For
learning purposes, let us consider the crucifixion again. I did not dwell on it before
because of the fearful connotations you may associate with it. The only emphasis laid upon
it so far has been that it was not a form of punishment. Nothing, however, can be
explained in negative terms only. There is a positive interpretation of the crucifixion
that is wholly devoid of fear, and therefore wholly benign in what it teaches, if it is
properly understood.
The
crucifixion is nothing more than an extreme example. Its value, like the value of any
teaching device, lies solely in the kind of learning it facilitates. It can be, and has
been, misunderstood. This is only because the fearful are apt to perceive fearfully. I
have already told you that you can always call on me to share my decision, and thus make
it stronger. I have also told you that the crucifixion was the last useless journey the
Sonship need take, and that it represents release from fear to anyone who understands it.
While I emphasized only the resurrection before, the purpose of the crucifixion and how it
actually led to the resurrection was not clarified then. Nevertheless, it has a definite
contribution to make to your own life, and if you will consider it without fear, it will
help you understand your own role as a teacher.
You
have probably reacted for years as if you were being crucified. This is a marked tendency
of the separated, who always refuse to consider what they have done to themselves.
Projection means anger, anger fosters assault, and assault promotes fear. The real meaning
of the crucifixion lies in the apparent intensity of the assault
of some of the Sons of God upon another. This, of course, is impossible, and must be fully
understood as impossible. Otherwise, I cannot serve as a model for
learning.
Assault
can ultimately be made only on the body. There is little doubt that one body can assault
another, and can even destroy it. Yet if destruction itself is impossible, anything that
is destructible cannot be real. Its destruction, therefore, does not justify anger. To the
extent to which you believe that it does, you are accepting false premises and teaching
them to others. The message the crucifixion was intended to teach was that it is not
necessary to perceive any form of assault in persecution, because you cannot be
persecuted. If you respond with anger, you must be equating yourself with the
destructible, and are therefore regarding yourself insanely.
I
have made it perfectly clear that I am like you and you are like me, but our fundamental
equality can be demonstrated only through joint decision. You are free to perceive
yourself as persecuted if you choose. When you do choose to react that way, however, you
might remember that I was persecuted as the world judges, and did not share this
evaluation for myself. And because I did not share it, I did not strengthen it. I
therefore offered a different interpretation of attack, and one which I want to share with
you. If you will believe it, you will help me teach it.
As
I have said before, “As you teach so shall you learn.” If you react as if you
are persecuted, you are teaching persecution. This is not a lesson a Son of God should
want to teach if he is to realize his own salvation. Rather, teach your own perfect
immunity, which is the truth in you, and realize that it cannot be
assailed. Do not try to protect it yourself, or you are believing that it is assailable.
You are not asked to be crucified, which was part of my own teaching contribution. You are
merely asked to follow my example in the face of much less extreme temptations to
misperceive, and not to accept them as false justifications for anger. There can be no
justification for the unjustifiable. Do not believe there is, and do not teach that there
is. Remember always that what you believe you will teach. Believe with me, and we will
become equal as teachers.
Your
resurrection is your reawakening. I am the model for rebirth, but rebirth itself is merely
the dawning on your mind of what is already in it. God placed it there Himself, and so it
is true forever. I believed in it, and therefore accepted it as true for me. Help me to
teach it to our brothers in the name of the Kingdom of God, but first believe that it is
true for you, or you will teach amiss. My brothers slept during the so-called “agony
in the garden,” but I could not be angry with them because I knew I could not be
abandoned.
I
am sorry when my brothers do not share my decision to hear only one Voice, because it
weakens them as teachers and as learners. Yet I know they cannot really betray themselves
or me, and that it is still on them that I must build my church. There is no choice in
this, because only you can be the foundation of God's church. A church is where an altar
is, and the presence of the altar is what makes the church holy. A church that does not
inspire love has a hidden altar that is not serving the purpose for which God intended it.
I must found His church on you, because those who accept me as a model are literally my
disciples. Disciples are followers, and if the model they follow has chosen to save them
pain in all respects, they are unwise not to follow him.
