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New Day Herald

Easter and Resurrection

John Morton, DSS, spiritual director of MSIA
John Morton, DSS, spiritual director of MSIA
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. And while we are blessed with a lovely facility where we can meet and gather, and be sheltered from various things, what we focus upon and teach is that we are to go inside. We are to go into a kingdom. And I think the timing of our seminar tonight is interesting— between Good Friday and the resurrection, which is Easter.

This 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’s here again.” Jesus also referred to it as the raising of the temple. And that’s part of His 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 also another aspect of this which would be the testing. To those who saw the death, part of the reaction was (not in these exact words but in effect) “This is the King of Jews?” And since He proclaimed himself a variety of things, there were arguments about whether he was proclaiming himself the Messiah. He asked Peter, “Who do you say I am?” and it was Peter that referred to him as the Messiah. Jesus’ 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 his 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 or something on that order (although those in themselves would be quite amazing to experience). But if you go to the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, which is also referred to as the Golden Gate, you’ll see that there’s just a large wall there today. The gate has been filled in, but if you look closely, you can see that there’s an arch there and 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: that maybe the Messiah is of a spiritual nature, or some nature that can penetrate material things so that they are not an obstruction.

Look at the scripture that says the gates of hell shall not prevail against you. What does that mean? Whatever gates or walls or obstructions that hell has cannot prevail against what this is. Let’s just consider that this gate wasn’t really an issue for the Messiah, because whether or not it was walled up, if the Messiah is going to come through that gate, it’s going to come through, period. And at that time, there were those who foretold that he would raise up those who were caught up in earthly bonds (or maybe in some form of hell or purgatory), so many people decided that it would be a good idea that they 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 he comes, is he going to go thousands of miles away to raise the dead, or will he start raising people are close by? Personally, I’d like to be one of the first to be raised up by the Messiah. But it’s much more important to consider who is the Christ, or even to ask, “Well who is Jesus?” My point of view is that 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 it 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. But 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. And 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 that ability of foresight or predicting and prophecy. But I don’t really consider that 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, because I find that if I want to cooperate, I need to trust. That’s the first step. And it is calling upon me to reach in and find out where I find myself blind (I don’t see) and dumb (I 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, and 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. Let’s just 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, “Hey, before the cock crows three times, you’re going to deny me three times.” And 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. And if you were considering that you were going to be arrested, imprisoned, tortured, killed, maybe you wouldn’t be so willing and upright yourself. It’s hard to say. It’s easy to profess, “Oh, I would never deny. I would keep the faith. Jesus and me forever.”

But 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, breathing—and in that we are to take responsibility for it.

It’s important that we allow ourselves an opportunity to understand and appreciate the majesty and the 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.

And 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. And then they had one of those moments where they thought, “What is he talking about? Hey Jesus, when were we doing this?” He said, “When you did it to the least one of them my brethren, you did it unto me.”

Baruch Bashan

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