Jesus with His followers in Jerusalem and in the Temple. What memories
the scene awakened in His mind. He could see the same scenes in which
He had participated seventeen years before. Once more He saw the
pitiful slaughter of the innocent lambs, and witnessed the flow of the
sacrificed blood over the altars and the stones of the floor of the
courts. Once more He saw the senseless mummery of the priestly
ceremonies, which seemed more pitiful than ever to His developed mind.
He knew that His vision had shown that He was to be slaughtered even
as the sacrificial lambs, and there arose in His mind that comparison
which stayed with Him ever after--that picture of Himself as the Lamb
sacrificed on the Altar of Humanity. As pure as was this figure in His
mind, it seems pitiful that in the centuries to come His followers
would fall into the error (as equally cruel as that of the Hebrews) of
imagining that His death was a sacrifice demanded by a cruel Deity to
satisfy the Divine Wrath which had been kindled by the sight of Man's
shortcomings and sins. The barbarous conception of a wrathful God
whose anger against His people could be appeased only by the bloody
slaughter of innocent creatures, is fully equalled by the theological
dogmas that the same Divine Wrath could be, and was, appeased by the
blood of Jesus, the Master who had come to deliver the Message of
Truth. Such a conception is worthy of only the most barbarous and
primitive minds. And yet it has been preached and taught for
centuries--in the very name of Jesus Himself--and men have been
persecuted and put to death because they refused to believe that the
Supreme Creator of the Universe could be such a malignant, cruel,
revengeful Being, or that the One Mind of All could be flattered and
cajoled into forgiveness by the sight of the death of the Man of
Sorrows. It seems almost incredible that such a teaching could have
arisen from the pure teachings of Jesus, and that such has been Man's
incapacity to grasp the Inner Teachings, that the Church built upon
Jesus' ministry has adopted and insisted upon the acceptance of such
dogmas. But this baneful cloud of ignorance and barbaric thought is
gradually lifting, until even now the intelligent minds in the Church
refuse to accept or teach the doctrine in its original crudity, they
either passing it over in silence, or else dressing it in a more
attractive garb.
Jesus taught no such barbarous things. His conception of Deity was of
the highest, for He had received the most advanced teachings of the
Mystics, who had instructed Him in the Mystery of the Immanent God,
abiding everywhere and in all things. He had advanced far beyond the
conception of Deity which pictured the One as a savage, bloodthirsty,
vengeful, hating, tribal deity, ever crying for sacrifices and
burnt-offerings, and capable of the meanest of human emotions. He saw
this conception as He saw the conception of other races and peoples,
all of which had their tribal or national gods, which loved that
particular tribe or people, and which hated all other races or
nationalities. He saw that back of, and behind, all these barbarous
and primitive conceptions of Deity there dwelt an ever calm and serene
Being, the Creator and Ruler of countless Universes--millions and
millions of worlds--filling all space, and above all of the petty
attributes that had been bestowed upon the petty gods of human
creation. He knew that the God of each nation, of each person in fact,
was but a magnified idea of the characteristics of the nation or
individual in question. And he knew that Hebrew conception was no
exception to this rule.
To anyone having grown to an appreciation of the grandeur and
greatness of the idea of an Immanent Universal Being, the dogma of a
Deity demanding a blood sacrifice to appease its wrath is too pitiful
and degrading to be worth even a moment's serious consideration. And
to such a one the prostitution of the high teachings of Jesus by the
introduction of such a base conception is a source of righteous
indignation and earnest protest. The Mystics in the Christian Church
throughout the centuries have never accepted any such teachings,
although the persecution of the church authorities have prevented
their protests being made openly until of late years. The Mystics
alone have kept alive the Light of the Truth through the Dark Ages of
the Christian Church. But now has come the dawn of a new day, and the
Church itself is seeing the Light, and the pulpits are beginning to
resound with the truth of Mystic Christianity. And in the years to
come the Teachings of Jesus, the Master, will flow pure and clear,
once more freed from the corrupting dogmas which so long polluted the
Fount.
