“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:26)

Then he got into a boat and his disciples accompanied him. And soon there rose a great storm on the sea, and the boat was besieged by waves. Yet Jesus was asleep. Then his disciples awoke him, saying, “Master, save us, for we will perish.” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith.” Then he got up and admonished the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. Thus the men were amazed, saying “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and seas obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27 Lost Gospels)

What does Jesus mean by 'little faith"?

The phrase "of little faith" here is being translated from the Greek word ὀλιγόπιστος (oligopistos), which also means, "trusting too little" according to the lexicon.

Most people who read this story focus on Jesus’ calming the winds. However, the bigger lesson was Jesus’ statement about faith.

“You of little faith,” Jesus says. Faith in what? Is he saying they lack faith in Jesus’ ability to calm the winds? Why would he chastise them for having little faith in him when he was sleeping?

Because Jesus is not referring to his disciples’ faith in Jesus’ ability to calm the waves.

Jesus is speaking of a lack of trust in the Supreme Being’s ability to protect them, even in the worst of times, and the worst of calamities. By the disciples worrying about drowning, they were testifying that they had no confidence in God’s ability to protect them.

Jesus' point is that this trust is fundamental in our relationship with God. God is our Creator and our Protector. Why would He not take care of us? God takes care of everyone. This is part of our relationship with Him. This is part of His Personality. Whether we want to admit it or not, not only did the Supreme Being create us, but the Supreme Being is our Best Friend, our Confidant, and our only real Protector. He cares for us as no one else can.

By Jesus’ sleeping through the storm, he illustrated his own trust in the Supreme Being. He did not awaken worried that the storm might drown him.

We must also trust that we are being taken care of by the Supreme Being - even in death. Death is only the discontinuation of this physical body. It is not our actual death. The spirit (each of us) leaves the temporary physical body at the time of death.

However, our destination is ultimately our choice. If we decide now to depend upon God and put our full faith in God, then we will not worry about our destination at the time of death. The Supreme Being will guide us back to Him should we completely rely upon Him.

Should we fear God?

Fear is an expression of self-centeredness. The inner self is worried about the body because the self wants to enjoy this body. The self wants to preserve the body to continue eating, sleeping, and having sex. The self wants to keep the body going to continue living in the dream of potential enjoyment.

The problem with this is that the body brings no real fulfillment. It is an illusion of enjoyment. It is like dreaming. Our dreams are transitory. We might feel that we enjoy them for a moment, but as soon as we awaken they disappear. These bodies are traveling through a temporary slipstream of matter more real than a dream, but just as transitory. Thus there is no permanence.

When we see the world as something to enjoy, this is like a mirage. It is like being in a desert and thinking we see the ocean. We reach into the sand expecting water. While thinking we will touch water, we only grab more sand.

Is the material world an illusion?

The material world is like sand in that it is devoid of happiness. It is dry. It contains no real pleasure. It only appears to contain pleasure when we look into the future with expectation. This is what is called temptation.

But we can see around us that no one- even the richest movie stars, kings, and presidents who have all the fame and money, and power we seek - is fulfilled. This is illustrated by the drug use, suicides, divorce, and other symptoms of emptiness among those with wealth, fame, and power.

We are still tempted to think that we will be happy if we get those things. This mechanism of the material world to tempt us is often referred to in the scriptures as satan or the devil. 

While the mechanism of temptation does exist, it is quite certainly under the Supreme Being’s control. It is a mechanism designed to teach us and test us - to hopefully wake us up from our self-centered illusion that we will be happy without the Supreme Being.

And as for Jesus' ability to rebuke the waves? This ability also came from the Supreme Being: All power and authority come from God because He owns and controls everything.

“Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him,  but I know him because I am from Him and He sent me.” (John 7:28-29)

“According to your faith will it be done to you.” (Matthew 9:29)

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. (Matt. 9:27-30)

What does 'according to your faith' mean?

Was he trying to show everyone that he was a successful healer with this statement? No, he was making a point about faith.

The four Gospels only reveal 27 times where Jesus healed someone or cleansed someone. This is out of thousands - if not tens or even hundreds of thousands - of people who came into contact with Jesus by attending one of his sermons or seeing him travel through a town or village.

This would mean that either Jesus' healing power was extremely limited, or healing was not his primary purpose.

Most take this "faith" in the visible - as in faith in Jesus, or the ability of Jesus to produce a healing effect. However, this interpretation would be inconsistent with Jesus’ other statements regarding who he was.

Certainly, Jesus was standing in front of these people, so they didn’t need any faith to accept his existence. He was right there in front of them.

And since he had healed other people, he didn’t need any faith in his ability to heal. There was already significant evidence for this.

The word "faith" is being translated from the Greek word πίστις (pistis). This can certainly be translated to "faith" as in "belief." But its meaning in this context is confirmed by the lexicon as "the character of one who can be relied on."

Jesus was speaking of relying upon the Supreme Being. He was speaking of trusting in God.

This trust - this reliance upon the Supreme Being, is not only why but also how Jesus healed.

Consider this clear statement by Jesus:

"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matt. 26:53)

Jesus is clearly stating the source of his power and authority - they are coming from the Supreme Being. This also illustrates that Jesus himself was relying upon the Supreme Being.

And he was requesting that others also rely upon the Supreme Being as well.

Do we have freedom of choice?

Some postulate that our fate is sealed. Everything is planned out in advance and we have no choice over the matter. This is called predestination. Others contend everything is random and everything takes place by chance. This is called the chaos theory.

Neither of these is true. Yes, there is a design to the physical world, and there is a plan determined for each of our lives. But the physical world still allows us to have a broad range of freedom of choice.

This is because the physical world has been set up to provide a learning experience - one where we get to make choices, and then deal with the consequences of those choices.

We dwell within these temporary bodies for a period of time because of our inclination for independence from God. So God arranged a dimension and temporary vehicles - the physical body - so we could learn.

 This means that we are not these physical bodies. These bodies are coverings over our real selves.

In fact, these “garments of skin" (Genesis 3:21) were designed to shield us from our spiritual identities as children of the Supreme Being. We wanted our independence - symbolized by Adam and Eve eating the fruit. Since we wanted our independence, God gave us a dimension where we could ignore His existence for a while.

Consider what a parent might do if a child were to tell his parents in a fit of rage to get away from him. They might put the child into their room and close the door, so the child could be "on their own" for a while. As the child gets older, some parents might even build a treehouse or something in the backyard, all to give the child their own "space."

