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English Pages [174] Year 1987
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
THE INNER MEANING OF JESUS' SAYINGS
John A. Sanford
EVISED EDITION
THE
KINGDOM WITHIN
ALSO BY JOHN
A.
SANFORD
Dreams: God's Forgotten Language Healing and Wholeness
Dreams and Healing
J
Invisible Partners.
How
Affects
the Male and Female Our Relationships
Song of the Meadowlark
in
Each of Us
THE
KINGDOM WITHIN THE INNER MEANING OF JESUS' SAYINGS
John
A. Sanford
HarperSanFrancisco
A
Division of HarperCollinsT^/is^m
1
This book was originally published in
1970 by
J.
B.
Lippincott
Company.
THE KINGDOM WITHIN,
Revised Edition. Copyright
©
1987 by John A.
Sanford. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. this
book may be used or reproduced
in
No part of
any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles
and
reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street,
New York, NY
10022.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sanford, John A.
The kingdom
within.
Bibliography:
p.
Includes index. 1.
Jesus Christ— Words.
BT306.S33
ISBN
1987
I.
Title.
86-45827
232.9'54
0-06-067054-1
92 93 94 95
MPC 20
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
1
PREFACE
The
truth of Christianity applies to the whole of
our time the Christian message
life,
often proclaimed only in
is
relevance to the social situation or to the institutional
Church. This book
an attempt
is
but in
life
its
of the
to balance this outward-orient-
ed emphasis by showing the inner meaning of Jesus' sayings; that
is
whole personality that
their relevance to the unfolding of the
is,
within us
all.
The
reader will find here an interpretation of the
sayings of Jesus that emphasizes their sonal, individual life
meaning
and development. That
of what Jesus said cannot be proved. That tal
meaning of
Jesus' sayings
is
found insights that Jesus' teachings have
opment,
as suggested
like a beautifully cut
by
this book.
inner meaning of Jesus' sayings,
from what
is,
Frequently
am
for
one facet of the to-
believe, by the pro-
our personal devel-
teachings of Jesus are
I
same
center. In discussing the
am not claiming that this is the
trying to view the center of Jesus' thought
in our day, I
The
I
meaning
diamond; they can be viewed from many
angles, yet each angle points to the
only meaning, but
it is
indicated,
for his or her per-
this is the
an often neglected perspective.
shall use case histories in order to elucidate the
application of certain of Jesus' sayings to the lives and crises of
people today. These case histories are drawn from
my own work
as a pastoral counselor. In every case the identity of the person
involved has been disguised, and permission has kindly been
granted to use this situation as an illustration.
The
version of the Bible
I
have used for the quotations
is,
un-
4
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
less
otherwise specified, the Jerusalem Bible, which
teaching purposes because of the
clarity,
I
favor for
accuracy, and reverence
exercised by the translators.
As
far as I
know
little
serious
work has been done
the point of view of this book
depth psychology to Jesus' sayings.
Howes and
Dr. Sheila
table exception, as
am
is
Moon
unusual, for
is
so far to relate the insights of
in the
The
efforts of Dr. Elizabeth
San Francisco area are
a no-
whom
the work of the late Fritz Kunkel, to
own book Creation Continues, now regrettably out of print, contains many beautiful insights into the message of the Gospels. Anyone who knows I
personally greatly indebted, and whose
Jungian psychology will also recognize
my
great indebtedness to
the psychological work of the late C.G. Jung, which indebtedness I
wish to acknowledge, with particular thanks to James Kirsch,
M.D., of Los Angeles and Dr. Liliane Frey of Zurich, who have
my "spiritual guides" in recent times. I also want to thank my friend the Reverend Morton T. Kelsey, who has helped me in many ways. I am deeply grateful for his friendship, his counsel,
been
and
his suggestions regarding the manuscript,
work
his
in relating Christianity to depth psychology.
own
pioneer
Such
related
works of these persons that are published, and a few other works helpful to a general understanding of the
included in a brief Bibliography I
also
wish to thank the
manuscript to completion. tary,
Marie Warnock,
Brown, of
St.
at
many I
owe
New
persons
who helped
a debt of gratitude to
for her faithful work,
Paul's Bookshop,
Testament, are
the conclusion of this book.
