Human Authorities and Divine Authority (Mark 8:11-21)

The Pharisees Demand a Sign (Mark 8:11-13)

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. (8:11-13)

Is it not a shame that the Pharisees would demand a sign from heaven? They were telling me that they were the ones with authority, and I would have to prove to them that I could do miracles under their orders. Yet, the Father was showing his authority through me in a way that he did not show through them. 

They were jealous and wanted to make me fall. They wanted to tame me, but they could not tame the Spirit of God which was in me. The Spirit blows wherever he wants, and you hear his voice. You cannot put God in a box, or have him submit to you. You should rather learn to submit to God for His grace to flow in your life. 

In your world, human authorities, in particular in religious settings, often present themselves as ‘specialists’, knowing well what is good, what God desires. Theologians are the ones who are supposed to be the specialists of God’s will. The reality is that God does not submit himself to the microscope of theologians, he wants to be their Lord. This means that the theologians who learned to pray, like Nicodemus, will both submit to Him and be able to be good human authorities. Yet, many will want to stabilize their power and will restrict the work of the Holy Spirit. This is a human habit that has nothing new, this desire to control that fights against God and wants to master - even using the name of God in this attempt. 

I would never do a miracle if the Father did not show me he wanted me to do it. In this case, He clearly did not want me to perform a sign. I had already performed many. If the Pharisees were not satisfied, it is because what they looked for was not a sign. They wanted to make sure that I would submit to their human authority. I was not submitting to them, because I was fully submitted to the Father. 

This tension, between human authorities and God’s authority, is something that all my disciples will experience, under one form or another. It does not mean that you should reject religious structures. In fact, those who reject such human structures create new ones, like for instance what some call ‘non-denominational’ churches. Accept that in my Church on earth the human authority structure will never match perfectly the Father’s authority. Learn to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. If you have a role of authority, learn from Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea to take risks in my name. Whatever your role, always learn to be submitted first to the Father, listening and obeying my voice before obeying human voices. When you hear me less than human authorities, you will often get confused about my will. Learn to come to me. Learn to meditate the biblical text by listening to the Holy Spirit, learn to put God first, before anything else, and you will not fall. 

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod (Mark 8:14-21)

Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (8:14-21)

My disciples had a hard time to understand how my teaching was going to create tensions for them, how the teaching of the Pharisees or of Herod was impacting them. They did not understand what I said, they just focused on the bread. Yet, they saw that the bread came also from God, from faith. God did provide what was needed. The Father showed through me that he was manifesting clearly His divine authority, feeding the five thousand and the four thousand. Yet, the disciples were still too much focused on the bread, and not enough on the Father. 

They still did not see how the Pharisees and Herod were opposing the Father’s authority. The teaching of the Pharisees, their leaven, was all the rules that they added to the Bible, as if following a set of rules was what God had intended for humanity. 

When the Father spoke to Israel on Mount Sinai, He wanted to speak directly to them, but they asked Moses to be the one to listen to God, and they would follow what Moses would say. That approach seemed to work, but it was not a good solution. The generation of Israel that went out of Egypt rebelled many times against God and against Moses. The way of the Father was to speak to each of His children directly. That was what he said: Hear O Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord alone (Deut 6:4). Israel was supposed to hear, listen and obey to God before any other authority. Yet, many like the Pharisees replaced this obedience to the voice of God by the obedience to a text interpreted by humans. 

Some interpretations will be better than others, but none will replace the fresh presence of the Holy Spirit, that is why I came to release the Spirit in the hearts of my disciples. The leaven of the Pharisees was the added human traditions leading people to be submitted to a human authority instead of being submitted to God. They had created many rules, and even what they called prayer was a repetition of words without listening to the Father. 

The origin of this leaven could be found in the fact that people did not seek the Father but a logical coherence in the Biblical text, they attempted to build a cathedral of principles that would guide humans in all their activities. At a practical level, they tried to make of the biblical text, with their traditions added, an idol sufficient for guiding all the steps of the believers. In claiming to have only one God, they created a second one made of paper and traditions. 

The biblical account is very important and should never be despised. Yet, it cannot replace God. The Pharisees added human traditions to this account that contradicted the intentions of God. If you have to choose between the Biblical account and traditions, it is wise to choose the Bible. Yet, the Bible without the Spirit of God will always lead to a new set of human traditions. This has happened many times and will continue to happen, that is like the leaven of the Pharisees. 