While the parents still own the house and the backyard, these facilities - the room and treehouse - give the child a sense of independence from the parents.

The Supreme Being does the same thing with this physical world. He is everywhere and He owns everything. We are also His children. There is really no way to get away from Him, but He created a virtual space where we get to feel independent from Him. This gives us the freedom to choose whether we want to be with Him or not.

This is because love requires the freedom to choose.

What will we choose?

For those who choose to love Him, He set up a way to return to Him. This path, however, is built upon trust. We must first trust in His existence despite what our physical eyes see. Though the world presents us with the possibility that He does not exist, if we trust that He exists - even going against our senses - we begin the process along the path towards returning to Him.

Think about it. Let's say we had a loving friend for many years, and suddenly that friend said they wanted to leave our friendship and get away. Because of our love for them (and pain) we would surely let them go, yes? Why would we want to stay in touch with them after they rejected us? They indicated they wanted to be away from us. Certainly, we would keep our distance, yes?

But say one day the distanced friend called us out of the blue. Would we immediately embrace them and let them back into our life after they had rejected us and told us they didn’t want anything to do with us before?

Most people would most likely be a little distant at first, and wait for them to prove they indeed wanted to return to our friendship. We might even question their sincerity. Are they sure they want to return to our relationship again? Or do they have an ulterior motive?

Certainly, there would be a warming period, where we go slow and see what is going on. Are they sincere or not? Are they committed to a relationship or will they leave again on a whim?

These are natural tendencies of relationships because relationships are universal for living beings. Why? Because our happiness is built upon relationships. Because we were created by the Supreme Being to exchange a relationship with Him. As such, the key to being happy is rekindling our relationship with God.

But just as we might want a lost friend who re-approaches us to be serious this time - the Supreme Being also wants us to be serious. This is why there is a period of testing involved as we approach the Supreme Being. It is not as if He doesn't know our intentions though. He wants us to realize our lack of seriousness. And He wants us to become more serious.

Will heaven bring us happiness?

Many institutions and teachers talk about heaven as some sort of perfect life here on earth. Some even paint the whole picture: We are sipping lemonade on lounge chairs under an umbrella in perfect weather, or floating in the clouds playing harps. Others talk about "heaven on earth” as though if we could just get rid of all the wars and hatred, we would be happy living here.

All these scenarios barely even mention the Supreme Being - and then only as sitting in judgment on a big throne somewhere or floating around nebulously. Either way, He is put in the background, out of the way.

Basically, we are looking for heaven without the Supreme Being.

However, this concept of heaven will not bring happiness. This will not solve the main problems of life: Loneliness, emptiness, and a craving for pleasure.

Why do we look for our perfect mate?

We are all craving a perfect loving relationship with the perfect person. That perfect love will fulfill us. For this reason, most of us are continually looking for that perfect mate.

However, as soon as we think we have found the perfect mate, we soon realize that they are not perfect. Then we spend the rest of the relationship working on the relationship in an attempt to make the relationship perfect. Or the relationship ends in divorce because we want to continue looking for the perfect person elsewhere. The reason we continually look for the perfect mate here on earth - and never finding it - is because we are searching for our lost relationship with the Supreme Being - the Perfect Person.

In other words, we have been separated from our original perfect relationship with the Perfect Person, God. The reason so many of us are lonely and unhappy - even when we are surrounded by so-called friends and family - is because we are without our Best Friend and our real Family.

So trusting in the Supreme Being is the first step of re-developing our relationship with Him. When we learn to rely upon God, we find that He gradually reveals Himself to us. And as we take actions to progress in our relationship with the Supreme Being He opens up more and more, allowing us to come to know Him and love Him. This is the goal of life, as communicated by Jesus:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27)

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." (Matt. 14:22-27)

Why should they 'take courage'?

The phrase, "take courage" is being translated from the Greek word θαρσέω (tharseō). This word means "to be of good cheer" as well as "to be of good courage" according to the lexicon.

This term relates to facing an adversity. To be of good courage or good cheer in the face of something that is tenuous or dangerous means not only facing that adversity, but rising above it.

In this case, the adversity was the boat being tossed, but also Jesus walking on the water next to the boat. Such a sight (seeing Jesus walking on the water) was frightening the disciples. So he asked them to rise above their fear.

How could they rise above their fear?

Jesus’ statement indicates that he wants his disciples to rise above their fear by trusting him and trusting the Supreme Being.

Jesus is asking for trust because trust is the key to faith. This is the central foundation for building a relationship of love.

Consider this in our family or personal lives. Could we have faith in someone we didn’t trust?

While many in organized religion focus on faith as trusting that God exists, or that Jesus died for their sins, real faith means trusting that the Supreme Being is someone we can love and serve: and take shelter of.

In other words, we can trust that the Supreme Being is our Best Friend.

What was the purpose of Jesus walking on water?

Why did Jesus walk out to them on the water surface? Was he trying to show them how great he was?

This is the takeaway that many teach: That Jesus is proving that he was incredible.

However, that is a short-sighted motive. Such a motive makes Jesus seem egotistical - that he was trying to prove himself to others, and show how great he was.

Actually, this wasn't the purpose of Jesus walking out on the water. The purpose was to teach his disciples to trust him and to trust in the Supreme Being.

This is because Jesus is teaching about Someone (the Supreme Being) they could not see with their physical eyes.

Should we trust in God?

This is the critical point about coming to know and love the Supreme Being. We can certainly love someone without trusting them. But to exchange a loving relationship, we need to have trust in the person we love.

Because we rejected our relationship with the Supreme Being at some point in our past, He escorted us to a place - the physical world - where we didn’t have to see Him anymore.

This is the physical world. We were given these temporary physical bodies and this temporary physical world in order to be virtually away from the Supreme Being.

Just as an automobile allows a person to become separated from contact with nature - as we drive on asphalt in a vehicle made of steel and plastic - this physical body separates us from our spiritual selves and our connection with the Supreme Being. These physical eyes aren't able to see the Supreme Being and this physical mind cannot perceive the Supreme Being for a reason: They were designed to shield us from the Supreme Being.

The Supreme Being is spiritual, and each of us is a spiritual living being. We are eternal, while this physical body is temporary. This is why we struggle so much to survive - because we are eternal by nature.

Out of love, God still wants us back. But only if we choose to return to Him. Because love requires freedom, only we can make that choice to return to our loving service relationship with Him.

