"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" (Luke 4:4)

According to this and other English translations, Jesus is saying this to the "devil" during his forty-day fast in the desert. According to Luke:

The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." (Luke 4:4)

Jesus' answer, if understood, clarifies the meaning of his forty-day fast, and even who the "devil" really is.

Who is Jesus quoting?

In answering, Jesus indicates that "it is written." What does this mean? It means that Jesus is quoting from scripture. In particular, he is quoting Moses' statement to his students after they had traveled through the desert in search for what has been referred to as "the promised land."

Here is the text from Deuteronomy, Chapter 8, that includes this statement:

"Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers 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." (Deut. 8:1-3)

We can see here the reason that God led the Israelites through the desert, and why they ate manna - a seed-grain pulverized into a meal made into wafers. It explains that the purpose of the journey was "to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart."

Why would God need to test them?

We can understand this when we understand relationships. Let's say we had a close friend that, after many years of friendship, suddenly betrayed us and took off, and for several years stayed out of touch with us. Then suddenly they call us out of the blue and want to be friends again. What would we do?

Most people would be a bit careful. Before re-establishing a trusting relationship with that person we would want to go slowly. We would want to gradually rebuild our relationship. We would also test that friendship over time to see if the person was really serious about being friends again.

For example, we might call the friend and ask them to do something for us that might be a bit difficult for them to do. If they do it, we would know that they are committed to being friends again. If they don't, we know they have an ulterior motive, or they just want to be friends out of convenience (they call this a "fair weather friend").

God, on the other hand, does not need to test us in order to understand whether we are committed to a relationship with Him. He already knows how committed we are. He can see our hearts.

However, He will still put various tests in front of us should we seriously pray to Him and ask to return to Him. Why? Because these tests tell us whether we are really committed to Him or not. They indicate whether we are serious about returning to Him or not.

And what is the value of that? The value is that if we understand our lack of seriousness, we can then work towards becoming more serious about re-establishing our relationship with the Supreme Being. It is like a litmus test for us.

For example, many people will say in passing that "Oh, I love God." But do they really? Do they even know who God is? Have they really committed their lives to doing what is pleasing to God?

Who tempted Jesus and why did he fast?

Many have asked why Jesus took a forty-day fast in the desert. Moses' statement to the Israelites gives us an indication. A forty-day fast provides an appropriate test, and it is significant that Jesus fasted for 40 days - symbolizing the 40-year journey by Moses' students.

And we can see from Jesus' forty-day fast in the desert that he was also being tested:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:1-2)

The word "tempted" is being translated from the Greek word πειράζω (peirazō) means, according to the lexicon, "to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself." We can thus understand that Jesus was being tested.

Furthermore, it says "he was tempted by the devil." Who is the "devil"?

The concept of the "devil" as promulgated by many, is that the devil is some bad guy who goes around tempting each of us. The idea is that we are all "good" but this guy the devil sits on our shoulder and tempts us with "bad" "sinful" stuff. Or he gets us to sign a contract in blood that then corrupts us.

While there is certainly truth to these symbolic descriptions of life within the physical world, we would be living in cartoon-land if we thought the devil was a physical reality.

The word "devil" in these verses from Luke is translated from the word διάβολος (diabolos). Here is the entire text from Thayer's lexicon defining this word:
1) prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely
a) a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer,
2) metaphor - applied to a man who, by opposing the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him

Thus we can see that the word διάβολος (diabolos) does not actually refer to a physical person, the "devil." It is describing being slanderous or falsely accusing, or when used metaphorically, a person who is "opposing the cause of God." Remember that the term "metaphorically" (metaphor) refers to symbolism.

Thus we can see that the translation to "devil" as a person in these verses is incorrect. The early translators - who were paid professional translators intent on following the edicts of the politically-derived Synod of Nicene driven by the Roman Emperor Constantine's desire to control the Christian world - simply did not portray the meaning of διάβολος (diabolos) with the correct context.

This is because they themselves were not dedicated to the teachings of Jesus. They were not devoted to the Truth. They were simply "doing their job" and they knew that if they didn't translate the texts to the satisfaction of the early Church leaders then they would lose that job and/or be imprisoned or even burnt at the stake.

And the early Roman Church leaders wanted to promote this idea of the "devil" or "satan" because they wanted to scare people into coming to church and paying their alms.

As for later Biblical translators - those with advanced degrees from divinity schools - they also needed to protect their reputation and their professional positions within their institutions - typically financed or supported by churches that also drew upon the Nicene Creed. Thus these later translators also had to maintain the status quo of translating these texts as if a person called the devil was following Jesus around the desert tempting him with stuff.

Rather, as we can see from the definition that in this context, the word διάβολος (diabolos) refers to opposing our natural state of being a loving caregiver of God. By opposing our natural position - as we were each created to be one of the Supreme Being's caregivers - we are thus "opposing the cause of God" or "falsely" considering ourselves not one of the Supreme Being's children.

We are rebelling against God in other words.

Rather than Jesus being "tempted by the devil," Jesus was being tested by the promises of the material world. The nature of the physical world is such that it tests anyone who enters it and takes on a physical body. Why?

The physical world was created by the Supreme Being in order to provide some of His children a place where we could seemingly get away from Him.

Why are we here?

Those of us within the physical world are here because at some point we rejected the Supreme Being and became self-centered. We rejected our position as God's loving servant. We wanted to get away from Him. We wanted to be like Him. We wanted to be the master instead of the servant. So we wanted to get away from Him.

And because the Supreme Being is always present everywhere, in order to satisfy our desire to get away from Him, He created a virtual dimension where we take on physical bodies that cannot see Him. This has allowed us to pretend that He doesn't exist, or doubt His existence.

Thus the physical world is full of promises and desires for seeming pleasure. For this reason, it is also a place of entrapment. By becoming immersed in our desires we become entrapped by the physical world. We become hooked to its sensual nature.

The physical world also has another feature: We are tricked into thinking that these physical bodies are us. We occupy these bodies for a few decades, and then they die and we have to leave them. But we think they are eternal and we think we are them. We thus struggle to keep them alive, not realizing that we are simply driving these bodies around much like a person sits down in a car and drives it for a while.

But once inside the body we begin to identify with it (much as people identify with their cars). We think this body is us, and we search for pleasure within this physical world.

Why aren't we satisfied?

Just as the Rolling Stones sang during the height of their popularity, "I can't get no satisfaction," one can have so many things here in this world and still not be satisfied. Why?

The things of the physical world will not satisfy us because we are spiritual by nature.

This might be compared to us driving our car, and becoming hungry, and thinking that if we fill up the car with gas we will become full and no longer hungry.

But it doesn't work that way. If we fill the car's gas tank with gas it will not affect our stomach, because we are occupying the car. We are not the car.

In the same way, the things of this world will not satisfy the spiritual being - us - within the physical body.

This is what Jesus is teaching as he makes this statement. He is being tested by the promise of the things of the physical world - in this case, food that will break his fast - and he is stating that the things of this physical world will not satisfy us.

The statement, "Man does not live on bread alone" incorporates several important lessons, both on a symbolic and practical way. When Jesus uses the word "live," he is not referring to keeping the body alive. Otherwise, it would be a false statement, because bread does keep the body alive. Thus we can know by the word "live" that Jesus is talking about spiritual life. He is talking about the life of the spiritual being.

And he knows that the spiritual being - each of us dwelling within these physical bodies - will only be able to truly live when we are in our natural position of loving and serving the Supreme Being.

But the idea that the devil is responsible for our self-centered (sinful) nature is not correct. We are responsible for our self-centered nature. We are the only ones who can decide that we want to change our consciousness. But as long as we remain self-centered, then the "devil" of the physical world will continue to tempt us with so many plans, physical goodies, wealth, fame and so on so that we become mired within the web of the physical world.

The fact is, the devil symbolizes our desire to enjoy life in a self-centered way. The devil is a self-centered outlook that sees everything around us as objects for our enjoyment. This means that the devil, in fact, is an element of our current consciousness.

In our pure state, each of us is a loving caregiver of the Supreme Being. This is our natural position. Each of us is a spiritual entity: A spiritual person. And we come from the spiritual realm.

But because we became self-centered, and became envious of the Supreme Being, we were tossed out of the spiritual realm and forced to take on physical bodies. These temporary physical bodies are like vehicles: We get in them and drive them for a while.

