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A Series of Lessons in Mystic Christianity1012
attitude that indicated a supreme effort of His will, the Master was seen to
be making some mighty effort which called into play the highest forces at
His command. The Apostles, having been instructed by Him in Occult power,
recognized the nature of the manifestation, and their faces paled, for they
knew that He was not only pouring out His vital force into the body in order
to recharge it with prana, but that He was also essaying one of the highest
and most difficult of occult feats—that of summoning back from the Astral
Plane the higher vehicles and the Astral Body—the very soul of the youth—
and forcing it once more into its mortal frame, which He had recharged with
vital energy and strength. They knew that He, by the mightiest effort of His
will, was reversing the process of death. And with a full appreciation of the
real nature of the wonder that was being worked before them, their limbs
trembled beneath them and their breath came from them in gasps.
Then cried the people, “What saith this man to the corpse?” “Arise, youth!
Open thine eyes! Breathe freely! Arise, I say unto thee—arise!” Did this
stranger dare to defy God’s own decree?
The corpse opened its eyes and stared around in wild amaze, the glare
not fully faded away! Its chest heaved in great agonizing gasps as if fighting
again for life! Then its arms were lifted up—then its legs began to move—
now it raised itself upright and began to babble meaningless words—now
the look of recognition came into its eyes, and its arms clasped themselves
around the mother’s neck, while sob after sob broke from its lips! The dead
lived—the corpse had come to life.
The people fell back overcome with the awful terror of the sight, and
the funeral procession scattered in all directions, until only the sobbing
mother and the youth remained, weeping in their mutual love and joy, and
forgetting even the Master and His followers in their great flood of affection.
And, leaving them thus, Jesus and His followers passed away on their
pilgrimage. But the fame of the miracle spread from town to town, even up
to the great capital, Jerusalem. And men wondered or doubted, according
to their natures, while the temporal and ecclesiastical authorities began to