Deeper Secrets of Human History
in the Light of the Gospel of St. Matthew
GA 117
2 November 1909, Berlin
Lecture I
Introductory lectures have already been given on the Gospels of St. John and of St. Luke.1The lecture-courses here referred to are the following: The Gospel of St. John. 12 lectures. Hamburg, May, 1908. The Gospel of St. John in relation to the three other Gospels, with particular reference to the Gospel of St. Luke. 14 lectures. Cassel, June/July, 1909. The Gospel of St. Luke. 10 lectures. Basle, September, 1909. The impression they endeavoured to convey can best be described by saying that all through they took the view that the Being of Christ-Jesus—as far as human understanding in our present time is capable of conceiving Him—is so great, so all-embracing, so mighty, that there can be no one-sided presentation of who Christ-Jesus was and of His significance for the spirit and soul of every single human being. To attempt anything of the kind would seem presumptuous in the presence of the greatest of all world-problems. Reverence, veneration—these are the appropriate words to express the mood pervading our studies. This reverence expresses itself in the feeling that, when confronting the greatest problem of life, one should try not to place too high a value upon human powers of comprehension, nor even upon the knowledge imparted by a spiritual science able to penetrate into the very highest realms; one should not imagine that human words can ever be capable of describing more than a single aspect of this great, overwhelming problem.
All the lectures given on the Gospel of St. John during the last three years centred around the words contained in that Gospel: “I am the Light of the world. ” The aim of the lectures was to make this saying comprehensible, and they will have fulfilled their purpose if they bring a gradual understanding of these words, until they become one's own,—or perhaps only an intuition as to their meaning as they stand in the Gospel of St. John.
When, however, you see a light shining, have you, simply by gazing at it or even by discovering something of its nature and properties, understood what it is that is shining there? Have you acquired any real knowledge of the sun, simply through perceiving its manifested light? One must realise that it is one thing to perceive the radiance, and quite another to understand the light that is working within that radiance. Because the Being of Whom we are speaking can say of Himself: “I am the Light of the world”, it behoves us to grasp the meaning of this saying; but even then we have understood of that Being no more than the particular manifestation of His nature that is expressed in the words: “I am the Light of the world.” Everything contained in the lectures on the Gospel of St. John was necessary in order to show that that Being, Who embraces in Himself all cosmic wisdom, is verily the Light of the world. But this Being Himself is infinitely greater than anything that could be conveyed in the lectures on the Gospel of St. John. If anyone were to believe that those lectures had enabled him to understand Christ-Jesus fully and completely, he would be labouring under the erroneous idea that a single manifestation which he dimly divines enables him to understand the whole radiant Being.
A different aspect was presented in the lectures on the Gospel of St. Luke. If our studies of the Gospel of St. John might be regarded as a means for helping us to understand the words, “I am the Light of the world”, the lectures on the Gospel of St. Luke—provided they have been grasped with sufficient depth—may be conceived as an exegesis on the words: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”, or: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Here Christ-Jesus is seen, not only as the Light of the world, but as the Being Who makes the offering of supreme self-surrender; the Being Who is all-comprising without losing His own identity; Who in that He is capable of the uttermost sacrifice, of the greatest imaginable self-surrender, is the very fount of Compassion and Love; Whose warmth streams through the life of men and of the earth now and in all ages of time to come. In everything that these words can express, a second aspect of the Being whom we call Christ-Jesus is presented.
In these two Gospels, therefore, this Being has been depicted as the One Who in His compassion can make the supreme sacrifice, and Who shines over all human existence through the power of His light. Light and Love made manifest in the Being of Christ-Jesus—these are the aspects that have been described. And those who have grasped the full compass of our studies of the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke will be able to gather some idea of what in Christ-Jesus was “Light” and what in Him was “Love and Compassion.”
We have tried, then, to understand two attributes of Christ-Jesus in their universal significance. The meaning of what was said of Christ as the spirit-Light of the world streaming into all things, living and weaving within them as primordial, eternal wisdom, is reflected back to us from the Gospel of St. John. There is no wisdom accessible to man that is not in some way contained in this Gospel. All the wisdom of the universe is there, for he who contemplates this eternal wisdom in Christ-Jesus sees it, not only as it has worked in the remote past, but as it will work in the far distant future. In contemplating this Gospel, therefore, we hover, like the eagle, in heights far above the level of human existence. In glimpsing the sublime Ideas which bring the Gospel of St. John into the range of our understanding, we are carried on the wings of transcendent, transforming Ideas, above all occurrences in the life of the individual human soul. These all-embracing, eternal Ideas are the concern of that Divine Wisdom which flows to us as we steep ourselves in this Gospel. What streams from it seems itself to be circling, like the eagle, in heights high above every happening in the daily, hourly, and momentary destiny of men.
Let us now descend from these heights, and contemplate individual human life from hour to hour, from day to day, from year to year, from century to century, from millennium to millennium, observing especially the forces expressed in what we call human love. We can perceive love surging and weaving in the living hearts and souls of men through the ages. On the one side we see how this love gives rise to deeds of supreme heroism in the life of mankind, how the greatest sacrifices spring from love for some being or cause; but we also see that, although supreme accomplishments are born of this love in human hearts, it is at the same time like a two-edged sword. For example, a mother loves her child inwardly, deeply; the child commits some misdeed, but so intense is the mother's love that she cannot bring herself to punish. A second misdeed occurs, and again the depth of the mother's love keeps her from punishing the child ... and so it goes on. The child grows up, becomes a lifelong good-for-nothing, a disturber of the peace. In speaking of matters as grave as this it is not good to take contemporary examples, so I will speak of something that happened a long time ago. In the first half of the nineteenth century there was a mother who loved her child with the very deepest intensity. Let it be emphasised that love in itself cannot be too highly valued, for whatever the circumstances, love remains one of the very highest human attributes.—But so great was the mother's love that she could not bring herself to punish the child for having committed a petty theft in the home. A second theft was again left unpunished, and finally the child became a notorious poisoner. Such was the outcome of the lack of wisdom, in the mother's love. If love is pervaded by wisdom, it is capable of deeds of untold greatness. The significance of the Love that streamed into the world from Golgotha lies precisely in the fact that it was united, in a single Being, with the Light of the world, with true Wisdom. It is therefore when we contemplate these two qualities as manifested in Christ-Jesus, that we realise that Love is the crowning glory of the world, but also that Love and Wisdom belong in the deepest sense together.
What have we actually understood from our studies of the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke? We have understood nothing beyond those attributes of Christ-Jesus which we may call the universal Light of Wisdom and the universal Warmth of Love, both of which flowed in Him as in no other Being, and which can never be wholly within the reach of our human comprehension. Whereas in connection with the Gospel of St. John we may speak of great, transcendental Ideas sweeping like eagles in heights far above the heads of men, in the Gospel of St. Luke we find that which speaks at every moment to each individual human heart. The significance of St. Luke's Gospel is that it fills us with a warmth that is the outward expression of love, with understanding for the love that is ready to make the supreme sacrifice, which has no other desire than to surrender its very self.
A pictorial presentation of the mood and feeling arising from a right approach to the Gospel of St. Luke is to be found in portrayals of the Mithras bull being driven to the sacrifice, bearing on its back the figure of a man. Seen from below it is an earthly happening; but above the moving figures cosmic events hover. The man thrusts his knife into the body of the sacrificial bull, whose life-blood is offered up in order that man may conquer what has to be overcome. Contemplation of the sacrificial animal carrying the man, for whose sake it must be sacrificed in order that, as man, he may be able to advance along his path of life, provides the right basis of feeling for study of the Gospel of St. Luke. Those who know what the sacrificial bull, as the expression of inwardly deepened love, has betokened for men through all the ages, understand something of the qualities of love described in the Gospel of St. Luke. This Gospel, then, depicts a second attribute of Christ-Jesus.
But does knowledge of two attributes or qualities of a Being justify the claim to have understood the whole nature of that Being? It has been necessary to speak of these two attributes because in Christ-Jesus the greatest of all riddles stands before us. But no one should maintain that study of two such attributes yields anything like a true or complete picture of the nature of this Being. In describing these two attributes of Christ-Jesus, nothing that can bring even a glimmering understanding of their infinite significance has been left unsaid. But our reverence and awe for this Being is too great ever to allow us to imagine that thereby we have already grasped His other attributes.
