by John-Peter Gernaat In our study of John’s Gospel in October we learned something of the structure that John has used. John describes signs that Jesus did. Other Gospel writers may have referred to these as miracles or healings. John describes seven signs of Jesus and also seven “I am”-statements. Between two signs, John includes stories that bridge the one sign to the next.
The first sign is the turning of water to wine at the wedding feast in Cana. The stories that follow all have something to do with worship – the way we relate to God. We learn about this in the cleansing of the temple; in the understanding that we are born from above; in the experience of what it is to be the friend of the Bridegroom; and in the questions related to worship that Jesus asks the Samaritan woman at the well. Each sign can be related to one of the sacraments. This makes it clear that the sacraments with which we are familiar, are archetypal. The first sign relates to baptism. The jars that are used by the servants are jars for purification. Jesus, as Christ, becomes Lord of Nature, turning water to wine. Baptism is the establishment of a relationship to God through a community. Baptism related a child to a community. The second sign, the healing of the son of the courtier, describes a man willing to work with the inner reality and who does not need outer signs. The boy is suffering from a fever. This is a metaphor for the transition from childhood into adolescence. This sign relates to the sacrament of Confirmation. There are clear numerological indications in the story: Jesus goes “after two days” and the healing occurs at the seventh hour. Together we arrive at fourteen, the age of transition. Jesus confirms that the son will live. This is a confirmation that the boy will have new capacities to take on the challenges of life. There are no stories between the second and the third sign. The third sign is of the man who has spent thirty eight years waiting to enter the pool called Bethesda so that he might be healed. The man confesses the reality of his life to Jesus. This sign is performed before the man’s fortieth year (the period of gestation). Before the condition he has suffered from is confirmed, he is released from it. He is made whole. This sign is related to the sacrament of Consultation (Confession). After the fourth sign is the discourse that Jesus has about the working of the Father and of the Son and the witnessing for the Son. We come to understand the life which the Father bears in his being is also given to the Son to bear. We hear this in the Act of Consecration of Man in the words that follow each of the three prayers before the Communion: He who bears and orders the life of the world as He receives it from the Father … Then comes the fourth sign followed immediately by the fifth sign. The fourth sign is the feeding of the five thousand and the fifth sign is of Jesus appearing to the disciples as they cross the sea by night and the waters having become tumultuous through a wind. These two signs were discussed in depth for the significance that they reveal.
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Report by John-Peter Gernaat The gospel reading on the first Sunday of Trinity before Advent was from Revelation 1. The description of the Son of Man described by John confused me the many times that I read it. Who is it who is behind John when he turns around? Is it Jesus resurrected? That is the usual interpretation. Understanding that this is also the Future Human Being filled with the Christ, fully transformed a Spirit Human, is never a description presented by Bible study teachers or preachers. So it was with great interest that I listened to the Introduction to the Book of Revelation presented by Rev. Michael Merle on 29 November 2023.
This talk gave us a sense of the Book of Revelation and presented a context, in preparation for further talks that will go into more depth and detail. The Book of Revelation is a particularly unusual work and really stands out from the rest of the New Testament. The New Testament can be seen to be made of four parts: the Gospels; the Acts of the Apostles - which is the continuation of the events after the ascension and considered to have been written by Luke; the various letters written to congregations and certain individuals; and the Book of Revelation. The images presented in the Book of Revelation have caused several commentators to question why it is a part of the New Testament. There is one book in the Old Testament that also stands out and is filled with visions and tells of a dragon. This is the Book of Daniel. The Book of Daniel is interestingly composed and is written in two languages; it begins in Hebrew changes to Aramaic and ends again in Hebrew. The Protestant bibles contain only part of Daniel while the Catholic Bible contains an additional three stories. The Protestants considered Daniel to form one of the Prophets, but in the structure presented in Hebrew scripture Daniel forms part of the Writings that follow the Prophets. The Aramaic part of the book of Daniel is very carefully structured and contains a lot of mirroring. The book as a whole can be divided into two parts: what was happening in the court with the changing of culture and history and then the revelations given to Daniel. The Book of Revelation has a strong connection to the Book of Daniel because the Book of Daniel brings us the first picture of the Son of Man – an archetype of the human being, the son of humanity standing as a future image. What was read in the gospel reading earlier on the same day would have resounded for anyone who knew the Book of Daniel - his hair as white as snow, white as wool is the description from the Book of Daniel. It would have been a description that the reader would immediately have recognised as it contains a picture that they would have understood. The colour white described here does not describe the age of the Son of Man, but rather a colour that best reflects light. It represents a very different quality, as in the description of the Transfiguration or of the angels in the tomb after the resurrection, standing in white, bright shining robes. The Book of Revelation is written in the tradition that is now referred to, properly, as