Facing Suffering with Patience and Hope (Mark 13:3-8)

As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?”

Jesus, answering, began to tell them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray. “When you hear of wars and rumors of war, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains. (13:3-8)

My disciples wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed. They were looking for dates and signs, but I was looking for disciples. They wanted to know when this would happen, but I wanted to lead them on how to prepare for difficulties. My purpose was not to tell them the future, but to prepare them to face challenges as my disciples, how to face suffering without breaking the relationship with me and the Father. I was preparing myself to suffer on the cross, and I wanted them to find reassurance even in the midst of the coming pains. 

For the disciples, the temple looked as the most stable thing in their world. To know that such a stable landmark could disappear was unsettling and troubling to them. I spoke to them of the coming pains, associating them with birth pains. This association was important, because when you face suffering you can lose the sense that it will end and that some good can come out of it. Making a parallel between the destruction of the temple and birth pains was a way to help my disciples to recognize that even this painful event would be a step on their journey as disciples, and that good things would come out of it. 

For you today, you can learn from this that you should not focus on dates and certainties, but on faithfulness and hope. Learn to walk with me even if there are shadows and death looming around. Wars and violence are part of this sinful world, they have been and will be there until I return with the angels, for the judgment of each person. The temple is destroyed, yet some of the landmarks that you consider as stable will be shaken or destroyed in the coming years, this has been the case for the last centuries and you should not be surprised. In the midst of this instability and suffering, we continue to prepare a people dedicated to us, who learns to love and to shine the light of the gospel to many. 

As you walk with me, learn to see the struggles and sufferings you face with our point of view. If suffering is a result of your sin, repent and we will help you handle the consequences of this sin in a rightful way. If you faithfully follow our path of pure love, and that on this journey you face instability and fear, I will teach you to rest in me and to see these sufferings as birth pains that you have to go through. The key in all that is to focus on us, to speak with me and to follow my guidance, to let us lead you through Scriptures to know how to face your present situation. As much as possible, keep fellowship with other brothers and sisters in the Church, together you will be stronger in me. 

Remember that you don’t belong to this world in its focus on earthly matters, and that you are a child of God, called to eternity. Walk with us and prepare to live this eternal life of love and peace through fellowship with me. Learn to focus on what is really important, even when times get tough. Do not let people trick you with lies of false security, learn to recognize my voice and to stay with me. As your shepherd I will help you not to be seduced and deceived by the wolves that are in your world. Keep your focus on hope and love, keep your eyes on me, and you will receive the crown prepared for our faithful ones. 

Remember that when you remain in me and I in you, your suffering will become birth pains, preparing for the birth of good things for you and for others, even if you don't see them first. As Paul rightly said, for those who love God all things work together for good. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 8:28, 12:21)

Focus On the Temples that Will Last (Mark 13:1-2)

Mark 13: Warnings for the Future

As he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, see what kind of stones and what kind of buildings!” Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.” (13:1-2)

I had just challenged the appearance of respect and of authority that so many exhibited without real submission to God, like many of the scribes, the Pharisees or the Sadducees. I had emphasized the importance of the intentions of the heart, as in the example of the widow’s offering. Yet, my disciples were still impressed by big buildings like the temple. Man looks at the appearance, but God looks at the heart. In this case, the foundation of the temple had become corrupt. The purpose of the temple, to become a house of prayer for all the nations, had not been fulfilled. This is why the Father was going to bring judgment and destroy this impressive structure, not letting one stone on another. 

At a deeper level, the Father never desired a temple of stone, but always sought for men to be a temple of His spirit. This was true from the first day of the creation to today. When the Father spoke to David, he said that he would establish his house (See 2 Samuel 7:4-13). It was not a house of wood and stone, but a house of descendants. I, the Messiah, the son of David, and the Son of God, became the perfect temple of the Spirit of the Father through my incarnation, preparing the way for all my disciples to become living temples of the Holy Spirit. The temple of my body was going to be destroyed, I was going to be crucified, yet this destruction would last only three days and now my body has become an eternal temple to the glory of the Father. The impressive temple of Jerusalem, that looked so much stronger than my body, would be destroyed a few decades after me and would not be rebuilt. 

The Father has never been very interested in impressive buildings, but we have always been interested in people who open their hearts to our love and who let us reign in them and through them. Do not focus on whatever stone or iron building you see in this world, they will all be destroyed at one point. Focus on the one building that has the potential to become eternal, your very being. You are called to become a temple of the Holy Spirit. 

A temple is not supposed to welcome the presence of God once in a while, but to remain continually filled with God’s presence. In the same way, I want to remain in you and for you to remain in me, by the power of our grace. As you learn through the obedience of faith to maintain an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, with the Father and with me, you then experience in you the eternal life - this fellowship with us that will lead you beyond physical death, this salvation from sin and death that was promised, the good news that I brought to the world. 

It is only in me and through me that you will be able to build something that will last, to build a real love that brings real and eternal fruits of peace and joy. Don’t focus on what is doomed to be destroyed, don’t put your heart in seeking human objects or positions that don’t last. Let your heart grasp the depth of our love, the tenderness of our presence. Let the Holy Spirit flow in you and through you like a mighty river. Let us bring, through you, the living water of our love to this world thirsty for goodness and peace. 

From Appearance to True Devotion to God (Mark 12:41-44)

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, and she had to live on.” (12:41-44)

Man looks at what impresses the eye, but the Father looks at the heart of people. It is not the appearance of your actions that will impress the Father, like the long and loud public prayers that the scribes would do, or the impressive gifts that some give. What impresses the Father is what you do in the secret of your heart, your response to the Love of the Father. In public, the scribes would present themselves pure and holy, but in the secret they would deprive widows of their houses. Here, this widow did the opposite, she did something that seemed very small, looking even disrespectful after all the large gifts given, yet in the secret of her heart she was expressing to God her radical trust and hope. 

In the same way, you are invited not to impress people outwardly, but to express humbly to the Father your love and trust in him. 

The scribes trusted in their reputation and their financial schemes in order to have enough money. This poor widow did not rely on her appearance or resources but on the living God. She did her offering because she already had learned that the Father cares for her, as he always desires to care for widows and orphans. She was not crazy, wasting her last penny with futility, but was expressing a real adoration to the Father and the confident hope that He would provide for her in her need. She new that her penny, in any case, was not enough for her to live on, she also knew that she needed God’s help, that is why her action was wise to God although it was foolish to men. When you begin to believe that we really act in your world, that the Father is really the creator of the universe, that in me you have real life, then you will begin to trust in us in every practical matters. Then you will rejoice to see our love expressed in your life and through you to others. 

