The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ
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33 When Jesus saw his mother and the singer Miriam standing close beside the cross and John a-near, he said to John,
34 In your most tender care I leave my mother and my sister Miriam.
35 And John replied, While they shall live my home shall be the home of your thrice blessed mother and your sister Miriam.
36 According to a custom of the Jews, to those who were the executioners of law and took the lives of criminals, belonged the garments of the criminals.
37 So when the Lord was crucified, the Roman guards divided up among themselves the garments of the Lord.
38 But when they found his coat it was a seamless coat and highly prized.
39 For it the guards cast lots, and thus determined who should have the prize.
40 And thus the scripture was fulfilled, which said, And they divided all my robes among themselves, and for my vesture they cast lots.
CHAPTER 171
Concluding scenes of the crucifixion. Joseph and Nicodemus, by consent of Pilate, take the body of Jesus from the cross and lay it in Joseph’s tomb. A guard of one hundred Jewish soldiers are placed about the sepulcher.
Now, at the sixth hour of the day, although the sun was at its height, the day became as dark as night;
2 And men sought lanterns and they builded fires upon the hills that they might see.
3 And when the sun refused to shine and darkness came, the Lord exclaimed, Heloi! Heloi! lama sabachthani? (Thou sun! thou sun! why hast thou forsaken me?)
4 The people did not understand the words he spoke; they thought he spoke the name Elijah and they said,
5 He calls upon Elijah in his hour of need; now we will see if he will come.
6 And Jesus said, I thirst. A Roman soldier dipped a sponge in vinegar and myrrh, and placed it to his lips.
7 Now, at the ninth hour of the day the earth began to quake, and in the darkness of that sunless day, a flood of golden light appeared above the cross;
8 And from the light a voice was heard which said, Lo, it is done.
9 And Jesus said, My Father-God, into thy hands I give my soul.
10 A Roman soldier in compassion said, This agony is all too great; relief shall come. And with a spear he pierced his heart and it was done; the son of man was dead.
11 And then the earth was shocked again; the city of Jerusalem rocked to and fro; the hills were rent and tombs were opened up;
12 And people thought they saw the dead arise and walk the streets.
13 The temple quivered and the veil between the sanctuary and the Holy Place was rent in twain, and consternation reigned through all the place.
14 The Roman guard who watched the body on the cross exclaimed, This surely was the son of God who died.
15 And then the people hurried down from Calvary. The priests, the Pharisees and scribes were filled with fear.
16 They sought the cover of their synagogues and homes and said, Behold, the wrath of God!
17 The great day of the Jewish pasch was near, and Jews could not by law permit a criminal to hang upon the cross upon the Sabbath day.
18 And so they prayed that Pilate would remove the bodies of the men that had been crucified.
19 And Pilate sent his guards to Calvary to note if all the men were dead.
20 And when the guards were gone, two aged Jews came to the palace door to see the governor, and they were members of the highest council of the Jews;
21 Yet they believed that Jesus was a prophet sent from God.
22 The one was Rabbi Joseph, the Arimathean counsellor, and he was just and loved the law of God.
23 And Nicodemus was the other one who came.
24 These men fell down at Pilate’s feet and prayed that they might take the body of the Nazarene and lay it in a tomb.
25 And Pilate gave consent.
26 Now, Joseph had prepared a costly mixture to embalm the body of the Lord, about a hundred pounds of aloes and of myrrh, and this they took and hastened out to Calvary.
27 And when the guards returned they said, The Nazarene is dead; the malefactors are alive.
28 And Pilate told the guards to go and smite the living men so they would die, and then to give their bodies to the flames; but give the body of the Nazarene to rabbis who would call for it.
29 The soldiers did as Pilate said.
30 The rabbis came and took away the body of the Lord and when they had prepared it with the spices they had bought,
31 They laid it in the new-made tomb that had been made for Joseph in a solid rock.
32 And then they rolled a stone up to the sepulcher.
33 The priests were fearful lest the friends of Jesus would go forth at night and take away the body of the Nazarene, and then report that he had risen from the dead, as he had said;
34 And they requested that the governor would send his soldiers to the tomb to guard the body of the dead.
35 But Pilate said, I will not send a Roman guard; but you have Jewish soldiers and may send a hundred men with a centurion to guard the tomb.