San Diego.
and
to
Especially,
thank Helen Macey and Ruth Budd for their
bring the
my
secre-
Margaret I
want
many hours
to
of work
in preparing the manuscript for publication; their personal en-
couragement and hard work have been invaluable I
want
to
ble seminars at St. Paul's Episcopal
helped
to
me.
Finally,
acknowledge with appreciation the members of
me work
San Diego, 1970
out
many
my
Bi-
Church, San Diego, who
insights into the
kingdom
within.
PART ONE
The Kingdom Within
'
Chapter
1
THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS
From an ordinary person we can expect only ordinary things. From an extraordinary or unique person we can expect extraordinary things. To put into perspective the sayings of Jesus, we must first
determine what sort of person he was.
from the
common
hidden depth personality,
to his
If
he
differs little
run of humanity, we cannot expect message, but
we must look
if
for the
he proves
to be
to find a
unusual in his
unexpected in his teachings.
in
may seem audacious to try to sketch the personality of Jesus a meaningful way when this has already been tried many times more complete texts. Few personalities have been as frequent-
ly
and variously treated
It
in
satisfaction
dency
as that of Jesus of
Nazareth. In innumer-
writers have described to their
own
what kind of person he must have been, but the
ten-
able "Lives of Jesus"
many
to oversentimentalize Jesus
and the ease with which we
can project into the figure of Jesus our raise the question of
whether
it is
own
idealized images
possible to talk of a personality *
of Jesus at
all.
Add
Gospel records, the
to this the paucity of the
complete lack of any physical description, and the debatable nature of
On
some of the
passages,
and the
task
may
*>
look hopeless.
the other hand, the basic historicity of the personality of -t
Jesus cannot be doubted.
events of the
jnentsgo
Not only do we have
Go spels — no mean
the recorded
/
historical data as a nciemjjoc u-
b
— but we have the veryexistence oT
Christiariity as a tes-
timonial to the existence of a remarkable person
J
who launched
a f
radical
and enduring new
religion.
It is
not that
we
are without r
16
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
grounds, then, for believing that there was a person called Jesus of Nazareth, nor are
we devoid of
facts
about him; the difficulty
has been in finding some kind of yardstick by means of which an
may be made. we now have such a yardstick. The
accurate sketch of his personality Fortunately,
'
C.
trist
G
.
whole, or
Jung devoted most of
human
to'tal,
He
being.
has given us certain categories
by means of which the range of personality is
and apply these categories
Nazareth.
The
results are
what
is
and
introver-
and sense of personal
found in the world outside of themselves; here
find
It
to-
what we know of Jesus of
that of extraversion
is
sion. Extraverts' center of interest
are
to
described.
what makes up
most interesting and revealing.
Jung's most basic category
•
may be
valid to take Jung's insightful description of
tality
Swiss psychia-
his life to the description of the
most appealing and valuable
to
is
identity
where they
them. Introverts, on
the other hand, ultimately measure their values by what
is
taking
place within and find that their chief interests and sense of iden-
inner world. Most people are well developed in
tity lie in their
(one area of life at the expense of the other. quite well as long as realities
but
selves. Introverts
realm but
feel
life calls
upon them
into confusion
fall
may be
if
quite at
So extraverts function
to deal only with outer
they are forced within them-
home
with their
own
inner
overwhelmed by the world outside themselves.
A
whole person, however, has achieved some development in both
j^almsj^ithout some development within, the vert
may be
shallow; without
some capacity
world, the insights of the introvert a person has
that
of the extra-
to function in the
prove ineffectual. Only
if
some development both inwardly and outwardly can
he or she be said
When we
may
life
to
approach wholeness.
apply these categories to Jesus of Nazareth,
he appears
to
we
find
be equally developed in both the extraverted
and introverted realms.
