(Back) The Feeding of the Five Thousand Glorification of the Son of Man (Next)
This is a series of lectures given by Mr. Edward Rabel, member of the faculty of S.M.R.S.
Winter semester 1976 - 2nd. Yr. Class. Part of Lecture 20 given on February 22, 1976
12:20Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast: 12:21these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 12:22Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: Andrew cometh, and Philip, and they tell Jesus.12:23And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 12:24Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. 12:25He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 12:26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.
12:27Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. 12:28Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 12:29The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him. 12:30Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes. 12:31Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 12:32And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. 12:33But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die. 12:34The multitude therefore answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?12:35Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the light among you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not: and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 12:36While ye have the light, believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light
Notice how Jesus says, "... the Son of man should be glorified." What is He not saying here? He is not saying that the Christ should be glorified. Christ is not glorified. Christ is glorification. Only man can be glorified. We can't even glorify God although we use that figure of speech but when we glorify God we really glorify our own consciousness. Christ is not the hope of glory. Christ is the glory itself. Paul is so right in the first part, that we give him credit for the whole thing because anyone that was able, at the time being, says "Christ in you," I am with him and he could say a lot of things afterwards and I am still with him for that right thing. So, Christ is not the hope of anything, He is the fulfillment, He is the Source, the meaning, the reality. But, the Son of man should be glorified which means, the human consciousness should be glorified.
On verse 25 He says, "He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Do you remember when we talked about figures of speech and translation difficulties? It is quite possible that we are in the midst of this. The word, die, quite possibly doesn't mean literally that: to die, death, cease to be; it probably has something to do with alteration of state of existence, not cessation of being. This is the connotation of the usage of the word die here. Can anyone lose his life? NO. But, can anyone lose certain factors of existence? Yes, all of the time, but most of the factors of existence that we lose are those that we try most desperately to hang on, not because they are bad or wrong but because hang on just for the sake of hanging on is wrong; attachment for the sake of attachment is wrong. Why do I say it is wrong? Because it is opposite to growth, to expansion, to development of awareness. Hanging on is always a status quo effort, even though there may be a time and a place and a set of circumstances where that might be the thing to do, it must be done in a temporary way for expediency, not for its own sake. For instance: there are times when you have to "hang in there, baby." But you must be able to eventually let go and not hang at all or let go and let the growth continue. Ecclesiastes has a a lot to say about that.
"...and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." Here, I am sure, the translation means what it says. Why do you think Jesus uses the word life within one sentence in two completely different ways? Did He really mean life? It wouldn't be even grammatically sensible.
Student participation: The thing that comes to mind is that everything is a certain degree of expression of life, whether a lesser degree or a higher degree and the rewards that we reap depend on where we are on the scale.
Ed: That is true but still we have names for certain phases or aspects of things, we do not call every aspect of a thing the thing itself if we are more correct by using the aspect word. We don't want to call everything that has to do with the emotions love although basically, in the absolute, everything to do with the emotions really is a derivative of the love divine idea and yet because of the means of communication and the polarity and relativity, we don't use the absolute love but the relative word for the aspect for clarity. Remember, these are translations from ancient manuscripts and the translators did the job but they did not really totally translate what Jesus said in the original language; however, it is near enough that we can kind of figure it out or at least make the effort in that direction. Any time you make an effort in the right direction, for spiritual purpose, the result is fulfillment or reward, not by the skill but by the effort itself.
Verse 30, "This voice hath not come for my sake but for your sakes." And we could spread that out to cover His whole ministry, folks. It was for Him only in the sense of the fulfillment of His purpose but the benefits, the teachings were for us.
(Reread verses 31 through 36). This whole passage sounds like a brilliant paradox but it does contain many ideas that are well worth making the effort to reflect on and try to comprehend. Remember that when you are making an effort to comprehend anything spiritual - when you do this you are having a pure motive or an altruistic motive - it does not really matter if you gain the actual comprehension following the effort. It doesn't really matter, what really matters is that, you have made the effort. So, if you are puzzling over some dilemma, some paradox, don't be troubled if you don't get that comprehension like the answer to an arithmetic problem. Very often your comprehension will not come in just that way. The effort you are making is your part; you will be given comprehension because that is what you are seeking, but maybe not in the form that you personally thought you needed it or wanted it. Maybe your comprehension will come on something which seems unrelated to what you have been meditating about but that will be the kind of revelation most useful to you at that stage of your unfoldment.
