"Man shall not live on bread alone..." (Matthew 4:4)

After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

Is Jesus quoting Moses?

Yes, Jesus is quoting Moses here. It is very interesting that Jesus would quote Moses on a fast through the desert for 40 days. Is this a coincidence?

No. Moses fasted for 40 days:

Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:28)

So did Elijah:

So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. (1 Kings 19:8)

So we find precedent for such a fasting period in ancient times. It is likely that many other saints and pilgrims fasted for 40 days in ancient times.

Thus we can conclude that Jesus' fast would have a commemorative aspect: A dedication to Moses and his commitment to the Supreme Being.

We also find some additional symbolism with Moses' teachings, and his trek through the desert for 40 years with the Israelites. Jesus was drawing attention to the dedication of Moses to the Supreme Being.

Indeed, the three temptations of Jesus during this fast all include quotes from Moses. 

Here is the passage Jesus is quoting from - spoken by Moses to his followers after they had traveled through the desert:

"He [the Lord your God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." (Deuteronomy 8:3)

What does this passage mean and what does Moses and Jesus mean by "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD"? This is discussed below.

What does 'bread alone' mean?

Moses and Jesus were speaking of our spiritual connection with the Supreme Being. "From the mouth of God" is a metaphor. It means to rely upon the Supreme Being. Moses was speaking of the Israelites taking refuge in God.

This is also a spiritual supposition. Not needing physical food is a topic relating to our spiritual identity.

Each of us is essentially made of spirit. We are not these physical bodies. These physical bodies are temporary vehicles. They will last no more than a few decades and then they will die and begin to decompose - eventually turning into dirt.

Each of us is a spirit-person living within a physical body.

We can see this when we look at a photo of our body when it was a child. That body is now gone. Every molecule that made up that body has been replaced by new molecules - as every molecule in the body is replaced within five years.

Who is looking at the photo? And who was there when the photo was taken? Don't we say "this is me"? If the childhood body is gone now, yet we still say "this is me" - this means that we - "me" - is not the physical body. We are the personality who pervaded - who existed - within both the child body and the body we wear now.

This spirit-person is invisible to the physical eyes, because these eyes cannot see into the spiritual dimension. The spirit-person is of another plane of existence. It is of the spiritual dimension - a dimension not seen by the physical eyes. The physical eyes were designed to see a particular range or spectrum of wavelengths and not others. They see certain frequencies of light waves as those light waves bounce off of the molecules of the forms of the physical world.

This is why we cannot see any difference between a living body and a body that just died. We don't see the spirit-person leaving the physical body.

Because our identity is spiritual, we require food that is more than physical "bread." The physical body may need constant fuel in the form of "bread" in order to continue functioning. But the spirit-person that Jesus and Moses are speaking of needs something more. What is it?

What is our spiritual food?

It is the food that feeds the spiritual self.

Our spiritual food is our relationship with the Supreme Being. This is what gives each of us real life. And this is the only thing that will make us happy.

Just think about it. We are each looking for happiness in this physical world and never finding it. We look for happiness in the objects of the senses. We look for happiness by achieving wealth. We look for happiness by achieving fame and the acclaim of others. We look for happiness by having a big house. We look for happiness by achieving some goal of accomplishment.

Yet none of these physical things make us happy. We are still empty within. Even those who have the most of these things are still empty within.

So we look for happiness through our relationships with those around us. We look for happiness in our spouses, our children, and our family. And to a degree, we do find a glimpse of happiness within these relationships.

But this fleeting happiness fades as these people leave us or break up with us. Our spouse may divorce us or die. Our children will grow up and move out. Our mother and father and grandparents will all die one day. Each of these events will leave us empty and alone.

Because they are temporary relationships. Yes, we might see them in a different lifetime but we won't recognize them as we knew them before. We will have to start a brand new relationship with them and won't remember the last one we had with them.

In other words, all the relationships of the physical world - these relationships of the physical body - are all temporary. They don't last. And the happiness we are looking for in the physical world does not exist. The world only offers us the illusion of happiness. And the illusion that we are these bodies and we are permanently these physical bodies.

Who is the 'tempter'?

This description provides a combination of events and symbolic parable. We see a historical connection between Jesus' fast in the desert and Jesus' departing John the Baptist and then beginning his teachings.

But the events of the fast also take on a symbolic theme. For example, there is no mountain on the earth for which one can see every kingdom of the earth.

Similarly, this is not describing a specific person - "Satan the tempter" - as though God has lost control over this person and he has the power to deceive God and bring us over to his team.

Rather, the "tempter" is symbolic of an aspect of the physical world that constantly tests us.

This is the illusory nature of the physical world - designed by the Supreme Being. And this is "the tempter" being spoken of in Matthew 4:3.

The physical world is constantly tempting us with promises of wealth, popularity, and sensual satisfaction. All of these are magnified for someone who is attempting to serve and honor the Supreme Being.

The physical world provides a constant testing ground for the soul. These tests come in the form of temptations, which are repeatedly offered to us with promises of self-satisfaction. The test is whether we succumb to those tests during our temporary stay in the physical realm.

