A Body Of Fire And Light

A  Body  Of  Fire  And  Light

Easter  Meditation

Grace Van Duzen  2003  Sunrise Ranch

I have been noticing recently, the past several months particularly, that the Story in the Gospels, the Story of Jesus, is sparse. There begins to be an awareness of missing pieces that would present quite a different picture. Some of this has been deliberate, of course, with actual insertions that change the story. Throughout, there have been deletions and changes deliberately made that distort the picture, for the purpose of letting power be in the hands of a corrupt priesthood—the church for instance. Through all the ages this has been the practice of a corrupt priesthood, to keep the Truth from becoming the property of the common people. Inherent in this is a back-handed recognition that Truth is power. But power has always been translated into material forms so that, kept in the hands of those in power over the material world, they could remain in power. This is not limited to the church, or religion. Power in the hands of a few describes the design of fallen man's world.

I am talking now about omissions in the Story as contained in the Gospels. As the Spirit is allowed to illuminate the mind, and therefore the words in the record, the empty places begin to fill in. One instance of this is in the story of Judas as depicted in the Gospels. Many years ago Uranda spoke of the motive of Judas's monstrous act. I would consider that with you now. The story as portrayed, sketchy as it is, never made sense to me. Why would Judas want Jesus killed, in the first place? Judas was His treasurer. How could he possibly benefit by this traitorous act?

I would mention something else here. The Story in the Bible seems to indicate that Jesus had just twelve men as His Core, as though that was all He had. How could He be a focus point if there was no body to bring to focus? Incidentally the word “disciples” was sometimes used in a context other than that of the twelve; for instance we read: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, ‘Will ye also go away?’” Of course there are indications of many people around at certain times. But the feeling of a Body, actually in place with Him, does not come across. Yet, there was a Body, and there were actual records of this after He left—long hidden, and fairly recently discovered. There has not been a very definite identification with Him—and it doesn't matter, but I find it interesting that even now there are people who would like to see what has been done with more of these scrolls, which have been translated and interpreted—and find a strong resistance on the part of those in charge to let them be shared. Even though there are volumes that would be available, they remain in the hands of the few! Of course, other excuses are given for this action—but it is the same old thing. It seems there is a mortal fear of the Truth by those who are ego-centered, a fear that if the people in general knew it their own shenanigans would be short-lived. There are indications, worldwide, that many people on earth today are standing up and saying, “We've had enough of this—no matter what the consequences!”

I interject here that the uncovering of documents anywhere is unnecessary to the work of the LORD through His Body. In fact, the work has been, from the initiation in the world today, dependent solely on the Word of the KING finding form through human beings just the way they are.

I mention this fact of a record of a formation at that time merely to show that there was a Body coming into place with the Master back then, and many composing it who were passionate about continuing His work on earth after He left. But there was violent opposition, and a persecution so severe that the fledgling group and its work had to go underground, and seemingly it disappeared. There was a fear that if this Body were to continue, and grow, the control of the masses in the hands of a few would be threatened.

I feel consideration of this has value now, specifically because of the idea developing in the hearts and minds of men that once long ago Man did function in wonderful ways, whereby the Power of the Universe was able to manifest through him here on this planet. To me, the fact that that Power was in manifestation in comparatively recent times, through men and women exactly as we are today, is thrilling. We do not have to be changed drastically in body, mind and heart to let this happen. It requires only the full and complete love for the LORD. And it has happened, to this degree, as we know! Man seemingly has succeeded in stopping it, and setting up his own kingdom, but it is a fantasy—one that is fast being seen as focused in death and disintegration. The “victory” of Judas ended with him hanging from a tree. And the body of mankind now occupies the same position as the Master in His experience during the crucifixion, entombment and ascension.

Yes, there was a Body, and power was moving through it. Yes, power was moving through the disciples. John the Beloved wrote the Book of Revelation, a source of inestimable power. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/the-from-of-babylon-uranda-may-30-1954.html] The record in the Bible is sparse, in some instances so sketchy as to give false impressions. But, read in the Light of the Spirit, as we know, there are enough clues so that it is illuminated, and we can see what is really there. If it had come down in all its external clarity, do you think it would have survived? No. No more than those old manuscripts were allowed to circulate. However, much of it is intact, secretly preserved, as has been all the wonders of the Kingdom of our LORD.

Judas was the treasurer of a Body, of something that was developing, growing. He was not treasurer for One Man and twelve men with Him. We might recall that Jesus had contacts in all walks of life. There was the rich young ruler; and there was Zacchaeus, who was a wealthy and influential person of his day, a publican. Zacchaeus was close with Jesus in what He was doing, and I don't think that would be the case without also contributing financially. Jesus often stayed in his comfortable home on His travels, as indicated in the story in Luke 19.

As I say, I could not see the motivation for the betrayal of Judas in the Story as portrayed in the Gospels. Judas certainly had access to more money than thirty pieces of silver! That alone as a motivation is ridiculous! That being the reward for that heinous act in those circumstances, but certainly not the motivation of Judas. What other reason would this man have, to have Jesus killed? It never made any sense to me. It had nothing to do with seeking to get in with the authorities. Thirty pieces of silver was all he had to count on from them! Then there is the fact that he committed suicide when he saw that Jesus was being crucified. He did not expect that to happen. He could not live with the results of his action, and he hanged himself. That really makes no sense at all if the result was what he had intended by his action. With that went all Judas's dreams of position and unimagined wealth.

