Damascus 45 AD
The Mother of all things looked out at the enormous audience, and began, “To continue on with our lecture. While Philip and Bartholomew was smuggling the Holy Grail to Gaul, two important events were taking place in the middle east.”
“Firstly, Jesus passed away in the region known as Kashmir. Finally succumbing to the wounds he received while being flogged in Jerusalem 12 years prior. The beating was so intense that Jesus of Nazareth never quite fully recovered from them. Broken bones, torn flesh, muscles, and infections from those various wounds to his back side. Jesus was never physically the same man after that critical beating received at the hands of the Romans.
“Pontius Pilate had Jesus mutilated. And he never had need of it. He just wanted to make a statement to all the revolutionaries in Israel. Pilate made an example of Jesus of Nazareth. And by doing so built up for himself and his empire a tremendous amount of karma, which will soon have to be paid.”
“Jesus’ deceased body was then transported by those closest to him to Gaul. For he knew where his wife and family were, and he told his friends in Kashmir of their whereabouts. He had secretly watched them launch the boat from Caesarea. Jesus had been standing on a hilltop watching Philip and Bartholomew rescue his wife and children from the oncoming forces which were to come. Watching his children, his bloodline, be taken away to foreign soil. And there was nothing he could do about it. He had taken an oath to his brother Joseph, and he was duty bound by it. Part of the agreement was there to be no contact with his family, lest their entire family be crucified for it.”
The Father was once again shedding another tear. One of many that has arisen since this sermon began. The mother of all things noticed this, and took a moment before she spoke, “He knew he couldn’t go with them. Although in his heart of hearts, that is where he wanted to be. With those whom loved him the most. His most trusted friends and family. His earthly inner circle.”
“When the body of Jesus arrived at Marseilles, it was then taken to his wife Mary Magdalene. She then had the body of her husband hidden in the Pyrenees Mountains, where it remains to this day. A secret which has been guarded for nearly two thousand years. The son of man was never put into a tomb in Israel. He was put in a cave in Gaul. It was then sealed shut, guarded by one of the Father’s Seraphim. Only to be discovered at the appropriate time. And not one day sooner.”
“But it will be discovered soon,” the Father chimed in.
The Mother smiled at him. The Father was full of secrets, and liked to use them as teasers. This has been a habit of his for eternity. She then continued, “Secondly, a man named Saul had a spiritual experience that would change him, and western civilization.”
The Father spoke again, “Mind if I tell the next part of the story?”
“Not at all my love,” she answered.
He cleared his throat, and then continued forward in her stead, “My son had just passed away from that world to this one. I welcomed him home, and led him to his holy seat. This was the image that King David had seen one thousand years prior. I said to my son, ‘sit at my right hand while I make your enemies my footstool.”
“Jesus settled into his throne, and became comfortable with his status in the Kingdom of Heaven. He joined Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and the others in the council of the twenty four elders.”
At the mention of the twenty four elders, the heavenly host all bowed their heads. They all knew who the twenty four were, each of them a sacred name in the Kingdom of Heaven. All had paid the ultimate price on earth, and then had shared in their eternal glory in heaven. Each had sacrificed themselves for the Father of all things. And in return, the Father had declared each to be given the crown of eternal life. The ultimate reward given in heaven.
The Father allowed the heavenly host to pay their respects, and then continued, “But it wasn’t long after that Jesus noticed that there was a man down on earth who was terrorizing his new found church. This man was known as Saul from Tarsus.”
“Saul had been arresting these newly converted ‘Christians,’ as they were being called. Throwing them in prison, and charging them with blasphemy and insurrection, amongst other things. He had been on his way to Damascus to round up some more of these Christians when the incident happened which changed his life, and western civilization.”
The Father looked up at the red haired image of Saul being displayed on the giant viewer. He muttered to himself, “This man sure made a mess of things.”
He continued, “Saul was on his way to round up some of these Christians, when he saw a bright light ahead of him. It was so bright that it temporarily blinded him for three days.”
“Saul was knocked off of his horse, hit his head, and lost consciousness. While he was unconscious, he saw a vision of Jesus. Now look to the viewer and witness what was spoken between Jesus and Saul.”
The viewer as instructed, displayed Jesus and Saul having a conversation.
Jesus spoke first, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you,” asked Saul.
“I am Jesus whom you persecute,” answered Jesus.
“What will you have me to do Lord?” asked Saul.
“Arise, and go unto the city. There you will receive your instructions. And persecute me no more,” said Jesus.
The Father looked from the viewer and back to his angelic host. He continued the story, “Saul did receive his instructions from Jesus. He was told his name was changed to Paul. And that he was to help build the church of Jesus.”
“Now I bring this story up about Paul for a reason, and here it is.”
“This was Jesus and Paul’s only face to face meeting. Paul never travelled with Jesus as the others had, while Jesus was in the flesh. He never spent three and half years with Jesus, as Philip and Andrew had. Jesus’ first two apostles.
“So Paul never knew Jesus while he was in the physical realm. His only encounter with Jesus occurred while Jesus was in the spiritual world. So that was Paul’s only experience with my son. I keep repeating this because I strongly want to emphasize the point. This is very important in understanding the history of the church.”
The Father once again was looking at the image of Paul onscreen. He shook his head and repeated, “He sure made a mess of things.”
