The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

CHAPTER 129

Jesus teaches the people. He takes Peter, James and John and goes to a high mountain and is transfigured before them.

The news soon spread that Jesus and the twelve were come, and many people came to see.

2 And Jesus said, Behold, you come to see, but that means naught. If you would have the benedictions of the Christ, take up your cross and follow me.

3 If you would give your life for selfish self, then you will lose your life.

4 If you will give your life in service of your fellow men, then you will save your life.

5 This life is but a span, a bauble of today. There is a life that passes not.

6 Where is your profit if you gain the world and lose your soul? What would you take in payment for your soul?

7 If you would find the spirit life, the life of man in God, then you must walk a narrow way and enter through a narrow gate.

8 The way is Christ, the gate is Christ, and you must come up by the way of Christ. No man comes unto God but by the Christ.

9 The kingdom of the Christ will come; yea, some of you who hear me now will not pass through the gates of death until you see the kingdom come in power.

10 For seven days the master and the twelve remained in Cæsarea-Philippi.

11 Then Jesus, taking Peter, James and John, went forth unto a mountain top to pray.

12 And as he prayed a brilliant light appeared; his form became as radiant as a precious stone;

13 His face shone like the sun; his garments seemed as white as snow; the son of man became the son of God.

14 He was transfigured that the men of earth might see the possibilities of man.

15 When first the glory came the three disciples were asleep; a master touched their eyes and said, Awake and see the glory of the Lord.

16 And they awoke, and saw the glory of the Lord; and more, they saw the glory of the heavenly world, for they beheld two men from thence stand forth beside the Lord.

17 And Peter asked the master who awakened them, Who are these men who stand beside the Lord?

18 The master said, These men are Moses and Elijah, who are come that you may know that heaven and earth are one; that masters there and masters here are one.

19 The veil that separates the worlds is but an ether veil. For those who purify their hearts by faith the veil is rolled aside, and they can see and know that death is an illusive thing.

20 And Peter said, Praise God! And then he called to Jesus and he said, My master and my Lord, this is the gate of heaven, and it is well that we remain.

21 May we go down and bring three tents; a tent for you, a tent for Moses, and for Elijah one? But Jesus answered not.

22 And Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus on the mount. They talked about the coming trial of the Lord;

23 About his death, his rest within the tomb; about the wonders of the resurrection morn; the transmutation of his flesh, and his ascension on the clouds of light;

24 And all symbolic of the path that every man must tread; symbolic of the way the sons of men become the sons of God.

25 The three disciples were amazed, and suddenly the ethers were surcharged with song, and forms as light as air, moved all about the mountain top.

26 And then from out the glory of the upper world they heard a voice that said,

27 This is the son of man, my chosen one to manifest the Christ to men. Let all the earth hear him.

28 When the disciples heard the voice they were afraid; they fell upon the ground and prayed.

29 And Jesus came; he touched them and he said, Arise, fear not; lo, I am here.

30 Then they arose, and as they looked about they saw no one; the men had gone. The master only stood with them.

31 As Jesus and the three came from the mountain top they talked about the meaning of the scene, and Jesus told them all; and then he said,

32 Till I have risen from the dead tell not to any one what you have seen.

33 But the disciples could not comprehend the meaning of the words, Till I have risen from the dead.

34 And Jesus told them once again about his death, and rising from the grave; about the kingdom of the soul that was to come in glory and in power.

35 But Peter said, The scribes have taught that e’er the king shall come Elijah must appear.

36 And Jesus said, Elijah has already come; but scribes and Pharisees received him not;

37 And men reviled him, bound him, cast him in a prison cell, and shouted with a fiend’s delight to see him die.

38 What men have done to him, that they will do to me.

39 Then the disciples understood that Jesus spoke of John whom Herod slew.

CHAPTER 130

Jesus and the three disciples return to Cæsarea-Philippi. The nine had failed to cure an epileptic child. Jesus heals it and rebukes his disciples for their lack of trust in God. The Christines return to Capernaum.

When Jesus, Peter, James and John were come unto the city’s gates a multitude of people thronged the way.

2 The nine apostles who went not with Jesus to the mount, had tried to heal an epileptic child who was obsessed, and they had failed; the people waited for the coming of the Lord.

