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The Mission of Jesus and John the Baptist

Hoffman's portrait of ChristPart 14 of the Aquarian Gospel for Awakening

After three years, when Mary and Elizabeth had studied enough in Zoan and it was learned that they could return to Israel in safety.

“And then Elihu spoke. He said to Mary and Elizabeth, Our words are said; you need not tarry longer here; the call has come; the way is clear, you may return unto your native land.

“A mighty work is given you to do; you shall direct the minds that will direct the world. Your sons are set apart to lead men up to righteous thoughts, and words, and deeds; to make men know the sinfulness of sin; to lead them from the adoration of the lower self, and all illusive things, and make them conscious of the self that lives with Christ in God.

“In preparation for their work your sons must walk in many thorny paths. Fierce trials and temptations they will meet, like other men; their loads will not be light, and they will weary be, and faint. And they will know the pangs of hunger and of thirst; and without cause they will be mocked, imprisoned, scourged.

“To many countries they will go, and at the feet of many masters they will sit, for they must learn like other men.

“But we have said enough. The blessings of the Three and of the Seven, who stand before the throne, will surely rest upon you evermore” (Aquarian Gospel 12:13-21).

Leaders

Your sons are set apart to lead men up to righteous thoughts, and words, and deeds. They are not to threaten, frighten, cajole, or philosophize; they are to lead. The response to their teaching must be voluntary, the exercise of free will. This is underscored in the eighty-eighth chapter of the Aquarian Gospel (Aquarian Gospel 88:17-35). When Jesus met His disciples, to all of them He spoke of the spiritual work that both he and they should be doing, each time concluding with the words: “I go and you may follow me.” There was no doubt that He would fulfill His spiritual destiny, and if they willed to do so, they could follow Him and do the same. But it had to be completely their choice. This must be the understanding in all religion; there is no “must,” only “may.” Only those who truly desire the Goal should travel the path. Otherwise there is only hypocrisy and futility. This is a truth the East has known from time immemorial, but one which the West has yet to grasp.

John and Jesus will not lead us up to heaven or to theologizing; they will lead us up to righteous thoughts, words, and deeds. And it is a matter of up–we must ascend in consciousness, not merely engage in mechanical, external appearances.

In the Four Gospels, the Greek word dikaios is used for righteousness. The root meaning of this word is rightness in the sense of being in congruity with Reality: God. It is not a matter of observing arbitrary rules or thinking in demanded ways–that is the province of fake religion. Rather, it is being in harmony with the truth of things, with God. This is much more profound–and effective–than mere religious observance. The entire scope of human function–thought, word, and deed–is to be aligned with Divine Consciousness, which includes Divine Will.

The purpose of John and Jesus is perfectly set forth in the Sanskrit prayer:

Lead me from the unreal to the Real.

Lead me from darkness to the Light.

Lead me from death to Immortality.

Facing sin

To make men know the sinfulness of sin. Sin has got to be faced. There is nothing positive in ignoring or denying disease, and it is the same in regard to sin. It is only those who are determined to remain in sin that get indignant at its mention. Those who aspire to holiness want to comprehend sin so they can eliminate it.

It is highly significant that the Four Gospels were written in Greek. This was done not only so the more subtle meanings inherent in Greek could be conveyed, but also to break with the previous views inherent in Hebrew. Sin is a clear example of this. In Hebrew the word chatta’ah means an offence, a wrongdoing. But in Greek the concept is completely different. Amartia means to miss the mark, to fall short of the ideal. It has no connotation of transgression of law or condemnation. To sin is to fail. Sin is undesirable, not because it makes God angry, but because it is a falling short of the realization of our divine potential. This falling short has terrible consequences–just look at the present state of humanity and the world to see that. So sin is not just a little blip or inconvenience. It is a serious matter, indeed, for it is the root of great suffering. Sin is ignorance manifested. To “know the sinfulness of sin” means to learn its real nature and to realize its detriment. It is not to tremble at the wrath of an offended deity. As with everything else, sin must be viewed rationally and pragmatically. And eradicated from thought, word, and deed.

From lower to higher

To lead them from the adoration of the lower self, and all illusive things, and make them conscious of the self that lives with Christ in God. To turn away from the false self of the ego and all that it binds us to in its bid for our enslavement and to become freed in the consciousness of our true self, the spirit which ever lives with and in Christ as sons of God

Preparing for the task

In preparation for their work your sons must walk in many thorny paths. Fierce trials and temptations they will meet, like other men; their loads will not be light, and they will weary be, and faint. And they will know the pangs of hunger and of thirst; and without cause they will be mocked, imprisoned, scourged.

This is so important. Jesus walked the path that every one of us must tread to Christhood. Jesus is not a rarity or an abstract archetype–He is exactly what we are to be. And the path He travelled was one of “fierce trials and temptations,” the loads were not light and He was often weary and faint. Hunger and thirst, mockery and persecution were not unknown to Him, nor will they be to us, for “the disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40). And that includes the cross, the crown of thorns, and the wounds…but also the resurrection, the ascension, and the reign. Wherefore “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We must be like Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Having gone the way before us, Jesus knows every nuance of the journey; and through our union with Him in the Eucharist and our practice of The Silence He will be with us and direct us all the way. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

To many countries they will go, and at the feet of many masters they will sit, for they must learn like other men. Like them, we must seek out the traditions of many lands and learn from the wisdom of many masters of those traditions. Then we will be fitted to continue even now, two thousand years later, the same mission to which they were called and to which they have called us.

Departure from Egypt

“Thus closed the lessons of Elihu and Salome. Three years they taught their pupils in the sacred grove, and if their lessons all were written in a book, lo, it would be a mighty book; of what they said we have the sum.

“Now, Mary, Joseph and Elizabeth with Jesus and his harbinger, set forth upon their homeward way. They went not by Jerusalem, for Archelaus reigned. They journeyed by the Bitter Sea, and when they reached Engedi hills they rested in the home of Joshua, a near of kin; and here Elizabeth and John abode.

“But Joseph, Mary and their son went by the Jordan way, and after certain days they reached their home in Nazareth” (Aquarian Gospel 12:22-25).

Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Sin and the Forgiveness of Sin

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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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