Judas joined the company of Jesus because of the Spirit of the LORD expressing through the Master—the same magnet which has drawn all of us—otherwise he would not have been accepted. With his business acumen he was made treasurer. Jesus would have had an awareness of the nature and character of each of those who became His disciples, but how they would turn out remained to be seen. This has been true of each one of us. You could say that the LORD has to take a chance! Judas brought something necessary to the ministry of Jesus, and he was put in the place of being responsible for the material goods. Yes, he had been called, along with the others. He had heard the call, and he knew the power that was working through Jesus.

There have been those in this day who have betrayed—everyone to some degree—but each one who came was received as a Gift from God; and Judas showed much ability, and enough response to be included in the close group around the Master. Judas was the treasurer of the movement which was initiated by Jesus. He obviously became obsessed with the material level, with money and the power that goes with it in man's world—an area which has spelled disaster throughout the ages. There are some indications of this obsession in the record.

One is in John 12:2-7, where a special supper had been prepared for Jesus, with Mary, Martha and Lazarus present, among others: “Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” I'm sure the fragrance was not limited to the ointment, but related to the atmosphere of love. The dictionary defines spikenard thus: “A precious ointment, it was and still is transported in an alabaster box to preserve its fragrance. Because it had to be imported from northern India, it was extremely costly.”

“Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot ... Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said, Jesus, Let her alone …” There is much to be seen in this incident. The LORD's view of the use of money, or any material substance, is not the same as fallen man's. This act on the part of Mary was one of passionate response to the LORD. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/let-her-alone.html] Nothing was too good for Him: it was rightly all His anyway. Incidentally this attitude on the part of Judas has been one that has had to be dealt with in our ministry along the way. Of course there can be an outer show of this giving, or an expectation on the part of those in focus for special consideration—but that is not what is portrayed here. Jesus said, “The poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.” He was of course also aware of the actual motive behind the words of Judas, who cared not for the poor, but for himself. There is another poignant record, in a few words, which reveal that Jesus knew what Judas had in mind. He had done all possible to help the change necessary occur in Judas. When it was past the point of no return, after the Last Supper, Jesus said to him, “That thou doest, do quickly … Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some ... thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him. Buy ... those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.”

Judas wanted the kingdom to come on earth, not just of a small nation or group of people, but his idea of the fulfilment whereby the whole world would be under the hand of Jesus—with Judas the treasurer! He did not intend that Jesus should be crucified. It never entered his mind that such a thing could happen. What reason could he possibly have for having the Master killed—and for thirty pieces of silver? Oh no! He had visions of an earthly kingdom, a view with which he could never get Jesus to agree. He believed implicitly in the power moving through Jesus; he had seen it in operation many times. He never dreamed that Jesus would not use that power if He found Himself in the situation into which Judas delivered Him. Judas epitomizes that element which has been rampant since man fell, which seeks the power and wealth of an earthly kingdom. He felt that Jesus had the power to make that dream an actuality. He was obsessed with the lust for power—and money is synonymous with power in man's world. Jesus also knew that all this was possible to Him, that He could use the Power moving through Him to His own ends.

This calls to mind another incident in the life of Jesus, at the very initiation of His ministry, when He met the so-called temptations in the wilderness. This has seemed to me to be a meeting of this focus in fallen man in the material level, perhaps in Himself; but in the light of this which we are considering, one can envision that here we see the Master seeking to “turn back” the heart of Judas. It is certain that Jesus knew what Judas was about to do, or the essence of it, at the time of his betrayal. But that was not the first time Jesus knew! He would have seen this element coming into Judas's consciousness long before that—and He worked with it. This “conversation” with the devil could have been a meeting with Judas, probably meeting him many times. But it never cleared in this treasurer, who had great ideas! It is recorded in the 4th chapter of Matthew:

“The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”

“Look at my plan. You can control this whole world.” And the Master's answer: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

But Judas persisted: “You have said it is all yours. All you have to do is exercise your power and you will be King, first of this nation and then of all the world.” The rumors that Jesus was King of the Jews, and had ambitions to take over, were rampant at the time, and this was a definite factor in stirring up the authorities with respect to what He was doing. How did they start? One wonders, in the light of this.

“Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

And finally, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me, if you will just listen to me and be sensible. You have the power to do anything and I have the plan that will make it work.”

“Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

This is exactly what Judas was saying, in his betrayal. In his arrogance he was sure that he knew how the kingdoms of the world, beginning with the present one, could come under the control of the LORD. When he finally realized that he could not convince Jesus, he took action to, as he thought, force the Master to take His rightful position. And Judas was the treasurer. What an ambition—treasurer of the Kingdom of God on earth, of the whole world! It really hasn't changed at all over the centuries. This is a very modern story! We have seen, not one, but a number of these attempts to take over the world, the kingdoms of the world—and money is the key to that power. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/pneumaplasm-money-tithe.html]

In our consideration of the Story, Jesus had just spoken those magnificent words in the 17th chapter of John. In those words is a very poignant preparation by the Master for the members of the Body which He had formed in the earth. In the 18th chapter of John we read: “When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus oftimes resorted thither with his disciples.” Note that Judas “received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees.” He went right to the top. He felt that under the pressure of the authorities, which was in fact the authority of Rome, the greatest in the world at that time, where it looked like all that Jesus had done would come to naught, Jesus would exert that power and the Kingdom of God would be present on earth, with Jesus as the Head—and Judas as the treasurer! How could Jesus do otherwise? He was in position, and with the power, to rule the whole world, and the Glory of God would be manifest. It belonged to Jesus! Surely He would take it. Victory! Here was the mind of man, functioning on the material level, seeking to use the Power of God for its own gain, its own benefit—which of course would include the answer for the whole world!