Learn from this widow to come to us with humility. Commit to us what you have, your strength, your knowledge and your resources, so that we guide you and protect you in your world so full of appearances and deceptions. In fact, all belongs already to the Father, the creator of the universe, and whatever you believe you possess is in fact something only loaned to you by the Father. When the day of your death comes, you see clearly this illusion of earthly possessions, and how important it is to store treasures in heaven rather than on the earth. 

Don’t let humans dictate to you how you should trust God, learn to listen to us in prayer, and we will guide you. There are wolves in your world, who like the scribes look so pious and yet deprive many of their resources. There are also many faithful servants of ours in this world, but in order to recognize them you need to learn to recognize my voice. Read the accounts of my life in the Gospels, and learn to dialogue with me as you meditate these lessons. Learn to listen to us, to trust in us, to recognize my voice so that I can lead you like a faithful shepherd leads his sheep. There are mercenaries who want to deceive my sheep, but if you learn to listen to my voice, I will protect you from them and prevent you from being deceived. If you don’t learn to listen to my voice, it will be very difficult for you to recognize the mercenaries, the thieves or the wolves, and it will be difficult for me to guide you. If you learn to spend time with me, speaking and listening to me, meditating Scriptures and following our guidance, you will remain in my hand and nobody will be able to crush your spirit. You will remain in the hand of the Father and nobody will be able to snatch you away.  

The Father is not a pushy lender exacting violence against people at the first disagreement. He is so patient and merciful, yet ultimately He wants to see that you learn to use the resources He provides to love Him and to love your neighbor. This widow had understood a key lesson about what faith is, that the Father could be trusted indeed in all situations, and that expressing her trust and love for Him was of key importance. Have you learned this lesson? Are you focused on the resources you have the impression you can get and hoard by your strength? Or do you focus on the resources the Father shares with you and how He wants you to use them and share them in a way that honors Him?

Don’t focus on appearances but on the heart. The Father is not impressed by external expressions that are empty of love or devotion to him, by gifts that people make in order to look good to others while in the secret of their room they are full of selfishness and bitterness. 

Learn to store treasures of love in heaven. Learn to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Learn to follow our guidance as you learn to recognize my voice through prayer. Learn like this widow had learned that the Father is faithful and will take care of you. 

We will then prepare a place for you, and you will begin to experience already on earth what eternal life is, this deep peace that only fellowship with the Father and me can give, a peace that can be received only through the presence of the Holy Spirit in you.  

From Fragile Human Approval to Stable Divine Authority (Mark 12:38-40)

In his teaching he said to them, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts: those who devour widows’s houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.” (12:38-40)

Appearance and power have always been a temptation and have always led to idolatry and condemnation. The foolishness of such idolatry is that often someone will seek power through a good appearance, even a ‘holy’ appearance. Yet, this very appearance implies that it is the people who look at him who give him power, and if these same people change their mind, this person loses all power. In a very practical sense, in such case their god is the people who give them their power. As they develop their greed for human power, they will also develop other types of greed, sometimes it will be money, sometimes it will be seducing women. In the case of the scribes, they ended up creating wicked rules for allowing people to give them money so that they could deprive widows from their houses, and all that with the appearance of holiness. 

Don’t look for such wavering power because it does not last with men, it does not lead you to eternal life but only to a bitter death. You cannot have two masters. Learn to look into the heart of the Father before seeking to please men. Don’t seek titles or a beautiful appearance, don’t try to demonstrate an external holiness. Holiness is rooted in love, in my love, in this love that fills you and spreads through you. Then, once you are rooted in my love, you will follow my directions and you will share this pure love with many. You will shine with our holiness, and people will open to you because they will recognize that you are not seeking a selfish power but that you have love in you. 

Don’t fight for acquiring a human power made of appearance and deception, but rather seek the power that flows out of our love. The power of the Holy Spirit flows well in you only through love, not through a selfish search for human respect. As long as you try to please people, you will see divisions around you and tensions, because people are from different opinions and different characters. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and you will receive all you need, and you will receive an authority that is not from men but from God. 

The paradox is that many seek to find respect and authority by following narrow human rules of power, by getting titles, by being elected by men or other tools of human power; yet stable power and authority always comes from the Father. I did not study in a renowned Jewish school, I did not hold a human position of authority, I did not own impressive houses or impressive garments, yet the Father in me was shining with His love and truth in a way that commanded respect. When I was arrested, the guards could not help but recognize the authority of the Father in me, so that they even moved back when I spoke. When I was before Pilate, I was weak and humiliated, yet he recognized the authority of God and was frightened by this power in me, he who was the person of highest power and authority in all the country. When I came to teach in synagogues, people sensed the authority of the Father in me, an authority that was evident both to men and to impure spirits, and they wondered about the fragile authority that they saw in their teachers. 

In the same way, I invite you to stop being seduced by fragile and shaky human authorities, whether in the world or in your churches. Respect your leaders, because God has delegated a part of his authority to them, to bring some order on earth, but seek first the kingdom of God. Learn the lesson of the centurion, who had realized that authority must be received by obedience to a higher power in order to be manifested, and the highest authority is from God (see Matthew 8:5-13). The authority of God in you can be received only through a loving obedience to us. Then you will manifest our authority in this world, then love and authority will be united in you, then you will be free from the prison of pleasing people. The Father does not change in his love, he is so much more stable than humans. 

Receive our love and follow me, learn to walk as a child of the Father, so that you can be released from all these idols that tear you heart apart and crush your spirit. Seek this stability in us, and you will be freed from the wavering approval of inconsistent humans. Seek this stability in your relationship with me, and you will have my peace that surpasses all understanding. Then, you will not fear even if you go through the valley of the shadow of death because I will be with you, and you will join me and be forever in the place prepared for you in heaven. 
By learning to welcome your identity of child of God, you will find the only deep stability and peace that can be found in this wavering world. You will then participate in our loving authority as a son or daughter of the Heavenly Father. 

Who Is the Messiah? (Mark 12:35-37)

Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’ Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?”

The large crowd heard him gladly. (12:34-37)

As the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem tried to trap me in my words, I also wanted to show them the limitations of their understanding. When people repeat the same things, they are convinced that they are right, yet this can be an illusion. With the scribes, they thought that they knew well which texts were speaking of the Messiah, like this text from Psalm 110. They also stressed that the Messiah was the son of David. The problem is that David was speaking in Psalm 110 of a Lord, not of a son. This was just one way to show that their theory was fragile, that they did not know clearly who the Messiah would be. 

