“I am here to have an experience with the Christ. As I see it, that’s not just part but the whole. It’s integral to what we are all doing here. As it is a consciousness of God, it is pure and clear in the way that it comes to us. It’s for each one of us to have our own discovery, our own awakening, to what that is.” – John Morton

This article appeared in the New Day Herald in 2010 and seems timely as Easter 2025 comes near.

Those of us who are in some way charged to talk about the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness seem to repeat over and over again that the kingdom, the presence, our divinity, that which we focus upon, is within. This is the place of worship. What we focus upon and teach is that we are to go inside. We are to go into the kingdom within.

Between Good Friday and the resurrection which is Easter is a time when we celebrate that there is a consciousness in the Christ, of the Christ, that is not beholden to this world. The gospels of the New Testament talk about the time between the death and the rising, between the time when Jesus is “not here” and when “He is here again.” Jesus also referred to it as the raising of the temple. That’s part of Jesus’s own testament in advance of the events. He said that the temple would be brought down and then in three days it would be raised again.

There’s another aspect of this which would be the testing. To those who saw the death, part of the reaction was like, “This is the King of Jews?” Since Jesus proclaimed himself a variety of things, there were arguments about whether he was proclaiming himself the Messiah.

Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” It was Peter who referred to Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus’s response was, “Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you.” In other words, “I didn’t tell that to you, somebody or something else did.” So, it wasn’t Jesus’s own proclaiming but the proclaiming of those who witnessed to him. What he was saying was, “Your knowing of that, your experience of that, was of the Spirit.”

There’s also an aspect of what and who the Messiah was that related to raising the dead, not just like Lazarus in the tomb or the child that died. If you go to the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, which is also referred to as the Golden Gate, you’ll see a large wall. The gate has been filled in. If you look closely, you can see that there’s an arch there. Obviously, it was at one time designed to be a gate. You could say that maybe it was designed to look like a gate, but it’s not really a gate, or maybe it’s a gate for those who can pass through material things. But those who don’t have the ability to go through walls don’t go through, which makes an interesting point. Maybe the Messiah is of a spiritual nature or some nature that can penetrate material things, so they are not an obstruction.

Scripture says, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” [Matthew 16:8]. What does that mean? Whatever gates, walls, or obstructions hell has cannot prevail against what this is. Let’s just consider that this gate wasn’t really an issue for the Messiah. Whether or not it was walled up, if the Messiah is going to come through that gate, it’s going to come through, period. At that time, there were those who foretold he would raise up those who were caught up in earthly bonds, or maybe in some form of hell or purgatory. Many people decided that it would be a good idea to be buried near the gate. If you go there, you’ll see tombstones, basically a whole cemetery, right near the gate.

Thinking practically, we might ask if when the Messiah comes, is he going to go thousands of miles away to raise the dead or will he start raising people close by? Personally, I’d like to be one of the first to be raised up by the Messiah.

It’s much more important to consider who is the Christ, or to ask, “Who is Jesus?” My point of view is who that is, is alive. Who that is, is accessible. I’m here to be a direct witness in my own experience, that I may speak in terms that are authentic and hold the energy that is the consciousness of truth that we share. This truth is something that is not dependent on anyone’s interpretation or how I interpret or perceive it.

I found out a long time ago that to attempt to articulate it or to give hard concrete evidence or empirical proof is futile. I don’t really know how to do that, and I don’t profess that I can do that for you. I am here to have an experience with the Christ. As I see it, that’s not just part but the whole. It’s integral to what we are all doing here. As it is a consciousness of God, it is pure and clear in the way that it comes to us. It’s for each one of us to have our own discovery, our own awakening, to what that is.

I don’t claim to have the ability of foresight, predicting or prophecy. I don’t consider I need to have those abilities. It is my intention to be in high cooperation with the will of the Father, however that is working. I also want to do that with trust. I find that if I want to cooperate, I need to trust. That’s the first step. It is calling upon me to reach in and find out where I find myself blind and don’t understand.

I’m reminded about one of the scriptures from Jesus, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” What was He saying? Was that meant to be literal? Or maybe it’s invisible but touchable. Have you ever had an experience like that? I have. It’s called electricity. It’s invisible, but I feel it. So do you. There are lots of ways that we have those experiences of what is not apparent, what is very difficult to conceptualize or articulate.

Consider that in between the death and the resurrection was this opportunity to trust and keep the faith. There’s a part of the story where Jesus talked to Peter and said, “Before the cock crows three times, you’re going to deny me three times.” Peter is often associated with faith. Jesus was saying in effect, “Where is your faith? Where is your trust so that when they asked you if you knew me, are you with him, are you one of his guys, you said no?”

Peter had a good reason to deny. The people who questioned him looked like the people that arrested Jesus. If you were considering you were going to be arrested, imprisoned, tortured, or killed, maybe you wouldn’t be so willing and upright yourself. It’s easy to profess, “Oh, I would never deny. I would keep the faith. Jesus and me forever.”

The commandment here is that we love one another. That’s what’s been delivered. That’s how they’re going to know if you’re part of the Christ. So maybe you need to leave some room so that you can say, “I denied Him but after that I got around to the loving. I loved what happened.”

At some point, each of us is on our own. Relying on someone to be the teacher, the interpreter, the intercessory, may at best be a stage in our development. There is value in having assistance and support in how this comes to us and how we wake up to our divine nature. But it’s more important to realize that the consciousness of who and what that is lives in us as us. It’s been born. It’s been birthed. It’s alive, walking, and breathing. We are to take responsibility for it.

It’s important that we allow ourselves an opportunity to understand and appreciate the majesty and miraculous nature of God’s work. Despite our best plans, God’s plans will rule the day. I consider that’s in our favor. God will dispense what needs dispensing, no matter what we think about it.

Let me leave this with you. In the scripture Jesus started talking about the disciples that were near him, saying that when he was hungry, they fed him. When he was in prison they visited him. When he was sick, they took care of him. When he was without clothes or naked, they brought him clothes. Then the disciples had one of those moments and thought, “What is he talking about?” They asked him, “Jesus, when were we doing this?”

Jesus said, “When you did it to the least one of them, my brethren, you did it unto me.”

Baruch Bashan

Blessing of Good Will

Lord, through Your beloved Jesus,
that one who has prepared our way through the Christ,
we do ask for understanding,
for Your presence, to be with us again.
We ask You to be anchored to us as a way of being and expression.
We breathe You in.
Lift from us, our doubts, our fears, again.
Let us come to You as Your children,
as those who gather with You in our innocence,
that we have been cleansed.
We have been clothed in what is clean and pure and beautiful.
You have prepared a beautiful place for us
where we feast and celebrate.
We gather as those who do love one another as You have loved us.
We remember You again now.

By our faith, we place our trust in You
and giving thanks
for all that You have done to prepare, to set the tone.
We put aside the clamoring and the confusion of the world
to be those who come in peace,
to have good will toward all,
to have a generosity of spirit,
a place at our table, a willing hand.
We give thanks for a beautiful place such as this,
that we gather in Your beloved Spirit.

Baruch Bashan

John gave the above blessing at an Easter seminar in March 1997. It is included along with many other of his beautiful blessings in his book Blessings Here and Now, available at msia.org/shop.

EASTER 2025 EVENTS WITH JOHN MORTON

John is participating in three Easter weekend events this year:

Good Friday Seminar

Spiritual Exercises Workshop

Easter, Resurrection  and the Covenant

Information about each of these events, their pre-requisites, and how to register, is available on the calendar at msia.org.