It was the day before the Sabbath day, the eighth day of the Jewish Nasan month, that Jesus came to Bethany. And on the Sabbath day he went up to the synagogue and taught.
And on the morning of the first day of the week, the Sunday of the week, he called his twelve apostles unto him and said, This day we go up to Jerusalem; be not afraid; my time has not yet come. Now, two of you may go unto the village of Bethphage, and you will find an ass tied to a tree, and you will see a little colt near by. Untie the ass and bring her here to me. If anyone inquires why you take the ass, just say, The master has a need of her; and then the owner will come on with you.
And the disciples went as Jesus bade them go; they found the ass and colt a-near an open door; and when they would untie the ass the owner said, Why would you take the ass away? And the disciples said, The master has a need of her, and then the owner said, ’Tis well.
And then they brought the animal, and on her put their coats, and Jesus sat upon the ass and rode into Jerusalem. (Aquarian Gospel 151:1-9)
Zechariah the prophet had said: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).
And multitudes of people came and filled the way, and his disciples praised the Lord and said, Thrice blessed is the king who in the name of God is come! All glory be to God, and peace on earth; good will to men!
And many spread their garments in the way, and some tore branches from the trees and cast them in the way. And many children came with garlands of sweet flowers and placed them on the Lord, or strewed them in the way, and said, All hail the king! Long live the king! The throne of David shall be built again. Hosanna to the Lord of hosts! (Aquarian Gospel 151:10-14)
Here we see that the people considered that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom, that they had no grasp of his spiritual mission or the spiritual nature of his kingdom. This was not their fault, for they had been raised in an externalized, ritualistic and fiercely nationalistic religion that defined the Messiah and his mission according to their self-centered material desires, especially for an earthly kingdom that would dominate other nations as they were presently dominated by Rome. The oppressed longed to become an oppressor “by the grace of God”!
Among the throng were Pharisees, who said to Jesus as he passed, Rebuke this noisy throng; it is a shame for them to cry thus in the street.
The Lord replied, I tell you, men, if these should hold their peace the very stones would cry aloud.
And then the Pharisees conferred among themselves; they said, Our threats are idle words. Behold, for all the world is following him.
As Jesus drew a-near Jerusalem he paused and wept, and said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the holy city of the Jews! yours was the glory of the Lord; but you have cast the Lord away. Your eyes are closed, you cannot see the King; the kingdom of the Lord of heaven and earth has come; you comprehend it not. Behold, the day will come when armies from afar will cast a bank about your way; will compass you about, and hem you in on every side; will dash you to the ground and slay you and your children in the streets. And of your holy temple, and of your palaces and walls, they will not leave a stone upon a stone, because today you spurn the offers of the God of heaven. (Aquarian Gospel 151:15-22)
The Lord replied, I tell you, men, if these should hold their peace the very stones would cry aloud. There is an esoteric message here: Creation itself is inherently conscious and therefore intelligent and on occasion acts of its own volition in response. So when in the Bible we read about trees and mountains and rivers acting more like humans than inanimate objects we should not be quick to dismiss this as fantasy or poetry.
And of your holy temple, and of your palaces and walls, they will not leave a stone upon a stone. This was a common practice of conquerors at that time. They literally tore all buildings down so that not a single stone would be left on top of another. This was total destruction and had a tremendous psychological effect on the conquered peoples.
Because today you spurn the offers of the God of heaven. Jesus does not say that this calamitous future will come about because the Jewish people were going to kill God or even Jesus, but because they are rejecting the grace and love offered by God to them through Jesus. It is not even that they are disrespecting God, but that by refusing the blessing they will no longer have the protection that would have prevented the destruction of Jerusalem. It is like a person destroying the money he would need to purchase something essential for his life, or someone deliberately making a hole in the boat he is rowing. Throwing away spiritual opportunity will result in suffering for the people of Israel, but not because they have insulted or angered God the way modern religionists often insist. Here, too, karma is simple reaction, not punishment.
When Jesus and the multitude had come into Jerusalem, excitement reigned, and people asked, Who is this man? The multitudes replied, This is the king, the prophet, priest of God; this is the man from Galilee.
But Jesus tarried not; he went directly to the temple porch, and it was filled with people pressing hard to see the king. The sick, the halt, the lame, the blind were there, and Jesus paused, and laid his hands on them and healed them by the sacred Word. The temple and the temple courts were filled with children praising God. They said, Hosanna to the king! The son of David is the king! All hail the king! Praise God!
The Pharisees were filled with anger when they heard the children sing. They said to Jesus, Hear you what the children say? And Jesus said, I hear, but have you never read the words of our own bard who said, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise!
And when the evening came the Lord and his disciples went again to Bethany. (Aquarian Gospel 151:23-31)
The Lord is hastening on to his destiny without allowing anything to distract or deflect him. Nor will he ever be conciliatory toward those that worship their corrupt egos rather than God. The murder in their hearts arises solely from selfishness, greed and egotism.
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis