ON LOVE; PART DCLXXXIII
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•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•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α
FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
As we continue with our discussion on the idea of grace and the relationship of grace to the working out of the Love and the Power of the Soul in the Life of the man whose focus IS on the things of God, a working out which we see as the operation of the Holy Spirit, we return again to the Master’s words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John where Jesus introduces us to the greater Truths of the Holy Spirit which He also calls the Comforter and the Spirit of Truth. John’s Gospel IS a unique view of the Master’s Life and His words. While the synoptic gospels see a rather historical view of the Master, John’s sees the more esoteric view of His words and His much more parabolic ideas which ARE spoken to the apostles alone, ideas that can show us the depth of His relationship with them. In this unique and most parabolic gospel there IS much that IS NOT understood even by those who are with Him and we can see a part of this in our current selection below and, as we said in the last essay, it IS unfortunate that so many believe that the DO see the Master’s words here clearly. In our discussion of the first three verses of this fourteenth chapter which we have been discussing for several days now, we have found a world of difference between what we discern as Jesus meaning and intent and the doctrinal ideas and translations as these are commonly understood by the church yet today. We repeat our selection again:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:1-11).
For us the message of these first three verses above IS rather clear as what we have discerned DOES seem to be able to stand the test of reality and while this IS our own simple test, it IS one that allows the Master’s words to flow to His own apostles in a way that there IS a current meaning to what He IS saying. For Jesus to be speaking to them regarding His coming again and regarding the need to “prepare a place” for them to have in the “Father’s house” or heaven when they die at some future time would make little sense to them in that day…especially after hearing from the Master that His time IS short and that He will be leaving them. But this IS the reality of the doctrinal understanding which can be more clearly seen in these ideas from Vincent: And receive (παραλήψομαι); Here the future tense, will receive. Rev., therefore, much better: I come again and will receive you. The change of tense is intentional, the future pointing to the future personal reception of the believer through death. Christ is with the disciple alway, continually “coming” to him, unto the end of the world. Then He will receive him into that immediate fellowship, where he “shall see Him as He is.” The verb παραλαμβάνω is used in the New Testament of taking along with (Matthew 4:5, note; Matthew 17:1, note; Acts 16:33, note): of taking to (Matthew 1:20; John 14:3): of taking from, receiving by transmission; so mostly in Paul (Galatians 1:12; Colossians 2:6; Colossians 4:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13, etc. See also Matthew 24:40, Matthew 24:41). It is scarcely fanciful to see the first two meanings blended in the use of the verb in this passage. Jesus, by the Spirit, takes His own along with Him through life, and then takes them to His side at death. He himself conducts them to Himself 4.
As we previously discussed, we see much insight in Vincent’s ideas of the continual coming of the Master, of His word and His essence through the Christ Within, the Soul of each of the apostles, but his ideas here that focus upon the death of the apostles ARE misplaced as we note above. These ideas of death are founded in the doctrinal vision of the Life and death of men and that the Kingdom, the “Father’s house“, IS that place that one will go to at death, although some DO believe that heaven IS for the end times and NOT at the death of the individual. In the reality of the Master’s words that “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), we see the greater Truths in the His words and intent here: that He will be continually coming to them and will keep them in His Presence so long as they continue in His word….it IS in this way that they can be with Him where He IS. Our reality here IS founded in the Kingdom Within, that this Kingdom IS the abode of the Soul, the Christ Within and it IS this aspect of man that ever touches God and which operates within the Life in the world in discipleship….so that the Truth of the man in the world IS the essence of the Soul expressing his Life and consciousness to the world of men. And it IS this idea to which the Master refers in the next saying that they KNOW where He IS going and that they KNOW the way.
This IS however a strange and alien concept even for the apostles and while Jesus tells them that they KNOW, at least some DO NOT Truly understand His words which ARE intentionally parabolic and which ARE tied to the opening idea of “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me“; it IS in this sense of believing that we should try to understand the concept of KNOWING and the reality of the disciple. We should remember that we have only snippets of the Master’s words here in this Gospel and we DO NOT KNOW the extent of the Master’s previous teaching on this matter. We DO KNOW however that He continues in this teaching throughout the rest of this chapter and well into the following chapters as He more clearly elucidates the relationships of the disciple with Himself and with the Father. And we should not forget here Jesus introduction to them of the reality of the Holy Spirit. The reality, the missed reality, of ALL these words IS the Truth of the Presence of God in the lives of these men who continue in His word, who continue in their focus upon the things of God, and we should try to see here that He IS telling them to continue to go as He leads them ever deeper into the Way of the disciple which IS the Way of God.
In the next words are a great part of the foundation of doctrinal Christianity and a great cause for the separation of the Christian from the rest of the world of men. This was never the Master’s intent but these words have been seized by those who took authority and formulated doctrines and ARE made by many to be their own Truth that it IS ONLY the Christian that will see heaven and be ‘saved’. This very idea flies in the face of the crux of the Master’s message of Love, the unconditional Love for ALL men, and the ancillary ideas that should be so profoundly Christian….that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). We can see NO place where the sense of glamour IS more prevalent than in this insistence that the Master IS telling the world that one MUST believe in Him or NOT see God nor His Kingdom. This idea IS built in the illusions that tell men that merely by being a believing Christian that one can be saved and then in the glamour that men use to build up their own positions as greater that others. This sense of glamour and illusion IS at play in the doctrinal versions of other religions as well but this IS most pronounced in the Christian world in our view. The words are simple; they say “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” and that these ARE taken literally while the idea of the Kingdom Within IS NOT, IS a function of this same illusion and glamour and this likely because, in the eyes of the Early Church Fathers, this idea set the Christian apart from the rest of the world.