It was important for me to open people to the fact that they did not know well who would be the Messiah, and what would be his purpose, because they had many false expectations. One of the things people could not imagine is that the Messiah would die, and die shamefully on a cross. Their idea of a Messiah, even in the case of my close disciples, did not make room for that. This was a shocking surprise for Peter and all the others, and my imprisonment and crucifixion became a stumbling block for many. When people follow a leader, they expect that he will protect them well. They never thought that the type of protection I would offer was not for an easy life on earth, but for an eternal life with us. The cross was such a shock for all, my cross and the cross I would invite my disciples to carry as they follow me. 

In light of this passage, remember that it is not only in analyzing texts, like the scribes did then, that you will build a good image of who I am and how I minister. That was the mistake of the Jewish leaders then. This is still the mistake of many Jewish or Christian leaders today. It is only in fellowship with me that you will be weaned from your misunderstandings concerning my ministry and how I want you to follow me. Ask the Holy Spirit to dwell in you and to teach you. Ask me to explain to you. With the Holy Spirit, we will lead you to the Father of love, to eternal life in us. 

Entering On the Path of Divine Friendship (Mark 12:28-34)

One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”

Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  (12:28-30)

This question of the ‘greatest commandment’ is extremely important. The Father is not complicated, and His call for all humanity is very simple. He wants each human to learn to love him. The love described should encompass all you are: your heart, soul, mind and strength. In order to develop this love for the Father, you need an intimate relationship with God. From the first days of the creation, the Father wanted to dialogue freely with humans, like he began with Adam and Eve. Sin has created distance and confusion. 

I came to reestablish fully the relationship between God and humanity. I came to give the example of what it means to fully love the Father. I dialogued with Him every day, I followed His directions in all I did. Today, people often confuse loving God with following a set of instructions. As Paul said rightly, the Spirit gives life, but the letter kills. If you want to learn to love us, you need a living and vibrant relationship with us. 

Prayer should become a way of life for you. Don’t imagine that reading a book will be enough, even the holy book of Scriptures. Scriptures speak about me, and you need to come to us, you need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. This is not an option. If you limit yourself to apply Biblical principles but don’t learn to speak and listen to us every day, you will not be able to develop a strong relationship with God as a child with a father, it will be at best the relationship of a servant with his master. This is not our goal. 

What we desire is fellowship with each human, we want to teach divine friendship. This is how the Father taught Abraham, who followed Him through dialogue with Him, through dialogue with me. Abraham saw my day, and he already knew me. In this way, Abraham became a friend of God. With my disciples, I taught them that they had to start by obeying me, obeying my love for them, and as they learned to welcome my words and put them into practice, they moved from the status of servants to the status of friends. My disciples could learn this divine friendship with me. This love encompasses heart, soul, mind and strength, and can be achieved only through dialoguing with me and remaining with me. Living in my presence would not have been enough, they needed both my presence and to dialogue with me. 

In the same way, for you to learn to love us, you need to experience our presence, that is why I sent the Holy Spirit. By welcoming the Holy Spirit, this personal fire of love, you become able to welcome my presence and the truth that is in me, because the Holy Spirit and I are one, like the Father and I are one. This is why I said to the Samaritan woman that the Father was seeking worshippers who would worship in spirit and in truth. 

As you learn to welcome the Holy Spirit, as you learn to speak to us, as you learn to ask us questions and to listen to our answers, you will become able to develop this divine friendship with us. As you learn to welcome our words, to put them into practice, you will grow in us. For developing your relationship with us, the Bible will be of great importance. Don’t use it as a tool to master knowledge, use it rather as a help to develop dialogue with us. Read a text and ask me a question when you don’t understand, then learn to listen to my answer. Sometimes, I will encourage you to simply access a study Bible that contains clarification of the culture of the Bible, often I will speak to you and accompany you in your understanding. 

When you begin to read the Bible, remember that it is not a tool for introspection but for relationship with us. Therefore, make sure you first invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, that you ask the Father to send you His Holy Spirit so that you will be able to understand. Then, as you sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, we will want you to dialogue with us as you read, then you will learn better who we are. Some people want to speak with us and to listen to us without being serious in reading with us the Bible, and this is so often a presumptuous attitude, specially when a Bible is easily available. There are cases when we will lead people without using the Bible, where a Bible is difficult to find or dangerous to use. For those who cannot read easily, we can use others to tell them the stories of the Bible, so that they meditate these stories and learn about us, so that they can come to us and speak with us. In all this, our goal is to teach humans how to love as we love. 

It is practically impossible for a wife to really learn to love her husband without a frequent communication, without hearing often from her husband - and not only read letters of the past that he had sent to her years ago. In the same way, it is impossible for my Church to learn to love me without listening to my voice. This is not an option if you want to learn to enter in my love, to learn to love us with all your heart, soul and strength. The Bible is a powerful channel of our grace, use it as you welcome the Holy Spirit, and let him guide you to fellowship with us. 

Learn to spend time in prayer with us in your secret place. As you learn to do that, you will be able to progressively speak and listen to us, and you will also learn to dialogue with me during your days. Don’t forget, we are not looking for slaves but to teach you how to be our friend. For this you have to drop all that is offensive to us, all sin and impurity, and we will assist you if you are willing to follow our guidance. Then you will learn to dialogue with us, not only when you have a need, but simply because you want this divine fellowship to embrace all the instants of your days. Sometimes you will simply rejoice in our presence, at other times you will discuss with us, sometimes you will do something with us. This is a real love relationship that we want, not a theoretical relationship filled with big and complex words. 

Learn, through the tender and pure Holy Spirit, to welcome our presence in you throughout your days. Learn to listen to us and to dialogue with us in times of prayer in your room as well as in the activities of your day. Then, the fire of continual prayer will be kindled and become stable in your heart and our love will spread in all you say and all you do. In this way you will become one of our many friends, you will rejoice continually and bring our fruits of love in this needy world. In this way, you will learn to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. 

As you learn to be our friend, by welcoming our loving direction and obeying our guidance in all the areas of your life, your desire will be united with our desire, your will with our will, and you will discover that you can ask and it will be given to you. All you do will succeed, simply because you have learned to remain in our divine friendship, simply because you have moved from servant to friend, simply because I will be in you as you are in me. Your joy will be our joy, my peace your peace. Pride and self-centeredness will not have any more place, neither self-criticism. You will be able to remain in the flow of our grace, to know us as we know you, and you will begin to experience what eternal life is already on earth, before joining us for ever in heaven. 

The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (12:31)

As you learn to welcome our love through the Holy Spirit, as you learn divine friendship, we will invite you to learn to love your neighbor and all our creation. We will guide you to desire, as we desire, to share this loving friendship with many. You will have to take the risk of loving even your enemy, simply because our love in you will compel you to do so. If anyone does not love his neighbor or even his enemy, it simply means that he has not yet learned to remain in our love.