That is a very common and familiar picture in the world today, as it has ever been, of one man seeking to rule the world, and it takes money! Judas was greedy for power, and his ambition knew no bounds. He was, by his murderous act, seeking to use the Power of God for his own ends. It could be readily justified on the basis that it would be fulfilment for the whole world, and for Jesus. This motivation is easily seen on a worldwide scale, but what about the individual—each individual? Because he was included with the followers of the Master, he could reveal what probably was a protected, or concealed, place where the disciples met with Jesus. He “oftimes resorted thither with his disciples”. There is a poignant insinuation in those words of times when Jesus sought a quiet place from the outer world to be with those who shared His love for the Truth, to discuss with them the way things were going, to consider the outworking of His ministry. We can take the Master out of a stereotyped character and see Him in the Light of what we have known in these days with Martin, and Uranda before him.

This sacred place, where Jesus came with His disciples, was violated by Judas, who opened it up to the destructive forces of the world which Jesus came to change. Judas “knew the place.” Oh yes, he “knew the place” but he had never known the wonder of the work to which he had been called. “Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons…” Judas went to those in the high places of his own people. Failure came from within—first through Judas, one of those closest to the Master, and then the “chief priests and Pharisees.” Failure can only come from within. The “outside” forces cannot penetrate a true, steadfast, unbreakable wall of absolute love response. “Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, And led him away…”

Jesus said unto them, “Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them.” Judas was watching, to see when Jesus would exert the power that would fulfil Judas's plans. “As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” Oh, the power was working all right, and at this point Judas must have rejoiced—finally Jesus was seeing that his plan would work. “Judas stood with them,” watching to see the effects of this great power at work. But it did not go the way he expected.

This revelation, brought by Uranda, is borne out by the words of Jesus in the story of the crucifixion. For instance, Pilate—a very troubled, but very weak, man—“called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?” Here is indication of the effort, on the part of Judas—and no doubt there were others in agreement with him—to make Jesus an earthly king. Obviously, the rumour had been spread abroad, and it had come to Pilate's ears. “Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?” Jesus was expert at answering a question with a question. “Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world.” The devil said he would give Him all the kingdoms of this world if he would do it his way, Judas's way. “If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

“My kingdom is not of this world.” This was the crux of the whole story. To whom does this world belong—to the devil, or the LORD of Lords? And Jesus answered this question, though He knew the outcome in the outer sense. It had to be that way after a certain point, after the betrayal of Judas, if there was ever to be another opportunity for the salvation of mankind. Jesus knew that, and His magnificent spirit carried all the way through. He experienced the victory for Himself, which made possible that victory for the whole world, when the proper cycles would come around. But Jesus could not save His own life, in the sense that Judas was expecting, without giving the victory to the scheming, self-active, greedy mind of man, the devil, in this instance Judas, which would mean sacrificing the Divine Design for the whole body of mankind.

“If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” He was simply stating that the way of man's kingdom was to fight—it is obviously the way of “this world.” Fighting has been the way of man's world since it began. The present-day economy, so-called, would disappear without fighting, without wars and rumors of wars. “Now is my kingdom not from hence.” What potent and poignant words are these. “Now it is too late for the fulfillment to be here at this time. Now it has gone too far for Me to be present in the establishing of the Kingdom of God in the body of mankind on earth. Now it must wait, and this is the way it must go at this time.” It could not be done in the way that Judas, symbol of the fallen mind of man using the power of God, had set up. So, in that situation the Master was ready for whatever could rightly be done. He knew that no matter how it might look, the Power of God would bring the only result possible at that time, for the furtherance of His Kingdom.

What if Jesus had gone along with Judas, and exerted His power? Would He have set up an earthly kingdom? He had no choice but to take the stance He did. “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then?” This was the vital point with Pilate, only casually noted in the telling of this story. Did Jesus pose a threat to the rule, or government, of the earthly kingdom, which at that time found its focus in Rome? It was a question of Kingdom. What would be the nature of the kingdom, and hence of the King? “Without man is not anything made that is made”—and we see manipulation, manufacture! It also is obvious that nothing manifests without man. Judas set up a choice here—the kingdom of man, manipulated by the treasurer, the one who held the bag, or the Kingdom of God, with the power in man used to the Glory of God? Judas had Jesus placed in the position where He had to make that choice. But Judas did not even think there was a choice. He thought he knew how it would go. “Art thou a king then? Jesus answered. Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?” King, again! Here was the crucial point upon which the crucifixion turned. This is what Judas wanted Him to be, that he thought he was forcing Him to be. “Then cried they all again, saying. Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.” Thieves and robbers in man's world seem to survive. The Truth seems to be crucified. But it is a mirage, a fantasy, and it comes to an end. The consequence of the self-centered manipulation of the mind of man is self-destruction. It is simply in the wrong direction, and destroys itself as surely as did Judas, who hanged himself.

Judas had seen miracles performed by Jesus; he was aware of the power moving through Him, and in his state of consciousness, where the mind functioning at the material level was god, he was convinced that Jesus, using that magnificent mind which he had seen in action so many times, would not hesitate to assume externally the position which He had said He was in reality—the focal point for this world, truly KING of Kings and LORD of Lords.