He does not make this process easy and for good reason. We can use a modern-day example:

Consider what would happen if a person abused their spouse and got kicked out of the house, but then got accepted back in just because they said "sorry." This would make it easy for them to abuse their spouse again because there was little in the way of consequence for the last time they did it. This is often referred to as enabling. If a person allows someone to abuse them or abuse themselves with no consequences, then that person is enabling the abuse. They are not doing anything to remedy the issue.

This is not so different from our situation, because we have abused our original relationship with the Supreme Being. We have turned on our Best Friend and Loving Advocate.

God is perfect. He thus has set up the perfect consequential environment - the physical world. The physical world has all the mechanisms that guide us and teach us; allowing us the ability to make good choices and gradually become healed.

This gradual improvement is what evolution is all about. As our spirit evolves, we are taught various lessons regarding relationships, care and love. We are repeatedly taught that caring for others and helping others makes us happy. We are taught that self-centeredness and greed stimulate anger, frustration, and competition - which harbor emptiness. As we evolve through the various lessons this physical world delivers, we finally arrive at the opportunity to renew our relationship with the Supreme Being.

How can we have a relationship with God?

Coming to know God means being introduced. This is why Jesus came to the earth. Jesus had a relationship with God and he introduced others to that relationship.

The Supreme Being reaches out to us through His messenger. Why? Because part of the education required is to understand the relationships that exist between the Supreme Being and His children. Who better to introduce this to us than one who is involved in such a relationship?

From there it is our choice. Do we receive God’s messenger’s hand and trust him to introduce us to the Supreme Being? Or do we become attracted by the pomp and circumstance of organized religion or the various temptations of the physical world?

This is Jesus’ lesson here to Peter and his other students in the boat. He wants his students to trust him, so Jesus can introduce them to his loving Master and Father: the Supreme Being - Whom they can trust and rely upon.

“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew. 14:31)

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matt. 14:28-31)

What does 'you of little faith' mean?

The phrase "you of little faith" in Jesus' statement is being translated from the Greek word ὀλιγόπιστος (oligopistos). This word means "of little faith, trusting too little" according to the lexicon.

Thus Jesus' use of the word "faith" is not the kind of faith that implies confidence in someone's existence. Peter already had that kind of faith. He accepted God's existence and accepted Jesus' existence.

The kind of faith that Jesus is asking of Peter is trust. He's asking Peter to trust that God loves him, and trust that God is in full control, and trust that the Supreme Being will have mercy upon him and protect him.

Since Jesus was right in front of Peter, there was no sense asking Peter to have faith in Jesus.

Why did Jesus walk on water?

Was Jesus trying to prove that he was great? Was he trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records? No. Jesus walked on water in order to teach something to some of his closest followers.

Jesus walked on water because he wanted his disciples to trust him and trust in the Supreme Being - someone who they couldn't see with their physical eyes.

Jesus' lesson regards trusting the Supreme Being. Jesus confirms that his miracles come from the Supreme Being:

"I have shown you many great miracles from the Father." (John 10:32)

Jesus also was focused upon glorifying God, and not himself:

"If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the One who glorifies me." (John 8:54)

Jesus is asking Peter to trust his Father, the Supreme Being. He wants Peter to understand, as Jesus did, that the Supreme Being is in full control, and we can completely rely upon the Supreme Being. This takes not just faith, but humility.

Why did Peter start to sink?

As Peter is sinking, Jesus takes hold of his hand. This is precisely what takes place for the individual who calls upon God for help. Instead of sinking into the stormy seas of the material world, the Supreme Being will come to our rescue.

Peter began to sink because he needed - just as all of us need - to be lifted up and saved by the Supreme Being. This is Jesus' lesson to Peter.

Sometimes God will send us His messenger as was Jesus sent, and sometimes He will come personally to pull us out of the dangerous waters of the physical world. Either way, the Supreme Being is still the One who ultimately can save us from the depths of this hellish world.

The Supreme Being is our perfect Savior and Protector. He is our ultimate Messiah. We simply need to trust in the Supreme Being.

“If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. ...” (Matthew 15:13-14)

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:13-14)

What does Jesus mean by the plant being 'pulled up by the roots'?

This statement by Jesus follows after the disciples commented to Jesus:

“Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” (Matt. 15:12)

“This” is referring to Jesus’ previous statement, when responding to the Pharisees’ questioning Jesus about washing their hands.

What does the symbolism mean? The plant that the Supreme Being did not plant symbolizes the Pharisees. They were not "planted" by God because they were appointed to their posts by men. They were maintaining positions given to them by Temple institution councils. In other words, they were elected to their positions.

They were appointed by men - not God. Thus they had no real authority.

This lack of real authority is being compared to being pulled up by the roots because they have no real foundation. Their foundation is faulty - it is based upon a hierarchical institution that is organized around giving power to those in leadership positions. 

Jesus is teaching that this institution - like many institutions we find today - is not representing the Supreme Being.

Why did Jesus call them 'blind guides'?

Jesus is telling his students not to be concerned about the opinions of the Pharisees. They have no real authority. They might have some authority with respect to the physical world - given to them by others focused upon their own power - but this is not permanent power or authority. This is temporary.

Even the most powerful kings and emperors all died, and their power was taken away. On their deathbed, they no longer were able to control anything because others were already taking their power away. Once they passed from the physical body - that power was gone.

This means that power and authorities given by the physical world are not permanent. For this reason, Jesus is dismissing the Pharisees and teachers, because they are blind to the permanent authority of the spiritual realm.

Is Jesus saying they are physically blind? No. He is saying they are spiritually blind. They are not able to see the Supreme Being's existence all around them. They are not able to see how the physical world has been arranged by the Supreme Being. And because of this, they would be considered blind.

One's spiritual vision becomes blinded by desires for fame, wealth, sensual pleasure and respect.

Did 'blind guides' form the sectarian churches?

After Jesus passed away, Paul - a Roman Pharisee who had persecuted Jesus' followers - began claiming to represent Jesus after claiming to have had a vision of Jesus.

So Paul began recruiting his own followers despite breaking from the core teachings of Jesus and Jesus' disciples. Paul publicly disagreed with the teachings of Jesus' disciples. He argued with James and Peter in front of some of their followers.

Despite never hearing directly from Jesus, Paul thought that he could better represent Jesus' teachings than Jesus' own disciples. And what Paul taught about Jesus contradicted many of Jesus' direct teachings.

Paul's philosophy was designed to attract followers. He thought that Jesus' teachings should be tailored to the general public, and as such, Paul modified Jesus' teachings. This is called Pauline theology.

Most sectarian churches in Christianity today are founded upon Pauline theology. And the Nicene Creed, developed in a Roman-organized council in the early Fourth Century, embraces Pauline theology. This is why more than half of the New Testament is about Paul.

