“Then Mary stood up. She addressed them all, and said to her brothers and sisters, “Do not weep and be pained, nor doubt, for all his grace will be with you and shelter [comfort] you. But rather, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us humans.” When Mary had said this, she turned their hearts to the Good and they began to discuss the words of the Savior.” [Gospel of Mary, Chapter 8]
At the end of the previous chapter when we read, “When [Jesus] had said these things, he departed,” this may simply be a way of saying that after Jesus spoke those words to them, he was arrested, crucified and buried.
Now that Jesus has gone, they are alone. They are especially frightened that what has happened to Jesus might happen to them, as we learn when they say, “If they did not spare him, how will they spare us?”
This reaction shouldn’t surprise us. Roman crucifixion was brutal and intentionally designed to strike fear into the hearts of any who might dare defy the Empire.
Having just seen Jesus mercilessly whipped, beaten, mocked and nailed to a cross to die after six hours of agony, it’s no wonder everyone is consumed by fear.
As the disciples – both the brothers and the sisters – begin to fall into despair, Mary stands and encourages them. She reminds them what the “Gospel of the Child of Humanity” really means: – that Christ is in them – all of them – and always will be!
When it says “Then Mary stood up,” this is a code for, “Mary woke up,” as we see in the other texts like the Gospel of Thomas. To stand is to awaken from our slumber. Why? Because the first thing you do after a long night’s sleep is to stand up. Mary stands up because she is awake. She remembers the teachings of Jesus. She understands what it means to be fully Divine and fully Human.
And so, Mary stands up in the midst of their hopelessness and comforts them with the reminder that God has “prepared us and made us humans.” She reminds them that being human – truly and fully human – is more than enough for anyone to overcome any obstacle.
Because, to be human is to be like Christ who embodied Divinity. Jesus taught them that the Son of Man has been enfleshed in all of Humanity. This is the miracle everyone has overlooked and that everyone needs to experience for themselves. This is why the disciples need to go out and preach the Gospel of the Child of Humanity, but first, they need Mary to stand up and preach it to them.
Not surprisingly, this short reminder is all that the disciples need – both brothers and sisters alike – to have their hearts turned to the Good and to take comfort in the words that Jesus spoke to them.
As the Apostle to the Apostles, Mary stands and preaches the Gospel to those Apostles who would later go out and preach the Gospel of the Son of Man to the world.
Sadly, this simple message became spiritualized and watered down by men who desired power over their brothers and sisters.
Religious leaders twisted the message of this Gospel that the Son of Man is within all of us and made it into a religion that worshipped Jesus instead of recognizing the Divine Humanity of everyone.
They taught people to wait for the Christ to return rather than teach them that Christ was already alive within each of us.
They taught people to focus on their unworthiness and sinfulness rather than show them that their humanity was made holy when the Son of Man became human.
They turned everything Jesus told us about the Christ within and made it a story about Jesus alone.
That’s part of the beauty of the Gospels of Mary and Thomas. They survived over a thousand years of suppression to emerge in these latter days as undying reminders of this Gospel of the Child of Humanity that would not – will never – die.
No matter what anyone does to silence these voices, the eternal truth of our shared Divinity and shared Humanity will endure. It echoes in the voices of mystics from Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, Muslim and Christian traditions. It reverberates in the discoveries of Quantum Physics.
Everything is Consciousness, and Consciousness is everything.
So, take heart, my friends. God has made us humans, and that is more than enough.
**
Are you an artist, painter, poet, author or just an otherwise creative person? Do you sometimes struggle with inspiration, motivation, or self-doubt?
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Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”
He co-hosts The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast and his solo podcast, Second Cup With Keith which are both available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean or wherever you find your podcast fix.
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