This means that we are not these bodies, and our true nature is spiritual. This is the meaning of Jesus' statement that "Man does not live on bread alone." Each of us needs spiritual food.

What else does man live on besides bread?

Jesus is referring to Moses' teachings. Moses taught that "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

How can a person "live" "on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

It is love for the Supreme Being. It is a loving relationship with God. When such a devoted person hears from their Beloved, they are happy.

This combines with doing what pleases God. Then when that person follows through on something God says, (translated in Deut. as "commands") they become fulfilled. What God says indicates what pleases Him. If a person does what pleases God out of love, their love is complete, bringing complete fulfillment.

This is what each of us is eternally hungry for. And this is why we are never satisfied with the physical stuff of this world. We are not satisfied with material things, whether it is wealth, fame, power or sensuality. Even the richest, most powerful people in the world are still empty for this reason. We can only be fulfilled when we are lovingly seeking to please our Best Friend and Soul Mate - the Supreme Being.

This is what Jesus is communicating. Yes, Luke clearly indicates that Jesus was tempted by a desire to eat while he was fasting. He was fasting as a sacrifice to please the Supreme Being, and this desire to eat came upon him, but he refused it by commanding that his need was spiritual food, not physical food.

He loves us without condition and wants us to return home to Him because He knows that only this will make us happy.

This is why both Jesus and Moses taught the most important commandment is:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'" (Luke 10:27 and Deut 6:4)

"I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." (Luke 7:9)

Jesus is commenting about a Roman Centurion - a Roman officer - who said the following to Jesus:

"Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." (Luke 7:6-8)

What does Jesus mean by this?

Jesus is referring to the dedication of this soldier to Jesus, who he could see was the Representative of God. At that time, the nation of Israel - Ἰσραήλ (Israēl) largely followed the tenets of the Jewish teachings related to the five books of the Torah.

Yet Jesus was part of this heritage, as his family also attended the Jewish temples, as did Jesus from time to time. And this soldier had the vision to see this.

Jesus was not a follower of the institutional Jewish temple teachers. He was a follower and student of John the Baptist - who had baptized Jesus in the river Jordan. And John the Baptist was not an ecclesiastical Jewish teacher. Rather, he carried on the mission brought forward through the lineage of true representatives of God - including Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Eli, Samuel, David, Solomon, Job, and so on.

And John was a student of Zachariah, a devoted Jewish priest, who was in the lineage of these teachers.

Jesus was also part of this lineage, as he took baptism - same as anointing - from John.

John was also God's representative - a messenger of God. This is why Jesus accepted him as his Teacher and carried on John's ministry when John was imprisoned.

Was Jesus a follower of John the Baptist?

Did Jesus carry on John's ministry? The evidence is right in the Scriptures:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 3:2)

From that time on [after Jesus had heard of John's imprisonment] Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 4:17)

Jesus instructed his own disciples to teach the same teaching:

"Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'" (Matt. 10:5-7)

Meanwhile, the ecclesiastical Jewish institutions of Israel had become poisoned by political positioning and strife as they jostled for positions of authority amongst the people and the Romans. This positioning for authority within the Jewish temple organizations - the two primary being the Pharisees and the high priests - attracted those who sought political power over others. This changed these organizations from being devoted to the Supreme Being to being primarily politically oriented.

What was the common mission of Jesus and John?

Jesus and John's mission were to call the Jewish people back to the core teachings of Moses, those of loving God. This is the real meaning of "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." To "repent" - from the Greek μετανοέω (metanoeō)) - means to have a change of heart. It means to change one's consciousness from being self-centered to being God-centered.

And God is near because He is available to each of us. He is nearby.

Many teachers today still overlook these primary injunctions of Moses relating to loving God. Consider the importance of this element of Moses' teachings evidenced by these verses:

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:5)

"Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always." (Deut 11:1)

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today - to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deut 11:13)

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him - " (Deut. 11:22)

"because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today - to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways - " (Deut. 19:19)

"For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws" (Deut. 30:16)

"and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life...." (Deut. 30:20)

After Moses, Moses' student Joshua also carried this message forward:

"But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul." (Joshua 22:5)

"So be very careful to love the LORD your God." (Joshua 23:11)

So while Jesus certainly ascribed to the teachings of Moses and the other Jewish Saints of the Old Testament, he did not agree with the then-current teachings of the Jewish scribes. He criticized them often, saying things like:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matt. 23:13-15)

These and other statements indicate that Jesus was trying to save the Jewish people, and he followed the teachings of the Jewish Saints. But he did not condone the institutional Jewish temples and their power-hungry teachers who were misleading people about the teachings of those Saints like Moses.

Why did the Jewish teachers not accept Jesus?

These institutional Jewish teachers - the Pharisees, the high priests and the Sadducees - were focused on maintaining their authority by enforcing the letter of the rituals. Thus, they ignored the essence of the true teachings of the Prophets they claimed to follow - the teachings of love of God.

This kept them from seeing Jesus as he was - God's representative.

Ironically, many of today's institutions and their teachers have also fallen into the same trap. These institutions' focus is upon maintaining rituals related to Jesus' torture on the cross, whilst they virtually ignore his teachings.

Jesus' teachings are reflected by this simple statement about the Roman Centurion. The word "faith" here is being translated from the Greek word πίστις (pistis). Is "faith" the correct translation of this word within this context?

No. The word πίστις (pistis) according to Thayer's lexicon means, "conviction of the truth of anything" and within this context, "a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust."

What is "trust"?

Trust is a personal notion. It is an element related to relying on someone. It is accepting that someone is reliable and trustworthy.

Thus Jesus is not referring to some impersonal faith in a sect or institutional temple organization. The Roman Centurion was trusting in Jesus. He was trusting that Jesus was speaking the Truth. He was trusting that Jesus was representing the Supreme Being.

We can easily take this away from this event because we already know that Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees and the Sadducees - two competing groups of the Jewish institution of those times.

Thus by the Centurion communicating his humility and reverence to Jesus - "I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you." - combined with Jesus' statement characterizing his "faith," we can understand that Jesus is referring to a personal trust of God and God's representative.

Did Jesus trust the Supreme Being?

Yes. This is why Jesus was God's representative. He wasn't God Himself, as some institutional teachers will preach. He was God's loving servant, as indicated by his teachings and his prayers to God.

But trusting in Jesus as God's representative is also trusting in God. Just as an ambassador of a country receives the respect given to his country's government, such respect given to God's representative is thereby given to God.

This indicates that trusting in Jesus' teachings - taking them to heart and trying to practice them - is inseparable from trusting in God. This is the real meaning of faith: Trusting in the Supreme Being. Trusting that the Supreme Being has our best interests at heart, and trusting that if we follow the teachings of His representative, we will be able to return to Him, and our home in the spiritual realm.

And what were Jesus' primary teachings?

“The most important of all the instructions is, ‘Hear O Israel – the LORD our God is our only Lord – and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ – this is the most important instruction." (Mark 12:29-30)

"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:50)

Jesus is clearly stating here that the woman - Mary Magdalene as we established with Luke 7:40-48 - was saved by her "faith."

This reality contradicts teachings that proclaim that we can only be saved by Jesus' physical body dying on the cross.

If the death of Jesus' physical body on the cross is the only thing that can save people, how was Mary Magdalene saved, according to Jesus himself, by her "faith?"

Was no one saved before Jesus died?

Jesus' own statement contradicts the notion that no one was saved before Jesus' crucifixion. Some of these teachers claim that every righteous person who lived and died prior to Jesus' death would have to remain in a state of purgatory until Jesus' crucifixion. Some have since adjusted this to be about Jesus' so-called second coming.

The reality is that people were indeed 'saved' prior to Jesus' crucifixion. Just as Jesus states here, their faith and devotion to God and the teachings of those representatives of God who came before Jesus saved them.

Those that trusted in and followed Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Eli, Samuel, David, Job, Solomon, Zechariah, Noah, John the Baptist and other Prophets were saved, as Jesus indicates here. Each of these teachers delivered those who followed them with faith.

And just what is this "faith" that saved Mary? What does "faith" really mean? Does "faith" mean becoming a member of a particular religion or religious sect? Does "faith" mean going to church? Does "faith" mean saying "I am saved"?

