"Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you..." (Luke 10:7-8)

"Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you." (Luke 10:7-8)

Why is he talking about them entering a house?

Here Jesus is instructing his 72 students/disciples. He is sending them out to preach among the different towns and villages. Jesus is giving them guidelines as to how they will conduct themselves in terms of where to sleep and eat while they are in the town. The word "there" Jesus refers to a house, continuing from his previous statement:

Twice Jesus states that they should eat only what is given to them - "...eating and drinking whatever they give you" and "eat what is offered to you." Why is this so important?

Jesus isn't wanting his disciples to be receiving quid pro quo - he doesn't want them to be teaching in exchange for receiving room and board. This is important to Jesus, and this is why he emphasizes, "eat what is offered to you."

An offering is given out of volition. It is given freely without a condition of exchange. For example, if his students were to go to the village and teach and then expect those they are teaching to bring them dinner, then that is not an offering. That would be quid pro quo - which is a business exchange.

But to simply rely upon what is given out of volition without a condition of exchange is to be accepting an offering.

It is a subtle thing but it is important to understand what Jesus is doing. Jesus doesn't want his disciples to become like the ecclesiastical Jewish temple teachers, who were living off of the temple salaries - inclusive of comfortable living quarters and their choice of foods, all paid for by the donations or tithings of their parishioners.

Are donations a form of quid pro quo?

But isn't that the same thing as using only what has been offered via donations?

Actually, not. Today this same system is in use by many sectarian institutions, whereby the priest, reverend, rabbi, oman, cardinal, pope or other teacher is paid a regular salary and/or given room and board in exchange for their services of teaching.

This makes them professional teachers, no different than a school teacher or a college professor who is paid to teach their students. This turns what should be an act of loving service (teaching about God) into a business exchange.

But isn't it different because the religious institution is paying the priest, reverend, rabbi, oman, cardinal, pope or another teacher from the proceeds collected from donations?

No. It doesn't matter where the money is coming from. What matters is the relationship between the teacher and the teacher's service. If the teacher is receiving payment for their services then it is no longer a voluntary service. It is a business relationship.

Most of the ecclesiastical religious organizations today earn more than simply donations anyway. Most will have income from selling books or having rummage and bake sales or whatever. These are practices not unlike a business. These practices of selling were also condemned by Jesus. This was illustrated when he turned over the tables at the temple bazaar in Jerusalem.

Are donations always voluntary?

Many of the donations or tithings received by ecclesiastical religious institutions aren't always voluntary offerings anyway. The organization's tactics will often push or even trick people into donating. For example, some evangelists will offer to pray for some request - assuming there is a donation involved.

Many will otherwise cajole their followers to give - making them feel guilty or promising that they will go to heaven if they give. At the very least, many of the ecclesiastical institutions pass the collection plates around so that everyone can see what everyone else is "donating." This peer pressure tactic results in higher collections.

As far as the teacher is concerned, even if all the funds were donations, they are being paid by the organization - creating a business relationship between the organization and the teacher.

Even if the teacher's original motivation was to serve, once they begin receiving quid pro quo in the form of a salary, house, stipend or some combination thereof, they have turned their service into a business relationship.

Why does the worker deserve his wages?

But what about Jesus' statement, "for the worker deserves his wages" then? Isn't this talking about his students working and getting paid for it?

No. Jesus is using a saying or parable to convey a deeper meaning. The "worker" and the "wages" are analogous. What is being expressed is that whatever Jesus' disciples receive in food is what is coming to them. This might be compared to our modern saying:

"You get what you deserve."
or
"You get what's coming to you."

or, as stated in Galatians 6:7:

"A man reaps what he sows."

Often restated as:

"As you sow, so shall you reap."

These common sayings communicate that our lot in life is the result of our previous activities. Our past activities come back to us. Jesus is communicating this in his statement - that whatever they receive is what their past has brought them.

But Jesus is also communicating that they should only be relying upon what is given rather than requesting or expecting any kind of quid pro quo in return for their teachings.

Why didn't he want them to move around?

This is also why Jesus didn't want his disciples moving from one house to another. Once they arrived in the town and they found a place to sleep and eat, they were to begin preaching in the village. This is crucial because Jesus didn't want them to expect to be given a great place to sleep once the villagers heard their powerful teachings.

You see, Jesus' disciples were passing on the teachings given to them by Jesus. So those teachings had power in themselves. They had authority. Jesus did not want that authority diluted in any way. He wanted to make sure that the disciples separated their practical living arrangements from their teaching.

This is based upon the simple economics of survival and the physical body. By nature, each of us wants to keep the body alive. So we seek to accomplish that by earning a wage in exchange for performing some service. Today we call this a job. And that is fine.

But when the economics of survival - or its perverted extension, the desire to be wealthy - gets mixed up with one's service to the Supreme Being, this affects one's ability to offer that service to God sincerely.

What does God want from us?

You see, the Supreme Being only wants us to serve Him out of love - which requires freedom of choice. This is what devotion is based upon. As soon as we begin receiving something in return for that service, it taints the service. And if the service is teaching - it removes the authority of such teaching.

Why is this so important to the Supreme Being? Because He wants our love. He doesn't need any service from us. God can do anything and everything Himself. He doesn't need our service.

What God wants is our love. And love is expressed in loving service.

Just consider if a woman was asked by her boyfriend to marry her. She is overjoyed and says yes.

But what would she do if she found out that the boyfriend was offered a million dollars to marry her? Would the woman say yes then? Certainly not. The woman would be disgusted and offended by the marriage proposal, and with the (former) boyfriend. She absolutely would not marry him, because now she knows the marriage is a business deal. It is not based on love: he receives money in exchange for the marriage.

In the same way, the Supreme Being is offended by someone who proposes to serve Him in some way yet seeks to receive payment for that service - be it by a salary, a stipend or other form of compensation or reward.

And just as the woman wants the man to ask her to marry him out of love and without any expectation or reward but their relationship, the Supreme Being wants us to serve Him out of love, without any expectation of reward.

This also goes for the expectation of having many followers, getting to heaven, or otherwise being "saved" in return for our service. Because any expectation in exchange for service is not loving service.