It would be possible to speak of a third attribute, but as it involves matters which have not yet formed part of our studies, a general indication of it is all that can here be given. I may put it in this way. The Christ presented in the Gospel of St. John is, in Himself, a Being of the utmost sublimity, but in His works He draws upon the powers pertaining to the realm of the wisdom-filled Cherubim. It is for this reason that, in describing the Christ of St. John's Gospel, the dominating feeling will be that evoked by the picture of the eagle-soaring Cherubim. In the Gospel of St. Luke, however, the keynote of the picture is the warmth-bringing fire of love springing from the heart of Christ. This indicates that in what Christ signified to the world in this Gospel, He worked at those sublime heights which are the realm of the Seraphim. The fiery love of the Seraphim streams through the universe, and is conveyed to our earth through Christ-Jesus. But there is a third aspect to be considered, namely, what Christ-Jesus signified for the earthly world in that He was not alone the Light of Wisdom, not alone the Warmth of Love, not alone the channel for the Cherubim and Seraphim within earth-existence, but with His whole Power ‘was’ and ‘is’ within this earth-existence, inasmuch as He worked in the realm of the Thrones, the realm whence all Strength and Power flow into the world, to the end that Wisdom and Love may be led to fulfilment. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones: these are the three highest Spiritual Hierarchies. The Seraphim with their Love lead us into the depths of the human heart, the Cherubim with their Wisdom upwards to the heights of the eagle. Wisdom shines down upon us from those heights while self-surrendering Love is symbolised in the sacrificial bull. But Strength pulsing through the world, Strength which makes all things possible of fulfilment, Strength which is the creative power surging through the world, for these, in all systems of symbolism, the token is the lion. The Strength infused into our earth through Christ-Jesus, the Strength which orders and directs all things and which, when it is unfolded, signifies supreme Power—that is what is described in the Gospel of St. Mark as a third attribute of Christ-Jesus. In connection with the Gospel of St. John we speak of Christ as the sublime Sun-Being, as the Light of the Earth-Sun in the spiritual sense; in connection with the Gospel of St. Luke we speak of the warmth of the Love streaming from Christ; in connection with the Gospel of St. Mark we shall speak of the Power of the Earth-Sun in the spiritual sense. Study of the Gospel of St. Mark will give us a picture of the forces present in the earth, of the working and weaving of earthly forces and powers, both hidden and manifest.2Lectures on the Gospel of St. Mark were given in Berlin, p.17 October, 1910. The course of 14 lectures entitled The Gospel of St. Mark, was given in Berlin, September, 1912. If by lifting ourselves to Christ in the sense of St. John's Gospel we can claim to have some faint inkling of the transcendent Ideas which came to the earth as His earthly Thoughts, if we can feel the warmth of His self-giving Love by letting the warmth streaming from St. Luke's Gospel pervade our own hearts,—if thus in St. John's Gospel we can glimpse Christ's Thinking, and in St. Luke's Gospel His Feeling—then in St. Mark's Gospel we can learn of His Willing; we are presented with a picture of the forces by means of which Christ brings Love and Wisdom to actual fulfilment.
If the Gospel of St. Mark had been studied in addition to the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke, a tentative understanding of three attributes of Christ Jesus would be within our reach. We should then have the right to say: “With all reverence we have come nearer to Thee, and we have dimly divined something of Thy Thinking, Thy Feeling, Thy Willing These three attributes of Thy Being hover above us as supreme prototypes of earthly existence!” We begin our study of an ordinary human being in the same way when we speak of Sentient Soul, Mind-Soul and Spiritual Soul, and study the characteristics and functions of each. Of the ‘Spiritual Soul’ of Christ we can say that we acquire an insight into the understanding of it from St. John's Gospel; the ‘Mind-Soul’ of Christ becomes comprehensible to us through St. Luke's Gospel; and the ‘Sentient Soul’ of Christ, with all its forces of will, through St. Mark's Gospel. When we come to study this last Gospel, light will be shed on the forces of Nature, both manifest and hidden, concentrated in the single Individuality of Christ, and on the essential character of all the forces operating in the world. The Gospel of St. John has deepened our understanding of the Thoughts of this Being, the Gospel of St. Luke our understanding of His Feelings, and because man is not wont to penetrate so deeply into these two realms of the life of soul, studies of the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke are relatively simple in comparison with the picture, presented in the Gospel of St. Mark, of the system and organisation of the hidden forces, both natural and spiritual, operating in the world. All this stands revealed in the Akasha Chronicle and it will be mirrored before us when we pass on to study the power-filled Gospel of St. Mark. Then we shall begin to discern all that is concentrated in the Being of Christ, and which otherwise is distributed among the whole variety of individual beings in the world. We shall then be able to understand, and perceive in a higher, clearer way, all that we have learnt to know as the fundamental elemental laws and principles behind all kinds of existence. As we grasp the meaning of the Gospel of St. Mark, which contains all the secrets of the Universal Will, then, in all reverence, we draw nearer to Christ-Jesus, the focal point of the Universe, inasmuch as more and more we apprehend His Thinking, His Feeling and His Willing.
When we observe the interplay of human thinking, feeling and willing, we have an approximate picture of the whole man. But in observing a single human being, we cannot help envisaging each of these activities separately. Yet when we bring them together again into a collective whole our observation cannot be anything like exhaustive. We make our task easier by observing each of the three functions separately, but on the other hand, the picture will lose precision when we bring them together again as a united whole. It is for our own advantage, then, that we separate the functions, inasmuch as a collective survey of the whole is beyond our power, but the picture becomes blurred when the attributes are brought together again.—In the same way, if we have acquired from the Gospels of St. John, St. Luke and St. Mark some conception of the Thinking, Feeling and Willing of Christ-Jesus, we can attempt to harmonise these three attributes into a united whole. The picture will inevitably lose precision and vividness, for no human faculty is capable of unifying what it has made separate and distinct. In Being itself there is unity, not separation; but for us, only at the final stage is it possible to gather the separated attributes into a unity. Although it will be less vivid, we shall at last have a presentation of what Christ-Jesus was as earthly Man.
It is in the Gospel of St. Matthew that the picture is drawn for us of Christ-Jesus as man, of His life as a man during the thirty-three years of His sojourn on earth. The contents of St. Matthew's Gospel present us with a harmonised human portrait. In St. John's Gospel we saw a Divine and Cosmic Man, in St. Luke's Gospel a Being Who is the embodiment of self-giving Love, and in St. Mark's Gospel the cosmic Will operating in a single Individuality. In St. Matthew's Gospel we have the portrait of the Man of Palestine who during the thirty-three years of His life united in His own Being everything we have gathered from our study of the other three Gospels. Yet this picture of Christ-Jesus as a human being, as an earthly man, can be understood only against the background provided by our previous studies. As we saw was the case with the individual human being, so too, in this case, the attributes presented in the other three accounts are here less vividly apparent. But a picture of the human personality of Christ-Jesus can be afforded only by study of the Gospel of St. Matthew.
The situation is quite different from that in which we approached the study of St. John's Gospel. Now that the study of two Gospels lies behind us, we can perceive how they are inwardly related to each other and that we can only obtain a complete picture of Christ-Jesus if, with a similar approach, we consider the Man Who lived upon the earth as Christ-Jesus. From St. John's Gospel we have a picture of the Divine Man, from St. Luke's Gospel a picture of the Being Who unites in Himself all the streams which came to expression in Zoroastrianism, and also in Buddhism with its teaching of compassion and love. All this from the past came before us when we studied the Gospel of St. Luke. Study of the Gospel of St. Matthew will give us, first and foremost, an intimate and faithful picture of a Being who is the offspring of His own people the ancient Hebrew race. And we shall come to realise why the blood of this people had to be prepared in a definite way in order to provide for mankind the blood of Christ-Jesus. The study of St. Matthew's Gospel will give us a picture not only of the essential character of Hebraic antiquity, but also of the mission of this people for the whole world, of the birth of the new era, of the birth of Christianity out of the ancient Hebrew world. What Christ-Jesus was and is as Man, and the secrets of human history and human evolution—these are contained in the Gospel of St. Matthew.