The word "faith" here has been translated from the Greek word πίστις (pistis) which means, according to Thayer's lexicon, "conviction of the truth of anything" and "the character of one who can be relied on."

Let's consider this word and its meaning a little more carefully. Let's say a person is going to the hospital to get surgery, and they say to the surgeon prior to their operation, "I have faith in you." Does this have anything to do with being a member of a religion or religious sect?

No. A patient's saying that "I have faith in you" to their doctor simply means the person has complete confidence in the doctor. They trust in the doctor's skills, and trust that the doctor will perform the surgery flawlessly.

Why did Mary's faith save her?

Because she trusted in God and in Jesus.

This is what Jesus is describing: Mary Magdalene had complete confidence in Jesus and his teachings. She trusts that his teachings were coming from God. And she trusts in God.

What else was Jesus doing that she should have confidence in? Is Jesus talking about her having confidence in his miracles? Or is Jesus talking about her having confidence in his existence?

No, because those things were obvious to see. Anyone seeing Jesus' miracles would have confidence in Jesus having those abilities. (We know that Mary traveled with Jesus so she had witnessed those.)

And anyone seeing Jesus standing or sitting in front of them as Mary had, would certainly have confidence in Jesus' existence.

And Jesus had not created any type of religious sect: He didn't erect temples or churches and did not put together an organization. Therefore his use of the word "faith" had nothing to do with joining any religion or sect.

So the "faith" that Jesus was speaking of had nothing to do with the faith in a particular sect or institution.

The "faith" that Jesus was referring to with Mary was her confidence that Jesus' teachings were true, and were coming from God.

Jesus' teachings were his primary mission. He traveled from town to town through an inhospitable desert region, sometimes with little water or food, just to preach to the people of these different towns. He would teach from hillsides, boats, and courtyards. Teaching was Jesus' purpose and mission.

And those who believed his teachings - those who had confidence in or faith in those teachings - were saved by Jesus' teachings.

Why is trusting Jesus so important?

Because Jesus' teachings introduced people to the Supreme Being. Those who heard Jesus' teachings and trusted in them were saved because they were introduced to God: They were given the opportunity to revitalize their lost relationship with the Supreme Being.

And what is that relationship? It is based upon love and loving service. This is who we are and why we were created by God: To love Him and serve Him.

This is why Jesus declared that his most important teaching ("first and greatest") was:

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

By following this instruction - having confidence or "faith" in this teaching - we are effectively saved. Why? Because by loving God we are effectively reunited within our natural position as His loving servant. This saves us from the tempest of material existence - driven by self-centeredness. It saves us from the ravishes related to desiring things that won't fulfill us and suffering the consequences of hurting others as we attempt to get what we want.

A life of loving and serving the Supreme Being effectively eliminates the consciousness of selfishness - the root of sin.

What does he mean by "go in peace"?

What does Jesus mean by "go in peace"? Is he saying Mary is an enemy combatant and he is trying to make peace with her?

Don't be ridiculous.

The word "peace" is being translated from the Greek εἰρήνη (eirēnē), which can refer to tranquility among nations or groups, but in this context, according to the lexicon, it means "the tranquil state of a soul" and "the blessed state of devout and upright men."

Jesus is communicating contentment. Fulfillment. When someone has a loving relationship with the Supreme Being they are contented. They are fulfilled. Jesus wants everyone to feel this way.

We also cannot disconnect the word "peace" from Jesus' statement regarding Mary's "faith" and the fact that this "saved" her. The "peace" that she would be experiencing is directly relating to her having confidence and trust in Jesus' teachings - and thus following them.

This means that it was the following of Jesus' teachings that was bringing Mary this tranquility in the first place.

That is the nature of loving the Supreme Being. It is fulfilling. When we are in love with God we are completely satisfied. God is the Perfect Person. He is our Soul Mate. He is the One we've been looking for our entire lives to make us complete. Loving the Supreme Being is the only thing that can bring us real peace within.

And this is ultimately how we are saved.

"The seed is the word of God...." (Luke 8:11-15)

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." (Luke 8:11-15)

Jesus is detailing the meaning of the parable of the farmer and the seeds to his disciples:

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear." (Luke 8:5-8)

Jesus also described to his disciples the need for speaking in parables:

"The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, " 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'" (Luke 8:10)

The parable above has been reviewed in detail, and why it wasn't well understood with the verses above.

What does he mean by seed?

This is the subject matter of this entire parable and discussion. If we look at the text surrounding the one quoted above, we find that a full 21 verses in Luke's Chapter 8 are dedicated to the importance of Jesus' teachings. These begin with:

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. (Luke 8:1)

to:

He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." (Luke 8:21)

We find these verses and all of the text between these two verses discussing the importance Jesus put upon his teachings. In Luke 8:1 we find that Jesus' travels were not about healing people from their various sicknesses. Jesus' travels were not about expelling demons from people. And Jesus' mission was not about dying for people's sins.

And while many purport that these were the central elements of Jesus' mission, this is not supported by the scriptures nor Jesus' specific statements.

Rather, the scriptures state specifically - such as in Luke 8:1 - that his mission was related to "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God."

And Jesus' parable is focused upon the "word of God."

And Jesus' statement about who his real mother and brothers are - "those who hear God's word and put it into practice" - focuses us even further not only upon Jesus' mission - but what we need to be doing in order to be pleasing to Jesus: putting his teachings into practice.

Notice also in this statement Jesus says clearly that "saving" a person directly relates not to Jesus' dying on the cross, but rather to their hearing and acting upon "the word of God":

".... and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved."

What is the "word of God"?

The phrase "word of God" is actually a mistranslation. The phrase is derived from the Greek phrase λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. The word θεοῦ (theos) refers to God - the Supreme Being. The word τοῦ means "of." And the word λόγος (logos) can certainly mean "word," but its more practical and more utilized meaning is "teaching" or "doctrine" or "discourse" according to the lexicon.

So the correct translation of this phrase, λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ would not be the "word of God," it would be:

"The teachings of God."

This phrase has various angles and nuances, but there is a critical message within this phrase. We are talking about the teachings that are coming from God. Consider these statements by Jesus:

"My teaching is not my own. It comes from the One who sent me." (John 7:16)

"For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken." (John 12:49)

"These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." (John 14:24)

It is clear from these statements that Jesus' teachings are coming not from Jesus, but from God. This illustrates two important things:

1) That Jesus is not God. "My teaching is not my own." "These words you hear are not my own;" "For I did not speak on my own..." All of these statements say the same thing: Since his teachings are not coming from him but are coming from God, Jesus cannot be God as taught by some.

2) Jesus' teachings are coming from God. This would effectively make Jesus a messenger. "It comes from the One who sent me;" "but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken;" and "they belong to the Father who sent me" all clarify that not only do Jesus' teachings come not from him but from God, but that Jesus' is a messenger. Anyone who is "sent" and also passes along the "words" or "statements" or "teachings" that come from someone else is quite clearly the messenger of that person.

So what is the big deal about Jesus being God's messenger? This opposes the very fundamental position given to Jesus by the Nicene Creed - the set of principles laid out by the politically-oriented council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., from which just about every current sectarian doctrine is based upon.

The Nicene Creed has provided the foundation for how many modern sects identify Jesus - as God.

The Nicene Creed is a product of a council of people that were hand-picked by the Roman Emperor Constantine. The motivation behind the council was to organize the peoples of Europe and the Middle East under the auspices of a single religious sect.

Even though the Romans had slaughtered millions of early Christians over the previous 300 years, they had the gall to then attempt to organize it under a single banner - which became the Roman Catholic Church (notice the "Roman" in the name).

It wasn't as if the idea of Jesus being God - or one of the trinity of God - was a unanimous decision by those appointed by Constantine to the Council of Nicaea. In fact, this notion was hotly debated during their gatherings, and some of the most respected teachers of that day fought against such a thesis.

They understood Jesus as God's messenger and understood more clearly the words of Jesus as we illustrate above. But Constantine was a big proponent of this position because he saw the political advantage of making Jesus out to be part of God.

Weren't the Romans polytheistic?

In fact, this notion of worshiping multiple "gods" was inherent in the Roman culture. They had a history of worshiping the various "gods," similar to the Greek "gods." They did not accept a single Supreme Being, but rather, a community of demi-gods as being supreme.

