Message from Matthew
January 5,
2014
With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. With the December solstice came another powerful influx of light, as if to salute the year nearing its end and greet the new with a rousing cheer. And, if indeed a salute, how well deserved it is! Every time you acted upon a soul-level inspiration—something you considered only a nice gesture or “the right thing to do” — you added light to your world.
You
may wish to review the message wherein we mentioned some of the many ways your
society has been generating light in abundance. Feeling grateful for the myriad
contributions to the betterment of your world sends forth its own light in
grand amount. [The referenced message is August 15, 2013.]
Yes, a great deal still is to be done and shall be. The energy momentum keeps strengthening the forcefulness of all thoughts and feelings, so we repeat our guidance to not think of needful conditions with a heavy heart; instead, envision Earth within golden-white light so this image and your desire for benevolent changes go out into the universe and return with additional light. Although some closed minds and hearts are trying to keep the status quo, changes toward peace, cooperation and sufficiency for all are solidly underway, and the more light energy they receive, the sooner they will be manifested.
Please continue being discerning about all information, including articles and
channeled material on the Internet. Mainstream media still are controlled to a
large extent, with emphasis on the negative and scandals; but it is heartening
that more and more stories of kindness, sharing of resources and successful
endeavors from grass roots upward also are being featured.
Reporters are among the majority of your populace who have no idea that members
of our universal family would prevent the talked-about possibilities, such as
North Korea may detonate nuclear warheads and wipe out vast areas or radiation
from Fukushima eventually may kill millions. They don’t know that it isn’t
Gaia’s desire for oceans to become so warm that all marine life dies and all
coastlines move inland hundreds of miles, so those will not happen either. Most
of Earth’s residents don’t know that prevailing frequencies are conducive to
national leaders choosing to talk instead of do battle, or economic and
diplomatic discussions are going on behind the scenes, or many millions of
souls are experiencing what they chose to balance other lifetimes and
evolve.
You do know that, beloved family, so surge forward throughout this new
year with uplifted hearts and positive thoughts and keep expanding the light in
your world. You ARE the changes you
want!
Now I am speaking as Matthew only. I asked my mother to copy a response to our
December message: Your message was lovely except for leaving out that Jesus’
birth is the reason for this holy-day season. I think I am open-minded and
intuitive, but what you have said about Jesus not being crucified is NOT
believable. How can someone as evolved as you make yourself out to be not know
something that
important?
The
writer is one of the many, many people who believe the biblical story about the
crucifixion. Knowing at conscious level the truth you know at soul
level is a vital part of evolvement, and holding fast to beliefs based on
falsehoods deters advancement. That’s why I felt it could be helpful to tell
you how I know the Bible differs dramatically from the truth. God said “Yes,
it is the time,” and so I shall.
Always I have spoken from personal knowledge as Matthew the apostle—it is the
best known today of my lives on Earth—and the thousands of other lifetimes that
began when Archangel Michael’s powerful energy manifested its first personage
in this universe. The cumulative knowledge of all my personages has enabled me
to speak about things I didn’t consciously know during the lifetime that
became known as Matthew, the apostle; however, I shall call upon that knowledge
as I tell you about my years with Jesus.
My mother has known about that lifetime since our earliest conversations,
twenty years ago, and when she asked if I would ever mention it in a message, I
told her perhaps, someday, but the apostle identity isn’t important. What is
important is that the information she received from me and the others be
respected for itself. Readers of the books and messages need to intuitively
know the truth of the information, and offering guidance to help them hear,
trust and heed their “inner voice” in all life circumstances is one of the
primary reasons for our mother-and-son
collaboration.
Now then, many people believe everything in the Bible is true because they have
been taught that it is the “word of God” written by God-inspired individuals.
That is not so. The innumerable erroneous parts of the Bible include mistakes
in translations of Aramaic and Greek records—one is “babe in a manger”—along
with translators’ alterations that fit their personal beliefs. Those were
compounded by more of the same in later translations; however, the most serious
departures from authentic records are the omissions and additions that were
deliberately meant to deceive.