The Father continued on his sermon about Paul, “This self-proclaimed apostle known as Paul began to teach a different Jesus than those whom knew my son while he was in the flesh. He took the human aspect out of Jesus, and turned him into a God. Something Jesus never asked for, nor wished to be. It would have went against his humility to declare himself to be one. For he knew that we all have one Father, myself. And one God, the deity who declared himself to Abraham, and shown himself to Moses. Once again myself.”
“Yet you really can’t blame Paul for any of this. He did his best with what he had to work with. He saw a spiritual version of Jesus, and that is how he described him in his letters to the churches. Letters which would in turn be incorporated into the Holy Scriptures. And end up becoming the gospel for many generations.”
The Father pressed onward, “So in one generation after the crucifixion, we had differing versions of Jesus, and his church. ‘The way,’ which Jesus spoke of, turned into a far different religion that anything that he could have possibly imagined.”
“We had a church based in Jerusalem led by Jesus’ brother James. The apostle whom history would call ‘James the Just.’ Apostle number nine in our list of the twelve.
“James, along with his brothers, Simon the Zealot, and Jude, apostles numbered ten and eleven, would lead this church in Jerusalem. They had help from others who had joined shortly after 33 AD. Along with them was apostle number seven, Matthew. Who would write the gospel that the Christians in Jerusalem would adhere to. Matthew’s gospel would be the story that the church of Jerusalem would cling itself to. It would be their guideline. It was a wonderful gospel, telling the life of Jesus. It contained the Sermon on the Mount, and the Olivet discourse.”
The Father resumed, “These Christians based in Jerusalem would still follow Jewish laws and observances. All the holidays and rituals of Jewish life would still matter to these disciples. It was a Jewish based Christianity. Taking the teachings of Jesus, and mixing them with the laws of Moses. Many of the early followers of Jesus followed this path. As a matter of fact, most of them did before eventually branching off to other parts of the world to preach the gospel.
“The church in Jerusalem looked at Jesus not as a God, but as a man whom was a great teacher and prophet. An example for others to follow.”
“This church would last until the year 70 AD. The year that Rome overthrew Jerusalem, and scattered the Jews, along with the Jewish Christians, to the four winds. When Jerusalem fell, so did the Jerusalem church. And with it, the Jewish version of Christianity. A remnant would remain to this present day. But this remnant has never had the influence that the early church of Jerusalem had.”
“Jewish Christianity perished in the flames of Jerusalem in 70AD by the Roman torch.
The Father looked to the viewer to see the temple in flames. A tear welled up in his eye while he spoke, “It was a sad sight to see. The entire city, along with its holy places up in flames, as the Romans stormed the walls of that eternal city. The Jews that had resisted were either killed, or sold into slavery. It was the end of an era of Judaism. The children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were now a people without a homeland. The age of the wandering Jew was thus born.”
“What a pity, it needn’t had happened,” said the Father, wiping away a tear.
He took a moment to gather himself and continued, “Jewish Christianity, which was the dominating form of the followers of Jesus during the first forty years after the crucifixion, would turn into a distant memory. Everything changed with the destruction of Jerusalem.”
“Meanwhile, after 60 AD, the Roman form of Christianity was flourishing. The followers of first Peter, and then Paul were growing. This was a far different form of Christianity then the Jewish church.”
“The Roman church was the church of the gentiles. No longer following any of the Jewish laws and observances. Not recognizing of any of the old Jewish holidays laid down by Moses. The Church of Rome was mixing paganism in with the teachings of Jesus. Incorporating their many gods into the one God. I will get into more of that later.”
The Father looked up to the viewer onscreen and saw the images of Peter and Paul, side by side. He shook his head, and changed the subject to another apostle, “Meanwhile, many of the true followers of the message were either in Gaul with Mary Magdalene, or in what was then known as Galatia, a region bordering Greece and Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey.”
“There was a smattering of true followers of ‘the way’ in spots like Alexandria, Egypt, and Carthage. A few dozen in Ethiopia. Some in India, where Thomas was teaching the message. Some in Caesarea where Philip had built his church. Some more in Britannia where Joseph was teaching. But it would be in Galatia and Gaul that the majority of the true message of ‘the way’ was followed. These were taught by those whom were the closest to Jesus, and they practiced his message the same way that he did. Teaching that the kingdom of heaven was within each and every one of my children. And that if each of his followers followed the same path that he did, that kingdom would be rightfully theirs.
“The true message was being preached by Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus in Gaul. And by Philip, and Bartholomew in Galatia. For those two apostles had left Caesarea in 50 AD, and had settled in the Galatian region. To preach the gospel of the kingdom.”
The Father looked upon Philip and Bartholomew’s images onscreen and spoke, “This is very important in our quest for the grail. Apostles numbered five and six, would lay down the foundation for a group that would later on be known as the Bogomils. A group which would later be associated with the group known in the Middle Ages as the Cathars. But once again, I’m getting ahead of myself.”
“It’s good to know that I’m not the only one capable of doing that,” joked the Mother of all things.
The Father looked at her, smiled, and continued on, “So basically around the years of 65 to 75 AD, we had three divisions of Christianity. One generation after the week which would change everything, we already had a very split church.”
“On the one hand, we had Jewish Christianity based out of Jerusalem. Led by James the Just, and his brothers. Then we had the Roman form of Christianity, led by Peter and Paul. Finally, we had the Gnostic branch of Christianity, led by Mary Magdalene in Gaul, and Philip in Galatia.”
“Not forty years after the crucifixion. We had ourselves a much divided church. From there, it would only get worse.”
“But they all had one thing in common. Each of these churches of Jesus was being persecuted, on a grand scale.