"Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:20)

This statement by Jesus confirms the meaning of the various healings by Jesus. Here is the text prior to this statement:

One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:17-20)

So Jesus, while he was teaching a lecture, saw this man lowered down in front of him on a mat.

Notice that Jesus did not say, "your body is healed." He said, "your sins are forgiven."

What do sins have to do with being paralyzed?

More specifically, what did this man's being paralyzed have to do with his sins?

This also relates to a question that Jesus' disciples asked Jesus on another occasion:

"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2)

This again relates a physical impairment to sinning. It is obvious from these verses and others that there is a connection between sinning and one's physical condition, and not only from this lifetime.

What is that connection?

The physical body is a vehicle we drive. It is like a car that we get in and drive for a while. It is not us. We are spiritual beings. We are eternal. The physical body is temporary. It lasts a few decades and then dies. When it dies, we get out.

The physical world and our physical body were designed for rehabilitation. Here we are presented with a learning system replete with a variety of tests and consequences.

These tests and consequences come in the form of our physical condition, our environment, and the many challenges we face. Whatever physical condition and environment we are in reflects our past choices: They reflect a combination of our consciousness and our activities.

We can see this all around us. A person sits in jail because they hurt someone. Another person has a particular job because they went to school and trained for that job. Yet another person is a famous gymnast because they practiced gymnastics for 10 straight years instead of going out with their friends.

All of these and more illustrate how our past activities create our current situation. Our past activities also create the condition and appearance of our bodies. The gymnast, for example, has a muscular, healthy physique because they worked hard during their training. Another person may have an obese body because they did not work hard but instead sat in front of the TV, eating.

These are the more obvious indications that our physical body reflects our past activities. We don't necessarily see all the connections this easily, however. Our past activities affect our current body and environment in more subtle ways. They also cross over lifetimes, as indicated by Jesus' disciples' question.

Recycling atoms

While many are disturbed by the controversy about whether "reincarnation" exists or whether Jesus taught "reincarnation," the fact is, we are "reincarnating" right now. Our physical body is made up of atoms and molecules and these atoms and molecules are being recycled at every moment.

Scientists estimate that the entire body's molecules and atoms are recycled within five years. This means that we are changing bodies even within this lifetime.

For example, if we were to look at a picture of our body when it was a baby: That body is now gone. The atoms and molecules that made up that body have now been replaced by new atoms and molecules. We have thus "reincarnated" even within this lifetime.

It is like looking at a waterfall. We can look at a waterfall for a few minutes and then kneel down and tie our shoes. When we look back at the waterfall, it will be a different waterfall. All the water that was in the waterfall the last time we looked is now gone, and replaced by new water.

Our bodies recycle atoms and molecules in the same way. They are constantly changing. We might have a baby body on, then later have a teenager body on. Later we'll have a middle-aged body on, and then an old body on. Throughout these changing bodies, we continue to be the same person.

We might learn and grow, but we are still the same person. We have just changed bodies. This is why we struggle with old age. This is why we have what is called, a "mid-life crisis." We try to deny that our body is getting old because we are not the body. We are eternal. We are wrongly identifying ourselves as these temporary bodies.

Just as the changes in our body over the years reflect our activities and consciousness, when we leave our body at the time of death we move on to a place of respite. But eventually, we are destined to continue our learning experiences in a way that reflects our past activities and current consciousness. This is typically within another physical body of some sort.

If we utilized our time and energy to take advantage of others and we hurt others, our next body will likely reflect those activities. If we maimed people during this lifetime, we may take on a lame body in the next lifetime.

If we blinded someone in our last lifetime, we may take on a body that was blind in our next. 

But if used our last lifetime to help others, if we do take on another physical body, we'd likely have a healthy body in the next physical lifetime.

Just as our current body changes with our consciousness, so does our next body. Our physical body now and in the future perfectly reflects a combination of our desires (consciousness) and past activities.

