7. The Resurrection

The whole of John chapter 20 speaks to us about our resurrection experience. How can we prepare for the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christed one in our own being? One response might be to just let it happen BUT if we are not aware of it the experience will just pass us by – read about Mary standing at the tomb.

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-bo'ni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.” John 20:10-18

How can we make this story real in our 21st Century lives? Read another version of the story.

But our soul stood weeping outside the body, and as she wept she stooped to look into the body; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the “I” had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Soul, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my “I”, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw her “I Am” standing, but she did not know that it was her “I Am”. Her “I Am” said to her, “Soul, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing her “I Am” to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried my “I” away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Her “I Am” said to her, “Soul.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-bo'ni!” (which means Teacher). Her “I Am” said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, the I am is ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Mag'dalene (the soul) went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the I Am”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Personalising these Biblical stories in this way brings them right into our life now. Our soul looks into the physical for its reality. This is a natural, evolutionary thing to do. The time has come when we can start looking to our spiritual being for a sense of reality. For this to happen the earthly sense of “I” must die and it must be removed from the tomb of the body to be resurrected as the spiritual I AM. This continual refinement is an agonising process and our soul will weep; so much so that we will find it hard to see through the tears.
Then we must hear the words “Do not hold me”. It is as if, in the refining process, we must wait for the metal to cool. This fights against the earthly inclinations to have things instantly. Fortunately the solution is given. We must keep busy: “go to my brethren and say to them, (the) I am (is) ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

The brethren are all those processes within us that must be resurrected, that must be spiritualised; then if the “I” is missing from the grave it doesn’t necessarily mean some ‘one’ has taken him; and the man in the garden isn’t necessarily the gardener. The first process that must change is our thinking, our conscious awareness. A good way to begin it to stop having opinions and to be open to as many as twelve explanations for every situation we meet in the world. In this way we can observe deeply all that happens around us and reach a new understanding of our purpose in this life.

6. The Burial

“After this Joseph of Arimathe'a, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave. So he came and took away his body. Nicode'mus also, who had at first come to him by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds' weight. They took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb where no one had ever been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” Jn 19:38-42

There is a huge demand for proof today; many people consider that something is not ‘real’ if it cannot be proved. At the same time scientists disprove what they previously proved and increasingly admit that they cannot explain many things. The demand for proof is directly tied to our ability to think, and to think something through fully. A thorough understanding of the nature of human thought will reveal that human beings have two primary methods of thinking. One way is tied to what we have previously thought, or been taught to think; the other is the kind of thinking that leads to new ideas, new inventions and a completely new expression of the way to live. The first kind can be called earthly or material thinking, the other is spiritual thinking.

Whenever we think spiritually our first inclination is to make it material, to make it conform with the all the we have previously thought. This materialistic thinking leads us a long way away from spiritual truth. If we explore our understanding of what burial means we encounter the things we say using the concept of burial. For instance, we say that someone or something is dead and buried and we mean that the object of our thought ceases to exist. It is common for people to think that a corpse is merely food for worms or ashes scattered in the wind.

Anyone who has any knowledge of a living physical body knows that it is a miraculous thing. The silent will-forces course through it to give it life; digesting food, moving blood and other fluids etc.. Among other things, the will-forces regulate the body so that it is nourished and warm and moves appropriately. Great wisdom is contained in these will-forces. Is it possible that all this is cancelled out when our soul leaves our body at death?
Of course not! These forces enter into the earth and contribute to the character of the earth. To the extent that we worked with our I AM, and to the extent that Christ is alive within us, is the quality of our gift to this earth at death.

This contribution affects the very substance of the earth. The minerals, plants and animals contain our forces from past lives. The physical substance used by mothers to create the bodies for their babies contain our forces. The forces which are the product of our life will affect this earth for years to come. This points to the significance of the Christmas greeting in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men (of good will)!” The good will contained in the body of Jesus who incorporated the fullness of Christ was enough to turn the evolution of the earth around.

Surely Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus knew this and so they took great care to place him “a new tomb where no one had ever been laid.” Is that what is really being said here? If we can accept the ideas we have just read wouldn’t it make more sense for these words to say, ‘After Jesus had died he was the first one to contribute the living Christ forces into this earth at his burial.’?

The more we contemplate these esoteric truths the more we come to understand how our every action impacts on the future of the earth. External rules and laws are no longer necessary for the person has the good will to act appropriately. They are the ones connected with their I AM and in whom the presence of Christ is no longer dormant.