apocalyptic literature. ‘Apocalypse’ is the Greek word for revelation it does not refer to terrible times, as it is often used today. Thus, apocalyptic literature, in scriptural terms, is the literature of revelation. The book of Ezekiel contains a lot of apocalyptic literature. In the gospel by Luke, in chapter 21, Jesus speaks of what is coming and reveals a picture that is apocalyptic. The apocalyptic pictures always contained within them the seed of overcoming. It is not a guarantee of overcoming but the potential is there. For example: “Stand in these tumultuous times”; “Don’t lose heart…”. In the Book of Daniel, we encounter the three young men in the fiery furnace and Daniel in the lion's den; these are apocalyptic times where those experiencing them survive because they do not lose their head and find their strength, God-given, that they take hold of. The Book of Revelation, like the Book of Daniel, is carefully structured, in its 22 chapters. The first chapter of the Book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, Christ is revealed as the archetype of the future human being; here is the human being fully filled with the divine, with what, in anthroposophical terms, is called Spirit Human. This is the future towards which we are evolving, depicted very much in the imagery of the Book of Daniel (the Son of Man): the human being to which we will give birth. One could say that what John sees before him is the son to which he will give birth, which is a picture of Christ in the human being. The second and the third chapter of the Book of Revelation are devoted to the letters to the seven churches. These chapters are very key for us as we are still a community that respects a letter from the Angel. Our epistle (which means letter) at the beginning and at the end of the Act of Consecration of Man is not just a prayer; the epistles are letters written to us and it is our response in the same letter that goes back to the angelic world. These epistles have a place in the overall movement and form of the sacrament: they belong properly to the right-hand side of the altar. Chapter 4 is a vision of heaven: the curtain is drawn aside, the heavenly court is unveiled. John is not dreaming this vision, he is living this vision, he has been drawn up into the spiritual world. He walks into the Throne Room of God where no other human being has walked in and come back to report on it. This is how we know that this John is Lazarus, he has gone through his initiation, his temple sleep and more. We have a real sense that he can now cross the threshold and go into the spiritual world and return to tell us. There are elements in his vision in chapter 4 that echo the prophet Ezekiel, rather than the Book of Daniel. He sees an angelic group in the imagery that Ezekiel saw, this unusual, mysterious imagery. This is a description of one of the groups of angelic beings described as wheels within wheels within wheels, which is a rather unusual description for a group of beings. They are the Thrones. What is described is movement within movement within movement, so we have to go beyond the literal description, but still hold onto what the picture opens up. Chapter 5 introduces us to the sealed book of future events. The book has to be opened up, the seven seals have to be broken and pictures have to be revealed. This is important because this chapter starts with pictures, this is about, what in Anthroposophical terms, we call Imagination. We discovered that we really have to develop an imagination, a picture of what we are now and what we are becoming. Chapter 6 is the opening of the seals and Chapter 7 also is still with the seals and chapter 8 is the opening of the 7th seal. With the 7th seal comes the next stage; after Imagination - our capacity and quality to perceive pictures in the spiritual world - we come to a quality of new hearing, Inspiration. We come to the seven trumpets, to sound. Sound of the trumpets brings the inspiration. We have the unfolding of the earth evolution and the ending of earth evolution as we know it with the great cosmic storm that is described in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 brings us to humanity at the threshold of the spirit world. Chapter 11 is the measuring of the temple and the altar with the 7th trumpet. These qualities inform the form of the Act of Consecration of Man. The picture of the priest with the censor is the priest measuring the altar. The priest is demarcating the altar so that the spiritual world becomes aware of where it is that this extraordinary event of transubstantiation is taking place. The censing makes the altar visible to the spiritual world and it becomes visible to the human being by measuring it out, its length, it's breadth, its depth. The seven sticks bearing light are visible on our altar. They are there because there is no more that one can do. In the old Catholic Mass, there was a hierarchy from two candles, to six candles to seven candles. Only when a Bishop was celebrating were seven candles placed upon the altar. The priests in The Christian Community are ordained to worthily celebrate all the sacraments, including the sacrament of ordination. The Act of Consecration of Man, as the renewed sacrament, renrews the highest form of sacrament one might hope to celebrate in the old form. Chapter 12 is the vision of the cosmic woman, the woman clothed with the sun, resting her feet upon the moon, crowned with 12 stars, giving birth; and the war in heaven with the dragon. There is the story of Bel and the Dragon in the book of Daniel. The dragon represents something very real. In chapter 13 we have the two beasts and the purpose of two evils; and the great mystery of numbers is represented, the number 666 – what happens when you fall short of 777, and what that represents and why that is evil, because it looks so like the full thing and yet it is not. This is of the wonder of evil, that it can approach this mystery of looking so like what is pretending to be, but is not – the great act of pretence. Then there is the fall of Babylon and the Marriage of the Lamb, the dividing of the spirits and now, having moved through Imagination and Inspiration, we arrive at Intuition. Intuition is represented by the seven bowls