The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

CHAPTER 76

Jesus in Bethlehem. Explains the Empire of Peace to the shepherds. An unusual light appears. The shepherds recognize Jesus as the Christ.

The Logos went to Bethlehem, and many people followed him.

2 He found the shepherd’s home where he was cradled when a babe; here he abode.

3 He went up to the hills where more than thirty years before the shepherds watch their flocks and heard the messenger of peace exclaim:

4 At midnight in a cave in Bethlehem the Prince of Peace is born.

5 And shepherds still were there, and sheep still fed upon the hills.

6 And in the valley near great flocks of snow-white doves were flying to and fro.

7 And when the shepherds knew that Jesus, whom the people called the king, had come, they came from near and far to speak to him.

8 And Jesus said to them, Behold the life of innocence and peace!

9 White is the symbol of the virtuous and pure! the lamb of innocence; the dove of peace;

10 And it was meet that love should come in human form amid such scenes as these.

11 Our father Abraham walked through these vales, and on these very hills he watched his flocks and herds.

12 And here it was that one, the Prince of Peace, the king of Salim, came; the Christ in human form; a greater far than Abraham was he.

13 And here it was that Abraham gave to this king of Salim, tithes of all he had.

14 This Prince of Peace went forth in battle everywhere. He had no sword; no armor of defence; no weapons of offence;

15 And yet he conquered men, and nations trembled at his feet.

16 The hosts of Egypt quailed before this sturdy king of right; the kings of Egypt placed their crowns upon his head,

17 And gave into his hands the scepter of all Egypt land, and not a drop of blood was shed, and not a captive placed in chains;

18 But everywhere the conqueror threw wide the prison doors and set the captives free.

19 And, once again, the Prince of Peace has come, and from these blessed hills he goes again to fight.

20 And he is clothed in white; his sword is truth; his shield is faith; his helmet innocence; his breath is love; his watchword peace.

21 But this is not a carnal war; it is not man at war with man; but it is right against the wrong.

22 And love is captain, love is warrior, love is armor, love is all, and love shall win.

23 And then again the hills of Bethlehem were clothed with light; again the messenger exclaimed,

24 Peace, peace on earth, good will to men.

25 And Jesus taught the people; healed the sick; revealed the mysteries of the kingdom of the Holy One.

26 And many said, He is the Christ; the king who was to come has come; Praise God.

CHAPTER 77

Jesus in Hebron. Goes to Bethany. Advises Ruth regarding certain family troubles.

With three disciples Jesus went to Hebron where he tarried seven days and taught.

2 And then he went to Bethany and in the home of Lazarus he taught.

3 The evening came; the multitudes were gone, and Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters, Martha, Ruth and Mary, were alone.

4 And Ruth was sore distressed. Her home was down in Jericho; her husband was the keeper of an inn; his name was Asher-ben.

5 Now, Asher was a Pharisee of strictest mien and thought, and he regarded Jesus with disdain.

6 And when his wife confessed her faith in Christ, he drove her from his home.

7 But Ruth resisted not; she said, If Jesus is the Christ he knows the way, and I am sure he is the Christ,

8 My husband may become enraged and slay my human form; he cannot kill the soul, and in the many mansions of my Fatherland I have a dwelling-place.

9 And Ruth told Jesus all; and then she said, What shall I do?

10 And Jesus said, Your husband is not willingly at fault; he is devout; he prays to God, our Father-God.

11 His zeal for his religion is intense; in this he is sincere; but it has driven him insane, and he believes it right to keep his home unsullied by the heresy of Christ.

12 He feels assured that he has done the will of God in driving you away.

13 Intolerance is ignorance matured.

14 The light will come to him some day, and then he will repay for all your heartaches, griefs and tears.

15 And Ruth, you must not think that you are free from blame.

16 If you had walked in wisdom’s ways, and been content to hold your peace, this grief would not have come to you.

17 It takes a long, long time for light to break into the shell of prejudice, and patience is the lesson you have need to learn.

18 The constant dropping of the water wears away the hardest stone.

19 The sweet and holy incense of a godly life will melt intolerance much quicker than the hottest flame, or hardest blow.

20 Just wait a little time, and then go home with sympathy and love. Talk not of Christ, nor of the kingdom of the Holy One.

21 Just live a godly life; refrain from harshness in your speech, and you will lead your husband to the light.

22 And it was so.

CHAPTER 78

Jesus in Jericho. Heals a servant of Asher. Goes to the Jordan and speaks to the people. Establishes baptism as a pledge of discipleship. Baptizes six disciples, who in turn baptize many people.

