I set out two weeks ago to present a series of sermons on the inner sense of Jesus, and as I’ve researched and meditated on this topic I came to feel that I had bitten off more than I could chew. There is so much here when we consider the inner sense of the Gospels that it would take a lifetime of sermons just to do it justice, My overall goal, and I hope that it is a manageable one, is to get us thinking less about Jesus as a historical figure, which he certainly was, and more of what Jesus represents in the context of our development. Two week ago, we considered the inner sense of what Jesus said in the Beatitudes. Last week we considered the correspondences of his first healing miracles. Today I hope to address a few ideas about what Jesus himself may mean to our continuously developing spirituality. In other words, what does Jesus correspond to?
People have argued for centuries about the essential nature of Jesus of Nazareth, and it is not my intention this morning to answer that question definitively. No human being can, and for the same reason as why no one can accurately diagnose the spiritual state of another person. It is enough for any one of us to come to know ourselves without having to know somebody else as well. So out of humility I’m not going to make any claims about Jesus’ genetics or his particular uniqueness compared to the rest of humankind. These things are a matter of belief, and you may incorporate into your belief any idea that makes sense to you. I’m not ever going to stand up here and tell you what to believe. That’s between you and the One God who gives you life. I can, however, talk about Jesus’ unique position within the larger narrative of the Bible, and that in itself is pretty wondrous.
I would maintain that Swedenborg’s major contribution to Christianity is the idea that the biblical story directly reflects our spiritual development. To put that another way—one that I heard often in my younger years—that the biblical story, from Genesis through Revelation, is the story of a single soul—our soul. In the course of our life, we experience a creation and the beginnings of our faith, we experience the entanglements that come with living in a material world, the advent of our conscious spirituality as it begins to rise above the appearances of our natural lives, we experience the struggle to bring our understanding into harmony with our loves, and to bring both into harmony with the Divine spirit that permeates and empowers all of Creation. As humans, we experience all of these things, and they are all depicted in the biblical story. The Bible relates to us a journey, and that journey is ours, which strongly suggests that we can understand our own experience by becoming more familiar with this story.
Further, all the characters in this story are to be found within us as well. Abraham and Sarah equate with our emerging sense of innocent faith. Jacob our struggles with living a life of faith as part of a material world. Moses is the law that guides us through the wilderness. Joshua is the means by which we establish spirituality as an active factor in our life. David pictures our best intentions, choosing to be led by the Divine in all of our choices, and the rest of the Kings of Israel and Judah illustrate our developing doctrines, our rules for life. The Prophets are the voices of our conscience, helping us to understand the falsities that we have inadvertently incorporated into our dealings with the world and our belief systems. This whole progression of increasingly sophisticated spiritual principles, all of these people in the story, through challenge and catastrophe and recovery, leads up to one figure—Jesus of Nazareth—the culmination of human growth and a picture of the love and wisdom that is possible when the Divine joins with the natural, and begins to work unimpeded within it.
Here is my point today: if Abraham is our childhood faith and Moses is our understanding of the Law, then Jesus can be understood as our Best Self. Jesus represents the spiritual maturity that we’ve been growing toward all this time. By this I do not mean that we are all destined to fulfill the same role as Jesus—performing miracles, reordering the hells for the benefit of all humankind, etc. These things flow from Jesus’ particular purpose. I’m saying that Jesus correspondsto a stage in our growth when all the lessons that the Lord has been teaching us have been received and learned, and we are ready to put them into action in a responsible fashion. Jesus corresponds to a point at which the vulnerabilities of our human natures are overcome, when our personal shortcomings no longer rule our outlook or our behavior. We have achieved a life that has been cleansed of selfishness, and we begin to hear clearly, for the first time, the voice of the Divine at the core of our being. Our Best Self.
How do we get there, you ask? It is by engaging in the journey, the process of spiritual growth, or as Swedenborg referred to it, regeneration. We approach our Best Self by maintaining our humility and by doing what we need to do to put off the self-centeredness, the irrational fears, and the unhealthy desires that impede our growth. We get there by first admitting to ourselves that we’re not there yet. And every time we manage to let go of our bitterness, our resentments, our need to control others, our desire to make everyone conform to our sensibilities...when we can quit that foolishness, we take another step toward embracing our Best Self.
I think its obvious from our readings that Jesus admired John the Baptist. He said wonderful things about the man. Among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. He said that John was more than a prophet, and even said that he was Elijah who is to come. What could he have meant by that? Looking at the long series of names in the Word, we find that a few have a special relationship to each other. Cain and Abel. Jacob and Esau. Moses and Aaron. Joshua and Caleb. Elijah and Elisha. Swedenborg wrote that in each of these pairs, one corresponded to an “internal” quality and one to an “external quality”. In most cases, one represented the understanding or the intellectwhich is usually more discernible than the will and therefore “exterior” to the will, and the other the will or affectionitself, which gives rise to our thoughts and is therefore more “external”. Another way to say this is that the two representgoodness and truth, in which truth cloaks goodness and is usually the first to be realized. In each of these pairs of people, one must develop first. One rises to preeminence first. In some cases one supplants the other and becomes the focus of the story that proceeds.