As Jesus wandered silently through the courts and chambers of the
Temple, His indignation was aroused by a sight which seemed to Him to
portray more forcibly than aught else the degradation which had fallen
upon the Temple by reason of the corruption of the priesthood. Grouped
around the steps and outer courts of the Temple He saw the groups of
brokers, money-changers and merchants who were doing a thriving
business with the thousands of strangers attending the Feast. The
money-changers were exchanging the coins of the realm for the inferior
coins of the outlying regions, charging a large commission for the
exchange. The brokers were buying articles, or loaning money on them,
from the poor pilgrims, who were sacrificing their personal belongings
for cash with which they might purchase the animals for the sacrifice.
The merchants had droves of cattle, flocks of sheep and cages of doves
within the sacred precincts of the Temple, which they were selling to
the pilgrims who wished to offer sacrifices. Tradition has it that the
corrupt priesthood profited by the sale of these "privileges" granted
to this horde of traffickers in the Temple precincts. The vile
practice had gradually crept in and established a firm foothold in the
Temple, although contrary to the ancient practice.
To Jesus the horrible scenes of the Temple sacrificial rites seemed to
focus in this final exhibition of greed, materialism and lack of
spirituality. It seemed to be blasphemy and sacrilege of the most
glaring type. And His very soul felt nauseated and outraged by the
sight. His fingers twitched, and laying hold of a bundle of knotted
cords which had been used by some cattle-driver to urge forward his
herd, He rushed forward upon the horde of traffickers, whirling His
instrument of chastisement over the shoulders and backs of the
offenders, driving them out in a frantic rout, upsetting their benches
and paraphernalia, crying in a voice of authority, "Out, ye wretches!
This is the House of the Lord, and ye have made it a den of thieves."
The "Meek and lowly Nazarene" became an avenger of the prostitution of
the Temple.
The brokers, money-changers and merchants fled before His mighty
charge, leaving their scattered money over the floors of the Temple.
They dared not return, for Jesus had aroused the wrath of the people
against them, and a cry arose for the old practice of protecting the
sacred place against such invasion. But the traffickers sought out the
High-priests and complained bitterly of this annulment of their
"privileges" and "franchises," for which they had paid so highly. And
the High-priests, being compelled to refund the price paid for the
concessions, were much wrought up over the matter, and then and there
swore vengeance against the Master who had dared interfere with their
system of what the world now calls by the suggestive name of "graft."
And this vengeance and hatred waxed stronger each moment, and was to a
great extent the moving factor in the schemes and intrigues which two
years later resulted in the frightful scene on Calvary.
The succeeding months were filled with wanderings up and down the
land, spreading the work and making new converts and followers. Jesus
did not take the position of a great preacher at this time, but seemed
to be rather a teacher of the few whom He gathered around Him at each
point and place. He observed but few ceremonies, that of Baptism being
the principal one, and which, as we have shown, was an Essenic rite
having an occult and mystical significance. The students of the New
Testament may read between its leaves the history of the ministry of
Jesus at this time, noting the working of the leaven in the mass of
the Jewish mind.
About this time Jesus was sorely distressed at the terrible news which
reached Him regarding the fate of his cousin, John the Baptist, who
had been His Forerunner. The Baptist had dared to thrust his
preachings and rebukes into the very precincts of a corrupt court, and
had brought down upon his head the natural consequences of his
rashness. Herod had thrust him into a gloomy dungeon and there were
rumors of a worse fate yet in store for him. And that fate soon
overtook him. Refusing the chance of life and liberty that was
promised him if he would but break his vows of asceticism and indulge
the passionate desires of a royal princess,--turning away from the
base proposal with the horror of the true mystic,--he met his fate
like a man knowing the Truth, and the head which graced the royal
platter bore upon its face no expression of fear or regret. John had
conquered even in Death.
Jesus retired once more into the Desert upon the news of John's death
reaching him. Added to His sorrow came the conviction that there was a
new work set before Him to do. John's death necessitated a combining
of the work of the Baptist with that of Jesus' own ministry. The
followers of the two teachers must be combined into one great body,
under the supervision of the Master Himself, aided by the most worthy
and capable of His disciples. The tragic death of John played a most
important part in the future ministry of the Master, and He sought the
solace and inspiration of the Desert in His consideration of the plans
and details of His new work. Students will note that from the time He
emerged from the Desert He threw off the cloak of reserve and
retirement and stepped boldly before the people as an ardent preacher
to multitudes and an impassioned orator and public speaker. No more
the little circle of appreciative students--the rostrum with the great
crowds of hearers were His from that time.