which the angels have to tip and pour onto the world. They pour out onto the world the passion of God, the intensity of God’s gaze and activity. We have gone from picture, to hearing, to action. We see this also in the structure of the Act of Consecration of Man. The picture comes from the Gospel: there we have the picture in words, and we have it in the sermon as well, a picture one can work with. Rudolf Steiner’s instruction to the first priests was that their sermon should leave the congregation with a picture. Then we hear the inspired words, on the offertory, that bring about the reality of the action of transubstantiation in the third part of our Sacrament, not just of bread and wine, but of all of us: our consecration, our transubstantiation is at play here. The fall of Babylon represents the fall of the corruption that the human being has brought onto the earth, that falls away. Then we have the song of deliverance which comes with the rider on the white horse. This is an extraordinary image that is not exclusive to Christianity. Hinduism work with many revelations of the divine, one of which is the Buddha. The Buddha is considered the ninth revelation of the ten revelations of the divine. The tenth manifestation, which is yet to come, is the rider on the white horse. It is an image of divinity in the future bringing something to humanity. In chapter 20 we have the fall of Satan and the 1000 years, which has been interpreted differently by many different groups. Finally, we come to chapters 21 and 22: the New Heaven and the New Earth of chapter 21, and the new Heavenly City of chapter 22. The new Heavenly City is the City in which the River of Life flows along the central concourse of the City and on either side the Tree of Life: on this side and on that. So it is one Tree on both sides of the River, or one could imagine an avenue of Trees on both sides of the river. We are to become the Tree of Life, so the Tree of Life in the City represents us. We are alive, bearing life, and the leaves of the Tree is for the healing of the nations. We have a sense that we are to become the healer, not only being whole ourselves, but offering wholeness to others. Here we now have a sense of the important structure of the Book of Revelation:
The Book of Revelation can be seen as a guide, not of the life that brought us life, as the gospels are a guide, but rather how we live that life. It is a guidebook to being Christian. So, it is not about the past, it is not about the future, it is not about the present, it is about all of them, it is about right now, where we are, right now in our present lives. It is about the hardships of every life in every age. Unfortunately, none of us are spared. How do we stand in this storm of life, how do we manage it? It unfolds the path from Imagination to Inspiration to Intuition. This book is an attempt to show us the way to the true fulfilment of our being through Christ, from the opening picture of the Son of Man, to the closing picture of being a Tree of Life in the new Heavenly Jerusalem, It is the seed of the future. The most amazing thing about the Book of Revelation is that it is not the end. We have the picture in chapter 21 where “every tear is wiped away”, no more pain, no more suffering, no more death. This is the picture of the Buddha’s view of Nirvana. One might think that it is over. And a new verse begins: “and I heard a voice that says: I make all things new”. The seed is taken from the fruiting of one season and planted for the next season. “I am the originator and the fulfiller”; I bring things into being and I bring things to their fulfilment so that the new can begin. It is a book that introduces us to the first and to the second death – we will speak more about that at another time – about transition; about spiritualisation; about transubstantiation; and about our evolution to the future Spirit Human Being. Some may wonder why the Book of Revelation made it into the canon of scripture. There are some scholars and theologians who say that if we lost every book of the Bible and could keep only one, it should be the Book of Revelation, because it has the whole picture in it, if one knows how to read it. In the training of the priests for The Christian Community Rudolf Steiner gave several courses, but the only book out of the whole of scripture that formed the theme of one of the most important courses in the preparation of priests, was the course on the Book of Revelation. This is our book, more than any other in the New Testament, to explore, to understand, to guide. The ending of the Prologue of John’s gospel tells us that no one has beheld the Father, and now the Son comes as a guide in this beholding of the divine. It is equally a good description of the Book of Revelation. John has beheld and has written for us how we to can become beholders of the Spiritual Worlds and of all that only manifests and carry. OctoberList of articles
The Tribes of Israel Reconsidered, The new way into the New Jerusalem - the way of Zebulun4/10/2023 by Rev. Michaël Merle
In Chapter 21 of The Revelation to John (The Book of the Apocalypse: Revelation) we read part of the description of the New Jerusalem, a picture of a mighty vision experienced by John in the Spiritual World: “The city has a great and high wall and twelve gates. And on the gates twelve angels, and names were written on them: the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.” (verse 12) This year we hope to uncover an understanding of the twelve ways in which we can enter the New Jerusalem. The way of Zebulun Zebulun is a merchant: a trader and businessperson, whose work generates economic growth – a growing commonwealth of enterprise and initiative. His role is to enter the marketplace and redeem the Divine sparks within the material world. This task is described in Deuteronomy as making manifest “the affluence of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.” Zebulun, as one of the twelve, is closely associated with his brother Issachar. Issachar and Zebulun are the last two sons of Leah (Jacob’s first wife). These two sons were born after she had consumed mandrakes from the field to make herself fertile to bear Jacob more sons. From this fertility came two brothers who remained