Contemplation spirituelle
Spiritual Easter - 04 - The Last Supper
Spiritual Easter English
WEDNESDAY - Day 04
THE LAST SUPPER AND THE WASHING OF THE FEET
Chapters 75 and 76 of the Gospel of the Holy Twelve
Narrative:
Narrative 4, for the Wednesday before Easter: The Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet
Reflection:
Reflection 4, for the Wednesday before Easter: The Cleansing of the Inner Temple
Narrative:
Narrative 4, for the Wednesday before Easter: The Last Supper and the Washing of the Feet
Chapters 75 and 76 of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve
At evening the Master came into the house, and there were gathered with him the Twelve and their fellows: Peter, Jacob, Thomas, John, Simon, Matthew, Andrew, Nathanael, James, Thaddeus, Jude, Philip, and their companions (and there was also Judas Iscariot, who by men was numbered with the twelve until the time when he should be exposed). They were all clad in garments of white linen, pure and clear, for linen is the righteousness of the saints; and each had the colour of his tribe.
But the Master was clad in his pure white robe, white overall, without seam or spot. They contended among themselves as to which of them should be esteemed the greatest; wherefore he said to them, “He who is greatest among you let him be the one who serves.” Jesus said, “With desire do I want to eat this Passover with you before I suffer in order to establish the Memorial of my Oblation for the service and salvation of all. For behold the hour comes when the Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners.”
One of the twelve said to him, “Lord, is it I?” And he answered, “He to whom I give the bread dipped in wine, the same is he.” Iscariot said unto him, “Master, behold the unleavened bread, the mingled wine, and the oil and the herbs, but where is the lamb that Moses commanded?” (For Judas had bought the lamb, but Jesus had forbidden that it should be killed.) John spoke in the Spirit, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, the good Shepherd which gives his life for the sheep.”
And Judas was troubled at these words, for he knew that he should betray him. But again Judas said, “Master, is it not written in the law that a lamb must be slain for the Passover within the gates?”
And Jesus answered, “If I am lifted up on the cross then indeed shall the lamb be slain, but woe to him by whom it is delivered into the hands of the slayers; it were better for him had he not been born. Verily, I say to you, for this end have I come into the world that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning, God gave to all the fruits of the trees and the seeds and the herbs for food, but those who loved themselves more than God or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies and filled the earth with lust and violence. Not by shedding innocent blood, therefore, but by living a righteous life, shall you find the peace of God. You call me the Christ of God and you say well, for I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.Walk you in the Way, and you shall find God. Seek you the Truth and the Truth shall make you free. Live in the Life, and you shall see no death. All things are alive in God, and the Spirit of God fills all things. Keep you the commandments. Love your God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets. And the sum of the law is this – Do not do unto others as you would not want others to do unto you. Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you. Blessed are they who keep this law, for God is manifested in all creatures. All creatures live in God, and God is hidden in them.”
After these things, Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, saying, “What thou do, do quickly.” He then, having received the bread, immediately went out, and it was light. When Judas Iscariot had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of man glorified among his twelve, and God is glorified in him. And verily I say to you, they who receive you receive me, and they who receive me receive the Father-Mother Who sent me, and you who have been faithful to the truth shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
One said unto him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world, neither are all Israel which are called Israel. Those in every nation who do not defile themselves with cruelty, who are righteous, who love mercy, who reverence all the works of God, and who give succour to all who are weak and oppressed – the same are the Israel of God.”
The Paschal Supper being ended, the lights were kindled, for it was evening. Jesus rose from the table and laid aside his garment, and wrapped a towel around his waist; and pouring water into a basin, he washed the feet of each of the fourfold Twelve and wiped them with the towel that was wrapped around him. One of them said, “Lord, you shall not wash my feet.” Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” And he answered, “Lord, wash not only my feet, but my head and my hands.”
He said to him, “They who have come out of the bath, need not but to wash their feet, and they are clean all over.” Then putting on the over garment of pure white linen without spot or seam, he sat at the table and said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Lord and Master, and if then your Lord and Master has washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another’s feet.