Paul was around during Jesus' life, but he was not a follower of Jesus. He worked for the High Priest and arrested Jesus' followers. Even after his conversion after Jesus' passing, he still argued against the teachings of Jesus' closest disciples.

Even though his philosophy departed from Jesus' teachings in many respects, Paul became the apparent leader of the early church - as he had attracted many followers with his easy doctrine of simply accepting that Jesus died for our sins.

Jesus on the other hand taught that one needs to have a change of heart (be "born again"). Such a change of heart means having a change in consciousness and activities - changing from being self-centered to being God-centered, and loving others.

Paul's doctrine is founded upon self-centeredness. That as long as we accept that we are saved by the blood of Jesus we can go to heaven. This is all about me. It is not love of God or loving others as Jesus taught.

Paul's followers claimed that his connection to Jesus was based on his having had a sort of vision of Jesus as he was walking, on his way to arrest some of Jesus' followers.

Paul supposedly saw a bright light and heard Jesus ask him, "why are you persecuting me?" This is told in the third person by an anonymous author and differs dramatically from Paul's own description of his conversion from his letter in Galatians 1.

We find that many sectarian groups that have come in the wake of Pauline theology also claimed to have had visions. For example, we find the Roman Emperor Constantine claimed to have had a vision of a cross. And Joseph Smith claimed to have had a vision of Jesus.

These and other supposed visions have been claimed by the founders of some of the prominent sectarian institutions.

This doesn't mean none of these folks experienced something. Rather, it indicates that many of these sectarian institutions are founded upon someone claiming to have had some sort of vision of Jesus.

Literally anyone could claim to have had a vision of Jesus. And many do.

This creates a philosophical environment where anyone can claim to have had a vision and create their own sectarian philosophy and institution. This means that literally anyone can claim they had a vision of Jesus and make up a new philosophy.

The result of this environment has been the creation of many new sectarian doctrines and rituals that supposedly represent Jesus' teachings. Many of these groups have also become fanatical, resulting in cult-like institutions led by charismatic leaders who have abused their followers.

We don't need charismatic leaders claiming to have a vision making up their own philosophies. We can follow Jesus simply by following Jesus' own teachings.

Can these be compared to the Pharisees?

Those who use Jesus' name to obtain positions of authority and gain power and prestige over others are constructively following in the footsteps of the Pharisees and chief priests that Jesus was criticizing.

Ironically and sadly, many 'blind guides' have seized on Jesus' life and have taken over his narrative. They have misled millions of people around the world.

Yes, Jesus is speaking generally of those who pretend to represent God but merely represent institutions organized with an agenda of power and authority: A desire to collect many followers to take advantage of.

And it is for this reason that these 'blind guides' are often focused on various rituals and regulations made up by men that do not reflect God’s will and intentions:

"'They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions." (Mark 7:8-9)

The misuse of power and authority through the creation of "merely human rules" by these sectarian institutions continued through the Roman Catholic church for centuries. It also splintered off with the rise of various other sects.

These sectarian institutions may create authority from men: But they have no real authority. Whatever authority they gain on earth is temporary - just as the authority of the Pharisees was temporary.

Jesus' authority is permanent. Jesus' authority comes from the Supreme Being, and this is why his powerful teachings continue to this day.

“Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” (Matthew 15:28)

A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” (Matthew 15:22-28)

Why did he heal the woman's daughter even if she was a Cananite?

Even though Jesus had said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" he still healed the woman's daughter. Why?

The woman displayed great sincerity of heart. She also responded humbly and with wisdom after Jesus chastised his disciples for wanting to send her away. 

She pleaded with Jesus to save her daughter. Jesus was pleased with her trust in the Supreme Being and in Jesus' authorization to represent God. As is stated in the Book of Matthew following Jesus’ statement, the daughter was healed within the hour.

This illustrates again that Jesus had little concern over the physical body of those he taught: He had no concern over nationality, race or gender (remember, she was a Canaanite woman, one that even Jesus' disciples were trying to send away). He had come to save anyone and everyone ready and willing to learn the Truth that Jesus was delivering from the Supreme Being.

As he had stated, the healing Jesus displayed was coming from the Supreme Being, as a tool to beckon people back home into God's embrace - back to their original relationship with the Supreme Being. Jesus' intent was to give people the wisdom coming from the Supreme Being.

The word “faith” is being translated from the Greek word πίστις (pistis), which means, "the character of one who can be relied on" according to the lexicon.

This refers to trust: Trusting in not only the Supreme Being's existence. But trusting that the Supreme Being cares about us and loves each of us unconditionally.

Those with a lack of trust in the Supreme Being will define "faith" as confidence in God's existence. This is actually a shallow form of faith. The deeper form is trusting God.

Why do we not see God?

Perhaps the question should be: Do we want to see God?

The answer to the second question is the answer to the first question.

We do not see God because we do not want to see God. We have come here to the physical universe and taken on physical bodies ("garments of skin") so that we wouldn’t have to see God:

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

We are in the physical world, away from the Supreme Being because we decided to we were more important to us than the Supreme Being. We ate the forbidden fruit - the fruit of self-centeredness - which is "forbidden" in the spiritual realm because the spiritual realm is a place of love and devotion for the Supreme Being - not a place of self-centeredness.

However, as our loving Best Friend, the Supreme Being does impose Himself upon us. He gives us the freedom to love Him or not because love requires freedom. If we don't want to maintain our loving relationship with Him, He sends us away to the physical world and stays hidden from our view.

Why is our faith tested?

Not seeing the Supreme Being renders a test of faith while we are in the physical world. Do we want to trust that He exists despite us not seeing Him with the physical eyes?

Better yet: Do we want to trust those who have sacrificed their lives to please Him?

This is the ultimate meaning of Jesus' sacrifice. It was not some kind of a magical process of saving everyone who accepts that he died for our sins. We still are responsible for our own sins - unless our activities are centered around loving and serving the Supreme Being and others.

But what Jesus did was commit his entire life to the Supreme Being - to help us understand not only that the Supreme Being exists, but that a relationship with the Supreme Being is worth sacrificing for.

What can save us then?

Consider a person who goes to war and dies for his country. Why do people do that? They are making a sacrifice because they feel the country is important enough to die for. In other words, their sacrifice illustrates the importance of their country.

While the Supreme Being is not like an impersonal country (He is a Person), the analogy illustrates the element of sacrifice: Why Jesus would be ready to make such a sacrifice on behalf of the Supreme Being? 

