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. 

Focus On God and His Resources, Not On Yours (Mark 6:30-44)

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand 

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. (6:30-32)

The apostles followed my example, doing and teaching. When you separate the actions from words, they lose their meaning. When you speak and there is no practical application, it is abstract and will not touch many. I was doing the works of the Father and saying the words He asked me to say. Learn from me, following the example of the apostles, to both do and teach. Your words need feet, and your actions need a mouth. As you learn to follow me, learn to always more integrate these two in your life. 

The apostles were excited by how the Father worked through them, yet they were tired and needed rest. I invited them to take a time of rest, because when tiredness is here it can be more difficult to resist temptation - temptation to forget that you have to take care of your body, temptation to be lured by covetousness or by pride. It does not mean that feeding the body shall become an absolute need, it still needs to be submitted to the Father’s lead. 

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. (6:33-34)

Notice that the people went ahead of us because they recognized the apostles, not because of me. Yet, when I saw how desperate they were, I decided to let the apostles rest and I taught this crowd without a shepherd. Love and compassion motivated me. 

In your world, you will often see people seeking meaning and direction. They will rarely seek perfectly, yet don’t despise them. Look at them with the eyes of the Father, and respond to the needs when we invite you to. Many in your world are ready to do many things in order to receive blessings, yet you should not blame them but give what you have. Don’t give as if you were able to feed many, you don’t have this aptitude as I did not have it. What you have is the possibility to come to me and to the Father, and to learn with us what to do when you see a need. Sometimes, we will guide you not to respond, sometimes we will invite you to show compassion through actions or through teachings. Don’t forget, all this is not a matter of rules but rather of a living relationship with us. People often seek perfect rules that don’t exist, while real love will hardly survive when you put it in the prison of narrow rules. The principle in all this is that you have to learn that you are poor in spirit, that your discernment is intimately related to the quality of your relationship with us, with your ability to listen to my voice and to follow our directions. Love is never repetitive, it flows and adapts to each situation, and it is by listening to us that you will learn to remain in this flow. 

And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” (6:35-38)

When you face a need, don’t let the need become a master. Always keep listening to us. You cannot have two masters, you cannot serve both God and money, or God and the need of people or your own needs. When the disciples realized that it was getting late, they rightly came to me, to remind me that these people needed to eat. What they did not stress is that they - the apostles - also needed to eat and that they felt guilty to eat in front of all the others. They had enough for them, but not for everyone. They used the need of the others to justify their request to send the people away, for them to hide their desire to eat without the others looking at them. 

Don’t deceive yourself, and learn to recognize your real motivation in what you say or do. Sometimes, people do the same as the apostles did, they mention a problem or need in order to hide their real motivation. In the case of the apostles, I connected their need with the need of the people. I asked them what they had to eat. The purpose was both to help them recognize their real motivation and to give them a new perspective. They did not like my question, because it meant that I was not following their advice to send the crowd away. 

I wanted to continue to train the apostles. They were led by their need of eating, and justified it by stressing the need of the crowd to eat. I was led by the Father, and by his compassion for each. Miracles are not a matter of power first, but rather a matter of God’s abundant love. When you see a need, don’t try to answer alone, learn to answer with the Father’s direction. In this case, our resources were very limited - five loaves of bread and two fish - but it is by giving these resources to the Father that He could lead us in a wonderful way. 

Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. (6:39-44)

I did not do anything without seeing first the Father show me the way. He led me to offer the little food we had by faith. This is not a technique for miracle, it is an example of following the Father’s lead for His miracle of loving care. I lifted my eyes and our resources toward heaven and let the Father lead us. The Father wanted to use not only my faith, but also the faith of the apostles. That is why I asked them to participate in distributing the food. They needed to have faith in me, and to obey to my directions. Faith and obedience always go hand in hand. Faith is not abstract but practical, it is this attitude of confidence in God that allows Him to guide us. If people are not ready to let the Father guide them, to obey to His direction, it is because they don’t have yet real faith. The apostles believed enough in me to do what I told them to do. They did not understand fully, and they did not need to. What was important was that they trusted me and followed my direction.They saw the miracle of the Father appear through their humble obedient faith. 

I did not scold the twelve for hiding their real motivation. I simply led them to realize that they needed to listen to me and to the Father, to offer what they had and to trust in me. They needed to remove the focus from their own desire, and to focus on the Father. In many situations, you will be tempted to focus on a problem or a need, either for you or for others. Yet, you need to first come to us and then bring the problem and need, in order to see as we see, to receive in our fellowship an heavenly perspective. When I say a heavenly perspective, I am not speaking of something abstract but rather a very practical approach - yet this approach will be guided by God’s will and resources and not by yours. 

