From Akashic Research
The Fifth Gospel
GA 148
23 November 1913, Stuttgart
Translated by Steiner Online Library
The Fifth Gospel II
[ 1 ] Today we must first speak of Jesus’ conversation with his foster mother, who had gradually come to understand her son. A tremendous change had taken place within her. The spirit of the other Mary—Jesus’ biological mother from the spiritual worlds—had settled within her. She now carried this spirit within herself. From the perspective of spiritual scientific research, Jesus’ conversation with his mother proves to be of profound significance for a true understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha. The mother understood Jesus better and better. It was a kind of intuitive understanding. Now Jesus could speak of the threefold pain he had experienced. What he spoke was like a kind of summary of what had been taking place in his soul since the age of twelve. He spoke to his mother of his experiences from the age of twelve to eighteen. He spoke of the great teachings of the Bath-Kol. He spoke of how no one had been able to understand him, how he could not speak of what urged him to share it with someone. He told his mother that even if the ancient teachings had been there, people would have lacked the ability to understand them.
[ 2 ] Then he spoke of the second kind of painful experiences. He spoke of those events before the ruined sacrificial altar; he spoke of how he had penetrated the ancient mysteries, in which the divine-spiritual beings had descended directly, and how a descent had taken place in this regard as well. Instead of the good old pagan gods, it was demons who took part in the sacrificial festivals. He spoke of the great cosmic events, of the Lord’s Prayer, so to speak, in reverse. It was an extraordinary conversation he was having there with his mother. He spoke of how he had come to realize how Lucifer and Ahriman fled from the gates of the Essenes and came to the other people who could not abide by the strict rules of the order. He spoke of all this. It was as if his life up to that point were being unrolled. It was a conversation that was shaped by the fact that the words were not merely words of narration; that in the words lay not merely what is usually found in words, but what he said was an innermost experience cast into words, pain and suffering expressed in words, transformed into infinite love—pain that had been transformed into love and goodwill. Like realities, these words flowed over to his mother. It seemed as if a piece of his very soul were passing from Jesus to the mother. In just a few hours, everything that was more than a mere experience came together. It was a cosmic experience in the truest sense of the word. Jesus of Nazareth could speak only words, but a part of his soul lay within those words. And much would have to be told if one were to describe what the Akashic Records reveal. Thus, in the course of this conversation, it became clear to Jesus’ soul at what point human development had arrived. Now an ever clearer awareness dawned within him that the soul of Zarathustra was within him. Thus he felt how, as Zarathustra, he had participated in the development of humanity at that time. What I am now telling you were not the words Jesus spoke to his mother, but he expressed himself in a way that was understandable to her. What he felt there made the mystery of human development clear to him. The impression of how Jesus inwardly feels and experiences this while speaking with his mother is incomparable. He tells his mother how every age of humanity has its own specific powers and that this is of great significance. There was once an age of humanity, the ancient Indian culture, where people were particularly great because their entire lives were permeated by the childlike, sun-like powers of the first childhood age. Something of these powers still remains within us today, from our first to our seventh year of life.
[ 3 ] Then came a second period, the ancient Persian era, which was animated by the forces that today act within human beings between the ages of seven and fourteen. Then Jesus turned his attention to the third age, the Egyptian era, in which the forces prevailed that now operate in human beings from the age of fourteen to twenty-one, when the feeling soul plays a major role in individual development. During this Egyptian era, the astronomical and mathematical sciences were cultivated.
[ 4 ] And now the question arose in Jesus: In what age are we living now? What can a person experience between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-eight? And he sensed that what dominated external life were the forces that had been poured out over Greco-Roman culture, but that these were also the final forces. The meaning of the individual human life stood before the eyes of Jesus of Nazareth in all its force. From the age of twenty-eight to thirty-five, a person then passes the midpoint of life and begins to move toward old age. There are no new life forces left; the inherited forces of the gods are exhausted. The ascending forces are present up to this point; they are consumed by the middle of life. What now? Nowhere did anything new appear from which forces for humanity could arise. Humanity would wither away if nothing new happened. Jesus had to live through this crisis for a certain time, and then the Zarathustra-I, whose possession had only just flashed upon him shortly before, dissolved. He had, as it were, identified so completely with the development of humanity that the Zarathustra-I departed while he was speaking to his mother. Only the three sheaths remained, and Jesus became once again what he had been at the age of twelve, but with all that he had been able to assimilate through the experiences of Zarathustra. Now it was as if an impulse drew him to the Jordan to John the Baptist. And there, into Jesus of Nazareth, sank that which had to flow rejuvenatingly into the process of humanity so that humanity might not wither away: the Christ-being. This Christ-impulse entered at a time when people were least prepared to receive it. People could feel drawn to Christ with their hearts, but nothing remained of the wisdom and powers of earlier ages. Thus, Christ initially acted only as a force, not as a teacher. But even today, humanity has not progressed very far in understanding the Christ impulse.
[ 5 ] The effectiveness of the Christ did not initially depend on the understanding with which he was received. Over the course of three years, the Christ essence descended into Jesus of Nazareth. That a God entered a human body was not merely a matter for human beings; it was also a matter for the higher hierarchies. No God had ever before experienced incarnation in a human body. That is what is so profound: the life of a God in a human body during those three years. But it was necessary so that humanity’s ascent might once again become possible.
[ 6 ] At first, the Christ-essence was only loosely connected to Jesus of Nazareth, but it became increasingly and more closely united with his body through a process of continuous development, right up to his death on the cross. Since then, humanity has not grown in its understanding of spiritual matters. Otherwise, a contemporary work such as Maeterlinck’s book *On Death* would be impossible. It is a foolish book. It states: When a person is disembodied, they are spirit, and thus can no longer suffer. — This is precisely the opposite of what is true. It is always the spirit that must suffer, not the body. As individuality increases, so do the pains and the feelings. It is therefore impossible for people today to understand the suffering endured by the incarnated God.
[ 7 ] One of the women wanted to look for Jesus in the tomb. He was a spiritual body. Christ could not be sought with physical senses. The Crusades in the Middle Ages were a repetition of this search. It was the same futile search. And it was precisely during this time of the Crusades that the German mystics arose, who once again sought a connection with Christ in the right way. Christ was at work even where his teaching was not present; he was at work as a force within all of humanity. After the baptism in the Jordan, Christ was still loosely bound to the body of Jesus. The first to encounter him was Lucifer. He unleashed all the forces that can be deployed in a being to provoke pride. “If you acknowledge me, I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth.” This attack was quickly repelled. In the second temptation, Lucifer and Ahriman joined forces, seeking to evoke fear and dread in Christ through the words “Cast yourself down.”
[ 8 ] On the third occasion, Ahriman appeared alone with his demand: “Speak, that these stones may become bread.” This question from Ahriman left an unresolved remnant; it was not answered completely. The fact that this could not happen is connected with the innermost forces of Earth’s evolution, insofar as human beings are part of it.
[ 9 ] This touches on something akin to the question of money. This is connected to the Ahrimanic question. Ahriman retained a portion of his power over Christ Jesus. This was manifested in Judas Iscariot. This unresolved question is reflected in Judas’ betrayal.
[ 10 ] It was also mentioned that it was only in the darkness that the Christ impulse was able to impart itself to the Earth at the time of the crucifixion. Whether it was a solar eclipse or whether the darkness stemmed from something else cannot be determined with certainty today. Finally, a very urgent request to keep these revelations confidential.