Jesus took the twelve disciples away from public ministry in order to train them for the ministry that would later be entrusted to them.

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   When the disciples returned from their ministry throughout Galilee, they reported to Jesus all they had done. Then for a period of approximately six months, Jesus seems to concentrate more on instructing and preparing His twelve disciples for what is yet to come. Repeatedly they withdraw from the region of Galilee into the region governed by Philip where the Jewish population was only a minority and the religious leaders were less likely to be able to manipulate the governing authorities.

(111) Feeding of the Five Thousand - Matt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17; John 6:1-14

   Jesus decided to take His disciples on a retreat so they could rest and relax from the hectic pace of ministry. Playing on the words of the King James translation, it has been noted that such rest is necessary, "Come ye apart and rest awhile, ...or come ye apart." The people saw Jesus and His disciples departing by boat and they hurried around the shoreline to follow Him. The people were clamoring for a leader. They were like sheep without a shepherd, like a disorganized army without a commander (I Kgs 22:17). There was a political fervor underlying the anticipation of the crowds which were following Jesus. These multitudes were not just coming to hear His sermons, for they did not understand most of what He said. They did recognize that what Jesus was saying was quite different from the regular religious fare. They wanted to hear something different; they were ready for "change" which would challenge the status-quo. Revolutionary ideas were rumbling in their minds, and they were "reading into" Jesus teaching what they wanted to hear. The fanatical fervor among them was a ground swell that could become a mass movement or a mob-action.

   When Jesus saw the crowd of people who had followed Him to this deserted area at the north end of the Sea of Galilee, He had compassion upon them. Religion is often devoid of compassion and the genuine love that seeks the highest good of the other. Some religion sees the need of people and callously declares that such is the result of bad karma; "they are just getting what they deserve for failing to be good enough." Other types of religion would so focus on the spiritual needs of the people that they would refuse to meet the physical needs of hunger and disease. Some social religion sees it as the primary "duty" of religion to feed the hungry and heal the sick. Jesus sees people and their needs and knows that He, as the Messiah of God, is the divine provision for the proper function of mankind, physically, psychologically and spiritually.

   After questioning Philip to see whether He would recognize the solution and the provision of the needs of the people in Himself, Jesus then supernaturally supplies bread and fish for everyone present, even to an abundance that exceeds the need. The purpose of the miracle was not to fuel the aspirations of the people for a Messiah of material supply, but to indicate that in the kingdom He came to bring He would serve as the spiritual supply of the "bread of life" which would satisfy the spiritual needs of mankind "exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20).

(112) Jesus Refuses to be Political King - Matt. 14:22,23; Mk. 6:45,46; Jn. 6:14,15

   The Jewish expectation in Palestine at this time was that God was going to send a human Jewish king who would restore the physical kingdom of Israel by wielding political and military power to overcome the Romans. The antagonism of the Zealots was developing into a ground swell that would lead to the revolt of the Jews against Rome in 66 A.D. and the Roman massacre of the Jews in 70 A.D. Jesus had been explaining throughout His teaching that the kingdom He had come to inaugurate was a totally different kind of kingdom, a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom not in accord with man's ways but of God's ways and character.

   When the people saw the miracle Jesus had done they concluded that Jesus was "the Prophet" predicted by Moses (Deut. 18:15-19), the Messianic prophet. They may have connected the similarity of Moses feeding manna to the Israelites in wilderness to the supply of bread provided by Jesus.

   The crowd was soon mobilized in a mob-action with a frenzied fervor to force Jesus into being their "change-agent" and political king. It appears that the disciples were sympathetic to, and easily swayed to join in this nationalistic desire for a physical king, failing after almost two years of instruction to understand the spiritual implication of the kingdom Jesus had come to bring. Jesus had to compel or constrain the disciples to get into the boat and leave, whereupon He dismissed the crowd and escaped into the hills. He would not allow Himself to be part of a mass movement of patriotic revolt, or a hand-maiden of a misguided religious zeal.

(113) Walking on Water - Matt. 14:24-33; Mk. 6:47-52; Jn. 6:16-21

   As the disciples were rowing across the lake a storm arose, and they battled the waves for over six hours until the next morning between three and six o'clock. They supposed that Jesus was still meditating on the mountain and unaware of their plight. Exhausted and almost despairing, they thought they saw an apparition, a ghost, walking on the water, but upon closer observation they recognized Jesus. Jesus told them not to be afraid for their well-being for His presence was the antidote for all fear, if they would be receptive in faith to all that He could do. These were important lessons in faith which the disciples needed to learn.

   Impetuous Peter requested permission to walk across the water to meet Jesus, and was invited to do so by Jesus. As long as he "fixed his eyes on Jesus as the author and perfecter of faith" (Heb. 12:2), he derived from God the divine power to do the supernatural, but when he focused on the circumstances of the stormy waters forgetting his receptive dependence, he began to sink. Peter cried out, "Lord, save me," whereupon Jesus extended His hand and chastised him for his lapse of faith.

   The storm immediately ceased, and the disciples were convinced once again that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, and should be worshipped as such. Their astonishment at all that Jesus could do was but a temporary cover-up of their obtuseness about spiritual realities and unwillingness to be receptive in faith in order to derive all things from God in Christ. Despite the provision of bread for five thousand men plus women and children, and the timely appearance of Jesus in the midst of the storm, the disciples were slow learners in the lessons of faith whereby Jesus was attempting to teach them that He Himself was the provision for all the needs of mankind.

