Male Character Parallels: Neville Style

From Preparation to Fulfilment: The Inner Journey from John to Jesus

In Neville Goddard’s interpretation, the Bible is not literal history, but a psychological drama unfolding within the individual. Every character, every scene, is a symbolic representation of states of consciousness. The story of John the Baptist and Jesus is one of transition—an inner evolution from preparation to fulfilment, from belief in an external God to the awakening of imagination as the true creative power.

John the Baptist: Mental Preparation and the Outer Man

John the Baptist represents the preliminary state of awareness—the voice that recognises a higher potential but has not yet realised it. He symbolises the outer man, the reasoning mind that still looks outward for signs, validation, and salvation. John calls us to repent—not in sorrow, but in thought.

"Be turned from your sins, for the kingdom of heaven is near." — Matthew 3:2, BBE

Neville taught that repentance means a radical change of attitude, a shift in assumption. John’s baptism with water symbolises the cleansing of old beliefs and the psychological preparation for a higher state.

"Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed: but he who comes after me is greater than I... he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire." — Matthew 3:11, BBE

This “voice crying in the wilderness” is the stirring of consciousness, calling the individual to look inward. But John himself is not the fulfilment—he is the forerunner, the transitional state that must give way to something greater.

"The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight." — Matthew 3:3, BBE

Jesus: The Awakened Imagination

Jesus is not a man of history but the personification of the awakened imagination—the “I AM” within. When Jesus is baptised by John, it is the moment the outer self yields to the inner reality. It is the spiritual turning point where the individual ceases to seek without and begins to live from within.

"And Jesus, having been baptised, came straight up out of the water: and heaven was open to him." — Matthew 3:16, BBE
"This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased." — Matthew 3:17, BBE

This is not a historical baptism, but the moment you realise imagination is God, and that assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled is the only creative law. Jesus embodies this law—he lives from the end, not toward it.

"Truly I say to you, Before Abraham came into being, I am." — John 8:58, BBE
"As you have believed, so let it be done to you." — Matthew 9:29, BBE

The Beheading of John: The End of the Old Self

The beheading of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1–12) symbolises the severing of the reasoning mind—consciousness rooted in outer appearances and sense validation. The “head” represents logic, analysis, and dependency on the evidence of the senses. Its removal is not a tragedy but a necessity.

"He has to become greater while I become less." — John 3:30, BBE

This death marks the end of striving through external works and intellectual effort. It is the letting go of all that denies imagination as the one and only cause.

"Truly I say to you, If a grain of wheat does not go into the earth and come to an end, it is by itself for ever: but if it comes to an end, it gives much fruit." — John 12:24, BBE

To manifest, the old state must die. You cannot awaken as Jesus while clinging to the reasoning mind of John.

The Pattern of Transformation: A Repeated Inner Law

This inner shift—from the outer to the inner, from effort to assumption—is the great spiritual pattern repeated across Scripture:

Cain and Abel: Cain, representing outer effort, slays Abel, who symbolises inner offering and vision. Yet it is Abel’s inner gift that is honoured.

"The Lord was pleased with Abel's offering; but in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure." — Genesis 4:4–5, BBE

Esau and Jacob: Esau stands for the man of the world, the outer self. Jacob, the inner man of vision, supplants him.

"The older will be the servant of the younger." — Genesis 25:23, BBE

Saul and David: Saul, chosen by man, is replaced by David, the beloved—the man who inwardly aligns with divine imagination.

"The Lord has made search for a man after his own heart." — 1 Samuel 13:14, BBE

In each case, the old identity must yield to a higher state. What once ruled must decrease that the true self—the imaginative “I AM”—may rise.

To Live as Jesus: Assumption, Not Reaction

To live in the state symbolised by Jesus is to walk by faith in the unseen reality assumed within. Jesus reacts to nothing—He simply declares. He assumes the wish fulfilled and lives from that state.

"Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it." — Mark 11:24, BBE
"The kingdom of God is among you." — Luke 17:21, BBE

Jesus is not someone to worship, but a state to be entered. He represents the fulfilment of desire, the end already accepted as fact in imagination.

To live as Jesus is to know that your world is the projection of your assumptions. As within, so without.

From John to Jesus: Your Inner Ascension

The story of John and Jesus is the story of you. It is the journey of consciousness moving from mental preparation to inner embodiment. John is your awareness of potential. Jesus is your assumption of fulfilment.

To move from John to Jesus is to:

Abandon reliance on logic and outer conditions.
Surrender the mind that waits and questions.
Assume the end—feel it real—and persist in that feeling.

John’s beheading is your moment of inner revolution. Jesus’s baptism is your awakening as the operant power.

Each time you die to what the senses tell you, and assume the truth of your desire already fulfilled, you live as Christ.

"Be changed by the renewing of your mind." — Romans 12:2, BBE

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