Whatever the challenge you face, don’t let it take more place than God. Come to us with faith, bring to us the need and your limited resources, and we will lead you on the path of life and love. As you receive our direction, you will need to learn to obey with faith. It will take some time for you to discern clearly our will. You will probably make mistakes. Now, don’t forget that to learn to walk by faith you need to accept that sometimes you will fall. No child has ever learned to walk without experiencing some falls. An important way to minimize the falls is for you to learn with others, as the apostles learned together. My Church is the training ground for the children of the Father, it is the place where I train my disciples. Start with humility and learn step by step to follow our direction in the midst of your days. In doing so, you will be amazed at how many the Father will bless through your obedient faith. 

Thousands and millions are still waiting for the children of God to take their place and manifest the Father’s love to them and to the whole creation. Take your place and learn to walk by faith. The Father wants to share, through you, His love with many. 

Sin Leads to Destruction (Mark 6:14-29)

John the Baptist Beheaded 

King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” (6:14-16)

This painful story, how this fox Herod beheaded my cousin John, is important. You can learn key lessons for your faith. After Herod killed John, he became interested in me just because of the miracles. Herod was a man of power, and men of power are often attracted to get more power. He heard that I had a power that he did not have. He wanted that power. Yet, it reminded him of the power of conviction that was at work in John, and his guilt made him think that I was John resurrected. 

For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Hernias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly. (6:17-20)

Herod put John in prison, in order to hide his sin. He married his brother’s wife, and he knew that this was not right before God. Yet, he preferred to silence John rather than making things right. So many people do the same thing as Herod did. They prefer to silence their conscience rather than correcting what is wrong in their lives. This is the temptation to flee from the coming wrath, to escape judgment by escaping parts of reality. Yet, even in the midst of sin, like Herod, many people struggle because they don’t want to fully dismiss what is right. Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man. He knew that John was right and had respect for him because of that. Although Herodias wanted to kill him, he kept John alive, because with John the hope of a pure life was still alive in him. 

Many want the purity of holiness, but not all are ready do get rid of the impurity in their hearts. So many persons hope that they can keep the pleasures of sin and yet reach purity and peace with God. They think that purity can wait, that they can get as much pleasure from sin as they want, and that they will then be able to get the future pleasures of heaven. This is nonsense. A bad tree cannot produce good fruits, as well as a good tree cannot produce bad fruits. If you choose to live in sin today, you will most probably be in sin tomorrow. 

There will be a battle in the heart of the person torn between sin and holiness. The question is: which one will win? Herodias knew that as long as John was alive and as long as Herod listened to him, there was the risk that Herod would decide to follow John’s exhortation and divorce her. That is why she wanted to kill John. 

In the heart of many believers, there is a similar battle. They keep sinning, and they have imprisoned in their conscience the desire of a pure and holy life. They keep the appearance of purity, yet they know very well that they have specific sins that they don’t want to deal with. Many struggle with sins of pornography, unfaithfulness and other forms of impurity. Yet, they try to keep that hidden, as Herod did keep John imprisoned so that his sin would not be mentioned publicly. When people live this double life, they are like a battleground and there is no peace for them. Either they will let my way become their way, and repent of sin, or they will follow Herod’s way and destroy the good in them. 

But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” (6:21-23)

Herod, like many in the world still today, like the sinful pleasures of covetousness. Herod not only took Herodias, but also began to desire and covet her daughter. Learn a lesson from that: sin is never satisfied with a status quo, it always wants more. Sin does not bring balance in a life but chaos and destruction. Like the demons harming the man and then killing the pigs, sin always wants to destroy the one who welcomes it. Herod was ready to give half of his kingdom because of the sinful passion that this girl was able to arouse in him. He not only sinned with Herodias, but he was letting the sin of sexual covetousness become his master and lead him toward destruction. 

And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” (6:24-25)

In this path toward Herod’s sinful downfall, Herodias could voice clearly through her daughter the request to kill John. Her daughter, in her pride, did not limit herself to repeat her mother’s request, but brought even more wickedness with the request of a platter. 

And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. (6:26-29)

Here you see the result of the battle in the heart of Herod. Since he gave the control of his life to sin, to his sinful desire for Herodias’s daughter, he had to kill John. He was under the influence not only of impure desires, but also of appearances. He had promised and did not want to deny his oath in front of his guests. He decided to remain faithful to his impurity. 

That is the choice that each human faces: will you be faithful to your desire of good and of God in you, or will you be faithful to your desire of selfish pleasures? You cannot be faithful to both. You cannot have two master, either you will love the one and hate the other, or you will despise the one and honor the other. You cannot serve God and money, you cannot serve God and power, you cannot serve God and covetousness. Herod chose power and covetousness, he made the decision to kill John and thus to silence the voice of truth in his life. 

In your life, you have to learn this lesson: if you give into sin, sin will lead you to the end of destruction. Sin does not bring balance in a life, it brings chaos and destruction. Here, covetousness brought Herod to destroy the righteous voice of John. Once he committed this murder, he lost completely the peace of mind and was pursued by guilt. When he heard of me he had the impression that it was John who came back to haunt him. 