Don’t let logic or traditions replace the role of the Holy Spirit. The heavenly Father is the only perfect father, and he will give the Holy Spirit to every person who humbly ask Him. That is a promise He made through me, that is a promise He honors (see Luke 11:13). When you read the Bible, when you walk in your life and have to make choices, ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Learn to welcome him, learn to listen to my voice - the Holy Spirit himself will carry my voice to your heart. 

Do you now understand, are you ready to get rid of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, of all these authorities in your heart that claim to be absolute and divine, while they are only human? Don’t reject everything, but test everything. Learn to first accept me as your Lord and Savior. Learn to listen to me, to let the Holy Spirit fill you and guide you, as you meditate Scriptures and as you live. Then, you will discern clearly which human authorities you can accept and which ones you should not. 

Love and Faith Can Feed Many (Mark 8:1-10)

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” (8:1-3)

As I was training my disciples, I wanted them to understand my motivation in all I did, so that they could learn to let the love of the Father flow through them with simplicity and with power. Miracles are not about impressing people, they are about loving people. I did not come to impress people with my aptitude to multiply bread, but simply to let the Father’s love run through my heart and touch many. I wanted my disciples to understand that we needed to ask the help of the Father, to turn our hearts to Him, in such a situation as the one we were in. 

And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” (8:4)

The answer of my disciples showed clearly that they were focusing on the possibilities of earth, and not on the possibilities of heaven. They did not yet realize the role of faith and love, and how the Father used our faith and love to let His love come down on earth as it is in heaven. That is what I wanted my disciples to understand through my teaching on prayer, the ‘Our Father’, in “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

When you are in a time of need, don’t focus on what seems impossible with earth’s resources. Rather, focus on us, listen to us and let us guide you into our path of love. Sometimes, you will have to humbly recognize that you don’t have the resources to help, at other times we will let our love work miracles through your faith. 

And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?" They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. (8:5-7)

The first thing, when there seems to be a problem to solve, is to look at what you have - instead of focusing on what you don’t have. Then, you let the love of the Father speak through what you have, and often you will see miracles of the Father’s love. Trust in us, speak with us in such moments, and let us lead you through your faith. As you believe in us and follow our directions, the love in your heart will bring our love to shine. 

You should not try to control, but rather to participate. In this case, I had my disciples participate even more than at the miracle with the five thousand. This time, I wanted to lead them to understand my compassion and to share it with them. They did not understand yet, but I was preparing their hearts, sowing seeds of compassion in them. 

This time, the crowd was in a place where there were not only Jews (as for the five thousand) but also Gentiles, because the Father wanted to bless not only Israel, but through Israel He wanted to bless the whole world. 

And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. (8:8-10)

Through love and faith, the miracle took place. The Father gave His directions on what to do, and He then participated in what we did, he contributed His resources to our meal, as he did so often for the people of Israel during their forty years in the desert. The Father loves to show that He is able to take care of practical needs, so that people learn to walk by faith, confident in His love. 

Yet, many don’t accept to take these steps of faith, or decide to judge the Father when things don’t turn out the way they wanted. Don’t forget that miracles are not about fulfilling your narrow idea of what God wants to do, or what you want to do. Miracles are about letting the love of the Father flow through your faith, in a way that you cannot control. As you learn to listen to my voice, I will guide you and show you how to let the love of the Father flow through you, as I did with the twelve. It implies that you have to renounce to be a master and become a servant. As you learn to listen to me and to follow our directions of love, you will see indeed resources multiply and people be blessed through your loving obedience. 

Learning to Hear and Listen Before Learning to Speak (Mark 7:31-37)

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. (7:31-32)

In the Decapolis, there was a man deaf and with a speech impediment. Notice that weakness or lack of hearing most of the time creates a difficulty to speak clearly. In your world, people want to learn to speak well, while they don’t learn to listen well. This does not make sense, particularly for those who want to serve me. If people don’t learn to listen to God, they will not speak well of us. Listening to us is much more than reading or studying the Bible, it is about being filled with the Holy Spirit and being taught by the Spirit and by me. You can come to a certain level of mastery of the Biblical text, which is very important, but you cannot come to master us. The whole purpose of the life of the kingdom is to learn the opposite: to learn to be our servant, to follow us in all you say and all you do. My message is not a set of rules to apply, but a sensitivity to my Spirit that will allow you to incarnate my teaching and my love in always new ways. Without listening to me, without letting the Holy Spirit lead you during your days, this is simply impossible. Learning to listen to me while reading texts of the Bible like the Gospels is a very good practice. This can help you relate what the Father or I said in the past with what I am saying to you today. Love is not a matter of rules, but a matter of spiritual sensitivity to the Father and to me, to my voice and direction. As I like to stress and repeat, my sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.