Jesus did not say, “My kingdom is not of this earth,” but not of this world, of man's world. Man's world is a product of his mind functioning in self-activity, which produces greed and fear, shame and all the accompanying destructive emotions rampant ever since man fell. Man's world is a product of egocentricity, characterized by pollution. The reversal of the Law produces pollution. Sometimes the remark is made to the effect that if it were possible to get rid of the pollution—as for instance the waste from industrial plants, automobiles, airplanes, etc—we could not live the way we do now; it simply would not be possible. And that is true. Man's world is the product of pollution on every level. This is what man has made —manufactured. “And without him was not anything made that was made.”

The world is experiencing what it did to the KING of Kings two thousand years ago—the crucifixion and the time in the tomb. He has a Body on earth now, [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/body-of-living-christ.html] and the result for mankind will depend on the genuineness of those who recognize the Power of the KING, moving through ourselves, and the absence of any manipulation, of trying to force the Power to work through man's bright ideas and desires for self-glory. Yet, looking around, in places low and high, we can see Judas everywhere.

The fact that Judas took his own life, that he could not live with the results of his manipulation, graphically portrays the state of his consciousness, the terrible distortion present. In the usual portrayal of the story it is assumed that Judas maneuvered to have Jesus crucified, and then was so filled with remorse that he could not live, and so took his life. That, again, does not have a ring of Truth to it. In fact, he saw what he thought was the end of Jesus, but also the end of all his lofty ambitions. No position, no wealth as he had imagined, nothing! It reminds me of men jumping out of the windows of high buildings when the stock market crashes. The end of man's world is the end indeed to that consciousness! In the temptations it was called the devil. In the Easter Story the name is Judas. Judas has been seen by many as the arch-devil of all time. Perhaps this consideration of his motive may allow for an inclusion of many more in that classification—all of them! We look around at the world today, and in all ages past, and see blatant examples of attempts on the part of individuals to take over the world, to be the supreme ruler. The ONE to whom it all truly belongs rejected the thought, in the incident of the temptations for instance. He had no recourse, at the time of the crucifixion, but to move into the only way left to Him, which was His personal experience of resurrection, leaving the body of mankind to find its collective experience when the cycle came around. There is the attempt, desperate these days, on the part of certain individuals, to have control of the whole world, through money, which represents power on the material level. Power is the goal, and is reflected in the body of human beings, to whatever degree and extent. Judas was the exemplification of that. And the result, today or any day, is the same exactly as that which followed Judas's infamous act. The Christ is seemingly extinguished, rendered incapable of activity.

God's expression can never be defeated, but it needs human beings to find manifestation in this part of the cosmos, in this Kingdom of the KING. If you look at the story again, you will see that God was not defeated. It was Judas who took his own life. What will the result be for the Body of our King today in the earth? The fate of Judas or the resurrection of Man from the material level into which he has sunk, into the air of the Spirit? Surely we can know only one answer. “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” There is an application in these words, which I have recently seen, that has perhaps been a little clouded in the minds of many. It has to do with the Truth that there is One Power, and that all distortions in man's mind, his words and actions, his thoughts, are really manifestations of that power. But along with that there seems to be the idea that because of that, these aberrations, the means by which evil is perpetuated on earth, are Divine. They are not. All deviations from the Truth, from the Divine Design, must and shall pass away. They are not the evidence of being Divine. Every wrong action, every distorted attitude, is not Divine. These things must disappear. Let's not perpetuate them by saying they are Divine. There is One Power that is Divine, and the Design thereof is whole and healthy. Nothing else is, and anything else will pass away. The only way they can be so-called stepping stones in letting the True Design appear is for them to be dissipated. That's all!

The distorted patterns do not have any power except what is given to them by human beings. That is the only way that Pilate, or anyone else, has any power, which is a seeming power and it dissipates. Of itself it is nothing, certainly not Divine. “Except it were given thee from above.” There is only one way by which it can come from above, and that is through Man. But if the attempt is to get that power from below, from the level of the mind: “thou couldest have no power at all.” Only as it is “given thee from above,” only as it is expressing from the Source within, is there any power available. Man's imitation is nothing and comes to naught. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And that Great Spirit opened the door through which His Body might one day move, because of His magnificent victory.

At one point “Pilate sought to release him.” Then the cry went up, “If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.” They got to Pilate when Caesar was mentioned. Pilate, accused of aiding one who “was not Caesar's friend” would be signing his own death warrant. “What I have written I have written.” We can see a certain representation in Pilate of those many in high places in man's world who are trapped by the system, who cannot get out of the well-worn rut of self-centeredness, fearful of their positions, of their money, of what they call a livelihood. They may sense something of the Truth but cannot entertain the thought of foregoing man's world for one they know not, yet sense deeply. They go along with dishonesty, graft, all manner of degradation, because they might be accused of not being Caesar's friend! They might lose their jobs!

Before Jesus's experience on the cross He uttered the words recorded in John 17:4: “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” On the cross He said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He was in charge. He was not being acted upon by man. It was His action that delivered His consciousness into the hands of the Father, that the work be carried on at deeper levels of consciousness. In oneness with His Father He knew what He was doing every step of the way. He was aware at every level of awareness. And His work was finished before He was on the cross; otherwise there would have been no transmutation in the tomb. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/divine-commission-john-17.html] In John 19: 25-27, we have these words recorded: “ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother… When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” Here, Jesus is placing John the Beloved in the position of leadership of His Body, given the fact that Jesus would no longer be on earth to assume that point of leadership.