The other road, the less frequented road, is to repent and to ask for God’s help in order to get rid of sin in all its forms. My name is Jesus, which means ‘God delivers’, and I came to deliver humanity from sin. You need help in order to be fully delivered from sin, and I came to provide this needed help. My disciples are not called to struggle with sin, but to welcome my victory over sin in their lives. My disciples are not invited to live in the struggle of Herod, but to be released from this struggle through faithful obedience to me. Listen to me, learn from me, take the yoke of my voice and continual guidance. Through the teachings of the Gospels and the Bible, through listening to my voice daily, you will be able to walk on the narrow path of love and purity. 

Remember that each Herodias has a daughter. Each sin that you let live in your heart will produce children, and these children will push you always more toward your own destruction. Sin is not a friend but a murderer, it does not accept to serve but prepares to rule and destroy. Don’t let sin take always more control of you. Invite me and my pure love to release you, to rule in you and bring the peace of the kingdom. 

To bring this victory over sin and death, I needed to give my life on the cross. I did not commit suicide, but accepted death out of love for humanity. My death was not an end, it was a beginning, it led to the resurrected life. To receive fully my victory, you have to repent, to die to sin and to live with me. Learn from me and discover always more the joyful life of the redeemed, the glorious freedom from sin of the children of God.  

How to Be a Kingdom Bearer? (Mark 6:7-13)

Jesus Sends the Twelve

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. (6:7)

The twelve lived with me, and saw the kingdom of the Father shine through me. Therefore, the time came for me to send them to do the same. 

In some Gospels (Matthew and Luke), you can read that I gave the twelve not only authority over unclean spirits but also authority to heal. Yet, both tasks are very close. Casting out an unclean spirit and healing a person are very similar. Diseases came in the world through accepting the lies of Satan. Healing comes from rejecting the presence and the lies of unclean spirits, and from having the bodies released fully from the effect of these lies and evil presence. 

In all that, what you need is the authority of the Father, and you receive it only through humility and faith. Remain poor in Spirit, aware that you are submitted to the Father’s authority. Miracles that happen or will happen through you are not a reason to feel you are entitled, but simply to be grateful and amazed at the Father’s love. As soon as you forget that you are under the Father’s authority and try to do things out of your own will - without this sweet humility, our grace will begin to wane. As you learn to remain under our loving authority, our grace will flow ever more freely through you. Receive from me the authority over unclean spirits, remain in my love, and you will see this authority expel darkness and bring my light in many situations. Remember the words of the centurion,[ see Matthew 8:5-13.] who stressed the relationship between the authority he had over his servants and his submission to an authority himself. 

He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. (6:8-9)

This was part of this importance to remain under my authority, under the authority of the Father. They needed to remain dependent of our grace more than of their control and mastery of their needs. As you grow in faith, remember that we don’t want our servants to receive our orders and then to accomplish them through their own strength. We want you to learn to remain submitted to our authority and guidance all the time. What we want is to see servants depending on us continually, as I was depending on the Father continually. This is the way of the poor in spirit. Remain in me and I in you, and you will see grace flowing freely through you. Learn to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and you will not need to control long in advance what you will need, since we will provide step by step. This is the walk of faith, this is the walk in the spirit, this is the walk of the servant. 

I am not forbidding my disciples to plan in advance, yet you must be careful that you rely more on us than on you or on your plans. There is no technique to live the life of the spirit, it is a moment by moment dependance on the Holy Spirit, a moment by moment dwelling in me and I in you. As you learn to carry the Holy Spirit during your days, attentive to my voice and to follow me, you will see the rivers of our love flow in you and through you continually. 

And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” (6:10-11)

I invited my disciples to imitate me, to do what I did and what the Holy Spirit does. When the Holy Spirit is not welcome he departs from a person. A key difference, between you and us, is that we are God and you are human. We can be at different places at the same time, while you can’t. This means that the Holy Spirit can remain in all the believers at any time, while you can be at only one physical place at a time. Therefore, the way you leave a place is very important. When you leave a place where you have been welcomed with the Holy Spirit in you, bless this place because it belongs to God. When you leave because you were not received with the gospel of the kingdom, shake the dust of your feet. By shaking the dust, you are telling that since they don’t want you and the one who is in you, you will not keep even their dust with you. This is not supposed to be done with pride, but with humility. Some people will want the blessings of God, but yet they don’t want to repent from their evil ways. Shake the dust of your feet in such places. When you speak in our name and people refuse to listen to you, shake the dust of your feet as a testimony against them. Listening and obeying to our direction is important. 

Yet, don’t be too quick to judge, this is not your part. You have yourself often been slow to respond to our grace, therefore don’t be too quick to condemn. If someone does not welcome us today, remember that the Father makes His sun shine on the good and on the evil, and His rain fall on the just and on the unjust. So many came to us after years of wicked acts, and we always welcome them as soon as they repent and welcome the Good News. Don’t judge, simply shake the dust of your feet as a testimony. 

So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. 

