Posted by Roberta Grimes • November 12, 2022 • 37 Comments
Jesus, The Teachings of Jesus, Understanding Reality
All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!
O seed of Israel’s chosen race, now ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all!
– Edward Perronet (1726-1792), from “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” (1780)
I had planned to write about gratitude. Gratitude as a constant habit is the essential prelude to using Jesus’s teachings on forgiveness and love to raise our personal consciousness vibrations. But Thomas has been telling me for days that I have already written about gratitude. And, sure enough, he was right about that! What I wrote about gratitude two years ago was better than anything I could have written this week, so please simply read that post again, with thanks to our dear friend Hillis Pugh, our illustrious Guru of Gratitude.
But rather than giving me a pass altogether, what Thomas has asked me to do today is to share with you all of Chapter 13 of the Gospel Book of Matthew. What is irritating him now about that Chapter is two things in particular:
So let’s look at those two parables. Please transport yourself far back, if you can, and stand among the people on the shore who are listening to that itinerant Preacher who has rowed out a little way into the water so everyone can better see and hear Him. Remember that Jesus back then looked nothing like church-Jesus, but He looked more as Jesus looks today, with olive skin and dark, curly hair:
“On that day Jesus had gone out of the house and was sitting by the sea. And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And He told them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.’
“And the disciples came up and said to Jesus, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” And Jesus answered them saying, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You shall keep on listening, but shall not understand;
And you shall keep on looking, but shall not perceive;
For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their heart, and return,
And I would heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it’” (MT 13:1-17).
But of course, you and I well understand now that Jesus spoke in parables not to confuse His own followers, which would have made no sense at all, but rather to confuse the Temple guards, who changed frequently. And whenever Jesus spoke of “having,” He was referring to spiritual growth and understanding, which to Him was the only thing worth having. Now let’s listen as He explains His parable.
“‘Listen then to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the Word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the Word, immediately he falls away. And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the Word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”
“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. And when the wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”
“He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”
“He spoke another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
“All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them without a parable. This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:
“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will proclaim things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
“Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all these things?” They said to Him, “Yes.” And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”
“When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. And He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is His mother not called Mary, and His brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man acquire all these things?’ And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not dishonored except in his hometown and in his own household.’ And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (MT 13:18-58).
So immediately you see the problem. Since the First Council of Nicaea did not understand that Jesus spoke in parables not to hide His truths from His followers, but rather to hide what He was saying from the listening Temple guards, the First Council of Nicaea treated His parables as something like a secret code meant by Jesus to separate the saved from the damned. But their notion is absolute nonsense! Jesus wanted every person of good will to understand what He was saying. He sought only to deceive those Temple guards, who could bring Him on charges before the Sanhedrin if they heard Him say anything subversive of Judaism. And we now know that there is no hell anyway, and we know that the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth is only an outer darkness to which we might temporarily condemn ourselves if we find self-forgiveness to be too difficult.
And as we read more closely, it looks as if the latter part of this Chapter might well be bits of wisdom remembered at random from the Lord’s many sayings, and compiled here much later when this Biblical Chapter was eventually assembled. That remark about scribes who are disciples of the kingdom of heaven is certainly a later addition. The final paragraph is tacked-on, too, and it makes you sympathize with Jesus. Indeed, no one is a prophet in His own village!
I should note that I can’t find anything like the two passages that Jesus is said to have quoted from the prophets, nor did any of the prophets use parables much at all. But the crucial point that Thomas wants us to take from reading this Biblical Chapter is that all four of the canonical Gospels were edited when the Christian Bible was first assembled by Roman Councilors in the year 325, so we must be wary. We must always engage our growing understanding of Jesus as we read the Gospels, because the mistakes made by those Roman Counselors, whether they were innocent or venal, cannot be allowed to come between us and the precious truths that Jesus means to teach us. Indeed, we are fortunate to still have remaining any of Jesus’s genuine teachings at all!
The fundamental truth that we receive now with joy is that everything is Consciousness. Which means that the righteous who will shine like the sun include every last one of us! Since we all are inextricably part of a single Consciousness, as each of us raises our own individual consciousness vibration, we all will minutely raise the consciousness vibrations of everyone else on earth. And so, as Jesus knew, the kingdom of God will then gradually and gloriously overspread the whole earth. This is indeed more like the process of leavening bread than anything else. As Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened” (MT 13:33). And that process of leavening, as we might well speak of it, affects even the upper realms as well. Because Consciousness is all that exists.