36 And then they sent a hundred soldiers out to guard the tomb.
SECTION XX
CHAPTER 172
Pilate places the Roman seal upon the stone door of the tomb. At midnight a company of the silent brothers march about the tomb. The soldiers are alarmed. Jesus preaches to the spirits in prison. Early Sunday morning he rises from the tomb. The soldiers are bribed by the priests to say that the disciples had stolen the body.
The tomb in which they laid the body of the Lord was in a garden, rich with flowers, the garden of Siloam, and Joseph’s home was near.
2 Before the watch began Caiaphas sent a company of priests out to the garden of Siloam that they might be assured that Jesus’ body was within the tomb.
3 They rolled away the stone; they saw the body there, and then they placed the stone again before the door.
4 And Pilate sent his scribe who placed upon the stone the seal of Rome, in such a way that he who moved the stone would break the seal.
5 To break this Roman seal meant death to him who broke the seal.
6 The Jewish soldiers all were sworn to faithfulness; and then the watch began.
7 At midnight all was well, but suddenly the tomb became a blaze of light, and down the garden walk a troupe of white clad soldiers marched in single file.
8 They came up to the tomb and marched and countermarched before the door.
9 The Jewish soldiers were alert; they thought the friends had come to steal the body of the Nazarene. The captain of the guard cried out to charge.
10 They charged; but not a white clad soldier fell. They did not even stop; they marched and countermarched among the frightened men.
11 They stood upon the Roman seal; they did not speak; they unsheathed not their swords; it was the Silent Brotherhood.
12 The Jewish soldiers fled in fear; they fell upon the ground.
13 They stood apart until the white clad soldiers marched away, and then the light about the tomb grew dim.
14 Then they returned; the stone was in its place; the seal was not disturbed, and they resumed their watch.
15 Now, Jesus did not sleep within the tomb. The body is the manifest of soul; but soul is soul without its manifest.
16 And in the realm of souls, unmanifest, the Lord went forth and taught.
17 He opened up the prison doors and set the prisoners free;
18 He broke the chains of captive souls, and led the captives to the light;
19 He sat in council with the patriarchs and prophets of the olden times;
20 The masters of all times and climes he met, and in the great assemblies he stood forth and told the story of his life on earth, and of his death in sacrifice for man,
21 And of his promises to clothe himself again in garb of flesh and walk with his disciples, just to prove the possibilities of man;
22 To give to them the key of life, of death, and of the resurrection of the dead.
23 In council all the masters sat and talked about the revelations of the coming age,
24 When she, the Holy Breath, shall fill the earth and air with holy breath, and open up the way of man to perfectness and endless life.
25 The garden of Siloam was silent on the Sabbath day; the Jewish soldiers watched and no one else approached the tomb; but on the following night the scene was changed.
26 At midnight every Jewish soldier heard a voice which said, Adon Mashich Cumi, which meant, Lord Christ arise.
27 And they supposed again that friends of Jesus were alert, were coming up to take the body of their Lord away.
28 The soldiers were alert with swords unsheathed and drawn, and then they heard the words again.
29 It seemed as though the voice was everywhere, and yet they saw no man.
30 The soldiers blanched with fear, and still to flee meant death for cowardice, and so they stood and watched.
31 Again, and this was just before the sun arose, the heavens blazed with light, a distant thunder seemed to herald forth a coming storm;
32 And then the earth began to quake and in the rays of light they saw a form descend from heaven, They said, Behold an angel comes.
33 And then they heard again, Adon Mashich Cumi.
34 And then the white-robed form tramped on the Roman seal, and then he tore it into shreds; he took the mighty stone in hand as though it were a pebble from the brook, and cast it to the side.
35 And Jesus opened up his eyes and said, All hail the rising sun! the coming of the day of righteousness!
36 And then he folded up his burial gown, his head bands and his coverings and laid them all aside.
37 He rose, and for a moment stood beside the white-robed form.
38 The weaker soldiers fell upon the ground, and hid their faces in their hands; the stronger stood and watched.
39 They saw the body of the Nazarene transmute; they saw it change from mortal to immortal form, and then it disappeared.