For I have given this example, that as I have done to you so also should you do to others.I give you a new commandment, that you love one another and all the creatures of God. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Love is of God, and God is love. Who loves not, knows not God. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another and show mercy and love to all creatures of God, especially to those that are weak and oppressed and suffer wrong.
For the whole earth is filled with dark places of cruelty and with pain and sorrow by the selfishness and ignorance of man. I say to you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you and give them light for their darkness, and let the spirit of love dwell within your hearts and be plentiful for all. Again I say to you, love one another and all the creation of God.” When he had finished, they said, “Blessed be God.”
Then he lifted up his voice, and they joined him, saying, “As the hart thirsts for flowing water, so thirsts my soul for thee, O God.” And when they had finished, one brought to him an incense burner full of live coals, and he cast frankincense thereon even the frankincense which his mother had given him in the day of his manifestation, and the sweetness of the odour filled the room.
Then Jesus, placing before him the platter, and behind it the chalice, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, gave thanks for the goodness of God in all things and unto all, and after that he took in his hands the unleavened bread and blessed it; the wine likewise mingled with water and blessed it; chanting the Invocation of the Holy Name the Sevenfold, calling upon the thrice Holy Father-Mother in Heaven to send down the Holy Spirit and make the bread to be his body, even the Body of the Christ, and the fruit of the vine to be his Blood, even the Blood of the Christ, for the remission of sins and everlasting life, to all who obey the gospel.
Then lifting up the Oblation towards heaven, he said, “The Son who is also the Daughter of man is lifted up from the earth, and I shall draw all men to me; then it shall be known of the people that I am sent from God.” These things being done, Jesus spoke these words, lifting his eyes to heaven.
“Abba Amma, the hour is come; Glorify thy Son that Thy Son may be glorified in thee.Yea, Thou have glorified me, Thou have filled my heart with fire, Thou have set lamps on my right hand and on my left, so that no part of my being should be without light. Thy Love shines on my right hand and on my left, so that no part of my being should be without light. Thy Love shines on my right hand and Thy Wisdom on my left. Thy Love, Thy Wisdom, Thy Power are manifest in me. I have glorified Thee on earth; I have finished the work Thou gave me to do. Holy One, keep through Thy Name the Twelve and their fellows whom Thou has given me, that they may be One even as we are One. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Thy Name, and none of them is lost; for he who went out from us was not of us; nevertheless, I pray for him that he may be restored. Father-Mother, forgive him, for he knows not what he does. And now I come to Thee, and these things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I give them Thy word, and the world hates them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that Thou should take them out of the world, but that Thou should keep them from evil, while yet in the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is Truth. As thou send me into the world, so also I send them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified through the Truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for all who shall be added to their number, and for the Two and Seventy also whom I sent forth; yea, and for all who shall believe in the Truth through Thy word, that they also may be one as Thou Most Holy art in me and I in Thee; that they may also be one in Thee, that the world may know that Thou has sent me. Holy Parent, I will also, that they whom Thou has given me, yea all who live, be with me where I am, that they may partake of my glory which thou give me, for Thou love me in all, and all in me, from before the foundations of the world. The world has not known Thee in Thy righteousness, but I know Thee, and these know that Thou have sent me. I have declared unto them Thy Name that the love wherewith Thou have loved me may be in them, and that from them it may abound, even unto all Thy creatures, yea, even unto all.”
These words being ended, they all lifted up their voices with him, and prayed as he taught them, saying, “Our Father-Mother, Who art above and within, Hallowed be Thy sacred Name, in Biune Trinity. In Wisdom, Love, and Equity Thy Kingdom come to all. Thy holy Will be done always, as in Heaven, so on Earth. Give us day by day to partake of Thy holy Bread, and the fruit of Thy living Vine. As we seek to perfect others, so perfect us in Thy Christ. Show upon us Thy goodness, that to others we may show the same. In the hour of trial, deliver us from evil.For Thine are the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory. From the Ages of ages, now, and to the Ages of ages. Amen.”
Then our Master took the holy bread and broke it and the fruit of the vine also and mingled it, and having blessed and hallowed both, casting a fragment of the bread into the cup, he blessed the holy union. Then he gave the bread which he had hallowed to his disciples saying, “Eat, for this is my body, even the body of the Christ, which is given for the salvation of the soul and the body.”