Thus, through the Gospel of St. John we glimpse the Ideas of the Divine Sophia, through the Gospel of St. Luke the mysteries of supreme, self-giving Love, through the Gospel of St. Mark the forces and powers of the earth and the cosmos, and through the Gospel of St. Matthew we learn to understand human life, human history, human destiny.
If out of the seven years of the existence of our movement, four years had been devoted to acquainting ourselves with the principles and guiding-lines of spiritual science, and three to deepening our understanding of them as a light that must be shed on the many diverse domains of life, we might now have passed on to the study of St. Mark's Gospel, and the whole edifice could have been crowned by the study of Christ-Jesus as presented in St. Matthew's Gospel. But as human life has its limitations and this level has not been reached—at any rate in the case of everyone in the movement—it is not possible, without evoking misconceptions, to proceed at once to the study of St. Mark's Gospel. It would denote complete misunderstanding of the Being of Christ to believe that any knowledge of His nature could be derived from St. John's Gospel or St. Luke's Gospel alone, or from a one-sided application of all that is revealed in St. Mark's Gospel. The misunderstandings would be even greater than they have been already.
In view of all this we must choose the other path and pass on, as best we may, to the study of St. Matthew's Gospel. Although this means that for the present we must forego the profundities of St. Mark's Gospel, it will prevent any repetition of the belief that by describing a single attribute, a picture is given of the whole Being, and thereby it will be possible to avoid wrong conclusions.
We shall now turn our minds to Christ-Jesus as the offspring of the ancient Hebrew people, and to the birth of Christianity in Palestine. Our studies will be based on the Gospel of St. Matthew and it will then be easier to proceed to what we shall have to say about the Gospel of St. Mark.
Die Vier Verschiedenen Aspekte In Der Christus-Darstellung Der Vier Evangelien
Die Betrachtungen, die in Anknüpfung an das Johannes- und das Lukas-Evangelium gehalten worden sind, und die Gesinnung, von welcher aus sie ins Auge gefaßt worden sind, können nicht anders charakterisiert werden, als indem man sagt, diese Betrachtungen sind ausgegangen von folgendem Gesichtspunkt: Das, was wir als die Christus Jesus-Wesenheit bezeichnen, ist - soweit von ihr ein menschliches Verständnis überhaupt in unserer gegenwärtigen Zeit möglich ist - ein so Großes, so Umfassendes, Gewaltiges, daß eine Betrachtung nicht davon ausgehen kann, in irgendeiner einseitigen Weise zu sagen, wer der Christus Jesus war und welche Bedeutung seine Wesenheit für jeden einzelnen Menschengeist und für jede einzelne Seele hat. Das würde innerhalb unserer Betrachtungen geschienen haben wie eine Unehrerbietung gegenüber dem größten Weltenproblem, das es gibt. Ehrerbietung und Ehrfurcht, das sind die Worte, welche jene Gesinnungen bezeichnen, von denen aus unsere Betrachtungen durchaus gegeben worden sind. Ehrfurcht und Ehrerbietung, die etwa sich ausdrücken könnten in der Stimmung: Versuche selber dasjenige, was menschliches Begreifen ist, gar nicht zu hoch zu stellen, wenn du dem größten Problem gegenübertrittst. Versuche alles das, selbst was dir eine noch so hohe Geisteswissenschaft geben kann, niemals zu hoch zu stellen, und ginge es auch in die höchsten Regionen hinauf, wenn es sich darum handelt, dem größten Problem des Lebens gegenüberzutreten. Und glaube nicht, daß ein menschliches Wort ausreichen würde, etwas anderes zunächst zu sagen als das, was dieses große und gewaltige Problem von einer Seite aus charakterisiert. Alle diejenigen Vorträge, die jemals im Verlauf der letzten drei Jahre gehalten worden sind, hatten zum Mittelpunkte ein Wort, das uns im Johannes-Evangelium selber erscheint. «Ich bin das Licht der Welt» ist dieses Wort. Dieses Wort des Johannes-Evangeliums zu verstehen, waren alle Vorträge gehalten, welche über das Johannes-Evangelium ausgeführt worden sind. Und es reichen die Vorträge, welche in Anknüpfung an das Johannes-Evangelium gehalten wurden, ungefähr dazu aus, nach und nach zu verstehen, wenn man sie sich zu eigen macht, diese Worte, die gesprochen worden sind, vielleicht nur ahnend zu verstehen, was es heißt im Johannes-Evangelium selber: «Ich bin das Licht der Welt.»
Wenn Sie ein Licht leuchten sehen, haben Sie dadurch, daß Sie in dieses Licht hineinschauen, verstanden, daß das, was da leuchtet, ein Licht ist? Und wenn Sie einiges begriffen haben über die Färbung und Eigenheit dieses Lichtes, haben Sie da verstanden, was da leuchtet? Kennen Sie die Sonne, weil Sie hinaufblicken zum Sonnenlicht und das weiße Sonnenlicht als eine Offenbarung empfangen? Könnten Sie sich nicht vorstellen, daß es noch etwas anderes heißt, das Leuchtende zu begreifen als das Licht in dem Leuchtenden? Weil das Wesen, von dem wir gesprochen haben, von sich sagen kann: «Ich bin das Licht der Welt», waren wir genötigt, dieses Wort zu verstehen, und damit haben wir von jenem Wesen nicht mehr als diese seine Lebensäußerung verstanden: «Ich bin das Licht der Welt.» Alles das, was an Betrachtungen aufgeboten worden ist in Anknüpfung an das Johannes-Evangelium, war notwendig, um zu zeigen, daß jenes Wesen, welches in sich enthält die Weltenweisheit, das Licht der Welt ist. Aber dieses Wesen ist weit mehr als das, was im Johannes-Evangelium charakterisiert werden konnte. Und wer da glaubt, aus den Vorträgen über das Johannes-Evangelium den Christus Jesus verstehen zu wollen oder ihn umfaßt zu haben, der glaubt, aus einer einzelnen Lebensäußerung, die er ahnend erkennt, das ganze leuchtende Wesen zu verstehen.
Dann kamen die Vorträge über das Lukas-Evangelium, und wir haben daraus ein anderes ersehen. Konnte man ungefähr dasjenige, was in allen unseren Betrachtungen über das Johannes-Evangelium gesagt worden ist, wie ein Mittel zum Verständnis der Worte «Ich bin das Licht der Welt» betrachten, so könnte eventuell, wenn man sie nur tief genug gefaßt hat, die Betrachtung über das LukasEvangelium aufgefaßt werden als eine Umschreibung der Worte: «Vater, vergib ihnen, denn sie wissen nicht, was sie tun», oder: «Vater, in Deine Hände befehle ich meinen Geist.» Dasjenige, was der Christus Jesus ist - jetzt nicht bloß als Licht der Welt, sondern was er ist als die Wesenheit, die das größte Opfer der Hingebung bringt, die alles in sich vereinigen darf, ohne sich selber zu verlieren, was charakterisiert worden ist als das Opfer der Hingebung -, die Wesenheit, die in sich selber schließt die Möglichkeit des größten Opfers, der größtdenkbaren Hingabe und dadurch der Quell ist von Mitleid und Liebe, der sich warm ergießt durch alles zukünftige Menschen- und Erdenleben, alles, was in diese Worte gefaßt werden konnte, gibt eine zweite Seite von dem, was wir die Wesenheit des Christus Jesus nennen.