In John, Chapter 20 we have the story of the emergence from the tomb, which event is symbolized by Easter, a day which bears the same significance as Spring, of the coming forth of Life out of winter's darkness and gestation period. The graveclothes were removed in the tomb experience. It was done decently and in order—a phrase often used by Uranda and Martin. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/let-grave-clothes-be-removed.html] The LORD's way is simple, orderly and right. The One Christ Body is now in the tomb, and at least one obvious function is the removal of the grave clothes. “And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.” Without the mind seeking to know what is impossible to know outside of the experience, we can see something here of re-creation, of the Reality of Being divested of the graveclothes. That which had accrued to the head, symbol of that which certainly includes the mind, was “wrapped together in a place by itself.” All of man's function comes to focus in his head. When there is an accident, or some other disaster involving the head, there is the danger of paralysis of some part, if not all, of the rest of the body. Without the head, there is nothing! The mind of man is, rightly, the Gateway to the Kingdom of Heaven, with the control of the KING in His Kingdom. So that which was about His Head, when removed, is “in a place by itself,” the key to all the rest, in resurrection as it was in physical life.

One can sense, also, a lack of judgment of the graveclothes. They were simply left in the tomb to dissolve, while the Master came forth in a body which was still in the process of transmutation—“Touch me not”—the state in which Man was intended to be on this earth; not flying around in heaven but walking and talking on earth. That Body could not stay on earth in the present state of man, but the vibratory rate continued to change, to ascend into that from which the physical body took form. That state was intended to be Man on this planet, but this realm in which man dwells has been made the vibrational one which man calls hell, though he has placed it somewhere else. In a literal, material sense this earth and its inhabitants have known that infernal hell. The planet has gone through the actual burning, with human beings consumed in it, more than once, and it has been prophesied as coming soon—at this time. Watching the news, what could you ask to describe a hell more than what fills the consciousness of man today? Worship of money is universal, worship of power. Only the change in the vibratory rate will let the order and beauty of the Kingdom of God be known again on this planet. What happened to the Body of the KING of this planet must happen to His collective Body now. It moved through a state of Fire, and that state of purification is necessary for this planet, and for mankind. And the state of the tomb is the place where it all happens. When the Body emerges it is in a different vibratory level—a Being of Light.

Through the millennia Judas has been looked upon with utter disdain, and disbelief that one could condemn the Master to death. But in the light of his actual motive, was he any different from those today who seek power, strive after money, place, and prestige? That describes politics. However, how many would there be who would be found to have no trace of any of those motivations? Power—it has been stolen from the LORD by little man, and now he must face the consequences. There is such a tendency to place the power in the realm of Judas, in hell in fact, in this world of abject misery, suffering, death. But there is no power there. It has been prophesied that it would all be gone, dissolved in Fire. How could it be otherwise? We acknowledge that this world that man has made, manufactured, manipulated, cannot be fixed up, made right. Do we actually believe that, believe it with our whole beings, hearts and minds and bodies? Do we know that only the Fire can consume it all, so that there is a clean slate for the Spirit of God to again create all things new? Do we even think it is possible?

How about this question as it relates to ourselves—yourself, myself—individually? Can we be fixed up, our emotional realms, our attitudes; can the old heaven be patched up here and refurbished there? Isn't that the way mankind is going about it, individually and collectively? It's all a surface play. Only Fire will clear it all, and all is the key. It can't be done by forming new habits, by forever looking at the wrong things, and thinking we are now made new thereby, forever moaning about something that happened, or didn't happen, in the past—my father, my mother, groan, groan. They brought you into the world, and nothing anybody ever did has anything to do with whether or not you have a spine and are going to let the Fire dissolve it all—not bit by bit but all now. Otherwise the same old things will keep coming out—one by one, clean them up, fix them up. No, it will never work! Fire does the job, and Light, and Light and Fire do not go around picking out this aspect and that one, and dissolving them. The Light shines and it is all lit up. When that Fire is in motion, it does not stop after consuming one little aspect—maybe another tomorrow! It is all. There is no remaining desire for the things in this hell which man has created. Power? There is no power there. Of course now man is busy trying to correct what he has done to the atmosphere, to the soil, to the creatures of the earth, including himself. It cannot be done! Only Fire will clean the whole environment and let a New Heaven appear—clear as crystal—and the New Earth is then a reality. Do we really believe that to be possible? In our deepest hearts, where do we place the power?

In reading the ancient story of Noah I have always felt a strong connection between that One—a very Great One who lived at that time of a great cataclysm—and the Great Pyramid. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/a-grace-van-duzen-november-13-1988-i.html] The story of a boat and a flood carry the symbolism of the story but I cannot believe that a boat was built, a boat which sailed upon the waters until it landed on top of a mountain, etc. I don't care how many pieces of wood they find on Mount Ararat! And I have no intention of trying to prove, or disprove any views on the matter, none at all. However, it is obvious that there was a means whereby a focus of impact from the upper atmosphere was caused to come straight through into the earth and be radiated to the four corners of the earth. The Pyramid fits all this perfectly. The means is not important. But only Fire and Light, the ordained vibrational pattern for this planet, could have saved the atmosphere and the earth at that time. There is a reference in the story of Noah to the waters of the flood coming “after” something had happened. We read that that cataclysm was one of Water, and definitely water was involved. But there never was a catastrophe of those proportions where all the Four Forces were not involved. And there is reference to Light, seven days of intense Light—which would certainly end in a conflagration, a burning of the earth's atmosphere. The water followed—playing a part in the next step whereby the cycle was completed. The reference to what happened before the flood of waters is in Isaiah: “… after seven days.” Seven days of what? It is an allusion to Light, and there has to be Fire as well, seven days of whatever—perhaps a nova.

