Metaphysical View of John 14

by

Also see:

The Hermes Concepts
Metaphysical View of John 14
The Razor’s Edge – Katha Upanishad
The One Thing
Christmas is for Compassion

According to the Bible, Jesus spoke of himself as a person who embodied three aspects of the teacher. That is:

  1. He taught a path or way of knowledge that would lead to greater understanding, which in the Implicit Cosmology is progression.

  2. He functioned as a role model demonstrating how a person who has successfully followed that path might behave.

  3. He embodied the results of having followed the path he taught by demonstrating great lucidity when communicating across the veil.

The importance of what Jesus taught and how he lived those lessons is that he was and still is a wayshower. Even though he expressed the lessons in terms better understood by the people of his day, the message that we too can achieve that degree of lucidity comes across loud and clear … for those who have eyes to see.

Jesus as a Wayshower

In John 14, Jesus and his disciples have retired for the night in a garden. Jesus knows that he will soon be arrested and put to death. It is at this time that Jesus reminds his students about what he has been teaching them, and seeks to prepare them for his departure.

John 14

  1. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Jesus is reminding his students (disciples) that they may trust what he tells them as if his words were spoken by God. This is fundamental to all of his works, for had he not previously convinced his followers that he had been chosen as a holy representative, they might not have followed him.

  1. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

You will likely be familiar with the layer cake model of reality with many planes: typically modeled as the Earth Plane (physical), Mental Plane (mind, emotion) Spiritual Plane (God, etheric, Psi Field?), each finer as one moves toward Source. As the Implicit Cosmology has developed, my acceptance of the layer-cake cosmology gave way to the idea of progression by gaining perceptual agreement with the actual nature of reality. Reality is conceptual. As we gain in understanding about the true nature of reality, we are better able to associate with more complex concepts. In that way, we gain access to more of reality. In this model, we progress back to our Source as we gain in understanding.

Also read the Cosmology of Imaginary Space essay for a sense of the more conceptual relationships amongst aspect of reality.

If the physical aspect of reality is seen as a venue for learning, then there are many such venues for learning. As the model goes, some are conceptually much more in agreement with Source. The idea is that we transition out of this lifetime as a process that included self-evaluation. It is understood that we will return to a venue for more learning experiences, and as we gain understanding, more such venues become available.

In practice, a seeker’s access to venues of learning is governed by how well he or she accepts, understands and lives what Jesus taught. “I go to prepare a place for you” likely means that he would behave as an inner guide helping his students gain understanding before their eventual transition.

  1. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This is a pivotal line. When Jesus states that “I will come again, and receive you into myself,” he is telling his students that he will receive them in spirit when they also pass from their physical life (during transition). He may also be speaking from the perspective of what he teaches as the path or way of progression when he suggesting that he will bring them into himself. I detect nothing in this line suggesting that Jesus will return in the flesh. (See the interpretation of Line 6 concerning the aspects of Jesus.)

  1. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

I expect Jesus is reminding his students, that he has told them all of this before. He was known to have studied under systems of belief that included well-defined cosmologies describing the formation and structure of reality, and how we must live in it to progress. As a teacher, he would have taken every opportunity to reveal this knowledge to his students.

  1. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

  2. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

This statement is the source of my first revelation about Jesus and central to what I wish to share with you now. In this line, Jesus has told his disciples that he personifies the path that they must follow to return to God. He is showing himself to his followers as the three aspects of the teacher: Follow what I teach as the path; observe me as I live that truth; and, realize the results of how I have lived.

The Spirit of Truth concerns one of the most difficult metaphysical concepts to comprehend. Some seekers know this as the Christ Consciousness, and believe that a person may achieve this exalted state of awareness by gaining understanding about the nature of reality (progression). In the Implicit Cosmology, spiritual maturity is expressed as a way of thinking or a worldview that is in agreement with the principles that organize reality. This perspective reinforces the idea that Jesus is a teacher of considerable spiritual maturity.