This problem of not listening to me is a problem that most of my disciples have to face and overcome. That was the case even with the twelve, who often heard and yet they did not understand, who often saw and yet their eyes did not see.

Remember, if you are deaf to what I tell you during your days, you will have a speech impediment when you try to speak about me.

And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. (7:33-35)

Healing is not a matter of power and mastery but of listening to the Father. Each time a sick person came to me, I listened to know what the Father wanted me to do, I watched what the Father showed me to do. This time, He led me to put my fingers in the ears of this man, and to put spit on his tongue. You see how the opening of the ears and the release of the tongue are related. If you don’t hear me, spend time with me and ask me to open your ears. If you don’t know how to speak about me, first learn to listen to my voice and to say the words I will put in your mouth. If you don’t see my grace at work in your days, ask me to show you so that you will really see.

And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (7:36-37)

I healed a deaf person, yet people were deaf to my request to tell no one. I knew what was important, and I knew that spreading news of this miracle was not what would help my message to grow deep in the hearts of persons at this moment. There is a time for experiencing the grace of the Father, and there is a time to share it with others. In this case, the sharing was done too early, not allowing my words and my actions to take deep roots in the hearts of people. People often think they understand, and will dismiss my voice. In this case, they thought that the miracle was the most important thing. This was not so. The most important was for me to teach them that they had to learn to listen to me before learning to speak, and they did not understand at that time.

They were looking for the Messiah, for him to fix all their problems. They did not understand that the Messiah would come to teach them what really needed to be fixed, and not what they thought was needed. It is like a sick patient coming to the doctor, it is not because the patient knows his symptoms that he knows what remedy is needed. It is only after my resurrection that my disciples began to understand what was really the root disease in their lives, that it was the lack of listening to me and to the Father, the lack of a loving and faithful obedience to us. All the manifestations of evil in their lives and in their nation were stemming from there.

 

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Humble Faith Releases God's Grace (Mark 7:24-30)

The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman

And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. (7:24)

As Elijah went away from Israel for a time, I went away after this clash with the Pharisees. God is not only the God of one people, my people Israel, He is the God of the whole creation, and wants to bring all the creation back to His plan of love and grace. The paradox is that, sometimes, those who believe that they are close to God - like the Pharisees - are very far and that those who believe that they don’t have much value can be very close to the heart of God.

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. (7:25-30)

This woman did not come out of pride, but out of hope. She wanted the good for her daughter, she knew that as a Jew I would probably not welcome her, yet she took the risk to be rejected. Out of love for her daughter, she begged for my help. I first rejected her plea in a very clear way. It is true, I first came for the lost children of Israel, and she was not one of them. Yet, I also listened to the Father and in this case He asked me to make an exception. The overall plan of the Father is to reach all the creation, yet even I did not dare to do more than what was my part during my time on earth. Only the Father could extend my ministry when He wanted. My first answer to this woman was not so much a matter of despising her, but rather a witness of the limitation of my ministry on earth. In the same way, it is important that you follow clearly our directions concerning your service for our glory. Respect the limits of your tasks, and learn to do them well. Sometimes, we will extend your area of service, but it is very important that you don’t do that kind of things on your own. Listening and obeying is of great importance in your journey as a disciple.

In the case of this Syrophoenician woman, a non-Jew, she had faith that I could heal her daughter, and that this would not remove anything from my ministry to my people, Israel. Her humble attitude opened my heart to the Father’s grace for her. She did not force her way, she did not come with pride, but she begged for crumbs of the Father’s grace. That kind of attitude is so important, and the Father gave her, through me, what she hoped for. Through her faith, the grace of the Father flowed to her daughter, who was delivered from the demon.

From this story, you learn a key element of faith. Faith in me and faith in the Father is not a matter of entitlement, but rather the simple expectation to see our love manifest itself. Come humbly to me and to the Father, come with humility and love in your heart. This woman did not ask for her, but for her daughter. She wanted the good for her child. So many prayers of parents for their children are answered, just because they are not selfish prayers, just because they are humble prayers.