(114) Visit to Gennesaret - Matt. 14:34-36; Mk. 6:53-56

Perhaps because they were blown off course by the storm, they put ashore in the area of Gennesaret. People soon recognized that Jesus and His disciples had landed, and the word went out concerning their presence. Many sick persons were brought to Jesus that He might heal them.

(115) The Bread of Life - Jn. 6:22-71

   The crowd of people who had eaten the multiplied loaves and fishes on the far side of the sea of Galilee could not find Jesus the next morning so they returned to Capernaum. Finding Jesus, they inquired how He had been transported across the sea. Jesus did not answer their question, but cut right to the point of noting their temporal and material satisfaction in eating physical food and thinking that someone who could provide such should be their political leader. "What you need," Jesus indicates, "is Someone who can provide more than physical sustenance which perishes; Someone who can provide satisfaction and nourishment for your spiritual needs unto eternal life. Such is available only in Me, the Son of Man, who is authorized and sealed with the mark of God's ownership and authenticity."

   Still caught up in their concepts of religious performance, they ask, "What must we do that we may work the works of God?" Religion is inevitably performance-based, seeking meritorious benefits from God for the works and efforts of religious men. The only work necessary, Jesus explains, is the "work of God" by His grace in His Son, which is to be received by faith by "believing on Him whom He has sent."

   Again in accord with their religious aspirations that expected the Messiah-King to be able to perform miracles, they request that Jesus work a miracle, perform a sign, that will serve as the basis of their believing. Their belief, like all religious belief, was either empirical and epistemological or experiential and existential, rather than the ontological receptivity that is the basis of faith in Christ's kingdom.

   Having mentioned that Moses miraculously supplied manna for the Israelites in the wilderness, "a bread out of heaven" (Exod. 16:4; Neh. 9:15; Ps. 78:24), Jesus reminds them that the bread did not come from Moses, but from God "out of heaven." Even so it was not the food of immortality, for the Israelites still died. There is a greater bread, the real "bread of life," from God "out of heaven" that gives life to the world of mankind. Anticipating that Jesus was going to work another miracle that produced bread out of heaven, they ask for such bread, in similar manner as the Samaritan woman asked for the water of life that Jesus promised (John 4:15). Jesus said, "I AM the bread of life," identifying Himself with the great I AM of Yahweh, God (Exod. 3:14), explaining that He had come from God "out of heaven" in a flesh and blood physical body in order to draw all men to Himself, to provide satisfaction to all the spiritual needs of men who were willing to receive Him by faith, participate in eternal life and be raised up in a spiritual resurrection body in the last day.

   The Jewish religionists reacted to His claim of heavenly origins, but even more so to the idea of the "bread of life" being provided in His flesh. Particularly offensive were Jesus' words, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and...abides in Me and I in Him." The Judaic religion had strict dietary laws about eating meat and blood, but this sounded strangely like cannibalism if taken in a strict literalistic interpretation, as religion is prone to do. Jesus was using the language of metaphor, indicating that there needed to be a reception of His very Being into a person spiritually, allowing for an ontological incorporation and participation in His life. This would be made possible by the offering of His physical and fleshly body in crucifixion on behalf of the sins of all mankind, and the resurrection of life out of death leading to the ascension of Christ's body so that the spiritual life sustenance could be available to all men. To make clear His use of symbolic and spiritual language, Jesus explains that His words are "spirit and life" for the spiritual is the vital reality.

   Knowing that these bold metaphorical images would be offensive to the Jewish religionists, Jesus used them to create a decisive turning-point which repudiated all the ideas of a physical and material kingdom with political and national overtones, focusing instead on the spiritual sufficiency of His own life. The religionists were disgusted. Most of the crowd was disillusioned and walked away in a wholesale defection. Jesus asked the twelve disciples if they, too, wanted to take the opportunity to leave, but Peter spoke for the group, saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of God." Though He appreciated their confession of faith, Jesus was already aware that there was unbelief within the group, for one of them would betray Him.

(116) Defilement is from Within - Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23; Jn. 7:1

   Sensing that Jesus had alienated many of the people and looking for a point on which to make a confrontational issue, the Pharisees and scribes noted that Jesus' disciples did not keep all the rules and regulations of the halakah, being the precepts and traditions of their ancestral teachers. The disciples did not engage in the ceremonial cleansings of purification of their hands and utensils prior to eating. This was not a matter of personal cleanliness, sanitation or hygiene, but a ritualistic action to take away alleged religious defilement. Many of the common Jewish people did not keep these traditions meticulously, but here was a point the religionists could use to attack Jesus.

   Jesus knows what they are doing and identifies the religious leaders as hypocrites, pretentious play-actors, indicating that Isaiah's prophecy (Isa. 29:13) rightly applies to them: "They honor God with their lips, but their heart is far from God. They worship God in vain and teach the precepts of men as the teaching of God."

   Religion does not care what God wants. Their first priority is to preserve and conserve their religious traditions. As an example of such Jesus refers to the misapplied practice of the Corban vow within Judaism. The Corban vow was used by Jewish religionists to evade supporting their own parents and thus to circumvent the fifth commandment of the Decalogue. Instead of "honoring their father and mother" (Exod. 20:12) by caring and supporting them, they would claim that all they had was Corban, "offered to God," thus keeping everything for their own utilization and depriving their own parents from any benefit thereof. Religion often seeks loopholes in God's law which serve to their own benefit, and seek to justify their own selfish aspirations. By conniving casuistry they void what God states and desires in order to serve their own purposes.