Jesus was Divine Man on this planet—not just someone who went into a coma and so did not die, and came out alive. No, that Body could not die because the Spirit was in charge, completely, of every cell, gland and organ in that physical substance. That was Divine Man, and the physical body was transformed, transmuted, not because of the experience on the cross but because it was time for Him to move to another realm, though continuing to work closely with this plane of being. There were many others with Him, and the early Christians—before the church—functioned in ways long lost to humankind, partaking of what is called the mystic, performing many things which man has limited in consciousness to the function of people of ancient times, before our time, etc. There is then a lurking feeling that it was possible for man in that state but not the way we are today. That is a lie of the devil, and that is why I emphasize the fact that there was a Body of people who were sharing with Jesus the wonder of Divine Function in the state just the way it is now. Jesus brought the actuality of Divine Function, not just theory—and it has not been lost—and there were those who shared it with Him. The Story in the Gospels, while containing much distortion, is not a myth. Someone spoke those words, the greatest ever uttered, and they are deathless, timeless. Why not Jesus? Why do we have to search for someone else, or give Him another name, or time? There were twelve men, absolutely essential points of focus, but that was not all He had. There was a beginning Body, and if that had not been so, there would have been no seed for what is forming now. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. This knowing defies separation.

The “second coming of Christ” has been a concept of the Christian Church which has put many stumbling blocks in people's way. That second coming has to do with His Body, and it is here. The One called Jesus will never again incarnate in human form as was so two thousand years ago. He did that! And we know the welcome He received. The point is that He experienced all this in the human form we know today, in the world the way it is, the reality of Divine Being. He will appear on earth again when His Body, composed of the people then residing on this planet, are expressing the Spirit which He is in fullness, not in dribs and drabs. When that is true He will be seen and known, and His form will be visible to all who are a part of His Body. There have been insinuations, even in our ministry, that perhaps the One who was Jesus is incarnate now, or will be, in human form. No. We have been told that from the beginning by Uranda, and it is logical. When His Body is truly in form, there He will be in the midst of them. There will be no barrier to seeing Him, walking and talking with Him. This is the natural state of Divine Man, which state will also be true of those who compose His Body. Man was created a Seven-Plane Being, which was connected with all the Cosmic Levels of Vibrational Being. In that true state there is no separation, none of the agony of the departure of loved ones called death. All One, with constant interchange and creation throughout the Whole Holy World. The Body of our LORD that emerged from the tomb was radiant, without the “coat of skin” which became a trap for fallen man, without the grave clothes that shrouded the Body in the tomb. The coat of skin, and the grave clothes, when dissolved in the Fire of Love, become the Robe of Radiance.

There was a group, formed by those who responded to the Master, those who loved Him, even as we know the reality of that love for the those in this day who have come truly in the Name of the LORD, and who had no choice but to follow Him. And there were those who did back then, and they formed a group. Jesus was not limited to twelve men, though they were the focus of it. There are evidences of such, evidence which has been suppressed, deliberately, in fear, knowing that if it were to grow it would be the end of the vicious attempts to control the world and its people. Even since some of these records have been discovered, they have been suppressed—a few released, but then forces set in motion to stop the flow. Incidentally, there is no purpose in becoming involved in wondering what was in them, or how we could have access to them, or anything else. The Truth has been brought, now, into the earth, in the only way it can be—through the response of human beings to the invisible and visible Presence of God. Nevertheless, we can see in this the desperate attempts to keep God from having control of His creation, of again having an instrument through which to bring about His Way. That Way does not include self-aggrandizement, the taking of power into fallen man's hands. There is a choice here. It seems that the body of mankind has chosen the way of Judas. Will it too commit suicide? The worship of money has been the key to man's kingdom. And that includes all material things, everything at that level.

Judas was—he thought—forcing Jesus to do what He could not convince Him to do. Don't you think he tried? Of course. But it did not work. He was going to make it work. We have seen such efforts in the world—and the world would be united, under the rulership of one person, all the finances under the control of one, with his cohorts. That's what Judas thought. When the mind manipulates, thinks it knows the answer, it is being “as God”, but the vision is inverted, we say self-centered. Don't you think Jesus knew what was happening? Don't you think He knows now what is happening? He, and the Great Ones with Him, have to use what is available on earth today, just as surely as then, and see how it comes out. Judas reasoned that if he could not get his way by trying to convince Jesus, then he would take action, maneuver, manipulate. And that kind of action is always destructive. You cannot kill God, but it is completely self-destructive, and can postpone the outworking of events. Judas thought Jesus would use the power moving through Him to take over the kingdom of fallen man, and Judas would, as it is put in the Bible, “have the bag.”

Today those who “have the bag,” the monetary system, etc, are power-hungry. There is never enough money. Have you noticed? Did you ever hear anyone say they had enough? The love of money is like cancer. It spreads, until life is choked out of the form. We see a man-made, mind-made world, with the insane phenomenon of relatively few individuals focusing the wealth of the world, and masses of people dying of starvation, with none of the substance that man has substituted for pneumaplasm. Judas had that vision, of the treasurer of a kingdom ruling the people. If he tried to manipulate the Master then, do you think he would have stopped if Jesus had gone along with him, and the theoretical outworking happened? Of course not. Judas had high ambitions, not for Jesus but for himself!