The woman had first to find me, before she could ask for help. In the same way, when you pray, don’t forget to first ask for my presence, to turn away from all the concerns you have and to ask me to come in your presence. This first step is of great importance. Many people forget that, when they want to ask something to us. They should first come to encounter us, to encounter me, Jesus. I am close, yet I don’t respond to snapping fingers. Learn to forgive before you come to me in prayer, so that the Father can also forgive you, that is one of the rules of the kingdom. Learn to come and wait on me, as this woman did. Learn to ask with faith for the Holy Spirit to fill your heart. Don’t hesitate to ask others to pray for you.

As you learn to come to me and to experience my peace and my presence, ask and you will receive. Ask for my love to be revealed. Accept that you are not the master but come as a student. Don’t expect my grace to be exactly what you expect. I want to speak with all the children of the Father, but I will not say just what they want me to say. I will lead them closer to the Father, to his love and holiness. If you come to me because you want me to be your servant, I am sorry but you will be disappointed. If you come to me because you want to be a servant of the Father, then I will rejoice to teach you, to train you as my disciple. In this journey, you will see many miracles of the Father’s love. Learn from the humble faith of this woman, she is a good example for you to follow.

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From Human Traditions to Listening and Obeying God (Mark 7:1-23)

Human Traditions and God’s Word

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (7:1-8)

What was disturbing to the Pharisees is that they invoked God’s authority to support all their traditions, and that I did not approve these very traditions and yet manifested in many ways God’s authority. Many people confuse God with a biblical text, thus pulling out of this text or of the whole Bible principles that become absolutes. The Biblical text spoke about me, yet the Pharisees refused to believe in me. Their system was very elaborate, and they could apply their system of laws even if God did not exist. It is a kind of theoretical faith which is yet a practical atheism. This problem exists also in modern Christianity. The commandment of God is to love God, to listen to Him and to obey Him. Many limit their obedience to a text, instead of coming to my living Father. The Father is not looking for people who worship him in a stone temple or through a text only. He is looking for people who worship him in spirit and in truth, who really come to encounter Him and listen to Him. In Hebrew, the same verb means both ‘to listen’ and ‘to obey’. In your translations of the Bible, this is difficult to see, so that people often focus on obedience to a text where it is listening to the Father that is meant. When people focus on the Biblical text and don’t learn to listen to us, they practically abandon the commandment of God and end up holding to the tradition of men. There are so many studies of the precise meaning of each Greek or Hebrew word, of the context for each of the stories of the Scriptures, yet all this is meaningless if people forget that I am alive, that I still desire to speak with each of the children of the Father. When I said to my disciples that I was with them until the end of the age, I was serious, and I was not planning to be just watching passively. I was telling them that they could come to me, that they could speak with me and hear me speak to them, that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things. Our purpose is not to just help people understand the texts of Scripture. The goal of the creation is not contained in a text, but in God. I love to explain to believers what I meant in the Gospels, yet the Gospels ultimately witness about me. When you don’t learn to listen to me and to the Father, your faith will rely on traditions of men, on elaborate commentaries of Scriptures. These commentaries and traditions often attempt to replace the living teaching of the Holy Spirit with principles that are like a burden that no one can fully carry. The Scriptures witness about me, therefore when you read these texts I invite you to come to me and to learn with me, to listen to me and to the Father.

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) - then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (7:9-13)

As if interpreting wrongly the Scriptures was not enough, they also contradicted what the Father taught in the Scriptures, allowing people to replace the care for their parents by money people would give to the temple. The commandment to honor father and mother implies that the children will take care of their parents when they are old. This is still important today in many cultures. Replacing this care for elderly parents by money given to the temple - or to a church - is clearly opposed to the Father’s commandment. Such traditions empty the Scripture from their meaning. 

When people don’t come to us, don’t learn to love us and to love their neighbor through the Holy Spirit, they will risk not only to wrongly interpret Scriptures but also to contradict these very Scriptures with their traditions. I am the Living Word, and the written Word leads to me and to the Father. Respect and meditate the Scriptures, but don’t let your head think that you have mastered the Scriptures. Keep a humble heart, don’t become haughty and full of knowledge. The real knowledge that we seek in a heart is a knowledge of love, learning to listen and not only speak, learning to serve and not only to master. In your world, people like to learn to speak well, but not often do they learn to listen well. Listening to me is the foundation of eternal life. The Father is not looking for sacrifices but for listeners, for people listening to us and following our direction. Don’t let traditions replace the fresh voice of God, don’t replace the teachings of the Holy Spirit with the dissection of Biblical texts. Reading Scriptures without listening to us is of no profit. Learn to read the Biblical texts and to come in a prayerful attitude to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, to listen to me, to listen to the Father. This is the goal of these texts, to bring you to God, to develop in you the faith that God speaks still today, that you have been created to learn to listen and to live with us. There is no real love possible for the one who does not learn to listen. The one who loves me is the one who listens to me and who puts it into practice. That is what I taught my disciples during my time on earth, that is what I still teach to my disciples today. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. 