But this is not the case in the spiritual realm. The Supreme Being is eternal and our relationship with the Supreme Being is eternal. And we find true happiness within our loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

We have forgotten this relationship with the Supreme Being. This is the purpose of the physical world and these physical bodies. This is the purpose for the illusory nature - "the tempter": To help us escape from and forget God.

But our relationship with Him is forever. We simply have forgotten that relationship.

This is because the Supreme Being gives each of us the freedom to love Him or not. Love requires freedom.

So those of us in the physical world are here because we chose not to love the Supreme Being.

Even so, the Supreme Being wants us to come home to Him. He wants us to return to our loving relationship with Him. This is because He loves us and He knows we will only be happy when we have resumed our relationship with Him.

And what is that relationship? It is the loving relationship we are perpetually looking for as we seek love within the physical world. This is the loving relationship we seek as we look for our soul mate and seek love with family members. We are looking for our lost relationship of love with the Perfect Person.

What does 'living on every word' mean?

"Living on every word that comes from the mouth of God" means living for the Supreme Being - taking refuge in God and dedicating our life to Him.

When we are in love with another person, we will do what pleases them. Should they want to go somewhere in particular, we will go there. Or when they say they want to eat a certain food, we go get them that food.

What are we doing as we are doing all those things? We are living off of "every word that comes from the mouth" of that person.

Yes, "every word that comes from the mouth" is an expression. It is an expression - used by Moses and even still used today - that refers to doing what is pleasing to that person. It refers to having a loving service relationship with that person.

And this is what Moses and Jesus were asking of their followers: To renew their loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

And Jesus' lived this instruction as well. Consider this statement he made:

"By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." (John 5:30)

Jesus is stating that his pleasure ("I seek") is derived from pleasing the Supreme Being. He also states this elsewhere - for example:

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me." (John 6:38)

Jesus is referring to his loving relationship with the Supreme Being. He wants to do whatever the Supreme Being wants him to do. This means he is living off of "every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

And because the Supreme Being wants each of us to return to our loving relationship with Him, Jesus' efforts were focused upon encouraging and teaching those around him to return to their loving service relationship with the Supreme Being. This was also clearly communicated in the most important teaching of both Jesus and Moses:

" '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)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness ..." (Matthew 5:6)

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6)

What does Jesus mean by 'righteousness'?

The word "righteousness" here is being translated from the Greek word δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) which means, according to Thayer's lexicon, "in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God."

"The condition acceptable to God" means being pleasing to God. Why would being pleasing to God cause one to "be filled?"

The word "be filled" is being translated from the Greek word χορτάζω (chortazō) which means "to fill or satisfy" according to the lexicon. Each of us is looking for fulfillment and satisfaction. We seek fulfillment as we seek sexual pleasure, fame, wealth, family, relationships with others, the approval of others and so on.

In fact, each of us is seeking fulfillment. But we are seeking fulfillment in the wrong place.

What does he mean by 'hunger and thirst'?

Jesus is not referring to the physical body being hungry or thirsty. He is speaking of spiritual hunger and thirst. Hunger and thirst by the soul.

This might be compared to a driver who is hungry taking his car to the gas station and filling his car up with gas and thinking that when the car is full of gas he will no longer feel hungry.

Why isn't the driver full when the gas tank is full?

Because the driver is not the car.

In the same way, we are not these physical bodies. These physical bodies are like vehicles, and we are the driver of this vehicle, the physical body.

This is proven by hundreds of thousands of clinical death cases where a person rises above their body and looks at it from above. In clinical death, the person separates from the physical body because the person is not the physical body.

We are spiritual in nature, not physical. Our bodies are temporary - they will each die in a few decades. But we - the spirit-person within - will live on after the body dies.

Where does the spirit-person within come from? The spiritual dimension.

For this reason, the physical things of this world do not satisfy us. Just as Jesus is teaching, we need spiritual "food" to fulfill us.

What will 'fill' us?

It is a loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

No matter our predicament in life, each of us is seeking love. We seek love by trying to impress others. We seek love by dating. We seek love as we marry. We seek love by having a family. We seek love by wanting our kids or our spouse or our family to care about us. We seek love by seeking the approval of others.

But the "love" of this physical world is only temporary. It comes and goes. It is conditional: contingent upon what we can give the other person. When they no longer need us, their so-called love typically goes away. Or their body dies and they leave us.

But the love of the Supreme Being is unconditional. He loves us whether we love Him or not. He loves us and cares for us whether we care about Him or not.

A loving relationship between ourselves and the Supreme Being is the love we are always seeking. It is the perfect, unconditional love we are always pining for.

And pleasing the one we love is important to any loving relationship: This is the stuff of the loving relationship that exists between each of us and the Supreme Being.

Just consider what we do when we want to please the one we love. We bring them a flower. We praise them. Certainly, our beloved is pleased with such expression of our love.

When this expression of love is pointed towards the Supreme Being - it fulfills us. It fulfills the spirit-person within the body. This is spiritual life, and this is the only thing that can completely fulfill our need for love: expressing our love for the Supreme Being. 

This is why Jesus stated, "for they will be filled."

This is also confirmed by Jesus' most important instruction:

“‘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)

“Give us today our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11)

Is this really about 'bread'?

This part of Jesus' prayer is not about the bread eaten by our physical bodies.

