Jesus of Nazareth and His disciples

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER. PACE.

I Jesus of Nazareth. 1

II Discipleship . 26

Preface

A GAIN one comes to us from out the boundless All, to speak anew the blessed message of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ—who gave to the world God’s law of love through service, free from cant, creed or dogma. So simple that a child might understand and enter the kingdom and know God.

“ Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength,” and “ Love thy neigh¬ bor as thyself ” is the law. This God, this neighbor, this self are one. All that there is, was, or shall be. Just the one life manifesting through different forms.

Knowing this, all hate, greed, gossip, judging, condemning, jealousy and their kin should be forever wiped out of hu¬ man consciousness and replaced by the knowledge that “ As ye do it unto the least of these my brethren, ye do it unto xi xii Preface.

Me,”—to God; the eternal within you,— yourself!

Again we would know of more ful¬ filling the law, that we may be known as Christians. Christ said:—“By these signs ye shall know them. They shall heal the sick, cast out devils and preach the kingdom of God.” Preaching the kingdom is showing the way to God consciousness as realization that “ The kingdom of God is within you.” “ Cast¬ ing out devils ’’ is ridding the brain of the tortuous detnons, hate, fear, malice, and all kindred thoughts that make one’s life a hell. “ Healing the sick ’’ is bring¬ ing the body into harmony with God’s law of life—by word or laying on of hands.

The heart must be pure and the soul ruler of the physical house, before one can serve the Master. Blessed indeed is it to be a servant in the house of God.

After all has been said and done and the life blood spent—the purpose is one— to know God and express God’s attri¬ butes in love and service. Oh, that the

Preface .

xiii

power within, the word, sign or deed of these Christ servants and disciples shall awaken the sleeping souls of humanity to a consciousness today of the God within them that gives peace, knowledge, power —power to become vital beings, pulsating with All life, living the eternal now!

“Strike off thy fetters! Bonds that bind thee down.

Of shining gold or darker, baser ore;

Love, hate,—good, bad and all the dual throng.

Know, slave is slave, caressed or whipped, not free;

For fetters tho of gold are not less strong to bind.

Then off with them.

Thus day to day, till Karma’s powers are spent

Release the soul forever. No more is birth Nor I, nor thou, nor God, nor man. The “I” Has all become, the all is “I,” and bliss. Know thou art that.”

Legare Bowles.

Chapter I. JESUS OF NAZARETH

<<YV7HOM sa Y ye that I, the Son of VV man, am?”

There is much said of Christ, the Son of God; but too little of Jesus of Naz¬ areth, the “ Son of man.” The divine life is universally discussed; but the man, born of Mary and Joseph, is seldom thought of or mentioned. Yet it is far more important to know the man who be¬ came a God, than to speak of God. In Jesus of Nazareth, the man, the way is given whereby all men can do the works of God:—indeed be of God.

History states that Jesus was bom in Bethlehem and had four brothers and three sisters, and that He was a lineal descendant of King David. Born of Mary and Joseph at a time when they had gone to Nazareth to pay taxes. It is recorded that King Herod, hearing of the 1

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birth of one prophesied to be the future “ King of the Jews,” was troubled lest this be true and commanded that all children two years of age and under, be put to death.

Joseph, being warned in a dream of this impending danger, took Mary and the child and secretly fled into Egypt. There the family remained until after Herod’s death.

After the flight into Egypt, there is no record of Jesus, save that “ The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom ” and that “ The grace of God was upon Him.” In the twelfth year of His life; without the knowledge of His parents, He went into the temple at Jerusalem and entered into argument with the Scribes and Pharisees. There, in reply to His mother’s reproach, Jesus made the direct statement of His mission; —“ I must be about my Father’s busi¬ ness.”

For eighteen years after His experi¬ ence with the doctors in the temple, there is no further record of Him. It is pre-

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sumed His life, as a youth, was prac¬ tically the same as that ordinarily lived, in His day and time. He had the same appetites, desires and tendencies which any youth would naturally have.

At the end of eighteen years, or about the age of thirty. He came down the mountain to the river Jordan where John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing and, there, was Himself baptized.

