Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
ON LOVE; PART CCXVIII
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
GoodWill IS Love in Action
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
“When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forthwith his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, come ththither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth , and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none. Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year. Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest” (John 18:1-16).
We begin today with this version of the arrest of the Master in the Gospel of the Apostle John because in John is the greater condemnation of that other apostle, Judas Iscariot of whom the Master says: “It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born” (John 14:20-21). We should note here the Master’s words as this reality is part and parcel of the act which Judas Iscariot was to carry out and here IS our theme, that the apostle Judas had the dire responsibility to do this thing that would forever condemn his name and, we will see in the Master’s words that both He and Judas understand this. Looking at this from the our own individual perspective can we imagine the strength and the fortitude that IS necessary to do this thing and in this can we imagine the dual set of thoughts and emotions that are involved? Here we have an apostle, a man among the twelve who comes into the group with a single purpose and for the years of the Master’s ministry he is as much a disciple as any other; he is among the twelve Souls who come into incarnation with the Master as those closest to Him to ensure the success of the Plan and the spread of the teachings thereafter. And can we see in this the woe? That Judas name is forever linked to the idea of betrayal and to his contribution to the death of the Master as an evil thing.
Now there are some strange and curious things regarding the way that this whole story of Judas and his betrayal of the Master works out and we should take note of some of these with our comments:
- Frequently in the gospels the writers refer to Judas as the betrayer as we see in these sayings below. We should understand that these thoughts of the apostles are written after the fact of Judas actions and show either that Judas actually in such or that he is such in the carnal minds of the apostles who, in the full righteousness of a disciple, would likely not use derogatory nor judgmental terms. Since we are convinced that Judas actions are a part of the Grand Plan of God, we believe that the apostles could have read between the lines and understood Judas responsibility from the words of the Master. However, based on their own, either lack of understanding or their intentional defamation, the apostles speak about their brother in such ways that turn millions against him throughout history; while we would lean still to their own lack of understanding of the reality of what happened against their own emotional and mental sensibilities, it is yet possible that their actions are a Part also of the Plan although one would not readily believe that the art of intentional misleading is within the scope of a True apostle. Some of what is said of Judas from the pens of the apostle as hindsight include:
- In introducing the names of the apostle, Matthew concludes with “Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him” (Matthew 10:4).
- Mark likewise says in this same context: “And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house” (Mark 3:19).
- Luke takes up a different word to describe Judas in this same context saying: “And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor” (Luke 6:16)
- John, in a different context tells us “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:70-71).
Our point here is simply to point out that the comments of the apostles after the fact of Judas actions point to him as the betrayer and it is these words that have helped to reinforce the condemnation of Judas by the world.
- We should try to see another thing here that from the English perspective is harmful to our thought processes as the very idea of betrayal is a word that harms. We should understand the role of doctrine here in the renditions of the Greek word paradidomi which is generally rendered as deliver and is only used as betray in regard to the actions of the Apostle Judas and some other places where it can connote the same effect such as the Master’s saying that “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death” (Mark 13:12). Here we should see that same word rendered as both deliver and betray and such is our point, that the more derogatory rendering is to depict the assumed vulgarity of Judas actions. We should note however that there are some bible versions that do render paradidomi as deliver in these same contexts and among these is Young’s Literal Translation which says in one place: “Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who did also deliver him up” (Matthew 10:4). We should try to see the doctrinal use of the idea of betray and the resulting popular opinion of Judas that is based upon the use of it and while deliver has the same end result we could better see in this word the ideas that we are putting forth regarding the acquiescence by Judas to the Divine Plan.
- Our next point is in the confusion that the Master’s words have on the assembled group of apostles, a confusion from which we can only take the idea that they did not KNOW who IS chosen to fulfill the act of delivering the Master to His fate. Some examples are:
- “Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said” (Matthew 26:20-25). In this from Matthew we find that the apostles as a group are eating at the time that this happens with each of them then wondering aloud whether they were the one chosen and here we should try to understand the word betray as deliver as in this context the wonderment would not be so odd. Matthew makes it a point to tell us that they “ began every one of them” to ask this question and unlike in other places in the gospels were the apostles and especailly Peter would deny openly that they would or could do a thing, here they just inquire. In the end part where Judas is the one who “dippeth his hand with me in the dish“, one can imagine the scene with Judas then asking “is it I?“. By example look at Peter’s rebuke of the Master at the first time that He told them of what was going to happen to Him: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying , Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee” that we recently discussed; here and elsewhere in the gospels the disciples are openly protective of the Master but in this instance above we find only the question “is it I?“. Here we find a different dynamic at play.