I
elected, for your sake and mine, to demonstrate that the most outrageous assault, as
judged by the ego, does not matter. As the world judges these things, but not as God knows
them, I was betrayed, abandoned, beaten, torn, and finally killed. It was clear that this
was only because of the projection of others onto me, since I had not harmed anyone and
had healed many.
We
are still equal as learners, although we do not need to have equal experiences. The Holy
Spirit is glad when you can learn from mine, and be reawakened by them. That is their only
purpose, and that is the only way in which I can be perceived as the way, the truth and
the life. When you hear only one Voice you are never called on to sacrifice. On the
contrary, by being able to hear the Holy Spirit in others you can learn from their
experiences, and can gain from them without experiencing them directly yourself. That is
because the Holy Spirit is one, and anyone who listens is inevitably led to demonstrate
His way for all.
You
are not persecuted, nor was I. You are not asked to repeat my experiences because the Holy
Spirit, Whom we share, makes this unnecessary. To use my experiences constructively,
however, you must still follow my example in how to perceive them. My brothers and yours
are constantly engaged in justifying the unjustifiable. My one lesson, which I must teach
as I learned it, is that no perception that is out of accord with the judgment of the Holy
Spirit can be justified. I undertook to show this was true in an extreme case, merely
because it would serve as a good teaching aid to those whose temptation to give in to
anger and assault would not be so extreme. I will with God that none of His Sons should
suffer.
The
crucifixion cannot be shared because it is the symbol of projection, but the resurrection
is the symbol of sharing because the reawakening of every Son of God is necessary to
enable the Sonship to know its wholeness. Only this is knowledge.
The
message of the crucifixion is perfectly clear:
Teach
only love, for that is what you are.
If
you interpret the crucifixion in any other way, you are using it as a weapon for assault
rather than as the call for peace for which it was intended. The Apostles often
misunderstood it, and for the same reason that anyone misunderstands it. Their own
imperfect love made them vulnerable to projection, and out of their own fear they spoke of
the “wrath of God” as His retaliatory weapon. Nor could they speak of the
crucifixion entirely without anger, because their sense of guilt had made them angry.
These
are some of the examples of upside-down thinking in the New Testament, although its gospel
is really only the message of love. If the Apostles had not felt guilty, they never could
have quoted me as saying, “I come not to bring peace but a sword.” This is
clearly the opposite of everything I taught. Nor could they have described my reactions to
Judas as they did, if they had really understood me. I could not have said,
“Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” unless I believed in betrayal. The
whole message of the crucifixion was simply that I did not. The “punishment” I
was said to have called forth upon Judas was a similar mistake. Judas was my brother and a
Son of God, as much a part of the Sonship as myself. Was it likely that I would condemn
him when I was ready to demonstrate that condemnation is impossible?
As
you read the teachings of the Apostles, remember that I told them myself that there was
much they would understand later, because they were not wholly ready to follow me at the
time. I do not want you to allow any fear to enter into the thought system toward which I
am guiding you. I do not call for martyrs but for teachers. No one is punished for sins,
and the Sons of God are not sinners. Any concept of punishment involves the projection of
blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified. The result is a lesson in blame,
for all behavior teaches the beliefs that motivate it. The crucifixion was the result of
clearly opposed thought systems; the perfect symbol of the “conflict” between
the ego and the Son of God. This conflict seems just as real now, and its lessons must be
learned now as well as then.
I
do not need gratitude, but you need to develop your weakened ability to be grateful, or
you cannot appreciate God. He does not need your appreciation, but you
do. You cannot love what you do not appreciate, for fear makes appreciation impossible.
When you are afraid of what you are you do not appreciate it, and will therefore reject
it. As a result, you will teach rejection.
The
power of the Sons of God is present all the time, because they were created as creators.
Their influence on each other is without limit, and must be used for their joint
salvation. Each one must learn to teach that all forms of rejection are meaningless. The
separation is the notion of rejection. As long as you teach this you will believe it. This
is not as God thinks, and you must think as He thinks if you are to know Him again.
Remember
that the Holy Spirit is the communication link between God the Father and His separated
Sons. If you will listen to His Voice you will know that you cannot either hurt or be
hurt, and that many need your blessing to help them hear this for themselves. When you
perceive only this need in them, and do not respond to any other, you will have learned of
me and will be as eager to share your learning as I am.
A Course in Miracles
Chapter 6
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