Sacred Journey. M.K. Welsch
to know flesh, the first to purify it.
1158-5
Allusions to the loss of the firstborn or favored son appear again and again throughout the holy text beginning with Abraham in Genesis and culminating in the story of Jesus, thirty-three years after Herod’s slaughter of the innocents when the first-begotten of God, the Adam soul, will be slain on a cross at Calvary. Closer examination of the theme of the sacrifice of the child reveals a thread tying together the horrific events in Bethlehem in the weeks following the infant Jesus’ birth to several of his former lifetimes as well as the place of the Messiah in spiritual history.
Thousands of years before Mary’s baby appeared on the scene, the patriarch Abraham’s wife Sarah, a woman long past child-bearing age, miraculously becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son named Isaac. The story related in Genesis indicates that the homage the God of Abraham sought from his servant was the unconditional alignment of Abraham’s will with the will of the divine. And the indisputable evidence of the man’s deference to the Almighty would be his obedience to the divine command to offer his only son on the altar of sacrifice. That which was created and loved most in the material realm by the man Abraham belonged to God and must be given back to the same unseen force from which it had emanated. But in the end, due to the patriarch’s undeviating resolve to surrender all personal desire in order to fulfill a greater holy purpose, this unnamed deity does not require him to surrender his child. The sacred impartation Abraham receives at the moment of dispensation thunders down through history: “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Gen. 22:12)
Spirit requires of man only humble submission to his innermost sense of knowing. And due to Abraham’s willingness to listen and obey—his unwavering fidelity to the highest ideal—God promises his descendants shall be as numberless as the stars and his seed a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Abraham and Sarah’s beloved son Isaac grows up to father Jacob, who will wrestle with the angel, earn the name Israel, and have twelve sons of his own.
Out of Egypt
It was Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, a previous incarnation of the Master who was thrown into slavery in Egypt (symbol of the material world) that sets the stage for the Moses narrative generations later. A divine hand raises up this soul to greatness, empowering Joseph with the authority and opportunity to provide sustenance to the Israelites and literally keep that nation alive. The child lost to his father and believed dead ends up becoming the fulfillment of the divine promise originally made to Abraham: to forever preserve the people of the one God. So, too, will the first begotten son, the Adam soul, lost to the heavenly realms at the beginning of time, be raised up to glory and become a savior. But first, he has to prepare for the role.
Jesus as Student
Did the Father prepare the Master, or did the Master prepare Himself for the Father’s purpose?
2067-7
As detailed in the Edgar Cayce readings, following their flight from Judea the Holy Family stayed in Egypt approximately two-and-a-half years. They may have been gone from their homeland for as long as four or five years, however, counting the length of time it took in those days to travel back and forth on slow-moving animals over rugged terrain. Most of their stay was spent “ … dwelling by the brooks or the portions where there were wells in the upper portion of the Egyptian land to which they fled,” close to what was then Alexandria, which already was a great center of learning. (1010-12) Mary, Joseph, and the members of their household were said to have taken advantage of the opportunity for study during their visit. According to the Cayce material, they reviewed some of the same records and prophecies the Wise Men had researched concerning the advent of the Messiah and some of the experiences that were going to occur in his life. “Those same records from which the men of the East said and gave, ‘By those records we have seen his star.’ These pertained, then, to what you would call today astrological forecasts, as well as those records which had been compiled and gathered by all of those of that period pertaining to the coming of the Messiah … ” (1010-17) In addition, the information included references to the forerunner of the deliverer, John the Baptist, as well as the “ … nature of work of the parents … ” and “ … their places of sojourn … ” along with those qualities concerning the nature and character of the people who would be “ … coming in contact with the young Child … ” (1010-17)
Upon their departure from Egypt, Joseph decides against returning to the place where they had previously lived and instead chooses to settle in Galilee at Capernaum primarily for political reasons. “Then there was the return to Judea and to Capernaum, where dwelt many of those who were later the closer companions of the Master,” (5749-7) explains Cayce. The area in general was quieter and provided a more secure location for his family. It also offered greater proximity to the activities and teachings of the Essene Brotherhood overseen by Judy.
For the most part there is a paucity of information about Jesus’ childhood in the biblical accounts of those early years. Luke’s gospel reports that the young boy grew and waxed strong and increased in “wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:51-52) Jesus was said to have had the grace of God upon him. The Cayce readings fill in several blanks in the information concerning this special child, mentioning his unusual interactions with the community and singular presence in the world. One interesting fact we learn about Jesus is that he was already healing at a very young age—
… garments worn by the child would heal children. For the body, being perfect, radiated that which was health, life itself. Just as today individuals may radiate by their spiritual selves health, life, that vibration which is destructive to dis-ease in any form in bodies …
1010-17
In commenting further on this activity, Cayce goes on to explain that his apparel “ … brought more and more the influence which today would be called a lucky charm, or a lucky chance … ” (2067-7) Although present within him and plainly evident to others on more than one occasion, apparently the healing capacity was not yet a conscious awareness in the child.
Lest we begin to believe this little boy was completely different from all the other children brought up in that day and age according to the Oriental customs of Egypt and Galilee, we learn from the readings that Jesus was “ … in every manner a normal, developed body, ready for those activities of children of that particular period.” (1010-17) “ … Remember and keep in mind, He was normal, He developed normally … ” states Cayce in the same reading. It is said those around him saw the same characteristics that might belong to anyone who wholly places his or her trust in God. Mary watched her son closely and having studied the prophecies and records while preparing for her own role in the divine adventure, must have started to put a few more of pieces of the puzzle together. But as Luke had reported, at the time of Jesus’ birth she quietly kept “all of these things and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
The family had some additional help in the person of a woman named Josie who had been among the group of twelve maidens on the stairs when Mary was chosen as the one who would give birth to the savior. Josie also had accompanied the Holy Family to Egypt—a journey which Cayce described as “ … no mean distance for a very young child, and a very young mother—during such delicate conditions.” (1010-12) She is said to have been “ … active in all educational activities as well as the care of the body and the attending to the household duties with every developing child.” (1010-17) In terms of Jesus’ educational activities as a youngster, his studies were “ … in keeping with the tenets of the Brotherhood {the activities and beliefs of the Essenes}; as well as that training in the law—which was the Jewish or Mosaic law in that period.” (1010-17)
The Bible picks up the story again around the time Jesus reaches the age of twelve when on a trip to Jerusalem