We
see his extraverted development in a
him with people. Jesus met people constantly and confronted them both individually and in large crowds. In the Gospel of Matthew alone we read of Mentj^u£jejparate enlife
that involved
THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS
17
/
counters between Jesus and a large multitude. Such a capacity for
outgoing relationships, for functioning competently in the
world,
is
a characteristic of extraversion. Jesus' introversion
equally well developed, however. Often
alone in order to pray
(e.g.,
Luke
5:16).
is
we
read that he retires
He
initiates his ministry
by spending forty days of solitude in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-2/
Mark l:12-13/Luke
4:1-2), something that
moments
think of doing. At crucial
in his life
no extravert would he
retires into soli-
tude again in order to reorient himself and discover his inner direction, as, for instance, in the his arrest
prior to
would be impossible from the evidence of the Gossay that Jesus was an extravert or an introvert; the only
22:40-46). pels to
Garden of Gethsemane
and crucifixion (Matt. 26:36-46/Mark 14:32-42/Luke\ It
conclusion we can draw from the scriptural evidence
is
that
he^
was both.
A
second
wholeness
set
is
of categories by
means of which Jung
describes
the four functions of the psyche. In addition to be-
ing either extraverted or introverted, Jung says, the ego orients itself to life
by means of four basic psychological functions.
Two
of these functions, thinking and feeling, have to do with arriving at conclusions.
Two
others, sensation
and
intuition,
have to do
with perception, or the gathering of information. These four functions are of such a nature that the development of any one of
them is ordinarily possible only at the expense of its opposite, so that we may represent the four functions schematically like this:
THINKING SENSATION
INTUITION FEELING
Let us take a look these functions.
The
at
the strengths and weaknesses of each of
person whose thinking function
is
well de-
18
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
veloped
is
called a "tftinking type."
or introverted thinking, depending sic orientation.
A
thinking type
is
It
may be
on which
either extraverted
is
that person's ba-
her best in dealing
at his or
with situations that can be resolved through a process of abstract
thought or conceptualization,
at
worst in a situation that requires
feeling rather than thinking.
A
feeling-type person,
home
with feeling
life,
on the other hand,
and by means of it
will
person are more than emotions.
what
truly valuable
is
pacity for this
They
loyalty.
a thinking process
is
is
and engender a
ca-
a situation calls for
at his or
her best, but
called for, the feeling-type person
caught on his or her inferior
The
life,
Where
kind of orientation, such a person
where
at
feelings of such a
function as a sure guide to
and important in
commitment and
be able to arrive
The
accurate and meaningful value judgments.
will be quite at
is
side.
sensation function has been called the "reality function,"
for this
is
the function that leads to awareness of the facts of a
situation, especially the facts of a situation in the physical world.
Sensation-type people are often eminently practical, very
much
aware of the information that their senses bring them and well oriented to the business of practical living.
They
are a contrast to the intuitives, for the intuitive function
brings information of the inner world, the world of shadows or intangibles.
The
intuitive function has
been defined
scious perception," or "seeing around corners."
as
"uncon-
Thus both
the
sensation type and the intuitive type are strong on perceiving. But
whereas the sensation type perceives ical senses,
facts
brought by the phys-
the intuitive type perceives the subtler,
facts of relationships or of the
psyche and,
if
more
he or she
elusive
is
extra-
verted, of possibilities in the outer realm.
The
fact that
counts for
war
as
people have different psychological functions ac-
many
areas of disagreement.
an example.
A
Take opinions on any
sensation type will be intrigued by the facts
much information regarding the The intuitive type will be more in-
of the situation and will gather country's present condition.
THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS and
terested in the history of the situation
19
/
in the underlying psy-
The
chological and historical reasons for the conflict.
thinking
type will attempt to arrive logically at a positive stand regarding
the war, perhaps relying on a syllogism like "All evil
and
The by
a threat to the
United
States. Evil
communism
is
must be stamped out."
feeling type, however, will arrive at the value of the situation
feeling.
His or her reaction of "Isn't the war
,
terrible?'
lead to a position quite contrary to that of the thinking type.
may Ob-
viously a whole appreciation of the situation will require the
viewpoint of
four functions.
all
This whole standpoint, however,
difficult to achieve, for as
is
the ego (the center of our conscious personality) develops,
it
tends to use whichever of these four functions works best for that
Which function it is may depend largely upon heredity, although evironmental factors also play their role. Sometimes a second function is also partially developed in addiparticular personality.
tion,
forming a
sort of auxiliary.
The
glected, fall into the unconscious,
other functions, largely ne-
where they are known
as the
"inferior functions," in contrast to the "superior functions"
which are well developed and adapted
some time
in life the ego
may
for the use of the ego.
the one or two superior functions, but ultimately, to
come
about,
For
function satisfactorily by means of
some measure of growth must
if
wholeness
is
take place in the
other functions as well. Frequently this integration of the inferior side
becomes
one-sided
that
when
a necessity
the
the personality becomes so
unconscious
establishes
a
troublesome
counterposition.
This
is
a very brief sketch of a complicated
psychology, but perhaps
it is
enough
and rich part of
to enable us to apply these
categories to the personality of Jesus.
The
sensation function
is
the so-called reality function;
brings us information about the facts of our world. In Jesus
it 11
we ve\
can see a well-developed sensation side in his acute awareness of the facts of the world in which he lived. In his teachings and par ables
he uses everyday examples such
as a grain of
mustard seed,
)
20
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
or the sower sowing, or the is
no otherworldly
this world. ciety.
how
He
the worldly facts of
the*power structure works.
of saying of
him
s*the mark of a
that
man
clear
from
his
No
lost coin.
rooted in the
power structure of
who
life,
He
^reality__pf
his so-
has the power and
one would ever have thought
he was unrealistic or impractical. All
this is
with a well-developed sensation function.
His intuitive function is
searching for a
man
also familiar with the
is
He knows
woman
visionary, but a
is
equally well developed, however. This
immediate contact with the inner world,
his use
of images, and his sensing of realities not visible to the senses but
known pi,
to the inner vision.
^/sight into
human
Luke
20:23).
2:8;
His intuition also gives him a keen in-
souls (Matt. 22:18;
John
So John can write of
6:15;
Luke
9:47;
Mark
Jesus' understanding of
people ut Jesus
knew them
all
and did not
trust
needed evidence about any man; he could
himself to them; he never
tell
what a man had
in him.
(John 2:24-25)
The
thinking function of Jesus
is
seen in his intellectual bouts
When
with the Pharisees, and in his astuteness.
confronted with
a situation that called for quick logical analysis, for objective
and
keen thought, Jesus met the challenge with ease, a sign that he
was well-developed read,
he
sat
as a thinking person.
among
2:41-50). At the close of his
conceptualization
life
who
of wits with the Pharisees, difficulties only to
At the age of twelve, we
the learned doctors in the
we
Matt.
him engaged in battles him into all kinds of
seek to trap
be outwitted by a (see
find
Temple (Luke
man
capable of keen abstract
22:15-22/Luke
20:20-26/Mark
12:13-17; or Matt. 22:23-33/Mark 12:18-27/Luke 20:27-40; or Matt. 22:41-46/Mark 12:35-37/Luke 20:41-44).
The it is
feeling function produces accurate realizations of values;
the evaluative function par excellence. If thinking
a thing
is,
feeling tells us
its
come many compassionate, to life situations.
value.
From
tells
what
a realization of values
or indignant, responses to people and
Examples of
Jesus' feeling function
abound
in
THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS the Gospels. Twelve times, for instance,
"moved with compassion"
we read
that Jesus
value.