So haben wir charakterisiert diese Wesenheit als diejenige, welche in ihrem Mitleid das große Opfer realisieren kann, und welche leuchtet durch die Kraft ihres Lichtes über alles Menschendasein. Licht und Liebe haben wir geschildert, wie sie waren in der Wesenheit des Christus Jesus. Und wer im vollständigen Umfang die Johannes- und Lukas-Evangelienbetrachtungen nimmt, der kann in gewisser Beziehung eine Ahnung von dem erhalten, was in dem Christus Jesus «Licht» war und was in ihm «Liebe und Mitleid» war. Zwei Eigenschaften in ihrer universellen Bedeutung haben wir versucht zu verstehen in Christus Jesus. Was über den Christus zu sagen war als das geistige Licht der Welt, das als urewige Weisheit sich in alle Dinge hineinergießt, um in ihnen zu leben und zu weben, das kann sich der geistigen Betrachtung ergeben, das glänzt uns wiederum entgegen aus dem Johannes-Evangelium, und es gibt keine Weisheit, die man erreichen kann, die nicht in gewisser Weise im Johannes-Evangelium enthalten wäre. Alle Weisheit der Welt ist in diesem JohannesEvangelium enthalten, weil derjenige, der die Weisheit der Welt im Christus Jesus betrachtet, sie betrachtet, wie sie sich nicht nur realisiert hat in urferner Vergangenheit, sondern auch realisieren wird in urferne Zukunft hinein. Daher schwebt man in den Betrachtungen, die sich an das Johannes-Evangelium anknüpfen, hoch in den Lüften wie der Adler über allem menschlichen Dasein. So schwebt man, wenn man die großen Ideen zu entfalten hat, die ein Verständnis des Johannes-Evangeliums ermöglichen, mit den umspannenden und umfassenden Ideen über dem, was in der einzelnen menschlichen Seele vorgeht. Die umspannenden Weltideen beschäftigen jene Sophia, welche uns fließt, wenn wir in Anknüpfung an das Johannes-Evangelium Betrachtungen anstellen. Und dann erscheint uns das, was aus dem Johannes-Evangelium fließt, selber in Adlerhöhe kreisend über alledem, was im täglichen und stündlichen und augenblicklichen Menschenschicksal vor sich geht.
Und wenn man dann heruntersteigt und betrachtet das einzelne menschliche Leben von Stunde zu Stunde, von Tag zu Tag, von Jahr zu Jahr, von Jahrhundert zu Jahrhundert, von Jahrtausend zu Jahrtausend, wenn man darin betrachtet insbesondere jene Kräfte, welche man die menschliche Liebe nennt, dann sieht man diese Liebe durch Jahrtausende wallen und weben in den lebenden menschlichen Herzen und Seelen. Dann sieht man, wie diese Liebe auf der einen Seite die größten, bedeutsamsten, heroischsten Taten innerhalb der Menschheit vollbringt, dann sieht man, wie die größten Opfer der Menschheit geflossen sind aus der Liebe zu dem oder jenem Wesen, zu der oder jener Sache. Dann sieht man, wie diese Liebe in den menschlichen Herzen das Höchste vollbringt, wie sie aber zu gleicher Zeit etwas ist wie ein zweischneidiges Schwert: Da haben wir eine Mutter; sie liebt ihr Kind innig, tief. Das Kind begeht irgendeine Ausschreitung; die Mutter liebt ihr Kind, sie kann es nicht über das Herz bringen in ihrer tiefen, inbrünstigen Liebe, das Kind zu strafen. Und eine zweite Ausschreitung begeht dieses Kind, und die Mutter kann es abermals in ihrer tiefen Liebe nicht über das Herz bringen, das Kind zu bestrafen. Und so geht es weiter, und das Kind wächst heran, wird unbrauchbar, ein Störenfried für das Leben. Wenn man solche bedeutungsvolle Dinge berührt, ist es nicht gut, Beispiele aus der Gegenwart zu nehmen, und es soll deshalb ein fernerliegendes Beispiel angeführt werden. In der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts war eine Mutter, welche innig, innig ihr Kind liebte. Ausdrücklich soll es gesagt werden: nichts kann diese Liebe hoch genug preisen, unter allen Umständen ist Liebe etwas, was zu den höchsten menschlichen Eigenschaften gehört. Jene Mutter nun liebte ihr Kind und konnte es nicht über das Herz bringen, ihr Kind zu strafen wegen eines kleinen Diebstahls, den es in der Familie beging. Dann beging es einen zweiten Diebstahl, und sie konnte es wieder nicht bestrafen — das Kind wurde eine berüchtigte Giftmischerin. Sie wurde es aus der nicht von Weisheit geleiteten Mutterliebe. Die Liebe vollführt die größten Taten, wenn sie von Weisheit durchflossen ist. Das aber war gerade die Bedeutung jener Liebe, die von Golgatha geflossen ist in die Welt, daß sie in einem Wesen vereint ist mit dem Licht der Welt, mit der Weisheit. Daher ist das Hinblicken auf den Christus Jesus, wenn wir die beiden Eigenschaften betrachten so, daß wir erkennen, daß die Liebe das Höchste ist in der Welt, aber zu gleicher Zeit erkennen, wie Liebe und Weisheit im tiefsten Sinne zusammengehören.
Was haben wir aber verstanden, wenn man nun alle diese Betrachtungen über das Johannes- und Lukas-Evangelium angestellt hat? Man hat nichts weiter verstanden als jene Eigenschaft des Christus Jesus, die man nennen kann das universelle Licht der Weisheit, die universelle Wärme der Liebe, die in ihm so geflossen sind wie in keinem andern Wesen in der Welt, die keiner menschlichen Erkenntniskraft jemals zugänglich sein kann. Und während man in Anknüpfung an das Johannes-Evangelium von großen, gewaltigen Ideen spricht, welche wie in Adlerhöhen über die menschlichen Köpfe hinweggehen, findet man in Anlehnung an das Lukas-Evangelium das, was in jedes einzelne Menschenherz in jedem Augenblicke hineinspricht. Das ist das Bedeutsame des Lukas-Evangeliums, daß es uns mit solcher Wärme erfüllt, welche der äußere Ausdruck der Liebe ist, mit dem Verständnis für jene Liebe, die bereit ist zum größten Opfer, die bereit ist, sich selbst hinzugeben und nichts anderes will, als sich selber hingeben.
Maan fühlt so ungefähr - will man ein Bild haben für jene Stimmung, für jene Gemütslage, in der man ist bei der Betrachtung, die anknüpft an das Lukas-Evangelium, wenn man es im richtigen Sinne betrachtet — dasjenige, was uns in jenen Mithrasbildern entgegentritt, wo man den dahineilenden Opferstier hat. Auf ihm sieht man den Menschen sitzen, oben den Gang der großen Weltenereignisse und unten den Gang der irdischen Ereignisse. Der Mensch stößt sein Beil hinein in den Leib des verblutenden Opferstieres, der sein Leben hingibt, damit der Mensch dasjenige überwinden kann, was er überwinden muß. Wenn man diesen unter dem Menschen befindlichen Opferstier betrachtet, der hingeopfert werden muß, damit der Mensch seinen Lebensweg gehen kann, dann hat man ungefähr die Gefühls- und Gemütslage, welche die richtige Grundstimmung abgibt für eine an das Lukas-Evangelium anknüpfende Betrachtung. Was der Opferstier zu allen Zeiten den Menschen war, die das verstanden haben, was im Opferstier liegt, in dem Ausdruck der in sich selber zu vertiefenden Liebe, die verstehen etwas von der Schilderung der Eigenschaften der Liebe, die gegeben werden soll durch die Betrachtung des LukasEvangeliums. Denn nichts anderes als eine zweite Eigenschaft des Christus Jesus sollte geschildert werden. Kennt aber der, der zwei Eigenschaften an einem Wesen kennt, das ganze Wesen? Weil uns in diesem Wesen das größte Rätsel entgegentritt, sind die Ausführungen zum Verständnis zweier Eigenschaften nötig gewesen. Niemand aber sollte sich vermessen, aus der Betrachtung zweier Eigenschaften dieses Wesen selber ins Auge fassen zu können.
Zwei Eigenschaften des Christus Jesus haben wir geschildert und nicht unterlassen, alles das zu tun, was uns zu einem ahnenden Verständnis der hohen Bedeutung dieser zwei Eigenschaften hat bringen können. Aber wir haben zu viel Ehrerbietung und Ehrfurcht vor diesem Wesen selber, als daß wir glauben wollten, wir hätten schon etwas begriffen von den andern Eigenschaften, die dieses Wesen noch in sich birgt. Nun wäre noch ein Drittes möglich, und dieses dritte, da es ja anknüpft an etwas, was in den Betrachtungen innerhalb unserer Bewegung noch nicht gegeben ist, kann nur im allgemeinen charakterisiert werden. Man könnte sagen: Wenn man den Christus des Johannes-Evangeliums schildert, schildert man ihn, wie er wirkt zwar als eine hohe Wesenheit, aber wie eine Wesenheit, die sich bedient des Reiches der weisheitsvollen Cherubim. So schildert man ihn im Sinne des Johannes-Evangeliums mit der Stimmung, die hervorgerufen wird durch die in Adlerhöhen schwebenden Cherubim. Schildert man ihn im Sinne des Lukas-Evangeliums, dann schildert man das, was als das warme Liebesfeuer aus dem Herzen des Christus quillt. Man schildert das, was er der Welt dadurch war, daß er wirkte in jener Höhe, in der die Seraphim sind. Das Liebefeuer der Seraphim strömt durch die Welt, und unserer Erde wurde es mitgeteilt durch den Christus Jesus.