His sacrifice is a symptom of devotion. And by understanding such devotion, we have the opportunity to have a glimpse of the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being.

This is what can save us.

Today, however, sectarian institutions and their teachers teach that we simply need to come to church (and give them money) and proclaim that we are saved by Jesus' dying on the cross. This is not at all the message he came to teach. This is why Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

It is not about our own salvation. It's about love. It is about re-developing our relationship with the Supreme Being and then working to please the Supreme Being out of love. This loving service to the Supreme Being is precisely what Jesus taught by his example and by his words.

This was illustrated by his last prayer before being arrested:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39)

“... why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ... ” (Matthew 16:8-11)

“You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:8-11)

Is this really about bread?

Jesus is repeating an analogy he used to warn against the "yeast" of the Pharisees and Sadducees. But the disciples did not understand this analogy. Jesus said this after hearing this:

They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread." (Matt. 16:7)

Following this statement, it is then confirmed:

Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt. 16:12)

This clarifies at least the subject of Jesus' parable of the yeast. But there is a deeper message being taught by Jesus regarding the institutional temple teachers (Pharisees and Sadducees).

And then there is Jesus' recollection of the loaves-for-five-thousand miracle. What does the miracle of the loaves have to do with the Sadducees and Pharisees?

Why does Jesus say they have 'little faith'?

The phrase "of little faith" here is being translated from the Greek word ὀλιγόπιστος (oligopistos), which means according to the lexicon, "trusting too little."

Jesus is clarifying that his miracles relate to trust in the Supreme Being.

Jesus is not speaking of faith in himself. Why would he? Jesus' students can see him right in front of them. So this is not about having faith in Jesus' existence. 

It is also not about having faith in God's existence. Since they accepted Jesus as their teacher, they certainly also accepted the existence of the Supreme Being. 

So what is he referring to them?

Jesus is referring to trust - "trusting too little."

"Trusting too little" means not understanding that God is in control and that He will take care of us.

Are we alone?

We are not alone here. Yes, when we look around we see other physical forms and things of the physical world that are decomposing and degrading. We also witness many self-centered people around us that could care less about us. So most of us are quite leery of others and have little trust in others and the things around us.

But we cannot physically see the Supreme Being - who is also with us. An expansion of the Supreme Being is right next to us in this physical body - the Holy Spirit. He is right here, taking care of us, and watching over us.

We cannot see Him because our physical eyes aren't designed to see into the spiritual realm - where the Supreme Being dwells.

In fact, we can't see ourselves either. Each of us is a spirit-person - a living being who resided on the spiritual dimension. And we are currently driving this temporary physical body much as a person drives a car.

Just as a person will often begin to identify with their car, we are identifying with these temporary physical bodies. Even as they decay and slowly meet their death, we still think this body is me. We think our temporary roles - our job, our family and so on - define us.

Yet this is not true. These roles and this body are temporary. They will only last a few decades and then they are done. For some, our roles in terms of our job may only last a few years. Then we'll have to leave that job and get another or retire.

While our bodies and the forms and things of this world are temporary, the spirit-self within is eternal, and the Supreme Being is eternally our Best Friend and Protector. He is always there for us. This is the lesson Jesus is trying to impart.

With the miracles of the loaves, Jesus illustrated what he had been teaching: That we should focus our lives upon God and not the temporary things of the world. Jesus is teaching that we should trust that the Supreme Being will take care of us.

Will God take care of us?

Instead of worrying about whether or not we'll have enough to eat, our focus should be upon our relationship with the Supreme Being. This is where our permanent happiness lies. Our temporary body will soon be discarded. It will be burned or buried under the ground where it will decompose.

God will certainly take care of our real self - our spirit-self. This is who we really are underneath this physical body. This is the root of our personality and the maker of decisions in our life.

Those who do not understand the spirit cannot know the spiritual realm. They cannot see into the spiritual realm. This physical world and physical mind block us off from our spiritual self and the spiritual realm. This is the design of the physical world - designed perfectly by the Supreme Being to give us the freedom to ignore Him and live out our desires to be the center of the universe.

Were the blind leading the blind?

This is why Jesus said this about the Pharisees and Sadducees:

“If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)

Unfortunately, the blind guides are claiming they represent God. This is why Jesus compared them to yeast - because they foment an incorrect interpretation of the scriptures. Rather than understanding the mission and intent of Jesus and the prophets, they insist that the goal of religious practice is following ceremonial rituals.

Rather, what Jesus and the prophets taught is coming to know, love and serve the Supreme Being. They taught doing the will of God within a loving relationship that is the goal of spiritual life.

Yes, the rules and rituals may provide assistance to this goal as long as we see their ultimate purpose - of re-establishing our loving relationship with God.

Ironically, many modern-day institutions and their ecclesiastical teachers that claim to be following Jesus have also missed this focus. Instead of focusing upon coming to know and love the Supreme Being and doing the will of God, these modern-day institutions focus upon various rituals intended to "being saved."

They also deny the existence of the very Supreme Being that Jesus came to introduce us to. They think that Jesus is the Supreme Being. In doing so, they completely ignore the very person Jesus was representing and relying upon:

"For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." (John 12:47-50)

God, the Father who sent Jesus, has been forgotten by many of the ecclesiastical institutions that claim to be following Jesus. This is despite the fact that Jesus instructed us to give our love to the Supreme Being:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

“O unbelieving and perverse generation. How long ...” (Matthew 17:17)

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “O unbelieving and perverse generation. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” (Matthew 17:14-17)

Why did Jesus call them an 'unbelieving and perverse generation'?

This is Jesus’ response when the man said that his disciples could not heal his son. The translation of the Greek word γενεά (genes) to "generation" is somewhat puzzling. This word can mean, according to the lexicon, "a group of men very like each other in endowments, pursuits, character" and "the whole multitude of men living at the same time."

Thus the Greek word is more appropriately translated to "culture" or "society." Jesus is commenting about the state of society around him - which did not believe that God could save the woman's son.

This means that Jesus was not happy that his disciples could not help the woman.

The word unbelieving is being translated from the Greek word ἄπιστος (apistos), which means, according to the lexicon, "without trust."

Jesus was not speaking of belief in the Supreme Being - as many of those around him believed that God exists. He was speaking of trust.

The belief that a Living Creator created other living beings is not so hard to envision. It is certainly more scientific to believe that all the living complexities, including love, compassion, mercy, chivalry and personality, all arose from an Original Personality. God is not so hard to believe in, in other words.

