The Messiah Herald Issue 08 January 2018 | Page 12

COVER STORY THE KINGDOM OF GOD P ERHAPS THE CLEAREST indications that Jesus gave about his origins can be found in the famous Gospel of Thomas 1 . Jesus invited his disciples towards his kingdom. He declared, ‘I shall give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 17] The argument that Jesus Christ was speaking about the paradise is flawed. Before Jesus’ advent, many prophets and messengers had told humanity about the paradise in the life hereafter. Therefore, human beings had been aware of the paradise for centuries before Jesus. Many had aspired to attain it by virtue of good deeds in their lives. Adam himself had resided in the paradise before being cast out and so he had seen, heard and touched the paradise. Jesus even asserted, ‘Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 85] ‘My kingdom is not part of this world. If it were, those who serve me would fight. They would try to keep the Jews from arresting me. My kingdom is from another place.’ [JOHN 18:36] 1 Although not given due significance in canonical text, Thomas was a close disciple to Jesus Christ. Jesus shared his esoteric secrets with Thomas and performed Spiritual Infusion on him. When friends of Thomas asked him about the divine secrets Jesus shared with him, he replied, ‘If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you.’ [Gospel of Thomas, 13] ‘From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is so much greater than John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will recognise the kingdom and will become greater than John.‘ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 46] In MATHEW 11:11 , Jesus states, ‘No one more important than John the Baptist has ever been born. But the least important person in the Kingdom of heaven is more important than he is.’ Jesus said, ‘Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 82] From Jesus’ own words, it is clear that he was inviting his disciples to a place beyond the Garden of Eden mentioned in the Book of Genesis. The kingdom Jesus spoke of was his very own kingdom in the Unseen World where his chosen ones would be given new, everlasting life. IS JESUS A THREAT TO MONOTHEISM? For centuries, monotheistic religions have preached that there is only one God, so it is an established belief system. All the prophets spoke about one God. Some may claim that believing Jesus to be from the Unseen World contradicts God’s oneness, but this is not so. The Unseen World and the Divine Society exist outside the limits of our universe. They are not known to humankind and they do not interfere with God’s authority over his creation. Just as a good spouse is faithful despite there being many other members of the opposite sex, if you find out that there are God-like individuals besides your creator, it should not impact your relationship with God. Jesus came here in the guise of a prophet; he was given the Holy Spirit to connect the seekers with God. In addition to drawing aspirants towards God, he granted those who loved him the divine secrets pertaining to his being. SPIRITUAL INFUSION I N THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS, JESUS explains how he would transport his followers to his kingdom. When they asked how they would enter the kingdom, Jesus said they would enter like babies. ‘When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 22] The text above refers to a process known as Spiritual Infusion, a journey from humanity to divinity. In Spiritual Infusion, a person’ s soul is so profoundly and permanently saturated with Jesus Christ’s presence that it loses its own identity. It takes on the identity of the Lord himself. Regarding Spiritual Infusion, Jesus told his disciples, ‘Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 108] Speaking to Thomas, Jesus said, ‘I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 13] Spiritual Infusion is like combining black tea and milk in a cup. Once the process is done, you cannot differentiate between the individual ingredients. They take on a new form that is not entirely tea and not entirely milk. Someone who has gone through Spiritual Infusion appears to be a human being, but they are no longer so in reality. They have journeyed from humanity to divinity. Perhaps this is why Jesus told his close disciples, ‘If your leaders say to you, “Look, the kingdom is in the sky,” then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, “It is in the sea,” then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 3] When Jesus divulged divine secrets in front of Mary, Peter objected because he believed women should not be given such knowledge. Jesus replied, ‘I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 114] This was an indication that he intended to perform Spiritual Infusion upon her. When someone has gone through Spiritual Infusion, they lose the limitations of humanity. They gain access to the origin. They are then worthy of entering the Unseen World where Jesus’ kingdom is. Jesus said, ‘If they say to you, “Where have you come from?” say to them, “We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.” [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 50] ‘Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.’ [GOSPEL OF THOMAS, 18] PLEASE NOTE: Spiritual Infusion is the culmination of a seeker’s journey to proximity of Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual progress begins with the enlightenment of the Spiritual Heart. For this purpose, we highly recommend that you try the method of enlightenment mentioned on page 14. 13