Returning from His work in Samaria and Judea, He once more made
Galilee the scene of His principal work. The new spirit which He now
threw into His preaching attracted the attention of the public, and
enormous crowds attended His meetings. He spoke now with a new air of
authority, differing greatly from His former mild tones as a teacher
of the few. Parables and allegories and other rich Oriental figures of
speech fell from His lips, and many of the educated classes flocked to
hear the wonderful young orator and preacher. He seemed to have an
intuitive insight into the minds of His hearers, and His appeals
reached their hearts as personal calls to righteousness, right
thinking and right living. From this time on His ministry assumed the
character of an active propaganda, instead of the usual quiet mission
of the Mystic.
And here began that remarkable series of wonder workings or "miracles"
which He evidently employed to attract the attention of the public and
at the same time to perform kindly and worthy acts. Not that He used
these wonder-workings as a bid for sensational interest or
self-glory--the character of Jesus rendered such a course
impossible--but He knew that nothing would so attract the interest of
an Oriental race as occurrences of this kind, and He hoped to then
awaken in them a real spiritual interest and fervor, which would rise
far above the demand for "miracles." In adopting this course Jesus
followed the example of the holy men in India, with whose works He was
personally familiar, owing to His sojourn in that land.
And, then let us say, that advanced occultists see nothing
"supernatural" nor incredible in these "miracles" of Jesus. On the
contrary, they know them to be the result of the application of
certain well established natural laws, which, while almost unknown to
the masses of people, are still known and occasionally made use of by
the advanced occultists of all lands. Skeptics and unbelievers may
sneer at these things, and many faint-faith Christians may wish to
apologize or "explain" these wonderful happenings, but the advanced
occultist needs no "explanations" nor apologies. He has more faith
than the church-goer, for he knows of the existence and use of these
occult powers latent in Man. There is no material effect or phenomenon
that is "supernatural"--the Laws of Nature are in full operation on
the material plane and cannot be overcome. But there are among such
Natural Laws certain phases and principles that are so little known to
the average mind that when they are manifested Nature's Laws seemed to
be transcended, and the result is called "a miracle." The occult
tradition tells us that Jesus was a past-master in the knowledge and
application of the occult forces of nature, and that even the wonders
that He wrought during His Jewish ministry were but as child's play
when compared with those that He might have manifested had He seen fit
to do so. In fact, it is believed that some of His greatest
wonder-workings have never been recorded, for He always impressed upon
His chosen followers the advisability of refraining from laying too
much stress on these things. The "miracles" recorded in the Gospels
were only those which were most widely known among the people. The
greater-wonders were deemed too sacred for common gossip.
When the Master and His followers reached Cana, which, by the way, had
been the scene of his first "miracle"--the changing of the water into
wine at the wedding feast--one of the most striking of His earlier
manifestations of occult power occurred. An influential citizen of
Capernaum, a town a score of miles distant, who met Him and besought
His aid and power in the interest of his young son, who lay dying at
his home. The man besought Jesus to hasten to Capernaum to heal the
youth ere he die. Jesus smiled kindly upon him and bade him return to
his son, for the youth was even now restored to health and strength
and life. His hearers were astounded at the reply and the doubters
smiled knowingly, foreseeing a defeat for the young Master when the
news of the youth's death should become known. Those of His followers
who were faint of heart and weak of faith felt most uncomfortable and
began to whisper the "if" of doubt. But Jesus continued His working
with a calm air of certainty, without further remarks. It was _the
seventh hour_ of the day when the words were spoken.
The father hastened homeward to see whether the Master had succeeded
or failed. A day or two passed with no word from Capernaum. The
scoffers of the wedding feast repeated their sneers and revilings--the
word "charlatan" was again heard passing from lip to lip. Then came
news from the distant village, and upon its arrival the voice of scorn
was stilled, and the hearts of the faint again beat freely. The word
came that when the father had reached his house he was greeted by the
household with cries of joy and news that _at the seventh hour_ the
fever had abated and the crisis had been passed.
