Monthly Archives: March 2012

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part XLVII

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost“

(John 20:22)

We have but one saying left here and it is a most perplexing one as regards interpretation into our way of understanding the nature of God and of man. Our premise is that the Aspects of God are the same, albeit on a vastly greater scale, as the aspects of man; both are a Trinity and for both the reality of Life is in the Spirit or the Father and ALL streams forth from Him. Insofar as man is concerned, we need to realize and to understand that he is not this body or this personality which is the sum of the physical form plus the emotional and mental capacities that comprise it any more that God can be considered to be this planet upon which we Live. We are the Life and the consciousness of the phenomenal form and so Our God is the Life and the consciousness of His form, the Earth and all that is within and upon it. Apart from God we fail to exist and in God ALL works out in an orderly and cohesive fashion under the Law which can be seen as a part and parcel of the Plan of God and which, from the perspective of this manifested existence only, is then subject to the whims of the free will of man. In the realm of True Reality, ALL works and moves forward under the Plan of God. This being said and remembering that language and words fail us when it comes to espousing the Great Mysteries of the Universe and of God, we should note that even the words and the phrases used by the Master are such that they can give some modicum of understanding to the listener and the reader. The listener is the man who heard His words and who lived in a time when the level of comprehension was significantly less than in succeeding generations while the reader is progressively more able to understand as the generations roll by; it is for this reason that so much of the New Testament is written in a way that can be better and more deeply understood as time goes by or by those who have made some degree of spiritual progress and who are able to see and hear the revelation of their own Souls. It is likely that through the use of the parables themselves and the parabolic sayings, that the Master’s design was realized which is to give to each only what he can understand at whatever  level he may be found; emotionally through Faith only, or cognitively as the man of today, or at any combination of these ideas throughout our A.D. history.

Before we move on to this last saying, we should revisit and try to clarify the relationships that we have established between the Christ and the Holy Spirit. From our perspective we see the Holy Spirit as the Activity of the Christ in the world and in man; we see the Christ and also the Christ Within as the reality of the man and as God in manifestation and we see these both as Aspects of the ONE GOD, the Father, which is the source of ALL cosmically and our Spirit individually. ALL of this is ONE in purpose and intent and separate only from the point of view that one takes. We have seen that the Master tells His disciples that He, the Father, “shall give you another Comforter” and we should see that to have another there must already be one; we see also that the Master tells His disciples that He Himself will come to them saying: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:16, 18). From this we can take the understanding of the similarity, the sameness and the overall togetherness of these two Aspects of God and this perspective is further enhanced by the rather intentional confusion that comes from the alternating ideas of where the Holy Spirit is to come from. Looking at the words in bold we should be able to see the interrelationships and the togetherness of this all.

• “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever”  (John 14:16)
• “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance , whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26)
• “But when the Comforter is come , whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26)
• “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away : for if I go not away , the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart , I will send him unto you” (John 16:7)

Based on our view of this all as noted above, we should be able to see that the Holy Spirit does come from the Father as ALL things are from the Father and also that since the Holy Spirit is the Activity of the Christ, it is the Christ that actually sends, or brings, Him into manifestation and into one’s Life via the Christ Within. As commentary on the word used in the King James Version (KJV), Comforter, and his view on this idea of the Christ and the Holy Spirit sharing this function, let us look here at what Vincent has to say:

• Comforter (para>klhton). Only in John’s Gospel and First Epistle (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 Epistle 2:13. From para>, to the side of, and kale>w, to summon. Hence, originally, one who is called to another’s side to aid him, as an advocate in a court of justice. The later, Hellenistic use of parakalei~n and para>klhsiv, to denote the act of consoling and consolation, gave rise to the rendering Comforter, which is given in every instance in the Gospel, but is changed to advocate in 1 John 2:1, agreeably to its uniform signification in classical Greek. The argument in favor of this rendering throughout is conclusive. It is urged that the rendering Comforter is justified by the fact that, in its original sense, it means more than a mere consoler, being derived from the Latin confortare, to strengthen, and that the Comforter is therefore one who strengthens the cause and the courage of his client at the bar: but, as Bishop Lightfoot observes, the history of this interpretation shows that it is not reached by this process, but grew out of a grammatical error, and that therefore this account can only be accepted as an apology after the fact, and not as an explanation of the fact. The Holy Spirit is, therefore, by the word para>klhtov, of which Paraclete is a transcription, represented as our Advocate or Counsel, “who suggests true reasonings to our minds, and true courses of action for our lives, who convicts our adversary, the world, of wrong, and pleads our cause before God our Father.” It is to be noted that Jesus as well as the Holy Spirit is represented as Paraclete. The Holy Spirit is to be another Paraclete, and this falls in with the statement in the First Epistle, “we have an advocate with God, even Jesus Christ.” Compare Romans 8:26. See on Luke 6:24. Note also that the word another is a]llon, and not e[teron, which means different. The advocate who is to be sent is not different from Christ, but another similar to Himself. See on Matthew 6:24⁴.