And Jesus went to Jericho, and at the inn of Asher he abode.

2 A servant at the inn was sick, nigh unto death; the healers could not cure.

3 And Jesus came and touched the dying girl, and said, Malone, arise! and in a moment pain was gone; the fever ceased; the maid was well.

4 And then the people brought their sick, and they were healed.

5 But Jesus did not tarry long in Jericho; he went down to the Jordan ford where John was wont to teach.

6 The multitudes were there and Jesus said to them, Behold, the time has come; the kingdom is at hand.

7 None but the pure in heart can come into the kingdom of the Holy One; but every son and daughter of the human race is called upon to turn from evil and become the pure in heart.

8 The resolution to attain and enter through the Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One will constitute discipleship, and every one must make a public pledge of his discipleship.

9 John washed your bodies in the stream, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul, in preparation for the coming of the king, the opening of the Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One.

10 John did a mighty work; but now the Christine gate is opened up, and washing is established as the pledge of your discipleship.

11 Until this age shall close this pledge shall be a rite, and shall be called, Baptism rite; and it shall be a sign to men, and seal to God of men’s discipleship.

12 You men of every nation, hear! Come unto me; the Christine gate is opened up; turn from your sins and be baptized, and you shall enter through the gate and see the king.

13 The six disciples who had followed Jesus stood a-near, and Jesus led them forth and in the Jordan he baptized them in the name of Christ; and then he said to them,

14 My friends, you are the first to enter through the Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One.

15 As I baptized you in the name of Christ, so you shall, in that sacred name, baptize all men and women who will confess their faith in Christ, and shall renounce their sins.

16 And, lo, the multitudes came down, renounced their sins, confessed their faith in Christ, and were baptized.

CHAPTER 79

John, the harbinger, at Salim. A lawyer inquires about Jesus. John explains to the multitude the mission of Jesus.

Now, John the harbinger, was at the Salim Springs where water was abundant, and there he preached and washed the bodies of the people who confessed their sins.

2 A Jewish lawyer went to John and said, Has not this man from Galilee, he whom you washed and called the Christ, become your foe?

3 They say that he is at the Jordan ford; that he is building up a church, or something else, and that he washes people, just as you have done.

4 And John replied, This Jesus is indeed the Christ whose way I came to pave. He is not foe of mine.

5 The bridegroom hath the bride; his friends are near, and when they hear his voice they all rejoice.

6 The kingdom of the Holy One is bride, and Christ the groom; and I, the harbinger, am full of joy because they prosper so abundantly.

7 I have performed the work that I was sent to do; the work of Jesus just begins.

8 Then turning to the multitudes he said, Christ is the king of righteousness; Christ is the love of God; yea, he is God; one of the holy persons of the Triune God.

9 Christ lives in every heart of purity.

10 Now, Jesus who is preaching at the Jordan ford, has been subjected to the hardest tests of human life, and he has conquered all the appetites and passions of the carnal man.

11 And by the highest court of heaven, has been declared a man of such superior purity and holiness that he can demonstrate the presence of the Christ on earth.

12 Lo, love divine, which is the Christ, abides in him, and he is pattern for the race.

13 And every man can see in him what every man will be when he has conquered all the passions of the selfish self.

14 In water I have washed the bodies of the people who have turned from sin, symbolic of the cleansing of the soul;

15 But Jesus bathes forever in the living waters of the Holy Breath.

16 And Jesus comes to bring the savior of the world to men; Love is the savior of the world.

17 And all who put their trust in Christ, and follow Jesus as a pattern and a guide, have everlasting life.

18 But they who do not trust the Christ, and will not purify their hearts so that the Christ can dwell within, can never enter life.

CHAPTER 80

Lamaas comes from India to see Jesus. He listens to the teachings of John at Salim. John tells him of the divine mission of Jesus. Lamaas finds Jesus at the Jordan. The masters recognize each other.

Lamaas, priest of Brahm, who was a friend of Jesus when he was in the temple Jagannath, had heard of Jesus and his mighty works in many lands; and he had left his home and come to Palestine in search of him.

2 And as he journeyed towards Jerusalem he heard of John, the harbinger, who was esteemed a prophet of the living God.

3 Lamaas found the harbinger at Salim Springs; for many days he was a silent listener to the pungent truths he taught.

4 And he was present when the Pharisee told John of Jesus and his mighty works.

5 He heard the answer of the harbinger; he heard him bless the name of Jesus, whom he called the Christ.

6 And then he spoke to John; he said, Pray, tell me more about this Jesus whom you call the Christ.

7 And John replied, this Jesus is the love of God made manifest.

8 Lo, men are living on the lower planes – the planes of greed and selfishness; for self they fight; they conquer with the sword.