And this is precisely what Jesus is asking of his disciples and students - that they teach on Jesus' behalf - to serve the Supreme Being, without any expectation of reward or exchange.

Jesus is guiding his students in this respect because he wants them to love and lovingly serve the Supreme Being. This is also expressed in his most important instruction to them:

“‘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)

" '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.

"... and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27b)

Who is saying this to and where does it come from?

This is the second part of the scribe's statement that Jesus approved of. Here is the situation:

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?" He answered, "'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.'" "You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28)

Note that the "expert in the law" - the scribe - was quoting Moses' statement in Deuteronomy 6:5. This statement by Moses is also detailed directly by Jesus, as quoted in Matt. 22:37-38 and Mark 12:30. This came from Deuteronomy 6:5.

This second element is from Leviticus 19:18, in the commandments, revealed to Moses from the Supreme Being. Here is the full verse:

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

We can thus see the context in which Jesus said this. In fact, from Matthew we find that the "first and greatest commandment" ('Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind...') is connected to 'Love your neighbor as yourself":

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matt. 22:37-39)

So we find that the two instructions - to love the Supreme Being with all our heart, soul and mind; and love our neighbor as yourself - are connected.

How is loving God connected with loving others?

Because one must love the Supreme Being in order to be able to truly love His children. In order to love the Supreme Being, we must come to know Him. We must be introduced to Him.

How is this related to others? Aren't others all around us? Why do we need to come to know others or be introduced?

This relates directly to identity. We must know who others are, just as we must know who we are.

Currently, we look around us and all we see are physical bodies. Moving flesh. But then suddenly someone dies and we still see the same flesh but no movement. All of the cells are still there. All the nerves are there. All the chemicals - and the neurotransmitters - are still there. Yet we say they are gone because that body shows no life. No personality. The life and personality has left.

Where did the life and personality go? We don't know because we cannot see this life or personality. All we can see with our physical eyes is the flesh.

In other words, if we identify others as flesh, we are not really seeing them. And since we are not really seeing them, we cannot truly love them.

It doesn't matter if we are feeding hungry children or helping old people cross the street. We are not loving them if we do not know who they are.

For example, let's say a sports car with tinted windows drives into a gas station. The gas station attendant can't see who is inside the car because of the tinted windows. So does the gas station attendant assume the car has no driver, and begin asking the car which type of gas it wants?

The gas station attendant would certainly assume there is a driver inside the car. He would knock on the window and wait for the driver to talk to him. In other words, he is not confusing the car with its driver, even though he cannot see the driver through the tinted windows.

It is the same with the physical body and the spirit-person inside. Just because we can't see the spirit-person inside the body doesn't mean that we are these bodies. It just means we cannot see into the dimension of the spirit-person with these physical eyes.

And in the same way that the gas station attendant would not begin speaking to the car as if it were a person, we cannot claim to love others when we are identifying ourselves and others as flesh.

And that is precisely what most of us do. We identify ourselves and others as physical bodies, so we think that taking care of their flesh is all there is.

This is not so, just as the gas station attendant cannot assume he is doing what the driver wants by putting gas into the car. Perhaps the driver just wants directions and has no money for gas, for example.

In the same way, if we do not know the spirit-person within the physical body, we cannot claim to love them. We cannot claim to even know who they are.

And just like the car driver and the car, what seems to be good for the flesh isn't always good for the spirit-person within.

But if a person comes to know the Supreme Being, such a person will automatically be able to see God's children for who they are. A person who is seeing into the spiritual dimension by virtue of a loving service relationship with the Supreme Being gains entrance into the "drivers" of these physical bodies.

How do we open our spiritual eyes?

We might compare it to taking an X-ray or MRI of a person's body. A doctor can take an X-ray and see the bones or tissues within. This is because he has special equipment to see with - the X-ray machine.

In the same way, seeing through the physical body and seeing the spirit-person within requires special equipment. It requires our spiritual eyes to be opened.

These can only be opened by the Supreme Being. They are the eyes of love that can only be awakened through a loving relationship with God.

Why? Why can't we see others? Why can't we see God?

Because we choose not to see others or see God. We made a choice: We wanted to be away from God. We wanted to do what we wanted - we wanted to enjoy life away from God. We wanted to live a self-centered life - the opposite of love.

So God created these physical bodies and produced an environment where we cannot see Him or others. All we can see are these physical bodies and the physical world. All we can see with these physical eyes is flesh.

It is like being in a movie theater. In a movie theater we sit down into our comfortable seats and the room goes dark. A large screen lights up and the sound system booms. All these effects focus our concentration onto the screen and the movie. Soon we forget there are people around us. We get lost in the movie and begin identifying with the characters in the movie.

For this reason, people get all wrapped up in movies. Even though the whole movie is a fake - it is not real life - people cry and have all sorts of emotions towards the characters in movies. Even though the movie set is fake and all the actors are pretending to be people they are not, movie-watchers still get involved in movies as if they are real.

This is because the whole arrangement - from the dark theater and big screen and booming sound to the real-looking set and makeup - is set up to trick us into becoming emotionally involved in the movie and forgetting our real lives for a few minutes.

How is the physical world like an illusion?

God's arrangement in the physical world does the same thing. This physical world tricks us into thinking that we are these physical bodies and others are their physical bodies.

It is not unlike a dream. In a dream, we get emotionally involved, yet as soon as we wake up we realize it was just a dream and it wasn't real.

While the physical world is real in that it exists - it is not a figment of our mind as some profess - it is still temporary. It is like the movie set. The movie set is real, yes. But it is not the real place that it tricks us into thinking that it is.

In the same way, the physical world is not the permanent place we are tricked into thinking it is. It is a temporary place.

So we are not even seeing those around us for who they really are. We are not seeing their spiritual identities. How can we love someone that we cannot see or do not know?

We each have a unique spiritual identity. It is not as though we have these unique physical bodies, but inside we are just little puffs of smoke - as some portray in pictures or movies.

What we are not seeing is that each of us has a unique spiritual form. Each of us has a unique spiritual identity and a form that relates directly to our unique relationship with the Supreme Being.

