IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 1102

ON LOVE; PART DCXCI

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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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).

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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.

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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).

In the last essay we continued our discussion on the idea of the “greater things” that the Master tells us ARE the purview of the disciple, the man who Truly “believeth on” Him which we understand as the Apostle John’s way of speaking, his phrase that offers us the reality that we keep His words. We ended our essay with the full text from Vincent which ends in the idea that the phrase to “believeth on” or to believe in the Master means: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life ⁴. Vincent tells us that this idea IS developed from viewing the phrase, as its meaning, and NOT from the individual words and we should note that he confirms the ONLY logical view of the Master’s idea. The doctrinal view that mere common believing, mental and emotional assent, can make one accounted worthy of His Kingdom IS NOT in tune with the many other more clearly stated ideas that Jesus offers us, and this includes the reality of the sayings that we have been discussing from the ideas offered us in the Master’s Sermon on the Mount by Luke and Matthew. In our view the whole idea of translating pisteuo into the common understanding of believing casts a wrong light upon the reality of spiritual Life, a Life that IS lived in KNOWING and in DOING.

And it IS here in the common understanding of this word believe that many become lost in their search for spiritual reality; it is this dichotomy of believing as the assent, agreement or even opinion of Truth versus the reality of KNOWING to such degree that one will act upon that KNOWING, that draws the line that separates the DOER from the hearer. In hearer we have yet another word we should understand in its deeper definitions of: to attend to, consider what is or has been said; to understand, perceive the sense of what is said ². In this light hearing can be seen to border on believing in the common understanding and we should note here that hearing DOES NOT necessarily require the ear nor a sound as this can be one’s own mental perceptions or even what one may see. It IS ofttimes difficult to KNOW what it IS that a word is intended to mean and in the case of believing and of faith in the True sense of KNOWING, we DO get the reality of intent in the words of the Master….in parabolic terms that can make perfect sense to the man who can hear and can see which also are ideas that the Master offers us to qualify our own sense of KNOWING.  It IS in the combination of the similar sayings regarding the ability of the disciple to move the mountain or cast the sycamine tree into the sea that we get the fullness of the depth of the ideas of believing and of faith and come to understand that these too operate in the Life of the man in the world by degree. Here then we have the common idea of believing versus the fullness of believing which IS to do so without any doubt…to be totally convinced which IS to KNOW.

And it IS this sense of KNOWING that should be applied to the phrase used by John that IS rendered as believe on and believe in; a phrase that Vincent tells us IS a combination of the Greek pisteuo and: a preposition, εἰς , into, which is rendered believe in, or believe on ⁴. In this phrase we see the spiritual idea of KNOWING from the perspective that the aspirant and the disciple ARE acting in accord with the prompting of the Soul, the Christ Within, in accord with that Wisdom from above; in this sense of KNOWING IS ever the DOING which we should see in the reality of keeping His word. It IS in this KNOWING that leads to DOING that we find the reality of faith and works as we read in the last essay from James and which we recently covered in some detail. The reality of faith IS much the same as the believing, they are related Greek words and they have similar meaning in English; and they are both used in our example above regarding the mountain and the sycamine tree. If we can see that keeping His words IS the works of KNOWING the Truth in that Wisdom from above, we can see the True relationship of ALL these ideas and how that the common understanding of any of these ideas CAN NOT bring a man closer to God. We must draw out the Truths in His words, Truths that ARE covered in parables and parabolic sayings and which ARE affirmed in Light of one’s own Soul as elements of that Wisdom from above which IS “ first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). 

And so it IS with our view of these words from the Master according to the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Here we should understand that Jesus IS speaking to His Eleven, that He IS speaking to those who live in the Light of their own Souls and Inner Wisdom, and that each occurrence of believe in or of believe on should reflect the idea of KNOWING and in this KNOWING the DOING which IS the Way of the disciple of the Lord. It IS this DOING that IS keeping His words and, as we KNOW from the writings of the apostles, this keeping His words begins and ends in Love.

“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. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:1-12).

It IS in the last verse of our selection above that we should see that the reality of these greater works falls to the man who keeps His words, the man who “believeth on me” as John gives us the thought in the Master’s words. Here, if we should be able to think this through from the perspective of the disciple, we can see that to keep His words IS to express ALL that one KNOWS of his own spiritual reality through his Life in this world. Here we should be able to understand that in the fullness of this believing on, this KNOWING, as this comes to the man in the world from his own anointing, his own Soul, that this man IS the KNOWER who can move the mountain, who can cast the sycamine tree into the sea and who can Truly DO those “greater works” of which the Master speaks here and it IS this man who can Truly be “as His master“. This IS the great reality that stands before us as a part of what becomes of the Life of the man in the world who can fully express the Love and the Power of the Soul in the world of men; here we should each see our own vision of this in our own lives by degree.