Think of Jesus as a role model that we can do well to emulate. Then consider his works. The principles he has given his followers constitute a system of knowledge and a path of learning which, if diligently followed, is certain to bring spiritual maturity. When Jesus said that “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” he is referring to himself as the path, not the person: “I am the way”

The reason I am so excited about this is that the path Jesus refers to is very much the path most seekers I know attempt to follow. In my travels and through my study, I have come to recognize that there is a commonly held system of belief amongst people who generally think of themselves as seekers. These people are sometimes devout members of very orthodox churches, but most have struck out on their own or have joined organized Spiritualism or some similarly structured society to find likeminded seekers. This commonly held system of belief is nearly identical to the essence of the system of belief Jesus is said to have given the world.

  1. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

In an attempt to maintain an objective point of view, I have avoided religious terms when developing the Implicit Cosmology. However, it does include a lord of our plane concept as probably many personalities who maintain this venue for learning with their collective intention (think of them as formative personalities). The cosmology also provides for the angel concept in the form of personalities who have expressed aspects of themselves to experience the physical. We are those aspects and the many aspects related to a (local) creator personality would share a collective.

Jesus, the man, was the personification of a path of learning.  In Line 7, his students are told that knowing him is to know his father. This familiarity would represent a link of rapport between his students and the (local) creator personality for his collective. Links of rapport are modeled as forming a contact field which can facilitate transcommunication.

Remember that Jesus was well educated in Judaism and is believed to have been taught in other systems of belief as well. The concepts of regions of reality (venues), a Lord of this realm and Spirit as a self-aware intelligence (personality) that can be impressed into the sphere of awareness of a seeker (rapport), were all well-known long before his time. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect Jesus to be very specific in his choice of words.

  1. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

I have had students like this.

  1. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

  2. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

As suggested earlier, Jesus as the physical person, had achieved the understanding necessary to gain clarity of perception (lucidity) to be consciously aware of his etheric teachers. As such, it is important to think his words and actions were actually those of considerably more aware personalities.

  1. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Believe in Jesus as the representative of his teachers or believe in him for what he taught and as a role model.

  1. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

There are two important points here. First, when Jesus said, “he that believeth on me,” he is referring to himself as the path. As we follow the path he has shown, so will we come to be able to do the works he has done.

Second, he states that we would be able to do even greater works because he is returning to his place in the etheric. Many people believe that we experienced a major infusion of spiritual energy into the Physical Plane during the time of Jesus. I treat energy in the Implicit Cosmology as potential moderated by intention. So, in those terms, the expression of intention that brought Jesus to his students also manifested as a contact field that facilitated the dissemination of his teachings. By making his transition out of our physical venue, Jesus would have facilitated the rapport necessary for development of that contact field.

As an event, I think of Jesus as a dispenser or revealer of information. Hermes appears too represent a prior dispensation. It seems that we are experiencing a contemporary dispensation by way of the various forms of transcommunication practiced today.

  1. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Line 13 through 15 should be read together. I submit to you that here, Jesus is speaking about Humankind as “the Son” (aspects of local creator personalities). “in my name,” is a reference to Jesus as the way or path of understanding. He is not offering to answer our prayers here. He is saying that we can progress by following the lessons he taught.

In an effort to establish a logical reason for our urge to gain understanding, I have included the Prime Imperative as an organizing principle. This is an urge we inherit from our source to gain specific understanding and return that understanding to our collective. As such the collective, as the etheric body of our local creator personality, would be fulfilled (glorified) by our progression (the Son).

  1. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

We have been told so many times that our friends on the other side cannot help us unless we ask. Jesus appears to be telling his disciples that they should include his name in their prayers.

  1. If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The commandments Jesus is speaking of here are the elements of the lessons he taught. Many of these elements are expressed in more general terms as the Principle of Natural Law. Whomever you may ask for assistance, do so knowing of what you are asking. If you ask for help that is consistent with Natural Law, then you may expect a response. If you love the three-fold aspects of Jesus, then you will learn to understand and operate the principles he taught.