Nun hätten wir ein Drittes zu schildern: dasjenige, was der Christus der Erdenwelt dadurch geworden ist, daß er nicht nur das Licht der Weisheit, die Wärme der Liebe, nicht nur das cherubimische und seraphische Element innerhalb des Erdendaseins war, sondern daß er «war» und «ist» in unserem Erdendasein, wenn wir ihn in seiner ganzen Kraft betrachten, was man bezeichnen kann als «wirkend durch das Reich der Throne», durch welches alles Starke und alle Kraft in die Welt kommt, um das auszuführen, was im Sinne der Weisheit, im Sinne der Liebe ist. Dies sind die drei höchsten der geistigen Hierarchien: Cherubim, Seraphim und Throne. Die Seraphim führen uns hinein in die Tiefen des menschlichen Herzens mit ihrer Liebe, die Cherubim führen uns hinauf in Adlerhöhen. Weisheit strahlt heraus aus dem Reich der Cherubim. Zum Opfer wird die ergebungsvolle Liebe, das symbolisiert uns der Opferstier. Stärke, die durch die Welt pulst, Stärke, welche die Kraft entwickelt, um alles zu realisieren, schöpferische Kraft, die durch die Welt pulst, das symbolisiert uns in aller Symbolik der Löwe. Jene Stärke, welche eingezogen ist in unsere Erde durch den Christus Jesus, jene Stärke, welche alles ordnet und richtet, welche ein Höchstes an Macht bedeutet, wenn es entwickelt wird: das schildert uns als dritte Eigenschaft am Christus Jesus der Schreiber des Markus-Evangeliums.
Wenn wir im Sinne des Johannes-Evangeliums von dem hohen Sonnenwesen, das wir als den Christus bezeichnen, sprechen als vom Lichte der Erdensonne im geistigen Sinne, wenn wir im Sinne des Lukas-Evangeliums von der Wärme der Liebe sprechen, die ausquillt von der Erdensonne des Christus, dann sprechen wir, wenn wir im Sinne des Markus-Evangeliums sprechen, von der Kraft der Erdensonne im geistigen Sinne selber. Alles das, was an Kräften in der Erde vorhanden ist, was da und dort webt an geheimen und offenen Erdenkräften und -mächten, das würde uns entgegentreten bei einer Betrachtung, die im Hinblick auf das Markus-Evangelium geschieht. Kann man sich vermessen, wenn auch nur ahnend, die Ideen, die auf die Erde gekommen sind, wie die Erdengedanken des Christus zu verstehen, wenn man sich zu ihm emporhebt im Sinne des JohannesEvangeliums, kann man den Wärmehauch der Opferliebe fühlen, wenn man die Wärme des Lukas-Evangeliums durch sich selber strömen läßt, kann man das Denken des Christus ahnen im JohannesEvangelium, das Fühlen des Christus durch das Lukas-Evangelium, so lernt man das Wollen des Christus durch das Markus-Evangelium kennen. Die einzelnen Kräfte, durch die er Liebe und Weisheit realisiert, lernt man da kennen.
Drei Eigenschaften würde man ahnend erfaßt haben, wenn man zu den Betrachtungen über das Johannes- und Lukas-Evangelium hinzugefügt hätte die Betrachtungen über das Markus-Evangelium. Man würde dann sagen: In Ehrfurcht haben wir uns Dir genahet und haben eine Ahnung bekommen von Deinem Denken, Fühlen und Wollen, wie uns diese drei Eigenschaften Deiner Seele vorschweben als die größten Erdenvorbilder.
So haben wir unsere Betrachtungen angestellt, wie wenn wir im ganz Kleinen einen Menschen betrachten und sagen, er besteht aus Empfindungs-, Verstandes- und Bewußtseinsseele, und betrachten jetzt die Eigentümlichkeiten der Empfindungs-, Verstandes- oder Gemüts- und Bewußtseinsseele. Wenn wir das Wort Bewußtseinsseele auf den Christus anwenden, so können wir sagen: sie wird uns ahnend zum Verständnis gebracht im Johannes-Evangelium; Gemütsseele des Christus: sie wird uns zum Verständnis gebracht durch das Lukas-Evangelium; Empfindungsseele mit all ihren Kräften des Wollens: durch das Markus-Evangelium. Dieses wird uns, wenn wir es einmal betrachten können, Aufschluß geben über die offenen und verborgenen Naturkräfte, die in unserer Welt sind, konzentriert in der einzigen Individualität des Christus; es wird uns Aufschluß geben über das Wesen aller Kräfte, die in der Welt sind. Im JohannesEvangelium haben wir uns in die Gedanken, im Lukas-Evangelium in die Gefühle dieser Wesenheit vertieft, und weil hierbei der Mensch nicht so tief in diese Individualität hineinzugehen braucht, sind diese Betrachtungen einfach gegenüber dem, was uns im Markus-Evangelium entgegentritt — als das System aller verborgenen Natur- und Geisteskräfte der Welt. Das alles steht in der Akasha-Chronik. Das alles wird sich uns widerspiegeln, wenn wir das gewaltige Dokument des Markus-Evangeliums auf uns wirken lassen. Dann werden wir ahnend verstehen, was in der einzelnen Wesenheit des Christus konzentriert ist: dasjenige, was sonst verteilt ist über die einzelnen Wesenheiten der Welt. Wir werden verstehen können, und es wird uns in einem höheren Glanze und Lichte erscheinen, was wir als die elementaren Richt- und Grundlinien der verschiedenen Wesenheiten kennengelernt haben. Wenn wir das Markus-Evangelium, das die Geheimnisse des ganzen Weltenwillens enthält, uns enthüllen, so nähern wir uns in Ehrerbietung dem Weltenmittelpunkt, dem Christus Jesus, indem wir nach und nach sein Denken, Fühlen und Wollen erfassen.
Wenn wir Denken, Fühlen und Wollen ineinanderwirkend betrachten, so gibt das uns ungefähr ein Bild des ganzen Menschen. Aber wir können nicht umhin, auch beim einzelnen Menschen Denken, Fühlen und Wollen getrennt zu betrachten. Wenn wir alles zusammenfassen, wird unser Blick auch hier nicht mehr ausreichen, um alles überschauen zu können. Während wir uns verhältnismäßig unsere Aufgabe erleichtern dadurch, daß wir die drei Eigenschaften getrennt und jede für sich betrachten, so wird unser Bild erblassen, wenn wir diese drei Eigenschaften in der menschlichen Seele zusammenfassend betrachten. Unsertwegen tun wir das, weil unsere Kraft nicht ausreicht, alles zusammen zu betrachten, denn wenn wir die Eigenschaften zusammenfassen, so erblaßt das Bild.
Hat man die drei Evangelien, das Johannes-, Lukas- und MarkusEvangelium betrachtet und dadurch eine Ahnung bekommen von dem Denken, Fühlen und Wollen des Christus Jesus, dann kann man zusammenfassen, was diese drei Eigenschaften wiederum in eine Harmonie bringen kann. Da wird dann notwendigerweise das Bild undeutlich und blaß werden müssen, denn keine menschliche Kraft kann ausreichend das zusammenfassen, was von uns auseinandergehalten wurde. Denn im Wesen ist eine Einheit und keine Trennung vorhanden; zuletzt erst dürfen wir es in eine Einheit zusammenfassen. Dann aber wird es vor uns erblassen. Dafür wird aber zuletzt dasjenige vor uns stehen, was der Christus Jesus als Erdenmensch, als Mensch erst war.
