THE STORY OF EASTER - JESUS IS RISEN!

[Guest guest]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE STORY OF EASTER – JESUS IS RISEN!

Easter is a festival of Enlightenment. It is the day that Jesus rose from death. It was on a Sunday morning, the day of the Sun God. Mary Magdalene and other women had gone to look at the tomb where Jesus was buried. But to their horror and bewilderment they met an empty tomb. Beside the tomb stood two angels who said to them; “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He has risen!†(Luke: 24:5) This was the great turning point that transformed the story of Jesus which seemed to have ended with His tragic death on the Cross on Friday evening.

So the story of Easter is not just the story of Jesus’ resurrection from death but also the story of how He was unjustly arrested by the Jews, tried, condemned and crucified on the cross on account of His stand for Truth and Righteousness. From a spiritual perspective, Easter is the story of humanity’s ascent to Divinity.

It is the dramatic spiritual journey that everyone must undertake to emancipate oneself from the bondage of death and ignorance and enter into the glorious light of Immortality and Self Knowledge. In this way, Easter is not just a past event but the day we are born again into Enlightenment. The Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem

Jesus went with His disciples to the Jewish religious center of Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. It was an important feast celebrated annually in commemoration of the Jews’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt. All males older than twelve went to Jerusalem for the holidays. As Jesus entered the city riding on a donkey, pilgrims spread cloths and branches on the road for Him. They shouted in gallant jubilation, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!†(Matt 21:9). This praise stands in sharp contrast to their latter cry, “Crucify Him!†and their option for a thief to be released in place of the Righteous One. Jesus remained the same in both praise and blame.

When Jesus entered the temple of Jerusalem He saw people sacrificing doves and other living things to God in order to please Him. (Matt 21:12 ) The temple priests had become very corrupt and money–centered. The house of God had been turned into a bazaar and religion had been commercialized. Jesus sought to put an end to these cruel and harmful practices. So Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling and overturned the tables of the money changers. This angered the priests and temple authorities and from then on they looked for a way to kill Him. The Last Supper

The Jewish feast of Passover has its focal point on a special meal. Jesus had this meal, which was His last supper, with His close disciples before His death. Jesus alone knew the significance of this last evening. So He sat closely with His disciples round a table and showered upon them the very essence of His Love. In a very dramatic and direct manner He gave them the essence of all He had been teaching them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Supper

 

“While they were at the table He took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying, ‘This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’†(Luke 22:19). He also took a cup with some wine and did the same saying, “This Is My Bloodâ€. When Jesus said, “This is My Body†He was teaching the disciples the truth of the Bible and of all the Scriptures: 'I am not this Body - I do not identify Myself with the body. (Deham Naham - I am not the body. Koham? Soham – Who am I? I am that.) Because I am not the body, I break it and give it up for you. In the same way, you should do the same in My memory. You should give up body consciousness. This is a Divine Command.'

Beyond Body Consciousness

When we say, “this is my cloth†it means I am not the cloth. When I am not the cloth then I can sacrifice it for the good of others. If the body is my ‘thing’ just as the cloth is my ‘thing’, then I cannot say I am the body just as I cannot say I am the cloth. This is the lesson that Swami often exhorts us now and what Jesus taught then. As long as one thinks I am the body, sacrifice is not possible. Without sacrifice it is impossible to attain the Absolute Divinity. We should see ourselves not as the body but as the indwelling Divinity residing in the temple of the body. Again, we should recognize and treat all bodies as embodiments of Divinity. In the words of beloved Sathya Sai Baba, “when Jesus said that the bread was His flesh and the wine, His blood, he meant that all beings alive with flesh and blood are to be treated as He Himself.†(Divine Discourse of 25th December 1978)

The Oneness of Life

Earlier in His teachings Jesus had told His disciples that “whatsoever you do to any of these, you do it to me†(Matthew 25:40). Seeing the same God in all beings is the true spirit of non–dualism. This advaitic truth is contained in two verses of the Bible: “I AM THAT I AM†(EXODUS 3: 14) and “Be still and know that I AM †(PSALM 46:10). It is in stillness that we know THAT which is our true nature - the eternal, infinite, immortal and absolute pure existence, dwelling in all beings. This stillness is the silence of the grave. It is the death, not of the physical body, but of the mind. It is the total annihilation of the ego on the cross of self sacrifice. Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

 

 

 

 

 

 

After they had finished eating, Jesus dramatized to His disciples how to sacrifice the body by giving up body identification. To sacrifice the body does not mean to hang one's throat with a rope as Judas did after he betrayed Jesus. To sacrifice the body means to burn out the body at the altar of selfless service! To prove this, Jesus took a bowel of water and a towel round His waist and started washing the feet of His disciples and wiping them with the towel. When they asked Him why he was doing so, Jesus answered: “I am washing your feet as your servant so that you may learn to serve the world.†(John 13:14) In selfless service we sacrifice our desires, our prosperity, our comforts, our safety and positions and the demands of the flesh for alleviating human misery and serving the helpless and the poor. In essence, Jesus was teaching that selfless service is the easiest and most effective way of going beyond

body consciousness and arriving at the Absolute Divinity.