   Jesus then explained to the crowd which had gathered that defilement does not come from external touch or action, but what comes out of a man from a spiritual source can defile the purity of character that God desires to be expressed in a man. Purity is not a matter of external application achieved by religious rules of cleanliness and nicety, but is derived only from the purity of the character of God operating within the spirit of man.

   The disciples noted that the Pharisees were offended by Jesus' dismissal of their religious traditions of cleanliness. Jesus does not capitulate to the religionists taking offense, however. He indicates that they are not deriving from the spiritual root of God and will be uprooted, for they are blind guides of the blind, doing far more harm than good. When Paul refers to avoiding "giving offense" to the weak, it is not the same as the rigid religionists "taking offense" at what God is doing. Jesus does not "cave-in" to religious manipulation, and neither should those who are called by His name as "Christians."

   In further explanation to His disciples, they understood that Jesus was abrogating all of the old covenant purification and food laws with their external application, both ritualistic and ethical, and indicating that genuine purity must come from within the spirit of a man as the pure character of God is operative from within that person's spirit. Defilement only comes as a result of another spiritual source, the "evil treasure" (Matt. 12:35) of the Evil One, producing evil thoughts and evil character which proceed from within the spirit or heart of man and defile the man.

(117) Daughter of Syrophoenician Woman Healed - Matt. 15:21-28; Mk. 7:24-30

   Withdrawing from the increasing hostility of the religionists in Galilee, Jesus and His disciples go into the region of Phoenicia which was approximately twenty to thirty miles to the northwest. Even in this region of Tyre and Sidon Jesus is recognized and a Syrophoenician woman brings her demon possessed daughter, persistently requesting that Jesus cast out the demon.

   Despite the disciples' determination to send her away as a nuisance, Jesus explains that the priority of His personal ministry was to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," to the Jewish peoples who had wandered astray from God, and whose religious leaders were but false-shepherds. Jesus clearly understood the universality of His spiritual kingdom for all peoples, but there was a sense of urgency for the Jewish people in light of the coming catastrophe which was to come upon them later in the first century.

   Jesus' words about "the children's food being cast to the dogs" are difficult to understand. In their religious exclusivism and racial intolerance the Jews often referred derogatively to the Gentiles as "dogs," but in what sense would Jesus employ such prejudicial terminology?

   It seems best to interpret Jesus' words in the context of a teasing repartee wherein He is employing cynicism and sarcasm to expose typical Jewish religious attitudes toward Gentiles. Knowing that the Gentiles were fully aware of the Jewish prejudices and attitudes of racial superiority, Jesus asks the woman, "Do you think it would be religiously acceptable for you to come requesting healing, when I am a Jewish prophet?" Perhaps with a teasing "tongue in cheek" tone of voice, along with a wink, Jesus facetiously pantomimes that He has been sent with a typical Jewish bias exclusively to the Jewish people. This could have served as a test of her sincerity and faith, revealing whether she would be offended by such statements. Again, using a proverbial analogy of the priority, if not exclusive right, of the children to have the bread rather than casting it to the dogs, Jesus again mocks the attitude of the Jewish religionists, who would have thought that God's "children," the Jews, had exclusive right to the "bread of God," and that none should be cast to the Gentile "dogs."

   The woman is not offended, and retorts that even the dogs get some of the crumbs which fall from the table. Jesus recognizes her desperation and her faith, and allows the power of God working through Him to cast out the demon and heal the daughter.

(118) Feeding of Four Thousand - Matt. 15:29-38; Mk. 7:31­8:9

   In a radical switch of location, the next recorded incident finds Jesus and His disciples far removed from Phoenicia by as many as sixty to one hundred miles, on the southeast side of the Sea of Galilee in the territory of the ten cities known as Decapolis. Even in this non-Jewish region they were aware of Jesus' reputation as a healer. A man who was deaf and had a speech impediment was brought to Jesus and healed.

   The crowds of followers swelled, perhaps reinforced by Galilean peoples who heard that Jesus was now in this desert region to the southeast of the Sea of Galilee. Four thousand men, in addition to women and children, which could have swelled the crowd to more than ten thousand, followed Jesus for three days and were becoming weak with hunger. Divine compassion for the people's needs again prompted Jesus to feed them. The reality of Jesus being the "Bread of life" is reinforced again, illustrating the sufficiency of Jesus to provide for the needs of all men. The perfect provision of God for the spiritual needs of all men in Jesus Christ is the reality that is to be noted. The presence of Jesus and the receptivity of men to all that He can do allows for the provision of divine activity within mankind.

(119) Jews Continue to Seek Signs - Matt. 15:39­16:4; Lk. 8:10-12

   Venturing again into Galilee, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, landing on the western shore in the area of Magadan and Dalmanutha to the south of Capernaum. During His absence the Pharisees had apparently enlisted the assistance of their more liberal Sadduccean religionists to conspire to hinder and oppose the ministry of Jesus. Finding Jesus, they try to enter into dispute with Him, testing and questioning Him in order to find justifiable charges against Him. Based on their commonly held expectation of the coming Messiah-King being able to perform supernatural miracles, they again (Jn. 2:18; Matt. 12:38) ask Jesus for a sign. They do so not because they are open-minded and want to believe, but because they want to depreciate Jesus in the eyes of the people who are following Him.

