The Lord's Sermons
- Sermon 49 -
Twenty-Third Sunday After Trinity. The Raising of Jairus' Daughter
St. Matthew IX, 18-19, and 23-25: "While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead; but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose."
(April 30, 1872)
This chapter likewise deals with acts of healing, partly done by the laying on of My hands and partly through the strong belief of the sufferer. Our text deals with the raising of the dead daughter of a certain ruler who had put so much trust and belief in My might that - as it says in the Gospel - he begged Me to come to his house in order that his daughter might become alive again through the laying on of My hands.
Believe Me, where there is so much trust I cannot but grant the request of the supplicant in order to show all men what can be gained through unconditional trust in Me. When a child ardently begs his father to fulfill his wishes, the father is sure to listen to him. What I had already said earlier about true believing can also be applied to this act of raising the dead, and it would, therefore, be superfluous to repeat it. These examples reveal to you very clearly which way men should follow in order to be certain of the fulfillment of their whishes, provided they are just.
Although when in those times I performed this act I was in My visible body, the same can be achieved also in these days; for here it is not the body that is important, but My Spirit. My Spirit is also with you, just as it was in those days with My disciples and those who respected My Word. Now I am not visible to you as a person, which is better, for seeing Me might be disturbing to you - knowing Who I am in reality. It was a different situation with My disciples and the people who followed Me, since they saw in Me, perhaps, a mighty prophet or even the Messiah they had been waiting for, but certainly not the Lord of Creation who brought into being everything there is.
As regards the raising of the daughter of the ruler, it was the reward for her father's unlimited belief and at the same time a guide and pointer for her.
This physical raising in those days corresponds to the spiritual awakening in the present time; for what happened and what was performed and spoken by Me then is also now taking place - spiritually. In those days I wandered from town to town, from village to village, preached, healed and did good works. I stimulated those who were half asleep, and awakened the physically and spiritually dead. And now, already for a long time, the same is happening. Everywhere I awaken the innermost qualities of the souls through an unconscious impulse; I awaken people through a linking of circumstances, through all kinds of accidents and suffering, so that they may not forget entirely that they are formed from more than one substance and that they do not completely deny what is of the spirit and soul. Everywhere, as it also was at the place of that certain ruler, I first drive out of the house the minstrels and diners who want to give the appearance of a cheerful scene even to a funeral. Life and its purpose is too serious; one should not play with its changes and vicissitudes as with children's toys.
Before true insight can be gained, the inner house must be put in order to give the soul time to adjust itself, so that it can gradually be shown how little substance and permanence there is to be found in worldly things, to make it favour the spiritual and fear no effort or sacrifice to make the spiritual its own.
In such a way I arouse many a man from his spiritual sleep. I lay My hand upon him or touch him only with a finger, so that he may not be entirely lost or perish spiritually in materialism.
From such a night of the soul a person can only be awakened very slowly.
As I once said to the people standing around: "The maid is not dead, but sleeps!", so also in these days I often show that people who sometimes appear to be most corrupt have merely sunk into a spiritual sleep and that only the right call is necessary to expel this lethargy and make of the sluggard an active laborer in My vineyard.
Many have I already awakened who now thank Me a thousand times, although the manner in which they came to recognition was not quite after their taste. However, depending on their spiritual individuality, stimulants were often needed by which alone the ultimate purpose could be furthered. All of you were likewise lulled into a comfortable spiritual sleep by rendering your religious faith as convenient as possible. I have awakened you by various means in order to arouse anew the inner qualities of your soul. Upon many a one of you I laid My hand and others I touched only with My finger according to the need, one requiring a gentle touch and another a stronger, more persuasive inducement in order to make him recognize where he actually stood and how much he still had to do so as to attain the goal, or at least to become aware of it. Since the goal I have set for you is not so near and not so easily attained, I had in your case first to eradicate your old traditional prejudices in the same way in which I once expelled the minstrels on the occasion of a death before the nature of My teaching could be understood.