Die Betrachtung, was der Christus Jesus als Mensch war, wie er als Mensch gewirkt hat in den dreiunddreißig Jahren seines Erdendaseins, kann entwickelt werden in Anknüpfung an das Matthäus-Evangelium. Das, was im Matthäus-Evangelium enthalten ist, gibt uns ein in sich harmonisches Menschenbild. Wenn wir im Johannes-Evangelium geschildert haben einen dem gesamten Weltenall angehörigen kosmischen Gottesmenschen, wenn wir im Lukas-Evangelium schildern mußten ein sich hinopferndes einzelnes Liebewesen, und im MarkusEvangelium den Weltenwillen in einer einzelnen Individualität zu schildern hätten, so haben wir im Matthäus-Evangelium die wahre Gestalt des einzelnen Menschen von Palästina, jenes Menschen, der da gelebt hat dreiunddreißig Jahre, in dem eine Einheit ist von alledem, was wir durch die Betrachtung der drei andern Evangelien gewinnen können. In Anknüpfung an das Matthäus-Evangelium tritt uns die Gestalt des Christus Jesus ganz menschlich, als der einzelne Erdenmensch entgegen, den man aber nicht verstehen kann, wenn die andern Betrachtungen nicht vorausgegangen sind. Wenn auch der einzelne Erdenmensch dann verblaßt, so ist doch in diesem blassen Bilde wiedergegeben, was durch die andern Betrachtungen gewonnen worden ist. Ein Bild von der Persönlichkeit des Christus kann erst eine Betrachtung geben, die anknüpft an das Matthäus-Evangelium.
So stellt sich jetzt die Sache dar, die wir vorher anders charakterisieren mußten, als wir an das erste Evangelium herangingen. Da wir jetzt die Betrachtung zweier Evangelien hinter uns haben, können wir sagen, wie diese Evangelien innerlich zueinander stehen, und wie wir ein Bild des Christus Jesus erst gewinnen können, wenn wir, in entsprechender Weise vorbereitet, herangehen an den Menschen, der da geworden ist auf der Erde durch den Christus Jesus. Der Gottmensch tritt uns entgegen in den Betrachtungen, anknüpfend an das JohannesEvangelium, und in Anknüpfung an das Lukas-Evangelium dasjenige Wesen, das in sich vereinigt die Strömungen, die da flossen von allen Seiten in dem, was sich auf der Erde entwickelt hat im Zarathustrismus, Buddhismus, in der Lehre von Mitleid und Liebe. Alles, was vorher da war, trat uns entgegen, als wir an die Betrachtungen herangingen im Hinblick auf das Lukas-Evangelium. Wenn das MatthäusEvangelium betrachtet wird, dann wird uns vor allen Dingen intim und genau entgegentreten dasjenige, was herausgeboren wird aus seinem eignen Volke, aus dem althebräischen Volke: der Mensch Jesus, wie er wurzelt in seinem Volke, der Mensch Jesus, wie er so sein mußte gerade innerhalb des althebräischen Volkes. Und wir werden erkennen, warum das Blut des althebräischen Volkes in einer ganz bestimmten Weise verwendet werden mußte, um beizutragen für die Erdenmenschheit gerade dieses Blut des Christus Jesus.
Es wird uns bei der Betrachtung des Matthäus-Evangeliums das Wesen des althebräischen Altertums entgegentreten; aber nicht nur das Wesen des althebräischen Altertums, sondern die Mission dieses Volkes für die ganze Welt, die Geburt der neuen Zeit, die Geburt des Christentums aus der althebräischen Welt heraus. Und wenn man lernen kann große, bedeutsame, umfassende Ideen durch das Johannes-Evangelium, wenn man gewinnen kann ein Gefühl für die wärmste, grenzenlos warme Opferliebe durch das Lukas-Evangelium, wenn man gewinnen kann eine Erkenntnis von den Kräften aller Wesen und Reiche durch die Betrachtung des Markus-Evangeliums, so bekommt man nun eine Erkenntnis und ein Gefühl von dem, was da lebt innerhalb der Menschheit und innerhalb der menschlichen Entwickelung auf der Erde durch den Christus Jesus in Palästina. Was der Christus Jesus als Mensch war, was er als Mensch ist, alle Geheimnisse der menschlichen Geschichte und menschlichen Entwickelung sind im Matthäus-Evangelium enthalten. Sind im MarkusEvangelium die Geheimnisse enthalten von allen Reichen und Wesenheiten der Erde und des Kosmos, der zur Erde gehört, so sind im Matthäus-Evangelium die Geheimnisse der menschlichen Geschichte zu suchen. Lernt man die Ideen der Sophia durch das JohannesEvangelium, lernt man die Mysterien des Opfers und der Liebe durch das Lukas-Evangelium, lernt man die Kräfte der Erde und der Welt durch das Markus-Evangelium, so lernt man Menschenleben, menschliche Geschichte, Menschenschicksal kennen durch die Betrachtung im Hinblick auf das Matthäus-Evangelium.
Hätte man in den sieben Jahren unserer geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung vier Jahre zur Verarbeitung der Richt- und Grundlinien und drei Jahre zu ihrer Vertiefung verwendet, als ein Licht, das auf die verschiedenen Gebiete des Lebens geworfen werden soll, so würde jetzt folgen können die Betrachtung des Markus-Evangeliums. Dann hätte zuletzt das ganze Gebäude gekrönt werden können durch die Betrachtung des Christus Jesus im Hinblick auf das MatthäusEvangelium. Da aber das Menschenleben unvollkommen ist, und das nicht der Fall war, mindestens nicht bei allen, die in der geisteswissenschaftlichen Bewegung stehen, so ist es nicht möglich, sogleich, ohne Mißverständnis zu erwecken, zur Betrachtung des Markus-Evangeliums überzugehen. Man würde die Gestalt des Christus völlig verkennen, wenn man glaubte, aus der Betrachtung des Johannes- oder Lukas-Evangeliums könnte folgen irgendein Wissen über das Wesen des Christus Jesus. Man würde wiederum glauben, daß man einseitig alles anwenden darf, was in bezug auf das Markus-Evangelium gesagt werden müßte. Und die Mißverständnisse würden noch größer sein, als sie schon gewesen sind. Daher muß mit Rücksicht darauf der andere Weg gewählt werden. Es muß jetzt folgen, so gut es möglich ist, in der nächsten Zeit eine Betrachtung im Hinblick auf das Matthäus-Evangelium. Damit wird zunächst verzichtet auf die großen Tiefen des Markus-Evangeliums, es wird aber dafür vermieden werden, daß wieder jemand glaubt, daß mit einer Eigenschaft der ganze Mensch bereits geschildert sei. Dadurch wird es möglich, Mißverständnisse zu beseitigen. Und es wird zunächst eine Betrachtung angestellt werden, soweit es möglich ist, über den Hervorgang des Christus Jesus aus dem althebräischen Volke, über dasjenige, was man nennen kann die Geburt des Christentums in Palästina. Darüber sollen im Hinblick auf das Matthäus-Evangelium in nächster Zeit unsere Betrachtungen angestellt werden, und dadurch soll vermieden werden, daß wiederum verwechselt wird eine der Eigenschaften mit der Betrachtung der ganzen Wesenheit. Dann wird leichter das folgen können, was im Hinblick auf das Markus-Evangelium wird zu sagen sein.
The Four Different Aspects of the Christ Depiction in the Four Gospels
The reflections that have been offered in connection with the Gospels of John and Luke, and the attitude from which they have been conceived, can only be characterized by saying that these reflections have proceeded from the following point of view: What we call the Christ Jesus Being is – insofar as human understanding is possible in our present time – so great, so comprehensive, so powerful that a consideration cannot proceed from saying in any one-sided way who Christ Jesus was and what significance his Being has for each individual human spirit and for each individual soul. To do so would have seemed disrespectful within our reflections toward the greatest problem in the world. Respect and reverence are the words that describe the sentiments from which our reflections have been given. Reverence and respect could be expressed in the following sentiment: When you are confronted with the greatest problem, do not try to place too much importance on human understanding. Try never to overestimate anything, even what the highest spiritual science can give you, even if it reaches the highest regions, when it comes to facing the greatest problem of life. And do not believe that a human word would suffice to say anything other than what characterizes this great and powerful problem from one side. All the lectures that have been given over the last three years have centered on a word that appears in the Gospel of John itself. “I am the light of the world” is that word. All the lectures that have been given on the Gospel of John were intended to help us understand this word from the Gospel of John. And the lectures that have been given in connection with the Gospel of John are sufficient, if one takes them to heart, to gradually understand, perhaps only intuitively, what it means in the Gospel of John itself: “I am the light of the world.”