connected and close. Zebulun complements Issachar: they forge a partnership. Zebulun supports the scholar, he funds houses of scholarship, which earns him a right to partake in the reward of Issachar’s studies. This picture well captures the principle that should work in society: the fruit of the fraternal work of the economic sphere should fund the work of study undertaken freely in the sphere of our human liberty. The first Waldorf school was founded on this model. Emil Molt, out of his business enterprise, funded the school for free thinking and future entrepreneurship. This made it possible for everyone who desired such an education to receive it without costs being a barrier. This remarkable connection of the spheres of fraternity and liberty is captured in the archetypal partnership of Zebulun and Issachar. Stephanie Georgieff's visit to JohannesburgStefanie Georgieff visited Johannesburg on her way to Namibia where where will be holding a two week excursion and retreat with a small group of people. While in Johannesburg, Stephanie gave two talks at The Christian Community and one at the Anthroposophical Society. Etheric Geography presented by Stephanie Georgieff Report by John-Peter Gernaat Stephanie Georgieff presented a talk on Friday 8 September 2023 on the etheric geography of Africa. Stephanie was visiting Johannesburg in transit to Namibia where she was to hold a two-week workshop and safari on the topic of the search for the Sacred Origins of Africa. Stephanie pointed to the work of Rudolf Steiner on the understanding that the seven planets, as we here in Johannesburg know well, were recognised by the Ancient Sumerians – the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, gifted the earth with the seven base metals. This is an understanding that originated in the ancient world for which Rudolf Steiner presented an imagination of the formative processes. The sun gifted the earth with gold. There are ancient African traditions that connect the story of creation to the influence of the sun. Stephanie draws a correlation with the abundance of gold in southern Africa to the ancient wisdom of the sun connection to Africa. Stephanie draws on the research and writings of Dean Liprini (https://sacredsitesfoundation.co.za/) who proposes that ancient peoples in the western Cape created a very large network of rock artifacts that align with the light of the rising and setting sun of the Solstices and the Equinoxes. Through this Stephanie proposes a further connection of the ancient African peoples to the sun and an understanding of the movements of the heavens above them. Stephanie draws on the work by Robert Powell (Robert A. Powell, PhD, is an internationally known lecturer, author, eurythmist, and movement therapist) who connects the seven planets to the seven continents and assigns Jerusalem and Golgotha to the be the heart of the world. If one assigns chakra points to the earth, then Golgotha would be the heart chakra of the earth. Powell connects Golgotha with Africa and this makes Africa the heart chakra of the earth. The sun as the centre of the solar system can be connected with the heart chakra. Africa receives the most amount of sunshine hours of all the continents. The lion is connected with heart and with the spirituality of Africa. Through these associations Stephanie refers to Africa as the Golden Heart of the world. What arises for me is the question that, if the picture presented by Stephanie is true about the etheric geography of Africa, how does this work into the soul life of the inhabitants of Africa and how can we, as The Christian Community in Africa, connect with these Golden Heart soul forces to present ourselves as the movement in the renewal of religion for those whose religious connection is with these Golden Heart soul forces? |
The Tribes of Israel Reconsidered, The new way into the New Jerusalem - The way of Issachar Issachar was a scholar. Scholarship provides wisdom in understanding, clarity of comprehension, and direction. Good scholarship is the foundation of any system. Issachar represents the inspiration to immerse in study and education. | The New Decalogue by Rev. Michaël Merle The purpose of this talk is to connect again with the ten pericopes, the ten passages carefully selected from the gospels, for the ten Sundays between St John’s and Michaelmas. These readings are carefully chosen to take us on a journey from the message of John the Baptist and what he is announcing through to what Michael is now able to do in our times. |
Africa Seminary Module 3 of 2023 on the theme of Cultivating a relationship to the Etheric Christ, exploring the Encounter with the Christ in Life The module was presented by Rev. Michaël Merle in the form of an introductory talk on Friday night, a series of activities related to finding the Christ in the other on Saturday and a closing talk on Sunday. There are reports by Javier Kirigin, Michèle Shiess and John-Peter Gernaat on the Africa Seminary website by clicking the button below. | MaTiga Fund The work Thomas Linders and I do in the rural Free State has exposed us firsthand to the “forgotten people”. Extreme poverty, addictions and violence are experienced by our neighbours. We know that with radical care this can change, and what better way to finance care and healing initiatives, than with change! We are requesting R10 per month (in perpetuity) from millions of South Africans. |
Ferndale Community Market - 26 August 2023 After a week of early spring weather, Saturday 26 August dawned with a chill in the air. This meant that the sunny driveway and parking bays were the ideal location to host the Ferndale Community Market. |
The Tribes of Israel Reconsidered, The new way into the New Jerusalem - the way of Issachar
9/9/2023
In Chapter 21 of The Revelation to John (The Book of the Apocalypse: Revelation) we read part of the description of the New Jerusalem, a picture of a mighty vision experienced by John in the Spiritual World: “The city has a great and high wall and twelve gates. And on the gates twelve angels, and names were written on them: the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.” (verse 12)
This year we hope to uncover an understanding of the twelve ways in which we can enter the New Jerusalem.