And this concept carried over to the Roman-sanctioned Nicene Creed, where the idea of a Supreme Being - something that Jesus taught exclusively - became diluted by this concept of a "trinity."

As if God was not a single being, but a combination of three beings.

This diametrically opposes every statement Jesus made: Every prayer: Every activity. Jesus' entire life and mission was dedicated to serving A SINGLE PERSON: The Supreme Being.

What about the Trinity?

Yes, we can accept that God has different vehicles from which he can reach out to us. He can certainly reach out to us through His representative - Jesus and other representatives of God such as Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Eli, Samuel, David, Solomon, Job and others.

And yes, God can certainly reach out to each of us individually through our hearts - described by Jesus as the "Holy Spirit." But these in no way dilute God's individuality and the fact that He is a Person.

These are merely His broadcasting vehicles, just as a newscaster may broadcast the news through a television station but that newscaster does not become all the images in millions of televisions. He remains an individual.

In fact, those who do not know God like to dilute Him into an impersonal thing. Some will say that "God is love," or "God is everything." Others might even say that we are all God. Still others say that God is some kind of void - everything but nothing.

All of this is quite simply nonsense. Jesus specifically said his teachings did not come from himself, but from God. This means that they cam from an individual separate from Jesus. If we are all God, then certainly Jesus would not have said this.

And those who claim that God is everywhere or we are God quite simply do not know God. They do not know the individual of God.

Jesus spoke of an individual being - God. Jesus spoke of loving God and doing God's will:

"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)

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him," (John 7:28)

"If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me." (John 8:42)

These statements clarify that Jesus accepted God as a Person: An individual being. Someone who Jesus knew personally and others did not: "You do not know Him" specifically indicates that knowing who God is is critical to Jesus' mission.

Knowing who God is is also required in order to love God - Jesus' most important teaching. We cannot love a vague impersonal force. We can only love someone we know.

We also see in the verses above that Jesus emphasized doing God's will. Doing God's will means serving God. Only a person can have a will. A vague impersonal force or everything cannot have a will. Only an individual with a will that may be different from our own can have such a will that Jesus is speaking of. This is why Jesus emphasizes that: "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me."

This distinguishes Jesus' will from God's will. It says that instead of doing his own will, Jesus is doing God's will.

And therein lies the understanding to the oft-misquoted statement (and only statement) that many people rely upon when they claim that Jesus is God:

"I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)

This is misinterpreted and mistranslated.

Now when someone is doing the will of another - they are united by that will. There becomes a oneness between them - not that they become the same person. But because one is doing the will of the other, there is a oneness.

We see this type of oneness every day. When the wife and the husband act together - with the same objectives - we say they are one. This is why one spouse can typically sign for the other, or one of their signatures is as good as both in many circumstances. The world sees them as one - they have a oneness of purpose and will. But they do not become the same person.

Similarly, when an employee carries out the orders of his boss, that employee has a oneness with his boss. The company is acting as a unit. And the boss and the employee have a oneness of purpose and will (although this is indented - they are both being paid to have the same will - but this is what forms one company).

The bottom line is that Jesus never referred to God as anything else but an individual: Someone we can know. Someone we can serve. Someone we can love.

In fact, these three elements: Coming to know God; Coming to serve God; and Coming to love God - make up the essence of Jesus' teachings: "the word of God." Jesus described who God is, what pleases Him, and how to love Him.

Now let's put it together. What is this saying? Jesus is saying that his teachings are coming from God and that passing these teachings to others is God's will and Jesus is doing God's will.

This means that God wants us to come to know Him. God wants us to learn to serve Him. God wants us to come to love Him.

Does God need us?

Does God need everyone to be focused on Him?

Certainly not. Otherwise, He would simply force us to focus on Him. He would be around all the time.

For example, sometimes we see dictators who will plaster their photos across giant billboards all over the country, and will have their images all over the television and every public place will be covered with their images around the country. Why? Because they want to force the people to stay focused upon him. The dictator wants to force people to focus on him.

God does not do this. Rather, God hides Himself from us. He stays away unless we ask for Him to come.

If God wanted to force Himself upon us, we would not be allowed to think God is an impersonal force or everywhere or nowhere. We would not be allowed to completely reject God's existence as atheists do. If God needed us, He could certainly force us to be focused upon Him. He could force us to serve Him and do His will.

But He doesn't. He leaves these matters up to us. We get the choice to believe in His existence or not. We get the choice to serve Him or not. We get the choice to love Him or not. Freedom, in fact, is required for love. We must have the freedom to love or not in order to love.

In fact, the very reason we cannot see God within the physical world with our physical eyes is because we have chosen not to see God. At some point in each of our pasts, we have rejected God and said we wanted to get away from Him.

So God created the physical world and these temporary physical bodies for each of us (spirit-persons) to dwell within, and effectively not be able to see Him. These bodies were designed specifically for not seeing God. They were designed to allow us to not see Him. And this of course, gives us the ability to say stuff like: "If there is a God then why can't I see Him?"

Why is God hiding from us?

Yes, God is hiding from most of us. He created these physical bodies with physical eyes that have no ability to see into the spiritual realm - that place where He dwells personally.

We might compare this to a video game. Let's say we wanted to take a break from our job and our boss at work. So we sit down at our computer and begin playing a video game. By playing the game, we effectively get to escape the work environment while we focus on winning some points within the virtual reality of the video game.

Now what if the boss was able to tinker with our video game one night and make it so when we played the game, the boss was in the game telling us what to do just like he does at work. Would we still want to play that game in order to take a break from work?

Certainly not. If the boss was in the game it would destroy the entire illusion the video game brought us - allowing us to escape the reality of work for a few minutes.

This can be comparable to the physical world, except that God specifically took Himself out of the virtual reality of the physical world - because we had indicated to Him at some point in our past that we wanted to get away from Him. (Though there are still gentle reminders of His existence all around us.)

You see, God is not like our boss at work. God is a loving Person. He cares about us. He wants us to be happy. He doesn't need us. He has plenty of other friends and pastimes - He doesn't need us.

But He wants us to be happy. He created us to exchange a loving relationship with Him. This is our constitution - our nature. So only this can truly make us happy. Only when we are loving Him and serving Him can we be happy, and He knows this.

So even though He gave us our freedom within this physical world to ignore Him for a while - He won't let us go. If He wanted, He could let us forget Him for the rest of our existence. We could continue to be lonely and empty inside (even if we are surrounded by people) forever if He wanted it.

But He wants us to come home to Him because He knows that will make us happy. He wants us to be happy. He knows that when we are loving Him and serving Him out of love, we will be happy.

Just consider what people strive so hard for in order to achieve happiness in the physical world: We seek happiness by finding a loving mate. Or by becoming famous. Or by having a big family. Each of these things are considered finding happiness (as most reject the concept that money brings happiness) because they are related to our natural position of loving someone, being loved by someone and caring about and serving someone.

Why do we each need love?

We each want to love and be loved. We each want to serve our beloved. These are considered finding happiness because this is who we are within: We are lovers by nature. We thrive off love. God made us to love and to be loved. So we need this.

Yet we are always disappointed with the "loves" we find here in the physical world. We might love a person, and they break up with us or divorce us or die on us. We might love our children and they run off on us when they get older. We might love our parents but then they get old and die. None of the loves of this world last. We are always left behind or we leave them behind.

And what happens when our "loves" leave or die? We get sad. We feel lonely.

This simply indicates that we need to love someone permanently. Someone who will never leave us. Someone who will stick with us through thick and thin and always forgive us even if we really mess things up. Someone who will not die on us or divorce us.

This is God. The Supreme Being. The Supreme Person. God is that perfect person we are looking to love and to love us unconditionally. He is that gracious person who will never let us down. Who will always be there for us. Who will never die on us or divorce us or run off.

And while God does not need us - we need God. This is the person we need to love and serve, or we remain empty and lonely - despite our big family or adoring fans.

This is why God sent Jesus to re-introduce us to Him. This is why Jesus' most important teaching (the "word of God") was:

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

Thus we find the true trinity is God's outreach system. He allows us to come to know Him through His representative, through scripture (the "word of God"), and through the Holy Spirit - His personal expansion right next to each of us.