Likewise, he gave to them the fruit of the vine which he had blessed saying to them, “Drink, for this is my blood, even the blood of the Christ which is shed for you and for many, for the salvation of the soul and the body.” And when all had partaken, he said unto them, “As often as ye assemble together in my name, make this offering in memory of me, even the bread of everlasting life and the wine of eternal salvation; and eat and drink thereof with pure heart, and you shall receive of the substance and the life of God which dwells in me.”
When they had sung a hymn, Jesus stood up in the midst of his apostles, and going to him who was their Centre, as in a solemn dance, they rejoiced in him. Then he went out to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. Judas Iscariot had gone to the house of Caiaphas and said to him, “Behold he has celebrated the Passover within the gates, with the Mazza in place of the lamb. I indeed bought a lamb, but he forbade that it should be killed, and the man of whom I bought it is witness.”
And Caiaphas rent his clothes and said, “Truly this is a Passover of the Law of Moses. He has done the deed which is worthy of death, for it is a weighty transgression of the law. What need of further witness? Yes, even now two robbers have broken into the temple and stolen the book of the law, and this is the end of his teaching. Let us tell these things to the people who follow him, for they will fear the authority of the law.”
One that was standing by as Judas came out, said to him, “Do you think that they will put him to death?” Judas said, “No, for he will do some mighty work to deliver himself out of their hands, just as when they in the synagogue in Capernaum rose up against him and brought him to the brow of the hill that they might throw him down headlong, and did he not pass safely through their midst? He will surely escape them now also and proclaim himself openly and set up the Kingdom of which he spoke.”
Reflection:
Reflection 4, for the Wednesday before Easter: The Cleansing of the Inner Temple
Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.
The gnostic path is the road that leads to the resurrection of the inner man and leads to liberation from the wheel of birth and death. If the desire to go that path awakens in a person, then that need is a sign that the divine spark has flared up, that the Christ principle in the heart has awakened.
In the beginning that desire is still fragile and unstable. If the inner flame in the heart of the microcosm lacks attention, it will soon be extinguished due to the many impulses coming to us from daily life, impulses that attract our attention and distract us from the newly ignited divine spark within us. The gnostic liberating path can only be walked on the basis of an awakened spirit-spark. For this reason the soul of the pupil is advised to ‘enter into the centre and to ascend into the spirit ‘.
Spiritual traditions such as mystery schools are there to enable a human being to keep the desire for wholeness alive and to provide him with the spiritual nourishment necessary for spiritual awakening and renewal. Through a continued focus on the high goal, reinforced through meetings, spiritual traditions constitute a focal point of spiritual energies. These forces flow from that focal point into a force field in which the members of the spiritual tradition can breathe and thus give the inner being the opportunity to grow.
Temples play an essential role in many spiritual schools. If things are right, a temple is more than a building where religious gatherings are held. A true temple is a focal point of spiritual force, an invisible reservoir of spiritual energies that are constantly replenished and will increase in force by means of the focus being sustained.
A temple building can only function as a true temple, so as a spiritual focus, if it is kept clean in all respects. Physical dirt, noise, degrading or wounding thoughts and earthly orientations disturb the highly sensitive temple field and weaken it, or may even lead to complete withdrawal of the spiritual force.
In this light it is understandable what Jesus means when he rebukes the cattle dealers and money changers that he finds in the temple in Jerusalem. Much less understandable is how Jesus, who is considered the incarnation of universal love, rages here. In chapter 71 of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, we read:
When the Jews’ Passover was at hand, Jesus went up again from Bethany into Jerusalem. He found sitting in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and money changers.
When he had made a whip of seven cords, he drove them all out of the temple and let loose the sheep and the oxen and the doves, and poured out the money of the changers and overthrew the tables.
He said to them, “Take these things; do not make my Father’s House a house of merchandise. Is it not written, ‘My House is a House of prayer, for all nations?’ But you have made it a den of thieves, and filled it with all manner of disgraceful things.”
He would not allow any man to carry a vessel of blood through the temple or any animals to there be slain. The disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house has eaten me up.”