The way of Issachar
Issachar was a scholar. Scholarship provides wisdom in understanding, clarity of comprehension, and direction. Good scholarship is the foundation of any system. Issachar represents the inspiration to immerse in study and education.
The symbols associated with Issachar provide us with the two fundamental aspects of what he represents for us as one of the ways into our future unfolding. The first symbol associated with Issachar is an astronomical configuration: the sun surrounded by stars. Issachar was to give the whole of Israel’s family and descendants knowledge of the unfolding of time. This symbol speaks to the various great cycles of time that pass in the course of time: each star representing a constellation of time and development. It is not unusual for eight stars to be represented in a circle around the sun. These speak of an eight-fold path or steps on the way that remind us that the true understanding of development is not only an outer one but also an inner one. The second symbol of Issachar is that of the donkey: the strong, hard working, humble donkey. Here we understand that the inner attitude of humility, strength and hard work are the hallmarks of all true scholars.
The purpose of this talk is to connect again with the ten pericopes, the ten passages carefully selected from the gospels, for the ten Sundays between St John’s and Michaelmas. In the event that there are only nine Sundays in this period of Trinity the first of the ten pericopes is read on the last Sunday of St. John's. These pericopes are set for this period. These readings are carefully chosen to take us on a journey from the message of John the Baptist and what he is announcing through to what Michael is now able to do in our times.
The great task of John is to be a witness, to be the one who can see the Spirit descending from the heavens and uniting itself with this human being, Jesus of Nazareth. John is the witness, but prior to being the witness he was, one can truly say, the last prophet, because he is the one announcing that something is about to happen and that we must be prepared for it. The key message is that the Kingdom of God is close at hand, it's coming, so prepare for it now by changing your ways, “metanoia”: transform your heart, your mind, your whole way of being. Turn within to face what is coming, be ready. This is a really strong message. When John is asked: “Who are you? Are you a prophet?”, he takes a position of great humility and answers: “No”. “Are you Elijah?” “No” “Are you the Christ?” “No, He comes after me.” He then quotes the words of Isiaah: “I am the voice crying out in the desolation of the desert experience of being on earth. I am the voice that says, ‘make straight the way of the Lord’”. John really sets us on a way, on the way of an internal experience.
For the first five Sundays after St. John’s, we are still very much 'on the way', the way that St John has set for us. It is interesting that in the Gospel of John we hear that John recognises through his witnessing that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lamb of God. He wasn't the Lamb of God before the baptism, He is the Lamb of God as a consequence of the uniting of Christ with the human constitution of Jesus of Nazareth. John says to his disciples who are gathered with him, “there goes the Lamb of God”. Two of those disciples turn and follow the path that John has indicated: “there goes the Lamb of God”, and they follow Jesus on the path. As they follow Jesus He turns around and asks them the fundamental question: “What are you seeking?” The answer they give needs a little opening up of the translation that is normally given, which is: “Where do you live?” What they are asking is: “We want to know where your life is?”, “Where do we find you in life?”, “Where do you abide?”, “How do we find it and connect to it?”. Jesus says: “Come and see”, “Come on the journey and see”. For the first five weeks we are on a journey. For the purpose of this lecture these five weeks will be called ‘the way of St John’.
The second five weeks move from St John to Michaelmas. When we read the ten pericopes we see the second five mirror the first five, in reverse order, so that what we hear on the first Sunday we hear again on the tenth, and similarly the ninth mirrors the second, eight mirrors three, seven mirrors four, and six mirrors the pericope of week five.
It is interesting to note the gospels from which these ten pericopes, words, come. In the first five weeks one passage comes from Mark, one passage from Matthew and three passages from Luke. In the next five weeks one passage comes from Mark one from Matthew and three passages from Luke. The passages chosen for this time of the year are from Matthew, Mark and Luke. One begins to understand that John's Gospel stands the apart. We are not the only Christian movement to understand this and work with it. John is part of the whole experience of the gospel, but what he brings in his gospel really speaks to a different time of the year. Other churches recognise the same, and we need to ask what this means? This will be one of the things to be explored in our Tuesday evening exploration of the theology of the Act of Consecration of the Human Being.
In order to speak of a New Decalogue, the passages have been given a name. These names are not fixed, and everyone may find their own names for them. For the first five on the Way of St John:
- ‘A confession on the way’. It is important to say this because the passage begins with the disciples being “on the way” with Christ when he asks: “Who do people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?”
- The second Sunday introduces us to ‘The narrow way’. This is from the Sermon on the Mount. There is a wide, expansive way that everyone can go that does not take one anywhere and then there is the narrow way, the way that is hard, that way on which we face the challenges, but it is the way we need to go.