One can find food on this planet with or without God's help. Food literally grows on trees here. Or in the case of bread, wheat grows from the ground and can be harvested and milled. From there it can be made into bread.

We don't need to ask God for food in order to get fed. Most of us simply need to work to get our food. Sometimes this requires hard work. Regardless of whether we ask God for food, we will still likely have to work to continue to have food available.

Furthermore, Jesus has already answered this question:

"Man shall not live on bread alone." (Matthew 4:4)

So if Jesus wasn't speaking literally about bread, what was he speaking of?

Jesus was speaking metaphorically, about becoming spiritually fed. How do we know this? Consider this teaching of Jesus:

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat? Or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt. 6:28-33)

The reality is that God has designed nature to provide each species with their allotment of food, which must be worked for but also shared.

This assumes that each of us takes what we need and shares the rest, rather than hordes it - which is what is taking place in human society today. There is enough food for everyone by His design. We may not share it properly - but there is enough for everyone.

But even if someone is well-fed, this brings no spiritual satisfaction. Physical food does not provide spiritual fulfillment.

The "daily bread" Jesus is referring to metaphorically is the bread that feeds our soul. Jesus is referring to soul food. That which feeds the spirit-person within the physical body.

What food will fulfill our spirit?

As Jesus states in Matthew 6:28-33 above, having plenty of food will not fulfill our real craving. Physical food will not fill our need for spiritual fulfillment.

This is why wealth or fame does not satisfy us. Those with wealth and/or fame continue to seek more of those things and anything else. Once wealth and fame is reached, those who have achieved that do not stop. They keep on trying to get more. It is like a bottomless pit.

This tells us we do not have to pray for food or any other material thing. Indeed, Jesus’ teachings illustrate that the things of this world will not satisfy us.

This is because we are not these temporary physical bodies. Our identities are not physical. We are spirit-persons driving temporary physical bodies. Jesus emphasizes this throughout his teachings, including this statement:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-20)

Why then this seeming departure to pray to God for our “daily bread”?

The “bread” Jesus is referring to in Matt. 6:11 is our relationship with God. We need to love and serve God as our heart and soul. This is confirmed in the previous stanza of the prayer:

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done."

By serving God we become part of his intimate kingdom, and we grow in our love for Him, which feeds us spiritually. Loving God and serving God becomes our daily bread.

We need this love for God every day. We need this loving relationship with God all day long. We need this loving relationship or we become spiritually hungry. Without this loving relationship, we are seeking satisfaction from all sorts of different things, trying to fill the empty void caused by not having this intimate relationship. This is confirmed by Jesus elsewhere:

" '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)

“No one can serve two masters .... " (Matthew 6:24)

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)

Is this about money?

This statement has been misconstrued and mistranslated with respect to money.

The Greek word being translated to "money" here is μαμωνᾶς (mamōnas). The word means, according to the lexicon, "mammon" or "treasure" or "riches."

Yes, it certainly can be translated to "money" - but that was not what Jesus was referring to. Why? Because money is a means of exchange. Jesus and his disciples sometimes used money to secure the things they needed to survive. 

So money is not bad in itself. It cannot be a "master" in itself.

Rather, what Jesus is referring to is materialism. This is the modern-day term used to describe "mammon."

Is 'mammon' the same as materialism?

Yes. "Mammon" or materialism is the desire to enjoy this physical world. It is the desire to enjoy these temporary physical bodies.

And why is this juxtaposed against serving God - "You cannot serve both God and materialism"?

Because materialism in essence is the expression of self-centeredness. The desire to please oneself. This is the pervading goal among the residents of the physical world.

And the pervading goal among those in the spiritual realm is quite the opposite: The residents of the spiritual realm seek to please the Supreme Being.

What about loving ourselves?

Love of God is diametrically opposed to loving oneself.

Yet surprisingly, this teaching - that we have to love ourselves before we can love others - is being taught by ecclesiastical and secular teachers in modern society.

It is an erroneous teaching. To love oneself is self-centeredness, and this does not lead to loving others.

But coming to love and serve the Supreme Being - that will cause one to love others because we are all the children of the Supreme Being.

This was confirmed by Jesus when he said:

'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. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matt. 22:37-40)

Love of God is connected to loving others. It is a pre-requisite. And loving God is the antithesis of loving oneself.

But doesn't it say "as yourself" so we need to love ourselves?

This is a self-centered, myopic approach. The verse is assuming we already care about ourselves. It is a foregone conclusion. It is already there. Not that we need to focus upon it even further.

This teaching was intended to take our attention off of ourselves - and put our love upon the Supreme Being and others instead of only on ourselves. But those who wish to interpret Jesus' teachings to accommodate their own desires would rather focus upon the "as yourself" of this instruction rather than the rest of it.

What is self-centeredness?

In the physical world, our focus upon pleasing ourselves is redirected to materialism. Our self-centeredness resulted in us being put within a physical body within the physical world in order to exercise our self-centeredness.

Then we became covered up by these physical bodies. Now our self-centeredness is directed towards working to satisfy the physical body and those things that surround the physical body.

This means the temporary things of this world. This means the desires for sensual pleasure, fame, wealth, a big house, a big family, to be the boss, to be the hero, and so on. All of these things together are defined within the notion of materialism.