   "You read the signs for the weather," Jesus answered. "When the evening sky is orange, you predict fair weather in the morning, and when the morning sky has the sun reflecting off the clouds, you predict stormy weather." "You know how to read the meteorological indicators, but you cannot discern the signs of the times," Jesus says. "You are physiologically adept, but spiritually bankrupt. It is indicative of an evil and adulterous generation that they keep wanting God to perform physical signs for them. A believing generation does not put God on a 'performance program.' You claim to believe in Yahweh, but you use him like a pet monkey to do tricks for you. You are identified with the Evil One, and have prostituted the relationship that Israel once had with God." Mark records that Jesus "sighed deeply in His spirit," for He regretted the spiritual obduracy of this religious leaders.

   The only sign that Jesus will point them to is the "sign of Jonah." Jesus may have again been looking ahead to the likeness of His three days and three nights in the tomb to the three days and three nights that Jonah spent in the sea-creature. But more consistent with the context is the similarity of the Jewish religionists with the prophet Jonah in their resentment, bitterness and anger concerning what God was doing. The Pharisees and Sadducees, like Jonah, did not want God to be "a gracious and compassionate God" (Jonah 4:2) who was merciful to sinners. They wanted their own agenda to be enacted. They wanted God to jump through their religious hoops. Jonah had warned that God's judgment would come upon Nineveh and "Nineveh would be overcome" (Jonah 3:4) unless they repented and believed in God. In like manner Jesus is indicating by "the sign of Jonah" that Judaism and the Palestinian peoples would be overcome and perish if they did not give up their obstinate and evil unbelief in what God was doing. Judgment did indeed come upon them in 70 A.D. when they were decimated and destroyed in their unbelief.

(120) Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees - Matt. 16:4-12; Mk. 8:13-26

   Jesus and His disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee again, travelling to the northwest and putting ashore in Bethsaida Julias which was just outside of the borders of Galilee. The disciples discovered that they had forgotten to bring any bread. Using the occasion of their arguing about the failure to bring bread, Jesus cautioned the disciples about "the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the leaven of Herod." The pervasive evil influence of the religionists and the governing authorities who are so often found in coalition with one another, must always be regarded with skepticism. To the very end (Rev. 17:2; 18:9) these two willing puppets of the Evil One will serve as enemies to discredit and disrupt the Christian kingdom.

   The disciples, meanwhile, were preoccupied with their negligence and failure to bring physical bread, so Jesus rebukes them for their misfocus and unwillingness to recognize the provision of God for all needs in Himself. "Is your heart hardened to the spiritual realities of God I am trying to reveal? Why are you so obtuse in your willingness to see and hear spiritual things? Can't you see that I have repetitively been trying to get you to see that I am the bread of life? I illustrated such in the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand, and yet you are unwilling to perceive and understand that the physical is illustrative of the spiritual. The pernicious and pervasive evil of religious thinking, which is concerned only with tangible things and physical responsibilities, can so easily turn your thoughts away from Me and the provision that is inherent in My presence. It would be far better if your were concerned about the leavening influence of religious teaching and governmental authority, rather than with the lack of leavened bread."

(121) Who Do You Say That I Am? - Matt. 16:13-20; Mk. 8:27-30; Lk. 9:18-21

   Taking His disciples into the villages of Caesarea Philippi to the north of Galilee and outside of the domain of Jewish religion, Jesus inquired of them what the prevailing public opinion was of His identity among the Galileans. He was quite aware that they were not accepting Him as the Messiah that He was, for their religious preconceptions and political aspirations disallowed such, and many had recently defected when Jesus emphasized the spiritual nature of His kingdom (John 6:66). The disciples explained that the opinions varied as some thought that He is a reappearing of John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the other Jewish prophets, who in any case would be but a preliminary forerunner of the promised Messiah-King. Perhaps a bit dismayed at the populace's failure to accept Him for who He is, Jesus inquired of His disciples, "Who do you all say that I am?" Peter, being the quickest spokesperson for the group, responded by saying, "You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

   Jesus pronounces a special blessing upon Peter for confessing His true identity on behalf of the group of disciples, indicating that divine revelation is necessary to come to such a conclusion and confession. "Your name is Petros (masculine form of the word meaning "rock")," Jesus says to Peter, "and upon this petra (feminine form of the word meaning "rock") I will construct the community of those who are "called out" within the kingdom, and the gates of Hades (controlled by the "one having the power of death, that is the devil"- Heb. 2:14), shall not prevail against that new kingdom-community of life." Jesus was emphasizing the idea of "rock", but it is questionable whether there is a definite play on words between petros (as a pebble rock) and petra (as foundation rock) as as some have indicated. In confessing and agreeing with God that the Son, Jesus Christ, is the Messiah, the One bringing divine life to a new community of God's people, the spiritual Israel, Peter had exposed the foundation bedrock upon which mankind could enter into spiritual union with God in Christ and form the collective "called out" community of the kingdom in which Christ's life reigns, and over which death cannot prevail. In like manner as Abraham personified the rock of faith in the old covenant (Isa. 51:1), Peter now was the personified expression of the receptivity of faith that allows an individual to be spiritually and ontologically united with Jesus Christ and His spiritual Body, the new Israel. By the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ, Peter will be given the authority of Christ Himself (Matt. 28:18), and along with the other disciples (Matt. 18:18) serving as apostles in the church, will prohibit and authorize details of the physical expression of that new community of God's people in alignment with God's heavenly and spiritual objectives. Jesus was most certainly not conferring upon Peter the personal priority and supremacy which became the foundation of the religious papacy of the Roman church.