A
and on
situation above the
Law,
stressing the highest
statement such as "Set your hearts on his kingdom
his righteousness,
well" (Matt. 6:33)
and
all
first,
these things will be given you as
an illustration of the strongly evaluative
is
life.
he repeatedly places
Also, in his encounters with the Pharisees
humanness of a
was
for people in various kinds of distress.
In this he shows the great value that he places on individual
the
21
/
ing function of Jesus at work. Even his cleansing of the
feel-
Temple
(John 2:13-22/Matt. 21:12-13/Mark ll:15-17/Luke 19:45-46) illustrates his strong sense of value, as
does his occasional righ-
teous anger.
The
picture
we
four functions.
get, therefore, is of a
It is
man
tions of Jesus as an inferior one, for
showing good development in each. ality
of Jesus
we
well developed in
all
not possible to isolate any one of the func-
It is
examples can be drawn as
though in the person-
are seeing a whole person. But let us look
still
further.
The development tials in a
person
is
of both the feminine and masculine poten-
also important for wholeness.
aspect of personality
going reason, active
may
be variously described as logos, or out-
creativity, controlled aggressiveness,
logical firmness, the capacity to strive for goals stacles
The masculine psycho-
and overcome ob-
en route. The feminine aspect of personality comprises
eros, or the capacity for relationships, understanding,
awareness
of others, creativity through receptiveness, an indirect
way of
at-
taining goals, patience, compassion, the valuing and nourishing
of
life.
Everyone,
man
or
woman,
contains possibilities for both
masculine and feminine development, and no one can approach wholeness without some development in both areas.
who
is
than aggressive and will be intellectual in a way.
A
person
developed only in the masculine area will be brutal rather
The undeveloped feminine
ness, pettiness,
and
irritability.
side will
sterile,
show
academic
itself as
moodi-
A person who is developed only in
the feminine area will be weak rather than receptive, oversensi-
—
22
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
tive rather
than capable of deep relationships; the undifferentiat-
ed masculine side will show up as inner stubbornness rather than firmness, opinionatedness rather than reason.
In the case of Jesus there
equal development of both the
is
masculine and feminine. To begin with the masculine
was
a fighter.
though
no
He
side, Jesus
carried the battle resolutely to his enemies, and,
his struggle
was
spiritual rather
than physical,
expressing masculinity.
less a capacity for
He was
required
it
^rect with
people, confronting both friends and enemies directly and firmly.
He moved
resolutely toward the goals
of the cleansing of the
Temple
is
a
he had in mind. The
good example of
control aggression. His capability of clear logos
is
story
his ability to
apparent in his
dialogues with the Pharisees and in his teachings, which were
immediately recognized as having authority. In the feminine area sus
was
a
we
find that, unlike
ftier^jofwQmen. In
fact,
there
John the Baptist, Jeno instance in the
is
woman who was ever women is always a sign of
enemy. Such
Synoptic Gospels of any
his
an appreciation of
a well-developed
feminine
side.
He was
deeply iri^u^Jb^arith the lifeyfl cess, as
close to children, another sign of a
His eros development
is
shown
good feminine development.
in his capacity for extraordinarily
deep personal relationships and, most supremely, in great act of caring
his final
on the Cross.
man
Here, too, in the masculine-feminine area, we find a
balanced development, a
man who was
of a strong ego; that
is,
of
whole.
Another kind of development necessary ing
is
He was
seen in his use of nature illustrations for his parables.
for
wholeness
is
that
a conscious personality capable of exert-
itself effectively in life.
A
person with a strong ego
is
able to
to, or overcome life situations. A person with weak ego, on the other hand, is not able to cope with life and as
cope with, adapt
substitute erects defenses or relies
Out of
on various neurotic
comes the egocentricity ship with God.
The
this
strength of Jesus'
human
ego
a a
devices.
so dangerous to a relation-
is
apparent in his capacity to
THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS conceive of and carry through his extremely demanding involving as
it
23
/
life task,
did his ultimate renunciation of himself. Only a
person with a strong ego can give up that ego; we cannot give to
God what we do
not possess.