What is more difficult for us is coming to trust God. This is the meaning of faith. Trusting God means relying upon Him. Trusting the Supreme Being means knowing that whatever happens, it is for our best. It means that we know that God loves us and always wants the best for us, regardless of the temporary condition our physical body may currently be in.

Was Jesus' mission to be a healer?

These questions lead to another question: If Jesus' mission was to heal people, why didn't he heal everyone? Why didn't he and his disciples set up hospitals and clinics so everyone who was sick would come to get healed? All they had to do was touch him, right?

Healing the physical body was not Jesus' mission. He had another mission. A spiritual mission. Jesus' mission related to the spirit-person within. Jesus' mission related to the eternal soul, who continues to exist long after the physical body dies.

This is why Jesus taught:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." (Matthew 10:28)

Such a teaching requires the acknowledgment of the existence of the soul outside of the existence of the body. This teaching means the soul lives on, even if the body is killed or dies in general.

Why didn't Jesus heal everyone?

Jesus' healings were instructional. They were not simply intended to prove to the people that he had power. They were to show people they could rely upon God.

How so? Because Jesus was relying upon God, as he stated many times. The power to heal did not come from Jesus. It came from God, and Jesus was God's empowered messenger and representative. This is why Jesus said:

"When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the One who sent me." (John 12:44)

"How long shall I put up with you?"

So as the people around him were scurrying around wanting to have their physical bodies healed, Jesus chastised them from time to time because they were not getting it. They were not understanding that he was trying to introduce the Supreme Being to them and show them they could rely upon God. 

Whether their bodies were healed or not, the Supreme Being will take care of their real bodies: their spiritual selves.

Why else would Jesus have used the word "perverse generation"? Perverse means something is being utilized in a way it was not intended: in this case, activities done in the service of God were being taken with a consciousness of selfishness.

How did the people become perverted? Because Jesus' demonstrations of God's mercy were intended to bring their focus upon God. Instead, their focus was perverted towards taking advantage by getting all their various sicknesses healed.

In other words, they began seeing Jesus and God as their servants: They just ask to be healed and it happens. This is perverted because we are in essence, God's servants.

This is a critical point to the current approach seen among some of today's sectarian institutions and their teachers. Their approach encourages followers to focus on being healed or gaining wealth and success from their worship. This is a perversion of Jesus' teachings. This has nothing to do with loving or serving God: This is business - praying to get healed or get wealthy.

Such teachings are perverted because the purpose of prayer is to submit oneself to God.

What did Jesus want from them?

Jesus wanted them to trust in God. Here Jesus is commenting not upon the process of healing, but the level of trust that those around him had in God.

Belief in the Supreme Being is not so difficult. It makes logical sense that there is a Creator. After all, how did life arise accidentally? How did love arise accidentally? Scientists have many theories, but they all seem to go haywire once they reach the singularity problem. 

In other words, scientists cannot explain what existed before the big bang or string proliferation or whatever new theory they have come up with that supposedly gave birth to the universe.

They also cannot explain how dead matter in the form of chemicals suddenly became alive. What made the dead chemicals suddenly desire survival and begin to love each other?

Jesus did not come to heal people's bodies or make people successful or wealthy. He came to deliver God's message that the Supreme Being wants us to trust Him. God wants us to return to Him and re-establish our loving service relationship with Him. This is why Jesus' most important instruction, as was Moses' and all the other prophets' most important instruction, was:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37)

When we love someone, we trust them. When we trust them, we have faith in them, and we can serve them with love. Loving and serving the Supreme Being is our natural position and what will ultimately fulfill us.

“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth ...” (Matthew 17:20-21)

“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21)

This statement follows this question and circumstance:

"Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
"You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me."Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" (Matthew 17:15-19)

What does Jesus mean by, 'you have so little faith'?

Jesus is responding to his disciples' question after they could not cleanse the demon.

What does Jesus mean by "faith"? Faith is not simply accepting or proclaiming to others that Jesus existed. Anyone can have faith that a historical person existed. Anyone can claim that Jesus performed miracles.

Faith is also not simply believing that God exists. However, this is not so hard either, because it makes scientific logic that God exists. Even scientifically it makes sense that God exists. Even if the "big bang" theory is accepted, there still must be a source for the atoms that caused the "bang" - not to speak of the love, personality and life that exists within the world.

Rather, Jesus is speaking of trust. Trust in the Supreme Being. Trust that He will take care of us and that He ultimately knows what is best for us.

Faith is also trusting that Jesus, Moses, Abraham, David, Solomon and all the other prophets were telling us the truth about the Supreme Being. Faith means that we trust that they were passing along to us the messages that the Supreme Being gave them to tell us. We are trusting that they knew the Supreme Being and loved God - and that God loved them. We are trusting, above all, that God loves us and cares for us.

This is confirmed by the Greek word πίστις (pistis) being translated to "faith" in the second sentence - the word πίστις means "the character of one who can be relied on."

What did Jesus mean by the 'mustard seed'?

Jesus is using a mustard seed to symbolize something very small. He is saying that just a tiny bit of faith has significant consequences.

What does a small amount of faith look like? If we had a small amount of faith we would be trusting in God. We would be relying upon God - even a little.

To rely upon God means that we have Someone significant to rely upon. We have Someone in our corner who will make a large difference in our lives. We have Someone we can trust who will not harm us or take advantage of us.

That kind of trust can impact our lives and the lives around us significantly.

Is Jesus saying we should ask God to move mountains for us?

The meaning of the mustard seed analogy by Jesus has often been interpreted as encouragement to ask God for materialistic things.

Jesus' point wasn't that we should ask God to move mountains for us. He is saying that even a little faith is significant. Even with a little faith, God will be there, ready to help.

Besides, when Jesus offered the idea of moving mountains, he was speaking of moving mountains to help others - not that we would move mountains for our own gratification.

Those who focus on receiving "stuff" from the Supreme Being - including wealth, health, family and even winning football games and so on - are attempting to put the Supreme Being into the position of being our servant.

Rather, Jesus' mission was to teach us that we are all God's servants. Our purpose is to love and serve the Supreme Being, not to be waited on by God.

What happens if God doesn't give us what we pray for? Will we not believe in Him then? Will we say, "if God doesn't give me what I want then He doesn't exist"?

A person who trusts the Supreme Being will not need to test Him. Testing God is the opposite of faith.

What about those evangelists who preach that we need to ask God to make us wealthy or heal our dog? What about evangelists who make millions of dollars asking their followers to send them money so they can pray to God for something for them? Are these teachers giving their followers more faith in God? Or are they testing God?