This is why Jesus connects loving the Supreme Being with loving others. It has nothing to do with the modern interpretation that we have to love ourselves before we can love others - this is a proposition of self-centeredness. We have to know God before we can know others. And we have to love God in order to truly love others.

And certainly, if we understand that we nor others are these physical bodies, and we understand our connection with God, we can still care about their physical bodies. But we would care for their spirit-persons first. When we see others as they are, we realize that their physical bodies are temporary and their spiritual selves are eternal.

And if we see ourselves as we are - loving servants of the Supreme Being - and we care for our own spiritual well-being, we will naturally care for the spiritual well-being of others. This is the meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself."

"When you pray, say: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name...." (Luke 11:2-4)

"When you pray, say:

'Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your Name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

as we forgive those who sin against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.'" (Luke 11:2-4)

Jesus is responding to a question from one of his disciples:

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1)

So we find here clear evidence of how Jesus wanted his students to reach out to the Supreme Being. Let's review his prayer.

Who is 'Our Father in heaven'?

This phrase illustrates that Jesus is wanting his students to see the Supreme Being as their Protector and their Creator. The word "Father" comes from the Greek word πατήρ (patēr), which means, metaphorically, "the originator and transmitter of anything."

In other words, by honoring the Supreme Being with the Name "Father" - we are not speaking as though we would to the father of our physical body. This is referring to the Source of everything. The Father of all things and all beings.

Next, Jesus states "in heaven." This indicates the spiritual world - a dimension outside - yet inclusive of - the realm of the physical world. Why is this important for Jesus to say?

Because we cannot see God with these physical eyes. The physical eyes were designed not to see the Supreme Being and those activities that take place between God and His loving servants.

But that doesn't mean that the physical world is beyond the Supreme Being. God is also dwelling here as well as in the spiritual realm. The physical world is simply a small portion of His creation.

It is like a television set. The television set may be part of our living room but our living room doesn't exist within the television set - nor is the virtual reality portrayed on the television the reality occurring in our living room.

In the same way, the physical world is real, but the activities that take place within it are temporary and thus virtual. Just as the activities of the actors seen on the TV set may reflect real activities, the temporary activities of the physical world perfectly reflect the eternal activities in the spiritual realm. The activities of the physical world are perverted reflections of those within the spiritual realm.

In the same way that a television actor cannot see the television audience when he is acting out his part, we cannot see the Supreme Being and the reality around us because we are immersed in the physical world.

This dimension and these bodies were designed for the purpose of our being able to avoid Him.

In other words, "heaven" here does not necessarily mean some physical place away from here - like someplace up in the clouds. "Heaven" refers to the domain of God - the spiritual realm where God is loved and served. This can take place anywhere in either dimension.

This is confirmed by the statement, "Your kingdom come." Jesus is asking his students to request that they return to the spiritual realm - that place where God is honored, loved and served.

What does "Hallowed be Your Name" mean?

The Supreme Being's Holy Names are a vehicle for us to make contact with Him. Praising and incanting God's Names allow us to connect with Him and be with Him. This is because God's Names are part of Himself.

Here in the physical world, we are separate from our names, just as we are not our physical bodies. A person can be named "Tom" and 20 years later may change his name to "Bob." This is because the person is not his name.

But there is no differentiation between God and His reference. God's Form is part of Himself and God's Names - references to Him - are also a part of Himself. They are all part of Himself because the Supreme Being is absolute.

For this reason, the teachings of Jesus and the lineage of teachers before him - up through all the prophets - taught the importance of calling upon - repeating - singing - praising - God's Names as a means to connect with the Supreme Being.

What does 'Your will be done ...' mean?

This is one of the essential elements of Jesus' teachings. Why?

When we love someone, we naturally want to please them. We want to do what they want. This is love, and this is our real nature - our spiritual nature. Each of us wants to truly love someone - we want to 'fall in love.' And we want to serve someone out of this love. We want to please the one we love.

For this reason, serving God is the essential process we undertake as we come to know and learn to love the Supreme Being. We find out what pleases Him and we do what pleases Him. Why?

Because by acting in such a way that is pleasing to God, we execute our spiritual nature. This is the perfection of our existence - our means for fulfillment.

Here in the physical world, we see around us that everyone is desperately looking for fulfillment. We look for it through achieving fame; we look for it by becoming wealthy; we look for it by having a family; we look for it by having a nice house, or a great job, or whatever. Yet none of the people that have these things - whether us or others - are fulfilled by these things.

This is why we see famous and wealthy people addicted to drugs or alcohol - some even committing suicide. This is why those with all the money a person could use in a lifetime still working so hard for more money. This is why people with families have affairs. This is why people with nice homes want a bigger home - or a home in a better neighborhood. This is why those with great jobs want to move up to another job. We are simply not satisfied with what we gain in the physical world because we aren't these physical bodies.

It would be like a hungry person who is driving a car driving up to a gas station and thinking that if he puts gas in his car he won't be hungry anymore. The gas may fill up the car but it doesn't satisfy the driver's hunger.

In the same way, we are the spiritual person within this temporary physical body. We have a spiritual hunger to return to our relationship with God.

In the physical world, we are blocked off from God because we are self-centered. We want to please ourselves. This is why we cannot see Him or feel His presence - even though He is right here next to each of us.

This relates directly to the next phase of the prayer:

What does "Give us this day our daily bread" mean?

Is Jesus really advising his students to pray for bread? Is this the same teacher who also taught his students:

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes." (Luke 12:22-23)

Certainly, Jesus would not ask his students to utilize their precious prayers to ask for food for their physical body - as this would directly contradict his teachings.

Rather, Jesus is not speaking of literal bread here. He is using the word "bread" metaphorically. We see elsewhere that Jesus used bread metaphorically:

"Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (John 6:32)

and

“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” (Luke 4:4)

and followed in this conversation with:

"It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." (Luke 4:8)

Thus we see that Jesus had used the word "bread" metaphorically to describe what will feed us spiritually - to love, and worship God, and serve God.