- “And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish” (Mark 14:18-20). Mark’s version is essentially the same as in Matthew except there is no separate action by Judas and one just assumes that he is the one that “that dippeth with me in the dish“
- “But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest” (Luke 22:21-24). Here again we have the wonderment of the apostles and the understanding is here given by the Master of the ‘fate’ of the one who does deliver Him. As we read on we see that the whole of this became rather meaningless as they move on to who is greatest and here the Master teaches them on this worldly attitude. In Luke’s gospel we find out separately that it is Judas who is chosen.
- “When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus’ breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon” (John 13:21-26). Here in John’s Gospel we have a two part story and one that happens after the dinner is over. Although the same doubt exists as to who will deliver the Master over, the Apostle John asks directly of the Master “who is it?” and the answer is that it will be the one to “to whom I shall give a sop” and, as we read on, this is Judas. Now while this seems clear insofar as the statement of the Master being clear, the questioning by John at Peter’s urging being clear and the sop being given to Judas being clear, as we read on we see that there is yet confusion. “And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night” (John 13:27-30). As we read this what can we see but to understand that they KNOW what is happening and that Judas is the chosen one and in this light why the odd ending of this episode? Can we see the possibility that in hindsight there is embarrassment on their part as they did not stop Judas? There can be no clear explanation of why there is this continued confusion in John’s Gospel and KNOWING that John has the most in negative reaction against Judas, our possibility above may be the reality.
We KNOW from the gospel stories that Judas does do as he is instructed to do and in this part as well there are some conflicting accounts of how this happens. From our perspective we see that it was always Judas who is charged with this, and we should be able to see that it took as much courage as a man in form to do this as any one could muster and the woe that is offered by Jesus is realized through the millions who condemn Judas actions and the way that he is written about in the scriptural story of the Life of the Master. As we began this series for Easter Week we began it with the words of the Master as He predicted what is about to happen and we saw that what He says is not understood except perhaps the one time by Peter who was told in the presence of the others that he was looking at this as a man and not as a disciple. Regardless of the reasons the disciples do not understand and as we see above, they even wonder if they will be the one to play this part and we should see as we infer, that as this is happening there is no vision of evil in the act of delivering the Master; the opposite is true however after the fact. So we understand here that Judas is doing as instructed and likely as he came into incarnation with the Master to do; this IS Judas part to play in this Great Scripted Drama and we should try to see that this is done as the disciple, as the Soul whose expression in that day is Judas Iscariot, and we should try to see as well that his eventual remorse happens as this same disciple succumbs to the illusion and the glamour of the world, an illusion and a glamour that affected the lives of ALL the apostles as we have been discussing. From Peter’s rebuke, to John’s and James’ folly as they ask that the Master would “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory” (Mark 10:37), to the debate above on “which of them should be accounted the greatest” up to the denial of the Master by the Apostle Peter and then to the doubt that they all have regarding the resurrection; all of these are instances where these disciples of the Master are yet engulfed in the vanity, the illusion and the glamour from which we ALL must eventually escape and here again we should see Peter as our example of how this can be done.
We read also how the Master struggles at times with the reality that He must face and in this we should try to see that the body nature was revolting against the impending agony that He KNOWS He must endure. We can see this in the observation by John above that “he was troubled in spirit” and again, when in the Garden He prays to the Father saying: “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:42-44). However, for the Master these are but blips of carnal thought and He goes on to accept His fate willingly and gladly as is predicted by the prophets and as a thing that MUST happen as a world changing event that brings the human family out of the darkness and into the Light. But this is a Light that is not yet clearly seen, it is the Light of Truth, the Truth of the True nature of man and his True relationship with God.
And so the Master is crucified, ALL parties play their part in this Divine Drama; the lessons for us are in the apostles actions in the Garden and then later in the court, the predicted hardness of the Jewish leaders whose ire the Master intentionally raises, and the predetermined action of the Roman Governor who singlehandedly could have ended this at his door. There is also the lesson to be learned from the actions and the reactions of the multitude of men and women who we are told chose Barabbas over Jesus as the one to receive pardon and one can only assume that among these there were those who were healed or who at least KNOW of the Master’s healing of others. For us then this is the end of this part, the crucifixion of the Master and there is little that we can take from the rest of this that we have not already explored save the intercession of “Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God“, as another Soul in place at this time to ensure the success of the Master’s mission, who “went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:43).
Tomorrow is the RESURRECTION the more important part of this Great Drama and one which, like the crucifixion, is lost in the doctrines of the chruches.
We close with these words form the Prophet Isaiah which are spoken in regard to the Master more than 700 years earlier.
“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:1-12).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect of God |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
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:
Leaving again the Great Invocation, we encourage ALL to read and reread it and our comments as in these words can be found the keys to our spiritual reality.
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.
This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132
The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.
Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.
The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should see them as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit albeit on a much smaller, microcosmic, scale.