This is because the Supreme Being created the physical world as a place of consequence. It is a rehabilitation center. Our activities create consequences because we are here to learn. Consequence learning is now the method parenting experts say is the best way to train children. Why? Because we learn best by seeing the consequences of our activities.

Learning about love

And learning provides the vehicle to get out of this physical world of consequences.

Consequences provide a method of teaching us about love. About caring for others. We were sent here to the physical world because we rejected our natural position as one of God's loving caregivers. We were bounced out of the spiritual realm because we decided we didn't want to love God and love God's children anymore. We decided we wanted to be number one. We wanted to be the center of attention. We wanted the authority and the power. We wanted independence from God.

So the Supreme Being set up this physical universe to give us the illusion that we are independent, and we are the center of attention. Here we can pretend that we are the master of all that we survey (even though we are not).

Here we can seek out our own desires, and pretend we have authority. And the Supreme Being gave us physical bodies to accomplish this and identify with - physical bodies that have no ability to see the spiritual realm or the Supreme Being. This renders the illusion that the Supreme Being may not exist - so that we can try to enjoy ourselves without having to see Him.

But together with these illusions, the Supreme Being set up the physical world with a consequence system of learning. This is to allow us to gradually learn that we will not be happy being self-centered. This system allows us to slowly develop the understanding that our natural position is one of caregiver. We are not self-centered enjoyers by nature. We are givers by nature. And we will not be happy without our Best Friend, the Supreme Being.

This is why even the richest and most successful people are not fulfilled by their wealth and fame, but rather, find some fulfillment in giving to others. They are slowly learning that they are caregivers by nature, not bosses, rich people or famous people by nature.

This may seem unfair to some. That some people become very wealthy and/or famous, while others remain poor. Some people are healthy while some become sick or die from starvation, or are paralyzed. Why are some so much better off than others. Is God not fair?

Does God not care about us? Or did the world get out of God's control? Or is God a vengeful person who wants to get us back?

None of this is true. As explained above, the Supreme Being loves us and simply wants us to be happy. He gave us the freedom to make this choice for ourselves, but the only way we will be happy is when we are back in the spiritual realm in our natural position as one of His loving caregivers. This is our natural position, and this is what will make us each ultimately happy.

This is why we spend our lives looking for that perfect soul mate to love and care for, who will love us and care for us forever. Yet we never quite find that perfect soul mate here. When we think we find them, we might "fall in love," but then eventually we find all their faults, and find out that they, like us, are simply looking out for themselves. Or perhaps we do find some ongoing love over the years with someone, but then eventually their body dies and they leave us. One way or another, we find out they weren't so perfect after all.

Once we decide we do want to return home, the Supreme Being is waiting for us. He sends His representatives such as Jesus to bring us home to Him. Those representatives He sends teach us about Him (re-introduce us to Him) and show us how we can re-develop our loving relationship with Him.

This is why Jesus has the ability to remove people's sins. Removing sins is not like removing a nail stuck in someone's shoe. It is not like being put through a carwash. Yet this is how it is often portrayed. Furthermore, many teach that only Jesus' crucifixion can cleanse our sins.

Yet we can see from scripture that this is not true. Jesus was able to cleanse the consequences of this paralyzed person's sins on the spot. Jesus did not have to be crucified to cleanse the consequences of this person's sins.

That is why the person's paralysis was cleared - because the paralysis was a consequence of the person's past activities. By Jesus forgiving those activities, the consequences were also cleared.

How did Jesus forgive sins?

How could Jesus do this as if by magic?

Note that Jesus clarified his act was not the same as healing a person's body when he said:

"Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?" (Luke 5:23)

The word "sins" in Jesus' statement is taken from the Greek word ἁμαρτία (hamartia). This word means, according to the lexicon, "to err, be mistaken," "miss the mark," "an offense" and "to wander from the law of God, violate God's law." These are related to God. They are actions that ignore God. They are self-centered actions. This is why Jesus could say that the person's sins were "forgiven." God, upon Jesus' request, was forgiving this man's activities that had forsaken God over the years.