This is what Jesus is asking his students to ask God for in his prayer - he wants them to ask to re-establish their loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

Worshiping and serving God results in fulfilling our spiritual nature. This accomplishes the meaning of "Your kingdom come."

What is our 'bread'?

Our "bread" is love for God.

This is what we pine for as we search for love throughout this world. As we seek the approval of others. As we seek our soul mate - the perfect person. We seek to 'fall in love' with someone we adore and can always trust and rely upon. This can only be accomplished with the Supreme Being.

And the next element of Jesus' prayer: "And forgive us our sins, as we also forgive those who sin against us" - this reveals the true meaning of "sin."

If "sin" was merely the execution of something considered "wrong" or "bad" - or breaking some rule - then there would be no need to ask the Supreme Being to forgive that activity, just as it would make no sense for us to forgive someone else if they broke a rule. Why would they need to seek our forgiveness?

Let's say that there is a sign with rules on it at the swimming pool that says "no running." And we go running and jump in the pool. Would we need to later go to the lifeguard and say, "I'm sorry I ran - please forgive me"?

No - because our running did not offend the lifeguard. The lifeguard would likely say, "so what - no problem - just don't run again."

But it would be a different story if we were to call the lifeguard a jerk - or splash water on him. This would be offensive against the lifeguard. Such an activity would require us to apologize - seek his forgiveness - because we offended the lifeguard.

This same issue - offending - is the condition that we would have to forgive others. If someone offends us - we can get mighty upset by that. Especially if it embarrasses us or otherwise harms us physically, emotionally or financially. Such an activity would require a stretch for us to forgive them. Especially if they didn't ask for forgiveness.

This is the kind of forgiveness that the Supreme Being would expect from us just as He forgives us for those activities that have offended Him.

What activities offend Him?

First, activities that impede His loving servants during their service to Him. Or activities that blaspheme Him, His Name or one of His loving servants. These are the worst offenses.

Behind these are activities performed for our self-centered purposes whilst we ignore Him. These are activities that forget our relationship with Him. Worst of these are activities that specifically make it harder for us to regain our relationship with Him. The Supreme Being, through His loving servants, have spelled most of these out to us if we want to know them. This is what Moses' commandments were all about, which Jesus also reflected upon.

Certain self-centered activities are specifically discouraged because they lead us away from Him. These activities offend the Supreme Being only because He wants us back. He wants us to return to our loving relationship with Him because He knows that will fulfill us. By ignoring Him and ignoring those things that will help us return to Him, we effectively turn our back on Him. This offends Him because He loves us and wants the best for us. It is thus personal - producing the need to ask for His forgiveness.

And yes, it is not that any of us are innocent. We are all offensive, and this is why we are here in the first place: Because we offended the Supreme Being by becoming self-centered, and turning our backs on Him.

And this relates directly to the last part of Jesus' prayer:

What does, 'and lead us not into temptation' mean?

This is taken from the Greek: καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν.

The word "lead" comes from the Greek word εἰσφέρω (eispherō) which does indicate, from the lexicon, "to lead to" or "bring to". Why would God "lead us into temptation"?

Such a question ignores the reality of the situation. Ecclesiastical institutions and their teachers would present that temptation does not come from God - but from satan - some entity who is competing with God.

God has no competitor. The Supreme Being is absolutely in control of everything.

But - the Supreme Being wants us to truly love Him out of choice. Love cannot be forced. A person cannot be forced to love and worship someone if they are forced to.

So the Supreme Being gives His children the choice to love Him, and some choose not to. Those of us in the physical realm have chosen not to in the past - that is why we are here.

As soon as we choose not to love and serve the Supreme Being, He puts us within physical bodies in the physical world and allows us to play out our self-centeredness.

In this way, He is leading us into temptation - or self-centeredness. He is allowing us to do what we want rather than what He wants.

In this way, He is giving us the choice - at every moment - to love and serve Him or love or serve ourselves.

And this part of Jesus' prayer is a request for Him to "lead" us back to Him - by giving us the strength to follow the teachings of Jesus, and return to our loving relationship with Him.

This ties directly to the last phrase:

What about, 'but deliver us from evil'?

While some attribute the word "evil" to a particular person as mentioned above - the devil or satan - the word "evil" - taken from the Greek πονηρός (ponēros) which relates to being "diseased or blind" - actually refers to self-centeredness - being blinded by self-centeredness.

This is our essential choice granted by God: We can choose God or we can choose ourselves.

We can work for our pleasure or we can work for God's pleasure. This is our innate choice, and it is required in order to have true love.

Evil is borne of the nature of the physical world and these physical bodies and minds. The mind will tease us with various scenarios that are essentially self-centered - to please the body or our desire for the body's pleasure.

Yes, we can certainly attribute this to an entity because certainly, God has numerous facilitators who assist Him with the operations of the physical world. So we can ascribe temptations in a personal format realistically.

But God has no challenger. His facilitators all work for Him. He is in charge. Therefore we can know that any of the temptations of the physical world are in the end arranged by the Supreme Being to allow us the ultimate choice to love Him or love ourselves. This grants us the perfect freedom to love Him or not.

At the same time - because God loves us and wants the best for us - Jesus is encouraging us, with this prayer and his other teachings, to choose to love God:

“ ‘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)

"I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others ..." (Luke 12:8-9)

"I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God." (Luke 12:8-9)

Why is publically acknowledging Jesus so important?

Jesus continues his lesson directly aimed at his disciples: Jesus began to speak first to his disciples (Luke 12:1).

Is Jesus talking about making a scene and shouting out Jesus' name? Not exactly. Let's examine the text for its deeper meaning:

The phrase "publicly acknowledges" is being translated from the Greek word ὁμολογέω (homologeō). "Publicly acknowledges" is a mistranslation. The original Greek texts do not contain the word "publicly" at all. And in other Biblical versions such as the King James, ὁμολογέω (homologeō) has been translated to "confess" - as in "Whosoever shall confess me before men..."

Both of these translations use less common meanings of the Greek word. Its primary definition relates to following one's teachings and then teaching accordingly: "to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent." It can also mean "to concede" or "not to refuse."

