's clergy and a contemporary Jesus. I think he might well say to them,
"Did you not realize that any child, any teenager, and probably any soccer mom knows about things like out-of-body & near-death experiences? And didn't you know that you too could learn about such topics, just by visiting your neighborhood Barnes & Noble? What do you think libraries are for, anyway?" 
There's no reason Jesus would have taught his disciples incorrectly, or taught them half-truths, but what he
would have had to deal with was their background, the understanding that was current with them (collectively and individually) when he first called them. He would have had insight into their former lives, their current potential, and their greatest capacity both for progress and for
intellectual understanding, if you will.
Most esotericists at least can accept and account for what we tend to call the Intuition, or
straight-knowledge, in our conscious experiences. This is called `Buddhi' in the East and is the domain of the superego of Jungian and transcendental psychology ... the
Higher Self. Dreams, also, play a significant role in how the Soul communicates with us. Sometimes we even remember our nightly sojourns, and these factor into our spiritual understanding and progress. Would Jesus not have made use of all of these factors - and in particular, the capacity of
each follower to access the Soul awareness - in his teachings and Ministry?
So Jesus would have
surely applied the same synthetic approach in his teaching as have the Masters of every age, though with special attention to whatever was prevalent at the time. He knew that John
`the Beloved' had the intuition and developed capacity of consciousness to understand the teachings in ways that other disciples couldn't. Yet this might be explained by a similarity between the two men, spiritually speaking. Perhaps both were, and are, on the same line of Divine Approach that is indicated by the appellation,
`Lord of Compassion.' Others of the disciples might have had a capacity to grasp teachings in a way that even John the Beloved could not,
intellectually, because their own Ray (or means of spiritual apprehension) makes them future (or present)
`Masters of the Wisdom.'
What's important for those of us who understand things this way is to realize that all are present or future members of the same Spiritual Hierarchy, which is the
heart center (chakra) of our Planetary Entity. As such, the Masters of the Wisdom (as they are collectively called) all serve under the Aegis and guidance of the Christ, at the heart of Hierarchy, and thus the Will of God (at Shamballa, the
Father's House) is, in turn, effectively served. The goal for the New Era, as Christ brings to us new Revelation regarding the specific Purpose for our planet's (and Humanity's) creation ... is to further assist in the synthesis of the three Divine Centers:
Hierarchy (heart center), Humanity (throat/creative center) and Shamballa (head center). In this we are all, slowly but surely, becoming gnostics & seers. The method is Aquarian, rather than Piscean, yet the transformation is still essentially the same - and more vital than ever.
