YES, HE is Talking to YOU! (continued)
Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
Little is actually known about the life of Jesus; statements regarding when He was born and His life as a child and a young adult are the the result of ‘educated’ guesswork and can be found in numerous commentaries and encyclopedias. All that can be truly known is the record of His life’s teachings as found in the New Testament and this covers but a small part of the estimated three years of His ministry. It is thought by some of the church that the record that we do have is ‘ordained’ by God and given through the Holy Spirit as the most important parts of His ministry and this view is generally taken by those who believe in and teach the infallibility of the scriptures. Additional resources on the life and teachings of Jesus are available but these are viewed by the church as being of questionable authenticity being rejected by the early church. Many were thought to be Gnostic in nature and most are lumped under the general heading of Apocrypha. Perhaps at some future time we can explore some of these works in this blog. There are also later day ‘revelations’ on the life and the teachings of the Master but these too are rejected by the ‘organized’ churches. The persons receiving these revelations have, in many cases, spawned new religious movements that the ‘organized’ religions do not recognize or that are considered cultist by them. Some examples of are seen in Joseph Smith (Mormonism) and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) both of which became viable religious movements. There are also the works of men like Levi S Dowling who wrote the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ which are refuted by the ‘organized’ church
For us it should be enough to believe that the ideas and the precepts put forth by the Master as recorded by the apostles is true in its essence while sketchy in its presentation. The chronology of the gospels is difficult to arrange as the ideas of when Jesus actually did or said certain things varies in each. None of this should actually matter to us because it is the essence of what He said that is of value in our lives and in our walk with the Lord. We could forever debate the where, the when and the why of much of the writings but all we ever gain from this is confusion and dispute. We could debate also the meanings of much of what the Master says but all we will gain from this is the same confusion and dispute. The meanings of the sayings of the Christ seem segregated by denomination and sect and much of the understanding by each is based on the teachings of their founders. For us however who have shed the teachings of the organized churches and have found our own deeper meaning, the words of the Master are alive and ever revealing new truths. The depth that is built into the parables and the proverbs of Jesus is an ever evolving mystery and it is through the revelation that we receive from our Christ Within that we grow in His word, realizing ever more as we are ready to receive it and especially when we are ready to live it. This growing realization of His meaning and intent are especially evident through His parables and His proverbs when they are viewed in the light of the reality of His teachings on Love and the Kingdom of God.
We continue here now with our journey through the Parables of Jesus with our next selection; the Parable of the Tares. This parable is in two parts, the actual telling of the story by Jesus to the multitudes and then the interpretation of the story to his disciples. This is also another perplexing story from which it is difficult to get the meaning even after the Master’s explanation. This parable also feeds many of the ideas in the various churches regarding the ‘endtimes’ and final judgment. The parable is stated as:
“….The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:24-30).
And the Master’s explanation of the parable is:
“….and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear , let him hear” (Matthew 13:36-43).
We should remember before we start out that this is a parable comparing a thing of the Earth with the Kingdom of Heaven, or of God. The tares or weeds in this case are said to be a different grain crop that looks like the wheat until it is mature and this is apparently something the people of the time are familiar with. So, uninterpreted by the Master, the householder is representing the Kingdom of God and the planter of the seed into the field. We should see here then the likening of the householder to the Spirit and the Soul and the field as our own consciousness. This can become clearer as we go. Seeing the parable as it is written however, we could say that it is the planting of these Souls, that we are, into the field of the Earth which is the good seed planted and growing as the conscious personalities of Souls coming into incarnation. At the same time and in the same place there are other seeds being sown into the same field, which is the Earth, by the ‘enemy’ and these are not good seed but are incarnating Souls that are of a different nature being planted and growing as conscious personalities. When they are planted and first growing there is little or no difference, they appear the same; as they mature the difference is then known. What is the different nature is a hard question to answer without going into much esoteric discussion or claiming very mundane and carnal explanations. We must remember as we do these interpretations of parables that when Jesus spoke He was speaking to people who were on a much different mental and emotional level than us today. Their understanding was, as is ours, limited to what it is that they know and Jesus teaches to them at their level. Understanding tares and wheat as actual things while having no exposure whatsoever to the ideas of reincarnation so restricts the presentation to reveal only what they can readily grasp. Incorporating ideas of reincarnation could make the outward appearance of this parable more sensible as each Soul brings to Earth through incarnation the fruits of past experience, karma.