You notice here that the twelve not only cast out demons, but they also anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. My focus is always love. When we cast out demons it is for people to get better and enjoy the Father’s love. Some of the first steps are to cast out evil spirits and to heal people physically. This is a testimony of the Father’s tender care for His creation. 

In the period of time of the twelve, people tended to anoint the sick with oil for them to get better, and many of my disciples did so. I did not use oil, but many of my disciples did. In your context, you could say that praying for healing and using medicine are not opposed but can often be complementary. Learn to listen to me when you pray for a sick person, and teach the persons to listen to my grace in them. Some will get better through simple prayer, others through medicine, others still through both. Remember that this world belongs to the Father, and that medicine is therefore often part of what the Father revealed or allowed humans to discover. Not all in your scientific medicine comes from God, but there is much good in it. In all that, remember that listening to us in order to discern what to do is of key importance. 

Still today I desire to heal people, to lead them on the way of complete deliverance from evil at the physical, mental and spiritual levels - this is the Good News! Allow me to teach you how to live and share this good news with many, as I did with the twelve. In our love, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, lead people to repentance, cast out demons and heal the sick. 

Proclaim the kingdom of the Father, embody this kingdom of our love, be a kingdom bearer. 

Faith Is a Matter of Perspective (Mark 6:1-6)

Rejected at Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6)

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. (6:1-3)

Faith is a matter of perspective. The persons of Nazareth saw in me one of their own, who did live a peaceful and normal life for many years. They did not figure out how I could have changed, or even more precisely how they had missed that I was different from who they thought I was. Life is in the blood, and through my blood I was going to bring the perfect sacrifice for the sins of humanity. My blood relatives thought they knew me. Yet, when I did miracles, they took offense at me, reproaching me to do things they did not understand. 

Humans want to control their surroundings, to have the impression that they understand well what is around them. Yet, this is an illusion. There is more in a situation than what is visible. When my actions did not match with their narrow view of what was possible, they even took offense at the grace of God flowing through me. This was a manifestation of sin and self-centeredness. They wanted me to be like them, and not more than that. They had a box in which I was supposed to fit, and they became angry when I did not submit to these expectations. In a sinful humanity, the Father's grace has to break in almost like a thief, with violence. People are not ready to be challenged in their certitudes. Learn to accept this reality. If they did that to me, they will also do it to my disciples. The closer you come to me, the more you let the life of the Father flow in your blood, the less people will be able to control you. You cannot catch the wind in a box, it blows wherever it wills and you hear the sound it makes. It is the same for me and for my disciples as they let the Holy Spirit blow in them and guide them. 

And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching. (6:4-6)

The narrow view of the people of my hometown, and even of my own family, limited greatly their hopes, and I could not show many of the Father's works. I could still heal a few sick people by laying my hands on them, but that's all. 

It was painful for me to realize that these persons that I loved, with whom I grew up, did not welcome the good that I was bringing. It was a pain that was preparing me for deeper pains, for rejection and judgment, for crucifixion and death. 

I was not a magician doing tricks, I came as a servant of the Father who let His love flow in me and through me to other people. Miracles were not secondary, they were an integral part of my ministry. I could then teach people about the meaning of these miracles and point the eyes and hearts of people toward God and His kingdom. 

The unbelief of people strongly limited the flow of love that the Father wanted to bring to them. Faith is like an open hand, welcoming the gifts of the heavenly Father. When the hand is closed, not many miracles happen. I therefore could only teach some, and I also knew that I needed to either move away or to find a path to break this unbelief. Since people thought that they knew me, I decided to send my disciples, who could do things in Nazareth or other places that I could not do. The time had come for me to invite my disciples to participate fully in my ministry, to be sent and to let their faith in the Father and His kingdom bring light to this world. 

Do not be surprised at the lack of faith of Nazareth. As you learn to become my disciple and see the Father's work through your faith, do not be surprised that many who think they know you will not accept this. In your world, many people accept easily Christianity as long as it does not challenge the idea that humans control their environment, mostly through science and technology. Through faith you will challenge that, and therefore break the control that people thought they had on reality. Don't expect that all will like you. As a matter of fact, many will reject miracles as manifestations of pride or as unnecessary. Just remember that to be Christlike is to be like me, and that the Father always supported my teachings on the kingdom with His works of grace. Expect that as you fully serve me. Pray for the Father's love to flow through you as it flowed through me. Accept that not all will welcome these rivers of the Father's love, and simply follow us as we lead you in our harvest fields. I would have loved to see my whole family welcome the Father's works through me, but I had to accept that it was not the case, at least during my life on earth. After my death and resurrection, many from my family came to believe in me, but it was not before the cross, not before the painful rejections. If they did that to the teacher, the student should prepare himself also. 

Trust in me, hope in me and accept that rejection from people you love can or will happen. Just remember to remain in my love, and to follow me as your shepherd. I have overcome the world, trust in my love. 