So never for a moment think that your efforts to raise your personal consciousness vibration are only a little thing. Those efforts that you make are EVERYTHING. Because YOU are everything. In some way that researchers are struggling now to better understand, it is you who encompass all of Consciousness. All of this is somehow happening in your own individual mind. And if each of us sufficiently understood that this is how it all actually works, there would be only love, forevermore.
Let every tongue and every tribe responsive to His call,
to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all!
Oh, that with all the sacred throng we at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song and crown Him Lord of all.
We’ll join the everlasting song and crown Him Lord of all!
– Edward Perronet (1726-1792), from “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” (1780)
Dear Roberta,
I slept 13 hours last night–after reading your blog!
The knashing and grinding of teeth doesn’t sound much fun.
I am aware that Jesus tells me when I am way out Obediance
is prime. But He knows where I am and He know s I am hooked!
He knows I will drop ignorance ;’If I could turn back time…!
Oh my dear Erica, would that I could sleep as well as you can! No matter when I go to bed, I am awake by one o’clock or so and Thomas has me working for two or three hours, so I have learned to go to bed very early. And I think that many of us wish that we could turn back time a bit, and be much more aware much earlier in our lives! But, so it is. We are learning and growing very rapidly now, and my dear one, all will be very well indeed!!
Hi Roberta, I can see that Jesus has an amazing love for people.
Can you tell us anything about the love that the ultimate, highest God has for people? Is this Being close to us/ feel love for us and can we communicate ?
Dear Maggie, Just as Roberta says,
“Since we all are inextricably part of a single Consciousness, as each of us raises our own individual consciousness vibration, we all will minutely raise the consciousness vibrations of everyone else on earth. ” Let me expand on those two points.
Everything that exists is a segment of God’s consciousness. Segments however diverse in appearance are yet fundamentally still created by God from what God is. Our soul (spirit while attached to body/brain) and spirit (the soul when freed of the body/brain attachement) was made by God from the consciousness that is God.
So, our spirit is made by God from what God is. Our soul/spirit a part of God. God is in us and we are in God. Our body and its brain, the cells of our body (extraordinarily complex), the molecules and atoms, the electrons, protons, and neutrons, the constituents of protons (complex) are all segments of God’s consciousness.
When our mortal body dies, its constituents separate down and down to their most elemental forms, but remain as they always were segments of God (in one of my recent papers, I reported evidence that the body itself when intact posses its own consciousness separate and distinct from its attached soul, and at the death of the body this consciousness persists as a ghost). When our mortal body dies, our soul detaches and retunrs in its spirit form back to iyts home in Heaven, having been enriched by its mortal experiences.
Our mortal experiences of the material world, its tragedies and joys, are only available in the material world, because our Heavenly existence is entirely blissful. Thus, our mortal life provides opportunities for spiritual growth unavailable during our Heavenly existence. The pain of our mortal existence also serves by contrast to reveal just how wonderful existence in Heaven is when we return.
While we thus benefit in ur eternal journey by mortal life, we also have the opportunity to contribute to the jouney of other souls, with the Golden Rule as our guide. And just as Roberta says, the good deeds we do benefit our own spiritual growth and also the collective
consciousness which combined is God.
Fortunately, this seeming complexity disappears entirely when we return to Heaven and realize we are simpy existing as creations of God made from God’s own being, but gifted with free will to own personal freedom and joy.
Dear Jack,
This is such a wonderful explanation as to why we exist – the meaning of life. Thank you for this!
Oh my dear much-beloved Jack, thank you so much for all that you do for us here! You know more about the High God relationship than I do, since I have been so much focused on Jesus of late. Thank you so much for holding down that aspect of things for us!
Dear Jack
I echo the thanks already expressed. What a clear and profound explanation! Blessings to you.
Got it say Jack, your explanation above is beautifully expressed. To see the big picture is really to know that our earth life experiences enrich us quite tremendously, in so many spiritual ways.
Of course, I include suffering in all this. Terrible anguish seems to present big opportunities for growth. This idea can be soothing to people who have been through horrific events. It can be; I’ve seen some individuals take great comfort from this truth. I sure hope that many people are able to gain comfort from it.
The knowledge that nobody really dies doesn’t make terrible life experiences any less traumatic when they are fresh, but over time people can find relief from this truth. I strongly believe that deep pain is lifted from us when we get to the afterlife.