I learned to love enemies thanks to the support and love of the Father, this is what I showed when I forgave on the cross those who killed me. In the same way, learn to forgive so that you remain in our love, so that we forgive you all your sins. Learn to forgive yourself and to love the creation we are doing in you. Learn to accept your weakness, so that we can lead you deeper in our path of love. Learn to forgive so that you let us judge rightly and don’t pretend to be a better judge than us. Learn to forgive so that you can walk by faith in us and in the confidence that we will judge rightly each person. Learn to forgive, so that you stop focusing on sin and learn to focus on grace and love. 

We cannot force anyone to friendship with us, as you cannot force friendship neither. Yet, we will encourage you to do all you can to share the love that we pour into your heart with many, so that they come to discover the treasure that you have discovered, this life of peace and joy that is possible with us. This joyful life is a pearl of great price, and there is such a pearl for each human. For this pearl, it is worth giving away all that you had before. You will naturally want to lovingly encourage others to give away all of their self-centeredness and pride, in order to acquire their priceless pearl also, to acquire the Holy Spirit, to acquire our divine love and friendship, this heavenly treasure that cannot be stolen or destroyed. 

Nothing in your world compares to the happiness that you can discover in the fellowship with us. This is the goal of your creation. As you live this love you will learn to love your neighbors and to do all you can to help them discover our love and peace.  

The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from God’s Kingdom.”

No one dared ask him any question after that. 

This scribe was very sensitive to our love, and he did not try to react to my answer but chose to approve what I said. He still needed to experience this love for himself, but he already knew that it was the right direction for every believer. He was not far from the Kingdom of God. 

He had understood that the burnt offerings and sacrifices were designed to bring people to this love, that they were not an end in themselves. In the same way, my sacrifice was not an end in itself, but a means toward the goal of love. It is out of love for the Father, it is out of love for humanity, that I chose to offer my life as a sacrifice for many. Nobody forced me, not even the Father. I offered my life freely, in order to open the eyes and hearts of many to the love of the Father. Love was the origin and the goal of the cross. 

Never seek suffering, but don’t let neither the fear of suffering destroy your love. You cannot have two masters, you cannot learn to love and to avoid suffering. If you want to avoid suffering, you will not learn much in this life and you will have to become dead inside, you will lose all that makes humanity joyful and beautiful. 

If you decide to learn to love with us as your guides, if you follow me as your shepherd toward the love of the Father, there will be sacrifices, but take courage, I have overcome the world and I will lead you to participate in my victory. In this way, you will enter fully in the Kingdom of the Father, and you will rejoice in this divine friendship for which you have been created. 

Living a Life that Leads to Eternal Love (Mark 12:18-27)

There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.” (12:18-23)

The Sadducees were in charge of overseeing the temple, an authority given to them by the Romans. They did not believe in angels, they did not believe in prophets other than Moses, and they did not believe in the resurrection. I was in the temple, and they wanted to discredit me. The method they used was to prove logically that resurrection was absurd and incoherent. If there was indeed a resurrection, then a woman who had been widowed and married then to another man would have more than one husband in heaven. They made their story  with seven husbands, to show that resurrection would not only hard to imagine but plainly ridiculous. They were thinking with a focus on what they know on earth, not on what they learn in the communion with God. They imagined heaven as a place where things are the same as on earth. This is not the case, there are common points, but there are differences. 

Jesus answered them, “Isn’t this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (12:24-25)

To correct this mistake, also for those who listened to this discussion, I had to stress two points. I needed to stress key elements already embedded in Scriptures, and to also explain how the power of the Father is at work in the resurrection. In the resurrection, there are many common elements, but also differences. You will also have a body, but this body will be glorified and different from your earthly body. It will become a heavenly body. Paul speaks about it (see 1 Corinthians 15). 

Below is the text on the subject of ‘becoming like angels’ in the book ‘Lord, Open my Eyes that I May See’ (link: www.amazon.com/Lord-Open-Eyes-That-May-ebook/dp/B00R6STE2O)

Angels Don’t Marry - Role of Sexuality: For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. (Mt 22:30)

Angels don’t marry together or with other creatures. We designed marriage for humans on earth, and sexuality is an important part of it. You have been created in a way that encourages you to fellowship with one another. The Father has embedded pleasure in sexuality to encourage this bonding. For humans, it has to be protected by a faithful relationship - the marriage covenant. Sexuality is a beautiful tool for teaching humans the value of bonding for life. In Leviticus 18 and 20, we have given you boundaries that will bless your marriage relationship. Without these boundaries, you end up destroying instead of creating.

As you learn to love and to be faithful to a wife or a husband on this earth, you learn what agape^⁠ love can be (a pure and generous love), how a relationship can become a source of life, how two humans can become three. You participate in the work of creation, so that as humans become parents in a covenant of marriage, they learn how God the Father wants to let His power flow through them. It is one of the greatest joys of life - to give life in fellowship. We have embedded in sexuality both the joy of fellowship and the joy of participating in the act of creation - procreation as people say it.

As you learn these lessons of faithful love and participation in the creative acts of the Father, we are preparing you for the resurrection, where the scaffolding of sexuality can be removed, where these joys of fellowship and creation have been so well learned that they have become part of who you are. I, Yeshoua, did not use this scaffolding, yet I was in perfect communion with the Father during all my life, and participated in the Father’s creative power on earth in resurrecting persons. You also, on earth, are invited to this divine fellowship, to be married with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and to give birth with us to new relationships of love and grace, to let the miracle of love flow through you. Angels have learned to participate in our fellowship and creative acts. Worship is a key part of it.

In worshipping the Father, you learn to value all He does, you learn to love Him and His works, and with us you become a participant in his working power, in his loving creativity. The Father is not done with creating, he is always creating, and wants you and each human to participate forever in this creative love, with the holy angels. Worship is not boring but the place of creation with the Father, with the Holy Spirit and with me. With you, in you and through you, we create new life in and around you. You discover the creative power of God and how wonderful it is - This is the dance of creation.

In your human life, enjoy this creative and beautiful scaffolding of sexuality, but don’t miss its purpose - to teach the value of faithful relationships and of co-creating with the Father. Keep the essence of sexuality and prepare with us for eternity, where the scaffolding will be removed while the joys of fellowship and creation will remain.

One of the reasons why this scaffolding needs to be removed at one point is that it requires an exclusivity - one man, one woman - that would become a hindrance to continual worship in the fellowship of the saints. The exclusiveness that is required from sexuality is very important on earth. When people break this spiritual law that we gave, they invite major curses in their lives, one of them being AIDS or other diseases that result from this disobedience. We never desire curses, but when people move away from the protection of our covenant with humanity they experience the painful consequences of this break of covenant.