Parts of the Old Testament came from the early leaders of church and state.
Individuals had a closer relationship with God then, and to make the populace
conform to the leaders’ desire for control and wealth, they needed to distance
the people from God. They concocted a wrathful, fearsome God who told some of
the people that others were their enemies, go forth and slay them; and told a
father to kill his son as proof of his obedience to His
commands.
During the ensuing centuries, principals in the Catholic Church wrote religious
rules and called them “God’s laws” so as to cement their control over the
masses and acquire ever-vaster fortunes. To put more distance between the
people and God, they added a layer of saints; and to exalt themselves, they
instituted papal infallibility and established the Vatican as an independent
state. They came up with an immaculate conception, whereby Mary was conceived,
and made her the virgin mother of Jesus to convince the masses that he is the
“only son of
God.”
I shall tell you from whence Jesus came. The soul that eons later embodied as
Jesus originated in the Christed realm, the cosmic realm closest to Creator,
where the first souls, the archangels, came into being. At some point, they
made the next angelic realm and the highest gods and goddesses. These souls
were given the choice to remain as the pure love-light energy essence of
Creator—that was the choice of the Supreme Being of this universe that many
call God—or to incarnate. One of the souls that chose the latter is known in
this universe as Sananda. This soul has had lifetimes in civilizations
throughout the cosmos and is the “parent,” or more properly, the cumulative
soul of the person you know as
Jesus.
To continue about the Bible, much of its most deceptive information is ascribed
to the four apostles, and somewhere along the line we were given saint status.
Some scholars think Luke and I copied parts of what Mark wrote in his gospel
and added them to ours, but I’m curious as to why they left out John—the
blatant lies that were put in our gospels were put in his, too. Some modern
versions of the Bible dropped our sainthood; however, in my mother’s old,
well-worn King James edition, it is the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, and
she will accommodate me by copying the parts I
request.
First,
though, I shall describe Jesus and Mary Magdalene so you can imagine them as I
speak about them. Jesus was outgoing, not as vivacious as Mary but always
pleasant of temperament. He was what I would call a commanding
figure—taller than most men and slender but strong and muscular, with erect
posture. His fair skin had tanned from years in the sun and his gray eyes
sometimes had a tinge of blue; his hair was light brown and long, as was the
style, but he kept his beard and mustache closely trimmed. Mary was an
extremely pretty and delightfully personable, gracious young woman. In
appearance she was petite, fair-complexioned and had sparkling brown eyes and
cascading brown
hair.
Both of them were born into respected upper-class families, intelligent,
well-educated for the times, and the finest of friends for many years before
they married. They had a large, happy family, and after long, full lives, they
left their bodies and moved on to lifetimes of service to God in other places
in this universe; however, the power of their love-light energy always is with
souls on Earth, just as elsewhere.
But
I’m getting ahead of myself and way ahead of the gospel of St. Matthew. As a
young man I started keeping a journal of interesting encounters and, like my
notes before I met Jesus, those afterwards were meant to serve only as
reference and reading enjoyment in my old
age.
My
records did not begin with the lineage from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus’ father,
but since St. Matthew does, I shall speak about that. Several months after I
met Jesus, the genealogy was shown to me by a man who copied it from someone’s
record who copied it from another’s record and so on and so on. I tucked into
my journal the list I wrote with the note that I’d been told its accuracy
couldn’t be verified. It was not a broadly literate society, thus lore and
legend were handed down from one generation to the next, and it was commonly
understood that often the accounts were embellished or details forgotten by
successive storytellers. Yet, it became biblical “history.”
Next in St. Matthew comes: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, was
found with child of the Holy Ghost.” …. “Joseph knew her not till she
had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.” None
of that was in my records, and why would it be? I didn’t meet Jesus until many
years later, and neither he nor his parents ever told me anything like that.
Nevertheless, it was attributed to me and written similarly in the other
gospels to substantiate the Catholic Church’s version of Jesus’
birth.
Furthermore, all of my notes were about Emmanuel, the name everyone
called him. I don’t know why it was decided that in the Bible, his name should
be Jesus, and it’s odd, or an oversight, that this also was put into that
chapter: “… and they shall call his name Emmanuel.” It’s because
you know him as Jesus that I always have referred to him by that
name.