It was John who made that wonderful assertion, the profound truth of which should be laid hold of by all:—“ I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”

After His baptism. He was “ led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” There, was waged a death struggle with hate, lust, malice, contention, doubt and fear; these and their kind—all swaying tendencies of the mind and weaknesses of the flesh, so strong in their temptation. For forty days and forty nights in fasting and in prayer lasted

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this period of mighty test. It was in the wilderness that Jesus mastered the same temptations that must be met and con¬ quered by all who would attain. From it. He came forth Master, with all things of the bodily life, fleeting and vain, in com¬ plete subjection. Thus must the passions be subdued until the life is qualified to say: “ I am freeborn and of good re¬ pute,” for no one can attain a master mind as long as swayed by adverse thought cur¬ rents.

Even as Jesus went into the wilderness to meet His great test, so must all who would master self go into the wilderness of the physical nature; to brave a similar struggle and there remain until every ten¬ dency, impulse and appetite has been met on its own plane, conquered and made subservient to the master will.’ The way to conquer the baser desires of man, is an absolute and continuous refusal to feed them. It is annihilation by starvation; called fasting and prayer.

Various phases of psychic phenomena, such as clairaudience, clairvoyance, sub-

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conscious solving of problems in mathe¬ matics, etc., are frequently the result of fatigue; in which the body, being in abey¬ ance the inner self or God principle, be¬ comes active and uses the body as a vehicle of expression.

This psychological fact, the truth of which may be demonstrated by research, gives a reason for the wilderness. Jesus was following a natural law of the spirit¬ ual world when He sought conditions in which the body might be forced into abeyance, through fasting and the denial of all appetites; until the inner life could stand triumphant and say to the physical being:—“ Henceforth, not as you desire, but as God wills. So be it;—not accord¬ ing to impulses of the flesh, but as the spirit directs. Thus, a wondrous change takes place: for from an instinct governed being, there is a transition to the state of a living soul.

Yet, even after this mighty crucial bat¬ tle is won, let the disciple be on guard, ever alert; lest that insidious foe, the body, creeps upon him unawares. The Savior,

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after He had raised Jesus of Nazareth to “ The Christ, the Son of the living God,” gave this admonition:—“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation: the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Progress to perfection, entails an eternal fight. In “ Light on the Path,” it is stated that: after the perfect flower of the soul has opened and the wondrous life has been touched, there is a natural return of physical conditions. Then desire and temptation again assail and the fight must be ever repeated.

In the life of Jesus, the soul had as¬ sumed its rightful place in His body and God was made manifest. Thus when the individual life has been mastered and all body desires are under control, God is expressed through it in the every-day com¬ munication of man with man.

On the contrary, when the tendencies of the body come uppermost, God’s works cannot be performed or His righteousness expressed. This is according to natural law. Truly, when love is not the con-

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trolling factor, the life activities are swayed by egotism and know nothing save desire to tear down; but, when the fight has been made and the life exemplified by Jesus has been touched, the word “ Master ” is written over the brow and such a one can say, with the conviction of truth: “ I shall see God.” Thus is man made more than man and qualified to say, as did Jesus to Simon Peter and Andrew, his brother:—“Follow me.” Had Christ not taught and exemplified the love that is an expression of God, He would have lived in vain; for Jesus, the Christ—the Master of Nazareth—would have passed unnoticed, with the death of Jesus, the carpenter’s son.

The one great immutable law of God expression is; that man must conquer the body. So, in the story of Jesus’ life, soon after the baptism with water; there fol¬ lowed the true baptism, in the wilderness; a baptism “ With the Holy Ghost and with fire.” The fire of renunciation. This firey baptism must be undergone; for by it alone is all dross of the nature burned

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away and the pure flame of selfless love kindled in the heart. Only by such cleansing can there be preparedness to say: “ I am in the Father and the Father in me;” “ I am the way, the truth and the life;” “The Father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works.”

There can be no healing, neither can there be any true preaching, unless the spirit that is of God dwells within the preacher. All others are anti-Christs and as the Pharisees—hypocrites, making use of “ Much speaking,” that they may be heard of men. These are they who will not go within and lay hold of life, all powerful and eternal. They cannot say, as did Christ:—“ Thy will not mine be done.”

