|
Mysteries of John
Chapter 5
[<- Go back to Chapter 4]
[Mysteries of John]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
John: Chapter 5
After these things there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem.
JERUSALEM IS the spiritual center in consciousness. A feast
in Jerusalem is a receptive state of mind toward all
spiritual good, and the appropriation of that good for
future use. Jerusalem means "city of peace." When we get
deep down into the silent recesses of our soul we realize a
stillness and sweetness beyond expression. There is a great
peace there, the "peace of God, which passeth all
understanding," and a welling up of an indescribable
substance that fills the whole consciousness at the point
where the inflow of original substance takes place.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which
is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In
these lay a multitude of them that were sick, blind, halt,
withered, (waiting for the moving of the water. 4 for an
angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the
pool, and troubled the water whosoever then first after the
troubling of the water stepped in was made whole, with
whatsoever disease he was holden--margin.) 5 And a certain
man was there, who had been thirty and eight years in his
infirmity. 6 When Jesus saw him lying, and knew that he had
been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him,
Wouldest thou be made whole? 7 The sick man answered him,
Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me
into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down
before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy bed,
and walk. 9 And straightway the man was made whole, and
took up his bed and walked.
Page 57
Sheep are the most harmless and innocent of all animals,
and they represent the natural life that flows into man's
consciousness from Spirit. It is pure, innocent, guileless;
and when we open our mind to this realization of Spirit
life we open the gate by the sheep market.
Here is a pool called Bethesda (meaning "house of mercy" or
"place of receiving and caring for the sick"). There are
also five porches or covered colonnades. This "pool"
represents the realization in consciousness that our life
is being constantly purified, healed, and made new by the
activity of mind. Physically this is expressed in the
purification and upbuilding of the blood by coming in
contact with the oxygen of the air in the lungs. The ebb
and flow of the waters of the pool is constant, and when
our mind is active all the depleted blood corpuscles are
purified and renewed.
This great multitude of "sick folk" (depleted life
corpuscles) lies near this pool, under the "five porches"
(five senses). The "five-sense" consciousness does not
realize the power of the I AM to quicken these inner
functions of man's organism; it lets weak, depleted life
cells accumulate and burden its system, when a thought of
the activity of life would, through the divine law, set
them free from their helplessness.
It is not necessary that all the purification and renewing
of the depleted corpuscles take place through the lungs
when man understands the power of the I AM to declare the
word of activity. Jesus, the I AM of Spirit, did not tell
the man to go down
Page 58
into the pool and be healed, but said, "Arise, take up thy
bed, and walk." Thus we see that the work of the Spirit is
not confined to physical activities, although it does not
ignore them. If your lung capacity is not equal to the
purification of your blood, increase it by declaring the
law of active life. Anemic blood may be made vigorous and
virile by daily centering the attention in the lungs and
affirming them to be spiritual, and under the perpetual
inflow of new life and the outflow of old life the lungs
will do your will.
Do not be limited by so-called established laws of nature,
or by man's mortal thought that if you have reached the age
of "thirty-eight" the life current is beginning to wane,
that your "sabbath" or day of rest is setting in. It is
"lawful" in Spirit to declare the perpetual activity of
life anywhere, at any time, and under all circumstances.
Divine life takes no cognizance of the laws that the
intellect has set up for governing it. Life is ever active.
It is constantly present in all its fullness and power, and
it has no day of rest or "sabbath."
Now it was the sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews said
unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath, and it is not
lawful for thee to take up thy bed. 11 But he answered
them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up
thy bed, and walk. 12 They asked him, Who is the man that
said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 But he that
was healed knew not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed
himself away, a multitude being in the place. 14 Afterward
Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold,
thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a
Page 59
worse thing befall thee. 15 The man went away, and told the
Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole. 16 And for
this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these
things on the sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, My
Father worketh even until now, and I work. 18 For this
cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God
his own Father, making himself equal with God.
These particular Jews had no understanding of the real
"sabbath," which is a state of consciousness attained
through meditation and the realization that the law is
fulfilled in both thought and act.
The "sabbath of the Lord" has nothing to do with any day of
the week. God did not name days and weeks, nor has He
darkened His clear concepts of Truth by the time element.