From Sickness and Death to Faith and Peace (Mark 5:21-43)

Jesus Heals a Sick Woman and Resurrects Jairus’ Daughter

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. (5:21-24)

It happened often in my ministry that a crowd would press around me. I followed the Father’s direction, and it attracted many to me. It was not always easy to handle, sometimes with a boat, sometimes by getting in a place people would not guess. As you do the works of the Father, as you learn to listen to my voice and to follow me, fruits will naturally appear. Fruits of holiness, fruits of love, fruits of healings, fruits of miracles. Don’t focus on the fruits but on God, and show the way to the Father through all you do. I am the way to the Father, invite people to me and to discover the joy of forgiveness, the peace of the Holy Spirit. 

And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (5:25-29)

Faith is so simple, yet so many struggle to come to simple faith. Faith is not abstract, it prompts action. Faith implies obedience, listening to God. This poor woman needed help, and she had learned that men could not help. When she heard of the healings through me, she was interested. She began to hope, and when she had an opportunity she took risks. In these days, she was considered impure because of her flow of blood, and therefore she was not supposed to touch anybody. This brought isolation to her life, isolation and despair. Yet, she was bold enough to risk shame and rebuke when she touched me. As she touched me, she accessed the power of love that was in me, that came from the Father, and because of her faith she received the healing that she had hoped for in her body. 

And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ “ (5:30-31)

When this woman touched me, I sensed power flowing out of me, and I knew that something had happened. Yet, I was not a battery full of electricity, from which people were invited to draw. I was not an object but a person, and I knew that I needed to find out who did touch me and draw power out of me. I wanted to encourage not only the healing but more importantly the relationship with the Father. The power that was in me came from the Father, and I wanted to show the way to the Father in all I did. 

And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (5:32-34)

The woman knew that she was the one I was looking for, and she became fearful of rebuke or worse, of losing the healing she had just received. She was considered impure, because of her flow of blood, and therefore became like an object to avoid and could not easily develop relationships. She touched me as if I was also an object out of which she could get what she wanted, with the hope that nobody would notice. I did notice, and I was not an object. 

I called her out of her cloak of shame, and invited her to the relationship. She was so afraid, yet it was very important. Healing is not a matter of technique, but first of all a matter of love. The Father did not create humans as robots but as persons designed for fellowship and for love. In medicine, in your present world, many think of persons as objects, having them simply go through tests, and trying to mend the bodies like you mend a machine. 

The Father did not create humans as machines. There is an intricate relationship between body, soul and spirit. Not recognizing this reality leads to much pain and unnecessary expenses. Many people are not so much interested in healing and loving, but rather in mastering the creation. The more they try to master, the more the Father shows them the limits of technique. Humility is so simple, the Father is so merciful. Yet, since the science of medicine does not integrate faith, it creates many unnecessary and expensive steps toward healing. The Father is the source of medicine, the only one who knows fully His creation. He can use medicine as well as many other ways for healing bodies. Sometimes what is needed is forgiveness, sometimes it is casting out evil spirits, sometimes it is simply praying in love for the person, sometimes it is through a pill or through a surgery that the person will get better. In focusing only on the body, at the expense of both the soul and the spirit, is both foolish and expensive. Psychologists do learn to see the link between body and soul. Yet, the most important link to see is the link between spirit and body, how the quality of the relationship with the Father has a direct and important impact on both the soul and the body. As long as medicine does not recognize this link, as long as physicians don’t recognize the importance of a good relationship with the creator, many will spend huge amounts of money for little results or even for more pain, as it was the case for this woman. 

She was not an object to mend. She was created for relationships and I called her out of the darkness. She first confessed what she did and why she did it, hoping for grace. She hoped to be forgiven, yet I wanted much more than that for her. I wanted for her a deeper healing. She thought that her disease was only a matter of blood. I knew that her disease was also of not knowing God as her loving father. This healing was a perfect way to teach her how much she was loved, that she was a child of God. The first word I spoke to here was “daughter,” because I wanted her to learn that she was the daughter of the loving heavenly Father. She was a person, a part of the family of God. 

I then said to her “your faith has made you well,” stressing that what happened was not only about power like when you plug a machine into a socket, but mostly about the relationship between the Father’s love in me and her faith. Faith brings hope, and through me her hope was fulfilled. By stressing her faith I wanted to encourage her, to help her see that her inner attitude played a key part in her healing. I did not come to distribute healing like a machine distributes goods. I came to show the path to the Father, to manifest His tender love for His creation, to encourage every person to come to the heavenly Father with hope and faith. The Father’s gracious love is abundant, and through faith you can learn to access it. God’s purpose is to teach how to love, and healing is one of the key ways he uses to teach this lesson. 

I then said to this dear woman that she could go in peace, in the peace of knowing that she had a loving heavenly Father. So many persons in this world have had bad fathers, that they imagine that the heavenly Father is the same. This was a major reason of my coming on earth, to show how good the heavenly Father is. Healing without peace is not complete. What the Father wants is for persons to be at peace, this unity that is given by love and that rejoices the heart. I came to bring peace with God, as the prince of peace, to give a peace to humanity that could not be obtained without me. 