3 When Jesus came the father of the child knelt down before him and implored his help.

4 He said, My master, I beseech that you will look in pity on my son, my only child; he is an epileptic child and suffers grievously.

5 Sometimes he falls into the fire and is burned; again he falls into the water and is like to drown; and many times a day he falls, he grinds his teeth, the foam pours from his mouth.

6 I took my child to your disciples, and they failed to give relief.

7 And as he spoke a servant brought the child before the Lord (the child spoke not, for he was dumb), and instantly he fell upon the ground, he foamed, he writhed in agony.

8 And Jesus said, How long has he been troubled thus?

9 The father said, From infancy; and we have sought in many lands for help, but found it not; but I believe that you can speak the Word and heal my son.

10 And Jesus said, Faith is the power of God. All things are possible for him who in his heart believes.

11 The father cried, in tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

12 And Jesus spoke the Word of power; the epileptic child lay in a swoon; he did not breathe, and all the people said, The child is dead.

13 But Jesus took him by the hand and said: Arise; and he arose and spoke.

14 The people were amazed, and many said, This surely is a man of God, for no such power was ever given to man.

15 Then Jesus and the twelve went to the house, and after they had taken food and been refreshed, the nine disciples said,

16 Lord, why could we not heal this child? We spoke the Word; but even that was powerless.

17 And Jesus said, Your great success in all your former work has made you careless, and you forgot to recognize the power of God.

18 Without the spirit of the Word, the Word is like an idle tale; and you forgot to pray.

19 There is no faith without the prayer of faith. Faith is the wings of prayer; but wings alone fly not.

20 By prayer and faith you can bring down the mountain peaks, and cast them in the sea; the little hills will skip about like lambs at your command.

21 This failure may be well for you. The greatest lessons that are learned in life come through the failures that are made.

22 As the disciples sat in thoughtful meditation Jesus said, Let these words sink into your hearts:

23 The time has nearly come when you must bear your load alone; that is, without my presence in the flesh.

24 For I will fall into the hands of wicked men, and they will slay me on a mount beyond Bezetha wall.

25 And men will lay my body in a tomb where, by the sacred Word, it will be guarded and preserved three days; then I will rise again.

26 The twelve were sad; they did not understand, and yet they feared to ask him to reveal the meaning of his word.

27 Next day the Christine master and the twelve began their journey of return, and soon were in Capernaum.

CHAPTER 131

Jesus and Peter pay the half-shekel tax. The disciples contend for the supremacy. Jesus rebukes them. Teaches them many practical lessons. The parable of the good shepherd.

As Jesus and the twelve were resting in the house, the tax collector came to Peter saying, Man, do Jesus and yourself pay this half-shekel tax?

2 And Peter said, We pay whatever is assessed.

3 And Jesus said, From whom do publicans collect this special tax? from strangers or from native sons?

4 And Peter said, The strangers only are supposed to pay this tax.

5 Then Jesus said, We all are native sons and we are free; but lest we cause contention we will pay the tax; but neither had the shekel wherewithal to pay.

6 And Jesus said, Go to the sea; cast in a hook and catch a fish and you will find within its inner parts a shekel, which take up and pay the tax for you and me.

7 And Peter did as Jesus said; he found the shekel and he paid the tax.

8 Now Jesus heard the twelve dispute among themselves. The spirit of the carnal self was moving in their hearts, and they were questioning among themselves who was the greatest in the sight of God and man.

9 And Jesus said, You men, for shame! the greatest is the servant of the rest. And then he called to him a little child; he took it in his arms and said,

10 The greatest is the little child, and if you would be great at all you must become as is this child in innocence, in truth, in purity in life.

11 Great men scorn not the little things of earth; he who regards and honors such a child, regards and honors me, and he who scorns a child, scorn me.

12 If you would enter through the kingdom gate you must be humble as this little child.

13 Hear me, you men, This child, as every other child, has one to plead its cause before the throne of God.

14 You scorn it at your peril, men, for lo, I say, its counterpart beholds the face of God at every moment, every day.

15 And hear me once again, He who shall cause a little one to stumble and to fall is marked, accursed; and it were better far if he had drowned himself.