Some would say they are abusing their followers. Some would say they might have been described by Jesus:

"They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” (Luke 20:47)

This is the reason Jesus said:

“Many will come to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:22)

Not only does Jesus not accept these people, he called them "evildoers"! Why? Consider this statement, made right before the above statement:

“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

So it is one who does God's will that Jesus will accept. Not that we are constantly asking the Supreme Being to do our will.

Consider what happens if our mother tells us to do something, and we don't know why. What do we do? Do we demand to know why before we will do it? No. We simply will do it, trusting that what our mother is asking us to do is good for us and others. In other words, we are having faith in our mother by doing what she asks.

It is no different when we do the Supreme Being's will. It requires us to trust God.

And what does it mean to do God's will? Doing God's will means trusting in the Supreme Being and following the instructions He has given to us through His messengers.

Why will 'nothing be impossible for you'?

Again, Jesus is not speaking of a person suddenly becoming Superman just because he asks God for something. We might ask God to fix our leg or heal our mother from cancer but that will not necessarily happen. Why not?

Remember that Jesus is speaking to his disciples who were trying to execute service. They were trying to serve Jesus and the Supreme Being. They weren't asking why they were not the king of the world or why they didn't have a million dollars.

And the Greek word being translated to "impossible" - ἀδυνατέω (adynateō), which means "not to have strength, power, or ability, to be weak" according to the lexicon.

As such, Jesus is speaking of the Supreme Being giving those who want to serve Him the strength to do their service.

This is why this statement is being attached to the word πίστις (pistis) - which is speaking of reliance upon the Supreme Being. Relying upon God means accepting that if He wants me to do something, I will be given the strength to do it.

It is not as if we somehow want to grab onto faith, and then start trying to dominate the world by moving mountains around. In fact, having faith - trusting God - would automatically delete our thinking that we would need to move any mountains. We would simply have faith that if the Supreme Being thought the mountains needed to move, then they would be moved.

On the other hand, if we were trying to serve God, and the mountains needed to move in order to complete our service to the Supreme Being, we would have confidence that the Supreme Being would see that the mountains were moved. Otherwise, there would be no need to move any mountains.

And this was precisely what was taking place with Jesus' disciples and Jesus. The Supreme Being wanted to show the people that He had empowered Jesus - because Jesus was teaching others about the Supreme Being. This is why He gave Jesus the ability to remove demons. His disciples were not being given that ability at this time - although later we find that after Jesus left the planet some of his students became empowered in that way.

This is because they were trusting in the Supreme Being. Having faith in God means trusting Him.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt. 19:25-26)

How are 'all things possible' with God?

The word "man" is being translated from the Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), which can mean "a human being, whether male or female - generically, to include all human individuals" as well as "people" according to the lexicon. It can thus be used to describe mankind or humanity.

More specifically, Jesus is referring to the physical body and those who occupy these temporary physical bodies. We are not these physical bodies. We occupy them for a few years and then leave them.

These physical bodies - and the physical mind - are by design limited. The Supreme Being designed these physical bodies to provide a virtual facility for some of His children - those who rejected their relationship with Him - to dwell outside of the spiritual realm.

These physical bodies thus provide an escape from the consciousness of the spiritual realm. Each of us is a spirit-person from this spiritual realm. And we were created by the Supreme Being to exchange love with Him and His children. But because love requires freedom, the Supreme Being gave each of us the ability not to love Him.

Those who decided not to love Him are given physical bodies and a virtual universe that provides the ability to be away from Him. This is accomplished by designing these physical bodies to shield our consciousness from the Supreme Being and the spiritual realm. So we can act out our self-centered desires without interference.

How free are we?

Thus these physical bodies and minds are by design limited. They cannot see or perceive the spiritual realm. This is why mental speculation about God and heaven is fruitless.

We might compare this to the design of a movie theater. By design, the movie theater is a darkened room with no windows with a giant screen in the front of the room with all the chairs pointing towards it. This provides the ability for movie-goers to get lost in the movie and forget what is going on outside the movie. This is why there is no windows and the lights are turned off: To focus the movie-goers' consciousness upon the movie.

In the say way, these bodies were designed to focus our consciousness towards the physical world - while forgetting our real identity and our relationship with the Supreme Being.

Thus the physical body and mind also cannot lift us up, to allow us to return to the spiritual realm. They cannot even perceive God or heaven - how can they return us there?

The Supreme Being produced both the spiritual and physical realms. He is the Source and Origin of everything. Therefore He controls everything.

Therefore there is nothing impossible for the Supreme Being. While our physical body and mind were designed not to perceive the Supreme Being or the spiritual realm, the Supreme Being ultimately controls the physical and spiritual realms.

Therefore, for someone who becomes dedicated to Him, He can reveal Himself.

This does not take place whimsically, however. Nor automatically. It is ultimately the choice of the Supreme Being. And because we rejected the Supreme Being at some point in our past, it is not as if we can snap our fingers and He will allow us to reconnect with Him.

Can we get out by ourselves?

We are speaking of a relationship. A relationship that we once spurned. Should we want to return to our relationship, we must approach it with some humility, feeling sorry for our past rejection of Him.

Is this not what also occurs in other relationships? A person who ran off and left a relationship will certainly have caused some hurt for the other person. As such, returning to the relationship is done with humility and sorrow - as the spurned person is asked for forgiveness.

While the Supreme Being is beyond pettiness, He still feels hurt when we reject Him. He feels transcendental sadness. He also feels sorrow for us because He knows we will never be happy without our relationship with Him.

At the same time, the Supreme Being wants us to become serious about returning to Him before He lifts the veil and reveals Himself to us again. He doesn't want us to run off again. We must become dedicated this time.

Being a rich man is a state of consciousness of feeling attached to our temporary physical possessions. Yes, all of us have been given physical possessions to become attached to. And a relatively poor person can be just as attached to a dollar as a relatively rich person can be attached to one million dollars. Attachment is the consciousness that we own those possessions, and we do not want to give them up.

So what Jesus was testing in the young man was not whether he was relatively rich or not. It was whether he was attached to that wealth, and identified with that wealth. So he asked the man to give his wealth away and follow him to illustrate to the man and Jesus' students how the attachments of worldly possessions can keep us from returning home to God.

Therefore, we can say with confidence that every person who is attached to their temporary possessions - regardless of how much money or how many possessions they own - would be considered a "rich man" in the context of Jesus' statement.

Thus the impossibility a camel going through the eye of a needle illustrates the difficulty all of us with physical bodies and possessions have in reaching God: We cannot do it alone.