And yet the "miracle" above recorded was no greater than many
occultists have performed in all times--no greater than the many
similar cures that have been performed by the modern healers of the
many metaphysical cults. It was simply an application of the subtle
forces of nature called into operation by mental concentration. It was
an instance of what in modern phrase is called "absent treatment"
along metaphysical lines. In saying this we wish in no way to detract
from the wonder that Jesus had wrought, but merely to let the student
know that the power is still possessed by others and is not a
"supernatural" thing but the operation of purely natural laws.
About this time there occurred another event in His life, and a
manifestation of His power which is noted in the New Testament and
which is told in the occult tradition with somewhat more detail. It
occurred when Jesus visited his home town of Nazareth on the eve of
the Jewish Sabbath. He rested over night and then the following
morning betook Himself to the regular services in the local synagogue.
He took the seat which He had occupied as a young boy with Joseph. No
doubt the familiar scene awakened memories of His strange youthful
history in His mind. Then, much to His surprise, He heard Himself
called to the platform to conduct the service. It must be remembered
that Jesus was a regular rabbi, or priest, by birth, education and
training, and was entitled to Conduct the Jewish service. No doubt His
townspeople wished to hear their young townsman address and exhort
them. He took the place of authority in the synagogue and proceeded to
read the regular service in the accustomed manner, as prescribed by
the custom and laws of the church. The prayers, chantings and readings
succeeded each other in their regular order. Then came the preaching
of the sermon. Taking the sacred roll from its receptacle, He read the
text from Isaiah, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because He hath
anointed me to preach the good tidings," etc. Then He began his
exposition of the text He had just read.
But instead of the expected customary words and
illustrations--technical theological hair-splitting and dreary
platitudes--He began to preach in a manner unknown to the Nazarenes.
His opening sentence broke the silence and greatly startled and
disturbed the congregation. "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in
your ears," were his opening words. And then He began a statement of
His conception of His ministry and His Message. Thrusting aside all
precedent and musty authority, He boldly proclaimed that He had come
to establish a new conception of the Truth--a conception that would
overturn the priestly policy of formalism and lack of spirituality--a
conception that would ignore forms and ceremonies, and cleave close to
the spirit of the Sacred Teachings. And then He began a scathing
denunciation of the lack of spiritual advancement among the Jewish
people--their materialism and desire for physical enjoyments and their
drifting away from the highest ideals of the race. He preached the
mystic doctrine, and insisted that they be applied to the problems of
every-day life and conduct. He brought down the teachings of the
Kaballah from the cloudy heights, and set them before the people in
plain, practical form. He bade them aspire to great spiritual heights,
forsaking the base ideals to which they had clung. He ran counter to
every custom and prejudice of the people before Him, and showed a lack
of reverence for all of their petty forms and traditions. He bade them
leave the illusions of material life and follow the Light of the
Spirit wherever it might lead them. These and many other things told
He them.
And then arose a disturbance among the congregation. They began to
interrupt and question Him, and many were the contradictions and
denials hurled at Him from the benches. Some began to sneer at His
pretensions as the Bearer of the Message, and demanded that He work a
wonder or "miracle" and give them a sign. This demand He flatly
refused to grant, not deeming the same proper, or in accordance with
the occult custom which always frowned upon wonder-working in response
to such a demand. Then they began to abuse Him and cries of
"charlatan" and "fraud" began to resound from the walls of the
synagogue. They reminded Him of His humble birth and condition of His
parents, and refused to believe that any such person as He had any
right to claim extraordinary powers or privileges. Then came from His
lips the famous saying, "A prophet is not without honor, save in his
own country."
Then He began a fresh assault upon their prejudices and narrow
views--their pet superstitions and bigotry. He stripped from them
their garb of hypocrisy and assumed piety, and showed them their naked
souls in all their ugliness and moral uncleanliness. He poured burning
invective and vitriolic denunciations into their midst, and spared no
terms that could properly be applied to them. In a short time the
congregation was beside itself with rage, and the pretended righteous
indignation of a flock of hypocrites and formalists who had heard
themselves described in disrespectful terms by one they regarded as an
upstart young man from the lower classes of their virtuous community.