I came to give my life for the wicked, to offer my body as a sacrifice of love. Through my sacrifice, the Father could open a way to reconcile humans with him. I was the way, I am the way of reconciliation between God and man. Through me you can receive peace with God, so that your life takes its full meaning and deep happiness becomes possible and real. This is the real healing, this is the full healing, when your relationship with the Father is mended by our grace, when you enter in fellowship with God through me. All those who are weary and heavy laden are invited to come to me. I came to give the peace and rest that the Father wants for each human. Follow my teachings, welcome me as your Lord and Savior, and I will guide you in the path of peace and joy, of rest and true happiness. 

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. (5:35-37)

I did not come to impress people with power, but to show the way to the Father. I came to teach what love is, and how to receive and share the Father’s love. Jairus had just seen the importance of faith, when I spoke to the healed woman. Now, I wanted to teach him to believe, to develop this life-giving relationship with the heavenly Father. He was a ruler of the synagogue, yet he needed to learn to believe in the ruler of the universe, in his love and mercy. Fear is a major hindrance to faith, and I often had to say to people ‘do not fear’. By closing the door to fear, you can open the door to faith. If you let fear fill your heart it will be very difficult if not impossible to come with faith to the Father. To help him to move from fear to faith, I took with me only my three closest disciples, Peter, James and John, who were growing in their faith in me and in the Father. I wanted to help this human father to discover the love of the heavenly Father. I did not come to heal only individuals, but also to heal families and communities. 

They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. (5:38-40)

Here is a secret of faith: the way you look at reality has a direct influence on what you will be able to do through faith in God. People saw the girl as dead, I saw her as asleep. Death was considered as final, the end of life. Being asleep is temporary. I came to bring faith that death was not the end, that the Father could resurrect people. I had to show it during my life, I had to show it through my death and resurrection. 

When your way of seeing reality differs from others, you risk to be mocked. Yet, you have to learn to walk by faith and not by sight, to follow my way of love and to learn to manifest this love through all you do. Don’t despise the persons who criticize you, but don’t let neither criticism rule in you. Often, the Father will be able to teach you through critics, but don’t let them harm your relationship with me or with the Father. There is a difference between useful criticism and mockery. Mockery had to be dismissed, and I put these mockers outside, allowing only the parents and my three disciples to come with me. 

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (5:41-43)

The Father had shown me what He wanted to do, and I simply had to follow his lead, asking the girl to rise. Miracles are not about you, but about the Father, who wants to lead you on his path of love. I showed the way, and I want to show you how to follow this way. Learn to listen to my voice and to follow me in all things, learn to accept me as your shepherd and guide. As you discern my voice, I guide you on the path of the Father, and through you the works of the Father will be manifested. Some will receive forgiveness, others will be healed or resurrected, demons will be cast out, guidance and love will be found. 

My purpose was not to impress people, but to show God’s love to a family. Once this goal was reached, I had to be careful to avoid even more pressure from the crowd. I charged the family not to share what happened, because I wanted to go out of the village quickly. It is clear that they would not be able to hide the resurrection of their daughter for long, yet I needed a moment to get out of the crowd safely. 

When the hope of people rises, you have to be careful that they don’t make of you an object, an idol. I did not come to be the center, but to lead people to the Father. It is true, I am man and I am God. Yet I came to show the way to all humans, and this way involves that all glory goes to God, and that you have to lead people to God, to peace with God. That was the way for the sick woman, that was the way for the sad father Jairus, that is the way for you. Healing and resurrection are tools that the Father uses to lead to Him. They are not goals but tools of love. 

Learn through faith to listen to me and to follow me, so that the Father’s love shines through you, so that many seek and find peace and joy in fellowship with God. 

Jesus Brings Deliverance to Prisoners of Inner Darknesses (Mark 5:1-20)

Jesus Heals a Man with Demons

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. (5:1-5)

In this simple description, you see key elements of what unclean spirits do to men. They break their relationships with others, to isolate them, and can give phenomenal strength that can break chains. They have one purpose, death and destruction. Therefore, they try to lead people toward death, like this man living among the tombs. They try to push people to death as quickly as they can, as you see them forcing this man to cut himself. 

Sadly, this is not only a problem of the past. Today you still see many persons influenced by demons and pushed toward isolation and destruction. Sometimes, the demons manage to kill even others through a single person. 

And when he saw Jesus farm afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (5:6-9)

The key for releasing people from demons, these impure spirits, is for you to be full of the pure spirit of the living God, the Holy Spirit. Don’t expect either to discern the presence of demons or to cast them out when you don’t have received authority from me or the Father. This authority flows in you through the Holy Spirit, when you welcome Him and let Him lead you in all you do. 