  1. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.

Remember that Jesus consistently refers to a particular form of Spirit as a self-aware intelligence that can be impressed into the sphere of awareness of a seeker. As is revealed in line 17, the Comforter is just this sort of intelligence.

You could argue that this line promises a Second Coming of the Christ Consciousness. It seems clear that Jesus is saying that another Comforter would come soon, however, it is possible that this is the same dispensation I speculate is occurring today.

  1. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Spirit of Truth, as a self-aware intelligence, is manifest in our personal knowledge.  Think of it as a thoughtform representing the contact field and the potential for understanding. This is the Comforter and it will come to you as you seek understanding. Personal knowledge comes when you test this understanding by first experiencing its principles in life and then accepting it into your worldview. See the The Mindful Way Essay.

You may be familiar with the phrase, “For those who have eyes to see.” In the concept of perceptual agreement, a person is only able to experience what he or she can comprehend. One way to gain this comprehension is by consciously learning the concepts taught by Jesus and integrating them as a way of living.

  1. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

I believe Jesus is assuring his disciples that he will remain available in spirit to assist them in their work. As we understand it, you and I will rather quickly move on to other business after we leave the physical, and we would not be expected to remain available to help people in the flesh for over two thousand years of Earth time. Jesus, though, has set forth to be a Wayshower and it seems reasonable to believe that we can still ask him to come to our assistance. This should be true of other Wayshowers, as well.

  1. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

Here Jesus is predicting his imminent demise. He is also telling his followers that he will survive physical death, that they will also survive, and that they will know this because of his teachings.

  1. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

I believe Jesus is predicting that he will demonstrate his survival, and that his students will experience this demonstration by experiencing an inner awareness of Jesus’ presence as Spirit.

  1. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

It is here that Jesus reveals that he is speaking from the perspective of the collective. His teachings are the path and his works are the outward manifestation of the principles embodied in the path. He is the emissary of the collective from which the contact field emanates. Those who follow the path by learning its principles, will also be imbued with the potential represented by the contact field, which is referred to in line 16 and 26 as the Comforter.

  1. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

  2. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

The path of understanding is open to everyone who seeks the way.

  1. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

Lines 22 through 24 contain a message to people of all faiths. Any person who finds and follows the path taught by Jesus will gain in understanding, lucidity, and therefore, progression. This is a universal way of progression that can be followed by anyone without violating their chosen religious beliefs.

  1. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

  2. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Let us say that the Comforter is the spirit of the path of which we have been speaking. Jesus personified the path, however, in his absence, the path remains. As a system of knowledge, it is a self-aware, intelligent thoughtform, which contains its own revelation to the seeker who seeks to learn its principles. In other words, if you seek knowledge from this thoughtform, it will come to you as a source of wisdom and great understanding, much as Jesus has demonstrated.

  1. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

  2. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you.  If ye love me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

By “Come again unto you,” Jesus is saying that he will be with them in spirit, much as he said in line 21. Jesus is stating what is fundamental to most metaphysical systems of thought. That is, passing out of the physical, what some call dying, is more of a graduation into a greater life, than it is something to dread.

“If you love me, ye would rejoice” is another reference to Jesus, the path. I would paraphrase this to say: if you understood this way of knowledge, then you would understand that death is not something to fear and you would be glad for me.

  1. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

Jesus is pointing out to his disciples that he has made a prediction of a coming event, and that his accuracy should be taken as yet another demonstration of his spiritual authority.

  1. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

This line provides an interesting insight into the concept of Spirit as a self-aware intelligence. Just as there is the Spirit of Truth, so is there the spirit … of what? The spirit of ignorance and fear? We still sometimes refer to this form of organized spiritual focus as the Prince of Darkness. I believe Jesus is referring to this negative energy as “The prince of this world.”

  1. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.  Arise, let us go hence.

 

Loading

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.