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Chapter One Hundred Sixty Five

Hoffman's portrait of ChristPart 177 of the Aquarian Gospel for Awakening

Caiaphas was the high priest of the Jews; the mob led Jesus to his palace hall. The court had been convened, and all the galleries were packed with scribes and Pharisees already sworn as witnesses against the Lord. (Aquarian Gospel 165:1, 2)

Throughout history the devious and the evil have created sham dramas to bolster their power over others and make their spurious principles seem just and right. In our own time, the Stalinist trials were prime examples. People confessed to things that no one could be responsible for. One man wept on the witness stand as he confessed to causing an epidemic among the horses in the Ukraine.

Here we have the same situation when deceit and evil seem omnipotent and the intended victim seems indeed to be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7). But in this case just the opposite is true: and this is taking place at the will of God, of Christ and of the Master Jesus. A great victory is in the future, and these terrible things are the steps that shall lead to it.

The maid who kept the palace door knew John and this disciple asked that he and Peter be admitted to the hall. The maid permitted them to enter in, and John went in; but Peter was afraid and tarried in the outer court.

The woman said to Peter, as he stood beside the door, Are you a follower of this man from Galilee? And Peter said, No, I am not.

The men who had brought Jesus to the hall sat by a fire in the outer court, because the night was cool, and Peter sat with them.

Another maid who waited in the place saw Peter and she said to him, You surely are from Galilee; your speech is that of Galilee; you are a follower of this man. And Peter said, I know not what you mean; I do not even know this man.

And then a servant of Caiaphas, one of those who seized the Lord and brought him to the court, saw Peter and he said to him, Did I not see you in the orchard of Massalian with this seditious Nazarene? I’m sure I did, and you are one of those who followed him.

Then Peter rose and stamped upon the floor, and swore by every sacred thing, that he knew not the criminal.

Now, John was standing near and when he heard the words and knew that Peter had denied his Lord, he looked at him in sheer astonishment.

Just then a cock crew loud beneath the court, and Peter called to mind the words the Lord had said, Before the cock shall crow tomorrow morn you will deny me thrice. And Peter’s conscience smote him heavily, and he went out into the night and wept. (Aquarian Gospel 165:3-16)

John went in; but Peter was afraid and tarried in the outer court. If he had not done this, perhaps no one would have questioned him about his connection with Jesus, and he would not have denied knowing him. Fear, especially cowardice, nearly always delivers us into the hands of inimical forces, persons and situations.

The men who had brought Jesus to the hall sat by a fire in the outer court, because the night was cool, and Peter sat with them. Peter is setting himself up for the denial he so vigorously denied. Through the years I have seen people setting themselves up for a fall. Looking back they may fabricate and claim their failure was the fault of some other factor or persons, but it is not true: they deliberately created the trap, walked toward it, and jumped (not fell) in. Almost always their prior conversations indicated exactly what they intended doing to themselves. In fact, most people are totally transparent, obviously intent on their eventual self-destruction. Many are outrageously brazen about it, enacting a farce that anyone can detect.

Just then a cock crew loud beneath the court, and Peter called to mind the words the Lord had said, Before the cock shall crow tomorrow morn you will deny me thrice. And Peter’s conscience smote him heavily, and he went out into the night and wept. The fact that Peter admitted his fault and grieved over it indicated that in time all would be corrected and he would be reinstated as a disciple of Jesus. The same would have happened to Judas, but by his own hands he put himself beyond any such possibility for that lifetime. But in time the healing love of Jesus prevailed.

Caiaphas sat in state; before him stood the man from Galilee. Caiaphas said, You people of Jerusalem, who is the man that you accuse? They answered: In the name of every loyal Jew we do accuse this man from Galilee, this Jesus, who assumes to be our king, as enemy of God and man.

Caiaphas said to Jesus, Man, you are permitted now to speak and tell about your doctrines and your claims. And Jesus said, You priest of carnal man, why do you ask about my words and works? Lo, I have taught the multitudes in every public place; I have restored your sick to health; have caused your deaf to hear, your lame to walk, and I have brought your dead to life again. My works have not been done in secret place but in your public halls and thoroughfares. Go ask the people, who have not been bought with gold or glittering promises, to tell about my words and works.

When Jesus had thus said a Jewish guard came up and smote him in the face and said, How dare you speak thus unto him, the high priest of the Jews? And Jesus said, If I have spoken falsely bear witness unto what I say; If I have told the truth why did you smite me thus?