   The disciples were then solemnly instructed not to broadcast their unique understanding of Jesus as the Messiah. First of all, the disciples only had limited awareness of the spiritual realities of such. Secondly, the Jewish expectations of the Messiah were such that they would only be misconstrued politically and nationalistically. Thirdly, the religionists could take such declarations of Messiahship and use them to indict Jesus both religiously and politically.

(122) Jesus Foretells Death and Resurrection - Matt. 16:21-23; Mk. 8:31-33; Lk. 9:22

   Alone with His disciples, Jesus begins to prepare them for what is to come. He straightforwardly explains that He, the Son of Man, must go to Jerusalem, undergo physical suffering, be blatantly rejected by the prevailing religionists, even murdered, only to rise again in resurrection after three days. Such a scenario seemed so contradictory to the expectations elicited by the foregoing confession of Jesus as the Messiah that Peter blurts out a rebuke of Jesus for such defeatist and doomsday expression. The disciples still had vestiges of the Jewish misconceptions of the Messiah, and a limited understanding of how the kingdom was going to be enacted. How could a conquering King be a suffering and dying victim? Such was inconceivable to them.

   Jesus could not allow Peter to attempt to dictate how God should inaugurate His kingdom, so in the same way that He had previously rebuked the demon (Mk. 1:25), Jesus now rebukes the spirit of Satan who is personifying himself and verbalizing through Peter. This was not just a difference of personal opinion on how to implement the physical logistics of a Messianic plan. Rather, Jesus recognized that in the cosmic conflict between God and Satan, Satan through Peter was trying to thwart what God was going to do in the redemption and restoration of mankind by dissuading Jesus from submitting to what God had in store for Him. Jesus declares that Peter's unwitting personification of Satan's expression is a scandal to what God is doing, and Peter's mind has been occupied with the natural and selfish concerns of man rather than with the mind of God. How quickly Peter, the Rock, goes from expressing the bedrock of faith in Christ to serving as the stumbling-rock that would hinder the path of Jesus.

(123) Giving Up Self-concern - Matt. 16:24-26; Mk. 8:34-36; Lk. 9:23-25

   Jesus then declares that if any man would come after Him, that person must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Him. It was a familiar sight in Roman Palestine during the first century to see a condemned criminal carrying his own gibbet, the patibulum crossbeam of his own execution instrument, to the site of his own death. Such would have been the mental picture conjured up in the minds of the disciples by Jesus' words. Discipleship involvement with Jesus was like giving up your life, abandoning all hopes and ambitions, joining your own funeral procession, caring less what the onlookers thought as they mocked you. Jesus seems to be saying, "Do you still want to confess Me as Messiah and follow Me, if it means giving up all self-concerns for one's reputation and life, if it means suffering, persecution, violent death, or even execution? Self-orientation and selfishness are contrary to the complete orientation of one's life in identification and union with Jesus Christ. Jesus was certainly not advocating the religious masochism and suppressionism of "dying to self," which is but another form of religious performance.

   To save one's life is to hold on to it, love it, be attached to it, to be absorbed in self-concern. To lose one's life is to let go of it, to be detached from it, to repudiate selfishness, to be willing to die. The man who holds on to the things of this world and fears death is already entombed in the parameters of this world. The man who has given up all things of this world and ceases to fear death is free to live in the spontaneous expression of the spiritual life of God expressed in man.

(124) Coming of the Kingdom in This Generation - Matt. 16:27,28; Mk. 8:38­9:1; Lk. 9:26,27

   If anyone is selfishly concerned about their religious reputation of respectability they have capitulated to the sinful mindset of the evil world system, and will of necessity be ashamed to give up everything to identify with and manifest the life and character of Jesus in the kingdom. Referring to the religious context of first century Palestine as a "sinful generation" which has prostituted and adulterated their relationship with God, Jesus indicates that concern for such social and religious respectability necessarily causes one to be ashamed of complete identification with Him, which means that Jesus will be ashamed of that person's inconsistency with the character of God in the judgment when our works are evaluated as to whether they have been "wrought in Him."

   Jesus then assuredly explains to His disciples that some of them would not experience physical death until the Son of Man had come reigning in His kingdom with the power of God. In one sense the kingdom of God was already functioning because the King was present (Matt. 3:2; 10:7; Lk.11:20), but various manifestations of divine power still awaited to be manifested in the context of the kingdom. Some have interpreted this as a reference to the resurrection of Jesus when He "was declared the Son of God with power" (Rom. 1:4), while others think it refers to the spiritual reign of Christ in the power of the Spirit from Pentecost onwards (Acts 1:8; 2:2). Still other commentators have considered this as a reference to the power of God displayed in judgment upon the Jewish religion in 70 A.D. (cf. Matt. 10:23). Many of the twelve disciples witnessed all of these manifestations of kingdom power.

(125) Transfiguration of Jesus - Matt. 17:1-8; Mk. 9:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36

   Probably while still in the north near Caesarea-Philippi, Jesus took Peter, James and John up to a high mountain, which was probably Mount Hermon. There Jesus was transfigured or metamorphosed into a celestial or spiritual form wherein His face shown as the sun and His garments were white as light. Moses, the leader of the exodus and the one to receive the Law in the old covenant, and Elijah, the favorite prophet of the Jews who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, joined Jesus and were discussing with Him what He was to accomplish by His death in Jerusalem. The three disciples were being given a visual object lesson that tied the old covenant together with the new covenant, and allowed them to recognize that the promised death of Jesus was to be the victory that allowed for His glorious resurrection and spiritual continuance of life in a spiritual kingdom.

