27. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Love is God, and God is Love. Love makes all men equal. Through the love that the mother of Jesus bore him, and through the love that Jesus bore to both his mother and the disciple, they became as one; and the disciple took the mother of Jesus to his heart as his own.

Moreover, not only had Jesus obeyed the Divine Law, but his mother had obeyed it before him, and the disciple with him.

The Father which Jesus had found within the temple, through the Illumination, was therefore also the Father that had been found both by the mother of Jesus and by the disciple; and they were as one.

LESSON FORTY-EIGHT

When we live according to the Divine Law, not only is the Soul become Illuminated and Conscious, but the body is so purified that there is no evil in it: not a bone is broken; but it is whole-which is to say, holy. The flesh, or rather, the desires of the flesh, are dead.

28. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Jesus had fulfilled his mission. He had obeyed the Law, and had taught others "the way"-the methods of obedience, and the results of obedience.

29. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

30. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

At the parting there is always bitterness. Though we know that the friends we leave will be well taken care of, and though we know it is for our best, there is always a pang at the parting.

The end was near. The parting of the ways had come, and he felt the pang of the parting. This was the smart, it was like vinegar.

Jesus gave up the ghost. ciple of life, left the body. is the life principle. The Holy Ghost, which was to come to the Divine Soul, was the Fire of the Soul, or the Life of the Soul, just as the ghost was the life of the body.

The Spirit, which is the prin"The ghost" referred to here

31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

32. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

33. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

34. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

35. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

36. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

38. And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple

of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

39. And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

40. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews

is to bury.

41. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man laid.

42. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

LESSON FORTY-NINE

Through absolute obedience to the Divine Law, the Soul may be builded and become Conscious; and man is then become a Conscious Individualized Soul. Moreover, through obedience, the body may be so purified that it becomes pure Eth and part of the Soul, so that where the Soul is, there may be the body also; because it has become the Soul.

St. John 20:1-18.

1. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

There was no longer any weight to hold the Soul down. The weight of the Soul is the body; and the weight of the body are the carnal desires and tendencies. When these are all removed, then does the body become light. It is purified, freed from all evil. Evil is the only weight that can hold the Soul to earth. When the evil is removed from the flesh, the flesh becomes light; and all that is light goeth upward.

2. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto

them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

3. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.

4. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

5. And he stooped down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

6. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie.

7. And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by

itself.

8. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

9. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

10. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

11. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

12. And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 14. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 15. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

16. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say Master.

17. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not: for I am not yet

ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and

say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

It seems strange that this woman, who had been of ill repute, should first see the Christ after his resurrection. But it is not strange when we consider that from the very beginning she gave the dearest possession that she had to him— which is to say, she gave up all that she had been doing, all that had brought both pleasure and profit to the body, in order that she might follow him.

The disciples gave up their homes and followed him wherever he went, and helped in the work; but there was always something which caused them to doubt, and not to recognize fully the Christ. But with Mary Magdalene it was different. From the first, from the time she made the change, she gave up everything. She had not a doubt, not a fear. She was a woman, with the intuition of a woman; and neither fear of ridicule nor death could change her.

Before the awaking of the Soul comes, in that middle state when the desires of the flesh and of the self have been given up, just before the Arising of the Christ-which is to say, just before the awakening of the Soul-there is sorrow and weeping. For the body is as dead, and the Soul is not yet awake; and we know not where we are.

Then comes the awakening, and the Christ stands before us. The Soul has become Conscious and recognizes itself.

It is like a sleep. We live; but the faculties are asleep, we awaken; and for a moment we scarcely know where we are and who we are. It is a moment of doubt, a moment of non-entity. It is the same at the transition from the dead self to the arisen Christ.

And now is the danger point. The Soul is not yet fully balanced, it has not yet fully ascended to the Father, nor