When you see a light shining, do you understand, by looking into this light, that what is shining is a light? And when you have understood something about the color and nature of this light, do you understand what is shining? Do you know the sun because you look up at the sunlight and receive the white sunlight as a revelation? Could you not imagine that there is something else to understanding the shining than the light in the shining? Because the being of whom we have spoken can say of himself, “I am the light of the world,” we were compelled to understand this word, and with that we understood no more of that being than this expression of his life: “I am the light of the world.” All the considerations that have been offered in connection with the Gospel of John were necessary to show that the being who contains within himself the wisdom of the worlds is the light of the world. But this being is far more than what could be characterized in the Gospel of John. And anyone who believes that they can understand Christ Jesus from the lectures on the Gospel of John, or that they have comprehended him, believes that they can understand the whole luminous being from a single expression of life that they recognize intuitively.
Then came the lectures on the Gospel of Luke, and we saw something different. If one could regard what has been said in all our reflections on the Gospel of John as a means of understanding the words “I am the light of the world,” then, if one has grasped them deeply enough, the reflections on the Gospel of Luke could possibly be understood as a paraphrase of the words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” or ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ What Christ Jesus is—not merely as the light of the world, but what he is as the being who brings the greatest sacrifice of self-giving, who can unite everything in himself without losing himself, which has been characterized as the sacrifice of self-giving— the essence that contains within itself the possibility of the greatest sacrifice, the greatest conceivable devotion, and is thereby the source of compassion and love that pours warmly through all future human and earthly life, everything that could be expressed in these words, gives a second side to what we call the essence of Christ Jesus.
Thus we have characterized this essence as that which, in its compassion, is capable of realizing the great sacrifice and which shines through the power of its light upon all human existence. We have described light and love as they were in the essence of Christ Jesus. And those who take the Gospels of John and Luke in their entirety can, in a certain sense, gain an inkling of what was “light” in Christ Jesus and what was “love and compassion” in him. We have attempted to understand two qualities in their universal meaning in Christ Jesus. What could be said about Christ as the spiritual light of the world, which pours into all things as eternal wisdom in order to live and work within them, can be revealed through spiritual contemplation. This shines back at us from the Gospel of John, and there is no wisdom that can be attained that is not contained in some way in the Gospel of John. All the wisdom of the world is contained in this Gospel of John, because those who contemplate the wisdom of the world in Christ Jesus contemplate it not only as it has been realized in the distant past, but also as it will be realized in the distant future. Therefore, in the contemplations that follow the Gospel of John, one soars high in the air like an eagle above all human existence. Thus, when one has to unfold the great ideas that make it possible to understand the Gospel of John, one soars with the encompassing and comprehensive ideas above what is going on in the individual human soul. The encompassing world ideas occupy that Sophia which flows to us when we engage in contemplation in connection with the Gospel of John. And then what flows from the Gospel of John appears to us itself, circling at eagle's height above all that is happening in the daily, hourly, and momentary human destiny.
And when one then descends and considers the individual human life from hour to hour, from day to day, from year to year, from century to century, from millennium to millennium, when one considers in particular those forces which are called human love, then one sees this love surging and weaving through the living human hearts and souls for thousands of years. Then you see how this love, on the one hand, accomplishes the greatest, most significant, most heroic deeds within humanity, and then you see how the greatest sacrifices of humanity have flowed from love for this or that being, for this or that cause. Then we see how this love accomplishes the highest in human hearts, but at the same time how it is something like a double-edged sword: there is a mother who loves her child deeply and tenderly. The child commits some transgression; the mother loves her child and, in her deep, fervent love, cannot bring herself to punish the child. And this child commits a second transgression, and again the mother, in her deep love, cannot bring herself to punish the child. And so it goes on, and the child grows up, becomes useless, a troublemaker in life. When dealing with such significant matters, it is not good to take examples from the present, and therefore a more distant example should be given. In the first half of the 19th century, there was a mother who loved her child dearly. It should be said explicitly: nothing can praise this love highly enough; under all circumstances, love is one of the highest human qualities. This mother loved her child and could not bring herself to punish her child for a small theft committed in the family. Then it committed a second theft, and again she could not punish it — the child became a notorious poisoner. She became this out of a mother's love that was not guided by wisdom. Love accomplishes the greatest deeds when it is imbued with wisdom. But that was precisely the meaning of the love that flowed into the world from Golgotha, that it is united in one being with the light of the world, with wisdom. Therefore, when we look at Christ Jesus and consider these two qualities, we recognize that love is the highest thing in the world, but at the same time we recognize how love and wisdom belong together in the deepest sense.
But what have we understood when we have made all these observations about the Gospels of John and Luke? We have understood nothing more than that quality of Christ Jesus which can be called the universal light of wisdom, the universal warmth of love, which flowed in him as in no other being in the world, which can never be accessible to human knowledge. And while the Gospel of John speaks of great, powerful ideas that soar above human heads like eagles, the Gospel of Luke speaks of what speaks to every human heart at every moment. This is the significance of the Gospel of Luke, that it fills us with such warmth, which is the outward expression of love, with understanding for that love which is ready for the greatest sacrifice, which is ready to give itself and wants nothing else but to give itself.
Man feels something like this — if one wants to have an image of that mood, that state of mind in which one finds oneself when contemplating the Gospel of Luke, when one contemplates it in the right sense — that which confronts us in those images of Mithras, where we see the sacrificial bull rushing forward. On it you see a man sitting, above him the course of great world events and below him the course of earthly events. The man thrusts his axe into the body of the bleeding sacrificial bull, which gives its life so that the man can overcome what he must overcome. When one looks at this sacrificial bull beneath the man, which must be sacrificed so that the man can go his way through life, one has roughly the emotional and mental state that sets the right mood for a contemplation based on the Gospel of Luke. What the sacrificial bull has always been to people who have understood what lies in the sacrificial bull, in the expression of love that must be deepened within oneself, they understand something of the description of the qualities of love that are to be given through the contemplation of the Gospel of Luke. For nothing else than a second quality of Christ Jesus was to be described. But does he who knows two qualities in one being know the whole being? Because we encounter the greatest mystery in this being, explanations are necessary to understand two characteristics. But no one should presume to be able to comprehend this being itself by contemplating two characteristics.
We have described two characteristics of Christ Jesus and have not failed to do everything that could bring us to an intuitive understanding of the high significance of these two characteristics. But we have too much reverence and awe for this being itself to believe that we have already understood anything of the other characteristics that this being still holds within itself. Now a third would be possible, and this third, since it is connected to something that is not yet present in the considerations within our movement, can only be characterized in general terms. One could say: when one describes the Christ of the Gospel of John, one describes him as a high being, but as a being who makes use of the realm of the wise cherubim. This is how he is described in the Gospel of John, with the mood evoked by the cherubim hovering in the heights of the eagles. If one describes him in the sense of Luke's Gospel, one describes what wells up as the warm fire of love from the heart of Christ. One describes what he was to the world through his working in that height where the seraphim are. The fire of love of the seraphim streams through the world, and it was communicated to our earth through Christ Jesus.
Now we have a third thing to describe: what Christ became for the earthly world through the fact that he was not only the light of wisdom, the warmth of love, not only the cherubic and seraphic element within earthly existence, but that he “was” and “is” in our earthly existence, when we consider him in all his power, which can be described as “working through the realm of thrones,” through which all strength and power comes into the world to carry out what is in the sense of wisdom, in the sense of love. These are the three highest of the spiritual hierarchies: cherubim, seraphim, and thrones. The seraphim lead us into the depths of the human heart with their love, the cherubim lead us up to eagle heights. Wisdom radiates from the realm of the cherubim. Devoted love becomes a sacrifice, symbolized by the sacrificial bull. Strength pulsing through the world, strength that develops the power to realize everything, creative power pulsing through the world, symbolized by the lion in all its symbolism. That strength which has entered our earth through Christ Jesus, that strength which orders and judges everything, which means the highest power when it is developed: this is described to us as the third characteristic of Christ Jesus by the writer of the Gospel of Mark.