From the upper room where He had His “last supper†with His disciples, Jesus went straight to the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples (Matthew 26:36). In this place He prayed to His Father with intense agony. “His sweat was like drops of blood†(Luke 22:44, Mark 14:32) He prayed to the Father, “Abba Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me.†(Mark 14:36, Matthew 26:39). At the same time He submitted to the Will of His Father.

 

 

Jesus Washing the Disciples’ Feet

 

 

Usually we pass through this stage of rejection in our spiritual journey. This corresponds to Arjuna’s despondency before the battle field of Kurukshetra. At this level we ask the same questions: why me? What have I done to merit this situation? Take this suffering away from me! etc. Many people never go beyond this level. Normally what is rejected comes back. It is like suppressed anger or emotion. It usually manifests in a different and sometimes more dangerous form. Jesus is teaching us here that we should go beyond rejection and accept as God’s Will everything that happens to us on our path to Truth.

Jesus Demonstrates Acceptance of God’s Will

Acceptance ushers in a process of transformation and purification. This is the level where we accept with joy everything that happens to us as the Will of God and therefore ultimately bound to work out for our highest good. Jesus went through this stage when He prayed: “I want your Will to be done, not mine†(Mark 14:36). When we accept our lives as an expression of God’s Will, sufferings begin to have a refining effect on our souls. The external push and buffeting of Karma now pulls us inwards and draws us closer to the warmth and love of our inner Christ -Consciousness.

While Jesus was praying He invited his disciples to keep watch and pray with Him. But the fatigue and weariness of the body did not allow them to fulfill this. They were heavy with sleep. Jesus chided them for this behaviour (Matthew 26:40).

Meanwhile, the leading priests and leaders were meeting at the residence of Caiphas the high priest to discuss how to capture Jesus and secretly put Him to death. They tempted Judas, one of Jesus’ loved disciples with 30 silver pieces to betray Him into their hands. Judas succumbed to this temptation and betrayed His Master. Greed for money is a monster that gets hold of man and makes him lose all sense of discrimination and accept without compunction wrongful ways of satisfying it. Whenever we opt for falsehood in place of Truth, we betray Jesus again and again. The Arrest and Trial

As Jesus was leaving the Garden, Judas appeared with the crowd armed with swords and clubs sent by the chief priests and elders to arrest Jesus. Jesus addressed His betrayer as ‘friend’ and offered no resistance when He was arrested. When this happened all His Disciples deserted Him and fled (Matthew 26:56). How many times we desert God when the road gets tough! True worship lies in standing with God in both pain and pleasure and accepting both with equal mindedness.

Following His arrest in Gethsemane, Jesus was first brought before the former high Priest Annas who conducted a preliminary examination by questioning Jesus about His disciples and teaching (John 18:12 -14). He was then taken to the Palace of Caiphas the president of the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish tribunal during the Greek and Roman periods.

Because of the contradicting testimonies brought against Jesus, Caiphas brushed these aside and put Jesus under oath to tell the court if He was “the Christ, the Son of God†(Matthew 26: 63). Jesus’ positive affirmation to this question made Caiphas tear his robe and charge Jesus with blasphemy. When this happened the storm was let loose. The guards began to spit in His face and strike Him with their fists. After blindfolding Him, they slapped Him and said, “Prophesy to us Christ, who hit you?†(Luke 22:63-65). In all this, Jesus remained calm and silent.

Since the Romans had removed from the Sanhedrin the power of capital punishment, it became necessary to secure a death sentence from the Governor. They stirred up the common people to call for Jesus’ death. They told Pilate, the fifth Roman Governor of Judea (AD: 26-36) that Jesus was attempting to make Himself king and so He should be punished for treason. When Jesus explained to Pilate the nature of His Kingdom saying, “My kingdom is not of this worldâ€, Pilate announced a verdict of acquittal (John 18:33-38). This verdict could have ended the trial but it only evoked storms of bitter charges against Jesus by the instigations of the priests. They wanted Jesus dead by all means.

 

 

 

 

Pilate reviewed the case before the people wanting to prove the innocence of Jesus. He offered them a compromise in an effort to appease their rage and thirst for blood. He sent Jesus to be scourged before releasing Him. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head. They clothed Him in a purple robe and ridiculed Him saying, “Hail King of the Jews!†and they struck Him in the face (John 19:1). After this torture Jesus was in a pathetic situation. Then Pilate brought Him out to the Jews gathered outside to be released as he thought enough punishment had been meted out. But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him, crucify Him†(John 19:6). Pilate did not want to