This outreach process of God is why Jesus wanted his disciples to retain his teachings (the "seed") and pass those teachings on to others ("produce a crop"):

"But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

“Let the dead bury their own dead ...” (Luke 9:60)

He said to another man, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:59-60)

Why did Jesus instruct the man not to bury his father?

Jesus' statement is clear. Jesus has asked someone to follow him and that person felt they needed to attend to the funeral of their father first. So Jesus is telling him to leave the funeral to the "dead" and instead "proclaim the kingdom of God."

What about those who preach that the family is all-important? And what about the importance of burials? Many churches even have graveyards as part of their institution, and the priests claiming to follow Jesus will typically preside over burial rituals.

These rituals, in fact, illustrate how far these institutions have wandered from Jesus' teachings. Instead of embracing Jesus' teachings as Jesus' followers, these institutions have embraced the very elements that Jesus asked his students to de-emphasize in their lives.

Why would Jesus instruct a potential follower not to attend his own father's funeral?

Isn't the family important to Jesus?

Jesus did indeed teach that the family of the physical body was not important in spiritual life. This is why, when his mother and brothers came to visit him during a sermon, he said:

"My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." (Luke 8:20-21)

Yes, Jesus is teaching us about our larger family. The family of God's children, which we are a member of. And those of God's children that are accepting the Supreme Being are our dearest family members.

But what about Moses' teaching to "honor your mother and your father" (Exodus 20:12)? Yes, this is one of the instructions of Moses. So what is going on? Why is Jesus telling this potential follower not to attend his father's funeral?

Jesus wasn't instructing his students not to honor their mother or father when they were alive. He was teaching them not to honor dead bodies. The soul of the man's father was gone, leaving the dead carcass. The man had the opportunity to follow Jesus. Surely the dead body of his father was not so important in comparison.

At issue is the nature of the physical body with respect to our identity and the importance of our spiritual life.

“Let the dead bury their own dead" is a metaphorical homonym comparing a dead physical body with a dead spiritual life.

What did Jesus teach about who we are?

Jesus taught that we are not the physical body. He taught that we are spirit by nature.

The physical body is only alive when it is animated by the spirit-person - the spiritual self that is not perceivable by the gross physical senses. When this spirit-person leaves the physical body the body dies. It is lifeless.

This means that we are not these physical bodies. They are temporary vehicles we occupy for a while. Then they die.

But those who are enamored by the physical world - those of us who identify ourselves with our physical body - will mourn the death of a family member. What we are not seeing is that the person has not died. They have simply left their physical body.

Thus to attend the funeral of the father is not related to Moses' commandment, because that person whom we should respect for raising us and taking care of us as children is gone. Their lifeless physical body may remain, but the person is gone.

Thus, Jesus is classifying those who mourn the death of the physical body as "dead" because they are incorrectly identifying the spiritual self with the physical body. They are "dead" because they are not seeing that the spirit-person has simply moved on. And they are "dead" because they are not focused upon their relationship with their real Father - the Supreme Being.

In other words, they are spiritually "dead."

This statement, in fact, is testimony that Jesus himself taught about our identity as spirit, not the physical body. Other statements confirm this, such as:

"And don’t fear those who can kill the body but are unable to kill the soul." (Matthew 10:28)

"Watch out and pray that you will not be tempted – for the spirit may be willing but the physical body is weak." (Matt. 26:41 and Mark 14:38)

“For this reason I say to you, don’t be anxious about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body and what you will wear. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?" (Matt. 6:25)

"It is spirit that gives life; the physical body provides no benefit." (John 6:63)

"That which arises from the flesh is flesh, and that which arises from the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)

"But when you see your true self that existed before your body, which never dies nor becomes visible, how can you rely on it?” (Gospel of Thomas 84:2)

"For my mother bore my body, yet my True Mother gave me life.” (Gospel of Thomas 101:3)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear." (Luke 12:22)

In the last statement, if we single out the phrase "or about your body," we get:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your body"

Jesus is telling his students not to worry about their bodies because we are not these bodies. Our body is a temporary vehicle.

Meanwhile, Jesus has a mission to do. He is teaching others about the Supreme Being. He is guiding others by educating them about God. And on the scale of importance, this takes precedence over mourning over a lifeless body.

What did he mean by 'go preach'?

But is Jesus necessarily telling the student to immediately go out and begin preaching, even though he hasn't been following Jesus yet? (As Jesus has just asked him to "follow me.")

Both of these words, "preach" (KJV) or "proclaim" (NIV) come from the Greek word διαγγέλλω (diaggellō), which means, according to Strong's lexicon:

1) to carry a message through, announce everywhere, through places, through assemblies of men etc.
2) to publish abroad, declare

Would Jesus be sending out a brand new follower to preach - before he began hearing from Jesus and learning his teachings?

This interpretation - to preach - actually contradicts Jesus' first statement, "follow me." (Luke 9:59) He can't go out and preach if he hasn't followed Jesus yet. He must become Jesus' student and learn from Jesus before he is ready to preach.

So yes, we can certainly interpret this to mean Jesus wants him to go out preaching, but there is a more appropriate translation and interpretation of this statement - given the circumstances:

Did Jesus encourage him to glorify God?

The reality is that Jesus wanted his follower to glorify the Supreme Being. To "proclaim the kingdom of God" doesn't just mean preaching to others. It means to praise the Supreme Being. It means to glorify Him and glorify His Holy Name.

Preaching is also glorifying God: but simply in the role of a teacher.

The fact is, many have completely missed this part of Jesus' teachings. He wanted those around him to glorify God and praise God's Name.

This is evidenced by how Jesus wanted his students to say about him:

"Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (Luke 13:35)

And why, after practically every miracle Jesus performed, do we find people praising God:

When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God... (Matt. 9:8)

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. (Matt. 15:31)

He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God... (Mark 2:12)

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God... (Luke 2:28)

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” (Luke 7:16)

Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. (Luke 13:13)

Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:43)

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God... (Luke 23:47)

And with these verses, we discover the real purpose of so many of Jesus' activities, such as performing miracles. He wanted those around him to praise God!

We also see that Jesus' disciples followed this instruction of Jesus after he left them:

And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:53)

This act of praising God was also taught by David - whom Jesus followed and quoted often:

Let the Name of the LORD be praised, both now and forevermore. (Psalms 113:2)

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the Name of the LORD is to be praised. (Psalms 113:3)

From these verses and many others, we find that Jesus indeed was teaching his students to praise God - to glorify the Supreme Being. This also meant as David stresses, glorifying God's Holy Name.

Actually, we find this teaching throughout the Books of the Bible. Why? Because this is a universal teaching of any bona fide representative of the Supreme Being.

As this statement and all these verses clearly indicate, praising the Supreme Being and glorifying His Holy Names is the pathway to returning to our relationship with the Supreme Being. And what is the nature of that relationship? Jesus emphasized this:

“‘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." (Luke 10:27)

This is why Jesus taught us to glorify God.

"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows ..." (Luke 10:22)

"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal Him." (Luke 10:22)

What does Jesus mean by 'all things'?

On first glance, "all things have been committed to me by my Father," seems straightforward. Unfortunately, it is mistranslated.

Did he really say "all things"? Does he mean that God gave Jesus everything in creation - everything in existence? All things or everything would also, by definition, include all of God's power over creation. God's omniscience. God's authority.

This would mean that if God gave all this to Jesus, then God would no longer by God since God is omniscient. If God gave His omniscience to someone else, then God would no longer be omniscient. By definition, this would mean that God would no longer be God.

This is a ridiculous supposition. And it is based on a mistranslation. Actually, the Greek word πᾶς (pas) refers to "individually - each, every, any ..." Jesus is speaking of something - not everything in creation.

Furthermore, the phrase, "committed to me" comes from the Greek word παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), which means, "to give into the hands of another" and "to give over into one's power or use" according to the lexicon.

So what has been given to Jesus by God?

It is related to the subject of Jesus' previous statement - what Jesus has given to his disciples ("little children") has been given to him by the Supreme Being.

This means that Jesus is really saying:

"All of these things have been given to me by my Father."

Notice what a difference "all things" is from "all these things." "All of these things" refers to things in particular, while "all things" refers to everything. The Greek is clear, from the word πᾶς (pas) - certain things, not all things.

So what were "these things?" "These things" refers to Jesus' previous statement - what he has given his disciples - his teachings. Jesus is saying that what he has given his disciples - his teachings - come from God. Jesus is saying "all" of his teachings have been given to him by God.