   When Moses and Elijah departed, Peter, again acting apart from spiritual understanding, suggested that they build three tabernacles on the top of the mountain, one for Jesus, Moses and Elijah respectively. Throughout the centuries of man, religion has sought to build physical buildings and shrines often as memorials to "mountain-top experiences." To commemorate the past and the ethereal is often preferred to enduring the uneasy and often unpleasant practicum of God's outworking in man and history. Peter would have preferred to continue the heavenly fellowship on the mount to having to go to Jerusalem and see His Master die, a variation of the temptation for which he was earlier rebuked (Matt. 16:22).

(126) Disciples Puzzled About Resurrection and Elijah - Matt. 17:9-13; Mk. 9:9-13; Lk. 9:36

   Coming down from the mountain, Jesus told the three disciples not to broadcast what they had seen until after He had risen from the dead. Despite a glimpse of the meaning of resurrection in the transfiguration, they still had many questions concerning the implications of Jesus' resurrection, many of which were not answered until later.

   They were also curious about Elijah's presence in the transfiguration, for they had been taught in their Jewish religious instruction, in accord with Malachi 4:5,6, that Elijah would come as a forerunner of the Messiah. Believing that Jesus was the Messiah, it now seemed that Elijah had come in the transfiguration after the advent of the Messiah. Jesus explained that Elijah had already come as a forerunner in the form of John the Baptist (cf. Matt. 11:14). John the Baptist was a prophet who suffered and died, so they should not think it strange or out of order that the Messiah should suffer and die in order to accomplish what God wanted to do. Religious thinking usually regards suffering and death as incongruous to God's expression of life and victory.

(127) Disciples Could Not Heal Boy With Demons - Matt. 17:14-20; Mk. 9:14-29; Lk. 9:37-43

   As Jesus and the three disciples completed their descent to where the other nine disciples were located, they observed a scene of social turmoil where some Jewish scribes were taunting and ridiculing the nine disciples for not being able to cast a demon out of a young boy who was possessed by a demon. Jesus is chagrined at "the faithless and perverse generation" of people who fail to understand who He is, why He has come, and what He intends to do.

   The man with the demoniac son is desperate to have him delivered from his plight and questions whether Jesus is able to do what the nine disciples were unable to do. Jesus turns the question of His ability around to a question of the man's receptivity of faith, to which the man replies, "I believe; help my unbelief." He thus admits his own inability alongside of Jesus' total ability, which is the position of all genuine faith, requiring a person to admit, "I cannot; only He can." The demon was cast out of the boy, and Jesus explained to the disciples that the prayer of faith was necessary for such divine action. The nine disciples, like much of religion, apparently thought that supernatural power was inherent in them because of their association with Jesus, failing to recognize that divine power in inherent in Jesus alone, and faith, however small, is but availability to the ability of God, receptivity of His divine activity.

(128) Jesus Again Foretells Death and Resurrection - Matt. 17:22,23; Mk. 9:30-32; Lk. 9:43-45

   Travelling south and entering again into the region of Galilee, Jesus again tells His disciples that He will be delivered by betrayal to the authorities and killed, but will rise again from the dead on the third day. Jesus knew that they could not keep eluding the religious and governmental authorities who were becoming increasingly fearful and annoyed at the phenomena of a recalcitrant preacher attracting great crowds who wanted Him to be their political Messiah. Beyond the declarations and explanations of the kingdom and the display of the deeds of divine power, Jesus knew that His own death would serve as the remedial action to take away the diabolic death consequences from sinful mankind and serve as the redemption price in order to restore divine life to the spirit of men so that He might reign as King in their lives.

   Religion always seeks to do away with Jesus, silence Him, and quench the manifestations of His life. They clearly understand that Jesus Christ is antithetical to all that they represent. Christianity and religion will always be enemies because religion is linked to the "adversary" of God.

(129) Jesus Pays Half-Shekel for Temple - Matt. 17:24-27

   Returning to the community of Capernaum which had served as the primary base of operations for the ministry of Jesus and His disciples, some of the Jewish bookkeepers who meticulously collected the prescribed half-shekel temple tax inquired of Peter whether Jesus paid the obligatory tax required by the Law (Exod. 30:13-16). By this time in first century Palestine the intent of the Law had been corrupted in the Jewish religion and the Roman government had gotten "in on the action" by levying such a tax presumably for the Department of Religion. Once again religion and government were serving as "strange bedfellows."

   Sure that Jesus was not an anarchist, Peter assured the religious tax-collector that Jesus was one who paid any taxes that He owed. Jesus must have overheard the conversation of Peter and the tax-collector, for He then approached Peter asking, "What do you think, Peter; Do kings receive taxes from their sons or from their constituents?" When Peter replied that it was the constituents who paid taxes, Jesus provided the logical conclusion that the sons of the king were free from paying taxes. Jesus, as the Son of God, did not owe any religious taxes. He was not a subject constituent of their religious kingdom. In the kingdom that Jesus came to reveal Christians are not tax-paying constituents either, but we are "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26). Religion has no right to extract religious taxes, tolls, tributes or tithes from those who are sons of the King who reigns in their lives. We are free from the legalistic imposition of levied religious monetary mandates. The temple in which God dwells is our individual bodies and the collective community of the Church of Christ.