When Jesus said, to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world,” perhaps Judas began to see that He really meant it, began to have a glimmering of what he had done. We read in John 19 that there is no power, except it is “given thee from above.” The seeming power of men, stolen from God, is self-destructive; it is moving in that direction. Fighting against God is a reversal of the movement of life. Any manipulation, to strive for some goal, however good or bad it may seem to be, is to crucify the LORD. He cannot be killed, but the instrument so involved will disintegrate—and nothing has been accomplished. How much time has been wasted in such nonsense! If something is not going the way I think it should, do I feel I must do something about it? It is time to stop, and let it all go. It just might come out right! “Fall down and worship me”—it's falling down all right! The whole world thinks it has a power of its own, still convinced it can do something about the state of this world and its kingdoms. Anything that is done to fix things up, or take control, or have dominion, is self-destructive. It has been said that man's products have “built-in obsolescence.” Man himself has been out-of-date for twenty thousand years—on the way out! To try to fix up man's world is to say we are not participating in the Kingdom which is not of this world. Power is given from above, and it is identification with that power that lets God's Plan have form on this planet. Love is that power. God is love. Love is a Fire, and it dissolves any addiction, heals any affliction, when allowed to do so. Those things are centered below and have no power. As we have read, before the crucifixion Jesus said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” No matter how it might look, whatever came after that would be all right. The job was done. When the Light shines, it does not exclude any area. It is finished.

Also, on the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” We need to experience that forgiveness now because we do know what we do, no longer functioning impulsively, destructively. At the time of the crucifixion there are some other words recorded that the Master said: “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” He was in charge each step of the way. The action was His here, when He entered into a subconscious state. He was in control and never subject to His circumstance. The same could not be said of Judas, who went out and hanged himself. Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Job lived at a time when death was first being known on earth, because of man's fallen state. Job stayed steady through all of that, trusting the LORD, even in the face of that unnatural state of death which man had brought into the world. Here, as Jesus, He did the same thing, proving that death, or the threat of it, is not the end of everything.

It has been observed, often, that if steps were taken to do away with air pollution caused by cars, and all the other modern things which contribute to it, we would not have the world the way it is—our comfortable, modern world. That is absolutely true! The world which man has made could not exist without pollution! It won't exist with it either! But a world that is not of man's making cannot be envisioned. Judas could not envision such a state, so he took steps to see that the old one would be established forever! The whole body of mankind is moving through a period that can be likened to the experience of Jesus during the crucifixion and the time in the tomb. Let's take a look once again at the tomb as recorded in John 20. Let’s look at the graveclothes. Order, design in dissolution of what has been bound in the tomb. The graveclothes are laid aside decently and in order, and the Being that emerges from the tomb has no more of those things which were used to cover the body in the tomb. It comes forth naked and unashamed because of the Light Body. In Matthew 17 we read the story of the Mount of Transfiguration. In Revelation 21 we read: “I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God was the Temple of it.” On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus took three of his closest disciples with Him. He trusted them to share this further step with Him, a necessary one if the LORD's will was to be done through the Body He had formed. It was working, and something invisible had become visible to the others, and Jesus was talking with these Beings. Peter interrupted, though he had not been spoken to. The cycle was aborted, as far as sharing the ascension process with these three was concerned. Jesus experienced in Himself what was possible, it was observed as Light, but that was all then—because Peter had a plan, to bring something into form on the physical, material level. In essence, it was the same as Judas's action.

I have thought that perhaps it might have been possible for a great degree of the process of ascension to take place at that time, even obviating the necessity for it to happen the way it did. But it did happen, because of the absolute passion and love of the Master to let the Will of the Father be done through Him. No temple, no tabernacle, no concept, no form—a free vibrational realm for the birth of what the LORD would bring forth. Often the temptation is to quickly build a new form because there is a sensing that a new cycle is in motion, with the conviction of the human mind that Spirit cannot really bring forth in this. We must do it. We can make new forms, but if that is what is being done the Spirit will be sadly missing—just the same old manufactured state. Does a New Age bring forth something new, or is it the same old thing in a new dress? On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus was initiating a New Step in the Way, and immediately Peter put in a new form. That filled the space which might have been there for the vibratory form to begin to appear—which it had, as far as the Master was concerned. Nothing man can build, even in imagination, can clothe that which needs to appear under the hand of the Master, that which is within each one, a Being of Light. That failure on the Mount may have been a precursor to the crucifixion. That which has been brought by the Master, by Uranda, by Martin, must be allowed to move without interruption by the mind which thinks it knows what changes should take place. The human mind doesn't know!

Judas had the idea of world domination, using the power of the LORD, using the power of money, the substitute for pneumaplasm. We read in Matthew 6: 19-34 [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/sermon-on-mount-treasure-in-heaven-from.html]

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

“Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

And the leaders of the Jews cried, “We have no king but Caesar.” Yes, the world has no king but that which brings the material level to focus. “I can give you all the kingdoms of this world.” Rows and rows of merchandise ad nauseam. “My kingdom is not of this world.” The world has become a global marketplace.