Therefore, it is during the period of rest known as the
"sabbath" that the demonstrations come forth, the state of
consciousness in which the man that was sick let go of all
false appearances and took up his bed and walked.
Many times much outer discord is avoided by the Christ's
seemingly withdrawing from the outer until the quibbling
intellect has somewhat spent its fury. ("Jesus had conveyed
himself away.") Then the Christ reappears and reveals to
the demonstrating thought added light: "Sin no more, lest a
worse thing befall thee."
God-Mind is the living power back of all nature, causing
the flowers to bud and to bloom and the grass to spring up.
Jesus explained the outer working of this law in a very few
words when He said,
Page 60
"My Father worketh even until now, and I work."
This divine creative power works continually one day just
the same as any other day. Metaphysically we realize that
this great creative force is God-Mind in action, and that
it can not only create but also re-create. Therefore when
Jesus spoke the word for him the sick man through this
redeeming agency was instantly made whole. As all sickness
is the result of sin, he who was healed was admonished to
refrain from again breaking the law lest a worse sickness
befall him.
Jesus was introducing into the consciousness of man the new
truth that God is indeed the loving Father of all. But the
intellectualists (represented by the Pharisees) could not
receive it.
"He not only brake the sabbath [from the viewpoint of the
Pharisees], but also called God his own Father, making
himself equal with God."
Here again the Jews thought it blasphemy even to consider
spiritualizing their nature until they knew in deed and in
truth that God was their Father and that all that the
Father had was theirs.
19 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself,
but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever
he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. 20 For
the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that
himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show
him, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth the
dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life
to whom he will. 22 For neither doth the Father judge any
man, but he hath given all judgment unto
Page 61
the Son; 23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor
the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the
Father that sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath
eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed
out of death into life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. 26
For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to
the Son also to have life in himself: 27 and he gave him
authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all
that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, 29 and shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of judgment.
The Father is the great source of all light and all
understanding, and the Son is the idea that expresses the
light and the wisdom of God.
The Son is the idea of God-Mind, of man in his perfection.
Under divine law man makes manifest what God has in His
mind.
The divine idea, the Christ, has been given eternal life
and has the power to impart it to the Adam man. In addition
to this He has been given judgment: He determines how the
life shall be made manifest. The Father of life is a great
river in the Garden of Eden, which represents man's innate
capacity ready to obtain expression in all wisdom and
understanding.
We honor the Christ when we recognize it as having the
authority of God. In its life-giving capacity
Page 62
it is equal to God and has the power of God. When that is
enthroned in us which possesses spiritual identity we have
the realization that we are speaking the word right from
the Father. Jesus in this state of unfoldment proclaimed:
"The words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but
the Father abiding in me doeth his works."
In this way God is most fully manifest in His "divine idea"
or Son, the Christ in man.
What men need above all else in this day is more wisdom,
more discretion, in the use of the life they have. More
life accompanied by the same old destructive ignorance in
using it would but add to their misery. Thus God does not
dictate what shall be man's choice with respect to this or
any other act. If man discovers the law through which life
is made manifest in his consciousness, he may use it
blindly and ignorantly if he so elects. But he must also
abide by the results of his choosing, and this is where man
sets up his wail of sorrow: he does not like to reap his
sowing.
Death came into our world through the ignorant use of life,
and death can be put out only by a wise use of life. Death
is the result of a wrong conception of life and its use. In
the beginning of man's experiments with the powers of
Being, he had no conception of death. His consciousness was
intact and his unfoldment in wisdom was gradual and
orderly. But his desire to experiment predominated.
Sensation was sweet and enticing; it absorbed so much of
his attention that he forgot wisdom--he "hid" from his
Lord, and the result was separation from his
Page 63
Eden, the divine harmony of the law of spiritual unfoldment.
In raising the dead there are then two factors to deal
with. The thought of the reality of death and the fear of
death have both played destructive roles in the race
consciousness, and they must be taken up and dissolved. The
total unreality of death must be portrayed to the deluded
consciousness. The omnipresence and the omnipotence of life
are beyond dispute, and there can be no question that death
is a condition set up in human consciousness. God is not
dead; He does not recognize or countenance death. Neither
does man when freed from its delusion. Jesus said: "Follow
me . . . Leave the dead to bury their own dead."