When we speak in the sense of the Gospel of John about the high sun being whom we call Christ, in the spiritual sense as the light of the Earth's sun, when we speak in the sense of Luke's Gospel of the warmth of love that flows out of the Earth's sun of Christ, then we are speaking, when we speak in the sense of Mark's Gospel, of the power of the Earth's sun in the spiritual sense itself. All the forces present in the earth, all the secret and open earth forces and powers weaving here and there, would confront us if we were to contemplate them in the light of the Gospel of Mark. Is it presumptuous, even if only intuitively, to understand the ideas that came to earth as the earthly thoughts of Christ? if one lifts oneself up to him in the sense of the Gospel of John, one can feel the warm breath of sacrificial love; if one allows the warmth of the Gospel of Luke to flow through oneself, one can sense the thinking of Christ in the Gospel of John, the feeling of Christ through the Gospel of Luke, and thus one comes to know the will of Christ through the Gospel of Mark. One learns to know the individual forces through which he realizes love and wisdom.
One would have intuitively grasped three characteristics if one had added the reflections on the Gospel of Mark to the reflections on the Gospels of John and Luke. One would then say: We have approached you with reverence and have gained an insight into your thinking, feeling, and willing, as these three qualities of your soul appear to us as the greatest earthly examples.
This is how we have made our observations, as if we were looking at a human being in miniature and saying that he consists of a sentient, intellectual, and conscious soul, and now we are looking at the peculiarities of the sentient, intellectual, or emotional, and conscious soul. When we apply the word consciousness soul to Christ, we can say that it is brought to our understanding in the Gospel of John; the soul of Christ's mind is brought to our understanding through the Gospel of Luke; the soul of feeling with all its powers of will is brought to our understanding through the Gospel of Mark. Once we are able to contemplate this, it will give us insight into the open and hidden forces of nature that are in our world, concentrated in the unique individuality of Christ; it will give us insight into the nature of all forces that are in the world. In the Gospel of John, we immersed ourselves in the thoughts of this being, and in the Gospel of Luke, in its feelings, and because the human being does not need to go so deeply into this individuality, these contemplations are simple compared to what we encounter in the Gospel of Mark — as the system of all the hidden forces of nature and spirit in the world. All this is written in the Akashic Records. All this will be reflected back to us when we allow the powerful document of the Gospel of Mark to work on us. Then we will intuitively understand what is concentrated in the individual being of Christ: that which is otherwise distributed among the individual beings of the world. We will be able to understand, and it will appear to us in a higher splendor and light, what we have come to know as the elementary guiding principles and basic lines of the various beings. When we reveal to ourselves the Gospel of Mark, which contains the secrets of the entire will of the world, we approach with reverence the center of the world, Christ Jesus, by gradually grasping his thinking, feeling, and willing.
When we consider thinking, feeling, and willing in their interaction, this gives us a rough picture of the whole human being. But we cannot help but consider thinking, feeling, and willing separately in the individual human being. If we summarize everything, our view will no longer be sufficient to grasp everything. While we make our task relatively easier by considering the three qualities separately and each on its own, our picture will fade when we consider these three qualities together in the human soul. We do this because we do not have the power to consider everything together, for when we summarize the qualities, the picture fades.
Once one has considered the three Gospels, those of John, Luke, and Mark, and thereby gained an inkling of the thinking, feeling, and willing of Christ Jesus, one can summarize what these three attributes can bring into harmony. The picture will then necessarily become unclear and pale, for no human power can sufficiently summarize what we have kept separate. For in essence there is unity and no separation; only in the end can we summarize it into a unity. But then it will fade before us. In the end, however, what will stand before us is what Christ Jesus was as a human being on earth, as a human being first.
The consideration of what Christ Jesus was as a human being, how he worked as a human being during the thirty-three years of his earthly existence, can be developed in connection with the Gospel of Matthew. What is contained in the Gospel of Matthew gives us a harmonious picture of the human being. If we have described in the Gospel of John a cosmic God-man belonging to the entire universe, if we had to describe in the Gospel of Luke a single self-sacrificing being of love, and if we had to describe in the Gospel of Mark the will of the world in a single individuality, then in the Gospel of Matthew we have the true form of the individual human being of Palestine, the human being who lived there for thirty-three years, in whom there is a unity of all that we can gain through contemplation of the other three Gospels. In connection with the Gospel of Matthew, the figure of Christ Jesus appears to us as entirely human, as an individual earthly human being, but one who cannot be understood unless the other considerations have preceded. Even if the individual earthly human being then fades away, what has been gained through the other contemplations is nevertheless reflected in this pale image. Only a contemplation that ties in with the Gospel of Matthew can give us a picture of the personality of Christ.
This is how the matter now appears, which we had to characterize differently when we approached the first Gospel. Now that we have considered two Gospels, we can say how these Gospels relate to each other inwardly, and how we can only gain a picture of Christ Jesus when we approach the human being who became incarnate on earth through Christ Jesus in the appropriate manner. The God-man comes toward us in our reflections, following on from the Gospel of John, and following on from the Gospel of Luke, we see the being who unites within himself the currents that flowed from all sides into what developed on earth in Zarathustrianism, Buddhism, and the teachings of compassion and love. Everything that was there before came to meet us as we approached the reflections with regard to the Gospel of Luke. When we consider the Gospel of Matthew, we are struck above all by what emerges from his own people, from the ancient Hebrew people: the man Jesus, as he is rooted in his people, the man Jesus as he had to be within the ancient Hebrew people. And we will recognize why the blood of the ancient Hebrew people had to be used in a very specific way in order to contribute precisely this blood of Christ Jesus to the earth's humanity.
When we look at the Gospel of Matthew, we will encounter the essence of ancient Hebrew culture; but not only the essence of ancient Hebrew culture, but also the mission of this people for the whole world, the birth of a new era, the birth of Christianity out of the ancient Hebrew world. And if we can learn great, meaningful, comprehensive ideas through the Gospel of John, if we can gain a feeling for the warmest, boundlessly warm sacrificial love through the Gospel of Luke, if we can gain an understanding of the forces of all beings and realms through contemplation of the Gospel of Mark, then one gains an understanding and a feeling of what lives within humanity and within human development on earth through Christ Jesus in Palestine. What Christ Jesus was as a human being, what he is as a human being, all the secrets of human history and human development are contained in the Gospel of Matthew. If the Gospel of Mark contains the secrets of all the realms and beings of the earth and the cosmos that belong to the earth, then the secrets of human history are to be found in the Gospel of Matthew. If one learns the ideas of Sophia through the Gospel of John, the mysteries of sacrifice and love through the Gospel of Luke, and the forces of the earth and the world through the Gospel of Mark, then one learns about human life, human history, and human destiny by contemplating the Gospel of Matthew.
If, during the seven years of our spiritual scientific movement, four years had been spent on working through the guidelines and basic principles and three years on deepening them, as a light to be shed on the various areas of life, then the consideration of the Gospel of Mark could now follow. Then, finally, the whole edifice could have been crowned by contemplating Christ Jesus in relation to the Gospel of Matthew. But since human life is imperfect, and this was not the case, at least not for all those involved in the spiritual scientific movement, it is not possible to move on to contemplating the Gospel of Mark without immediately giving rise to misunderstanding. One would completely misunderstand the figure of Christ if one believed that any knowledge about the nature of Christ Jesus could be gained from contemplating the Gospels of John or Luke. One would again believe that everything that needs to be said in relation to the Gospel of Mark can be applied one-sidedly. And the misunderstandings would be even greater than they already have been. Therefore, in consideration of this, the other path must be chosen. As far as possible, a consideration of the Gospel of Matthew must now follow in the near future. This means that the great depths of the Gospel of Mark will be left aside for the time being, but it will be avoided that anyone should believe again that the whole human being is already described by one characteristic. This will make it possible to clear up misunderstandings. And we will first consider, as far as possible, the emergence of Christ Jesus from the ancient Hebrew people, what can be called the birth of Christianity in Palestine. In the near future, we will consider these matters in relation to the Gospel of Matthew, thereby avoiding any confusion between one characteristic and the consideration of the whole being. Then it will be easier to follow what will be said in relation to the Gospel of Mark.