Some interpret this to mean being focused upon proclaiming Jesus' name to others. Yet Jesus is not so interested in this, as he also stated:

"Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matt. 7:22-23)

So why wouldn't prophesy in Jesus' name not be important to Jesus if Jesus is interested in his followers "publicly acknowledging" him?

Because that wasn't Jesus' interest. He wasn't interested in being famous or receiving the acclaim of others. This is confirmed in the statement preceding Matt. 7:22-23:

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

This statement clarifies that Jesus' interest is not so much in his followers "publicly acknowledging" him. Rather, he wants his followers to follow in his footsteps. He wants them to pass on his teachings, and do what is pleasing to the Supreme Being. This is what "one who does the will of my Father" means: Actively seeking to please God.

Jesus stated his interest to please God elsewhere:

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

The Greek word translated to "acknowledge" also means to affirm. To affirm is to be consistent with who or what is being affirmed. In this context, this relates directly to what Jesus is teaching. Remember how Jesus began this discussion with his disciples:

"Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees..." (Luke 12:1)

This "yeast" was the teachings of the Pharisees. Jesus was telling his students to not follow their teachings, but rather, to follow his teachings - and carry on those teachings to others.

What about the angels of God?

"... the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God."

This part of Jesus' statement confirms that neither "publicly acknowledge" nor "confesses" are correctly translating this statement, because ὁμολογέω (homologeō) is used in both phrases, and neither of these could be applied with respect to the angels of God.

But if "affirm" is used as suggested above, it makes sense. The word "affirm" can be used in both contexts, because an affirmation of someone means that person is being accepted.

And while Jesus is speaking of his students affirming him with respect to following him and carrying on his teachings, he was also speaking of affirming them within the spiritual realm.

So why is this important? Why would affirming them before the angels of God be important?

Because the angels of God are God's loving servants. Like Jesus, they are each involved in a confidential loving relationship with the Supreme Being. And being favored by such a confidential loving servant of God means that one will be favored by God. Why?

Love. Just imagine if a man were in love with a woman. Would the man reject the friend of the woman's? Certainly not. Because of his fondness for the woman he would automatically accept the woman's friends.

Why is love so important?

Because this is how the spiritual realm operates. It is a world of love. A world where love for God is rampant and God exchanges loving relationships with those around Him.

But the physical world is a lonely world - a world where everyone is seeking to outdo each other. Where we are competing for the top post. Where each of us wants to be the champion of the world - or the ruler of the world.

This is why there are so many wars and so much violence.

We are thinking that we are these temporary physical bodies, and this world belongs to us.

This is also why people with differently colored skin fight with each other. We think we are these physical bodies and my body color is better than another's body color. We are identifying ourselves and others as physical bodies without seeing the person within.

The fact is, we are each the same within these temporary physical bodies. Within this body is a spirit-person - a person with a spiritual identity that has nothing to do with the identity of this body including its skin color.

So treating people differently because they have a different skin color would be the same as treating a person differently because he drives a different make or model car.

This teaching is consistent with Jesus' teachings, such as:

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

This obviously means the body is temporary and the "soul" - the spirit-person within - is our identity, since Jesus is saying do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

And to teach this - to teach what Jesus is teaching - not only affirms Jesus because it affirms his teachings - but it has the ability to resolve all those conflicts that are based upon skin color, race, religious sect membership and so on.

This also relates to why Jesus is referring to himself as "Son of Man." 

What about disowning Jesus?

"But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God."

Here the Greek word translated to "disowns" is ἀρνέομαι (arneomai), which means according to the lexicon "to deny" or "not to accept, to reject, to refuse something offered."

But there is no indication the word ἀρνέομαι (arneomai) means to "disown." To "disown" would be the opposite of "own" - which means that Jesus would be saying that his followers would own him.

But this is somewhat of a modern language misnomer because people will loosely say they "own" something when they are actually simply accepting or agreeing with it. In modern English to "disown" typically means to abandon something or someone.

And in that case, "disown" might be applicable, but "abandon" would be a more accurate description of what Jesus is saying because the Supreme Being is the only real owner of anything. In other words, we can each choose to abandon the Supreme Being and the teachings of God's representative - or accept (affirm) them.

"Abandon" is better aligned with the word's true meaning - "to deny" or "not to accept, to reject, to refuse something offered."

This is because Jesus is warning his followers of the consequences of abandoning Jesus' teachings. And abandoning Jesus' mission to please God. Jesus confirmed his mission clearly:

"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)

What does doing someone else's will mean? There are only two circumstances: If one is forced to do someone else's will, or one does someone else's will voluntarily - out of love.

Jesus is indicating the latter. He is indicating that he is doing God's will out of love for God. And he wants others to come to know and love the Supreme Being, and also do God's will out of love, because this and only this will make us truly fulfilled. And because Jesus loves us, he wants us to be fulfilled. Jesus confirmed this in his most important teaching:

“ ‘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)

"It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready ..." (Luke 12:35-38)

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak." (Luke 12:35-38)

What does this parable mean?

This parable spoken by Jesus to his students relates to their relationship with the Supreme Being.

While most of us in the physical world are striving to be master - number one - the champion - the gold-medal Olympian - the owner of a successful business - the boss at work - or simply the boss of one's family (parent) - Jesus is speaking of assuming our natural roles as servants and caregivers.

Yes, each of us is a servant by nature. This is why we cannot control things. This is why even those who achieve some kind of success in the physical world cannot control that success, nor can they retain it. Whatever success is achieved here - whatever notoriety - vanishes quickly.

In other words, a person might be a star for a short period but soon other stars steal the limelight and the stardom vanishes as quickly as it came. Another person might be a big business success but soon the business goes under as people want to buy something else. 

Another person might feel they are in charge of their children but soon the children grow up and want to get away from home. Eventually, the children move away and oftentimes begin to boss the parent around. In some cases, it is the children who force the parent into a retirement home.

No matter what the accomplishment, everything - even our memory of it - is taken away. Accomplishments are gradually degraded until there is little or no remembrance - with the rare exceptions of a significant publicized act. 