9 In every land the strong enslave and kill the weak. All kingdoms rise by force of arms; for force is king.

10 This Jesus comes to overthrow this iron rule of force, and seat Love on the throne of power.

11 And Jesus fears no man. He preaches boldly in the courts of kings, and everywhere, that victories won by force of arms are crimes;

12 That every worthy end may be attained by gentleness and love, just as the Prince of Peace, Melchisedec, the priest of God, won gallant victories in war without the shedding of a drop of blood.

13 You ask where are the temples of the Christ? He ministers at shrines not made with hands; his temples are the hearts of holy men who are prepared to see the king.

14 The groves of nature are his synagogues; his forum is the world.

15 He has no priests dressed up in puppet style to be admired by men; for every son of man is priest of Love.

16 When man has purified his heart by faith, he needs no middle man to intercede.

17 He is on friendly terms with God; is not afraid of him, and he is able, and is bold enough, to lay his body on the altar of the Lord.

18 Thus every man is priest, and is himself a living sacrifice.

19 You need not seek the Christ, for when your heart is purified the Christ will come, and will abide with you forevermore.

20 And then Lamaas journeyed on; he came to Jesus as he taught beside the ford.

21 And Jesus said, Behold the Star of India!

22 Lamaas said, Behold the Sun of Righteousness! And he confessed his faith in Christ, and followed him.

CHAPTER 81

The Christines journey toward Galilee. They tarry for a time at Jacob’s well and Jesus teaches a woman of Samaria.

The Christine gate into the kingdom of the Holy One was opened up, and Jesus and the six disciples and Lamaas left the Jordan ford and turned their faces toward Galilee.

2 Their way lay through Samaria, and as they journeyed on they came to Sychar, which was near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph when a youth.

3 And Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus sat beside the well in silent thought, and his disciples went into the town to purchase bread.

4 A woman of the town came out to fill her pitcher from the well; and Jesus was athirst, and when he asked the woman for a drink she said,

5 I am a woman of Samaria, and you a Jew; do you not know that there is enmity between Samaritans and Jews? They traffic not; then why ask me the favor of a drink?

6 And Jesus said Samaritans and Jews are all the children of one God, our Father-God, and they are kin.

7 It is but prejudice born of the carnal mind that breeds this enmity and hate.

8 While I was born a Jew I recognize the brotherhood of life. Samaritans are just as dear to me as Jew or Greek.

9 And then had you but known the blessings that our Father-God has sent to men by me, you would have asked me for a drink,

10 And I would glad have given you a cup of water from the Fount of Life, and you would never thirst again.

11 The woman said, This well is deep, and you have naught with which to draw; how could you get the water that you speak about?

12 And Jesus said, The water that I speak about comes not from Jacob’s well; it flows from springs that never fail.

13 Lo, every one who drinks from Jacob’s well will thirst again; but they who drink the water that I give will never thirst again;

14 For they themselves become a well, and from their inner parts the sparkling waters bubble up into eternal life.

15 The woman said, Sir, I would drink from that rich well of life. Give me to drink, that I may thirst no more.

16 And Jesus said, Go call your husband from the town that he may share with you this living cup.

17 The woman said, I have no husband, sir.

18 And Jesus answered her and said, You scarcely know what husband means; you seem to be a gilded butterfly that flits from flower to flower,

19 To you there is no sacredness in marriage ties, and you affinitize with any man.

20 And you have lived with five of them who were esteemed as husbands by your friends.

21 The woman said, Do I not speak unto a prophet and a seer? Will you not condescend to tell me who you are?

22 And Jesus said, I need not tell you who I am for you have read the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms that tell of me,

23 I am one come to break away the wall that separates the sons of men. In Holy Breath there is no Greek, nor Jew, and no Samaritan; no bond, nor free; for all are one.

24 The woman asked, Why do you say that only in Jerusalem men ought to pray, and that they should not worship in our holy mount?

25 And Jesus said, What you have said, I do not say. One place is just as sacred as another place.

26 The hour has come when men must worship God within the temple of the heart; for God is not within Jerusalem, nor in your holy mount in any way that he is not in every heart.

27 Our God is Spirit; they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

28 The woman said, We know that when Messiah comes that he will lead us in the ways of truth.

29 And Jesus said, Behold the Christ has come; Messiah speaks to you.

CHAPTER 82

While Jesus is teaching, his disciples come and marvel because he speaks with a Samaritan. Many people from Sychar come to see Jesus. He speaks to them. With his disciples he goes to Sychar and remains for certain days.