Those
were indeed harsh, cruel times. The slaughter of infant and toddler males is
true—however, I didn’t note that in my journal—and so is the flight of Jesus’
family to Egypt and return to their homeland when it was safe. I recorded what
they told me about their experiences then as well as numerous other family
highlights during the many enjoyable evenings I spent with Jesus, his siblings
and their parents. Often Mary Magdalene was there too, and conversations were
lively. We spoke Aramaic, occasionally lapsing into Greek for an apt
expression, and there was much laughter because we didn’t always talk about
serious matters. Jesus listened attentively to whomever was speaking, and many
a time I saw his eyes twinkle when Mary was excitedly chattering about
something or
other.
As
a part-time teacher of elementary and advanced students—there was no word for
tutor then—the closest I came to the tax collection profession was meeting Jesus
on a street where men were busily engaged at the collecting and counting
tables. I recognized him from a small group I had chanced upon the previous
evening, so I greeted him, he invited me to accompany him, I did, and we talked
as we walked along. That’s how I wrote about our meeting, along with
discovering that we both enjoyed water sports and had a mutual acquaintance and
Jesus said he recently started speaking in public. That was the point in my
journal where my notes about our friendship started, and I wrote about it in
first person—it was my
experience.
However,
according to St. Matthew: “And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a
man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow
me. And he arose, and followed him.” Evidently it didn’t occur to
whoever changed my notes that folks might think it strange that Matthew would
write so awkwardly and briefly about a life-changing experience and very
strange that our meeting came after the “sermon on the mount” that
previously “I” had written in St. Matthew. It does explain, though, why I am
thought of as the tax collector who became a
disciple.
Jesus didn’t call us disciples. After he became known for his teachings, some
in the Sanhedrin started referring to people who attended gatherings where he
spoke as “his disciples.” As for the twelve the Bible gives that designation,
Jesus met each of us in his travels around the Sea of Galilee and friendships were
formed, but he didn’t ask any of us to forsake our livelihoods and “follow”
him. I had the good fortune of living near him, which afforded me the enjoyment
of his company far more often than the other “disciples” could spend time with
him.
According
to St. Matthew: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them:… “Heal
the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils.” That
endows us with abilities none of us had! But we did know Jesus’ abilities and
how he had come by them, so when I was along on a boat outing, I had no reason
to put in my journal, we “marvelled” that “even the winds and the sea
obey him!” and I
didn’t.
In St. Matthew, after Jesus met two men “possessed with devils,” he cast
them out and put them in a swine herd that “ran violently down a steep place
into the sea, and perished in the waters.” …. “And, behold, the whole
city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he
would depart out of their coasts.” As Jesus recounted the incident to
me, after he ushered into the light the entities that were tormenting the men’s
minds, he continued on his solitary way until he and I met up, and that’s how I
penned my account of
it.
The gospel’s version of Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness, where he
refused to be tempted by the devil, is a dreadful elaboration of the short note
in my journal: Jesus liked to spend time in solitude with Nature, where he
could talk with God or muse without distraction and, like the others who knew
him well, I honored that by keeping my distance.
What became known as “sermon on the mount” was someone’s compilation of my
copious notes at numerous small gatherings where Jesus would speak, people
would ask questions and he would answer—there was a lot of interaction early
on. But as word of his teachings spread and crowds grew, people listened
without interrupting and he spoke about many of the things that became the
“sermon.” I didn’t call it that. Jesus wasn’t a preacher, he was a teacher who
was passionate about sharing his knowledge. He knew it was what he was
meant to do, and that was the great difference between him and everyone else—his
conscious mind always was connected with his soul and he lived
accordingly.
The
sermon does preserve much of his wisdom and enlightenment and of course I’m
gratified about that, but it doesn’t include some of his important teachings
noted in my journal, like the purpose of multiple lifetimes; inseparability of
all souls; God is everything that exists in the world—all people, animals,
plants, the waters, air and earth are parts of Him and sacred to Him. Jesus
didn’t make any notes about his teachings and he was glad that I
did.