What I achieved with you in so many different ways is still happening today with entire nations. There, too, I drive out the noisy musicians, the pipers and drummers, who are inclined to make merry even over graves. I sober up the nations through distress. I free them from the delusion that worldly desire, which seeks only pleasure, is man's main pursuit. Through very unpleasant events, unfortunately, I teach them the instability of worldly pride, worldly glory and worldly possessions, and prove to them the eternal duration of spiritual treasures.
In this way fare individuals, whole nations, rulers and priests. To all of them I show that there is still another One above them, Who, although He suffers them to do what they choose, alone holds in His hands the threads of the linking of circumstances and relations, and Who knows how to utilize everything - even men's most wicked acts - for the best of humanity as a whole and the individual as such.
Thus, the process of evolution progresses only slowly, yet irresistibly approaches its goal. I awaken all men, all nations, all kings and priests. All of them shall come to realize that they have been asleep, and they shall also understand that one cannot always sleep, that sleep is good and useful only when it serves to restore spent energies. Where this does not take place, sleep is useless, harmful, and only makes matters worse. Hence, the spiritual sleep into which many were lulled, or had lulled themselves, must be considered solely as a great delay on the road of spiritual evolution. Therefore, the awakening is necessary all the more so in these days when the solution of the question of mankind's destiny is imminent, and when most people find themselves so steeped in worldly, selfish activities that hardly anyone can be awakened any more by the mere touch of a finger. On the contrary, in most cases forceful means have to be used in order to pull them out of the mire of this world into which they have sunk so deeply.
Men have now strayed so far from their real goal that no human power would ever be able to awaken them from their dreams and get them away from their hunt for pleasures. More than ever I must now intervene, since also the rulers are laboring under the same delusion as their people. For that reason, everywhere, and in various ways, the call to awake is sounding for both individuals and entire nations.
So far neither the individuals nor the nations know what they really want. But just wait! Let the minstrels first be driven out, then a more earnest disposition and greater awareness will follow. Conditions will clear up and the unnatural, the unlawful and the overstrained will have to make room for the real and the imperishable. There will be plenty of resistance on the part of many, yet the medicine must be taken and the bitter cup emptied to the very dregs.
Since mankind has strayed so far from the right path, the way back must, of course, be a long one, - but return he must!
It is necessary for him to understand that there is only one God and one realm of the spirits, and everything else is to serve as a footstool; and that material things, however devotedly revered, have no permanency and cannot yield lasting pleasure.
Thousands of erring are hurrying along the wrong path to an early death. Immature, they leave this world and arrive in the beyond even more so. What shall become of them? Here they could not remain, and there they do not like it either. Oh, you do not know the agony of such souls who are wandering around undecidedly! The temporal world, now lost to them, is no longer accessible to them, and the spiritual does not fit their ideas or their nature.
That is the way it goes, when people, even entire nations, utterly disregard their spiritual happiness, cling to the material things and, finally, having lost the material, are unable to make the spiritual their own. It is their own fault. - This is the reason for My awakening calls. Not in vain did I say: "If an eye offends you, pluck it out, for it is more profitable for you that you arrive with one eye in a better world than to expose yourself to the greatest spiritual agony with two eyes!"
Accept all happenings as gifts of love, however and whenever they may come; for I know best how, when, and by what means I can set depraved people and erring nations on the right path and thus still save them in time from total ruin.
You were taught a purgatory where souls are said to be cleansed from their evil passions before they could be received into paradise or heaven. But I say to you: The way in which purgatory has been described to you is utter nonsense; spiritually, however, it does exist in man himself. There, everything that is evil must first be swept away before one can feel at home in better circumstances; and to this sweeping away I contrtibute much by sending all kinds of conflicts and sufferings. Thus I awaken the slumbering good qualities in the human soul in order that it may pull itself together to combat the evil with energy and sweep away all that could be detrimental to it.
When I once said: "The maid is not dead, but sleeps!", they laughed at Me. In the same way, also today, very few people understand Me when I want to arouse them, although it is in their best interest. Therefore, strive to understand My hints and admonitions, so that you may notice when I touch you only with My finger for your own good! A loving father who cares very much for the welfare of his children can only reform, but never punish. Of that be always mindful! Amen.