The only prophecy of the LORD is Victory. Nothing else for the LORD. It spells utter defeat for self-active man, but he asked for it! Our KING is going to use every bit of human flesh available! We hear reference to the subconscious, as though we were speaking of an entity of some kind. There is no such thing! The subconscious realm is peopled with individual subconsciousnesses, even as is the conscious body of human beings. There is no demon waiting to spring on you in a subconscious sense, if you are not willing to be identified with anything in that realm. I am either the subject or the master. Can this Body, the Body of our KING, you and I, cause the whole body of mankind, after the self-destruction of Judas, to come forth from the tomb—which is a womb—a Body of Light, the great wonder in heaven, so that what looks like the end, the crucifixion, causing self-active human beings to self-destruct, is in fact an Apocalypse of Light? This is why we consciously accepted our mission, eagerly—and here we are. Impossible? We are not alone. We are part of a Cosmic Body of All-That-Is—a very important part. We know some of the LORDs in that Cosmic Plan, and they are with us as surely, as definitively, as specifically, now as when they were in the flesh. We are their flesh now—their Body.

As with Judas, it is hard for the human self-active mind to believe that Spirit can bring forth anything in this material world. Yet all the so-called miracles of Jesus point to this fact. After all, Spirit created it all in the beginning. But no! The mind must manipulate, force the spirit—and it ends in self-destruction! The mind will always deal in terms of new forms, but the Word is “all things new,” not “all new things,” or new forms. They are not new, but nauseous repetitions! The form is transfigured, becoming transparent, not switched to some other, supposedly newer form. The change is upward. All this is gloriously portrayed in the experience of the Master in the tomb.

“Your heavenly Father knoweth ye have need of all these things”—no vow of poverty required! All things were, and are, created for the LORD's pleasure. The “need” is the right and full measure, not meager—but it is not a lust for anything! On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter was functioning at the material level again—impoverished and inadequate. And what is the heritage of Judas? Suicide—any suicidal tendencies anywhere in anyone. Each one has the choice of heritage. Peter and Judas, of self-destruction, of limit to one level of being, the material. Or will it be the level of transcendent function, spiritual expression, wherein the transfiguration of all that man presently knows may occur. The Story in the Gospels—regardless of the distortions, whatever, the magic is there, the Real Story, the Story of Man, the Divine in human form. Man is a picture of what is portrayed in the Story in the Gospels. Is he identified with Judas and Peter, or with the Master? There must be the assurance, the conviction—transcending belief—knowing of ascension, of more than the mind can comprehend, or encompass. Otherwise the mind is still in charge. And that is what Judas epitomizes—the supremacy of the limited mind which man has claimed as his own. That involves manipulation, the belief that it knows all there is to know and that nothing higher, or invisible, or beyond its limited comprehension, can exist. That attitude was obvious in some material I read recently, of the efforts on the part of Biblical scholars to understand the resurrection of Jesus. Interestingly they said it could not be ignored; all the records, either canonical or non-canonical, point inescapably to the fact of such an occurrence. But how? And they complain, that none of the records explain how.

One, in the person of John the Beloved, let his passionate love for Jesus, for the LORD, for the Truth, control him, to the point where he trusted Him fully, regardless of outer circumstance, and let the transcendent vision for the times in which we now live find form on the Isle of Patmos, through the Book of Revelation. There have been Great Ones through the ages, messengers sent—the definition of Emissaries, incidentally—who made the beginnings whereby the Kingdom of our LORD could manifest on earth. And while it has seemed that the world cannot be restored to the KING, in this day we behold the wonder at work whereby the entire world is being awakened to something that transcends the old ways. In our day, because of those Great Ones sent by the LORD, we see it happening, and it is because there are those in man's world who have, within themselves, consciously or subconsciously, the conviction that the Kingdom of our LORD is not only possible but established in the earth. It is only in that identity, that absolute inner assurance and conviction, that the courage, the wisdom, the strength is available to do what is necessary, in the face of the worldwide focus of evil. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/see-what-is-really-happening-martin.html] Would you like it to be called by another, softer name? I don't have one. It is the focus of evil, of greed, and all those other names mentioned in Revelation, and it  personifies the manipulation of Judas, for its own ends. It seeks to eliminate God from the earth, the One whose Kingdom it is, the One who made it and who alone can bring forth its beauty and order out of chaos. All the misery on this planet is a result of that effort to manipulate the Kingdom out of His hands.

But there are those who, working in whatever way they can, and it matters not how so-called high or low they may be—there might even be a politician or two; a Communist, a Capitalist, whatever; it does not matter. The kingdoms of this world will not be the means for the coming of our LORD's Kingdom, but there are those at work in many fields and countries who are letting the Power of Love work in their affairs. This Book, called the Holy Bible, is not a Judeo-Christian document. The record herein has been taken as the basis for Judaism and Christianity—but here is the Story of Man. Contained in it are hints of what went before history as man knows it today. There is the Story of the creation of this planet, the solar system; and of Man created and placed in this part of the Cosmos. Then there proceeds the incredible Story of his fall from the perfect state in which could dwell the Creator Himself and Herself. Following then is the unfoldment of a Plan whereby mankind could regain that Divine Estate, the only one which could sustain life, here or anywhere in the universe. Though it appears that these ventures always ended in failure, there was the Substance of Victory, of the nobility and strength, the absolute devotion to the wonder of Being inherent within, in individuals. This substance has allowed the Plan to unfold to this day. Is that evidence of failure, or of victory? That is up to us now, in this time, today.

And so the Story moves to the time when the One who has been called the LORD of Lords incarnated in a human form—this One Being who created and focuses mankind—and that Story is complete in this Book. And we might see this fact—that all peoples are looking to the same Being, the same One, differentiated and obscured in consciousness at the time of the Tower of Babel. So, we have here the Story in remarkably accurate form, the symbolism of which reveals the Way whereby each one may again find his or her place in His Body now.

© emissaries of divine light