And should our self-centered focus become directed towards these things - or any combination thereof - we will become the servant of materialism.

Yes - achieving all of the things of materialism requires work. It requires work to become wealthy or famous. It requires work to buy the big house or get the big job. What is this work? It is service. We have to become the servant of materialism in order to capture the things of this world.

In other words, Jesus is discussing the ultimate choice we face between God or ourselves.

What is the nature of heaven?

In the spiritual world, the focus of attention is upon the Supreme Being. This focus is accompanied by loving service because God is the most attractive and most lovable Person and loving service is how love is expressed. Our relationship with God is what we are searching for when we look for our perfect soul mate. The exchange of love with God and loving service to God is what we really seek when we seek pleasure.

Yet because He also gave us the freedom of choice whether to love Him, and since He is loving us unconditionally and thus kindly rewarding our wishes, when we chose our self-centered desires over loving Him, He granted us the ability to exercise that choice by our taking on these temporary physical bodies within the material world.

This doesn't mean we no longer have choice. While the physical world is ultimately not a place of pleasure but a place of suffering (diseases, old age, death, and pain with short flashes of physical pleasure), we still have that choice whether to focus our attention upon Him or upon our own desires and wishes.

In reality, God has arranged this physical environment and our current physical body - reflecting a combination of our wishes and past decisions - so we do not have to see Him. He has arranged the body and our physical environment in such a way that His presence is invisible to us. 

This arrangement allows us the ultimate freedom to choose between God and our own desires: We can choose to ignore Him or we can choose to worship Him: It is our choice because love requires freedom and the Supreme Being enjoys the exchange of love.

Is this like dreaming?

Our situation within the physical world can be most readily understood by considering dreaming. When we dream, our bodies are lying in the same place in our bed, while our minds take us through illusory and temporary existences in different places. In our dreams, we can play out our fantasies and our nightmares. In our dreams, we can take on different personalities. One night we might be a wealthy man governing a big company. Another night we might be a poor woman working as a slave.

In each dream, we take on a situation, and we navigate the dreamscape with a particular dream character (once we temporarily identify with it during the dream), our wishes, and our decisions.

Once we awaken from the dream, we realize the whole thing was an illusion: The identity we identified with was temporary. The environment and situation we were in were temporary. Even though we identified with it as real during the dream, once awake, we realized the dream was just a temporary manifestation - an illusion of reality.

The temporary physical body we wear at the moment is practically similar to the dream, except it is one physical layer higher. While our gross physical body is tangible and real, it is still temporary. Here the illusion is that this is our permanent place, and we will become happy here somehow. The gross physical body is still a reflection of our desires and past activities, just as is the dream.

The changes that occur around us in the physical world accommodate our ongoing wishes, desires and past decisions. This is God's arrangement to accommodate our current choice of being away from Him.

The nature of our choice between God and materialism is that we can either focus upon God or we can focus upon ourselves. By focusing upon God and serving God we become fulfilled because this is our innate spiritual position. By focusing upon ourselves, we become engrossed in self-centeredness and the requirements of materialism - which become our master.

Jesus is communicating that these two choices are mutually exclusive: We can't go both directions at the same time, because they are diametrically opposed.

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ..." (Matthew 7:9-12)

“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 7:9-12)

What does Jesus mean by this hypothetical?

Jesus is explaining, using a symbolic hypothetical situation, the Supreme Being's unconditional love for us.

The care that a parent has is compared to God's love because a parent would care about a son regardless of whether the son is rejecting the parent or has rejected the parent in the past.

This is the reality of the situation between the Supreme Being and ourselves at this point. He unconditionally loves us and therefore He is always ready and willing to forgive us, and take care of us.

This also illustrates His impartiality. He is attentive to all His children, not necessarily just the better ones.

Who is Jesus saying is 'evil'?

Jesus also makes an important and revealing statement here regarding "evil." He says:

“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children ..."

The assumption of Jesus within this text is that the people he is speaking to - the crowd, his students and disciples - are all "evil." Notice that "evil" is not being described as some alien-looking guy with big horns.

Rather, Jesus clearly indicates the people around him - those he was speaking to - were "evil." Why?

And if Jesus' disciples and students were "evil" what to speak of us?

We must also realize that each of us living self-centered lives in physical bodies, ignoring the Supreme Being in all or some aspect of our lives, is "evil." This is because evil is the condition of being self-centered.

Those of us who reside here in the physical world reside here specifically because of our self-centeredness - which gives birth to envy and greed. The spiritual world is that place of selfless love and compassion - and that place where the Supreme Being is the center of everyone's lives.

For those of us who rejected this consciousness, we were given temporary physical bodies to gain the freedom from God we were seeking.

And because God loves us and wants us back, this physical environment is set up to re-educate us to the fact that we will only be happy and fulfilled if we resume our innate spiritual consciousness - where the Supreme Being is the center of our lives.

Naturally, we all prefer to be treated fairly and cared for. This is because the Supreme Being cares for us and He treats us all impartially and fairly.

He gives us what we need, teaches us with love, and wants us to be spiritually happy.

This doesn’t mean that we always get what we want. Just because we think we are going to be happy if we get a red sports car doesn’t mean that we will be happy if we get the car.

