Karma and Reincarnation, Page 13

Aside from this, insofar as Jesus, the Christ, asserts that John is the reincarnation of Elijah, and John denies it, whom must we credit in the final analysis? John himself gives the answer. He tells his own disciples, in almost the verbatim prophetic words of Malachi, "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him" (Jn 3,28), and he humbled himself at the outset, saying he was not worthy to untie the thong of the Christ's sandal (Jn 1,27).

Finally, John had Essenic connections, which we now know to have been of a highly esoteric nature, and he may well have been aware of the point Jesus made to his disciples, namely, that reincarnation was not yet to be taught in exoteric Christianity. We may infer such from Paul in Heb9,5, and certainly the door is open to that idea in Christ's words, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (Jn 16,12). If that is the case, then John's denial (to the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees; Jn 1,19-25) would have been quite acceptable on the exoteric level, for there Christianity was not yet to be taught the difference between "personality" and "individuality." John the Baptist was a different personality from Elijah, even though he was the same Individuality.

Steiner developed the point that "reincarnation was not yet to be taught in exoteric Christianity" over the course of numerous lectures.¹² It is based on Jesus' statement in Jn 16,12 just cited and on the necessity to stress the critical importance of each life until humanity had matured to the Consciousness (Spiritual) Soul state (see I-24, I-25 and I-19). The state of humanity's consciousness has never been static. What existed at the time of Abraham was far different from what existed at the time of Christ. The ancient clairvoyance had disappeared (see "Fading Splendor"). Christ made it possible for humanity to find its way back to a clairvoyant state, but this time with the mature Ego and the combined power of heart and mind, a clairvoyance developed through attaining a state of moral perfection over time (see "A Time of Spiritual Awakening" in Vol. 3).

We see the problems of early Christianity reflected also in Paul's constant struggle to wean his flock from milk onto solid food. The complexity of the ancient Melchizedek account (see "Spiritual Economy") makes it possible to comprehend the problem Paul expresses in Heb 5,11, "About this [the priestly order of Melchizedek] we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing." This "dullness" is not something for which the people of that time can be blamed—it was the Ahrimanic infection of materiality that caused the spirit world to fade away, to lose its reality, and the tangible to be perceived as ultimate reality.

All scripture has meaning on many different levels, from the most elementary or exoteric (milk) to the most esoteric (solid food). All are true according to the level of consciousness attained by the individual. It had to be thus if they were to appeal to all human beings, for the level of spiritual attainment varies so greatly. Christ came to save all humanity—no exceptions—so his statement in Mt 7,6 that pearls (of wisdom) should not be thrown before swine was necessarily a recognition that the highest of his teachings should be disseminated with prudence only to those able to receive it. Thus the passage in question begins (Mt 17,1 and Mk 9,2) with the statement that Jesus "led them [three unique disciples; see "Peter, James and John" herein] up a high mountain apart." To appreciate the significance of this, see "High Mountain." Clearly, this term tells us that he was giving them esoteric insight (not to mention the experiences needed to generate it).

Then in Mt 17,9 and Mk 9,9 Jesus tells the three, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead." This is the language that has been passed down, but in Foundations of Esotericism (FE), Lect 8, Steiner recites it as, "Tell it to no man until I come again." The former is exoteric teaching, whereas the esoteric meaning is expressed in the latter. However, even "raised from the dead," esoterically understood, can be seen to be synonymous with "until I come again." This is so because the etheric body is the "life body," that in which humanity shall perceive Christ in his "Second Coming." The physical body is the body of "death." Only the few were able to witness the resurrection. Jesus may be considered by this command to have warranted the disclosure only in terminology carrying both an exoteric and esoteric meaning for the sake of those who could not yet bear to hear the deeper truth (Jn 16,12; Heb 5,11; 9,5; 2 Pet 3,15-16).