The devil has learned to use the power of sexuality to seduce people into disobedience, blinding them to the losses and focusing them on the fleeting pleasures. This brings them always more toward their basic instincts and always further from the divine calling to love. Images are often used for this wicked seduction, and you have to learn to recognize when pictures or scenes attract you away from us and from the purity that gives you peace. The joys of fellowship with us are so much deeper than these fleeting moments of sexual pleasure. In these moments, people have to keep their heart away from self-centeredness and keep an attitude of servant for the other. We created humanity, and thus we know the beauty of sexuality as well as its necessary boundaries for real and pure pleasure to take its root. The devil tries to grab domains of our creation as if he was their master, but it is just a delusion - he is not the master of sexuality but only the perverter of it. Keep your eyes from this greed for power that sexual images try to awaken in humans. It brings short lived pleasures and long term bitterness.

With the Father of love, we are the founders of what love is and how to receive and give love in this world. Learn with us what are the long term holy pleasures of life, and accept to go through the short lived pains of purification and sacrificial love. This way, you will be well prepared for eternal life with us, and avoid the bitterness of death. You will be ready to take your place with the angels in the heavenly spheres. You will be ready for the new creation, for the new Jerusalem that will be free from sin and pain, where tears and death will not be seen.

But about the dead, that they are raised; haven’t you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken.” (12:26-27)

If the Sadducees were mistaken about the power of God at work in the resurrection of bodies, they were also mistaken in their understanding of Scriptures. Scriptures are supposed to be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit, they should not become a text to analyze in autonomy from us. In studying without the Holy Spirit, may have created controversial teachings and brought divisions instead of harmony and communion with us. The Scriptures are not an end in themselves, they come from us and lead to us. They witness about me, yet many are not willing to come to me and to listen to me. We want to guide the believers in their reading of Scriptures, so that they come closer to us. In reading Scriptures, we would like to help people to learn to love as we love, in holiness and with our power. Yet, many want to control and prove things in order to use Scriptures for their own selfish goals, to show off, to look intelligent, to be ‘original’. This is so foolish and harmful. 

With respect for the Sadducees, I argued in a way they could accept, in a way they would listen to. Since they believed that only the first five books of the Bible were authoritative, the ‘Torah’ or ‘Pentateuch’, I mentioned one verse from the Torah: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’, when the Father had spoken to Moses (see Exodus 3:6). By stressing that God is the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac, the Father stressed that this relationship with the patriarchs is not finished, that they are still alive. That is why I told them that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 

As you learn to have fellowship with me, to welcome me as your Savior and Lord, you learn to welcome my life in you, the life of God. My life in you will lead you beyond death. Eternal life begins already as you learn to know the Father, as you learn to know me in a personal and intimate relationship, as you learn to dialogue with me in prayer and let the Spirit dwell in you. Eternal life is not only about the confession of a moment, but about a way of life - remaining in me and I in you, it is about living by faith, walking in the Spirit. If human fathers - who are not very good - know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. Encourage people to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit. Also, when you stand in prayer, forgive so that it will be forgiven to you. Repent of dead works and welcome the Holy Spirit by faith. As you welcome the Holy Spirit, as you welcome me as your savior, learn to speak to us and to listen to us. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. In this way, you will learn to develop this fellowship with us that gives you eternal life, and I will lead you throughout your life on earth. I am the good shepherd, listen to me and follow me. 

Mark 11 and 12 StudyMap

Complete StudyMap of the Gospel of Mark: Mark

Be Renewed in the Image of God (Mark 12:13-17)

They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. When they had come, they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don’t defer to anyone; for you aren’t partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give?” (12:13-15a)

The Pharisees and the Herodians were very unhappy with my teaching. It was challenging all their authority. The Herodians were trying to show that Herod was a good Jew, and therefore the king of the Jews that was there by God’s will. The Pharisees were trying to prove that the people needed to follow the way they taught them, in order to please God. Both were trying to show how they were representing God, and both were very frustrated that I was representing the Father on earth in a way that they could not match. The Father was doing beautiful miracles of His love through my faithful obedience. They tried to have me do miracles at their request, a distorted attempt to show that I respected their authority. Yet, I could not accept that, because they were not leading people to the Father, but to their human authority and to their many rules. I came to show the simplicity of faith, to guide many to the love of the Father. This has a price, and the Pharisees and the Herodians were trying to trap me, like a hunter traps an animal. Ultimately, they would catch me in their trap and I would die on the cross. Yet, this would happen to show that the Father’s love in me would break the trap of death and release me after three days. 

Pharisees and Herodians wanted to prove they had a real authority, yet they were submitting with frustration to the Roman authority. They knew that the Romans had more authority than them, that they could be crushed or killed by this power which was above their own power. They wanted to get rid of the Romans, but they did not know how. Therefore, they tried to trap me with their question, in the very trap where they were themselves trapped. They asked me if the Jews should pay or not pay taxes to the Romans. 

If I would answer yes, they could tell to the people that I was submitted to the Romans and discredit me as not being the Messiah, since many believed that the Messiah would deliver them from the Romans. That was a wrong idea, but the Father asked me not to contradict this openly, so that many would come to me and discover the real deliverance that I came to offer, this good news of the deliverance from sin and all its consequences. 

If I would say no, I could be denounced to the Romans as an agitator and be imprisoned. They knew that either way, my answer would give them an important help, either to discredit me in front of the people, or to have me arrested. At a logical level, that looked like the perfect trap to stop me. 

But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it.” They brought it. He said to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Jesus answered them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (12:15b-17)

Yet, they forgot that the Father himself had created the logic, and that he could lead me to find a path even in this valley of the shadow of death where they were leading me. The Father led me, through His word in me, by speaking to me, to avoid the trap. As I had lived in the presence of the Father, saying what he told me to say, I followed his direction to get out of this conundrum. 

I asked them to bring me a denarius, the coin used to pay the taxes to Caesar, the Roman emperor. By bringing me a denarius, they showed that indeed they were using Roman money, thus following at a practical level the Roman authority. Their ambiguity and contradictions could then be illustrated, this dispelled the impression that the Pharisees were not submitting to the Roman authority. 

Then, I asked them about the writing and the inscription, about Caesar’s, so that they would be giving themselves the answer to the question they had asked from me. I told them to give back to Caesar what was his. These coins were belonging to Caesar, therefore we could give them back to him. It could look like a childish answer, yet it was a deep answer to their question, plainly recognizing that the human power in Israel in this time was the Roman empire. I did not say whether it was a bad thing or a good thing that the Romans ruled in Israel, mostly because this was not the focus of my ministry. 