The first step in demonstrating over death is to get the
belief entirely out of the mind that it is God-ordained or
is of force or effect anywhere in the realm of pure Being.
The next step is to live so harmoniously that the whole
consciousness will be not only resurrected from its belief
in death but so vivified and energized with the idea of
undying life that it cannot be dissolved or separated from
its vehicle, the body.
If our thoughts are good they work for good in our life,
and if they are bad they are objects of redemption.
30 I can of myself do nothing; as I hear, I judge: and my
judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me. 31 If I bear witness of
myself, my witness is not true. 32 It is another that
beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he
witnesseth of me
Page 64
is true. 33 Ye have sent unto John, and he hath borne
witness unto the truth. 34 But the witness which I receive
is not from man: howbeit I say these things, that ye may be
saved. 35 He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye
were willing to rejoice for a season in his light. 36 But
the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for
the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the
very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father
hath sent me. 37 And the Father that sent me, he hath borne
witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time,
nor seen his form. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in
you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not. 39 Ye search the
scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal
life; and these are they which bear witness of me; 40 and
ye will not come to me, that ye may have life. 41 I receive
not glory from men. 42 But I know you, that ye have not the
love of God in yourselves. 43 I am come in my Father's
name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his
own name, him ye will receive. 44 How can ye believe, who
receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh
from the only God ye seek not? 45 Think not that I will
accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, on whom ye have set your hope. 46 For if ye
believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my
words?
The Christ is the perfect God idea, which is ever in touch
with its source. The Christ therefore realizes always that
it can of itself do nothing, and places all judgment in the
law. The laws of God are unchangeable. Man neither makes
nor creates anything of permanence; he discerns what God
has created and conforms to it in thought and act.
Page 65
Judgment, when expressed on the mortal plane of
consciousness, often is the expression of a critical and
backbiting disposition. Man's safety lies in recognizing
his need and balancing his judgment faculty with love. Then
there will spring forth a new conquering power, which will
express itself in righteousness and justice without
condemnation.
The substitution of the Scriptures for the living Word of
God is undoubtedly one of the reasons why the promise of
Jesus to His followers of the ability to do mighty works
has not been fulfilled. The Jews of Jesus' time had done
this very thing: they had substituted the Book of Moses for
the living Word and had so materialized their minds and
their religion that they did not know the Messiah when He
came. Jesus accused them of this, saying: "Ye search the
scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal
life; and these are they which bear witness of me; and ye
will not come to me, that ye may have life."
The Scriptures alone are not sufficient to impart spiritual
understanding. The Pharisees were inveterate students of
the Hebrew Scriptures, but Jesus accused them repeatedly of
lack of understanding. The Bible is a sealed book to one
whose own spiritual understanding has not been quickened by
the living Word. "The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy
mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Jesus so
identified Himself with the living Word that His words
became, like it, creative. He submerged His personality in
God-Mind until He became the expression of that Mind, the
idea clothed in
Page 66
flesh. "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us."
Then instead of memorizing whole chapters of the Bible let
us quicken our mind and our body with the creative word and
thereby escape death. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a
man keep my word, he shall never see death."
The Pharisaical mind thinks that salvation lies in the
Scripture itself, when in fact the Scripture simply bears
witness of the Saviour. The need is not to concentrate on
the letter of the law but to live the Truth and let the
divine principles find expression through the soul. Thus
man learns to travel the path that leads to light and peace
and satisfaction.
There is no necessity of accusing our brother. The law
itself works everything out in perfect justice. In fact
Moses symbolizes this progressive or "drawing-out" process,
which in the individual works from within upward, and in
the universe appears as the upward trend of all things.
The idea that the Bible is the living Word of God has
diverted the attention of Christians from the one creative
Word ever since the original translators dropped the little
word "ye" from the sentence (in John 5:39) in which Jesus
criticized the Jews for their much study of the Scriptures
and thereby made their study a command. Modern translators
have corrected this attempt to make Jesus an indorser of
the printed word, and it is now made clear that overstudy
of the letter may prevent one from making unity with the
Word of God manifest, Jesus the Christ.
Page 67
[Go forward to Chapter 6 ->]
[Mysteries of John]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
|