When I arrived, the demon or rather demons could not avoid me. They tried to find an agreement with me, by placating me. They begged me, supposedly not to torment them. Here, you need to be aware that the talk of demons is mostly a mix of truth and lies. The truth here was that I was Jesus, the Son of the Most High God. Yet, it was almost flattery, in the hope that I would swallow their following lies. They continued by begging that I would not torment them. Here you see both the lies of demons and their hate for humans. I did not torment them, they were the ones tormenting this poor man. Yet, they dared to lie, hoping that this lie would be hidden behind their flattery. They even used pious language (“I adjure you by God”). They were not clearly aware of my ministry, that by listening to the Father I could discern behind their lies, although they had rightly guessed about me more than my disciples at this point. I asked their name with the authority of the Spirit in me, and they had to answer. Legion is not only a huge number (about 6000), but it also reveals that they are fighting like an army (a legion was a roman group of soldiers). They were fighting in this man, trying to destroy the will of this man and to lead him to total destruction. You realize here that although demons do have some powers, they are very limited. Their power works mostly through deception. It is only when humans accept their lies that they gain power in a person. It is only through a lie that the serpent could seduce and deceive Eve and Adam. 

Still today, it is through deception that impure spirits can enter into a person. The key is to learn to recognize their presence and how to cast them out. Don’t discuss with impure spirits, just let the Holy Spirit in you lead and command them in my name to go away. 

And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now, a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs, let us enter them.” so he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. (5:10-13)

Here, you see clearly the deception of demons. Since I was training my disciples, I let the demons manifest clearly their lie so that they could learn. They pretended that they needed not to be sent out of the country, and that they needed to be in ‘physical bodies’ like pigs. Yet, this is both foolish and a lie, they have never needed any body or anybody. They have always rejected others, and are united only with the single purpose of destruction. As soon as I gave them permission, their lie became evident. They entered into all the pigs, overpowering their will, a task which proved much easier and quicker than overpowering the will of the man. Then they did what they really wanted, which is to destroy: they pushed all these pigs to rush down the steep bank and to drown. The argument of ‘not leaving the region’ was their lie, and they then destroyed all they could, and the faster they could. 

It was possible for me to forbid them to enter into the pigs, yet this helped my disciples to clearly see the true intentions of these impure spirits - to destroy. Learn from this story that demons are always bent on destruction, and that if they delay their attempts to destroy it is only temporary and often with the greedy desire to destroy more people. 

The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. (5:14-17)

Demons were not only present in the demon-possessed man, but they could also influence the people in the city. If not, why would they be afraid and beg me to leave the region?

People are often naive, thinking that if someone does not shout and cut himself, he is not influenced by demons. Impure spirits can come and make damages in silence. What is key here is not to become terrified by what could happen, but to invite always more the Holy Spirit to rule in you. Spiritual warfare, learning to get rid of impure spirits, is best done in the peace of the Holy Spirit and not in the agitation of fear. If someone is concerned about the possible presence of a demon in them or in someone they love, they should first of all welcome my Holy Spirit, consecrate their lives to me and learn to listen to my voice. Then we will lead the person both in discernment and how to cast out impure spirits when they are there. If they struggle or fail to do this, it is important they come to a Christian they believe who can help to manifest my love and authority over any impure spirit in their lives. There is no technique to learn, except to welcome fully my sacrifice for your sins, to welcome fully my Holy Spirit in you, and when you discern in my presence what is happening to command any impure spirit in my name to go away. 

As for the request of the demons to go into the pigs, I also accepted the request to go away, because the Father knew what He was doing through me. On the surface, it was like if I bent to the will of demons or to the request of unholy persons, but that was not the case. 

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (5:18-20)

In some cases, I forbade persons healed to speak openly about what happened, like in when I healed a leper. In this case I did the opposite, I asked this person to openly share what the Lord had done for him. This was not a very Jewish area, and they needed to find hope in front of all their frustrations, in front of the fact that impure spirits were making them suffer. Through this man’s testimony, they found hope. If he had left, they would not have received this so important hope of deliverance from evil. 

You can notice that although I let the demons go in the pigs and the persons of the region to send me away, I did not allow the freed man to come with me. I needed, in each case, to be attentive to the voice of the Father, to His direction. Then, what appears illogical on the surface is wise before the Father. By allowing the demons to go into the pigs, the Father could show without a doubt two things: first, that the demons’ first goal is to destroy, and second that they are liars - pretending to need to remain in pigs but instead killing all of them once allowed to come in these pigs. 

By allowing the persons to send me away and by asking the man to witness about the grace of the Lord toward him, he witnessed both of the possibility of deliverance and that he considered I was the one through whom God showed him mercy. His witness prepared this whole region to receive the Gospel that my disciples would bring there shortly after my death. Most of this region came to me and became Christian. By the testimony of a single man a whole region was going to welcome me as their Lord and Savior. 