While Jesus yet was talking to the woman at the well, the six disciples came from Sychar with the food.

2 And when they saw him talking to a woman of Samaria, and one they thought a courtesan, they were amazed; yet no one asked him why he spoke with her.

3 The woman was so lost in thought and so intent on what the master said, that she forgot her errand to the well; she left her pitcher and ran quickly to the town.

4 She told the people all about the prophet she had met at Jacob’s well; she said, He told me every thing I ever did.

5 And when the people would know more about the man, the woman said, Come out and see. And multitudes went out to Jacob’s well.

6 When Jesus saw them come he said to those who followed him, You need not say, It is four months before the harvest time;

7 Behold, the harvest time is now. Lift up your eyes and look; the fields are golden with the ripened grain.

8 Lo, many sowers have gone forth to sow the seeds of life; the seed has grown; the plants have strengthened in the summer sun; the grain has ripened, and the master calls for men to reap.

9 And you shall go out in the fields and reap what other men have sown; but when the reckoning day shall come the sowers and the reapers all together will rejoice.

10 And Philip said to Jesus, Stay now your work a time and sit beneath this olive tree and eat a portion of this food; you must be faint for you have eaten naught since early day.

11 But Jesus said, I am not faint, for I have food to eat you know not of.

12 Then the disciples said among themselves, Who could have brought him aught to eat?

13 They did not know that he had power to turn the very ethers into bread.

14 And Jesus said, The master of the harvest never sends his reapers forth and feeds them not.

15 My Father who has sent me forth into the harvest field of human life will never suffer me to want; and when he calls for you to serve, lo, he will give you food, will clothe and shelter you.

16 Then turning to the people of Samaria, he said, Think not it strange that I, a Jew, should speak to you, for I am one with you.

17 The universal Christ who was, and is, and evermore shall be, is manifest in me; but Christ belongs to every man.

18 God scatters forth his blessings with a lavish hand, and he is not more kind to one than to another one of all the creatures of his hand.

19 I just came up from Judah’s hills, and God’s same sun was shining and his flowers were blooming, and in the night his stars were just as bright as they are here.

20 God cannot cast a child away; the Jew, the Greek and the Samaritan are equal in his sight.

21 And why should men and women fret and quarrel, like children in their plays?

22 The lines that separate the sons of men are made of straw, and just a single breath of love would blow them all away.

23 The people were amazed at what the stranger said, and many said, The Christ that was to come has surely come.

24 And Jesus went with them into the town, and tarried certain days.

CHAPTER 83

Jesus teaches the people of Sychar. Casts a wicked spirit out of one obsessed. Sends the spirit to its own place. Heals many people. The priests are disturbed by the presence of Jesus in Sychar, but he speaks to them and wins their favor.

In Sychar Jesus taught the people in the market place.

2 A man obsessed was brought to him. The wicked spirit that possessed the man was full of violence and lust, and often threw his victim to the ground.

3 And Jesus spoke aloud and said, Base spirit, loose your hold upon the vitals of this man, and go back to your own.

4 And then the spirit begged that he might go into the body of a dog that stood near by.

5 But Jesus said, Why harm the helpless dog? Its life is just as dear to it as mine to me.

6 It is not yours to throw the burden of your sin on any living thing.

7 By your own deeds and evil thoughts you have brought all these perils on yourself. You have hard problems to be solved; but you must solve them for yourself.

8 By thus obsessing man you make your own conditions doubly sad. Go back into your own domain; refrain from harming anything, and, by and by, you will, yourself, be free.

9 The wicked spirit left the man and went unto his own. The man looked up in thankfulness and said, Praise God.

10 And many of the people brought their sick, and Jesus spoke the Word, and they were healed.

11 The ruler of the synagogue, and all the priests were much disturbed when told that Jesus from Jerusalem was preaching in the town.

12 They thought that he had come to proselyte and stir up strife among Samaritans.

13 And so they sent an officer to bring him to the synagogue that he might give a reason for his presence in the town.

14 But Jesus said to him who came, Go back and tell the priests and ruler of the synagogue that I am not engaged in crime.

15 I come to bind up broken hearts, to heal the sick, and cast the evil spirits out of those obsessed.

16 Tell them, their prophets spoke of me; that I am come to break no law, but to fulfil the highest law.

17 The man returned and told the priests and ruler of the synagogue what Jesus said,

18 The ruler was amazed, and with the priests went to the market place where Jesus was.