Are we powerless?

The purpose of our journey into the physical world and into these physical bodies is to exercise our freedom. We have the freedom to reject God and chase our own dreams. Here we can exercise our intent to be independent of God.

But while we have this freedom, our independence from God is an illusion.

Jesus’ statement above confirms that we are all powerless without Our Best Friend and Soul Mate, the Supreme Being. We have no ability to save ourselves. We have no ability to lift ourselves out of the attachments that we have created in the physical world. The reality of the situation is that we are stuck.

Like the darkened movie theater with the movie playing on the giant screen is hard to ignore, this illusory nature of the physical world is extremely difficult to transcend.

This illusory nature makes us think that if we make the body happy, we will be happy. So we struggle to make the body happy, and we only find that it - and our mind - is never happy with what we get. Nothing we do for our body or mind satisfies us. Even the movie stars, rock stars, and billionaires of the world with all their wealth and fame find that they are still not satisfied.

Transcending this unfulfilling physical world is impossible for us to do alone. We do not have the ability.

Who has the power then?

God does. God owns and controls everything, even the illusions of the physical world. He is able to shine the light of wisdom and knowledge into our hearts and lift us into awareness. He is able to send to us His representative to teach us how we can regain our loving relationship with Him. He is able to reach out and pull us back to Him: But only if we first make the choice that we want to return to Him.

There is an expression that "love heals everything." This also is true for the emptiness that dwells within the heart of each person attached to their temporary physical body and possessions. Should we redevelop our loving service relationship with God, and we begin to rely upon Him, we will also begin to realize that this relationship automatically lifts us out of the quagmire of the temporary physical world.

But we cannot develop this relationship alone. As they say, every relationship takes two. Therefore, we must first make a choice: We must decide that re-establishing our relationship with God is more important than the temporary "things" of this world. Once we make this decision, we must trust that God will see this within our hearts, and begin to show us how we can re-develop that relationship. This process may take time and patience, but to the extent that we are serious, God will bring us back to Him.

This of course requires trust (also called faith) in God. And this trust is the very point of Jesus' statement here, as we must trust that “with God, all things are possible.”

“Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt ..." (Matthew 21:21-22)

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matt. 21:21-22)

What was done to the fig tree?

This statement follows the event observed by Jesus’ disciples, where he approached a fig tree and it had no figs, and he condemned the fig tree, saying:

“May you never bear fruit again.” (Matthew 21:19)

The tree withered immediately, and Jesus’ disciples were amazed at how fast the tree withered - prompting Jesus to say the above.

Does this mean we should ask God for anything we want?

The big point of Jesus’ statement, of course, is faith. “If you believe….” Many people and even some teachers among sectarian organizations interpret this to mean that we can become rich and powerful by asking God to get us whatever we want. All we have to do is believe, and then ask for stuff, and we will then have all the power, money, and fame we want, and we’ll be happy. Right?

Actually, faith and belief in the omniscience of God is the opposite of considering God our servant - that we can just ask God to give us whatever we want, and as long as we believe He will do it, He'll go get it done for us.

Such a mentality is putting ourselves as omniscient. It is the belief that everything revolves around us, and God is subservient to us.

The situation is precisely the opposite. Everything revolves around God, and we are God's (now rebellious) servants.

What is belief in God?

To “believe” in God is to recognize God’s position as the Owner of everything and as the Supreme Enjoyer of everything. It is recognizing God as our Creator, and Protector. Having “faith” is trusting that everything that happens, happens by the sanction of God. "Faith" is also nondifferent from 'trust.' In other words, "faith" is trusting in God

Jesus' last sentence confirms this. Jesus says we will receive what we ask in prayer. The word “prayer” is associated with observing God’s omniscience and our reliance upon Him. Prayer is performed with humility and praise. Prayer is not an order. An order is given to an inferior party. A prayer is given to a superior person by an inferior person.

Furthermore, prayer also means that just because we ask something of God doesn't mean that He has to do that which we ask. It is God who chooses. Not us. Prayer is not an assumption. It is a submission.

If we are actually praying to God, we will not be asking Him to do something for our own enjoyment. Prayer is not asking God to make sure our football team wins. Prayer is not asking that we get some money to buy a fancy car. That is not a prayer: it might be craftily worded to sound like a prayer, but it is an order nevertheless.

A real prayer might ask God to help us come to know Him and love Him. A real prayer to God might ask Him to give us the means to please Him and do His will. A real prayer might ask God to help another person we feel for. But these prayer requests are never made with the assumption that God is our servant and He has to do what we ask of Him.

This is why Jesus says, "If you believe..." first. Believing in God means trusting that God has complete control, and whatever He does, He does for everyone's benefit because God loves every one of us. In other words, believing in God isn't simply understanding that God exists: It is trusting that God is our Best Friend and our Benefactor. It is trusting that God cares for us and truly loves us. That is the belief that Jesus is asking of us. It is trust, and trust is a facet of love.

In other words, faith means to take refuge in God.

Does God answer all prayers?

Yes, but not always in the ways we want.

The reason God will often comply with a special prayer from one of His humble servants is that there is a loving relationship there. If they are truly trusting in God and taking shelter in God, they will not be asking God for frivolous things.

Such a person will not be taking prayer requests with a strategy to collect donations either. They will not be seeing God as his or her servant. In this mood, however, a person may request something to help another person. God, in His own time and in His own way, may comply with that request on behalf of His humble servant. This is based upon a loving service relationship, and Jesus is encouraging his students to develop this sort of relationship with God.

Jesus is also showing his disciples that the power to perform miracles was not coming from Jesus. They were coming from God, at Jesus' prayerful request. But we can see too, that Jesus was asking God to do things that were not meant to benefit Jesus: They were things that benefited others and brought others closer to God. Even with the fig tree, we see that Jesus utilized this as a teaching moment to praise God and teach others to depend on (trust) God.

The trap here is that if someone is thinking that they are going to test this statement by Jesus and ask that a mountain be thrown into the sea, this would not comply with Jesus' instruction. Jesus says that "if you have faith and do not doubt." So if one is praying for something as a test, they are already doubting. They already don't have faith.

If they have any doubt, there is no relationship. Therefore, a person who trusts God and has no doubts in His abilities will not be asking God to throw a mountain into the sea just to see if it will happen. Furthermore, they will not be asking for frivolous things or things for their own enjoyment. Why?

Because this consciousness of having faith in God and trusting in God is inseparable from the consciousness of being God's servant.