Why does Jesus then refer to 'son' in the third person?

Then Jesus begins to speak in the third person. Is he speaking exclusively about himself in this next part, and if so, why would he suddenly begin speaking in the third person? He was speaking in the first person first. Why would he suddenly switch? Why not stay in the first person? Especially when it simply is not appropriate to speak exclusively about oneself in the third person, as the example above showed.

If Jesus was speaking exclusively of himself here, why does he begin referring to the "Son" in the third person? This is quite an odd way for anyone to speak of themselves. Did Jesus really speak of himself in the third person?

This might be compared to someone named John talking to someone and saying: "John goes for a walk in the forest every day. John likes the forest."

Who would talk like this? Certainly, John would say, "I go for a walk...." and "I like the forest." Right?

First, let's discuss the beginning of the verse. This verse continues from the previous verse, where Jesus said:

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what You were pleased to do." (Luke 10:21)

We clarified the meaning of this statement within the linked article.

The key to understanding this relates to the mistranslation of the word "son."

The Greek word translated to "son" is υἱός (huios). As we've indicated before, this word can only be translated to "son" - "in a restricted sense, the male offspring (one born by a father and of a mother)" according to the lexicon. The lexicon goes further by explaining the use of the word outside of this as:

"used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower - of teachers - i.q. pupils."

"one who is connected with or belongs to a thing by any kind of close relationship."

"instructed in evangelical truth and devotedly obedient to it"

"one to whom anything belongs"

"those to whom the prophetic and covenant promises belong"

"The Jews called the Messiah υἱὸς εἶ τοῦ θεοῦ pre-eminently, as the supreme representative of God"

Certainly this is the context in which Jesus is referring. A "follower" or "one who depends on another" is most certainly, a devotee, a loving servant, or in the case of someone being sent by God - representative.

This is what Jesus is describing here, and this is why Jesus also used this reference in the third person as he spoke of it. Because he isn't the only loving servant, devotee or representative of God.

Consider, for example, the multiple references to "sons of God" among the English Bible translations:

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4)

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. (Job 1:6)

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. (Job 2:1)

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matt. 6:9)

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14)
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

Why else would Jesus have used this reference in the third person?

Isn't Jesus referring to a role?

Let's say that a person is the President of the United States. And they are given a bill from Congress to sign. And let's say that the President vetoes the bill. The President might say, in defense of his vetoing the bill:

"Yes, I vetoed the bill. The President always has the right to veto any bill that Congress brings before him."

We see that the President certainly is speaking exclusively of himself in the first sentence - just as Jesus did. But then he switches to the third person when he refers to the office of the President because that right (to be able to veto any bill) is not his exclusive right - it is the exclusive right of any person who is occupying that office of President. And many others have and will occupy that office of President.

If it was that particular person's exclusive right - solely himself having that right and no one else - then he would have continued speaking in first person, saying something like, "I alone have the right of veto."

In the same way, Jesus first refers to himself in this verse - indicated in the Greek by the word ἐγώ (egō) which refers to "me" or "I" - in the first person. But then he goes on to discuss the inherent characteristics that exist between the Supreme Being and anyone who is God's confidential loving servant.

Can others besides Jesus also know God?

Jesus is not saying that no one else but he knows who God is. This would by necessity be saying that Moses didn't know who God was. And Abraham didn't know who God was. And David didn't know God. And no one in the spiritual realm knows who God is. Would Jesus really be saying this?

In fact, this would also be contradicting the Biblical scriptures that described Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and others walking with God and otherwise communicating with God. Certainly, they knew God as indicated by these texts.

Certainly, Jesus wouldn't be contradicting the very scriptures he treasured. This is evidenced by the fact that Jesus often quoted the teachings of these and other loving servants of God, as taken from the texts of those scriptures. Even Jesus' "first and foremost commandment" was taken from Moses' teachings.

Rather than Jesus' exclusively referring to himself as interpreted by ecclesiastical teachers, Jesus is referring to an exclusive situation that exists between every confidential loving servant of the Supreme Being and God. Let's thus translate this statement appropriately:

"No one knows who the loving servant is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the loving servant and those to whom the loving servant chooses to reveal Him."

or

"No one knows who the representative is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the representative and those to whom the representative chooses to reveal Him."

God and His confidential loving servants - and when they are sent to the world, representatives - enjoy an exclusive relationship that no one else is privy to. Why?

Isn't that an intimate relationship?

Just consider what intimacy means. Intimacy refers to a relationship that is not seen by others outside the relationship. When a man and a woman have an intimate relationship, what goes on inside that relationship is not known by others. The co-workers of one of them certainly won't know about their relationship - unless of course one of them tells them.

And this is precisely what Jesus is referring to. Yes, Jesus is certainly indicating that he has an intimate and confidential relationship with the Supreme Being. But he isn't saying that no one else but him has ever had an intimate and confidential relationship with God.

Such a position would also render additional descriptions of this relationship. These include not only being a follower, loving servant and devotee of God: But also being God's representative. One who is dependent upon God and is serving God will also represent God. This was Jesus' role - and the role of many who have been sent by God to teach us about Him.

What this is referring to is one of the characteristics of having a confidential loving relationship with God. Only the person who has an intimate, confidential relationship with the Supreme Being knows God, and only God truly knows the loving servant of God. Thus being God's representative would also be an appropriate translation of the word υἱός (huios) in the context of Jesus.

Others - who are not God's loving servants - might claim they know God or represent God. But they don't know God. Why? Even if they have heard a lot about God - even if they read all the scriptures - they still won't truly know God - unless they are God's loving servant.

Why? Because God reveals Himself only to those who sincerely seek Him. He only reveals Himself to those who desire to serve Him. Those who dedicate their lives to pleasing Him are eligible, and to these, He will reveal Himself.

Let's compare to those who doubt in God's existence, challenging God: "If You exist, prove it to me by revealing Yourself."

Does God reveal Himself to these people? Certainly not. But why? Why wouldn't God want to prove He exists to doubters and challengers?

The Supreme Being doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. People who need to prove themselves are those who want to appear to be someone they are not.

The Supreme Being - the Omniscient Person who controls everything - does not have to prove His existence to anyone.

It is always His prerogative to show Himself or not. And God only reveals Himself to those He feels are ready to see Him.

Why doesn't God appear to everyone?

He could if He wanted to. Those He doesn't reveal Himself to don't want to see Him. We may say we want to see Him, and even sometimes demand He show Himself, but we really want to hold on to the belief that He may not exist.

This is because if He might not exist, then we won't have to serve Him. We have an excuse to chase our self-centered desires. If He might not exist, then we can continue to strive to be the hero, the superstar, the all-time greatest, the champion of the world.

But should He reveal Himself to us, we would have to give up these aspirations. Why? Because if God truly revealed Himself to us as He is, we would realize that He is the only true Hero, Superstar, All-time Greatest, and the Champion of the World. By seeing Him, we would know that only He could occupy these posts. We could never hold those positions.

So the Supreme Being has given us these temporary physical bodies and these tiny circumstances surrounding us because we desire to be in the role of hero, superstar, champion and all-time greatest person. We want to get away from God. We want to be able to ignore His existence. We reject our role as one of His servants. So He gives us this temporary world and these temporary bodies to play out our fantasies.

So for Him to suddenly reveal Himself to us would wreck our fantasy that we are so great.

But this world isn't simply fantasy. This physical world does exist - despite the speculations of some who claim this world is only the product of our mind and our mind is all-powerful. If it was the product of our mind and our mind is all-powerful, then why can't we fix the problems of this world? Why can't we remove violence, starvation, wars, disease, old age, death?

Because the physical world is not a product of our mind. Our mind is a product of the physical world.

Yes, the physical world is a real place and we are really here in these temporary physical bodies. Just as a movie is real in that there are real actors and real cameras shooting the movie, the physical world is real in that we are in these bodies playing these temporary roles. But just as the movie is a fictitious remake of real life, the roles we play in the physical world are fictitious (and perverted) reflections of our real selves.

The reality is that we are all, by nature, loving servants of God. Beneath our temporary false identities - beneath these temporary physical bodies - each of us has a unique and intimate relationship with God. But we rejected that relationship. And this is why we are here, away from Him. We are in effect, hiding from God and hiding from our relationship with Him. God simply completes the process by completely covering us up so we cannot see Him, allowing us to forget His existence.