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (7:14-23)

In the time of Moses, the Father taught the people of Israel how to be careful about what they ate, as a way to teach them to listen to Him. The purpose what for them to learn to love Him and to obey Him. Yet, people tended to obey to written rules without any concern for the real purpose of these rules, which  was to learn that the creation belongs to God. When I came, I reminded people that what really defiles people is what is in the heart. In the past, respecting the rules about what to eat was intended to show the respect for the Father. Yet, it was from the beginning a matter of the heart. As the Good News was coming now to the whole creation, and not only to the people of Israel, these rules were no more necessary. What was necessary and fundamental was the attitude of the heart. What really defiles people is the selfishness and impurity that comes from an evil heart. Without the purification of the Holy Spirit, humans have evil hearts that are bent on selfish desires. It is more apparent in some, yet all need our help to be purified. I came to bring such purification. All those who come to me by faith, who receive the Good News and accept to listen and to obey to me as their Savior and Lord will see the purity of the Holy Spirit visit and renew their hearts. They will discover that nothing is impossible to God. 

As Paul said, the law came like a schoolmaster, giving directions about what the Father wanted. With Moses, since people refused to listen directly to the Father and preferred to listen to Moses, the law came, and now through me the fullness of grace and truth is manifested. Grace is the gift of the Father’s love. The truth is that the human heart is in dire need of purification, and that this is done only by grace, through trust in me. Come to me, I am the way to the true and eternal life. I died for you, I gave my life so that you may receive life, and have it in abundance. I am the good shepherd, I came to lead you to the Father’s love. Learn from me, listen to me, follow me. 

Faith In Jesus Leads to Healing and Love (Mark 6:53-56)

Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (6:53-56)

Here you see a key element of my ministry. My goal was to teach people to come to the Father, to learn to love God, to trust in Him and to follow His voice. For this to happen, people needed to see that God was real, that He cared for them, and that they could interact with Him. Through healing I showed them the love of the Father. I did not minister alone but I trained my disciples to also show the love of the Father through healing and casting out demons. 

In this process, the people began to learn that through me they could access a power that heals. Some came to get healing as you get a loaf of bread, without interest for my message or for relationship with me or with the Father. The good side is that many developed faith that they could be healed, and my task was to encourage this faith and to lead people to the Father. I often said to people: “your faith has healed you,” as a way to stress that the inner attitude of the persons was of key importance. Faith is very important. Do not criticize too quickly the people who touched the fringe of my garment to get healed. This was for many a key step in learning to come to God with faith. My part was to direct or redirect them toward the Father, while stressing the importance of their faith. The lack of faith is a major reason for both the lack of miracles and the lack of love for God. 

Faith is about relationship, lifting the eyes from the problem to God. People have to trust that there is a solution that is beyond their present circumstances, and have the openness to come to God to receive such a solution from Him. Faith is not a matter of control, but of opening the hand to receive. Faith implies being like a child, who does not hesitate to ask to his parents for what he needs, sure that they want his good. As your faith develops, you are invited to receive the good things that God gives you in return. Like children, you have to learn that you cannot control how and what the Father gives. What you need is to know that He is good, that he cares for you and that He will answer to your needs. Learning to ask and to receive is the root of the relationship with God. 

As your faith grows, your relationship with God will deepen. Ask for His Holy Spirit to teach you. Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Learn to speak to us and to listen to us, to discover this continuous fellowship and dialogue we want to develop with you. You cannot learn to love God with all your heart, soul and strength, if you don’t develop an intimacy with us, this is simply impossible. I am the way, I developed an intimate relationship with my disciples, and taught them how to be close to the Father. I invite you to grow always more in this loving relationship. 

The one who loves me is the one who listens to me and who obeys me. You cannot obey if you don’t listen first, and you cannot learn to listen without faith that I want to speak to you. Faith grows by hearing, listening and obeying my words. I am not speaking only about what I said in the Gospels, but also about what you hear from me through the Holy Spirit today. The Spirit will teach you all things, as you learn to listen. As you repent and renounce all that is sinful in your life, as you ask us to purify your heart, you will hear us more clearly. As your faith grows, your relationship with us will get more intimate. 