- ‘The human way’. The human way as opposed to the way of nature. The human way takes us one step beyond the way of nature.
- ‘The way of the apostles.’ This is the way of the disciples, the twelve who are sent and, in their sending, become apostles. We are all sent into earthly incarnation from the spiritual world. We are all apostles on the way.
- ‘The way of the higher sight.’ In other words, to see the way, to see with a higher vision.
The next five are offered in a slightly different manner because they're looking forward towards Michaelmas.
- ‘For the power of proclamation.’ This is something that we are all asked to undertake; through the actions of our lives, we are proclaiming that we are Christian.
- ‘For peace.’ This is the sending of the seventy. We hear the word ‘peace’ over and over. We hear this in the Communion part of the Act of Consecration: “This peace that I stand with in the world I give to you”.
- ‘For faith, gratitude, and certainty.’
- ‘For acceptance.’ This is not a passive acceptance but a taking hold of – I accept what I have been given. It is for the acceptance of who we are and where we are.
- ‘For the future human being.’ This is the raising of the young man of Nain.
The first Sunday: 'a confession on the way', comes to us from Mark 8; Peter being able to recognise and say: “You are the Christ”. Here comes the word, the first of the ten words of the New Decalogue that begins the Way of St John of transformation from St John’s-tide, now realised through Christ – it is the Way of Christ, of course: Mark 8:34 “If anyone desires to follow after me let them work on themselves and let them accept and carry their earthly destiny and follow me.” The translation given here is a more accurate translation of the original Greek. The words translated as “deny yourself” actually require that we do something with ourselves. It means that we can say “no” because we are able to say “yes”. This is the capacity to be able to work on oneself, to take on what it means to work with what we have. It means that we are able to put aside that which is unhelpful and embrace that which is. Then we have the Greek word that directly translates as ‘take up your beam’. Because the crossbeam is often seen as the crossbeam of the cross on which the bearer is crucified this has been translated as ‘take up your cross’. It was a common expression at the time that meant ‘to carry your burden’. The burden we all carry is to recognise a certain path of destiny. It is actually to do what is required of us. This is the beginning of being on the way. It expresses following, it expresses walking, taking it up, going forward into life.
The second Sunday: ‘the narrow way’ from Matthew 7. There are three things that we have to do to go on the narrow way. They are: ask, seek and knock. “Ask and it will be given to you.” “Seek and you will find.” “Knock and it shall be opened to you.” We will not be asking, seeking and knocking in vain, but it has to start with us. It is there to be given, there to be found, the door will be opened, but we have to ask, we have to seek, we have to knock. In other words, the way has to involve our engagement.
The third Sunday: ‘the human way’: “Father I have missed the mark in the presence of heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” The father's response: “be swift, bring forth the stole – which is the prototype of the priestly and kingly garment – and carry out of the investiture”. Invest the young man and lift him to a new office, “and place a ring on his finger and sandals beneath his feet. Bear forth the cultivated, young shoot of grain and offer it up. Let us eat and celebrate, for this my son was dead and is risen to life again; was brought to naught, and has been found.” The word in koine Greek is for any young thing that one is preparing. Therefore, it could be a fatted calf, but the better translation of the Greek is to ‘cultivate the young thing that is growing’. It could very well be to cultivate the young grain that we're offering. Our offering is not an animal sacrifice, our offering is the offering of bread and wine. It is that young, cultivated shoot of grain or vine. What is interesting here is how the young man was found. He was found because he sought his own path back to the father. Therefore, not only seek and you will find, but seek and you will be found.
The fourth Sunday is where he read about the twelve disciples sent to become the twelve apostles. What is so interesting is once they have become the twelve apostles, they have a new capacity. They returned from their sending and the five thousand are fed. What is so interesting is that Christ says when the five thousand are there: “you give them to eat”. Christ recognises the new capacity that is within them and therefore does not offer to feed the multitude himself. Christ then asks what there is available: five loaves and two fish. “So having taken the five loaves and the two fish, having lifted his sight to the higher vision of heaven he blessed them, broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” Christ gives the meal to the disciples to feed the crowd. There is something in this: we are given, through the power of Christ, to do the work of Christ. The disciples feed the five thousand, not Christ. At the end, it is the disciples who go and pick up the fragments and filled twelve baskets, each disciple filling one basket with fragments. The twelve are sent out and at the end there are twelve baskets left over. There is an abundance that is provided, more than is needed because the apostles can fill twelve baskets that are left over from five loaves and two fish. Christ demonstrates for the apostles what they will be able to do in the future without His direct presence.