In our view of these first verses from this chapter of John’s Gospel we get a very different idea of the Master’s words than we find in the doctrinal interpretations. Where they see the death of a man and the Kingdom of God after death we see the reality of the Presence of God here and now for the disciple, for the man who can “believe in God” AND “believe in me” which IS the better rendering of these words according to Vincent and Gill. While Mr. Gill’s ⁸ understanding of the idea IS according to doctrine, his recognition that the King James rendering IS flawed serves to help us to show the Truth of KNOWING and that the apostles should be steady in this higher, spiritual, sense of faith. Where they see some realm of mansions for the deserving, and perhaps opulence overall, in this Kingdom that IS the “Father’s house“, we see the sense of abode, of abiding in the Presence of God, which IS what He Himself is preparing them and us for: His Presence through this sense of KNOWING Truth as it flows into the Life in the world from the Christ and the Christ Within. And where they see the words “I will come again” as the second coming or the resurrection or some combination of these ideas, we see His continual coming ⁴ as Vincent shows us, as the continual effect of the Light of the Soul in the Life of the man who strives to keep His words. It IS in this Light that we find His Presence, which IS the better rendering than receive, as this Greek word “paralambano” can as easily mean take or take unto. It Is from the rendering in the God’s Word translation that we find the idea of Presence which IS further helped by the metaphorical definition from the lexicon that tells us that this paralambano means: to accept or acknowledge one to be such as he professes to be; not to reject, not to withhold obedience ².

These ARE the Truths of the Master’s words from our perspective which reaches beyond doctrine and sees the reality of the spiritual Life as it IS opposed to the carnal. From here the Master’s tone changes as He addresses the questions from Thomas and then Phillip who DO NOT understand His previous words regarding this idea of His Presence and where we find that most important saying which much of the doctrinal church sees as the rally cry of the Christian faith. It IS this idea of the “the way, the truth, and the life” that keeps Christianity as the superior religion in the Christian’ mind and which feeds that sense of separation between the Christian and the rest of the world. We see however the very reality of discipleship in Christ. We see that His IS the Way to follow, that this Way IS in His words of Truth which are universal and reach far beyond the confines that Christianity imposes; and we see the ultimate reality of finding one’s own Life, one’s True Life in His Presence. The Presence found in the union of the Love and the Power of the Soul with the expression of this by the man in the world….the True disciple and the aspirant and disciple by degree. We see that it IS only in keeping His words, His Way of Truth in Life,  that a man can approach God and experience and express His Presence.

We should see here that the lack of vision by the apostles Phillip and Thomas shows us the complexity and the need for each of them and for each of us to individually realize spiritual Truths…that one man, even Christ, CAN NOT simply tell another and cause him to KNOW and to understand. And this dynamic continues as the Master parabolically answers the questions and continues to show them the reality of the Oneness of Spirit and Soul, of God and Christ and of the Father and the Son; we should try to see here that Jesus answers are designed and intended to give the Truth ONLY to the man who can accept that Truth and understand the very nature of God in man. It IS “the Father that dwelleth in me” that IS the source of the expression that the Master presents to the world and it IS this same Presence that we today see as the Christ Within; in the end these must be seen as One and the same. It IS here that the Master lays the foundation for His subsequent teaching on the Holy Spirit which we KNOW as this very expression, as the activity of God in the world and in the Life of the man who can express this. When we can see the realities of the Aspects of God and of man as these are portrayed in our chart below, we can better understand the very nature of the Godhead, as both the macrocosm and the microcosm. It IS this Trinity which exists in Unity that IS the foundation for ALL Life as we can understand it; not the Life of the forms but the Life that uses the forms and which animates them.

It IS in the complexity of these ideas that the Master goes on to show the Eleven the reality of their own destiny and their own Power by giving them the assurance that they too can express this same divine Presence that He does. It IS this expression that IS the “greater works” and it IS this expression that becomes the ability of the man who can Truly “believeth on” Him; it IS this “greater works” that becomes the ability of the man who fully keeps His words. This IS the Presence of the Christ Within in the Life of the man in the world….this IS his grace, and this comes to the man as the revelations and realizations of Truth. It IS in this KNOWING that ALL things become possible to the True disciple of the Lord. As we continue on with our discussion of this fourteenth chapter, we begin our next selection with the last verse of the last selection as it IS this personal relationship to the “greater works” of discipleship that IS the foundation for the next ideas; we read:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:12-20).

We close here with the rendering of the first two verses according to the Catholic tradition where the split of verses appears differently and more appropriately in our view; we read from the Knox version and then from its predecessor the Douay-Rheims:

• “let these powerful acts themselves be my warrant. Believe me when I tell you this; the man who has learned to believe in me will be able to do what I do; nay, he will be able to do greater things yet. 13 It is to my Father I am going: and whatever request you make of the Father[3] in my name, I will grant, so that through the Son the Father may be glorified” (Knox Version).
• “Otherwise believe for the very works’ sake. Amen, amen, I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do: and greater than these shall he do. 13 Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (Douay-Rheims Version).

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.

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!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ⁸ Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com