And this is why this world is dosed with the reality of suffering. We all suffer here, not just our physical bodies, but we suffer from loneliness as we try to live without our Best Friend, the Supreme Being.

And all the physical suffering of the physical world is founded upon this loneliness - this emptiness within. As we attempt to fill our empty hearts with so many physical things - from money to sex to fame - we create suffering for ourselves and others.

And this emptiness, in fact, is the cause for all the suffering in the world - the suffering created by violence, hunger, disease, old age, and death. These are all created by our lonely continuous search for happiness where there is none. Suffering is created by our desire to get away from the Supreme Being - and try to make this wasteland of the physical world our home.

The only way home - as Jesus is indicating here - is via our being re-introduced to the Supreme Being by one of His loving servants. God's loving servants enjoy an intimate relationship with Him and through this intimacy, they can also introduce others to Him. This is reflected by Jesus' statement:

"no one knows who the Father is except the loving servant and those to whom the loving servant chooses to reveal Him."

Who can introduce us to God?

Only someone who enjoys a confidential loving relationship with the Supreme Being can introduce others to the Supreme Being.

This is like any other relationship. Could we get to know the President of the United States on a personal basis without being introduced to him by someone who already has a personal relationship with the him? No.

But if we had a personal relationship with someone who hung out with the President personally, it would be a cinch. The person would say, 'hey, let's go hang out with the President. He's my friend.'

And the President would certainly open himself up to such a friend of one of his personal friends. Why? Because this is one of the universal laws of relationships.

Why are these universal laws of relationship? Because all relationships stem from the original relationship between the Supreme Being and His children.

The bottom line is that Jesus is not only speaking of himself being able to introduce God to others. Remember that he is responding to the fact that his disciples just returned from teaching to others. He sent 72 of his disciples off to different villages to teach. How were they able to teach others, and give God to others?

Because they had become part of the linkage that exists between God and His loving servants. Jesus had introduced them to God, and they could then introduce others to God. This is the system among those who become devoted to the Supreme Being.

We can see this system inherent in the teachings of Moses, which were then reiterated by Moses' disciple Joshua, and later by Jesus.

Check out Moses' teachings in this respect, as he attempted to introduce his students to the Supreme Being:

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5)

“Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always.” (Deuteronomy 11:1)

“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today – to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 11:13)

“If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow – to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him – “ (Deuteronomy 11:22)

“…because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today – to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways – “ (Deuteronomy 19:19)

“For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws” (Deuteronomy 30:16)

“…and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your life...” (Deuteronomy 30:20)

And Moses' disciple, Joshua passed on the same teaching:

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)

“So be very careful to love the LORD your God.” (Joshua 23:11)

Further down the lineage, we find David taught the same essential teaching:

“Love the LORD, all His saints!” (Psalms 31:23)

“Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalms 97:10)

And of course Jesus taught the same primary teaching to his own students:

“‘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)

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:30)

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’" (Luke 10:27)

Why are these teachings so similar? Why do they each impart the same essential invitation to love the Supreme Being? Because they come from those loving servants who each enjoy a confidential loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart ...'" (Luke 10:27)

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)

What is the context of this statement?

Here is the context within which Jesus taught this most important instruction:

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?" (Luke 10:25-26)

We can see from this that the expert in the law quoted Moses' commandment from Deuteronomy 6:5. Then Jesus validated that this quote was correct:

"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:28)

This means that Jesus confirmed that in order to "inherit eternal life" one must come to love the Supreme Being.

Is this Jesus' teaching?

Jesus also quoted this teaching by Moses, who made this a cornerstone of his teachings over a 1,000 years before Jesus came to our planet.

Jesus also quoted Moses directly at another time. Jesus quoted Moses as a result of a different yet similar question:

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" (Matt. 22:35-36)

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" (Mark 12:28)

And we see Jesus' answer is basically the same in the other two Gospels:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37)

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:30)

What does it mean to inherit eternal life?

We can thus see in Luke that Jesus is being asked what one must do to inherit eternal life. The answer also happens to be the most important law or commandment of the teachings of Judaism - the teachings of Moses and the other prophets. And we see that Jesus is quoting Moses, who said:

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Does it matter whether or not Moses or Jesus said "strength" or "mind" or both? No. The statement is clear - Jesus is quoting Moses practically word for word. This is the greatest commandment. And this is the most important commandment. And this is what one must do to "inherit eternal life" - equating "life" to love for God.

This was also expressed by Jesus when he said:

"“Let the dead bury their own dead..." (Luke 9:60)

And we find that Moses did not just state this "most important commandment" just once. He stated it over and over. He made his message very clear:

"Love the LORD your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always." (Deut. 11:1)

"So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul—" (Deut. 11:13)

"If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to Him and to hold fast to Him—" (Deut. 11:22)

"...because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the LORD your God and to walk always in obedience to Him—" (Deut. 19:9)

"For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws..." (Deut. 30:16)

"...and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your life..." (Deu 30:20 )

And we find that Moses' disciple, Joshua, also passed on this teaching:

"But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to keep His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5)

"So be very careful to love the LORD your God." (Joshua 23:11)

and David also taught this instruction:

"Love the LORD, all His faithful people!" (Psalms 31:23)

So we find this instruction as not only the primary instruction according to Jesus, but according to Moses and the rest of the lineage of Prophets.

But why? Why is this the most important teaching of Jesus and the Prophets?

Just look around.

Why do we all seek love?

Everyone is looking for the perfect loving relationship. We are looking for someone we can love who will also truly love us in return.

This search is in fact, our primary concern throughout life. From the time we come out of the womb to the time we leave our bodies at death we are on the prowl for love.

This is why we do so many things. When we are babies we cry for the love of our parents. When we are school children we strive for love as we want our classmates to like us and accept us. We seek love as we go to dances, or seek that boyfriend or girlfriend. We strive for love as we play in the schoolyard or act out in class.

As we get older we strive for love as we seek to succeed in some sport or art form. We want others to like us and appreciate us. We strive for love as we go to parties or nightclubs, looking for love and the acceptance of our friends.

When we get out of school we strive for love as we try to position ourselves in society with our careers. We strive for love as we want to drive the coolest car. We strive for love as we seek our wife or husband.

Even when we find that husband or wife, we continue to strive for love - as our husband or wife doesn't quite satisfy our need for love. Many strive for love and have children - seeking loving relationships with the children of our bodies - thinking they belong to us. Some may seek love outside the marriage as they cheat on their spouses, join a club, or get a pet.

As our bodies get older we strive for love as we seek to hang on to our relationships with the grown children of our bodies. (Which is often difficult.) And/or we strive for love with the grandchildren of our body.

While our bodies change dramatically from childhood to elderly adult, only one thing is constant: The fact that we are continually seeking love.

Just about every art and media form is about love. Love stories pervade novels, movies, television. Love songs pervade the airwaves. We are all about love. Love is our thing. Practically every top-selling pop song is about love or about losing a love - "all you need is love" and so forth.

Why is love so important to us?

Because love is an inseparable part of us. We need it. We have to have it.

But - we never seem to be satisfied with the love we find in the physical world. Even those who believe they have found their "soul mate" and marry them will, after some time, begin to lose that "in love" feeling they once had. They might still feel love for the person, but it is not the fresh love that everyone seeks. For this reason, we will seek love elsewhere as described above.

Most people will simply wander from one worn-out relationship to another, looking for that fresh love.

And even if we were to somehow keep our loving relationships fresh over the years, we will still lose those relationships when our body or the body of the one we love dies. Then they leave us behind. We might still feel love for them, but because the foundation of our love was the physical body - the body's death makes it impossible for us to continue to exchange that love.

When this happens - when one of the couple or family dies - this typically either leads to depression or we have to go out and try to find another love - another person who will ultimately also die or otherwise leave us.

In other words, the love we find here in the physical world not only does not satisfy our craving for love. It is also temporary. It doesn't last.

What we seek is permanent fresh love. Why?

Because this is how we were created. The Supreme Being created each of us spiritual persons - not the physical body - with the purpose of exchanging a constantly fresh loving relationship with.