The fifth Sunday is the reading of the healing of the blind man. Luke 18: 35-43. It is important to note that in the Greek the man could be blind but could also be of impaired vision. The Greek word is not definitive, it speaks of a spectrum of poor sight. If he is a man of impaired vision then, when asked what he wants, he will identify exactly what it is that he is seeking. So, when Christ asks: “What is it that you will that I do for you?” The man does not say “please give me sight”, he says “please give me upper sight or higher sight”. It is very clear he says please allow me to look up. What he was lacking was a higher vision, not the ability to look around him. This is what it says: “Lord that I might recover my higher sight”. Christ says: “Recover your higher spiritual vision, your faith has healed you”. Faith is the strength of the man's belief that Christ can do this for him. The healing was always available, but the man needed the faith that it would be real in a relationship with Christ.
Now we move to looking forward to Michaelmas.
If you know something of Rudolf Steiner’s explanation of the twelve sense system, you will know that the sense of sight is something that leads us to insight – inner vision – and comes before we establish a new way of hearing and a new way of speaking. Thus, first we must have our higher sight restored before we can have our higher hearing restored and our higher speech restored.
The sixth Sunday is the healing of the deaf mute. This is, one can truly say, a new word that can come from this man following a new way of hearing for, not only does he get to hear, he also gets to speak. Hearing and speech are very closely connected even in the development of the twelve senses. A real sense of hearing leads to speech. This happens in the teenager around the age of 15, when the teenager needs to hear for themselves. Up until this point the young person will repeat what they have heard others around them say. At the age of 10 or 11 the young person will happily repeat what their teacher has said and fully believe what they have heard. An example is that they will argue with their parents about how homework needs to be done, saying that it needs to be done exactly the way that the teacher said it needed to be done. As teenagers the young person will look around them at the world and realise that if adults had really understood the world, the world would not be in the mess in which it clearly is. It is now necessary for them to hear their parents and to hear their teachers in a new way, in a way that they can hear the whole of the world speaking out of an adult. For example: the teacher really does know what is going on. Once the teenager has truly heard the adult speak, they too can speak in a new way, having heard and listened. Mark 7:14: “Hear me, and properly understand the application of the whole of my words”. Then Jesus says the extraordinary word “Ephphatha!”, which does not mean 'be open', but ‘be opened completely’. “And his inner spiritual hearing was opened and immediately the bond of his tongue was unbound, and he spoke rightly without deviation. The crowd saying: ‘He has done all things well; he makes the dull of hearing to hear and those unable to speak proclaim’.” It is not just speaking, but it is the ability to proclaim; to be able to speak rightly from the place of the Christ-in-me.
The seventh Sunday is ‘for peace’. Christ says to the seventy which he sends out: “When you arrive at a house where you might stay first say ‘peace to this house’. If a son of peace is resting there your peace shall be transferred as a power upon him. And remember, the one hearing you hears me, the one rejecting you rejects me.” So, when as you come into contact with another it is peace that you bring with you and the one hearing you accepts this, not just any peace, but the peace of Christ. It is a new way of being together, moving forward in this peace. We can speak about the importance of numbers, if one is sending out 70 one is sending out a complete span of time. Ten is the number for completion seven is the number for time. By sending out 70 one is sending out a complete picture of time. This allows us to clearly comprehend that we are currently in an incredible span of time where we are being sent all the time by God; the complete picture of what it is to be sent out as a human being in time.
The eighth Sunday is ‘for faith, gratitude and certainty’. Luke 17:5: “Lord, increase our faith”, is the usual translation. It can also be accurately translated as “strengthen our faith”. Then we encounter the healing of the ten lepers. One of them discerns that he is healed. This is quite an extraordinary experience to recognise for oneself that one has been healed. Healing is a very important part of our understanding of this relationship. It is a word that comes up more than once in the Act of the Consecration of the Human Being – With Christ, the Father God creates, heals and ensouls. “One of them discerning that he was healed, turned back with a loud voice, recognising the real substance of God, fell on his face at Jesus’ feet giving praise to him.” It is important to note that it is one of ten who discerns that he has been healed. Ten lepers were healed, the complete experience of leprosy was healed, one tenth is also a complete recognition that the healing took place, something is still complete. So, in this passage we have had faith, we have had gratitude from the one who discerned his healing, and certainty appears in the verse where Jesus says: “be careful, people will say that the Kingdom of God is here or it is there, don't be fooled, behold the Kingdom of God is within you.” We can have the certainty that we have come a long way, the Kingdom of God will be realised within each human being, it will not be realised in the world out there if it is not first realised within the human being. The human being makes the Kingdom, the Kingdom does not make the human being.
The ninth Sunday is for ‘do not worry’, ‘do not be anxious’, ‘do not be fearful’. In Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount, where translators have truly found the poetry to describe: “behold the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these”. How does one place one’s trust? How shall we not be anxious? Please note that Christ does not say, “do not attend to these things”, he says, “do not be anxious”. Our attention must be elsewhere, tend to something else and this too will be taken care of. Where then must we place our attention? Christ says: “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”. Our focus must be to firstly seek the Kingdom of God (we are back at seek, ask, knock), And we have just heard in the previous week, “behold the Kingdom of God is within” us. Seek first the Kingdom of God that is within you and the righteousness of that, the right way of that and all these things will be added. First know what your connection is then everything else will follow. It is important to start in the right place, not the wrong place. “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself, it is enough that each day has its own challenging disposition.”