16 Behold, offenses everywhere! Men find occasions for to sin and fall, and they grow strong by rising when they fall;

17 But woe to him who causes other men to stumble and to fall.

18 Be on your guard, you men of God, lest you constrain another man to fall; beware lest you fall into sinful ways yourselves.

19 Now, if your hands cause you to sin, you better cut them off; for it is better far to have no hands and not be guilty in the sight of God and men, than to be perfect in your form and lose your soul.

20 And if your feet should cause offense, you better cut them off; for it is better far to enter into life without your feet than fall beneath the curse.

21 And if your eyes, or ears, cause you to sin, you better lose them all than lose your soul.

22 Your thoughts and words and deeds will all be tried by fire.

23 Remember that you are the salt of earth; but if you lose the virtues of the salt, you are but refuse in the sight of God.

24 Retain the virtues of the salt of life and be at peace among yourselves.

25 The world is full of men who have not in themselves the salt of life, and they are lost. I come to seek and save the lost.

26 How think you? if a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, will he not leave the ninety and the nine,

27 And go out in the desert ways and mountain tops to seek the one that went astray?

28 Yes, this you know; and if he finds the one that went astray, lo, he is glad, and he rejoices over it far more than over all the ninety and the nine that did not go astray.

29 And so there is rejoicing in the courts of heaven when one of human birth who has gone forth into the ways of sin is found and brought back to the fold;

30 Yea, there is joy, more joy than over all the righteous men who never went astray.

31 And John said, Master, who may seek and save the lost? and who may heal the sick, and cast the demons out of those obsessed?

32 When we were on the way we saw a man who was not one of us, cast demons out and heal the sick.

33 He did it by the sacred Word and in the name of Christ; but we forbade him, for he did not walk with us.

34 And Jesus said, You sons of men, do you imagine that you own the powers of God?

35 And do you think that all the world must wait for you to do the works of God?

36 God is not man that he should have a special care for any man, and give him special gifts.

37 Forbid not any man to do the works of God.

38 There is no man who can pronounce the sacred Word, and in the name of Christ restore the sick, and cast the unclean spirits out, who is not child of God.

39 The man of whom you speak is one with us. Whoever gathers in the grain of heaven is one with us.

40 Whoever gives a cup of water in the name of Christ is one with us; so God shall judge.

CHAPTER 132

Jesus defends a man who has been convicted of stealing bread. The verdict is reversed. The man goes free, and the people supply the needs of his starving family.

A multitude of people thronged the streets. The officers were on the way to court with one, a man accused of stealing bread.

2 And in a little while the man was brought before the judge to answer to the charge.

3 And Jesus and the twelve were there. The man showed in his face and hands the hard drawn lines of toil and want.

4 A woman richly clad, the accuser of the man, stood forth and said, I caught this man myself; I know him well, for yesterday he came to beg for bread,

5 And when I drove him from my door, he should have known that I would harbor not a man like him; and then today he came and took the bread.

6 He is a thief and I demand that he be sent to jail.

7 The servants also testified against the man; he was adjudged a thief, and officers were leading him away.

8 But Jesus standing forth exclaimed, You officers and judge, be not in haste to lead this man away.

9 Is this a land of justice and of right? can you accuse and sentence men to punishment for any crime until they testify themselves?

10 The Roman law will not permit such travesty on right, and I demand that you permit this man to speak.

11 And then the judge recalled the man and said, If you have any tale to tell, say on.

12 In tears the man stood forth and said, I have a wife and little ones and they are perishing for bread, and I have told my story oft, and begged for bread; but none would hear.

13 This morning when I left our cheerless hut in search of work my children cried for bread, and I resolved to feed them or to die.

14 I took the bread, and I appeal to God, Was it a crime?

15 This woman snatched the loaf away and threw it to the dogs, and called the officers and I am here.

16 Good people, do with me whate’er you will, but save my wife and little ones from death.

17 Then Jesus said, Who is the culprit in this case?

18 I charge this woman as a felon in the sight of God.

19 I charge this judge as criminal before the bar of human rights.

20 I charge these servants and these officers as parties to the crime.

21 I charge the people of Capernaum with cruelty and theft, because they heeded not the cries of poverty and want, and have withheld from helpless ones that which is theirs by every law of right;

22 And I appeal unto these people here, and ask, Are not my charges based on righteousness and truth?

23 And every man said, Yes.

24 The accusing woman blushed for shame; the judge shrank back in fear; the officers threw off the shackles from the man and ran away.

