This is a continuation of our extracts from Yogananda’s The Second Coming of Christ
articles that originally appeared in East-West, Inner Culture, and Self-Realization magazines.
Baptism of Jesus by Water and by the Holy Spirit
The gospel tells us that John the Baptist had said to the people, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Jesus, being high in spiritual advancement, obeyed the spiritual law of baptism by water. But immediately following His baptism by water, He was also baptized by the Spirit. In real Christianity the aspirant is first baptized in water for purification and then immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Eternally bound in divine friendship
A great secret of understanding lies in the reason for the less advanced teacher, John, initiating as his disciple the so greatly-advanced Savior of mankind–Jesus. In his past incarnations John the Baptist had been appointed as the divine agent to be the original spiritual teacher of Jesus. In the dim past, when John was first sent by God as the teacher of Jesus in response to His prayers, the consciousness of John was more advanced than the consciousness of Jesus. At that time the souls of John the Baptist and of Jesus were eternally bound together by the law of unconditional divine friendship, and both at this long-ago first meeting as teacher and disciple had made the resolution, “We will be friends forever, striving for one another’s perfection until both of us redeem our omnipresence, now locked behind the bars of flesh.”
The Bible gives us this account of the meeting of Elijah with Elisha by divine command: “And the Lord said unto him [Elijah], Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus:…and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and ministered unto him” (I Kings 19:15,16,19-21). In this way Elisha became the disciple of Elijah and lived with him for many years.
The Biblical background
The reason for the subsequent progress of Elisha-Jesus beyond the status of Elijah-John is also given in the Bible.
“And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. “And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
“So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
“And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
“And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
“He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
“And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him” (II Kings 2:1-15).
The next chapters of the story
So, by the blessing of Elijah, as time went on and many incarnations passed, by making a superior effort the soul of Elisha-Jesus advanced further than did the soul of Elijah-John. Jesus knew that the soul of the prophet Elijah was his teacher of former incarnations, and that it had reincarnated in the body of John the Baptist. The prophet Elijah, who was much more highly advanced than Jesus when He first became his disciple, later on, through the irony of his own karmic law (actions of past lives), had lessened in spirituality, and thus had the power to baptize with water only. By intuition John the Baptist knew of the coming of Jesus Christ, yet having less spirituality for a time he forgot he was once Elijah. After the baptism of Jesus, John was informed of this fact, “For Elias is come already.” But John the Baptist knew that Jesus, though now so far advanced as to become the Redeemer of the World, was this disciple of former incarnations, and thus he predicted, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
Jesus was now more advanced than John the Baptist, yet He accepted him as His teacher of former incarnations–the agent first sent by God to enter with Him into this spiritual, divine covenant and this divinely ordained friendship. “We will be divine friends forever until our souls by mutual help and the lasting goodwill of many incarnations break the bubble-walls of caging desires and set free our imprisoned omnipresence to become one with the sea of Infinitude.” This is why Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness,” and why He chose to be baptized by John with water according to the ancient custom. It is very interesting then to note how the Spirit of God used the Holy Spirit for the spiritual baptism of Jesus.
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