Indeed, our recollection of our accomplishments will often fade with old age, irrespective of what others will forget our accomplishments. 

Regardless, at the time of death, everything is washed away. This is why Jesus speaks of being ready:

"It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak."

There is no question that we are not masters in this world. We have no real control, and no ownership - since we have to leave everything behind. Therefore we are not the masters or the bosses. We are not in charge. Rather, we are servants by nature.

Who will we serve?

For those of us living in the physical world chasing dreams of stardom or business success; or being a proud parent and grandparent, we end up becoming the servants of those we thought we'd be the bosses of. The star might think stardom will give them power over others but they later find the fans must be served. The business owner finds they must serve the stockholders and customers and even employees in order to keep the business going. And the parents find they must serve the children - from diaper service to taxi service.

Even dog owners - who get their dog with hopes of having an obedient personal servant and friend upon demand - find shortly after getting the dog they have become the dog's servant. They have to pick up the dog's poop, feed the dog, wash the dog, brush the dog - taking care of the dog's every need. Then they have to walk the dog. So who is walking who? Who is the servant and who is the master?

In other words, no matter how hard we try to be the boss - the master - we end up being the servant. Even if we focus on sensual pleasures - we find we must then serve those senses and those who control the sense objects.

So - who should we serve? Should we serve our fans? Our stockholders, customers, and employees? Our children? Our senses? Our dog?

Yes, we can serve any of these - but each of these masters will be cruel to us in the end. They will eventually leave us behind with no joy, no love, and no mercy.

It is not that they will do this necessarily on purpose. But it is simply part of nature's course. By nature, these relationships are all temporary because they are all based on the physical body. They are all dependent upon the body staying healthy and alive. As such, we are in the end attempting to be self-serving, but instead becoming servants of the illusory energy of the physical world - the illusion that makes us think we are these physical bodies and these things will make us happy.

These are illusions because none of it makes us happy. And even if there are fleeting glimpses of temporary joy within our family relationships, these also disappear quickly - if they aren't replaced by bickering, they will eventually disappear at the time of death.

Can they help us at the time of death?

At the time of death none of these physical relationships - fans, stockholders, customers, employees, kids, parents, dogs - will be able to help us. Yes, some might wait around our deathbed hoping for inheritance, but they will not protect us at the time of death. They will not be there for us as we leave this physical body and head to our next destination.

So who can we rely upon? Who can we love and serve who will be there for us - now and after our bodies die?

Jesus is teaching, through this parable and other statements, that our spiritual identity is eternal, and our eternal nature is to be the loving servant of the Supreme Being. This is why the Supreme Being created us. And this is why we are never satisfied with the temporary relationships of this physical world: Because we are looking for our eternal relationship with the Supreme Person.

Aren't we each looking for a soul mate?

This is also why people spend years looking for their soul mate. We look because we believe that he or she is "out there somewhere." We believe that there is a "special one" who will satisfy all our desires - and be the partner and companion we need to feel fulfilled.

And even when a person thinks they find such a soul mate - they soon find the person isn't quite what they were looking for. Often a person will realize - after looking for many years - that they aren't going to find much else among the people of this world so they "settle" for the person they are with. But they never really find that soul mate they were looking for.

This is because our real soul mate is not among the forms of the physical world. Our real soul mate is the Supreme Being. He is the Person we are looking for. He is the real Friend and Companion we have been looking for.

And He is the fair loving Master we have been looking to lovingly serve.

Yes, in this parable Jesus is speaking of a loving servant. Just consider the kind of servant who is "waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him." What kind of servant will wait for their master with such anticipation and enthusiasm?

And what kind of a servant would be ready, "even if he [the master] comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak"?

This is not the kind of servant most of us in the physical world think of - as servants in this world have mostly been the result of forced slavery of particular races or nationalities over the centuries.

Rather, Jesus is speaking of the kind of servant who enjoys a loving relationship with their master: An exchange of a loving relationship. This is the kind of service that we consider when a man chooses to do something for a woman - perhaps bring her flowers for example. This kind of service is not slavery. It is voluntary. It is based on love.

Can love ever be forced?

Certainly, if God wanted to force us to be His servants He could do that. But He doesn't. He gives each of us the free will to decide whether we want to serve the Supreme Being or serve ourselves. Because He wants our love. And love requires freedom.

Thus we find Jesus is speaking of a servant who willingly wants to please their master out of love. This was, in fact, Jesus' position with respect to God, as he admitted it directly:

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

Is this not the position of a loving servant - someone who depends upon his master and seeks only to please his master - the Supreme Being?

Consider also this statement by Jesus:

"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)

Is this not taking the position of servant with respect to the Supreme Being? One who does someone else's will is certainly taking on the position of loving servant to that person.

Jesus also wanted those around him - and each of us - to also lovingly serve the Supreme Being:

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:50)

Thus we find that Jesus, the founder of Christianity and its foremost teacher, considers himself God's loving servant. Where does that leave us?

We can follow in Jesus' footsteps and choose to become loving servants of the Supreme Being, by following Jesus' most important instruction:

“ ‘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)

"You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath ..." (Luke 13:15-16)

"You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" (Luke 13:15-16)

Jesus, having cured a woman of her infirmity, was responding to a temple official. Here is what Jesus is responding to:

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." (Luke 13:14)

Why did the synagogue leader say this?

What would make the temple official so upset that Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath?

Envy. Yes, it is envy that lies at the heart of such an offensive statement. Instead of feeling compassion for the woman and elation that God's representative had healed her of her affliction, the temple leader was envious. He was envious because he wanted to be the guy who performed the miracle. The synagogue leader wanted to be the one who was admired. He wanted to be the center of attention, not Jesus.

So instead of being thrilled about Jesus' miracle, he decided to criticize it. He had to find some fault in Jesus' act of mercy. He had to find something to be critical of - so he chose to criticize Jesus' doing this on the Sabbath.

If it wasn't that, he would have found fault otherwise in Jesus' act. This is the characteristic of someone who is envious.

What is envy?

Envy is rooted in the desire to be on top. The desire to be number one. We find this is actually a common characteristic among those of us living in the physical world. We want to be superior. We want to be the master.