   Jesus then exposes the ridiculousness of the religious funding fraud. "They think they are so powerful with their authority to require such payments," Jesus seems to say, "so to show them the real extent of divine power that so far supersedes their puny power plays, Peter, just go down to the Sea of Galilee, throw in a hook (regardless of whether it has any bait on it), pull up the first fish that bites, take out the shekel that will be in its mouth, and pay the petty religious lackeys the half-shekel tax both for yourself and for Me." By so doing Jesus trivialized the religious game they were playing and revealed the impotence and powerless of religious power compared to the power of God. He voluntarily chose to avoid scandalizing them by disallowing them to make an issue out of non-payment of a tax He did not owe, since the spiritual reasoning for such they could not have understood as natural men (I Cor. 2:14). Once again religion was confronted and exposed. Robert Capon explains that Jesus "tacks a 'Gone Fishing' sign over the sweatshop of religion."1

(130) The Greatest is as a Child - Matt. 18:1-5; Mk. 9:33-37; Lk. 9:46-48

   Despite being with Him for so long, the disciples still had a limited understanding of the radical difference of the spiritual kingdom Jesus was explaining. They still conceived of the kingdom as an organization with places of position and offices of preferment and prestige, where one would be greater than another in a human hierarchical system. Human and physical religious structures are not what the kingdom is all about. The kingdom is dynamic and alive with the life of the King, rather than depicted on a flow-chart of leadership power and control.

   On the way down to Capernaum they had been contending about who among them would be the greatest, so when they arrive at their quarters in Capernaum Jesus addresses the issue of their disputational reasoning. Jesus took a little child as an object lesson, indicating that a complete change of attitude was in order in the context of the kingdom.

   In Palestine during the third decade of the first century, children, especially male children, were valued by Jewish families for their potential posterity, but socially the children were regarded primarily as a nuisance. Children had no rights or status. They were dirty, snot-nosed inconveniences, who were regarded as inferior, ignorant and insignificant in a religious society that valued education, learning, wisdom and intelligence along with strict propriety. Children were on the bottom of the social and religious totem-pole, the least among family members, and were "to be seen not heard."

   When Jesus tells the disciples they must become like little children to enter the kingdom, and humble themselves like little children to have a greater place in the kingdom, He is turning religious and social convention upside down. The kingdom is comprised of the little, the least and the lowly. In religion they clamor after the self-importance of places, position, privileges and controlling power to "lord it over" (Mk. 10:42) other people, but in the kingdom of God the humility of Christ within us is willing to assume the lowest and last place in order to serve everyone else in love which takes no thought of our status or significance. Such an expression of the character of Christ "in His name" is truly being receptive to what God wants to be and do in us, and constitutes God's idea of success and greatness.

(131) Tolerant of Diversity - Mk. 9:38-41; Lk. 9:49,50

   John recalled a previous situation where another person was unofficially casting out demons "in Jesus name," and explained that they had forbade that person from doing so because He was not identified as a member of their group. Obviously they did not understand that in the kingdom it does not matter whether a person has an acceptable position, title, or authority. Religion is so concerned about official membership in their group, the credentials for assuming a place of responsibility and certification for leadership, as well as having an acceptable and orthodox message and methodology. They want to formulate and establish the criteria for acceptability, demanding conformity of approach, and forbidding all other methodologies. The issue of most importance in the kingdom is that God is doing what God wants to do to meet the needs of mankind through whatever available vessels might present themselves. "He that is not against us is for us," Jesus told the disciples, "for those who are acting as My representatives are not usually acting as My adversaries." We need to be tolerant of diversities of thought and method.

(132) Concern for Little Ones - Matt. 18:6-11; Mk. 9:42-50

   Contrary to typical methods of religious recruitment, God is interested in the little ones, the least, the lowly, the "losers," the "lost." Religion touts their celebrities, people with big name recognition, people with money. Religion is concerned with winners and conquerors, people who can be lifted up as trophies of success. Jesus explains that God's grace is extended to those in need, the "have-nots," and if we repudiate them or cause them to stumble and be scandalized by our attitudes, then it would be better if we had a millstone hung around our neck and should sink into the depth of the sea. Stumblingblocks to receptive faith and participation in the kingdom will surely come, Jesus indicates, but woe to the religionists who create stumblingblocks to faith. The lowly, the outcasts, the "have-nots" are not dispensable; they are not spiritual "throw-aways". In fact, Jesus notes, your physical body-parts such as hands and feet and eyes are more dispensable than are these needy people. Severe judgment, "salted with fire," awaits all religionists who hinder the "little ones" and the "lost ones" from entering the kingdom of Christ. Salt can be good, though, and the pervasive characteristic of salt should permeate and season all of our interpersonal relationships. The seasoning of the character of Christ will preserve our kingdom interactions from the rottenness of religious contention and exclusivism.

(133) Parable of the Shepherd - Matt. 18:12-14

   God is concerned that the little and the lowly among men should not perish. "God is not willing that any should perish" (II Pt. 3:9). To illustrate His point of God's concern for the little and the lost, Jesus employed another parable of a shepherd with one hundred sheep and one of them goes astray. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine and seeks the lost sheep. There is great joy when the "Good Shepherd" (Jn. 10:1-18) finds a lost sheep, and God's grace is granted to the "have nots" who find all sufficiency in Christ.

(134) Forgiving Your Brother - Matt. 18:15-22

   In our interpersonal relationships within the kingdom there will be misunderstandings and wrongs against one another. Every attempt should be made to be reconciled in a relationship of love and forgiveness. Religious practice usually goes to one extreme or the other, either engaging in harsh and vindictive church discipline that proudly assumes God's position of pronouncement and excom-munication, or allowing a laxity of tolerance and indifference that glosses over problems and misrepresentative behavior. Jesus indicates that personal confrontation is necessary to resolve such interpersonal conflicts, and the entire collective body should function to heal such wounds.