My task was not to overthrow the Romans, it was to overthrow the power of sin and death on the people. My name is Jesus, Yeshoua, and it means that God delivers, delivers from sin and from death. that is the deliverance that I came to offer to Israel and to the whole humanity and creation. I did not come for a temporary victory on a temporary enemy. I came to bring God’s eternal victory against evil, to bring the people back to God. 

That is why I added that we should give back to God what is God’s. Each human has been created in the image of God. This image had been seriously damaged by sin, yet the Father sent me to renew His perfect image in humanity, first in me, then in my disciples. So, each human belongs to God, and should return to God, your creator. That was the purpose of my coming, that was the way that John prepared when he preached in the wilderness. He came to bring the children of God back to their Father, so that they could experience the tender love of the Father. The Father did not send me to judge the world, but to save the world. I came to deliver humans from sin and death, to lead them to a living relationship with the Father. 

The Father was in me, speaking and acting through my obedience, so that anyone who saw me could see the Father. This was first not clear to my disciples, but after my death and resurrection they understood it. I came to show God’s love in this world, so that people would return joyfully to Him. The good news is that God loves the world so much that he send me to give my life as a sacrifice for them, to reopen the way to his love and tenderness, a way that had been closed by sin, selfishness and lies. 

The Father is not forcing you to return to him, we are not pushing you but inviting you to this life of love and peace. It is true, you have to renounce to be your own master and judge. You have not been created to judge but to love, to welcome our love and to share it with the world. You have not been created to control your environment, and humans attempts are futile, because you have been created to be guided by the Father’s love. Return fully to the loving Father, let him show His love to you, let us show how much we love you and come to experience a renewed fellowship with us, this good news of God’s love. You have been created to bear in you the image of God and his kingdom of love, to be a kingdom bearer. Come to us and listen to me so that I can lead you back to the Father of love. This was my ministry on earth, that is still the purpose of my presence in those who welcome me through the Holy Spirit, that is the key purpose I want my Church to accomplish on earth. Be renewed in the image of God, learn to carry our love in all you do and all you say, be a kingdom bearer. 

Bring the Fruits of God’s Love in This World (Mark 12:1-12)

He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to tenants, and went into another country. 

When it was time, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them his share of the fruit of the vineyard. They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. (12:1-4)

As the time was coming for me to leave this earth, to give my life as a ransom for many, I revealed through this parable what had happened. Many leaders and kings had persecuted the prophets sent by my Father, to remind our dear people Israel of their purpose, to bring fruits of love and healing for their people and for all the nations. They were not to eat the fruit of their service to God themselves, but were supposed to bring it to the Father, for him to share it with the whole world. That is why the Father was so angry with the money changers who were taking the place in the temple where the nations were supposed to come worship the Father. 

As long as people focus on dry principles and not on the living relationship with God, they will seek to silence those who speak of the Father’s call to love and serve, they will beat and kill our prophets. This problem was very clear in Israel, it is still very clear today. In many parts of my church, people are self-serving. They focus on their little problems and desires, forgetting that their purpose is to be a blessing for the other parts of my body, the Church, and for the whole humanity and the whole creation. It is so painful for me to see the lack of grace between the different parts of my Church, some saying that they are the true ones (implicitly saying that the others are false), others stressing their identity as a criticism of others. So many focus on their little agenda, and not on my goal for the world. I gave one ‘commission’ to my disciples, to bring the good news to all the nations. Yet, this good news has often become a dry intellectual assent, or an emotional moment, or a traditional repetition without passion, and not the ongoing love relationship that I want with each of my disciples. My heart is heavy for my Church, I want so much to see the children of the Father discover the depth of His love, the tenderness of His embrace. I did not come to judge but to save, I did not come to condemn but to deliver. Learn from me, release people through the good news. I am the good news, through me and in me people can find the deliverance they seek, the peace they long for, the happiness they desire. 

So often, people fight for theological ideas, instead of learning to love. Love is not a theory to expound, it is a relationship to live, in faith and obedience to us. We want to teach people to love, first by sharing our love through the Holy Spirit coming in them, to enable them to respond to our love. Then we want them to share this love with their neighbors. Our plan has always been very simple, yet many escape this simplicity by fighting for theories or judgments. We want fellowship with humans, to teach them to speak and listen to us, to ask and receive, to seek and find us, to knock so that we can open the doors of our grace to many. This living fellowship with us is what transforms the world, not the abstract analysis of what this fellowship should be. 

Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. (12:6-8)

What these self-centered leaders did to prophets, they also did to me, because I came to remind them that they should not be self-serving. The purpose was not to build a community of faith that was united behind dry principles that separate them completely from the rest of the world. The goal of the Father was to teach our dear people Israel to love, so that they could pour my love into the whole world. 

This problem of self-centeredness is still so prevalent today, in other religions and in my Church. It is so hard for many to submit to the love of God. We want to teach each person, through a living fellowship with us, that you can learn what true and pure love is, a generous love that is ready to offer itself for the good of the other. I told to my disciples that I would be with them up to the end of the age, that when two or three are united in my name I am in the midst of them. Yet, they consider me so often as distant or as an abstract idea. When I was resurrected, I showed my disciples that I did have my body, that I could even eat. I wanted them to realize that I wanted a real fellowship with them, that they could speak to me and hear me, that I could still act in your world. since I went back to the Father, I want to touch this world through each believer in me, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I want to dwell in you and you in me, so that as I did the works of the Father during my life, we will be able manifest our works of love through you to many. 

What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and will give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone. This was from the Lord, it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (12:9-11)

I did not come to judge but to save. Those who came to trust in me are not judged. Those who reject me reject the Father and will come to judgment, because they did not believe in me, because they rejected the life and the love of the Father. If you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind, if you reject my love and the life with God, you will reap despair and death. This is not our desire, yet it is a direct consequence for those who reject me. Those who refuse to learn to love through the Holy Spirit, who don’t bring the fruits of our tender mercy in this world, who reject me and my path of holy love, will be rejected and destroyed. 

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. I was rejected by the builders, and I became the cornerstone, the foundation of my Church, of my body on earth. I want to act through you, I want to breathe my love to the world through you. That is the way we decided to redeem this world, and we want you to take your place in our plans of love. Build on me as your cornerstone, the foundation of your life. Let us transform you fully in our image, that was the plan since the creation of the first human, so that you may learn to live in joyful fellowship with us. Let the Holy Spirit pour our love in you and through you, this is our desire, and it will be marvelous in your eyes and a blessing for many. 