When you explain things as you just did Jack it puts ‘the struggle of life’ in a noble light. 🌅🕊🙏🏼
Oh my dear Efrem, I love seeing so many of our friends here flock to Jack and enjoy his beautiful support and reassurance of our little family. Yes, it does help many people to see that our suffering here at least has a reason. But you know, many people tell me, too, that they cannot imagine that a loving God could allow such suffering. For some, it really dosn’t fully come together and make sense until they get home. So I’m glad, my dear friend, that your experience with people’s feedback has been more positive!
Dear Roberta. I would fit into the group who will have to wait to understand extreme suffering. Just dealing with gravity, friction and time offers growth opportunities a plenty for me. (Wimp in the life gym). 😁
Oh my dear Maggie, Jack gives you his usual wonderful counsel here, and my own added thought is just that Jesus’s love for humankind really is unique. The High God loves us in a general, bountiful way, while Jesus loves each of us specifically, intimately, and so extremely. I recall that when He touched me – I was in an astral body, of course, as was He – His energy was so elevated that there was an odd sizzle at that spot. He was putting His hands on people’s heads to bless them, and I’m sure they felt it too. The High God is Spirit and doesn’t touch us that way. It is an altogether different relationship.
Thanks to Jack and everyone. I am still trying to get my head round all this. I really hope it true.
Dear Maggie and Ray, you both make me smile! Yes, my dear Maggie, all wonderfully true. And Ray, I giggle when you say that even dealing with gravity feels like kind of an issue here??
It’s not surprising that the council of Nicaea would come to such a conclusion. The so called holy Roman church was and is still nothing but the extension of the bad old Roman empire and has brought nothing but darkness into the world since it’s inception. It is the great whore of Babylon and marduks or Satan’s church with it’s dark brotherhood the Jesuits as it’s enforcers.
By thier works you shall know them. People go to Roman Catholic churches and come out less holy and less connected to god and Jesus. They block spiritual progress with blind faith and dogma. They are satans foot soldiers on earth.
Michael, this assessment my be overly harsh, as there have been true saintly figures who lived as members of the RCC. However, given the behaviors of the current pope (e.g., advocating for a Socialist one world government, and endorcing the idolatry of a Pacamama icon
placed inside the papal district of Rome), there is justification.
My dear lovely Michael, I have even seen it said that the Roman Catholic Church is the last remnant of the old Roman empire!
As our dear wonderful Jack points out, your judgment is a bit harsh, but perhaps not really off-base. And it is one that I have made myself. Only given the fact that Roman Christianity is fear-based, and it teaches its congregations to fear God and not to love God, what really can be said to recommend it?
“And we now know that there is no hell anyway, and we know that the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth is only an outer darkness to which we might temporarily condemn ourselves if we find self-forgiveness to be too difficult.”
Dear Roberta,
Would you mind elaborating on this a bit more? Specifically, the consequences of political figures who intently harm and destroy the lives of citizens in their countries. If they don’t acknowledge that they have done wrong, how can they forgive themselves?
Oh my dear Brigette, once these folks are immersed in their life-review, they will feel how their actions have made everyone else feel. When it comes to specific political actions, though, I am less certain about how that plays out, since not with the eyes of man does God see and I don’t know if God considers Joe Biden, for example, to be entirely responsible for America’s current bout of inflation, so he might not feel your gas pump pain; all of these are details.
Hah! I love your sense of humour Roberta. I understand what you’re saying… thank you for answering.
Sense of humor, you call it, my dear! Heh, well, I guess in a way it is funny, from a kind of God’s-eye perspective!
Thanks, Roberta. This is important stuff. The parables personally have been confusing, possibly because He was using local examples and stories familiar to the times and culture He was teaching in then, which we today do not as easily relate to.
Indeed, my dear Mike! Few of us nowadays are farmers or commercial fishermen. But the principles really do carry over!
Dearest Roberta,
I wonder if the bishops at Nicea really concluded that Jesus meant to confuse his disciples with the parables. What would be the purpose of that? I think it is more likely that the bishops, who were probably quite intelligent, knew exactly why Jesus used parables but then distorted them to support the new religion they were crafting.
Yours,
Cookie
Oh wow, my dear Cookie, this is remarkably devious thinking, coming from you! 🙂 Although you may indeed be right. Sometimes I envision our beloved Jesus as all alone, and being used by so many for their own less than honorable purposes – and it makes me so sad for Him!