40 The soldiers heard a voice from somewhere; yea, from everywhere, it said,
41 Peace, peace on earth; good will to men.
42 They looked, the tomb was empty and the Lord had risen as he said.
43 The soldiers hastened to Jerusalem, and to the priests, and said,
44 Behold, the Nazarene has risen as he said; the tomb is empty and the body of the man is gone; we know not where it is. And then they told about the wonders of the night.
45 Caiaphas called a council of the Jews; he said, the news must not go forth that Jesus has arisen from the dead;
46 For if it does all men will say, He is the son of God, and all our testimonies will be proven false.
47 And then they called the hundred soldiers in and said to them,
48 You know not where the body of the Nazarene is resting now, so if you will go forth and say that his disciples came and stole the body while you slept,
49 Each one of you shall have a silver piece, and we will make it right with Pilate for the breaking of the Roman seal.
50 The soldiers did as they were paid to do.
SECTION XXI
CHAPTER 173
Jesus appears, fully materialized, to his mother, Miriam, Mary of Magdala and to Peter, James and John.
Now, when the rabbis took the body of the Lord and laid it in the tomb the mother of the Lord, and Mary Magdalene, and Miriam were there.
2 And when the body was entombed they went to Joseph’s home and there abode.
3 They did not know that Jewish soldiers had been sent to guard the tomb, nor that the Roman seal was placed upon the stone;
4 So in the morning of the first day of the week they hastened to the tomb with spices to embalm the Lord.
5 But when they reached the tomb they found the terror-stricken soldiers running frantically about.
6 The women did not know the cause; but when they found an empty tomb they were excited and aggrieved.
7 The soldiers did not know what had transpired; they could not tell who took the body of the Lord away.
8 And Mary Magdalene ran with haste toward Jerusalem to tell the news to Peter and the rest.
9 She met, just by the gateway, Peter, James and John; she said, Some one has rolled away the stone and carried off the body of the Lord.
10 And then the three disciples ran toward the tomb; but John was fleet of foot and was the first to reach the tomb; he found it empty; the body of his Lord was gone.
11 When Peter came he went into the tomb, and found the grave clothes neatly folded up and laid aside.
12 Now, the disciples did not comprehend the scene. They did not know the meaning of their Lord when he informed them just before his death that he would rise from death upon the first day of the week.
13 The three disciples went back to Jerusalem; the mother of the Lord and Miriam went not away.
14 And Mary looked within the tomb, and saw two masters sitting there; they said, Why do you weep?
15 And Mary said, Because my Lord is gone; some one has carried off the body of my Lord; I know not where it is.
16 Then she arose and looked around; a man stood near and said, Why do you weep? whom do you seek?
17 And Mary thought it was the gardener and said, If you have borne away the body of my Lord, O tell me where it is that I may lay it in a sacred tomb.
18 And then the man came near and said, My mother! and Mary said, My Lord!
19 The eyes of Miriam were opened up and she beheld the Lord.
20 And Jesus said, Behold, I told you as we walked along the way up to the cross that I would meet you at the sepulcher upon the first day of the week.
21 Now, Mary Magdalene was sitting not a great way off, and Jesus went to her and said,
22 Why seek the living ’mong the dead? Your Lord has risen as he said. Now, Mary, look! behold my face!
23 Then Mary knew it was the Lord; that he had risen from the dead.
24 And then Salome, and Mary, mother of the two disciples, James and John, Joanna, and the other women who had come out to the tomb, saw Jesus, and they talked with him.
25 And Mary Magdalene was filled with joy. She sought again for Peter, James and John; she found them and she said,
26 Lo, I have seen the Lord; and Miriam has seen the Lord; the mother of the Lord has seen the Lord; and many more have seen his face; for he has risen from the dead.
27 But the disciples thought that she had simply seen a vision of the Lord. They did not think that he had risen from the dead.