They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. The left him, and went away. (12:12)

The Jewish leaders realized that I was condemning them, as through me the Father was condemning them, and they wanted to silence me. Yet, the time had not yet come, and their fear of the crowd was still for me a cloak of protection for a few more days, before I would be brought to the cross. The Father would bring the destruction of the temple, the destruction of Israel as a nation only a few years after my death. 

Don’t blame Israel but pray for our dear people. Do not think that this attitude is unique to Israel or to this time, it is widespread in all the countries and all the religions. You can find this violence toward me and my followers in many places. So many in the world kill my disciples in the name of the love of God, to their shame. We love all nations and all the creation. Israel still has a key role to play, as Paul understood well (see Romans 11). Do not try to uncover secrets or the date of my return or to battle about human theories of my return, but rather learn to live in communion with me, to listen to my voice and to learn to express our love in all you are and in all you do. This is the right way to wait for my return. I am coming. Learn to welcome my love through the Holy Spirit, to live in communion with me, to spread this love to those you meet. I have still so many sheep to bring to the sheep pen, be one of my disciples, be one of my assistant-shepherds. 

By What Authority Do You Act and Speak? (Mark 11:27-33)

They came to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders came to him, and they began saying to him, “By what authority do you do these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John - was it from heaven, or from men? Answer me.”

They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we should say, ‘From heaven;’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ If we should say, ‘From men’” - they feared the people, for all held John to really be a prophet. They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (11:27-33)

This was a painful experience for me, to come to the temple, a place where my Father was supposed to rule, and to find that people who did not know my Father were ruling over this place. They challenged my authority to cast out the money changers and to disrupt their business. They did not consider for a moment that what they allowed was in direct opposition to the desire of my Father for the temple. They did not let the Father challenge their wrongfully used authority. Yet, they came to challenge my authority. 

I did not have an answer to give them, but I had a question. Since their authority was not grounded in the Father, it was grounded on another foundation, and I wanted this ground to be revealed so that others could see. It is always good to discern what is the foundation of what you do. In their case, their foundation was on men’s approval, and therefore they needed to please people in order to maintain their status. The Pharisees grounded their authority on their human interpretation of biblical texts and on the people. The Sadducees grounded their authority on the Romans who gave them to rule in the temple. None was really seeking to hear from the living Father, none obeyed the God they spoke about. 

Therefore, I asked them about John. John did not receive his authority to baptize from men but from God, he did not seek the approval of men. In the same way, I received my authority from the Father, and I was not seeking their approval. My question was a problem for them, because they were used to please people, and they knew that John was respected by the people. Yet, John challenged them. John was killed by Herod, and I was going to be killed. John preached a baptism of repentance, and he called all to repent. Many of these leaders did not heed to this call, and stayed away from John. Since their authority was based on men, they did not dare to displease the people, they did not dare to answer my question. Thus, they hid behind hypocrisy, they lied by saying “we don’t know.” 

They tried to confront me and the authority I was grounded on, and I confronted them and their lack of authority. It is always dangerous to enter in open conflict with powerful people. It was dangerous for me and I knew that they would kill me. It was dangerous for them because the Father was in me, and He would soon destroy the temple and the foundation of their impure authority. I did not seek my own authority, I just sought to say what the Father wanted me to say, to do what the Father wanted me to do. They wanted to challenge my authority, and I revealed their lack of real authority. 

It is very important for you to know what is the foundation of what you say, the one you are obeying. Is it grounded on a biblical foundation? Have you learned to listen and to obey to me and to the Father when you pray, in order to find our direction? All true authority comes from the Father. Learn to obey our directions, to follow me in all you say and all you do, and you will discover how you can represent our authority on earth. It is not a matter of pride, but of humility. This is the path I followed on earth, following the Father’s guidance in everything. If you seek to affirm your selfish will, you will not receive the authority of the Father, and ultimately you will lose all authority among men. If you learn from me, if you take my yoke upon you, through the Holy Spirit we will guide you and express our love and authority in you and through you. 

Learn from the centurion, who asked me to heal his servant. He was submitted to a master, and had soldiers under his orders who obeyed him. Because he clearly knew who he was obeying, he had a clear authority. Because of this, he recognized that I also had a real authority, that I was obeying God. He asked me with faith to heal his servant and he knew that I just needed to say a word, which I did. (See Mt 8:5-13).

In your days, what is the Lord of your actions? Is it your belly, a human person, your desire to be seen positively, your own ideas about theology, your desire to play or to flee problems? Learn to meditate on our teachings found in the Bible, learn to listen to us in prayer so that you can apply our teachings every day of your life and in every situation. Learn to walk with me, to do what I tell you to do, to say what I tell you to say. You will then really be my disciple, because you will imitate the path that I followed with the Father. It is not an easy way, but it is a beautiful way, a fruitful and blessed way. Then our love and authority will manifest itself through you as I manifested the love and authority of the Father on earth. 

The Pure Power of Faithfulness (Mark 11:12-26)

The next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus told it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” and his disciples heard it. (11:12-14)

My disciples were very surprised by the harshness that I had concerning this fig tree. As I was going to the temple I knew what the Father wanted me to do. He wanted me to pronounce a judgment against the leaders of Israel. My words against this fig tree were a prophetic announcement of the Father’s judgment. Israel was expected to bring fruits, so that the blessings they received from the Father would flow to many others. God’s love is like a river, if you don’t let it go through you to others, you will become a stagnant water that dies. We want people to let rivers of living water flow through them. I welcomed fully the love of the Father, letting His love flow through me to many others, showing you the way to follow, the path to fruitfulness. 

The problem with this fig tree was that, since the leaves were supposed to come when the fruits are also coming, it was deceiving people. It was giving the impression that it had fruits, yet it had none. This is the problem of many people, who pretend that they can quench your thirst and give you a fruitful direction, while they have none. Don’t look only for leaves, but learn to recognize the fruits. By doing this, you will avoid many pains and frustrations. A good tree brings good fruits, but a bad tree cannot bear good fruits. If a tree brings bad fruits, the Father will cut it and trow it into the fire. The Father has called all the creation to enter into his dance of love and grace. You are invited to enter in this living flow, we want to guide you so that you learn to love us and love your neighbor. Learn to let our love flow through you, to love the whole creation and to manifest our grace and truth all around you. All the rules we give are designed for this express purpose, to lead you to this life filled with our grace and truth. Remain in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit. 