Dearest Roberta
You are probably right that there was some deviousness in my thought process, and that makes me sad to think that I may have hindered Jesus’s purposes. That that was not my intention; it was collateral damage that I should have foreseen.
I was even factually wrong. It was Constantine, not the bishop, who called for a council to help him with political problems. The bishops who covened the meeting were more interested in dealing with views on the Trinity.
Yours,
Cookie
Oh my dear friend, I didn’t mean that at all! And the Councilors were indeed being political, supporting Constantine (who was their paymaster), and building the sort of fear-based religion that Constantine wanted from them. There is a lot of evidence that they knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing!
David/Mike: What you said is very true. The times were very different then, so unless one actually studies the history of those times, it would be hard to understand his parables, and I do believe they were distorted to support a fear based religion
My dear Lola and everyone, I learn so much from all of you! I haven’t found the parables to be hard to understand, but of course I have known them and worked with them for all of my life, and the fact that they are hitting you this way makes me realize that we are going to have to spend more time teaching them and their meanings on teachingsbyjesus.com. Thank you for that!
Jack: What you said about body consciousness existing as a ghost after death clears up a lot of questions I have if this is true. Could this be what is hanging around in so called “haunted places” and why they seem to be fixated on earthly material matters instead of more spiritual ones? A medium told me once that it just an “aspect” of themselves so is this just another way of saying the same thing?
That is a good point, my dear Lola!
Dear Roberta and Lola,
Yes.
On the Nature of Ghost Sightings and Behavior
Jack H. Hiller
Abstract
It was theorized recently that the human body normally is managed by two sources of consciousness (spiritual and biological). Consciousness having been formed is not material, and so does not suddenly disappear from existence with death. The spiritual consciousness is reliably reported from NDEs to move into spiritual realm, even though temporarily returning to the body to extend material life for the person having an NDE. The biological consciousness, having developed from Id and Ego in life as described by Freud, would not disappear or move to spiritual realm, so it is left to exist on Earth in a ghostly form.
( Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research| July 2022 | Volume 13 | Issue 2 | pp. 293-295
Hiller, J. H., On the Nature of Ghost Sightings and Behavior )
Hi Jack. So the death of every human body leaves a biological consciousness in ghostly form on earth? Are there any theories about what happens to these forms of consciousness? Are they thought to be eternal?
Wow, my dear Ray, what a fascinating thought that is!
Ray: I wondered about that too. Do the two reunite at some point, especially if the body consciousness loses interest in earthly matters. This could take a long time for some, and not so long for others. I guess it would depend on what you are most focused on
Oh my goodness, my dear Jack, thinking about this kind of creeps me out! And the implications of it all are rather astounding to contemplate….
Dear Roberta. The parables are fascinating, almost like poetry at times. I wonder if some were based on old semitic teaching stories, but with Jesus’ new love based twist added in. When you talk about all of us as part of the same Cosciusness helping raise the consciousness vibrations of mankind, it makes me think of that parable of the tiny mustard seed (they really are quite tiny.) I’ve always found that one intriguing. It feels like there are many layers of meaning nesting there, like the birds Jesus speaks of, but for me, the idea of planting that seed of intent to align with Divine will and love in your heart, tending it with Jesus’ teachings, and seeing it grow into something obviously larger than what a mustard plant would be, like a great tree of life reaching to the sky and overspreading the earth, seems to signal a deeper meaning. Could it be something like that multiplier effect we can have on the consciousness of humanity, like the hundredth monkey effect or a critical mass? Was Jesus aware of this aspect of consciousness physics? I would love to have been sitting around the fire later that night with Him and the apostles getting the inside scoop and the different levels of meaning in his stories! I think this form of teaching from spiritual teachers was probably common in the ancient Middle East, not unlike what Zen teachers do today.
Do you know, my dear Scott, I have wondered and wondered about this! And I have gone two ways about it. Especially now, as I am writing the TeachingsbyJesus scripts. I think He MUST have known a great deal about the role of consciousness, to have talked about its role and used it the way He did in His teachings, especially as He talked about the way that the kingdom of God will overspread the earth. He really did understand consciousness and the way it works amazingly well. So then, did He come to earth knowing it, or did He figure it out while He was here? At the moment, I think it was maybe 70-30. He brought a lot of knowledge with Him, and He refined it by studying the people around Him. But He certainly did understand it very well!