25 Then Jesus said, Give this man what he needs and let him go and feed his wife and little ones.

26 The people gave abundantly; the man went on his way.

27 And Jesus said, There is no standard law to judge of crime. The facts must all be stated e’er a judgment can be rendered in a case.

28 You men with hearts; go forth and stand where stood this man and answer me, What would you do?

29 The thief thinks every other man a thief and judges him accordingly.

30 The man who judges harshly is the man whose heart is full of crime.

31 The courtesan who keeps her wickedness concealed by what she calls respectability, has not a word of pity for the honest courtesan who claims to be just what she is.

32 I tell you, men, if you would censure not till you are free from sin, the world would soon forget the meaning of the word, accused.

CHAPTER 133

The twelve go to the feast in Jerusalem, but Jesus remains in Capernaum. He selects seventy disciples, and sends them out to teach and heal. He goes alone to the feast and on his way he heals ten lepers. He teaches in the temple.

The harvest feast drew near; the twelve went to Jerusalem, but Jesus did not go with them; he tarried in Capernaum.

2 Among the multitudes that followed him were many who went not up to the feast; they were not Jews.

3 And Jesus called three-score-and-ten of these disciples unto him and said, The kingdom of the Christ is not for Jews alone; it is for every man.

4 Lo, I have chosen twelve to preach the gospel, first unto the Jews; and they are Jews.

5 Twelve is the number of the Jew and seven the number of the all, including every man.

6 God is the ten, the holy Jod.

7 When God and man are multiplied we have three-score-and-ten, the number of the brotherhood of man.

8 And now I send you forth by twos and twos; not to the Jews alone, but unto every nation under heaven; to Greek and to Assyrian; to the Samaritan; to those beyond the seas; to every man.

9 You need not go afar, for men of every land are here and in Samaria.

10 Arise and go your way; but go in faith; and take no gold nor silver in your purse; no extra coat or shoes.

11 Go in the sacred name; trust God and you will never come to want.

12 And let this be your salutation everywhere, Peace be to all; good will to all.

13 And if the son of peace be in the house, the door will open wide and you will enter in; and then the holy peace will rest upon that house.

14 The seventy in twos went forth; they went into Samaria, and as they went they said, Peace be to all; good will to all!

15 Repent and turn from sin, and set your house in order, for a son of man who bears the image of the Christ, will come, and you may see his face.

16 They entered every village of Samaria; they preached in Tyre and in Sidon by the sea. Some went to Crete, and others into Greece, and others went to Gilead and taught.

17 And Jesus, all alone, went to the feast by the Samaria way; and as he went through Sychar on the way, the lepers saw him and a company of ten called from afar and said,

18 Lord Jesus, stay and speak the Word for us that we may be made clean.

19 And Jesus said, Go forth and show yourselves unto the priests.

20 They went, and as they went their leprosy was healed. One of the ten, a native of Samaria, returned to thank the master and to praise the Lord.

21 And Jesus said to him, Lo, ten were cleansed; where are the nine? Arise, and go your way; your faith has made you whole.

22 You have revealed your heart and shown that you are worthy of the power; behold the nine will find again their leprous hands and feet.

23 And Jesus went his way, and while the feast was on he came into Jerusalem, and went into the temple courts.

24 And he rebuked the scribes and Pharisees, the priests and doctors of the law for their hypocrisy and selfishness.

25 The common people were amazed; they said, From whence has come the wisdom of this man? he speaks as speaks a sage.

26 And Jesus said, I did not learn the wisdom of the Holy One within the schools of men; my teaching is not mine; I speak the words of him who sent me here to do his will.

27 If any man would know whereof I speak, lo, he must do the will of God. No man can know except he enters into life and does the will of God.

28 Now, Moses gave the law; but none of you have kept the law; how can you judge the worthiness of any man?

29 Once in these courts I healed a man upon a Sabbath day, and in a rage you sought to take my life; and now because I tell the truth you seek again to take my life.

30 A scribe spoke out and said, You foolish man, you are obsessed; who wants to take your life?

31 The common people said, Is this not Jesus whom the rulers long have sought to kill? and now he comes and teaches in the temple courts.