My Meat Is to Do the Will of Him That Sent Me - Part 2

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" My Meat Is to Do the Will of Him That Sent Me " - Part 2

(The Woman of Samaria, Part III, Conclusion)

 

In the mean while his disciple prayed him, saying, " Master, eat. " But he said

unto them, " I have meat to eat that ye know not of. " Therefore said the

disciples one to another, " Hath any man brought him ought to eat? " Jesus saith

unto them, " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His

work " (John 4:31-34).

 

(p.317) When the Samaritan woman left to bring the townspeople to Jesus, his

disciples offered him food they had brought from the city. But Jesus demurred:

" I have meat to eat that ye know not of. " [1] (p.318) The disciples incorrectly

presumed that Jesus had already been given food by someone else; but he

explained: " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His

work. " The mind of Jesus was in an exalted state, attuned with the divine power

of Christ Consciousness that had filled and nourished his own body when he

healed the woman of Samaria. At such times, the Divine Satiety in a master

laughs at the delusive " necessity " of supplying the body with the insipid

grossness of material sustenance. Jesus felt his life coming directly from

God--as he had said before: " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every

word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. " [2] Every moment he was conscious

of that connection. He knew himself as a soul; the only " meat " it needed for

nourishment was the blessedness and eternal wisdom of God.

 

Overcoming the delusion that man

is essentially a physical being

 

Jesus was also trying to heal the spiritual ignorance of his disciples; the

delusion that man is essentially a physical being. When a master is with his

disciples, he makes use of every opportunity, no matter how significant or

insignificant, to help them spiritualize their consciousness. No lapse into

identification with accustomed mortal habits is too trite to warrant correction.

The untangling of delusion's net is achieved one knot at a time. Jesus wanted

the disciples, first and foremost, to think of the body as an instrument for

doing the will of God, even as he was demonstrating by his example that the sole

purpose for his life on earth was to finish whatever work God wished him to do.

The secondary concern is to care for the body only as necessary to maintain it

as a fit instrument.

 

Ordinary food temporarily nourishes the perishable body and gives it a passing

pleasure arising from the sense of taste. But even if a person were to sate

himself with any and all food he desired, still his hunger would burn; man

cannot appease the hunger of the soul by satisfying the desires of the body.

Jesus was telling his disciples that although they had brought food for his

human body--the token need for which he did not deny--his real Self tasted the

ever-satisfying, eternally nourishing manna of Divine Wisdom and celestial

ever-new Bliss.

 

The disciples had been drawn to Jesus that they might learn how to nourish their

souls. So Jesus spoke to them of the supremely sustaining " meat " of wisdom. When

man is not guided by wisdom, material food does not even sustain the body: By

wrong dietary choices or overeating people may forfeit their physical health and

comfort.

 

(p.319) In the homes of most materially minded persons in the West, the

occupants wake up in the morning with the consciousness of a cup of coffee,

toast, and ham and eggs, and go to sleep at night with their minds on the heavy

beefsteak dinner they have eaten. In spiritual homes in India, the first thought

in the morning is of drinking the nectar of peace from the bowl of deep

contemplation; and at night, before retiring, they sit quietly in meditation to

hear the voice of Divine Peace singing softly, inviting them to rest on the

bosom of Divine Peace.

 

As long as one is identified with the body, he is tempted to seek happiness in

fulfilling its desires and appetites. He dreams of being a millionaire, of

having a luxurious home, expensive cars, and the best meals money can buy.

However, even a cursory observation of those who have these things dispels their

illusory sufficiency. Material surfeit attracts swarming pests of worry,

restlessness, boredom, psychological and spiritual dissatisfaction. Upon

wakening in the morning, and at night before going to sleep, and at mealtime,

people should rid their consciousness of the material pestilence with the

thought of God.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 19, pg. 317-319

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7

 

Notes:

 

[1] " Meat " is the term used in the King James Bible, the edition used by

Paramahansa Yogananda for his New Testament commentary. The word in the original

Greek is 'broma', which literally means " that which is eaten " ; some other

versions of the Bible in English translate it simply as " food. "

 

Regarding the customary diet among Jewish families of Jesus' time, the book

" Jesus and His Times' (Kaari Ward, ed.; Pleasantville, New York: Reader's Digest

Association, 1987) states: " Most families ate two meals. Breakfasts were likely

to be light and were carried to the fields or other places of work and eaten at

mid-morning or midday. Suppers, by contrast, were substantial. Vegetables, eggs,

cheese, bread, butter, wine, nuts, and fruit might all be served, and perhaps

chicken or wild fowl. Fish was a common food, but red meat was a rarity, except

on special occasions, when the fatted calf and the sacrificial lamb were

presented with fanfare and ritual. " ('Publisher's Note')

 

[2] Matthew 4:4 (See Discourse 8)