In the same way, a child might think he or she will be happy if he or she has candy for dinner. The child’s parents know better. They know that eating candy for dinner will only lead to blood sugar problems, mood issues and the like. Therefore, because the parents love the child, they will give the child healthy food.

Does God teach us through consequences?

God designed the physical world to teach us through the use of consequences for our actions. Should we hurt others, we are eventually hurt. When we are kind, people are kind back. This world was designed by the Supreme Being to be a classroom that teaches us, tests us, and grades us.

Treating others the way we wish to be treated is considered the bottom line of the laws of the Prophets because it wraps together caring for others. The ultimate in caring for others is to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and treat them the way we want to be treated.

By treating others the way we want to be treated, the consequence is that we end up being treated in the same way we treat others. Our kindness to others returns kindness to us. This is universal because this is God's law, as Jesus states:

"For you will be treated as you treat others." (Matt. 7:2 NLT)

This doesn't mean that the world doesn't still present us with lessons each moment. Sometimes we are learning lessons from previous lifetimes and the decisions we made during those lifetimes.

God teaches through the events of the physical world that material things will not make us happy. For this reason, we usually have to work hard for those things, and then when we get them, we are let down.

This is because the Supreme Being loves us and is trying to teach us what will actually make us happy: to love and serve Him in our natural position within the spiritual realm.

It is for this reason that Jesus says:

"...do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

In other words, all of the Ten Commandments can be followed if we are truly caring, loving and serving God and His children.

“Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:22)

Another follower of Jesus said to him, “Master, let me first go and bury my father.” “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead,” replied Jesus. (Matthew 8:21-22 Lost Gospels)

How can the 'dead bury their dead'?

This is a metaphorical statement by Jesus, steeped in meaning.

The Lost Gospels Version is used here because many of the translations insert the word "own" as in "their own dead." The Greek does not indicate this. Inserting "own" subtly changes the meaning of Jesus' statement.

If Jesus was saying "their own dead" he would be indicating that it is still okay to bury "our dead." This is not Jesus' intention. He was speaking of the futility of honoring a dead, lifeless body.

Jesus is also using 'dead' metaphorically. The first instance refers to a person who is spiritually dead, while the second instance refers to a dead physical body.

Typically, dead corpses are honored by those who worship materialism. For those who confuse life with matter, a dead corpse appears important.

When we look at a dead body it is easy to discern that the living personality has left. The body becomes lifeless. Though we cannot see the living personality, we can know the living person has left, because the body no longer exhibits the goals and objectives of the living being. The personality has gone.

Most people instinctively appreciate this, simply because we say the dead person has "left us" or "passed away." Where have they gone, if the body is still there? If the body is still there, and we are all just physical bodies, then why do people lament when someone dies? They lament because they instinctively know the living self has left them.

This indicates, quite simply, that the living self is invisible to the physical eyes. We cannot see the living self with the physical eyes because the living being within is spiritual, not material. This, by the way, is also why we cannot see the Supreme Being with our physical eyes. Because the Supreme Being, too, is a Spiritual Being.

This is why Jesus taught:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” (Matthew 6:25)

This spiritual identity is in the realm of the spiritual world - heaven. This is the realm of the Supreme Being’s existence. Because each of us rejected the Supreme Being at some point in our past (symbolized by Adam’s rejection of God’s request not to eat the fruit - a decision not to do God’s will) we were assigned to these temporary bodies:

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

What are "garments of skin"? Are we talking animal skins or something? Don't be ridiculous.

The "garments of skin" are these temporary physical bodies we are wearing. These bodies “of skin” allow us to exercise our self-centered desires independent of the Supreme Being.

At the same time, however, the Supreme Being designed this physical world to hopefully teach us that only by returning to our loving relationship with God will we be happy.

This, in the end, is our decision. Love cannot be forced. We have the choice to love God or not. We can certainly choose to continue our focus upon this dead physical world if we wish - and remain spiritually dead.

Do we die when the body dies?

Jesus' statement underscores the difference between the spiritual self and the body. The body is a vehicle of the living self - the spirit-person within. The person within who drives this vehicle for a few decades eventually leaves the body, whereupon the body begins to decompose.

Therefore, it makes no sense to focus on this dead body. Nothing will be accomplished by mourning over a dead body. The self has left this body so there is nothing remaining to be concerned about. This was Jesus' message in this statement.

Jesus’ concern was for the living self. His concern is that we become free of our self-centered, greedy behavior, and return to a loving relationship with the Supreme Being. Jesus was teaching us to return home after we leave the body. Once the self is gone from the body, the body begins to decompose. It is an empty shell. The spirit-person who gave the body life is gone, and only a rotting corpse is left.

Many sectarian teachings create confusion between the spirit-person within and the physical body. The focus is upon burial and gravesites. Some institutions teach about “dancing on the grave” and so on.

These are pure speculative myths. They have nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Such teachings are dead. They have no life in them because their focus is on the physical body - which is dead without the spirit.

Jesus here clarifies his situation: The dead body is worthless. He came to save the living with his teachings. His teachings are for the living and about the living. He is asking the living self within the body to focus upon the Supreme Being, learn to love the Supreme Being, and do the Supreme Being's will. These instructions enable spiritual happiness: life.