So we can say also that the idea of this parable can be viewed in many ways depending on one’s belief system. We can believe that at birth we are wheat or tares and that we stay that way and this fits well into the literal story line as depicted above. But this is contrary to the Master’s teachings on repentance and on salvation and must be discounted as being such. We can also believe this same idea while incorporating the idea of reincarnation and so maintain the notions of repentance and salvation along with the thought of good seed or not good seed at least dependent upon karma. We can also believe that the sowing is a continual process in the Earth and in our individual lives and it is the planting of ideas into the field of our personalities with the good seed or the not good seed determining what grows and until it grows we know not what we will be. Following this idea works well with the teachings of the Master regarding the Kingdom and repentance and all that we must follow to attain to His Presence and so this is what we will here pursue.
In our last parable we discussed the idea of double-minded as brought out by the Apostle James and this is an important concept in understanding this parable as well. If we can see ideas as the seed of which the Master speaks we can make much sense of this parable in our lives and in the ways of the world for what is true for us individually can be seen in family life, the life of most any group whether political or religious and the life of a nation. What then should be the meaning of an idea in this context for us. The word idea does not exist in the word for word English translations of the Bible though it does appear in some of the thought by thought versions but mostly replacing phrases like ‘I don’t know’ with ‘I have no idea’. This is not the depth of the idea we need of this word; we need to see idea as a thing that effects our conscious attitude and causes action of some kind. Without going into the lengthy list of definitions ascribed to the word we will just take this from Websters’s 1913 version: Any object apprehended, conceived, or thought of, by the mind; a notion, conception, or thought; the real object that is conceived or thought of. Of which John Locke says in the same place that Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or as the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding, that I call idea*. We should see ideas as things, like seed pouring down upon the field of our consciousness; some of this is good seed, from our Inner Man or the householder, and other is not good seed from the enemy. They are both planted and some grow and which grow largely depends upon what is the focus of our conscious lives. For most they both grow and compete for possession of the field until the day when we decide to be the field of one or the other; the wheat or the tare. If, we lend our consciousness to the Master and to God we will decide to be the field of the wheat and here it is that the harvest begins and the reaper, our Christ Within and conscience, will cast out the tares as bad ideas and bad thoughts and we can then see ourselves in the Light that was given to us by the Apostle Paul when he says: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The story line that reflects the dialogue between the householder and the servants regarding what happened and what to do is indicative of our lives. When we come into this life there is only good seed flowing from our Souls, the householder, and this is until we are indoctrinated into the ways of the world. Then comes the enemy who is anger and lust and greed and these seeds, these tares, are sown into our conscious lives. From the perspective of the Soul there is no thought of what to do because these seeds or ideas are not yet mature and it is not known what they will become so they are left in consciousness until they show themselves to be what they are. This is all happening in the Kingdom of God; this is where we exist and it exists within us; the householder is ever there. Depending then if our field of consciousness has that spiritual realization and becomes Kingdom minded through the activity of the good seed or our field becomes carnally minded through the activity of the not good seed, there it will be that our personalities will exist. Good seed will bring forth the good fruits of the Kingdom and the not good seed will bring forth the fruits of the Earth. Note that we have refrained from calling the not good seed bad or evil because for the majority of well meaning people there is not evil in their consciousness but neither is there God. The point of harvest comes only when we decide to be one or the other, to serve God or mammon and this choice also is not permanent unless we choose to make it so. The seed is continually sown, both the good seed and the not good seed, so we must be ever watchful in our endeavor to enter into the Kingdom and the Presence of God.
Remember that this is a parable, a story that is likened to a reality, and that there need not be exactness in our interpretation. Remember also that Jesus is teaching us about the Kingdom of God and this field into which all the seed is sown is the world in which we live. Our bodies live on this Earth but our world is the world of our consciousness.
This then is our presentation of this parable and any who have read the Master’s explanation can say that our presentation and the Master’s interpretation do not agree. On the surface this appears true but just as this presentation is not apparent on the surface of the parable itself, we will find that our interpretation of His explanation is beneath the surface as well. See above how the Master ends His explanation with “Who hath ears to hear , let him hear” We will continue with His explanation of this in the next post.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit (John 3:8).
Responding to Nicodemus regarding being born again Jesus says the words of our Quote of the Day which is taken from the New Living Translation. Reading this saying from other translations leaves one with the understanding that people who are born of the Spirit are like the wind and we cannot tell where they come from or where they go. While this may be true, the greater truth may be found in the this translation as, as men, we do not know what or how this happens despite the explanations found in the church today. We know however that it is when we focus on the Kingdom of God and when the Kingdom becomes the focus of our conscious lives. Yet we know not how.
- * Websters Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