How often has been heard the desire for an assurance of life beyond the grave, when belief would be swallowed up in knowledge? Knowledge is the result of desire and so experience of an after life depends upon “ Where your treasures are.” If in Heaven, then there must sometime be realization. If it is to be

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careful in the days of the now in order to lay up plenty for “ The rainy day;” if in order to have material gain, social position and worldly power, riches, name and fame are sought to leave to posterity, there is nothing that is worth while gained and all is a futile effort to perpetuate the memory of a dead past. There cannot be assurance of life beyond the grave from an egotistic body.

Jesus said: “ The morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” He wanted no fear or worry concerning future needs. He prayed :—“ Give us this day our daily bread.” He wanted Heaven to be here and now, a daily vital experi¬ ence, wherein the Heavenly Father’s will should be supreme; wherein man should meet the short comings of his fellow man with forgiving tolerance. Jesus wanted each life to be a prayer, the spirit of which should be: “ Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ” and “ Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.”

Prayer is the unspoken word of the

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soul’s desire. The spoken prayers are as empty as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. No wonder that those offering them grope in the darkness of doubt and have but faint hope. There was not a prayer of Christ’s or of His disciples but that had the efficacy of direct answer. Their prayers were pure, selfless and lum¬ inous with realization of truth and replete with consciousness of God.

To be in the current of a mighty power that sweeps, onward and onward, to a perfect peace, is to come close to the Kingdom. This consciousness, together with that other vital factor expressed in “ Thy will not mine be done ”—brings life into the very center of this mighty stream. If to these, be added purity of heart; then is attained the sacred privilege of seeing God. After the possession of these three cardinal principles is attained: Consciousness of spiritual force; Joyous co-operation with Divine will and purity of heart; bringing the soul into the pres¬ ence of God; it will no longer be possible to hold to cant, creed and dogma. There

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can be no bowing the head before an empty altar or to a God unknown. No longer will the lips pray: “ God grant me this.” Before the inner altar of the living God, the true Christ follower prays, from the heart:—“ Father, let me do Thy will to all men.”

Christ’s will was that loving kindness should be the ruling principle of each life. “ Love ye one another as I have loved you.” The Master said that all desiring to know God must learn obedience to God’s will, obedience to the law of all inclusive love, even as He had. It is not possible to keep the commandments with¬ out love. Love with all the heart, with all the soul, with all the mind and with all the strength—all the time. This is the transcendent law of love that must be put to the test by loving the neighbor as the self.

Love is the single mind:—life’s won¬ drous sunlight, giving warmer impulses, purer thought and infinite power. Love is the principle that gives understanding beyond that of the body. It is of the in-

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dwelling spirit, that doeth the works of God. Love is the current that turns the leper into the man made whole. Love reveals the light of day to eyes that were sightless.

O, that mighty manifested force of love who said: “ Let him who is without sin cast the first stone;” wondrous Light, who sought to make the way to Heaven clear; Divine Councillor, who bade mankind put all frailties, all selfishness, all desires of the senses upon the altar; until the purified life should irradiate love, even to the least of God’s children!

Jesus taught the simple laws of truth to all who would follow. He taught as a man, going up and down the hills and valleys of Judea. He taught by precept and example—by speaking the word of truth and living the life of love and service —He taught the laws of life through and by prayer. He went “ a stone’s throw away ” from all others, to commune with God; when, with face pressed close to the earth. He sought only the Father’s will.

It was after such a prayer that Jesus

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preached the Sermon on the Mount. In this most wonderful sermon of all ages, was: “ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The second statement is: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted;” The third is: “ Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness* sake: for they shall be filled.” Then follows the others: the blessing of the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, those perse¬ cuted for righteousness’ sake and those reviled. O, the one making those beati¬ tudes—the “ Blesseds ”—a part of life shall indeed be blessed; for by their peace shall every contentious heart throb be stilled. If humanity would but put the truth of these teachings to the test of ex¬ perience, there would be no wars nor rumors of wars. Neither would there be doubting of truth and quibbling about the laws of God. Those having made the test are not heard to say that they believe in the kingdom of Heaven. Such a state¬ ment from them would be as absurd as for the mathematician to say that he believed

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two plus two equals four. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand to all who have these principles in the heart and who earnestly desire to know God.

