When reading the gospels, something that can be observed is just how abnormal Christ’s speech and speaking patterns are. It answers the question of, if there was an all knowing being beyond time, how would he talk? He doesn’t speak like the people around him and the structure of the language follows a unique form. This unique form closely mirrors the development of prayer in Christian mysticism, God’s steady call to the soul to approach Him. To avoid getting too entangled in terminology and complexity we can break down the development in four approximate stages.
1. The verbal foundation.
Making use of the voice, it starts with a foundation of vocal prayer. These can range from formulaic structured prayers handed down for thousands of years to free form rambling intended towards God. One of the most common forms of structured prayer comes in the form of the psalms. 150 ancient calls to God rotated through by various monastic orders. Verbal prayer is essential in part due to the lack of subjectivity. It is a sound either made or not, and it can be done regardless of the interior state, although without intention the value diminishes.
2. Mental engagement.
On top of the verbal foundation the mind begins to engage. At it’s most basic level this can just involve thinking about what is being said. It also involves engaging the intellect, reflecting on subtext and deeper meanings. Mental engagement can also include making use of visualization and imagination. Setting oneself at the scene of the prayer, picturing just how something would look, how it would feel, and so on. Mental engagement serves to create a deeper connection to the prayer, drawing the mind in visually, analytically, and emotionally.
3. The quieting of the mind.
As mental engagement reaches its limits, the mind begins to quiet. This begins to occur as the mind has wrestled with the divine as Jacob wrestled with God, to the point of exhaustion. At the capacity of reasoning and imagination the mind has gained all it can from its efforts towards the prayer. Here the mind begins to quiet, and passively begin to make space for God.
4. Divine infusion.
The fully mystical stage. At this stage the mind has grown still and made space for God and He begins to fill the mind forming a deep and direct connection to God. This stage depends entirely on God and it cannot be entered under the power of the mind, and the mind must wait in the quiet state until God acts.
When we look at the speaking patterns of Christ we can see these four phases made manifest. He begins with the simplest level of verbal speech so that anyone can hear what He has said. From there the audience is forced to engage their mind. Visualizing parables, looking deeper in to the full implications of the words, exploring the depth of the layered meanings. From there the mind begins to quiet as it gets as far as it can, and then divine infusion may begin, leading the soul to have a direct union with God, going further and deeper than words alone ever could.
Jesus is not purely a storyteller or a deliverer of aphorisms, but Christ’s every word is designed to lead you to Him. At the most obvious level we have the parables. Simple stories that manifest this mystical pattern. Starting with the parable of the talents, in which Christ details three servants, and their different reactions to what their master has given them.
For even as a man going into a far country, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods; [15] And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to every one according to his proper ability: and immediately he took his journey.
[16] And he that had received the five talents, went his way, and traded with the same, and gained other five. [17] And in like manner he that had received the two, gained other two. [18] But he that had received the one, going his way digged into the earth, and hid his lord's money. [19] But after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them. [20] And he that had received the five talents coming, brought other five talents, saying: Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have gained other five over and above.
[21] His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. [22] And he also that had received the two talents came and said: Lord, thou deliveredst two talents to me: behold I have gained other two. [23] His lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. [24] But he that had received the one talent, came and said: Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. [25] And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine.
[26] And his lord answering, said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed: [27] Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury. [28] Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. [29] For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. [30] And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
(Matthew 25)
Consider our four basic stages. Here we have the word of Christ telling us this story. To read it aloud is a prayer in a certain way. To really engage with the parable we have to use our mind. It’s a simple parable to visualize. Setting ourselves at the scene as we watch the lives of the three servants play out. How do they look? How do they act? What emotions are they showing, and what kind of emotions would we be showing? The intellect also has to be engaged. Why was the third servants crime so great? How does it apply in our life? Do we act like the third servant, hiding our gifts in the ground, failing to draw the slightest profit, or do we participate in the will of God? It raises further questions on the nature of the gifts, the nature of the lord, the nature of the exterior darkness, and so on. All this food for the mind could take years to fully digest from just a single parable. As the mind eventually begins to quiet it can simply reflect on the totality of the parable and begin to make space for God. As God begins to infuse the soul far deeper reflections of the parable can take place, and the infused soul can begin to move beyond what the words of the parable ever were in to true union with God.
This pattern appears even in Christ’s smallest phrase. The first thing he says in the very first gospel, Matthew 3:15, where Christ responds to John the Baptist.
[14] But John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? [15] And Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice. Then he suffered him.
(Matthew 3)
Again we have the foundation of the word. Christ speaks, and we hear Him two thousand years later. This is not such a simple thing to engage the mind with. John desires to be baptized by Christ, but instead Christ tells him that he must endure his duty and baptize Christ instead to fulfill justice, or δικαιοσύνην in the Greek. What does it mean for Christ to say that there is an order of justice, and that John must fulfill this justice through Christ’s baptism? This simple statement provides incredible meaning on both the nature of Christ’s justice and the significance of baptism. The notion that there is this state of spiritual order that is mediated by “right” actions, and that one of these right actions is John baptizing Christ. We could spend much time reflecting on the nature of this justice and the other right actions within, but ultimately the complete understanding of it will come from the quieting of the mind and the infusion of God, filling the soul with the true manifestation of God’s justice.
The clearest link between Christ’s speech and the patterns of mystical prayer comes when Christ provides us with the Lord’s Prayer.
Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. [10] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. [13] And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
(Matthew 6)
How much has been written about the depths of this prayer? A single life on earth may not be sufficient to fully understand it. Starting with the absolute God, the Father in a specific place of heaven. It tells us of the sacred name of God, the kingdom of God, and a will that is done on both heaven and earth. It goes on to tell us of a new bread that will sustain us, and warns us of the unending cycle of debt. Our debt to God that we can only hope to be forgiven for, and others debts to us that we have the power to forgive them. It warns us of the dangers of temptation, and tells us of an evil that we must be delivered from. It is the single most common prayer that Christ Himself gave us, and how many of us can even begin to scratch the surface on the depths of this prayer? Like all the other words of Christ, and perhaps even more so, the only way this prayer will ever be fully understood is through the direct communication from God.
This is the mystery of Christ. His every word containing so much density that an attempt to explore the depths slowly draws you to Him. As we begin to try and understand this divine manner of speaking, all we can do is follow the path that Christ has prepared for us. Starting with His word, and slowly preparing us, leading us to this true direct experience of God in the place that He has prepared for us.