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"He is risen" and
we know that these words seem so incredible that it is not easy to
believe them, but that is Jesus' truth for us this Easter and every
Easter past and future. How he accomplished this and what truly
happened, we will probably never know or understand. But, from his
teachings we can conclude that it had something to do with Divine
Intelligence. His teaching of "G-d as
Intelligence" was perhaps the most important, yet most overlooked,
realization that he discovered and revealed to the world. His
simple words, "see the lilies how they grow" was an attempt to
get people to understand that there is "Intelligence" in all
of life, and that Nature gives evidence of this for all to see.
There is no science and G-d, there is only G-d as science ... G-d is Intelligence. The laws governing gravity and even the circulation
of the air that we breathe are part of the Divine Law and Order that
rules the universe in which we live. In other words, the Laws of
G-d give evidence of universal intelligence acting and responding as a
unity.
The chief
priests, legal experts, and elders, would not listen to Jesus for they
feared him more than they desired to know the Truth. Most likely
on some level they realized that Jesus words revealed that the Truth
that would set us free, would reveal the superstition and foolishness of
many religious practices and beliefs. The Gospels; the Books of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John found in the Bible were written many years after the
events depicted about Jesus' life; Mark considered to be the first of
the Gospels was written 70 years afterwards, Matthew was written 85
years afterwards. We can find in the Gospels of the Holy
Bible, language that blurs truth with fantasy. As we look
at the writings in both Matthew and Mark which are written testimonies
of the same event, we can see this clearly:
"After
the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake,
for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb,
rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning,
and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him
that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you
are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen,
just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly
and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead
of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told
you."
So
the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and
ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them.
"Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and
worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and
tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
-
Matthew 28:1-10, The Gospel Of Matthew, Holy Bible
"When
the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and
Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very
early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on
their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the
stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
But when they looked up, they
saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they
entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting
on the right side, and they were alarmed.
"Don't be alarmed,"
he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was
crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid
him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you
into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "
Trembling
and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said
nothing to anyone, because they were afraid." -
Mark 16:1-8, The
Gospel Of Mark, Holy Bible
In Matthew we have "high
drama" with an earthquake and an angel coming down from heaven to
roll away the stone. This is great stuff for artists, playwrights
and for movie directors. However, Mark gives us a more plausible
description of what took place, and the Gospel of Mark was written prior
to that of Matthew. This is just one of the many
contradictions that can be found as those who followed Jesus were either
left behind or swept up in the agenda to create a new religion.
For
those who seek the "truth that will set you free" the drama is
not necessary. In the realization that Jesus did not "save us
from our sins" but was in fact attempting to teach us to "save
ourselves" from the false beliefs of the world, will indeed serve
us well. Jesus sought to enlighten us on the religious, cultural
and political practices that hold us in bondage to the dominion and
authority of others. "I have come that you may have
life, and have it more abundantly," he said. And this
abundant life is dependent solely on our relationship with G-d and our
ability to use our mind to create an avenue in which G-d can heal,
prosper and bless us.
In the Gospel of John, written 90 to 100 years
after Jesus' ministry and written after both Mark and Matthew; we find
words that give evidence to the influence of religion, contradicting the
teachings of Jesus: John 11:25-26, "Jesus
said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes
in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in
me will never die." Using
our knowledge and understanding of the teachings of Jesus this would be
written as: "I
Am" the resurrection and the life. He who believes me, even
though he dies, will live; and whoever lives and believes me will never
die." This
"I Am" is the Spirit of G-d within each of us; It is not
physical, but of the Spirit, and the spirit within us lives forever.
Jesus
discovered this to be true of himself and true for all of us.
The mystical Ernest Holmes
wrote: "Common sense will tell us that death is no part of
Life, for " ... it involves a self-contradiction to say that the
energy of any force can stop the working of that force." This
is why Jesus said, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the
living." In substance, Jesus was saying this: God is
the Life Principle, eternal and creative Energy of everything. How
can that which is Life include death, because death is a complete
contradiction of Life." "Jesus taught that this
eternal life may be perceived here and now, may be completely entered
into even while we are functioning on this plane, when he said, "I
am the resurrection, and the life." However, when we shall
awake, we shall awake in His [G-d] likeness."
Are we ready to listen now ... to the truth
that Jesus was teaching? The masses of people are not, and we can
see this clearly in our world. There are those who continue to
follow the false practices of religion even though they contradict the
teachings of Jesus in the most horrible ways: many
Christians continue to re-enact the "sacrifice of the body of
Christ" on Good Friday and many Jews slaughter a goat as part of
the Passover sacrifice. There
are those who, because of their religions, have never read the words of
Jesus and discovered the profound truth that he was revealing to the
world.
Jesus was a Jew, and even though he rejected
aspects of Jewish dogma, he never rejected the religion as a whole, nor
did he foster a new religion. Instead he offered a new design for
living based on the power of love for G-d and love for our
neighbor. I believe that Jesus knew that religion was
"man-made-for-man" and that this
is why he instructed us to "go within" and seek the guidance
of G-d in all things. He knew that G-d has given us the freedom to
choose and without this freedom to choose what we believe and accept for
ourselves, we are not free at all.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOGS: Living
the Way to a Wonderful Life
Rev
Bates en Espanol
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