And then Caiaphas said, What’er you do, do in a legal way, for we must answer to a higher court for everything we do or say. Let the accusers of this man present their charges in a legal form. And then Caiaphas’ scribe stood forth and said, I have the accusations here in legal form; the charges made and signed by scribes and priests and Pharisees. Caiaphas said, Be still, you men, and hear the charges read. The scribe took up a roll and read:

To the Sanhedrin of the Jews and to Caiaphas the high priest, most honored men: The highest duty man can render is to his nation and his own is to protect them from their foes. The people of Jerusalem are conscious that a mighty foe is in their very midst. A man named Jesus has come forth and claims to be heir to David’s throne. As an imposter he is foe, and in the name of every loyal Jew we here submit these charges which we are competent to prove; and first, he blasphemes God; he says he is son of God; that he and God are one; and he profanes our holy days by healing, and doing other work upon the Sabbath days; nd he proclaims himself the king, successor of our David and our Solomon; and he declares that he will tear our temple down and build it up again in form more glorious in three days; and he declares that he will drive the people from Jerusalem, as he drove out the merchants from the temple court; and bring to occupy our sacred hills a tribe of men that know not God; and he avers that every doctor, scribe and Pharisee and Sadducee, shall go in exile, and shall never more return; and to these charges we do set our hands and seals.

Annas. Simon.
Abinadab. Annanias.
Joash. Azaniah.
Hezekiah.

Now, when the scribe had read the charges, all the people called for blood; they said, Let such a wretch be stoned; let him be crucified.

Caiaphas said, You men of Israel, do you sustain the charges of these men? A hundred men who had been bribed, stood forth to testify; they swore that every charge was true.

Caiaphas said to Jesus, Man, have you a word to say? are you the son of God? And Jesus said, So you have said; and then he said no more. (Aquarian Gospel 165:17-47)

Jesus refused to take part in the farce enacted by Caiaphas and his henchmen. Yet they spoke the truth in spite of their intentions, for Jesus was indeed “a mighty foe” of the evil to which they were enslaved and by which they enslaved others. And he did indeed say he was a son of God, that he was one with God. He did heal on the Sabbath and rightly claimed to be a descendant of David and king of a spiritual kingdom. But whether they understood or misunderstood it was all the same: they hated him and wanted his death.

Intuiting that Jesus had the power to free people from the bondage of ignorance and evil, they realized that their power was in grave danger. Even though Jesus made clear that it was their action that would bring about the destruction of Jerusalem, they pretended that he had claimed that he would himself bring it about.

One time Yogananda told a group of food faddists that if they did not give up their crack-brain ways one of their group would die. They shouted: “You are cursing us!” as if the evil lay with him. One of their number did die, and their association was dissolved as a result. They were the cursers, and their foolishness the curse, but it was easier to blame one who told them the truth. It has always been like this when evil in power is confronted by those whose only weapon is truth.

Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis

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The Aquarian Gospel—Commentary and Text

The Aquarian Gospel for Awakening—A Commentary on the Aquarian Gospel
by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke)