But anything in my journals that might undermine the corrupt leaders’ authority
was left out of St. Matthew and most of what is in that gospel didn’t come from
my records. I never heard Jesus say that anyone “…shall be in danger of hell
fire” or “…whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth
adultery.” He talked about how godly thoughts and deeds benefit lives, not
“shameful” behavior—that would have been judging and contrary to what he did
tell people, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” I never heard him
talk about sins being forgiven—he said “sin” was an error in values or deeds
and he told listeners many times over the importance of their forgiving others.
He wouldn’t have said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I
came not to send peace, but a sword”—that was in conflict with all
of his teachings.
The “parables” sound as if Jesus was speaking in anger—never during the many
times I was present at gatherings, large or small, did he do that. And, unlike
the parables, he spoke forthrightly and clearly so listeners would
understand—he wanted to enlighten, not perplex. It is fortunate—or more
likely, unawareness of what he meant—that those who so drastically changed my
notes left in “Ye are the light of the world,” “Let your light
shine…” and many of his other references to
light.
Mentioning
all the disparities between my records and St. Matthew would require my
comments throughout that gospel, but the most critical additions are the “last
supper” and Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. It’s possible that the supper
may have derived from my notes about one of the rare times that Jesus and all
twelve of us were in the same place and we had a splendid celebration dinner.
It was after he and Mary Magdalene had married and she was there too, but it
was many months before the crucifixion is claimed to have happened. Jesus
didn’t perform the service that became known as “holy communion” or say: “Verily
I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me,” and everything from that
point on in St. Matthew also is fabricated falsehood.
Months later I recorded what I overheard two men
discussing near the temple: The Sanhedrin thought that crucifying Jesus would
make him a martyr and give impetus to his teachings, so they decided to have
him flogged and ordered out of the country—that would discredit him in the eyes
of the people and they soon would forget
him.
When I told Jesus, he said he couldn’t avoid being beaten and banished—as I
noted in my journal, I sensed he felt it was important to let that happen. It
did, and shortly afterwards, he and Mary Magdalene left for the Far East, where
he knew they would be welcomed. In several of our early talks he had told me
about his younger years there, where he learned from the masters how to perform
what the Bible calls “miracles,” but as Jesus told the multitudes, everything
he could do, they could,
too.
Through the years we kept in touch with occasional letters and when one came
from him, I tucked it into my journal—by then there were dozens. Finding new
students required my moving from time to time, which offered ample opportunity
to meet people who heard I knew Jesus and wanted to hear about his teachings.
Now and then I saw Luke, who sometimes had news about one or another of the
other “disciples,” but our common link was Jesus, and after he left, it was
natural that we all would continue along our separate
ways.
After my death in old age, the innkeeper sold the chest in which I kept my
journals. Eventually they fell into the hands of someone in government and,
before being burned, led to the Gospel According to St.
Matthew.
In
no way what I have told you diminishes one iota the power of Jesus or his
accurate teachings! The truth of his life—he had a wife and children,
and he had desires, ideas, hopes, friends, opposition, disappointments,
heartaches and joyful times like other people—far more honors his teachings
than religion’s false claim that he was the “only son of
God.”
Nor does anything I have said mean that people who believe the Bible is God’s
word are diminished in goodness of heart—they only are misinformed. Every soul
has its own journey into the light of truth and there is no time limit—the life
of the soul is eternal. If persons you love dearly aren’t on the same pathway
as you, confidently continue on yours and respect their divine right to choose
theirs.
And now, beloved Earth family, I speak again for all of us at this station. In
every moment, we are alongside you in spirit and unconditional love.
LOVE and
PEACE
Suzanne
Ward
[Note from Suzy: Please don’t ask me to put you
on a message distribution list. If you would like to receive the messages
directly, please join the Yahoo group—the link is at the top of “Matthew’s
Messages” page on www.matthewbooks.com.
Print editions of the six books can be ordered on that
site, but the E-books are available only at Amazon.com.]