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold  and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city. (11:15-19)

I went to stop the evil fruits of the temple to continue. All the peoples were supposed to come to worship the Father, not only the Jews but also the Gentiles. The Father is not only the Father of Israel, but of all humans. Israel is His firstborn people, and he wants to lead all the nations to him. The outer court was supposed to allow the nations to come and pray there. God wanted His love to flow through Israel to all the nations. Yet, Israel wanted to hoard his grace and love, and to see the other nations crushed before them. That was not the plan of the Father, that will never be his plan. I came to show the example, not keeping for myself the love of the Father, but leading all I could to this love. This is the call of all children of God, of all the people who proclaim that God is their Lord. 

In the temple the place for prayer had been replaced by the location for the money-changers and those who sold animals for temple sacrifices. This was not the right place, it was a way to let money replace prayer in a very important part of the temple courts. You cannot serve both God and money, and you cannot receive God’s grace and not let it flow through you to others. Either you learn to love your neighbor that you see, thus manifesting your love for the Creator, or you try to hoard the blessings of God and you will end up being cut off from the tree of life and thrown into the fire. 

I came to stop this shameful business, this replacement of prayer by money in this sacred place. I stopped everything for a short while. This was just a prophetic sign of what the Father would do. About 40 years later, the temple would be destroyed and the Father would use the pagan Romans to carry out His judgment on this place. In order to carry the words of the Father, I had to accept that those who rebelled against him would persecute me. This has always been a price that prophets have to accept. When people don’t have the love of God in themselves, they will reject Him and reject all those He sends. 

I knew that my actions, like what I did in the temple, were going to lead me to much pain and to death. Yet, I also knew that it was the Father’s will and that he would take care of me, not letting my body see corruption. In your world, you cannot please everyone. At one point you have to choose whether you want to learn to listen to the Father and to me, to let the Holy Spirit guide you, or to choose the voice of men and your own voice as your guide in this world. You will reap the consequences of your choices, and that is a basic principle that the Father has established in the creation. If you sow the wind, you will reap a tempest. If you follow my path of love, you will see fruits of this love appear under each of your steps, you will see flowers of our grace burgeon and shine all around you. Trust in me, trust in the love of the Father, and your life will be like a ray of light leading to the source of light. I am the light of the world, and all those who come to me will find real peace and real joy. 

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered ways to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (11:20-24)

The withered fig tree was a sign of what would happen to the temple, to this hypocritical leadership that pretended to do God’s will while rejecting Him and all those He sent. I did not want the disciples to focus on judgment, but on the authority that the servants of God receive from Him. As my disciples were learning to listen to me and to obey me, they were learning to listen to the Father and do the Father’s will. Whoever sees me sees the Father, and whoever hears my voice hears the Father. I did not do anything without being led by the Father. I modeled through my example how my disciples would then learn from me, by following me in all they say and all they do. This is not theoretical, it is very practical. You can walk with me all the days of your life, you can speak to me and listen to me. We sent the Holy Spirit so that as you welcome our Spirit, you will be able to hear my voice and see me guide your steps. This is why I told my disciples that I would be with them until the end of the age, and that where two or three are united in my name, I am in their midst. 

I encouraged my disciples to have faith in God, to trust God. As you learn to trust the Father and to trust me, to do what we tell you to do, to say what we tell you to say, all you do will succeed. As you learn from me, as you drink from the continual flow of the love of the Father, from his teachings and his grace, our river of love will flow through you and bring many good fruits. You will be like a tree planted by streams of water, bringing fruit in its time. All you will say and do will happen.

It is not because you will have found a specific technique, a magical trick to get your way. To the contrary, as you deny your self-centeredness and let our grace flow in you through your faithfulness, you will be with me, you will take my yoke upon you, you will carry your cross, and you will learn to love. You will then be able to let our love flow through you and transform those around you. It is the power of our love that will transform you and those around you. You will not fear anything, because perfect love casts out fear. 

You will learn to pray with confidence, certain that as you learn to speak the words we put in your heart, these words will come to pass. The flower fades and the grass withers, but the word from the Father will not return to him empty. Our words, as you welcome them, will bring their fruits in you and around you. Learn to enter in the flow of our grace, learn to remain in this flow, and you will be amazed at the works the Father will do through you. You will dance of joy, when you see how our love will transform many through your faithfulness. Have faith in me, have faith in the Father. Welcome in you the same faithfulness that was in me. Learn from me to serve and love. I am man and I am God. I came to show you what faith is, what faithfulness to the Father can do. As you follow my path, as you imitate my faithfulness, as you let my words rule in you, as you listen to me and do what I show you, you will do even greater things than what I did. This should not be a subject of pride, but of gratefulness. This is what the flow of our love and grace will do in you and through you. 

Learn to walk by faith in us, learn to obey our guidance, learn to shine of our light in this world. Then, the trees with rejoice and the birds will sing of joy. All the creation is eagerly awaiting for the revelation of the sons and daughters of God. Take your place as a child of God, learn to follow me in all you say and all you do, and you will see the power of love flow through you and bless many. That was my promise to my disciples, that is still my promise to you today. 

Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your transgressions.” (11:25-26)

As you learn to follow my path of love, you cannot continue to judge people. Even those who have harmed you deeply, you should forgive them. It is a key rule in your relationship with us. When you come to us in prayer, this is the first thing to do, to forgive and to ask for forgiveness if you have done something wrong. The more violent a person has been toward you, the more important it is for you not to let the venom of unforgiveness go through your veins. When you don’t forgive, when you want to condemn someone who harmed you, you are taking the position of judge, you are thus rejecting your identity of son of God, and you therefore hinder significantly the flow of our love for you. You need our love, you need our grace, you need our blessings to move forward in the plans of life that we have for you. When someone refuses to forgive, it is like if this person says that he does not need our blessings. It is foolish and harmful. 

When I was on the cross, I showed the way, forgiving those who crucified me. It is very important. To forgive means that you renounce to judge the person for the harm they have caused you, and that you hand this judgment over to the Father. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn your brother for his faults, because you are often not aware of how much you have harmed others. The Father did not send me to condemn humans, but to show the way of deliverance, that many would find life through me. Forgiveness does not mean that you will be very close to the person who harmed you, in fact sometimes it will be wise for you to stay away from someone who harmed you. Yet, don’t let the poison of unforgiveness harm your heart, don’t let an offense lead your life toward darkness. 

Let our love for you be and remain more important that any offense you suffer, let the fellowship with us remain the strongest relationship in your life, and you will be happy. I came to bring real happiness, a happiness that overflows in eternal life. This happiness is not self-centered and judging, it is humble and joyful. This happiness receives the love of the Father and learns to follow me, to listen to me and to the Father, full of the Holy Spirit as a temple of God. Do not let any harm or impurity rule in the temple of your body, forgive and welcome fully the love of the Father. You will then discover the pure power of faithfulness, the joyful transformation of an obedient faith in God.