Do not let your reason become a God, learn to speak with me as I learned as a human to speak with the Father in each circumstances. My disciples first did not understand why I would send this delivered man back in his region, but later they did. Human wisdom and divine wisdom sometimes match, but they often don’t. Come and learn from me to manifest the love of the Father into your circumstances, to see people delivered from impure spirits and finding hope again. Follow my direction, I am your good shepherd, and rejoice of the fruits of love, faith and hope that will flow out of you. The impure spirits are no match for the Holy Spirit, who will blow away anything that opposes the love of the Father. Welcome the folly of the cross in your life, a love that surpasses by far any human wisdom. Let my words richly dwell in you, guide you and lead you. Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. As I said, the harvest in plentiful, but the workers are few. Pray that the Lord of the harvest send workers into His harvest.

Do you listen first to your fears, or to God? (Mark 4:35-41)

Jesus Calms the Storm

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awake and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:35-41)

I always wanted to help my disciples to learn. What I wanted to teach them is to come to the Father at all times, to speak to Him and to listen to him. Yet, as the people of Israel did when Moses led them to Mount Sinai, my disciples tended to want to listen to me when I was on earth, instead of coming to the Father. I had taught them the basics of prayer with “Our Father”, yet they just repeated the words like pagans do, without listening to what the Father was responding to this prayer. When you ask a question to someone, the least thing to do is to listen to the answer from this person. When you make a request to the Father, wait for His answer, not only for the thing itself but more importantly for His voice. 

As Paul taught rightly: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God. (see Romans 10:18). The problem is that people tend to think I am dumb, unable to speak each day, so they limit the ‘word of God’ or ‘word of Christ’ to the written verses in the Bible, what a lack of faith! They don’t learn to come to me and use the Bible as an idol. This lack of faith has dire consequences. The Bible is a wonderful tool under the direction of the Holy Spirit, but a painful weapon in the hands of the devil. I wanted to train my disciples to pray, to speak and to listen to God, yet I realized that they often came to me instead of coming to the Father. It is true, I was and am God, yet they needed to learn to come to the Father during my time on earth. Now, since I have returned to the Father and am no more in the flesh, this is no more a problem, and coming to me or to the Father will build your faith in the same way. Allow me now to show you how, in this story, I trained my disciples. 

People often think that if they follow me they will not face problems. They forget the clear and numerous examples in the Bible. Our purpose is not to offer a spiritual cushion to train lazy disciples, we want to lead my disciples to walk by faith in every situation, whether painful or not, whether easy or difficult. David rightly wrote, “Even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, your rod and your staff comfort me.” (Ps 23:4). We don’t want people to fall, but we want them to learn to walk by faith and to follow our lead. 

As the disciples followed my direction, they ended up in a challenging situation, with a storm and our boat filling. As strange as it might seem, I was not concerned at all, peacefully resting at the back of the boat. When the disciples faced the challenge, instead of coming to the Father, as I taught them to, and listening to His direction, they came to me and shouted at me. I listened to the Father, saw what He wanted me to do in this situation, and simply did it: I stood up, and rebuked the wind and everything became calm. 

Then, I continued to train my disciples by asking why they were so afraid, asking if they still had no faith. They did not understand, they were not looking for the things of heaven but were still trapped in focusing on this visible world. They were appeased and not concerned at all by my question. They were so dependent on me, instead of imitating me. I knew clearly that I would soon need to be away so that they would learn to speak to the Father and to me by faith. They were just amazed at the visible, afraid and wondering how I had such power even over the sea and the wind. 

I knew that my teaching needed to be an example for them. I could clearly see that they were focused on me and did not realize yet how my relationship with the Father was the key to all I did. I always came to the Father to listen to him and to do as He showed me. People tend to think that prayer is only a moment, but through prayer what we want to do is to develop with each human an continual dialogue, we want each person to become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Then, you will do even greater things than what I did. 

The key is to have faith in God, and to learn to listen to us at all times. Of course, you first have to learn in the quiet of a room or in a peaceful place. Yet, if you stop there your faith will remain very small. With the Father, we want you to learn to remain filled with the Holy Spirit and to learn to hear our voice even in the middle of your storms. We will then guide you and show you how to calm these very storms. 

It is not a matter of power, as the disciples thought, it is a matter of faith and obedience to our voice in your heart. People want power, we want humility; people seek to control, I want you to have faith in me and in the Father. This story of the storm is not about power, but about faith. It is not about control, it is about humbly coming to us in challenges, listening to us and doing what we show you. You have to first learn to hear our voice in your heart in the calm of the day, and to follow us then. As you practice listening and dialoguing with us, as you practice following our voice, you will be able to recognize how we lead you even in the most challenging situations. This is the heart of this story. Trust in me, I am the good shepherd. We want you to learn to walk by faith, not by physical sight only. We want you to rely on us and to follow us as you learn to love. It has nothing to do with impressing others by calming storms, it has all to do with having faith in us and coming to us for direction at all times. I am the Lord of Lord, no situation is too big for me, yet don’t confuse your will and my will. 

Learn to follow my direction, and I will protect you and guide you. Let the Holy Spirit rule in you, and he will help you and guide you, he will tell you my words and the words of the Father. Let the power of our love grow in you and spread through you. Miracles will then happen, as they happened in my life, but focus on us - not on the miracles. Calming a storm is much less important than listening to us.