The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ/Chapter 47

1. And Jesus came to Egypt land and all was well. He tarried not upon the coast; he went at once to Zoan, home of Elihu and Salome, who five and twenty years before had taught his mother in their sacred school.

2. And there was joy when met these three. When last the son of Mary saw these sacred groves he was a babe;

3. And now a man grown strong by buffeting of every kind; a teacher who had stirred the multitudes in many lands.

4. And Jesus told the aged teachers all about his life; about his journeyings in foreign lands; about the meetings with the masters and about his kind receptions by the multitudes.

5. Elihu and Salome heard his story with delight; they lifted up their eyes to heaven and said,

6. Our Father-God, let now thy servants go in peace, for we have seen the glory of the Lord;

7. And we have talked with him, the messenger of love, and of the covenant of peace on earth, good will to men.

8. Through him shall all the nations of the earth be blest; through him, Immanuel.

9. And Jesus stayed in Zoan many days; and then went forth unto the city of the sun, that men call Heliopolis, and sought admission to the temple of the sacred brotherhood.

10. The council of the brotherhood convened, and Jesus stood before the hierophant; he answered all the questions that were asked with clearness and with power.

11. The hierophant exclaimed, Rabboni of the rabbinate, why come you here? Your wisdom is the wisdom of the gods; why seek for wisdom in the halls of men?

12. And Jesus said, In every way of earth-life I would walk; in every hall of learning I would sit; the heights that any man has gained, these I would gain;

13. What any man has suffered I would meet, that I may know the griefs, the disappointments and the sore temptations of my brother man; that I may know just how to succour those in need.

14. I pray you, brothers, let me go into your dismal crypts; and I would pass the hardest of your tests.

15. The master said, Take then the vow of secret brotherhood. And Jesus took the vow of secret brotherhood.

16. Again the master spoke; he said, The greatest heights are gained by those who reach the greatest depths; and you shall reach the greatest depths.

17. The guide then led the way and in the fountain Jesus bathed; and when he had been clothed in proper garb he stood again before the hierophant.