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The Fourth Lesson: The Beginning of the Ministry.983
of the God of Israel. All the dreams of the Hebrew Fathers would be realized
in Him, the Messiah of the New Israel whose capital would be Jerusalem, the
Queen of the World.
And all this by simply the exercise of his occult powers under the direction
of his will. It is related that accompanying this second picture and attracted
by its mighty power, came all the great thought-waves of the world which
had been thought by men of all times who thought and acted out the
Dreams of Power. These clouds settled down upon Him like a heavy fog,
and their vibrations were almost overpowering. And also came the hosts
of the disembodied souls of those who while living had sought or gained
power. And each strove to beat into His brain the Desire of Power. Never
in the history of man have the Powers of Darkness so gathered together for
attack upon the mind of a mortal man. Would it have been any wonder had
even such a man as Jesus succumbed?
But He did not succumb. Rallying His Inner Force to His rescue He beat
back the attacking horde, and by an effort of His Will, He swept both
picture and tempters away into oblivion, crying indignantly “Thou darest
to tempt even me, thy Lord and Master. Get thee behind me thou Fiends of
Darkness”!
And so the Temptation of the Wilderness failed, and Jesus received His
answer from His soul, and He descended the mountains, back to the haunts
of men—back to the scene of His three years’ labors and suffering, and back
to His Death. And He knew full well all that awaited Him there, for had He
not seen the First Picture?
Jesus had chosen His career.
* * *
The Master descended from the mountains and forsook the Wilderness
for the place in which John and his followers were gathered. Resting for a
time, and refreshing Himself with food and drink, He gathered together His
energies for His great work.