28 Then Mary found the other members of the company and told them all about the risen Lord; but none of them believed.
29 Now, Peter, James and John were in the garden of Siloam; were talking with the gardener about the happenings of the day when John beheld a stranger coming up the walk.
30 The stranger lifted up his hands and said, I am. Then the disciples knew it was the Lord.
31 And Jesus said, Behold, for human flesh can be transmuted into higher form, and then that higher form is master of things manifest, and can, at will, take any form.
32 And so I come to you in form familiar unto you.
33 Go speak to Thomas, and the other men whom I have called to be apostles unto men, and say to them,
34 That he whom Jews and Romans thought was dead is walking in the garden of Siloam;
35 Will stand again before the priests and Pharisees within the temple in Jerusalem;
36 And will appear unto the sages of the world.
37 Tell them that I will go before them into Galilee.
38 Then Peter, James and John went forth and found their brethren, and said, Behold, the Lord is risen from the dead, and we have seen him face to face.
39 The brethren were amazed at what the three disciples said; but still they looked upon their words as idle talk and they believed them not.
CHAPTER 174
Jesus appears, fully materialized, to Zachus and Cleophas as they journey to Emmaus, but they know him not. He tells them many things about Christ. He eats the evening meal with them, and reveals himself to them. They go to Jerusalem and tell the news.
Towards the evening of the resurrection day, two friends of Jesus, Zachus and Cleophas of Emmaus, seven miles away, were going to their home.
2 And as they walked and talked about the things that had occurred a stranger joined their company.
3 He said, My friends, you seem discouraged and are sad. Has some great grief upon you come?
4 Cleophas said, Are you a stranger in Judea, and know not of the thrilling things that have transpired here?
5 The stranger said, What things? To what do you refer?
6 Cleophas said, Have you not heard about the man from Galilee who was a prophet mighty in both word and deed?
7 A man whom many thought had come to found again the kingdom of the Jews, and drive the Romans from the city of Jerusalem and be himself the king?
8 The stranger said, Tell me about this man.
9 Cleophas said, His name was Jesus; he was born in Bethlehem; his home was up in Galilee. He loved the people as he loved himself.
10 He was, in truth, a master sent from God, for he had matchless power. He healed the sick and made the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the lame to walk, and even raised the dead.
11 The Jewish scribes and Pharisees were jealous of his fame and power, and they arrested him; by perjured witnesses they proved him guilty of a score of crimes,
12 And on last Friday he was taken to the place of skulls and crucified.
13 He died and he was buried in a rich man’s tomb, out in the garden of Siloam.
14 This very morning when his friends went to the tomb they found it empty; the body of the Lord was gone.
15 And now the news has spread abroad that he has risen from the dead.
16 The stranger said, Yes, I have heard about this man; but it seems strange that after all the things that Jewish prophets long ago foretold concerning him that when he came men knew him not.
17 This man was born to demonstrate the Christ to men, and it is just to say that Jesus is the Christ.
18 According to the Word, this Jesus came to suffer at the hands of men, to give his life as pattern for the sons of men;
19 To rise from death that men might know the way to rise from death.
20 And then the stranger told the two disciples all about the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, and read to them a multitude of things that had been written of this man from Galilee.
21 And now the men had reached their home and as the night was near they importuned the stranger to abide with them.
22 And he went in with them and as they sat about the table at the evening meal, he took a piece of bread, and blessed it in the name of Christ.
23 And instantly their eyes were opened up, and they perceived that he, the stranger, was the Lord, the man from Galilee; that he had risen from the dead; and then the form of Jesus disappeared.
24 When he had gone, the two disciples were amazed. They said, Did not our hearts burn with delight while he was talking to us by the way and opening up the testimonies of the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms?
25 Then Zachus and Cleopas went back to Jerusalem, and everywhere they went they said, Lo, we have seen the Lord;
26 He walked with us to Emmaus; he ate with us the evening meal, and broke for us the bread of life.
CHAPTER 175
Jesus appears, fully materialized, to the ten apostles in Simon’s house, and to Lazarus and his sisters.
The evening of the resurrection day had come; the ten apostles were in Simon’s house in Bethany. The lawyer, Thomas, was not there.
