June Trinity
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| Crijn Hendricksz |
John 3: 1-17
There was a man in the circle of the Pharisees, whose name
was Nicodemus; he held high rank among the Jews. He came to Jesus in the night
and said, “Master, we know that you are a high teacher of mankind, come to us
from God, for no one can do such signs of the Spirit as you do unless God
himself is working together with him in his deeds.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “The truth out of the spirit
I say to you: whoever is not born anew from above cannot behold the kingdom of
God.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born again when he
is old? Can he return to his mother’s womb to be born again a second time?
Jesus answered, “the truth out of the spirit I say to you:
whoever remains as he is, and does not come to a new birth out of the formative
power of the water and out of the breath of the spirit [or, …and is not born
anew out of the spiritual power of eternal becoming and out of being touched by
the might of the spirit world] cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What is
born out of earthly elements is of earthly nature. But what is born out of the
breath of the spirit, is itself spirit. Do not wonder that I said to you that
you must be born anew from above. The spirit wind blows where it will; you hear
the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it is going.
So it is with everyone who is born anew out of the breath of the spirit.
Nicodemus replied and said to him, “How can one attain
this?”
Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and do not
know? Amen, the truth I say to you: we speak of what we know, and we bear
witness to what we have seen in the spirit, but none of you accepts our
testimony. When I speak to you of earthly things and you do not believe them,
how shall you believe when I want to speak to you of heavenly things? No one
has ascended to the spiritual world who has not previously descended out of the
spiritual world, that is, the Son of Man.
Just as Moses once lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who finds his power in
their hearts can win a share in the higher life beyond time. God has so loved
the world that he has given his only begotten Son. From now on, no one who
fills himself with his power shall perish, for he will share in timeless,
higher life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn it, but in
order that the world be saved [healed] through him, and not fall prey to ruin.”
June Trinity
June 14, 2015
John 3: 1-17
Each human being has two sets of parents. Our earthly
parents made possible the birth of our physical body. At the same time a second
set of parents are also at work. Mother Earth offers her great body to support,
to nourish and sustain all her children. And our Spirit Father sends our
eternal spirits into the earthly body, again and again. Yet, as the poet says,
‘our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.[1] We
don’t remember the spiritual home from which we have come.
Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus tries to indicate that
there is yet another layer to being born, another way, while we are still in
bodies on earth. Our spirits can be touched by the power of development,
touched by the might of the spiritual world. And this is the birth of a second
Man in us. It is an awakening and a remembering. We awaken to the reality of
our spiritual nature; we remember our spiritual home; we move on the breath of
love.
When Nicodemus asks how to accomplish this, Christ foretells
the deed that will make this possible for all human beings. He is lifted up on
the cross, arms outstretched, embracing the whole world in love. He ascends to
the place where the world is eternally created and sustained. He sends the
living spirit of love and understanding to enlighten our thoughts.
He, Christ, is indeed the renewer of the world. Through our
love for Him, we too can be reborn, here and now, out of the might and power of
the good beings of the spiritual world.
…for many now can hear again
the word of angels: Do not fear!
New light and sound in us appear
for strengthened heart and
wakened ear.[2]