Finally, now that we have accepted the reality of how we are, we are ready for the future. On the tenth Sunday we hear that a woman has lost her one and only son, and she is a widow. Now she is a widow without a son. It is only when the body is being carried out that we hear the Christ say: “young man, I say to you, arise”. Nowhere earlier does it say that the man who has died is in fact young, it only says that he has died. It is possible therefore to interpret that there is a recognition at this point that the young man must rise. Something young and new is going to rise for him. “Young man, I say to you, arise.” The future human being, young man, arise. Let the forces of youth come now into you. These are words that we could say to each and every other human being. We can say that something of the energies of youth should arise within each human being.
These are our ten words for a new way of relating to the Divine.
In conclusion here are the ten words:
“If anyone desires to follow after me, let them work on themselves, and let them accept and carry their earthly destiny and follow me.”
“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you.”
“Be swift, bring forth the stole, carry out the investiture, place a ring upon his finger and sandals beneath his feet. Let us eat and celebrate for this my son was dead and is risen to life again, was brought to naught and has been found.”
“’You give them to eat.’ So having taken the five loaves and the two fish and having lifted his sight to the higher vision of heaven, he blessed them, broke them and gave to the disciples to set before the crowd.”
“Lord, that I might recover my higher sight.” “Recover your higher spiritual vision, your faith has healed you.”
“Hear me all of you and properly understand the applications of the whole of my words. Be opened fully. And his inner spiritual hearing was opened and immediately the bond of his tongue was unbound and he spoke rightly without deviation and the crowd said: ‘He has done all things well. He makes the dull of hearing to hear and those unable to speak, to proclaim.’”
“Say, ‘peace to this house’, and if a son of peace is resting there your peace shall be transferred as a power upon him, and the one who hears you hears me and the one rejecting you rejects me.”
“Lord, strengthen our faith. And one of them, having discerned that he was healed turned back with a loud voice, recognising the real substance of God, fell on his face at Jesus’ feet giving thanks to him. And behold the Kingdom of God is within you.”
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself. It is enough that each day has its own challenging disposition.”
“Young person, to you I say, arise.”
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Articles (prefaced by month number)
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01 - A Hopeful Glance To The Future
01 - January
01 - Striving To Realise Our Full Humanity
01 - The Advent Fair
01 - The Advent Of Christ In The Healing Process
01 - The Gospel Study Of Luke's Gospel
01 - The Tribes Of Israel - The Way Of Reuben
02 - Candlemas
02 - February
02 - Gospel Study Of Luke's Gospel
02 - The Way Of Simeon
02 - The Way We Pray Informs The Way We Believe
02 - The Zodiac
03 - Gospel Study - Gospel Of Luke
03 - March
03 - The Way Of Levi
03 - The Way We Pray Informs The Way We Believe - Amendments To The Creed
03 - Visiting Our Far-flung Community
04 - Gospel Study - Gospel Of Luke
04 - Passiontide – And Not Lent
04 - The Tribes Of Israel - The Way Of Judah
05 - Denominations Of Christianity
05 - Discovering The Easter Octave As A Way Of Renewal
05 - May
05 - The Gospel Study
05 - Visit By Rev. Oliver Steinrueck
06 - Africa Seminary - The Christ Impulse In Us
06 - Flowering Plants
06 - Gospel Study
06 June
06 - The Decalogue
06 - The Way Of Naphtali
06 - Who Are We?
07 - Change And Being Changed - An International Gathering Of The Camphill Movement
07 - July
07 - The Gospel Study Of Luke’s Gospel And The Eighth Path Of Right Contemplation
07 - The New Commandment
07 - The Way Of Gad
08 - August
08 - Report On The Regional Council
08 - The Divine Expression In The Structure And Composition Of Hebrew
08 - The Way Of Asher
09 - September
09 - The New Decalogue
09 - The Way Of Issachar
10 - Gospel Study Of John's Gospel
10 - In Search Of Sacred Origins Of Africa = The Golden Heart Of The World - By Stephanie Georgieff
10 - Theology Expressed In Our Sacrament Of The Eucharist
10 - The Way Of Zebulun
11 - Exploring The Nature And Structure Of Koine Greek
11 - Gospel Study Of John's Gospel
11 - Introduction To The Book Of Revelation
11 - November
12 - Africa Seminary Module 4 Of 2023
12 - December
12 - Early Gothic Architecture - Salisbury And Well Cathedrals
12 - Gospel Study
12 - Spiritual Well-being Discussion Group
13 - The Theology Of The Act Of Consecration Of The Human Being
13 - The Way Of Benjamin