From this week’s lesson – John 3:19 – “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” .” According to the 1828 version dictionary, darkness is 3. A state of being intellectually clouded; ignorance.
I was recently listening to an older Bible Study, (Feb. 10, 2018 – The Healing of a Lifelong Illness), which referenced the Gospel of Mary, so I acquired a copy of, The Gospel of Mary: A Fresh Translation and Holistic Approach by Mark M. Mattison. In the Gospel of Mary, she references the lure of darkness when speaking of a vision she had, where she describes a conversation she held with Jesus:
“After the soul had overcome the third power, it went up and saw the fourth power, which took seven forms:
The first form is Darkness;
The second, Desire;
The third, Ignorance;
The fourth, Zeal for Death;
The fifth, the Kingdom of the Flesh;
The sixth, the Foolish Wisdom of Flesh;
The seventh, the Wisdom of Anger.
These are the seven powers of Wrath.”
In context, the fourth power is the Zeal for Death, so thoughts of death find access to our thinking through the above seven lies or sins, where darkness is identified as number one. Certainly these can translate as idols or temples that the human man worships or feels bound to through false belief. Jesus then explains to Mary, “Sin doesn’t exist in and of itself, but you’re the ones that make sin when you act in accordance with the nature of adultery, which is called sin. That’s why you get sick and die, because you love what tricks you. That’s why the Good has come among you, approaching every nature in order to reunite it with its origin ….…Matter gives birth to a passion that has no image because it comes from what’s contrary to nature. The confusion arises in the whole body. That’s why I told you to be content at heart.” (1828 Dictionary says adultery is 3. In scripture, idolatry, or apostasy from the true God. Jeremiah 3:8.)
According to the Gospel of Mary, Jesus gave these directives: “So go and preach the gospel about the kingdom, Don’t lay down any rules beyond what I’ve given you, nor make a law like the lawgiver, or else you’ll be bound by it.”
This message seems to convey the importance of following only God’s law of harmony, intelligence, principle, truth, and love. Believing anything else from the material senses, invites suggestions that will erroneously bind us. Through eradicating these sins, we can remain solid in our convictions about our real self; our spiritual self.
Or as the Golden Text says: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.”