In our time, there has been some doubt that Jesus Christ was crucified. There is such a point of view that supposedly someone else was crucified instead of Jesus Christ. In his lectures, Sathya Sai Baba clearly confirmed that Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday and resurrected on a Sunday. Thus, Sathya Sai Baba confirmed the authenticity of the greatest miracle of the resurrection of Jesus Christ described in the New Testament.
Sathya Sai Baba said the resurrection of Jesus Christ has a deep symbolic meaning, which is the revelation of the eternal and divine essence in the heart of every person. Jesus Christ proved his power over death by resurrecting his friend, Lazarus. Having resurrected another, he could resurrect himself, and this happened after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ himself.
Many people ask why was Jesus Christ crucified? Was he really so "weak" that he could not resist his enemies? Of course, the question is not the "weakness" of Jesus Christ, but what was his great mission? He was not a victim in the usual sense of the word, he allowed himself to be arrested and crucified, in accordance with the Divine plan.
Let's remember the famous words of Jesus Christ, himself, that if he needed to, he could ask his Heavenly Father to send twelve legions of Angels who would easily free him and punish the offenders. Consider these amazing words. Jesus Christ was truly a King on a universal scale – his royal power exceeded all conceivable possibilities of any earthly ruler.
The fact he was crucified was by no means a manifestation of his "weakness," but was his free will, which embodied his divine mission.
Another important event that happened on the cross was that Jesus Christ completely forgave and blessed those who executed him. Now, many centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, some Christians are trying to look for those responsible for his suffering and death. What is the point of looking for the guilty when Jesus Christ, himself, forgave everyone and consciously ascended his cross?
Sathya Sai Baba also said during his lectures that Jesus Christ, after the resurrection, went to his disciples to preach the greatness of the Lord God. He appeared before some of the disciples, among whom were both men and women. He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, who was his closest student.
In the canonical Gospels, the role of the main disciple is assigned to the Apostle Peter, however, the real history of the community of disciples was much more complex. After Jesus Christ left this world, the main Jerusalem community of the first Christians was headed by Jacob, the brother of Jesus Christ. Jacob was the elder half-brother of Jesus; for Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, already had children as he was a widower before he married Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
The resurrected Jesus Christ first appeared in front of Mary Magdalene, thereby highlighting her special role among his disciples. Appearing after the resurrection before his disciples, Jesus Christ showed the victory of the Spirit over death.
Sathya Sai Baba said about Jesus Christ that at the beginning of his spiritual path, he realized he was "a messenger of God." Jesus Christ saw himself as a messenger of the good news. He knew he was "an instrument in the hands of God."
After long intensive spiritual practices, Jesus Christ realized he was the "son of God." He awakened in himself the qualities of a "son of God." For modern Christianity, it is considered an axiom that only Jesus Christ is the "son of God," while other people can only be "slaves" of God. This is a rather late and absurd point of view and is in fact completely contrary to the Gospel teaching.
In accordance with what Jesus Christ himself preached, each person can and should, as a result of spiritual practice, reveal in himself the qualities of a son or daughter of God. That is why he preached the great "Our Father" prayer. Think about it, in this prayer each person addresses God as his Heavenly Father.
28. "I and My Heavenly Father are One"
The Gospels describe a story of when Jesus Christ was walking with his disciples and noticed a man blind from birth sitting by the road begging for alms. The disciples said this man was born blind because of sin and then asked Jesus Christ about who sinned: was it the man, himself, or his parents?
Jesus Christ answered with strange words, saying no one has sinned, neither this man, nor his parents. After that, Jesus Christ added that this man was born blind so that the power of God would be manifested on him.
With these words, Jesus Christ proclaimed that all suffering and problems are given to a person in order to force him to practice and develop more actively. All problems, even the most difficult ones, are a wise and loving providence of God aimed at improving the quality of the soul's evolution. Any problem and difficulty in your life is a lesson you must go through and realize, thus you get the opportunity to reach a new level of your spiritual development.
Each person is divine and the idea of sin is a product of ignorance and the desire to manipulate people. If a person is convinced that he is sinful, then he can be easily controlled, and if the secret of his original divinity is revealed, then such a person becomes free.
Sathya Sai Baba said that Jesus Christ often retired to the desert, where he practiced meditation and contemplation. He constantly explored the inner divine nature of his soul. At the highest stage of his spiritual path, Jesus Christ realized unity with God before declaring, "I and My Heavenly Father are One."
Jesus Christ reached the highest level of spiritual self-realization, which in the Vedic tradition is called "non-duality" or Advaita. This experience is described in the Biblical writings as the indulgence of the Holy Spirit and the attainment of a mystical experience of oneness with God.
Rereading Sathya Sai Baba's great words about the spiritual path of Jesus Christ. I never cease to be amazed at their depth. This is a truly unique message that cannot be read about in any of the canonical Gospels. Not one of them tell, in such detail, about the inner world and the sacrament of the spiritual path of Jesus Christ.
Everything we know from the Gospel texts to a greater extent concerns the external events of the life of Jesus Christ, as well as his spiritual message in that period of his life after he became a teacher. How can we learn about his inner world and the spiritual path of meditation that he went through? The only one who can help uncover this great secret is the Avatar.
29. Only an Avatar can narrate the inner experience of Jesus Christ
The spiritual path of Jesus Christ, which Sathya Sai Baba talks about, fully corresponds to the classical texts of Vedic mysticism. At first, any spiritual seeker realizes the simplest truths about what is a "servant of God." At this stage of spiritual development, a person perceives himself as separate from God. God is perceived as an external force.
Even when Jesus Christ realized that he was the "son of God," it was still not the final realization. Of course, the son carries the qualities of the Father, but they still remain separate from each other.
The highest self-realization of Jesus Christ was that he understood God as his True Self. God is the True "I" of each person. This is the essence of the famous words of Jesus Christ: "I and My Father in Heaven are One."
Jesus Christ was a unique person, a world teacher, but it cannot be said that God is exclusively in the heart of Jesus. God dwells in the heart of all people as the true Creator and Father and as the original source of wisdom, love, and bliss. God is not only the higher self of Jesus Christ, but also every person.
When Jesus Christ proclaimed his oneness with his Heavenly Father, he spoke not only of himself; he proclaimed the divinity of every person. As a result of the practice of meditation, every spiritual seeker can reveal the greatest treasure of his spiritual heart and find God as his Heavenly Father, and at a higher level, reveal God as his Higher Self.