This is why we in the material world strive to be champions. We want to be the hero. The gold-medal winner. The Olympic champion. The rock star. The Emmy-award-winning actor or actress. The CEO. The president. Whatever position we may choose to play out our desire to be number one.

Wanting to be number one is rooted in the desire to be the master. And this is ultimately rooted in our underlying rejection of the Supreme Being.

Once we rejected God as our Best Friend and Soulmate, we became envious of Him. This is why we are here in the material world, away from the Supreme Being, occupying these temporary physical bodies.

Is this why we are away from God?

Envy automatically separates us from the Supreme Being. That's because envy and love are like oil and water - they don't mix because they are diametrically opposed to each other.

The Supreme Being - the Source of everything - is full of love. Therefore, someone who becomes envious automatically becomes separated from the Supreme Being.

In love, each person wants to please the other. Each person wants to serve the other. But in envy, a person wants to be better than the other. It is a completely opposite consciousness.

Once we felt like this, we were separated from God. We no longer shared our love with God. We suddenly wanted to be master. We wanted to be the center.

So the Supreme Being - in His ultimate wisdom and compassion - gave us the opportunity to pretend to be the center. He created this physical universe and these physical bodies so that we could be separate from Him and play out our fantasies of being number one. Being the most important person - which of course who God is.

Once we achieved this separation, we created so many different games, events, positions, and criteria so each of us would have an opportunity to claim the position of being number one - in something. This can range from the most difficult of challenges - such as an Olympic athlete or a president - to easier methods such as winning one race or event or getting a blue ribbon at a fair. Or perhaps becoming a supervisor at work. Or perhaps being the big priest or reverend at a church - or the synagogue leader as this man who offended Jesus was.

And even if we don't make it to the top of a particular position or event, we can still imagine ourselves in the number one position as we become a parent or we get a pet, or otherwise. Thus we can become the master of a child or a pet - ordering them around and telling them what to do and so on.

Are these positions real?

If we sit back for a second and think about it, we can realize immediately that our claimed position as number one - in something - is temporary. It is a fantasy.

All of these roles pretending to be the champion were all ultimately designed by the Supreme Being to allow us to play out our fantasies of being number one.

But in order to do this, He had to create a virtual platform - away from our actual spiritual identities. Each of us is a  spiritual being - from the spiritual realm. We are not these temporary physical bodies. Our composition is spiritual and our innate identity is connected to our specific loving relationship with God.

This means in order to play out our fantasies of being number one, He had to create virtual identities for us - within a virtual world. This might be compared to how a person might escape to the virtual world of a video computer game. The game also allows us to take on a virtual identity - an icon or "avatar" - allowing us to immerse within the virtual game environment.

This also takes place when we are dreaming. This is a further virtual environment, allowing us to escape into a fantasy land in order to play out our more ridiculous fantasies.

But the physical world is more 'real' than these two examples. The physical body is real in the sense that it is made of molecules and light, whereas the video game is made of computer graphics and the dreamscape is made of mental images.

But all of these facilities present the same opportunity - all created by the ultimate designer and programmer, the Supreme Being. They each allow us to play out our fantasies of being number one.

But in His wisdom, the Supreme Being also created this physical world with many lessons that go along with the fantasies. These lessons allow for the opportunity for us to be rehabilitated at the same time. The goal, of course, is to allow us the opportunity to return to the spiritual realm and resume our actual identities - our spiritual identities - which are complete with spiritual love and happiness.

How does He impart these lessons?

Just think about it for a second. Just think about all the trials and tribulations that accompany our attempts to achieve a goal of being in some kind of number one position:

Just consider a person who wants to win at an Olympic event. Such a person will have to train for many years prior and undergo painful injuries and/or traumas as they climb to the top. Each of these presents lessons: Lessons that indicate that we actually are not really number one. Lessons that show us that we are each, in fact, inferiors: servants, not masters.

In other words, in order to reach the so-called number one spot, we will have to become a servant. We will have to serve the body through training. Or if we want to be a movie star, we will have to serve the movie directors and executives. Then later we will have to serve our fans by posing and doing other things to remain popular.

And if we want to be a business tycoon - a CEO - we will have to start by serving our bosses and customers, and then later, serving board members and stockholders. And if we want to be president, we will have to start off by serving smaller communities as councilmen or mayor, while serving the interests of those businesspeople who give us campaign money.

Even if we want to be the number one in a family by having children, or even by having a dog or cat - we will still have to serve. In these supposed number one positions we will need to serve the children by feeding them and changing their diapers and then working to bring in their food and education and so on. And if it is a pet, we will need to serve them by feeding them every day for the rest of their lives, along with picking up their poop every day.

Yes - is this not only ironic but poetic justice and hilarious at the same time? That we set out to be superior - number one - and we simply end up in our innate position as servant. We never actually achieve any number one status. We just end up serving people in order to maintain a position we once imagined for ourselves.

Even one of the ultimate 'number one' men of our materialistic society - the founder of the Playboy enterprise - illustrates this. After so many years of pretending to be the 'number one' guy with all his friends surrounding him and supposedly serving him: He actually ended up having to serve the young wives and girlfriends that demanded his time and devotion to them. He found himself serving some of the very same 'friends' he thought he had arranged to serve him. He also ended up serving customers, investors and family members. And near the end of his body's life, he had to serve his body in a struggle to keep it alive  - which ultimately failed.

What is the primary lesson?

The primary lesson in this is obvious: We are not number one. We are not master. We are not the playboy. We are not the top dog. Whether we are wearing the body of a male or female, we will never be in charge. 

Regardless of our attempts to be master, we will each have to become servants and caregivers. Even the most famous rock star or movie star must cater to (serve) their fans.

This illustrates that whether by choice or not, we are caregivers by nature. We are not in charge here or anywhere. We were created to be caregivers.

We see here that Jesus considered himself in this way. With his statement regarding giving water to the ox or donkey - he is indicating service. He is indicating that one must be a servant or caregiver. And this is precisely what he was doing with the woman. He was being of service. He was helping her - which is service.