Touching my garment, asking for healing or for help can be a first step in the journey of faith and love for God. Don’t despise small beginnings, and learn to move toward always more intimacy. You will then learn how much we love you, and how much joy there is for you as you grow in this relationship of pure and holy love. Love is the goal of your creation, this will be your greatest joy on earth as it will be in heaven. 

Prayer Leads to Authority Over the Creation (Mark 6:45-52)

Jesus Walks on the Water

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. (6:45-46)

After this miracle, after seeing the Father feed the five thousand by His grace and through our faith in Him, I sent the disciples to Bethsaida and then dismissed the crowd. It allowed me to take time to pray, to speak with the Father as I so often did. Prayer is not a matter of just speaking requests to God but it is rather a dialogue, coming to the Father and learning with Him. Prayer is a preparation for the life in heaven, for the full communion with the Father and with me. Prayer is the spiritual food that allows you to walk in the Spirit. Paul rightly said that you should pray without ceasing. For this to happen, it needs to be more than a monologue, it has to become a way of life. You have to learn to open your senses to the spiritual world, to see what I see, to hear what I hear. Love is the fire that keep your prayer life vibrant. Times of prayer is what feeds your love for us, as we pour our love in each of the children of the Father. So many limit themselves to voice requests to us and don’t wait on us. This is a good start, but not and end in itself. Our goal is not to answer all the desires of each human, but to teach to love and to enter into our love. For this to happen, people need to learn to listen much more, and not just speak requests. The more you experience this fellowship with us, the more you will find strength in your times of prayer - of fellowship with us, and that becomes the fire that sustains you, the food that nourishes you, the water that quenches your spiritual thirst. There are so many blessings we want to shower on earth, yet we need the children of God to take their place in prayer, for my Church to channel the power of our love for the creation. 

And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (6:47-50)

I did not come on earth to impress people, but to show the way to the Father, to show that he wants us to manifest His loving authority over the creation. As you learn to follow the directions of the Father, the creation is submitted to you, and you will see even greater things than what the Father did through me. Under the leading of the Father, I could walk on the water. My disciples did not understand and thought I was a ghost. They did not understand how much humans have authority on the creation, when they are under the loving authority of the Father. I did not plan to scare them, but just to join them at the end of their crossing. Yet, when they saw me, they were terrified. I told them not to be afraid. Fear paralyzes your faith, and closes your heart to the Father, that is why I often told the disciples not to fear. When through prayer our love fills your heart, there is no place for fear, as it was said: perfect love casts out fear (1John 4:18). In this situation, what I did was so beyond their understanding that they were terrified. They did not understand yet who I am, or who the Father is. I did not want to scold them, but simply to reassure them. 

And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. (6:51-52)

Not only did I walk on water, but when I came in the boat the wind ceased. The disciples then thought that I had a kind of power to control the water and the wind. They did not understand yet that it is not a matter of power but a matter of communion with the Father. Their hearts were still looking for power more than love, their hearts were still hardened. The feeding of the five thousand was not first a manifestation of power, but a demonstration of the Father’s love through these many loaves. The Father’s love is so abundant that there were many baskets full of the rests. I had shown to the twelve how to manifest the miracles of healing and how to cast out demons, yet they did not clearly grasp what allowed them to succeed. Their hearts were still self-centered, and they did not see the hand of the Father in all I did. They did not understand what faith is all about, this loving obedience to a loving Father, this humble manifestation of his glorious authority in the creation. 

As you learn from me, through Scriptures and through prayer, through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, don’t focus on miracles or on power. Learn to welcome my love and my peace, learn to live this deep communion with the Father through me. Learn to welcome fully the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t let your heart be hardened, focusing on power or on what you will get from us. Eternal life is not about getting a ticket to heaven and then to continue to sin, it is about knowing the Father and I, about welcoming our love and living through this love. I came to deliver from sin, that is my very name - Jesus (= Yeshoua in Hebrew, God delivers). To sin means to miss the mark of your heavenly calling. Our calling is a calling to love God and your neighbor. Our message is not complicate. The Good News is that I came to deliver from sin and its consequences, to give life in abundance. Welcome our love, discover the wonderful joy of continual prayer, become a light for your needy world. Share our love through your faith and obedience to us. Miracles of love will then naturally flow out of your life, simply because the nature of the Father will manifest itself through your sanctified heart.