They felt that they had bestowed a flattering honor upon Him, as a
mark of consideration for a young townsman upon His return from a
foreign and domestic missionary tour. And now to think that He had
thus basely betrayed their courtesy and showed in how little esteem He
really held them--surely this was beyond human endurance. And then the
storm broke upon Him.
Leaving their seats in the synagogue, the congregation rushed upon the
young preacher, and tearing Him from the platform, they pushed Him out
of the building. And then the jostling, hustling, pushing crowd
carried Him before them along the village streets and out into the
suburbs. He resisted not, deeming it unworthy to struggle with them.
At last, however, He was compelled to defend Himself. He perceived
that it was the intention of the mob to push Him over a precipice that
had been formed on the side of a hill just beyond the town limits. He
waited patiently until they had urged Him to the very brink of the
decline, and until it needed but one strong push to press Him over its
edge and into the gorge below. And then He exerted His occult forces
in a proper self-defense. Not a blow struck He--not a man did He smite
with the wondrous occult power at His command, which would have
paralyzed their muscles or even have stretched them lifeless at His
feet. No, he controlled Himself with a firm hand, and _merely bent
upon them a look_. But such a look!
A glance in which was concentrated the mighty Will developed by mystic
knowledge and occult practice. It was the Gaze of the Occult Master,
the power of which ordinary men may not withstand. And the mob,
feeling its mighty force, experienced the sensation of abject fear and
terror. Their hair arose, their eyes started from their sockets, their
knees shook under them, and then, with a wild shout of horror they
began to scatter and fly, making a wide pathway for the Man of Mystery
who now strode through their ranks with that awful gaze which seemed
to pierce the veil of mortality and to peer at things ineffable and
beyond human ken. And with His eyes refusing to look again upon the
familiar scenes of His youth, He departed from Nazareth, forsaking it
forever as His home place. Verily, indeed, the Prophet hath no honor
in His own land. Those who should have been His staunchest supporters
were the first in His own land to threaten Him with violence. The
attempt of Nazareth was the prophecy of Calvary, and Jesus so knew it.
But He had set his feet upon The Path, and drew not back from it.
Turning His back upon Nazareth, Jesus established a new centre or home
in Capernaum, which place remained the nearest approach to home to Him
during the remainder of His Ministry and until His death. The
traditions have it that His mother came to live also at Capernaum,
together with some of His brothers. It is also related that his
sisters and brothers, both those remaining at Nazareth and those
removing to Capernaum, were sorely vexed with Him at His conduct at
the synagogue, which they deemed not "respectable" nor proper, and
they accordingly looked upon Him as an eccentric relative whose
vagaries had brought disrepute upon the family. He was regarded much
in the light of a "black-sheep" and "undesirable relation" by all of
His family except His mother, who still clung to her beloved
first-born. The mother made her home with some of the brothers and
sisters of Jesus, but He was not made welcome there, but was looked
upon as an outcast and wanderer. He once spoke of this, saying that
while the birds and beasts had nests and homes, He, the Son of Man,
had nowhere to lay his head. And so He wandered around in His own
land, as He had in foreign countries, an ascetic, living upon the alms
of the people who loved Him and listened to His words. And in so doing
He followed the plans and life of the Hindu ascetics, who even unto
this day so live, "with yellow-robe and begging bowl," and "without
money or scrip in their purses." The Jewish ascetic--for such was
Jesus--has His counterparts in the wandering holy-men of India and
Persia today.
But it must be remembered that even in Jesus' time, the spectacle of a
rabbi living this ascetic life, forsaking the emoluments of His
priestly rank and deliberately taking up the roll of a poverty-stricken
mendicant, was a rare one. It ran contrary to all the thrifty and
prudent customs and ideals of the race. It was an importation from
the Essenes, or from the strange people of far-off lands, and it was
not relished by the Jewish authorities, or people who preferred the
synagogues and Temple, with their sleek, well-fed priests, with fancy
robes and attractive ceremonies.