10 There can
be no justification for the unjustifiable. Do not believe there is, and do not
teach that there is. Remember always that what you believe you
will teach. Believe with me, and we will become equal as teachers.
Your resurrection is your reawakening. I am the model for rebirth, but rebirth itself is merely the dawning on your minds of what is already in them. God placed it there Himself, and so it is true forever. I believed in it and therefore made it forever true for me. Help me to teach it to our brothers in the name of the Kingdom of God, but first believe that it is true for
you, or you will teach amiss.
11 My brothers slept during the so-called "agony" in the garden, but I could not be angry with them because I had learned I could not
be abandoned. Peter swore he would never deny me, but he did so three times. He did offer to defend me with the sword, which I naturally refused, not being at all in need of bodily protection. I
am sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one voice, because it weakens them as teachers
and as learners. Yet I know that they cannot really betray themselves
or me and that it is still on them that I must build my church.
12 There is no choice in this because only you can
be the foundation of God's church. A church is where an altar is, and the presence of the altar is what
makes it a church. Any church which does not inspire love has a hidden altar which is not serving the purpose for which God intended it. I must found His church on you because you who accept me as a model are literally my disciples. Disciples are followers, but if the model they follow has chosen to save them pain in all respects, they are probably unwise
not to follow him.
13 I elected both for your sake
and mine to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault as judged by the ego did not matter. As the world judges these things, but
not as God
knows them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. It was perfectly clear that this was only because of the projection of others, because I had not harmed anyone and had healed many. We are still equal as learners, even though we need not have equal experiences. The Holy Spirit is glad when you can learn enough from mine to be re-awakened by them. That was their only purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
14 When you hear only one voice, you are
never called on to sacrifice. On the contrary, by enabling yourselves to hear the Holy Spirit in others, you can learn from their experiences and gain from them
without experiencing them yourselves. That is because the Holy Spirit is one, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate His way for all. You are not persecuted, nor was I. You are not asked to
repeat my experiences because the Holy Spirit, Whom we
share, makes this unnecessary. To
use my experiences constructively, however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them.
15 My brothers and yours are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. My one lesson, which I must teach as I learned, is that no perception which is out of accord with the judgment of the Holy Spirit
can be justified. I undertook to show this was true in a very extreme case merely because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those whose temptations to give in to anger and assault would
not be so extreme. I will with God that none of His Sons should suffer.
16 Remember that the Holy Spirit is the communication link between God the Father and His separated Sons. If you will listen to His Voice, you will know that you cannot either hurt or
be hurt and that many need your blessing to help them hear this for themselves. When you perceive
only this need in them and do not respond to
any other, you will have learned of me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am. The crucifixion
cannot be shared, because it is the symbol of projection, but the resurrection is the symbol of
sharing, because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to enable the Sonship to know its wholeness. Only this
is knowledge.
17 The message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear:
18
Teach
only
love, for that is what you
are.
19 If you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. The Apostles often misunderstood it and always for the same reason that makes anyone misunderstand anything. Their own imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear they spoke of the "wrath of God" as His retaliatory weapon. Nor could they speak of the crucifixion entirely without anger, because their own sense of guilt had
made them angry.
20 There are two glaring examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, whose whole gospel is
only the message of love. These are not like the several slips into impatience which I made. I had learned the Atonement prayer, which I also came to teach, too well to engage in upside-down thinking myself. If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could have quoted me as saying, "I come not to bring peace but a sword." This is clearly the exact opposite of everything I taught.
21 Nor could they have described my reactions to Judas as they did if they had really understood me. They would have realized I
could not have said, "Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" unless I
believed in betrayal. The whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did
not. The "punishment" which I am said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar reversal. Judas was my brother and a Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?
22 I am very grateful to the Apostles for their teaching and fully aware of the extent of their devotion to me. Nevertheless, as you read their teachings, remember that I told them myself that there was much they would understand later because they were
not wholly ready to follow me at the time. I emphasize this only because I do not want you to allow
any fear to enter into the thought system toward which I am guiding you. I do
not call for martyrs but for
teachers. No one is "punished" for sins, and the Sons of God are not sinners.
23
Any concept of "punishment" involves the projection of blame and
reinforces the idea that blame is justified. The behavior that results is a
lesson in blame, just as all behavior teaches the beliefs which motivate it. The crucifixion was a complex of behaviors arising out of clearly opposed thought systems. As such, it was the perfect symbol of conflict between the ego and the Son of God. The conflict is just as real now, and its lessons, too, have equal reality
when they are learned. I do not need gratitude any more than I needed protection, but you need to develop your weakened ability to
be grateful, or you cannot appreciate God. He does not need your appreciation, but
you do.
24 You cannot love what you do not appreciate, and
fear makes appreciation impossible. Whenever you are afraid of what you are, you do
not appreciate it and will therefore reject it. As a result, you will
teach rejection. The power of the Sons of God is operating all the time because they were created as creators. Their influence on
each other is without limit and
must be used for their joint salvation. Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are utterly meaningless. The separation
is the notion of rejection. As long as you
teach this, you still believe it. This is
not as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to know Him again.