A spiritually dead person, on the other hand, is one who is focused upon the temporary physical elements of this material world. This spiritually unfulfilled person focuses on materialism.

The spiritually dead person focuses on fame and attention. The spiritually dead person focuses upon cars, houses, food and so many other material items. These material objects are also dead. They give no life. They bring no love and no fulfillment. Therefore they are lifeless.

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast ...” (Matthew 13:33)

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Matthew 13:33)

Why another parable about the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus is continuing with his parables regarding the nature of the spiritual realm.

Remember, the word "kingdom" is translated from the Greek word βασιλεία (basileia), which means, according to the lexicon, "royal power, kingship, dominion, rule; not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom."

Jesus is not referring to a physical place here. He is referring to a particular consciousness. The consciousness relating to our relationship with the Supreme Being.

So we must ask, why would Jesus continually speak about the kingdom of God with parables? The answer lies in the fact that the subject matter - spiritual consciousness - is not easily understood by the physical mind. The mind maintains a collection of images, sounds, and other sensual information taken from the physical world. The Supreme Being is therefore not able to be perceived by the physical senses.

Therefore it is difficult to understand spiritual consciousness - one's relationship with the Supreme Being - with the physical mind. Using parables allowed Jesus to compare aspects of the spiritual realm with certain parts of the physical world.

What does 'yeast' represent?

Here Jesus compares the spiritual realm to the blending of yeast throughout a dough. Is he saying the spiritual realm is like bread? 

Certainly not. He is focusing on the action of yeast as it mixes into the dough. Yeast allows the dough to rise and expand in order to make bread. Without the yeast, there could be no bread. The dough would not have any activity - or life - to produce the dough's rise.

The “yeast” is the relationship of love that exists between God and each of His children. This is the essence of the spiritual realm and the driver for the growth of our own spiritual life.

In the spiritual realm - spiritual consciousness - the spirit-person (each of us is a spirit-person) is separate from our temporary physical body. And each spirit-person has a unique loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

This relationship is reciprocated by the Supreme Being. In the spiritual realm, in other words, there is a reciprocation of love between God and His children.

Jesus is comparing this to the mixing of dough and yeast because this relationship gives rise to pleasing the Supreme Being, which pleases the living being who loves the Supreme Being.

This is an escalating situation because as our love increases, we increasingly please the Supreme Being. Pleasing God, in turn, pleases those who love God, which again pleases God.

In our original position, we were created by God to share this love with Him. This is why we are always chasing the perfect loving relationship here on earth.

What is the 'dough'?

The "dough" in Jesus' metaphor represents the essence of the soul. When considered from a societal perspective, it represents the culture or society.

In this way, Jesus is suggesting that just a little love for God will spread through the soul as we receive reciprocity from God. This love will then spread through our entire being and activities.

This metaphor can also represent all of society as well. When love of God is taught, it begins to spread within that society.

Real love of God requires the freedom not to. The Supreme Being gave each of us the freedom to choose to love Him or not. Those of us who chose not to love Him were sent to the physical world to allow us to exercise our freedom and to learn lessons about love and relationships.

Even in this overtly self-centered physical realm, we can see that love is the still most important aspect of each of our lives. All living beings need love. If we do not exchange a loving relationship with God, we seek our love within the temporary forms of the physical world. We seek loving relationships with our physical families, spouses, friends, social media accounts, fans, or fellow organization members.

All of these efforts are futile, however. We cannot be satisfied with these temporary physical relationships. This is why we keep looking for love outside of the relationships we already have. Even those with large extended families find themselves looking around for that perfect unconditional loving relationship. This is because the unconditional loving relationship we are looking for is our original loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

This loving relationship with God is the yeast of our dough. The yeast is the unconditional love that exists between God and His children. No living being can be happy without this unconditional love from the Supreme Being. Without our personal relationship with God, there is no happiness and no real life: just as there can be no real bread from flour without yeast.

“ If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders ...” (Matthew 18:12-14)

“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders off, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” (Matthew 18:12-14)

What does Jesus' analogy of the 'hundred sheep' mean?

This parable is comparing the man to the Supreme Being. And the sheep to each of us. The sheep that walks away represents each of us who rejected the Supreme Being and left the spiritual realm to chase our self-centered desires.

This statement follows Jesus' previous statement regarding being watched over by angels:

"For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:10)

Remember that the word "angels" is translated from the Greek word ἄγγελος (aggelos) - which means "a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God" according to the lexicon.

This means that Jesus is not speaking of guardian angels as merely sitting and watching - they are specifically engaged by the Supreme Being to help us.

Why, then are they watching over us? Why do we have guardian angels? Because the Supreme Being cares about us, and wants us to come home to Him. This is the reference to the lost sheep. God wants us (His lost sheep) to return to the spiritual realm and return to our innate love for Him.

So He delegates to those who serve Him, to watch over us and help us. So we can come home to Him.

How do we become lost?

Certainly, God never loses us. He is in control and we are always living in His creation. So we are never lost in that sense.

But because the Supreme Being also gives us the freedom to love Him or not - those who decide not to love Him become lost. We become lost in our self-centeredness. Without love for God, we become lost in our own desires.

When we choose ourselves over God, we become lost. It is not as if we can ever get away from God. But God does give us space to forget Him.

