In what follows, I will present an unusual interpretation in which I reveal the hidden meaning of some passages of Christian Scripture for our readers. I will support the condensed statements with a detailed analysis and quotations. In this way, I would like to express my deepest devotion to Jesus and thus illuminate the significance of his teachings for humanity on the occasion of Christmas. 

1 Nicodemus, the teacher of the Jews, secretly sought out Jesus to make sure that he was truly the messenger of God. 

The Pharisees were the religious teachers of the Jews, for whom a detailed knowledge of the Torah and Talmud was a prerequisite. They had to be intimately familiar with the public and secret teachings of Moses, quoting Scripture verbatim. Nicodemus wanted to test Jesus' knowledge, so he sought him out in secret, deliberately pretending to be ignorant and asking questions that gave the impression of an uneducated man.

("And there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a chief of the Jews: and he came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Master, we know that thou art come from God to teach: for no man can do these signs which thou doest, but God be with him... In what manner can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother's womb a second time, and be born?" /John, 3.1,2,4/)

Jesus, sensing Nicodemus' sincere interest on the one hand, and his simultaneous doubts on the other, gives him the highest knowledge in such a way as to completely dispel Nicodemus' doubts. He deliberately tells him not about the possibility of being born again on earth, but about how to reach the kingdom of God. 

2 Everyone must be reborn by water (pranic body, light body) and by Soul (transcendental body) in order to enter the kingdom of God; only he, who is born by Soul gains freedom. 

Jesus knew that Nicodemus wot the story of Moses' teaching about creation, according to which God divided the created world into three parts. God divided the Light and the Darkness, so that from the uncreated (eternal, transcendental) world He separated the darkest world of Assiyah (which He intended to be the dwelling place of human beings). The symbolic name of the intermediate space is water, over which the Holy Spirit hovers ("...and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters" /Moses I.1.2/). Then God separated the lower waters from the upper waters, and thus two more worlds were created, Yetzirah and Beriyah ("...Let there be a firmament between the waters, which shall separate the waters from the waters." /Moses, I.1.5/). This was known to the Jews from the secret teachings of Moses, which kabbalists following the esoteric path still teach their disciples. Thus, a human being, after death, for entering to the kingdom of God, first should enters Yetzirah (Eden), where he/she can exist in a pranic body, then should ascend to Beriyah (Heaven), where he/she gains a light body, and then, if as a result of his/her service he/she is given a transcendental body, he can enter the kingdom of God, which already includes the eternal world. Only those who have a transcendental body can gain freedom, i.e. they are free from the effects of rebirth and the karmic cycle, because duality is omnipresent in the created worlds, forming a binding force that chains beings to creation.

("Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except, a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God. Verily, verily, I say unto thee: Except a man be born of water and of the Soul, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Soul is soul. Marvel not that I said unto thee: Ye must be born again. The wind blows whithersoever it will, and thou hearest the sound of it, but knowest not whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Soul.” /John, 3.3,5,6,7,8/). 

3 Jesus teaches his own inner, lived reality, he does not teach from books like the Pharisees, yet they do not accept his testimony. 

Nicodemus did not understand, but continued to inquire. Jesus then explained to him how to know the true spiritual master. Jesus knew that Nicodemus did not understand because he had only understood the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, not the symbolic meaning. That was why the other scribes (teachers who knew the Scriptures) did not understand Jesus. Just as the clergy today do not understand the symbolism of Scripture, they only argue over the meaning of the words. The first most important characteristic of a true spiritual master is that he/she teaches and testifies his/her own inner reality, which he/she has lived. Knowledge of Scripture is not enough, even if one is able to quote it literally, one must be able to interpret the symbols, and in addition, the content of Scripture must be lived, put into practice in life. This is what makes one's witness authentic.

("Nicodemus answered and said to him, 'How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a teacher of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, What we know, that we say, and what we see, that we bear witness of; and our witness ye receive not. If I have told you of those things which are on earth, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of things which are in heaven?” /John, 3.9,10,11,12/). 

4 The children of man are in Heaven, they descended from there, and must return there, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. 

All people originate from the forefather, who is a resident of the Heavenly Kingdom (Beriyah). (The ancestor is not the same as the biblical Adam, because Adam functioned with one dimension lower, i.e. Adam was driven out of Eden, i.e. Jetzirah.) Thus, the children of man descended from the heavenly realm for the purpose of experiencing the workings and laws of creation. They have never left Heaven, they reside there continuously, but they are unconscious; only a small part of their consciousness has entered the earthly dimension. They remain here until their consciousness is able to ascend again to Heaven. Ascension is achieved in the same way as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness. Here Jesus is referring to Moses' enlightenment. When Moses lifted the serpent of Kundalini into the Sahasrara, he saw God and was surrounded by a brilliant light (halo) which was interpreted of ignorance by his environment as a burning lace bush. In this teaching Jesus showed the second most important characteristic of a true spiritual master, that of revealing to the disciples the way to God, and not earthly truths as the Pharisees did.

("And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." /John 3:13,14/). 

5 Jesus (the only begotten son of God), the light, and those who love the light believe in him and gain eternal life, and those who love darkness do not believe in him and are lost. 

Jesus declares Himself to be descended from the Transcendental World and the firstborn Son of God. All men are the children of God, but there is one among them who was the first. Those who believe in Him and follow Him can reach eternity, while the rest are lost, that is, they wander in the created worlds, in samsara, for immeasurable ages. The first-born son descending from the Transcendental world is, by definition, the same as the Hindu god Brahma, who is the secondary creator, that is, the creator of all created worlds and all beings. The primary creator is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who conceives the creation only, the secondary creator who carries out it. That is why Jesus says that all can come to the Father only through Him. ("I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." /John, 14.6/). Jesus also points out the third most important characteristic of a true spiritual master, that he walks the path of light, not working in secret, deceiving and manipulating his disciples. He walks an open and straightforward path so that it is clear to all that his actions come from God.

("For God so loved this world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him shall not perish; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. For every one that doeth that which is unrighteous hateth the light, and goeth not into the light, lest his deeds should be uncovered: but he that doeth that which is righteous goeth into the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are deeds according to God. /John, 3. 16,17,18,20,21/).

I wish all our dear readers:
A blessed and peaceful Christmas!

Margaret Rhasoda Varga
UCCM head-master
2021. Budapest, Hungary