  1. The Mother of Jesus
  2. Prophecies of the Births of Saint John the Baptist and Jesus
  3. The Birth of Jesus
  4. Revelations in the Temple
  5. Coming of the Wise Men
  6. Herod’s Reaction
  7. Revelations in Egypt
  8. The Two Selfs
  9. Deliverance From Gods and Demons
  10. About God the Tao
  11. From India to Chaldea
  12. The Wisdom of Buddha
  13. God and Prayer
  14. The Mission of Jesus and John the Baptist
  15. Sin and the Forgiveness of Sin
  16. The Universal Law of Man’s Free Will and the Divine Will For Man
  17. Understanding Death
  18. The True Teacher
  19. The Value of Ritual
  20. The Law Behind All Laws
  21. Opening To The Truth
  22. In the Temple at the Age of Ten
  23. Revelation to the Teachers and People in the Temple
  24. Jerusalem to Nazareth
  25. Nazareth to India
  26. What is Truth?
  27. What Is Man?
  28. What is Power?
  29. Understanding
  30. Wisdom
  31. Faith
  32. Healing and Healers
  33. Conflict Over Caste
  34. The Destiny of All Men
  35. God and Man
  36. The Voice in the Heart
  37. Seeing the Unseeable
  38. To God Through Man
  39. Who Is Jesus?
  40. The Real Versus The Apparent
  41. The Brotherhood of Life
  42. God…and Man
  43. Relating To God
  44. The Worthy Host
  45. Come to the Light
  46. The Kingdom Revealed
  47. The King Revealed
  48. Perspective On Death
  49. Fire and Sword
  50. Evolution: The Path of Glory
  51. The Real Heaven
  52. Getting to the Essence
  53. New Perspective on Religion
  54. In Tibet and Ladakh
  55. Words to the Worthy
  56. The Thirty-Eighth Chapter
  57. The Origin of Evil
  58. The Silence
  59. The Source of Healing
  60. The Fivefold Gospel
  61. Homecoming
  62. In Athens
  63. The Oracle of Delphi
  64. The Real God
  65. Return to Egypt
  66. First Steps to Wisdom
  67. Strong in Will and Intent
  68. Here Comes the Ego
  69. Blessed are the Merciful
  70. Claiming Our Freedom
  71. The Great Test
  72. Comprehending Death
  73. The Christ!
  74. The Asembly of the Masters
  75. The Seven Pillars of the Aquarian Age – I
  76. The Seven Pillars of the Aquarian Age – II
  77. The Declaration of Jesus
  78. John the Baptist – I
  79. John the Baptist – II
  80. John the Baptist – III
  81. Baptism – Jesus and John
  82. Self-Examination and Temptation
  83. The First Disciples Follow Jesus
  84. Jesus’ First Sermon
  85. The King and the Kingdom
  86. Dealing With Challengers
  87. The First Miracle of Jesus
  88. Kings and Kingdoms
  89. The Temple of God
  90. What Is A Messiah?
  91. The Laws of Healing
  92. Nicodemus Finds The Kingdom
  93. The Prince of Peace
  94. Dealing With Spiritual Opposition
  95. The Opened Gate
  96. John the Baptist Speaks of the Christ
  97. John Speaks Further About Jesus
  98. The Woman at the Well
  99. The Disciples and Samaritans at the Well
  100. Jesus in Sychar
  101. More Wisdom In Samaria
  102. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist
  103. In Jerusalem
  104. The Insights of Jesus
  105. Sabbath Wisdom
  106. Prayer and Good Deeds
  107. Divine Laws and Principles for Seekers of the Divine
  108. A New Understanding of the Ten Commandments
  109. Aspects of the Higher Law – 1
  110. Aspects of the Higher Law – 2
  111. Aspects of the Higher Law – 3
  112. Aspects of the Higher Law – 4
  113. Chapter One Hundred One
  114. Chapter One Hundred Two
  115. Chapter One Hundred Three
  116. Chapter One Hundred Four
  117. Chapter One Hundred Five
  118. Chapter One Hundred Six
  119. Chapter One Hundred Seven
  120. Chapter One Hundred Eight
  121. Chapter One Hundred Nine
  122. Chapter One Hundred Ten
  123. Chapter One Hundred Eleven
  124. Chapter One Hundred Twelve
  125. Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
  126. Chapter One Hundred Fourteen
  127. Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
  128. Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
  129. Chapter One Hundred Seventeen
  130. Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
  131. Chapter One Hundred Nineteen
  132. Chapter One Hundred Twenty
  133. Chapter One Hundred Twenty One
  134. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Two
  135. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Three
  136. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Four
  137. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Five
  138. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Six
  139. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Seven
  140. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Eight
  141. Chapter One Hundred Twenty Nine
  142. Chapter One Hundred Thirty
  143. Chapter One Hundred Thirty One
  144. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Two
  145. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Three
  146. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Four
  147. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Five
  148. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Six
  149. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Seven
  150. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Eight
  151. Chapter One Hundred Thirty Nine
  152. Chapter One Hundred Forty
  153. Chapter One Hundred Forty One
  154. Chapter One Hundred Forty Two
  155. Chapter One Hundred Forty Three
  156. Chapter One Hundred Forty Four
  157. Chapter One Hundred Forty Five
  158. Chapter One Hundred Forty Six
  159. Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven
  160. Chapter One Hundred Forty Eight
  161. Chapter One Hundred Forty Nine
  162. Chapter One Hundred Fifty
  163. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-One
  164. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Two
  165. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Three
  166. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Four
  167. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Five
  168. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Six
  169. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Seven
  170. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Eight
  171. Chapter One Hundred Fifty-Nine
  172. Chapter One Hundred Sixty
  173. Chapter One Hundred Sixty One
  174. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Two
  175. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Three
  176. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Four
  177. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Five
  178. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Six
  179. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Seven
  180. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Eight
  181. Chapter One Hundred Sixty Nine
  182. Chapter One Hundred Seventy
  183. Chapter One Hundred Seventy One
  184. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Two
  185. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Three
  186. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Four
  187. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Five
  188. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Six
  189. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Seven
  190. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Eight
  191. Chapter One Hundred Seventy Nine
  192. Chapter One Hundred Eighty
  193. Chapter One Hundred Eighty One
  194. Chapter One Hundred Eighty Two

The Text of the Aquarian Gospel—by Levi Dowling

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