God created us with the purpose of exchanging a dynamic, continually fresh loving service relationship with Him - the greatest, most attractive, most lovable, most kind, most gentle, most gracious, most thoughtful and most playful funny witty Person. He is the Supreme Person - that perfect person and soul mate we are always looking for.

This is why we were created - and thus, our purpose for existing.

First, real love requires the freedom to love or not to love. No one can be forced to love. The Supreme Being needs us to decide by ourselves if we want to love Him or not. And those who decide not to love Him are allowed to get away from Him. Those who decide they don't want to love Him are given temporary physical bodies and the opportunity to get away from Him and not have to see Him or even accept His existence.

Okay, just imagine if you were in a loving relationship with someone who suddenly decided that they don't want to be with you anymore. What do you do? Do you force yourself upon them? Do you chain them to your bed and make them hang around you?

If you are a sane, rational person you will let them go. You may be broken-hearted, but you will nevertheless let them go. If they are living with you, you will help assist them in moving out.

Now, what if you also support them? What if they needed your money for support, but still rejected you? This might be the case, for example, in a parent-child relationship. Assuming you had the ability to, you would probably set them up with their own place to live, far away from you. You might still pay the rent or buy the place.

In this case, you will still give them their space, right? You wouldn't force your way in the door just because you were paying for the place right? That would be rude and mean. If you were kind you would not visit unless they invited you. You would not bother them or intrude upon them. If you truly loved them you would still pay the rent but still give them their space. Right?

This is precisely what the Supreme Being is doing. We rejected Him so He is giving us our space, and not intruding upon us. He gave us these temporary physical bodies, and this different dimension - the physical world - which is designed to block our ability to see Him or otherwise be in touch with Him. In this way, He is accommodating our wishes to be away from Him.

Unless of course we sincerely decide we really want to return to our relationship with Him. Then He begins to open Himself to us again.

It may not be all of a sudden, however. Just as in any broken relationship, there needs to be a rebuilding of that relationship. This is often a gradual process, where trust is re-developed and so forth.

In the case of us and God, it is not that God cannot see our hearts and know where we are with things. But we need to be sincere and serious. He needs to see that we are seriously wanting to return to His loving arms and not just trying to get something from Him.

This is often the case as someone who has been living a self-centered life begins to re-develop their awareness of the Supreme Being's existence. They will often see Him as the Genie - the order-supplier. We ask Him for stuff and He goes and gets it for us. So our prayers may be filled with, "can I please have this and can I please have that."

This is not a loving relationship. This is a usury relationship. God is being used for His position of authority over the physical world.

Yet this is the relationship that so many ecclesiastical institutions and their teachers encourage us to have with the Supreme Being. They encourage us to ask Him to heal our leg, or get us a job or make us rich. This is not the teaching of Jesus, nor the Prophets as indicated clearly above.

And this is not the relationship that we are looking for either.

It is rather ironic and sad actually - how so many of us will scramble around our entire lives looking for that special person to love, but when it comes to dealing with God, He is simply someone we ask to get stuff for us.

We will even go to the ironic extent of asking Him to help us find our soul mate - praying to Him to help us find someone else to love.

It is like driving up to a gas station and asking the attendant where the nearest gas station is.

And yet we still find - even after we find someone who wants to exchange a loving relationship with us - that we have expectations that are unrealistic. We expected the person to be that special person for us. We expected them to be, well, perfect. At the beginning of the relationship we expect the person to be wonderful - kind, generous, thoughtful and so on. But then after hanging out with them, we find they aren't so wonderful after all. And we find they are a bit selfish, and not always very thoughtful. And over the years, as their body gets a little older or fatter, we find they aren't so attractive either.

We may even find, after a while, that they are someone we actually abhor - we just didn't realize it in the beginning because we were so blinded by this feeling we had that we finally found someone.

So why did we have all these expectations of this person? Because deep within us, the person we are looking for is perfect. Our true soul mate is always kind, always thoughtful, always loving, always caring, and always attractive.

Why else would we have this unrealistic expectation about our soul mate? Are we just stupid?

No, we may be naive about people on this planet - but each of us knows deep within - and this is why it is a popular saying - that there is someone special "out there" for me.

So where is "out there"?

It is so comical, actually. The Supreme Being is right here, next to us. He is so close with each of us, but we do not see Him because we want to be away from Him. Through His super-abilities, He is able to expand Himself and be right next to each of us. (Referred to often as the "Holy Spirit.")

So while we are running around looking for love, the Perfect Person - our Soul Mate - is right next to us, waiting patiently.

And it is this very reason that Jesus taught, Jesus' teacher John the Baptist taught, and Jesus instructed his own disciples to teach:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 3:2)

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matt. 4:17)

And Jesus told his disciples:

"As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'" (Matt. 10:7)

Yes, the spiritual realm - God's kingdom - is near. It is close. It is nearby. This is not about the end of the world. This is about the Supreme Person being close by - near enough for us to reach out to Him and connect with Him. Close enough to ask Him if we can return to our loving relationship with Him.

This is what John, Jesus, and Jesus' disciples were trying to teach, along with love for the Supreme Being.

What is this teaching? Let's consider it carefully:

" 'Love the Lord your God..."

Notice first that Jesus and Moses say "your God" here. The Supreme Being belongs to each of us. He is not the God of the Jews or the God of the Christians or the God of the Hindus or the God of the Muslims or the God of this religion or that sect. He is my God. He is your God. He has a distinct and unique relationship with each of us. This means that the love is to be extended personally - from me to my God. From you to your God.

"...with all your heart"

This gives context to the idea of love for God. Love for God isn't a passing emotion. It means diving in with everything. It means giving our life to the Supreme Being. A person who loves someone with all their heart is fully committed. They are caring about that person. They are living for that person. They will give themselves to please that person. Their heart is "all in."

"...and with all your soul"

This word "soul" is translated from the Greek word ψυχή (psychē), which means, according to the lexicon, "the vital force which animates the body," "a living being," and "an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death."

So we see that the "soul" is not some sort of organ or part of us - it is who we are. Beneath this temporary physical body, we are the living being - the soul.

And it is this inner being - who we are beneath the false identifications we have related to the body (our age, our sex, our skin color, our hair color, our job, our role in the family and so on) - that needs to place our love upon the Supreme Being. "All your soul" means to give up our false identifications with the physical body and love the Supreme Being within the spiritual context.

"...with all your strength"

This refers to rendering whatever we have available to us in the loving service of God. Loving God is not just an emotional thing. People can get pretty emotional too - crying and so forth. But if that supposed love doesn't come with loving service - activity that is pleasing to the one we love - then it is just sentiment. It is not love.

"...with all your mind'"

This relates to desire. We utilize our mind to focus on those things that we hold most dear to us - our desires. If we are loving someone, then we are desiring to please them. Our desires become one and the same with their desires. This has also been referred to by Jesus as doing God's will:

"Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

Jesus sees this - wanting to please the Supreme Being - as all important. It is linked to loving God. We can't say that we love God and not want to do God's will. They are indelibly connected.

Our path towards returning to our relationship with God and coming to love God in this way is not an easy one. Yes, it is difficult, because we are so far away from that relationship now. At the moment all we can think about is me, me, me, with maybe a little bit of my spouse, family or country mixed in. We are so far from loving God it is ridiculous.

In fact, the only way we can come to love God is if we come to know Him. We cannot love someone we don't know.

And we cannot come to know God by ourselves. He has set up the barrier between Himself and us so deep that we simply cannot break through it ourselves.

Only He can allow us to come to know Him.

That means that we have to reach out to Him and sincerely ask Him to allow us to come to know Him and love Him.

One of the facilities He has given us to reach out to Him with is His Holy Names. As has been stressed by the Prophets and Jesus alike, the Supreme Being has given us the ability to reach out to Him by reciting, singing and otherwise calling out to Him with His Holy Names.

This is typical of any relationship.

Let's say that we don't know someone. What comes first? We come to know their name. Why? So we can connect with them. If we know their name and call that name, it indicates to the person that we are interested enough in them to get to know their name.

But God's Holy Names are more than just names. They have the power to purify our consciousness, gradually preparing our ability to re-develop our love for Him.

Should we sincerely reach out to the Supreme Being by calling His Name, and sincerely and humbly ask Him to take us back, He will guide us back to Him. He will allow us to come to know Him again and learn to redevelop our innate loving relationship with our Perfect Soul Mate.