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As we have seen, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke contain the story of the healing of Jairus' Daughter, which occurs comparatively early in the Gospel narratives because it symbolizes one of the first and most important of the purification works to be accomplished. There is, however, no mention of this event in John, for his Gospel, the most deeply esoteric of the four, deals with work of still higher import. Instead of the raising of Jairus' daughter, John substitutes that of the Nobleman's Son.
The Gospels as studied occultly reveal the path of Initiation in the Christian Mysteries, each character representing some particular attribute in process of development. The Nobleman's Son is not mentioned in the works of Matthew, Mark or Luke. The reason for this is to be found in the fact that in the process of spiritual attainment, the feminine principle must first be lifted and restored from its fall, as noted in the restoration of Jairus' Daughter. When this is accomplished, then follows the establishment of its equilibrium with the masculine. The first three Gospels are concerned with the former, John with the latter.
The mystic wedding feast at Cana of Gallilee with which John opens his Gospel contains deeper teachings regarding the harmonizing of these two principles within the body of the aspirant for Initiation. The Nobleman's Son represents one who in his own life was demonstrating the work given by the Christ. The Scriptures state that after this raising, the nobleman and all of his household became followers of Christ Jesus.
Throughout the Bible the deeper teaching is symbolically concealed beneath the literal record which forms the basis for most of the current creeds.
When the masculine principle (the head; Hermes) represented by the raising of the Nobleman's Son, who was not dead but at the point of death, and the feminine principle (the heart; Aphrodite) typified by Jairus' Daughter, who was not dead but asleep, are again in equilibrium, the Cross will no longer be the symbol of Christianity. It will be represented by the two upright pillars, the Yachin and Boaz that adorn the entrance of the Temple of Solomon and represent the Divine Hermaphrodite. The neophyte or candidate will no longer be the "Widow's Son" but will become the Master who has found the Light in the East.
The nine Lesser Mysteries, also called the Lunar Mysteries, have been given in some form throughout the history of man. The advent of the Christ introduced the new or Solar Initiations to the world and it is to these higher truths, destined to serve humanity during the Great Sidereal Year beginning with the Sun's last precessional passage through Aries, that these Mysteries pertain. The religion of the Lamb bears a deeper and more far-reaching significance than is at the present time generally understood.
Lazarus was the most spiritually advanced of all the disciples who were under the tutelage of Christ Jesus. (The others did not reach this attainment until the Day of Pentecost.)
Exoteric religionists arc puzzled to account for Christ's delay of two days before going to the aid of Lazarus. The esotericist knows that Christ was aware that only the body of Lazarus was in the tomb, whereas his spirit was on the inner planes receiving the initiatory work that gives entrance into the deeper Christian Mysteries. The Master Jesus was initiated into these Mysteries in the Rite of the Baptism, and Lazarus, the next in spiritual attainment, at the time of his supposed death.
Christ Jesus described this Initiation in the words, "This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God." In other phraseology, Lazarus now becomes a more perfect channel for receiving and disseminating the glories of God upon the earth.
Mary and Martha, the two sisters of Lazarus, were among the highest in development of the women disciples of Christ. They were thus able to take part in the initiatory or Resurrection Rite of their brother, as did the father and mother of Jairus' Daughter. Mary symbolizes the mystic path, or the faith of the heart; Martha, the occult path, or the reasoning of the mind. The union of heart (love) and head (understanding) produce Wisdom, the true essence of the soul. Lazarus represents this twofold blending, which lifts the neophyte to a state of consciousness far transcending that possessed by ordinary humanity.
"Martha went out to meet Him, but Mary sat still in the house." (John 11:20) Martha, the mind, is ever seeking light through externalities. Mary, the heart, in stillness turns within to find the kingdom of heaven.
Christ Jesus said unto Martha, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
And Martha made reply, "Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even He that cometh into the world."
And when she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, "The Teacher is here, and calleth thee."