Thus Jesus of Nazareth showed the way to eternal life. He gave the theorems of spritual mathematics, by which life’s problems may be solved and the way to truth found. Whether these theorems shall be put to the test of experience, or not, rests with the individual; but no one failing to put them to this test can be a Christian, nor attain a master mind. True, a man can be a worker of metal or a hewer of wood; he can earn his bread by the sweat of his brow; but if he wants to be in the forefront of accomplishment, he must train the body and mind according to the purpose in view. Similarly, whoso¬ ever would know God must train the body and mind until it is vibrant to the touch of God.

After Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, He brought the same wonderful exposition of truth, down into the valley and gave it freely to those dwelling there.

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By His life, this great Master showed the law of love to both high and low—to the outcast in like measure as to the exalted.

Disciple means one who is willing to follow. In His ministry, Jesus, first had two disciples; later seventy; and still later, more than five thousand, out of which He selected twelve Apostles. Yet, after two years of close association with this mighty Master mind; when the great test came, and the poisoned darts of scorn and ridi¬ cule were hurled against Him, when con¬ fronted with the carping criticism of the Pharisees, a multitude turned away from this Lord of love and life. These men and women who had made a covenant to write “ Master ” over the contentious body, turned away. Then was the great declaration understandable:—“Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life; and few there be that find it.”

It was at almost the end of His min¬ istry that He questioned His disciples, saying: “Whom do man say that I, the son of man, am?” Various answers were

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given. “ And they said: Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some Elias; and others, Jeremias or one of the prophets.” But when the Master replied: “ Whom

say ye that I am?” a direct question to those who were His close followers, it was Peter who vouched for the twelve, saying: “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “ And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not re¬ vealed it unto thee, but thy Father which is in Heaven.”

It is a wondrous time in the life of man when, with deep conviction it can be said: “ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the liv¬ ing God.” It is not so much a realization as an ecstasy of divine life, bubbling up from within—the thanksgiving of the soul, saying “ I have fought and struggled until the physical self is at last conquered. Now I know the truth,—“ The Father is in me and I in the Father.”

Jesus asked His disciples, “ Know ye not that the Father is in Me and I in Him?” Then He said: “ The Kingdom

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of heaven cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold the kingdom of God is within you.” Of a certainty, the King¬ dom of God is within all; but how can it be known, how become a state of con¬ sciousness? This can be, only by the mastering of the body, as Jesus did, mak¬ ing it servant to God’s will and obedient to the Master’s call.

One sign which must surely follow the Christian is the power of healing, yet this is the very least part of the Christ religion. To be able to heal is not enough. Neither it is enough to be healed. Let this fact be heeded—it is mentioned only for the purpose of showing the way:—out of the ten lepers whom Jesus healed, only one returned to glorify God and give thanks. Unto this one, Jesus said: “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” The real principle, the very heart of the Christ re¬ ligion is the attainment of that conscious¬ ness which makes it possible to unhesi¬ tatingly answer, as did Peter:—“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

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The real thing then is the knowledge, be¬ yond all doubt or question, that the power of God is present to heal the infirmities of all.

There are many, eager to be healed for selfish personal benefit or to gratify idle curiosity; but pitifully few who desire to do the will of God. Alike unto the ten lepers: out of thousands who are healed, only here and there stands one appreciative and just enough to return thanks. Yet, this is not strange. The reason for such cowardice and ingratitude is not difficult to discover. It lies in the fact that the great majority live wholly in the interests of the body life. During some time of stress, when the body is in the throes of deadly disease, the whole physical being racked and tortured with suffering; then comes a desire to be in touch with one representing God’s kingdom. Then, hav¬ ing temporarily felt the God power and having been healed, they return to the former ways of life and—forget. Still, the Master’s work goes on.

When Jesus went to Nazareth, He was

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rejected by those who knew His family. He went again and was rejected. Still again. He returned, only to meet the same rebuff. It was then that He said: “ A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.’* He spoke of un¬ belief in His condemnation of Chorazin and Bethsadia—using the expression: “ The mighty works which were done in you.” He spoke of prayer as a living force, saying: “ Let not your right hand know what your left hand doeth,” exem¬ plifying this by a love and service that has since been the marvel of the world.