I could go into more detail, but frankly you don’t want this sermon to last all day. I only want to say that the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth is consistent with what has come before in the story. John the Baptist, who preceded Jesus in his mission, corresponds to an “external” understanding of the Word, full of truths enthusiastically expressed, while Jesus brought a more “internal” understanding, one that infuses Divine love. This mirrors the relationship between Elijah, who taught Israel first during the period of the kings, and then Elisha, who afterward acted with such love toward others, which is why Jesus identified John as Elijah, the one who prepared the people with truth so that they could begin to understand the importance of love. John the Baptist recognized Jesus’ deeper nature, but Jesus insisted that John baptize him instead because it is an understanding of the Word that must precede a love for living by the Word. One might say that Jesus completed John in this light, just as Elisha completed Elijah or our emerging devotion to love and wisdom completes our understanding of it.
So, Jesus corresponds to the Word in us as we have realized it, working through all prior stages to arrive at a spiritual state in which an understanding of the Word and a love for the Word in all of Creation have come together in us into one harmonious union. Jesus is the culmination of every character and event that has come before him, the attainment of a peaceful resolution in a journey that has been filled with struggle and uncertainty, the long-awaited establishment of “heaven on earth”.
Just imagine what that life would be like! All the wounds of our childhood no longer fill us with sadness or anger, because we can see how they have prepared us for good. All our anxieties put to rest, because we can finally trust that the One God is leading us in a good direction. Imagine a life where what used to tempt us to think only of ourselves no longer has any power over us, where putting the needs of others ahead of our own wants is no longer an inconvenience, but a joy! Can you imagine always knowing the right thing to do, because the love that the Lord has implanted and nurtured in you makes everything clear? We all have moments of clarity, and bursts of outrageous love, but can you imagine being in such a heavenly state all the time, continuously and without interruption? The Gospels tell of people bringing all sorts of challenging questions and requests to Jesus and he saw through every one, consistently choosing to speak to the heart of the matter. Can you imagine yourself with that kind of perception, where you can find the seed of love in every set of circumstances and gently coax it into growth?
Some might say that’s unattainable, but I’m not so sure. I tend to believe that when we can act as conduits for heaven’s love, then good things happen around us. We are not called upon to become Jesus or to do the specific things that Jesus did, but we are all tasked in this life with the work of becoming living vessels of heavenly love and wisdom, and I don’t think that a loving God would set us up to fail. Our Best Self is something we all have in us. As long as we can observe ourselves and summon the strength of character to refuse the urges to act contrary to heavenly love and wisdom, I believe we can achieve our Best Self. If this sounds like a daunting task, it is. But we have the Divine to guide us, and the Word to inspire us. I hope that you have people in your life that you can be open and honest with, with whom you are willing to admit all your personal challenges. That helps.
Like the biblical story, the road to our Best Self is long and laced with obstacles, but there’s really no better way to get where we need to be. I for one cannot think of a better New Year’s resolution than to set your feet upon that path and start walking, dealing with whatever you find getting in your way, and carrying this story, a story that culminates with such an amazing and thoroughly regenerated spirit, always within your heart.
We acknowledge that every day is a new day, Lord of Love and Wisdom, when we realize you have given us another opportunity to practice being our Best Self. Help us to keep one goal fixed in our hearts and minds—to become active, joyful participants in your emerging heaven. Kindle in us the courage to be points of light in a world where darkness and apathy often seem to be winning. Like Jesus of Nazareth, who knew how to contend with evils and falsities, help us to live the love that is necessary for bringing out the best in each other. May we all be inspired to complete the story that you began by working to build the New Jerusalem within us and among us. Amen.
READINGS
Isaiah 42:1-4
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 11:7-15
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!
Reading from Emanuel Swedenborg’s Arcana Coelestia (Secrets of Heaven) 3004:
When the two names of our Lord, “Jesus Christ”, are mentioned, few have any other idea that they are proper names, and almost like the names of any other person, but more holy. The learned do indeed know that “Jesus” means “Saviour” and “Christ” [means] “the anointed”, and they thence apprehend some interior idea. But still it is not these things which the angels in heaven perceive from these names. They are things still more Divine; namely, by “Jesus”, when it is named by a person who is reading the Word, they perceive the Divine good; and by “Christ”, the Divine truth; and by both, the Divine marriage of good and truth, and of truth and good; thus everything Divine in the heavenly marriage, which is heaven.