Remember, Spirit does not play games with us. Spirit is absolute integrity. In dealing with these types of discourses that sound so strange, so paradoxical, try to remember that Jesus does not speak these words from a level which we would designate as human or personal. When Jesus speaks from simply the personal human level, then He simply says what He means; but there are times when He sounds as though He is speaking double talk and when that happens always know that He is speaking from a higher level. These words do not represent the thoughts of one human intellect speaking to other human intellects on its same level. These words are really in effect the voice of Christ speaking in Christ language, even though it is English in this case. The Christ is speaking to all levels of comprehension in our human nature and so we can look at these words and be able to be more multidimensional in our reception of them. In this discourse whatever words were translated die, death, and life could have been different words but in a strict literal translation would come out as life and death.
Jesus is referring to a type of death which is not really a death at all but a type of entry into a higher and fully dimension of life. The English word that I think of at the moment which best describes this would be "transition". He is referring to a transitional experience rather than a literal death. It is a fulfillment into a greater dimension which makes necessary a change of form and a change of mode of expression but the old form and the old mode of expression to materialistic eyesight has died. We say, "Oh, that pure grain of wheat has fallen into the earth and died." This is if we are using a strictly materialistic reasoning, but when you use understanding connected with comprehension you would say that that grain of wheat is now becoming something greater than its former dimension. What was only a grain of wheat is becoming a harvest of wheat, which is far greater. But people who insist on clinging to status quo would say, "No, I want my grain of wheat back because it belongs to me. I want my old personality back because I worked So hard to grab it and get it. Now that I have it, I am going to hang on to it." In the meanwhile every else is growing and developing greater personalities and you will soon be outdated.
One of the biggest mistakes a person can make is to try to hang on at all costs to what he thinks he is in this world and to what he thinks he has in this world. "Me is me and mine is mine." This is the mistake that leads to all other mistakes. It is the insistence upon remaining in the Adam-state of consciousness.
Adam is told to be fruitful and multiply, not to stay celibate. As far as the world goes you and I do not really own anything permanent, not even our current personality. We don't really own our possessions, our positions, our reputations, our personalities; we don't even own our own family, we own nothing, not really, but at the same time (and here is the beautiful thing) we all have the right permanently to receive, enjoy and share everything. To realize this will enable one to be free and yet, while free, to also be a part of everything going on in this universe. This is a beautiful paradox because even though you are involved in and, in a sense, become a part of what is going on, you are always greater than what is going on because "greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world." You are in no way rejecting or separating yourself, you are simply fulfilling your role in the creative plan which is in your own area within your own dimension, in your own field of consciousness. Here you are in charge, but you are under authority; you have all the rest of creation under that authority. You are a healer, you are a peacemaker, you are a prosperity-maker, you are a thinker, you are a doer, you are a feeler, you are all the things that go to make life worthwhile. With this freedom and yet with this willingness for involvement, we are a part of life without trying to own parts of parts of life or make them become just like ourselves. We feel no one belongs to us, yet everyone is a part of us and we feel that we belong to no one but we are a part of everyone.
It is a great thing to contemplate. Jesus' words contain a warning about overestimating the value we place on certain roles in life, rather than the value of the real self now playing the role. When we over-evaluate the role, we are in trouble because if the role is in first place, then, what is taking second place? The reality of Christ. Two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time in our awareness. The reality of the Christ then will slip back into second place. When we keep the reality of Christ in the first place, then all roles are skillfully handled as they are meant to be. We have a certain role to play in life which is very important to us and to the world right now. I have listed a few of those roles: successful business man; executive in an important organization; active political figure; a sweetheart who is very much in love; a busy school teacher; a good parent; a very sociable friend. In the case of the minister, we have a different thing. A minister can be a role player and in some instances he almost has to be but there is a peculiar thing. The minister does not always constitute a role because a great deal of the life of a real minister is sharing selfhood, not really playing a role. You will be surprised when you are in your own ministry and you will discover how many opportunities your profession will give you to be your own real self.
Playing a role well in life is a very good thing but when a person becomes too closely attached to his current role and begins to insist within himself that it remain permanently and exclusively his, then he is loving his life in this world too much and for his own higher good, he will eventually lose it, not as a punishment, but as his own highest good, the world will collapse.
One of the most glamorous and exciting people I've ever known in my life was a girl. She was so beautiful that to look at her made you catch your breath. She wanted her role to go on, and go on, and go on, and when she came to the age of 36 some of her bad habits began to catch up with her and she realized her role would soon stop and she couldn't take it and committed suicide. I am using her now because she is such a spectacular example. I knew her personally and I could see the potential there but she could not see her own potential; she could only see her beauty and her role and the thought of losing that role was too much for her. She is now building a new body not quite so spectacular, we hope.
When a person begins to be too strongly attached or too concerned with preservation of her or his role, then he is heading for some unnecessary suffering. The time comes when all persons must learn to become willing to let roles be changed. No one is meant to play just one role, each person is meant to develop an awareness of his wholeness, of his totality, not just a special favorite role or skill. Roles in life come and go but, does life come and go? Life always is, but roles and areas and modes of expression change. That is what life is; that is what creativity is all about.