By his own omission, Jesus clarified his role as servant of the Supreme Being:

"-for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." (John 5:30)

"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)

And he wanted those who followed him to also understand their role as servants:

"The greatest among you will be your servant." (Matt. 23:11)

"'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:7-10)

"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" (Luke 17:7-10)

What was Jesus' audience?

To understand this parable by Jesus, we must understand its context - the audience and the message.

In terms of audience, it is clear from the verses prior that Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples and students:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5)

After which Jesus discussed faith, in Luke 17:6.

So Jesus goes from discussing faith to discussing this analogy about the servants and master. What is the connection?

In his discussion of faith, Jesus talks about their being able to tell a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea with just a small amount of faith. As we discussed with this verse, Jesus is not speaking about getting some great power and ability: It is speaking of becoming dependent upon the Supreme Being. This dependency that Jesus is discussing is the same type of dependency that a servant would have upon his master.

Was having servants normal then?

We must remember that during the time when Jesus walked the earth, having servants was common. Practically every wealthy household had multiple servants, who did the chores, cooked, cleaned the house, took care of the crops and so forth.

By today's standards, many of these workers would be considered slaves - or at least indentured servants. The non-Jewish lower class at that time often held positions of menial service in households and farms. If a person could not pay a debt, they were often forced into servitude in order to pay off their debt. This is basically an indentured servant. Once the servant worked off their debt they were theoretically free to leave the household.

Often the servant would not leave, however. This is because during their indentured service, the servant would often come to depend upon the household for their survival. They were fed and housed and in return performed their service.

Today in most affluent countries, slavery is illegal. To some degree, however, indentured servitude still continues in some cultures.

Even in the Western world, many households do have nannies, cooks, house cleaners, and so forth. These are typically not considered indentured servants because they have the freedom to quit and work elsewhere at any time. But they do get paid for their service.

And of course, many corporations employ workers who tend fields, do manufacturing, office work and so forth. Certainly, these workers are also not considered indentured servants - because they too have the freedom to quit their job and work elsewhere.

Nevertheless, all of these types of workers - whether slaves, indentured servants, household employees or corporation employees - typically still come to depend upon their employer for their survival. Sure, many of them could quit, but depending upon their situation and the job market, quitting their job might mean losing their home and not being able to put food on the table - at least until they find a new job.

Thus there is still a dependence or reliance upon the employer or company even to this day among many workers.

This is what Jesus is discussing here, as it relates to our relationship with the Supreme Being. The relationship between the worker and employer or servant and master: The worker and servant are dependent upon their employer or master.

Such is the consciousness of one who wants to be one of God's loving servants: We must become dependent upon God.

You see, the precise working arrangement between the servant and the master in Jesus' analogy is not the point: Because servants and at least indentured slavery were quite common, Jesus could utilize this relationship to illustrate a point to his disciples and students.

The Supreme Being doesn't want slaves anyway. He gives each of us the freedom to choose whether or not we want to love and serve Him. So this is not the point.

Yet being God's servant is still our natural position. Those of us who rebel and try to escape our position as one of His loving servants end up serving the Supreme Being indirectly anyway - in the form of His physical universe and the various roles and situations that exist here. We serve our families, our bosses, our fans - even our bodies. We have to work hard to feed our body and keep it healthy: We are thus servants of our physical bodies - and those who control the fate of our physical bodies.

So we can never really escape our true position as being one of God's servants. This was His purpose for creating us: To help Him enjoy. And as long as we are operating within our position as one of His servants we become fulfilled. When we decide to serve God, we are fulfilling our actual role and position.

Does God need our service?

It is not as if He really needs anything from us. He is God after all. Rather, what He enjoys most is the exchange of love: He enjoys the loving exchanges that He has with those of His children who choose to love and serve Him voluntarily. This was expressed by the Supreme Being as He described His relationship with Jesus:

Then a cloud formed and enveloped them. A voice came out of the cloud: “This is my beloved Servant – listen to him!” (Mark 9:7)

The Supreme Being expressed not only that Jesus was His servant - but that He loved Jesus. This indicates a relationship. A relationship of mutual love.

Jesus indicates his reciprocation of this loving relationship:

"The One who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” (John 8:29)

Jesus also communicates clearly that in this loving relationship, he is also completely dependent upon the Supreme Being:

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

This is the critical situation that Jesus is trying to teach his disciples and students to embrace: Not only their role as servant - but their position as being completely dependent upon God.

This is the same dependent and subservient position that Jesus describes in his parable about the master and the servants. While a kind master might certainly thank the servant, the servants are not waiting to be thanked. This would especially be the case if the servitude is indentured - common then as described above.

In such a dependent and subservient role, the servant would not be thinking they would be thanked. Nor would they be expecting it. This goes for employees of a corporation or household today. While some are thanked now and again, mostly the worker just does their job.

Jesus then extends this analogy to the role and consciousness that he wants his disciples and students to have regarding their devotional service to God:

"So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

Certainly, the Supreme Being does appreciate the voluntary service of those who love Him. This is not the point, however. Jesus is speaking of the attitude his disciples and students should have from their side of the relationship - that they should not be feeling worthy or expecting a 'thank you' from God for their service.

Should we expect a reward?

Most of us are feeling pretty worthy. We might do a small amount of service and suddenly we are thinking we are worthy. Not only do we expect a return for our pittance of service, but we think we have done such a great thing that we want others to respect us for it. This is quite the opposite consciousness that Jesus is teaching his students with regard to feeling worthy of being respected, thanked, or given some other reward.

This, of course, is a clear message to those institutions that compensate their pastors and priests for their theoretical service. Such payments of salaries or houses or anything else in return for their service means that service is not necessarily being done in order to please God. At least to some degree, the service is being done in exchange for payment.

This makes that type of service tainted - and thus cannot be trusted as true service to the Supreme Being.

Jesus is clear with his students that their focus should be upon service - without any expectation of reward - as he illustrates by his own example:

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

Any of us can offer service to the Supreme Being - anyplace and anytime - by praising God's Names. This form of service has been professed throughout the Bible. See the evidence here.