This is the purpose of the physical world: To allow us the freedom to forget God - along with providing learning experiences from this 'blank' slate.

You see, The Supreme Being created us to love Him and be with Him. But love requires freedom. So He gave us the freedom to love Him or not.

Those who have not developed their natural love for Him are given these temporary physical bodies. These allow us to chase our self-centered dreams around for a while and at the same time learn (if we choose) to love again.

And He wants us to learn to love, because love makes us happy. And He wants us to be happy. He wants us back - when we are ready.

How does the man save the sheep that 'wandered off'?

This describes the Supreme Being sending his messengers to the physical world to call us back. The Supreme Being wants us to come home to Him but He never forces us. He could if He wanted. But the Supreme Being doesn't want slaves. He wants to exchange love.

The Supreme Being also expands Himself within the Holy Spirit to escort each of us as we journey through the physical realm.

Thus He can be here but not have to leave the spiritual realm. Such is the absolute power and unfathomable authority over time and space. He is not limited either by time and space or by His individuality. He can expand Himself without limit and be with each of us simultaneously.

Such is the greatness of the Supreme Being.

"And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off."

Jesus is describing the unconditional love and affection the Supreme Being has for each of us. Even though we have offended Him and rejected Him, He is ready at any time to take us back. All we have to do is want to return to Him and become determined to return to Him and He takes us back to Him.

Sometimes people will wonder why they can't just pray and be taken back just like that. But we have to understand that the Supreme Being doesn't want us to whimsically decide: He wants us to make a determination to return to Him.

And sometimes, that determination must be developed. For this reason, after we ask to return to Him He will still present us with various obstacles to overcome. These obstacles are meant to make us more determined. They are meant to make us more resolute.

After all, love cannot be whimsical. It cannot be something done just out of convenience. Love is a complete emotion. It requires complete dedication.

Just imagine if we told someone "I love you - but only when it is convenient to do so." Is this love? No. It is not love.

Love must be unconditional. It must be given without condition or convenience. It must be given with complete trust and dedication.

Why is God 'not willing that any of these little ones should be lost'?

Jesus is referring to the children he is showing before his disciples - but he is also speaking about all of us. He is illustrating that the Supreme Being is attentive and wanting each of us to return to Him.

The word "lost" has been translated to "perish" in the 2011 NIV, as it has been in the King James Version and most of the other English versions. We kept the 1984 NIV translation of "lost" here because the word is being translated from the Greek word ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), which can mean "perish" or "lost."

What the translators may not have realized is that the spirit-person never perishes. Each of us is a spirit-person - not the physical body - and each of us is eternal. We do not die when the body dies.

But we can become lost. By rejecting the Supreme Being we are escorted to the physical world and given these temporary physical bodies and physical minds - which allow us to forget the Supreme Being and become lost within the illusory nature of the physical world.

And just as the sheep who wanders off can be found and brought back, no matter how far we go down, there is still a path back to the Supreme Being for each of us.

We just have to sincerely ask.

One might wonder why we left Him in the first place if our relationship with the Supreme Being brings us happiness. When God created us, He gave us each the ability to choose whether we wanted to love Him or not. He also gave us a piece of Himself. 

That means that not only can we choose whether to love Him or not, but we have the ability to want to be Him - enviousness.

Why does God give us these choices?

Because there cannot be love without freedom of choice. Forcing someone to love is not love - it is slavery.

Though we have rejected God, He doesn't give up on us. He still tries to teach us what will make us happy. This entire physical universe is set up to help guide and teach us. This is called mercy.

His mercy is also why the Supreme Being sends His representatives to guide us back to Him.

Also notice that Jesus specifically states “your Father.” This means that God is our Creator just as He is Jesus' Creator.

We simply have to accept the mercy of the Supreme Being and decide we want to return to His Loving Arms.

"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:39)

What does 'the second is like it' mean?

This indicates that Jesus' statement is connected to his previous statement, namely the first and greatest commandment:

"'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)

So this second commandment (or instruction) is "like it." What does 'like it' mean? The phrase, "like it" is being translated from the Greek phrase, ὁμοία αὐτῇ (homoios autos).

The word ὅμοιος (homoios) means "like, similar or resembling" and "corresponding to a thing." And the word αὐτός (autos) means "itself" "it" or "the same." Thus we find the phrase means the two instructions are related: One is coming from the other.

This means that loving others is connected to loving the Supreme Being. If we are loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds, then loving others should come automatically.

What does 'neighbor' mean?

The word "neighbor" means, according to the Collins Dictionary:
1. a person who lives near another
2. a person, country, or thing situated near another

Yes, it can also mean "a fellow human being" according to the dictionary, that use is not its common use. The common use of "neighbor" relates to someone that is nearby.

So was Jesus instructing his followers to love only those who live nearby, or those who share some of the same things we do, like being in the same community or club? Or did Jesus mean love everyone - anyone?

The word "neighbor" is being translated from the Greek word πλησίον (plēsion), which means "any other person, and where two are concerned, the other" according to the lexicon. This means someone other than ourselves. It relates to all of the Supreme Being's children - and thus it relates directly to loving the Supreme Being.

Therefore this must, by default, be expanded to all other living beings, including animals. Animals are also living beings and thus children of God.