   Religion, then as now, tends to view forgiveness in terms of mathematics or law. Peter, trained by the rabbinic religionists that three occasions of forgiveness was the maximum required by Jewish law, thought he was being quite generous by suggesting that forgiveness be granted to an offending brother seven times. Jesus uses a numerical exaggeration of seventy times seven to show that genuine forgiveness is not a matter of mathematics, but is the unlimited character expression of God, requiring the internal and spiritual function of the divine Forgiver within us.

(135) Parable of Debt-collecting - Matt. 18:23-35

   Religion often views forgiveness as still involving some aspect of qualifying or "paying up." Thus they remain engaged in the bookkeeping and debt-collecting business. Jesus likens the kingdom to a king who found one of his subjects who had a debt to him larger than any man could ever pay. It was an exaggerated and exorbitant amount of money, since Jesus was obviously illustrating the extent of mankind's debt unto God. Initially this earthly king intended to respond with harsh and exacting consequences upon his subject. But when the subject pled for mercy and promised to repay, the king exercised compassion, forgave the debt and released the man from prison. Like many a religious man, this subject could not appreciate forgiveness and was still operating on a debt-collecting mentality, thinking that he could repay what did not need to be repaid. Within the kingdom of Christ we must forget all about repayment for God's grace in Jesus Christ, for such is an impossibility. The divine Forgiver now lives in us and is to function through us in our interpersonal relationships, allowing the dynamic of God's grace to be extended toward others who do not deserve such either. As God's forgiving grace functions through us, we develop greater appreciation of His grace toward and in us. Religionists who do not understand the grace and forgiveness of God despite being forgiven by God in Christ, but insist on precise retributive repayment for all wrongdoing, will find themselves facing the punitive tormentors of hell, for they cannot allow the indwelling Forgiver to forgive others as He has forgiven them (cf. Matt. 6:12).

(136) Total Involvement in the Kingdom - Matt. 8:19-22; Lk. 9:57-62

   A Jewish scribe who wanted to become a disciple of Jesus came and promised to follow Jesus anywhere He might go. But what this religious man did not understand is that the kingdom is not like joining a club, or signing up for a cause celebre. It is not a matter of volunteering for a benevolent organization, or changing one's religious affiliation.

   Jesus responded metaphorically by noting that "foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." The implication is that kingdom life is not settling in to a "comfort zone" of expedience and social involvement. Religion has set up ministry as a "profession" full of benefits and perquisites. It knows nothing of the sacrifices of inconvenience and the humiliation of suffering.

   Another would-be-disciple of Jesus requested permission to bury his dead father. In the Jewish religion the responsibility for burying the dead was extremely important. Death was to be covered up as soon as possible, for anything connected with death was regarded as defiling. According to Jewish tradition, one could not recite the Shema unless the dead had been buried. Some have thought that Jesus was rather insensitive when He said, "Let those who are spiritually dead and involved in the 'dead works' of dead religion go through their religious rituals of burying the dead in fancy funerals with exaggerated eulogies." Far from insensitivity, Jesus was being very realistic about the priority of "seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33), and that with a sense of urgency. There was no time for "courtesy calls" when the Jewish nation and religion were heading for catastrophic destruction within a few decades.

   Jesus wanted to make clear that the kingdom of God is a total involvement of one's being, with a single-minded focus on Jesus Christ and what He wants to do. The essence of the kingdom, Jesus Christ, becomes the basis of all that we are and all that we do, and we must be available for all that He wants to do.

(137) Jesus Rejects Advice of Brothers - John 7:2-9

   Jesus' return to Galilee had been as private as possible. The diminished antagonism of the religious leaders may have been a result of their preparations to attend the annual Feast of the Tabernacles in Jerusalem.

   The unbelieving half-brothers of Jesus suggest, almost dare Him, to go to Jerusalem and "prove" Himself on the big religious stage. Jesus had been avoiding the "capital" of Jewish religion in Judea, because "the Jews were seeking to kill Him" (John 7:1), and He was not "courting" martyrdom. Religion often seeks opportunistic spectacularism, but Jesus was only going to act in accord with God's timing. Jesus knew that the worldly religion of that region hated Him because its deeds were evil, derived from the Evil One, rather than from God. He also knew that the destined time of God's redemptive activity was not going to be at this feast, but at the next major Jewish holiday, the Passover.

(138) Jesus Goes to Jerusalem - Lk. 9:51-56; Jn. 7:10

   When the caravan of Jewish pilgrims had already departed for Jerusalem, Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem with His disciples inconspicuously. They would go through Samaria, for few Jewish travellers would take this most direct route because of their hatred for the half-breed Samaritans and the fear of defilement from them.

   Jesus sent advance messengers to arrange lodging in a Samaritan village, but they were denied such hospitality because they were Jews on their way to Jerusalem. The bitterness and hostility between these two religious groups went both ways. James and John, the "sons of thunder," were particularly incensed at this social slight, and asked whether Jesus would have them call down fire from heaven to consume these ingrates. Jesus rebuked them for reverting to such retaliatory measures, and thinking that God would act according to their vengeful whims. The group went to another village and lodged there on their way to Judea.

1    Capon, Robert, The Parables of Grace. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Pub. Co., 1988. pg. 30.