When Jesus uses such very strong phrases like "hateth his life in this world,” He very well might have meant, "hate the thought of the part you are now playing remaining always the same." The word hate in this instance could have had the connotation in the original language of hating the thought of just this role going on and on and on and the same mode of expression requiring me.
Student participation: Dr. Errico says that the word "hate" in the Aramaic also means "to set aside."
Ed: Yes, and this still keeps the same idea.
Student participation: It just occurs to me that in literature many authors exaggerate to create an effect and this may be the case here with the intention to create a certain feeling. If he says, put aside, it will not have that impact that the word hate has.
Ed: Yes, this is part of using figures of speech. Exaggeration is one. Deliberately saying some incorrect is another good device to get the point across, but you will always have someone who will think you mean it literally.
Student question: Did you, Ed, know Marilyn Monroe personally?
Ed: Yes, I wouldn't say I knew her personally but I was certainly acquainted with her. I saw her during the years when she was doing her spectacular blossoming. She would walk into our store, and business just had to stop. You had to love that woman; there was no way you could get out of it because light literally shown out of her pores and she was so good-natured and good-humored and just the kind of a person that if had to elect a queen of the world, it would probably had to be her. Nevertheless, there was this immaturity about her, this tentative frightening little thing inside of her too which couldn't cope with being so appealing. It was almost as if she was lost in the wonder of her own creaturehood and then when the big successes came, she used to occasionally come and visit with us. This was Carol Fisher Music Store on 57th Street and 7th Ave. We all noticed that after she was established, she began to be surrounded by the strangest people. You would never see her alone, always with these people who were so protective and never stopped talking. It was quite apparent after not very long that she was drinking and must have been under some drug or at least sleeping pills. The beauty stayed but the deterioration was happening and when we heard about her suicide, it really affected us very deeply.
We should be willing to "die" to some of the roles we play so that we can develop new, phases of our realization of wholeness. That is the big deal, folks. Everything should be a step forward in your realizing your totality, your multidimensional possibilities and potential and if this is always in your mind concerning yourself, your will find that this will just crowd out so many useless fears and inhibitions and regrets. Awareness of your wholeness is the thing.
Jesus indicates that this type of willingness to die is the only way we will find our real life and keep it eternally. Then he says, "And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto myself." Of course, these words are from the Christ, especially to those of us who have much concern about ways and means of helping other persons grow. These words are especially applicable to those of us who have great concern about ways and. means of helping other persons grow.
Even though you and I are individuals we are not separated or unconnected with other persons, we are very much connected. In fact, at the very heart of us, the absolute, we are one; we are a divine idea in God's Mind of perfect being. At the very heart of things we are each the Only Begotten Son of the Almighty, but in expression and growth and evolvement we are individualities. This has very deep implications; it means that anyone strong and definite things that happen within one individual consciousness, will also have a strong and definite effect on the totality of human consciousness.
Jesus' words, then, would mean more specifically that when anyone of us lifts the level of our thinking, feeling, and understanding, upward more into the Christ, we are helping to raise the level of humanity's thinking and feeling and understanding; but not in this sense, folks: not that each one of us can do it for another because then there would be a great percentage of us that would sit back and ride the gravy train. We could do that at one time, the pre-Adam time, but no more. Now, this benefit is done more in this way: let's say that you make an effort and you lift up your consciousness, thinking and feeling and understanding, more unto the Christ. By doing that you have, in a sense, created a zone of availability, a greater zone of availability which others can avail themselves of. Some part of the other person will know that this has happened, this is the Christ part of her. This part will know that the lifting has happened} and therefore, that person will love his neighbor even more than before. We are all making it a little easier for the next guy. Your nearest neighbor is the next human being that comes within the radius of your consciousness and indirectly we are helping to lift him up. But, what is actually doing the lifting up? "If I, if I will be lifted up...." The Christ part of us, the I AM. This carries a beautiful ramification which is that no good blessing that comes to you through faith and prayer and effort, comes to you and you alone, you are never the end of the line for any blessing that comes to you. No benefit or upliftment that comes from God is just to benefit and uplift you or me but these continue to do their good work by expanding and radiating out from you to bless, benefit, uplift other persons who have in any way become a part of your life, even if only in thought and feeling. This is one of the amplifications of the words of Jesus which we are dealing with.
"Yet, a little while is the light among you. Walk while you have the light that darkness overtake you not, and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe on the light that ye may become sons of light." This is another paradoxical paragraph here in the use of the word light. I wonder if there wasn't a word which was a figure of speech possibly meaning perhaps different modes of light in the original.
Text of the original transcript of page 118 through page 123 (out of order in the PDF transcript).
Transcribed by Margaret Garvin on 04-01-2014