This more appropriate meaning is illustrated from the translation of Jesus' statement in the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"And the second is related: ‘Love others as yourself.’"

The word "others" - taken directly from the Greek word πλησίον - reflects the kind of love Jesus is requesting. That we love everyone, regardless of where they live, the color of their skin, or the body they may be wearing.

Do we have to love ourselves first?

One of the most prevalent interpretations of this statement, as prognosticated by many teachers and self-help gurus, interprets Jesus' teaching to mean we "have to love ourselves before we can love others."

So they teach we must 'learn to love ourselves first.'

But is this correct? Is Jesus teaching us to love ourselves first? Yes, he does say "as yourself" here, taken from the Greek word, σεαυτοῦ (seautou). But does this mean that we have to "learn to love ourselves" first?

The phrase is a colloquialism. It relates to the natural assumption of self-care. Naturally, we all care about ourselves. Our body wouldn't be alive otherwise. This is assumed in such a statement. It is not as if it is an instruction in itself. We already care about ourselves. Even a person who is supposedly doubting themselves already cares about themselves.

It's like saying, "the sun is setting in the evening sky." Naturally, it is the evening sky because the sun is setting. It is not as if the sky has to become "evening" in order for the sun to set.

The philosophy that "we must love ourselves first" contradicts Jesus' instruction completely. To love God with all our heart, soul and mind means putting Him before ourselves. Is this not the definition of love? This means we are caring for God more than ourselves.

Jesus says, "the second is like it." This means the kind of love that we are giving God will naturally also be given to God's children. We cannot love God without loving others. How can we do this if we are loving ourselves first?

To love ourselves according to the self-help gurus means to be really good to ourselves. This means focusing on ourselves. This is the exact opposite of love. This is self-centeredness.

Is self-centeredness consistent with loving others?

By this second statement following and being like the first, this means we have to love God before we can truly love others.

This is the polar opposite of the notion that we have to "love ourselves before we can love others."

Rather, Jesus indicated that all our love should be put upon the Supreme Being, and if this is done, then loving God's children will naturally follow - because God's children are related to Him.

Where does this teaching come from?

Love of God is not a new teaching. It is a teaching that had been taught and handed down through the lineage of the Prophets for centuries.

More specifically, Jesus is quoting part of God's conversation with Moses as God gave Moses instructions for the Israelites in the desert that were following Moses:

"'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." (Leviticus 19:18)

The "Do not seek revenge...." part of God's statement means that the instruction was to those who were already prone to self-centeredness. He wanted them to consider others' welfare as they already considered their own.

It is a very practical statement. God's statement to Moses, which is quoted by Jesus, assumes that the Israelites already love themselves.

The situation is no different today. Just look around. What is driving all the activity in this world? Greed. Self-centeredness. Loving ourselves. We are all focused upon what is best for me. What will make me happy. What will give me pleasure.

Even among sectarian teachings, we find that the focus is upon how Jesus can save me. How can Jesus give me wealth and business success. How Jesus can heal me, or help me get along with my family. Nearly everyone in the physical world is focused upon our own welfare (or our extended welfare - our family, nation, institution, etc.). This was the same in Jesus' time as well as during Moses' time.

In other words, there is no lack of people loving themselves. We like to put ourselves first and foremost, because ultimately, we want to be happy.

But the first and greatest commandment is the opposite of this. The first and greatest commandment is to care about God's happiness. The first and greatest commandment says to take our focus and attention away from ourselves and try to please God. This is the meaning of love.

Does God love everyone?

An interesting thing takes place when a person begins to love God. They naturally realize God's intense love for everyone. God is intensely focused on wanting each of us, and all of us, to be happy. This is because God has the perfect love for us.

It is not as if God has any true enemies. Nor does He play favorites. No one can truly challenge God. Yes, He gives us the freedom to deny Him and dislike Him if we wish. But that freedom is given because love requires freedom.

Outside of that freedom, God has no adversaries. He only loves every one of us and wants each of us to be happy.

A person who is truly wanting to please God also realizes that this consciousness: Loving God and wanting to please God; is simply returning the love for us that is already there from Him.

And love for God gives us complete fulfillment. This is the consciousness that makes us completely happy. Just as we get a small glimpse of happiness when we love and serve the temporary family of our body, we get complete satisfaction from loving and wanting to please God.

So the two are connected: It gives pleasure to God when we care about His other children. When we want God to be pleased, we naturally want others to be happy, because this too, is what God wants.

This means we are also related to the Supreme Being and thus our love and care for God must also connect with caring for ourselves. After all, the Supreme Being loves us and wants us to be happy. should we disappoint Him and do something that will only bring us emptiness? Certainly not.

We might compare this to a teenager who knows that his parents want him to graduate from high school and go on to lead a productive life. If the teenager cares about his parents, he will do well in school in order to please his parents.

This is why Jesus said the second instruction is like the first: The two are connected. When we begin to love God we automatically begin loving others, because we are all God's children.

The solution is being delivered by Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the answer to emptiness and confusion. This instruction will give us guidance and fulfillment. This will give us inner peace. This will give us direction in life.

We do not need to worry about loving ourselves. We can simply rely upon God, and give our hearts to God, and we will naturally begin to love others.