These words of the Master to Martha have been called the human passport to immortality. They are not words addressed only to Martha, the sister of Lazarus; they are the call of the Christ to the reasoning or concrete mind of all humanity. "Be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind." This is accomplished by linking the mind with the "I Am" consciousness wherein dwells the realization of resurrection into eternal life.
The glorious message of New Age Bible interpretation is that this consciousness can be awakened here and now; it is not necesssary to await death to work this transformation. "He that believeth in me, though he were dead (in materiality) yet shall he live again" — in renewed body, environment, and concept of life — a resurrection into a new being on every plane of consciousness. Truly a human passport to immortality.
All higher birth must take place in a cave or stable: the Christ can be born within only through regenerative work upon the lower man. In Capricorn the Christ is born in the cave of the lower nature by purification. In Virgo He is born in the cave of the heart through transmutation. "Lazare deuro exo — Lazarus hither out! Loose him and let him go" These mystic words bear the message of the spiritual victory of Lazarus.
The Pharisees and priests were cognizant to some extent of the Mystery Teachings. Indeed, Arthur Weigall, the world-renowned Egyptologist, now deceased, declares that his researches in ancient religions have convinced him that the New Testament describes a ritual in which a condemned criminal was executed as a sacrifice, as in ancient Babylon, and that Jesus, when condemned to death, was crucified in accordance with the ritual demands. Dr. Rudolf Steiner stated that the Master Jesus was an Initiate in the Hebrew Mysteries but made them public (according to His own declaration, Whosoever wills may come) and as death was the penalty among all ancient nations for revealing the secrets of the Mysteries, He was immediately condemned to death.
A like case in Greek history is that of Aeschylus who, though called in a dream by Dionysius himself to write tragedy, was nevertheless threatened with death, by an angry mob in a theater where one of his plays was produced, on the charge that he had revealed certain inviolable secrets from the Mysteries. He saved his life by taking refuge at the altar of Dionysius in the orchestra, and later was successful in proving before the Areopagus that he had not known that what he said was secret. Jesus, however, made no attempt to vindicate Himself, since He purposely revealed the Secrets of Israel, and willingly suffered the extreme penalty.
The raising of the Widow's Son as recounted by Luke contains also the outline of Lazarus' illumination or Christing. Nain (the name of the village) means Nine, and the death of the Widow's Son is mystic phraseology descriptive of one who has traveled the tortuous Way which leads through death (of the personal) to resurrection (into the impersonal). Such an one is no longer "the son of a widow." Luke explicitly states that after he arose Christ "delivered him to his mother." Equilibrium between the two poles of Spirit, masculine and feminine, was established. This is the supreme attainment of the Christian Mysteries, foreshadowed in the Rites of ancient times but consummated in the Mysteries established by the Christ. Thus it is that Christ is the Light of the World, the goal of all ancient Teachings. Equilibrium in Spirit had been lost under the old regime; even the Mysteries had degenerated into almost meaningless (and frequently cruel) ritual in many instances. Christ Jesus came pointing the way back: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." To become Christed or initiated in His Name is the supreme purpose of earth evolution.
The son of a widow is an allegorical phrase that has reference to one who is attempting to develop the polarity of Spirit within. From the days of ancient Egypt to the present, members of the Masonic Order have been so styled.
The "widow's son of Nain" refers to one who has passed through the nine Lesser Mysteries and is now prepared (as was Lazarus) to be raised by Christ into the Greater or Christian Mystic Initiations. This is the ultimate of the 33rd degree 3X3=9). It is foreshadowed in the 18th degree (8+1=9).
Beginning with the Degree of the Rose Croix (18th degree), and continuing through the 33rd degree, the Candidate is working definitely on the completion of his own selfhood, that Temple made without hands, but eternal in the heavens. This is his golden wedding garment, or perfected soul body. With the consummation of this Work he is no longer the Widow's Son. Polarity is attained, and his "healing" is complete.
— Corinne Heline
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Contemporary Mystic Christianity |
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