Note Vincent’s last point here as he picks it up from the verse in Romans plus the idea that we note above that the Christ is another Comforter. We should take no sides in calling the Holy Spirit by any other name as our understanding is beyond the idea of advocate or of counselor but we should note the relationship to our ideas of the Christ Within and the Holy Spirit as the voice of righteousness in Life, the Wisdom from above if you will, and this can be seen clearly in this thought by Vincent as the True conscience: “who suggests true reasonings to our minds, and true courses of action for our lives, who convicts our adversary, the world“⁴; of course we see the adversary more as the carnal man that as the world.

**NOTE** the misspelled words with symbols are the Greek words in Vincent’s on-line text; when the articles are typed these are left out but they are included in the on line version and they are left to show that this is what they are. If we are able to figure out how to get the Greek letters into WordPress, we will try it.

Can we see the dual implication in the nature of the words that the Master chooses when referring to another and to Himself coming for comfort? And, can we see the intentional crossing of ideas in the Master’s reference to the source of the Paraclete…..that He is from the Father or from the Son or sent by One but of the Other? These for us should serve only to show the overall oneness of the Aspects of the Trinity and the apparent effort by the Master to show this to us albeit in a rather parabolic way.

Returning to our saying from the top of the page and our comments regarding its perplexing nature we should try also to see the doctrinal movement that this saying and the like sayings as those from the Book of Acts have caused. Leading into this saying by the Master we have this dialogue which is after the resurrection; Jesus ‘appears’ to the disciples for the first time:

•  “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20:19-22).

There are a number of different things going on in this encounter with the risen Christ who we can see appears to the disciples in a closed room for the first time and offers His Peace to His companions of nearly three years, companions and friends who listened and learned and yet still did not completely understand. John tells us what the Master says as he gives them His Peace and sends them forth into the world. Now there are other renditions of this way that the Master appeared to them in the Gospels of Mark and Luke:

• “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat , and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:14-18).
• “And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken , he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written , and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:36-49).

These are three different renditions of the same experience from the gospels and it is in their combination that we may find the True key to understanding it. Each of these tells the story a different way and in the variation by Luke we can see the carry over into the Book of Acts which expands upon the Masters presence:

• “Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:2-8).

What do we see here in these four perspectives of the Master’s speaking about the Holy Spirit? In John we see it as immediate while Vincent tells us that: Breathed on them (ejnefu>shsen). Only here in the New Testament. The act was symbolic, after the manner of the Hebrew prophets. Compare Ezekiel 37:5. The Holy Ghost. The article is wanting. The gift bestowed was not that of the personal Holy Spirit, but rather an earnest of that gift; an effusion of the Spirit⁴. In Mark we should remember that the verses in which our saying is found are not present in the two oldest manuscripts and there is some doubt that they were actually written by the apostle. Vincent tells it this way: By a large number of the ablest modern critics the remainder of this chapter is held to be from some other hand than Mark’s. It is omitted from the two oldest manuscripts⁴. In the version from Luke, that part regarding the “power from on high” Vincent tells us that: Endued with power. The Rev. has properly substituted the simpler clothed, which, to the English reader, conveys the exact figure in the word. This metaphorical sense of clothed is found in classical Greek. Aristophanes has clothes with audacity; Homer, clothed with strength; Plutarch, clothes with nobility and wealth⁴. Vincent does not address the idea of the Holy Ghost from the verses in the Book of Acts but only touches upon some of the more discreet points.

We will continue with these thoughts in the next post.

Note on the Quote of the Day