The
voluntarily to the Cross for the sake of his mission
nent figure of a strength
is
man
not egotism.
Someone with
stronger than that of
complete dedication to
the preemi-
is
of tremendous ego strength. But ego a strong ego can live for
the Higher Will within, turning his or her still
and
figure of Jesus going alone
human
will.
fulfilling the
over to a Power
life
This we see in Jesus in his
God
mission that
set
before
him. Precisely because his ego was strong, the will of Jesus was constantly subordinated to the Higher Will that he rule his
knew was
to
life.
Looked at psychologically, the Gospels reveal the of a whole person. It is apparent that we have here
personality in Jesus of
Nazareth the paradigm of the whole person, the prototype of
human
all
development, a truly individual person, and therefore
someone unique. This uniqueness accounts conditioning.
No
for Jesus'
freedom from
historical
ordinary person escapes the historical and psy-
chological conditioning of his thoughts, personality, and
atti-
tudes by the history and the collective psychological atmosphere of the people of his time. All of us are born into history at a particular time, with a historically conditioned mentality
chology
that, to a large degree, inevitably
influence our ideas, and shape our personality.
tempted
and psy-
determine our insights,
to find the attitudes current in Jesus'
Many have
at-
^
time that mighH.
have influenced his personality and teaching. But a remarkable thing about the personality of Jesus
is
that such historical condi•v
tioning
is
not in evidence.
The
personality
and the teachings of
Jesus are not inherited from the collective spirit of his time, but
stand out in contrast to to the reality of his
One
it.
Their very uniqueness
is
a testimony
personhood.
great struggle of his time, for instance, was the conflict
between the
spiritual
and the physical. The people of
his day
24
THE KINGDOM WITHIN
/
could be divided into those
who
favored the spiritual side and re-
pressed or denied their physical side and those
and appetites and denied
their passions
character.
John the
their
who
moral and
spiritual
Baptist, for instance, lived out his spiritual
side but not his material, physical side, for
which he won the en-
mity of Herodias and her daughter. Saint Paul, great
he was,
lived for
between the
also never resolved this split
the material sides of
human
life
man though spiritual
and
and, like John the Baptist,
fa-
vored an ascetic approach. Jesus, however, was no ascetic. There is
not a passage in the Gospels in which he favored the denial or
negation of the bodily, instinctive side of contrary,
was
it
said of
him
that
human
beings.
he was a glutton and
(Matt. ll:19/Luke 7:34), so shocked were people at
man
pearing as a
a
To
the
drunkard
how
he, ap-
of God, could live without denying his
appetites.
In the attempt to trace historical connections between Jesus
and other groups, various
cults or sects
Jesus' historical antecedents. facts.
Though
have been suggested
But none of these theories
fit
as
the
Jesus was a good Jew, for instance, his teachings
departed so radically from the Judaism of his day that we cannot entertain the idea that he acquired his insights from the Jewish collective thinking of his time. Others
that Jesus
was an Essene and owed
spread group Scrolls.
made
But there
is
have attempted to show
his teachings to this wide-
familiar in recent years by the
that parallels the teachings of the Essenes,
ticism
makes
it
impossible to consider
they were noted for ascetic practices. _*sr£-his insights
r>*
p.
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^
is,
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a direct contact
from God. The
him
It
and
his denial of asce-
as related to
them, for
seems that Jesus acquired
with a numinous* power; that
story of the Transfiguration illustrates the di-
*The word numinous was used by Rudolph Otto (The Idea of the Holy) to describe the holiness of God. The word was used extensively by C. G. Jung to refer to the * feeling we have when confronted by a spiritual reality other than a human being fy like ourselves. If we saw a ghost, an angel, or a direct manifestation of holy or unholy power, we would experience an awed creaturely response to a numinous 5t