The Gospel of the Holy Twelve 71: 1-4
The behaviour that Jesus shows here is so at odds with everything else that has been written about him, you’d almost think this narrative is not authentic. Yet it appears in all four gospels in the Bible. In the past, the literal interpretation of the narrative of the temple cleansing was often used to excuse violent and aggressive behaviour.
But when we apply the inner key, then a very different picture is shown. Strictly speaking, the narrative about the temple cleansing is not an historical account. Considered purely spiritually, the narrative of the temple cleansing informs us about the inner path by means of images. The correct key is to be found in the narrative itself. In chapter 71 of The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, we read further:
Then answered the Jews, and said to him, “What sign do you show us, since you are doing these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Again I say to you, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
Then the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build and you will raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his Body.
Therefore when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
The Gospel of the Holy Twelve 71: 5-7
The word ‘temple’ is used here in a very special way. It not only refers to a building for religious ceremonies but also to the temple of the body, by which is meant both the physical body and the entire human personality. A personality is an individual who is able to think, feel and act in this world by means of a physical body.
Adam, the original, incorporeal divine man was a temple of the spirit. Through what is known as ‘the fall’ the spiritual forces retreated and the human temple was desecrated, becoming powerless. Countless new personalities have been living for centuries in the violated microcosmic temple, all of them leaving their mark.
This process continues until a personality comes along who has reached the state of experience-fullness and is powerful enough to restore the violated microcosmic temple to its true function. This restoration must be based on an awakened spirit-spark, for the spark of the soul is the spiritual focal point for the spirit; the microcosm is the radiating force field.
This process of regeneration can therefore take place only when the spirit-spark is ignited and the personality is willing to become a temple of the Spirit in order to become spiritualised right up to and including the physical body. This process is called transfiguration: construction of the inner temple, in which the resurrection body is established.
A person following his inner calling will therefore be cleansed of anything that hinders the inflow of spiritual force. Step by step forces directed on earthly life are broken off to make room for new spiritual strength.
A floor cannot wipe itself however, and therefore all these cleanings are performed by the spiritual light that increasingly can descend in the temple of the person concerned. If the Christ principle within has awakened and the inner Christ has reached a certain strength, then the seven rays are active within a person. These rays of the Seven Spirit, symbolised by the whip with seven ropes, will break off those things in man that do not relate harmoniously to the divine life.
The increasingly stronger light forces cause quite a stir in the life of a person seeking gnostic fulfilment. Values that were formerly thought to be unshakable become worthless. Greed, symbolised by the merchants and money changers, is driven out of the inner temple.
The sheepish herd behaviour that thoughtlessly followed the way of the majority now makes way for self-authority. Only on this basis can a person give the right direction to his own life, using his internal compass. The sheep also symbolise the forces within man that are themselves supporting to the spiritual path but, in ignorance, are still deployed on the earthly plane of life.
It is the strength of the ox to continue at a steady pace on this path once it has been chosen, but even the ox is still in the hands of the merchants of this earth who represent our possessiveness. The spiritual light liberates this strength and directs it toward the higher life so that one can progress strongly on the new path.
Every person knows the desire for romantic love, the Venus-love. This desire is symbolised by the pigeons. But the human heart is capable of much higher love. The heart is a temple in itself, the residence of the universal love that includes everything and everyone. When the pigeons are released from the hands of the merchants, they elevate their hearts to the universal, all-encompassing love. That universal Love is a higher octave of Venus-love and is symbolised by Uranus.
Every pupil of the soul who perseveres on the gnostic path experiences chaos during a certain period of his life, when it seems that almost everything he undertakes falls apart in his hands. Fortunately this situation is temporary and he learns to recognise that the breaking up of obstructions is necessary in order to build the new inner temple. The caterpillar must die before it can become a butterfly. The true pupil of the soul allows this to happen in tranquillity and confidence.
Jesus announced that he would build a new temple in three days; the Gospels tell us that he rose from the dead after three days. Here again the inner key applies because the three days mentioned indicate that it concerns a threefold process. This trinity is also reflected in a well-known motto of the seventeenth-century Rosicrucians which reads:
We are born of God,
in Jesus we die,
through the Holy Spirit we are reborn.