He spoke of money as a means to growth and as a protection to old age in, “Take no thought for the morrow;” as a hindering modification to the works of Godliness in the words, “ Go sell what thou hast and give it to the poor,”—then in condemnation, when money had as¬ sumed a usurous place in the minds of men, He said, “ My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

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It was by the very power of these won¬ derful gifts, in which the light of eternity reflected upon the acts and problems of men; that later, mighty works followed in the wake of the man of Nazareth, who had grown from man unto God.

Thus the feeding of the multitude, the miraculous catch of fish, and the raising of Lazarus, showed a growth, in which the “ Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” becomes a mighty force in the hands of one who had traveled the road from human to God consciousness.

The phenomena of these miracles need not bother. Suffice it to know, the power there displayed of appeasing hunger, and of correlating supply:—and even to the raising of the dead are all problems that came directly under soul powers; and while not understood by the world at large, are nevertheless susceptible of scientific demonstration under the laws governing psychic phenomena. Add to this God knowledge, and all things are possible.

These mighty works of healing some-

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times dumbfounded the disciples. So they asked why “ They could not do like¬ wise?” He answered, “ Because of your unbelief.” He said in reply as to the way He cast out a “ Deaf and dumb spirit,” “ This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”

Another time He sent His disciples away from the multitude, in a ship and then persuaded the multitude to disperse, and “He went up into the mountain apart to pray.” While the ship was in mid sea a storm arose, for the wind was contrary. Then it was that the Master was seen walking upon the waters. Then Peter having been invited to come to his Master, walked upon the waters, also; but seeing what he was doing straightway began to sink. When after saving Peter: Jesus said, “ O thou of little faith, where¬ fore didst thou doubt?” Thus by ex¬ ample and precept, was another potent power added to those already given, as real assets in His life work.

If the body possesses this power of great accomplishment as shown by Peter and

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exercises it under strong impulse and free¬ dom from fear or when excitement is at a high pitch; then how infinitely greater should be the possibilities of the body, when trained and controlled, like that of the Master.

Peter had not yet worked out the prob¬ lem of faith. Faith is not blind belief, or an acceptance of the word of God; nor is it belief which, while admitting a lack of qualification, to look God in the face, demands an adherence to that form of worship generally accepted. Faith of this kind leads to nothing and gives the dis¬ ciple as little chance to enter Heaven as has the Camel to go through the needle’s eye. Faith is far removed from belief. “ I believe” is the gossip’s slogan. The life must go beyond belief, into love and service, when the real basis of this won¬ drous thing is found.

Prayers are often heard pertaining to food, shelter and raiment. In the parson¬ age and in the home of the leader of the church, how scrupulously is the “ bless¬ ing ” of food observed! “O Lord, for

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what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful. For Christ’s sake. Amen.” Such petitions are chaff, for there is noth¬ ing in this that leads to the principle of prayer, which is of love and service to all humanity.

Thus is given a wonderful series of laws, the fulfilling of which will cleanse life from doubt, fear and damnation, giv¬ ing power to “ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils.” The man of Nazareth is in this way changed into the Christ, Son of the living God, who gives love to all alike, the high and low, rich and poor, wherein there are no demarking lines in the Brotherhood of man:—for “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

Then comes the time of the last supper, where He admonished His disciples to “ Love ye one another even as I have loved you,” following which He gave a clear conception of His betrayal and death. It is here the test was given to stability in the work of the Master, for He stated that one of His disciples was to

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betray Him by a kiss, which was later attempted by Judas. Then Christ said, “ Judas, betrayest thou the son of man with a kiss?” Even a kiss, sacred to affection and the bond of love, can be turned into ignoble use. The Judas kiss of the vain-glorious, the deceitful and the evil inclined is a damnable token of be¬ trayal. Even as Jadas betrayed Christ so is affection betrayed by the deceitful smirk of unabated desire. There is indeed need of “ Love ye one another ” wherein there cannot be betrayal.

Yet in the very betrayal and crucifixion there is that which teaches the supreme lesson of the man of Nazareth. A thief, condemned and ridiculed, another of the same class, asked for forgiveness. To the first as to all of that class He said, “ For¬ give them Father, they know not what they do,” and to the latter He promised, “ Today shall thou be with Me in para¬ dise.” Thus was written by renunciation and realization upon the brow of the thief,—“ Master,” that all who are in sin may know the way to God; and thus,

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too, was written forgiveness to the erring, doubtful transgressor, for he “ knew not what he did.**