2 The doors were closed and barred, because the Jews had said that they would drive the Galileans from the land.
3 And as they talked, lo, Jesus came and stood forth in their midst, and said, Peace! peace!
4 And the disciples shrank in fear; they thought it was a phantom that they saw.
5 And Jesus said, Why are you troubled thus? why do you fear? I am no phantom form. I am your Lord, and I have risen from the dead.
6 I often said, I will arise; but you believed me not; and now come here and see. A phantom has not flesh and bones and brawn, like I possess.
7 Come now, and clasp my hands, and touch my feet, and lay your hands upon my head.
8 And every one came up and clasped his hands, and touched his feet, and laid his hands upon his head.
9 And Jesus said, Have you here anything to eat?
10 And they brought out a fragment of a fish; he ate it in the presence of them all, and then the ten believed.
11 Nathaniel said, And now we know that he has risen from the dead; he stands a surety of the resurrection of the dead. And Jesus disappeared.
12 Now, Mary, Martha, Ruth and Lazarus were in their home, and they had heard the rumor that their Lord had risen from the dead, and Martha said,
13 It cannot be, for such a thing has never happened since the world began.
14 But Mary said, Did not the Lord bring back our brother from the dead? and he could surely bring himself to life again.
15 And as they talked, the Lord stood in their midst and said,
16 All hail! for I am risen from the dead, first fruitage of the grave!
17 And Martha ran and brought the chair in which the Lord had ever loved to sit, and Jesus sat down on the chair.
18 And for a long, long time they talked about the trial, and the scenes of Calvary and of the garden of Siloam.
19 Then Jesus said, Fear not, for I will be your boon companion all the way; and then he disappeared.
CHAPTER 176
Jesus appears, fully materialized, to the eastern sages in the palace of Prince Ravanna in India. To the magian priests in Persia. The three wise men speak in praise of the personality of the Nazarene.
Ravanna, prince of India, gave a feast. His palace in Orissa was the place where men of thought from all the farther East were wont to meet.
2 Ravanna was the prince with whom child Jesus went to India many years ago.
3 The feast was made in honor of the wise men of the East.
4 Among the guests were Meng-ste, Vidyapati and Lamaas.
5 The wise men sat about the table talking of the needs of India and the world.
6 The door unto the banquet hall was in the east; a vacant chair was at the table to the east.
7 And as the wise men talked a stranger entered, unannounced, and raising up his hands in benediction said, All hail!
8 A halo rested on his head, and light, unlike the light of sun, filled all the room.
9 The wise men rose and bowed their heads and said, All hail!
10 And Jesus sat down in the vacant chair; and then the wise men knew it was the Hebrew prophet who had come.
11 And Jesus said, Behold, for I am risen from the dead. Look at my hands, my feet, my side.
12 The Roman soldiers pierced my hands and feet with nails; and then one pierced my heart.
13 They put me in a tomb, and then I wrestled with the conqueror of men. I conquered death, I stamped upon him and arose;
14 Brought immortality to light and painted on the walls of time a rainbow for the sons of men; and what I did all men shall do.
15 This gospel of the resurrection of the dead is not confined to Jew and Greek; it is the heritage of every man of every time and clime; and I am here a demonstration of the power of man.
16 Then he arose and pressed the hand of every man and of the royal host, and said,
17 Behold, I am not myth made of the fleeting winds, for I am flesh and bone and brawn; but I can cross the borderland at will.
18 And then they talked together there a long, long time. Then Jesus said,
19 I go my way, but you shall go to all the world and preach the gospel of the omnipotence of man, the power of truth, the resurrection of the dead;
20 He who believes this gospel of the son of man shall never die; the dead shall live again.
21 Then Jesus disappeared, but he had sown the seed. The words of life were spoken in Orissa, and all of India heard.
22 The magian priests were in the silence in Persepolis, and Kaspar, and the magian masters who were first to greet the child of promise in the shepherd’s home in Bethlehem, were with the priests.
23 And Jesus came and sat with them; a crown of light was on his head.
24 And when the silence ended Kaspar said, A master from the royal council of the Silent Brotherhood is here; let us give praise.