There are many sayings that ARE intended to be seen in a literal fashion and there are others that ARE parabolic in nature and it seems to us that many of the clearer and more straightforward words of the Master and His apostles are NOT seen in this literal fashion while other idea that ARE Truly parabolic, like our subject saying, ARE seen in a literal way. Why can this be seen literally, that He IS “the way, the truth, and the life” while ideas like “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15), which IS from this same series of thoughts by the Master, IS NOT seen in the clearly literal intent with which it IS said. An example can be seen here in this latter saying which should be understood to include ALL commandments and ALL things that Jesus had told them, and us through them. On this Mr. Gill tells us: Christ is Lord over his people, as he is the Creator and Redeemer of them, and as he is an head and husband to them, and as such he has a right to issue out his commands, and enjoin a regard unto them; and these are peculiarly “his”, as distinct from, though not in opposition to, or to the exclusion of, his Father’s commands; such as the new commandment of loving one another, and the ordinances of baptism, and the Lord’s supper, which are to be observed and kept as Christ has ordered them, constantly, in faith, and with a view to his glory 8. Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the ideas of baptism and the Lord’s supper are made to trump the Master’s many words on Love and on riches and on keeping His words in doctrine?
We should see here that Mr. Gill DOES NOT refer to Love thy neighbor which IS the broader approach to the Master’s words on Love than that which he does cite; Love thy neighbor should be seen as synonymous with John’s use of “one another”. Mr. Gill refers only to the “new commandment” which he interprets as: love one another: as brethren in the same family, children of the same Father, and fellow disciples with each other; by keeping and agreeing together, praying one for another, bearing one another’s burdens, forbearing and forgiving one another, admonishing each other, and building up one another in faith and holiness: and this he calls “a new commandment“8. The straightforward Truths of the Masters words ARE NOT seen in the same literal sense as ARE these words saying “the way, the truth, and the life” where the whole idea of a parabolic meaning IS missed and this missing IS based in the illusion and the glamour of men who interpret spiritual ideas in carnal fashion. While the straightforward idea of keeping His word as we see in the saying above results in a doctrine that interprets this in doctrinal Christian ways instead of the simple idea of keeping His words, this other more parabolic saying on “the way, the truth, and the life” results in a literal understanding which we can see in this from John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible:
- I am the way; Our Lord takes the opportunity of this discourse about the place he was going to, and the way unto it, more fully to instruct his disciples concerning himself, saying, “I am the way”; Christ is not merely the way, as he goes before his people as an example; or merely as a prophet, pointing out unto them by his doctrine the way of salvation; but he is the way of salvation itself by his obedience and sacrifice; nor is there any other….he is the way to all the blessings of the covenant of grace; and he is the right way into a Gospel church state here; no one comes rightly into a church of Christ but by faith in him; and he is the way to heaven….
- the truth; he is not only true, but truth itself: this may regard his person and character; he is the true God, and eternal life; truly and really man; as a prophet he taught the way of God in truth; as a priest, he is a faithful, as well as a merciful one, true and faithful to him that appointed him; and as a King, just and true are all his ways and administrations: he is the sum and substance of all the truths of the Gospel; they are all full of him, and centre in him; and he is the truth of all the types and shadows, promises and prophecies of the Old Testament; they have all their accomplishment in him; and he is the true way, in opposition to all false ones of man’s devising…..
- And the life: Christ is the author and giver of life, natural, spiritual, and eternal; or he is the way of life, or “the living way”; in opposition to the law, which was so far from being the way of life, that it was the ministration of condemnation and death: he always, and ever will be the way; all in this way live, none ever die; and it is a way that leads to eternal life: and to conclude all the epithets in one sentence, Christ is the true way to eternal life It is added by way of explanation of him, as the way…..
- no man cometh unto the Father but by me; Christ is the only way of access unto the Father; there is no coming to God as an absolute God, not upon the foot of the covenant of works, nor without a Mediator; and the only Mediator between God and man is Christ: he introduces and presents the persons and services of his people to his Father, and gives them acceptance with him.
While these ideas are typical of the Christian view of the meaning of these words from the Master, there are some who see this ever more stringently; but ALL ARE lost in the reality of His parabolic language and the context of His many sayings. We understand the Master as the Christ, the Anointed of God, a Soul of such great Power and Love that He came into the world with “all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); and this word bodily IS represented by His Life in this world as Jesus. This IS the hidden Truth of the Master and of ALL men of whom the Apostle John tells us that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17); this IS the hidden foundation for ALL of His sayings about the relationship between the Father and the Son and between this divinity and the Life of the man in the world….a Life that IS NOT this body but the Soul that gives the body Life and consciousness. It IS at the beginning of this dissertation on the Oneness that we have this saying that the Master IS “the way, the truth, and the life” but this IS NOT a carnal thing, this IS a spiritual matter that must be discerned spiritually; this must be done by Thomas and Phillip, but the rest of the apostles and by us yet today. In closing this conversation for today we cite again the Apostle Paul’s words saying: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14); here in these words we must try to see that no matter how high up in the church a man may be, that he IS a natural man so long as he sees spiritual things with a carnal eye.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
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.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