There are three aspects of sin. The first is consciousness. A person has a particular consciousness - desires. These desires produce activities. Activities that are self-centered produce consequences.

Then, because all activities have consequences - good and bad - sinful activities typically come with consequences that lead to suffering.

Clearing people of those consequences was not the focus of Jesus' mission. Rather, Jesus' mission was focused primarily upon cleansing their consciousness.

How do we know this? We can see this by Jesus' teaching. If he just wanted to heal the consequences of people's past activities why would he teach to them? Because he wanted to also change their consciousness. If he wanted to heal everyone he would have set up a hospital and had everyone line up to be healed. Instead, Jesus traveled the countryside, teaching.

How did Jesus help change their consciousness?

But how did Jesus change their consequences and thus cleanse their sins? Internally, Jesus was requesting that God grant the person forgiveness. Due to the loving relationship between Jesus and God, when Jesus asked God to forgive someone, God forgave them out of love. This is the nature of the loving relationship between God and the representative of God.

But more importantly, Jesus was also able to cleanse a person's consciousness, so that the person's desires changed from being self-centered to being God-centered. This was the true healing that Jesus gave, and this healing was offered to anyone through Jesus' teachings.

Such a person, with a changed consciousness, can, therefore, change their entire future. Having the past consequences changed does not solve our bigger problem. When we change our consciousness from being self-centered to being God-centered, we act in the loving service of the Supreme Being. Instead of creating a future within another physical body, this creates a future that returns us back home to the spiritual realm with the Supreme Being and His loving caregivers and friends - our real family members.

Note that the verse states that "When Jesus saw their faith..." Why is this important? "Faith" means trust. They trusted in Jesus. They trusted in Jesus' connection with the Supreme Being. Their efforts reflected this trust. And Jesus rewarded that trust. We can also have this trust. Such trust is the basis for re-establishing our loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

What is the purpose of consequences?

Consequence learning allows us to grow. This is the purpose of the consequence learning system the Supreme Being set in place. The condition of our body - whether suffering or otherwise - allows each of us to reflect upon our activities, and learn from them.

The suffering in the physical world is taking place only to our temporary physical bodies. Not us - each of us is a soul, not the physical body.

Our bodies could be compared to cars in a demolition derby: They get wrecked up and yet the driver can get out of the car and walk away. In the same way, each of us will leave our body at the time of death, having (hopefully) learned the lessons that body and its experiences offered us.

It is like sitting down at the computer. We might assume a temporary computer identity as we log on to a website, and that identity might undergo some challenges during the website visit, but we can always log off, turn off the computer and walk away from that identity. In the same way, the suffering of the physical world is virtual.

It is real, but it does not impact our real selves outside the learning we take away. Should we learn from these consequences, and seek out the Supreme Being, we have the chance to turn off the physical world and return to our home in the spiritual realm.

And this was Jesus' intent. While the New Testament has focused quite a bit on Jesus' healings, the true message is hidden within his teachings. Jesus said "Friend, your sins are forgiven" instead of "your body is healed" because he was teaching his students that our actions create consequences and those actions can be forgiven. This is because the universe is a personal place. And the Supreme Being is a person. A Person who is compassionate and loving, and always ready to forgive.

He was also teaching that the action that creates the ultimate consequence: returning to the spiritual realm - our home - is related to the consciousness of devotion: loving the Supreme Being. This is why Jesus' most important instruction - as was Moses' - to his students was:

'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 Deuteromy 6:5)

"Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ..." (Luke 5:22-24)

"Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." (Luke 5:22-24)

Here Jesus is responding to Jewish teachers who were in the crowd who were questioning Jesus' ability to forgive sins. The text states:

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Luke 5:21)

Does this offensive thinking by the Pharisees and the Jewish teachers mean that Jesus is God since he was able to forgive the man's sins? 

Did they understand why Jesus could forgive sins?

No, because they did not know who Jesus was. The reason they do not know him is that they are trying to cheat their way into their authority. They have no real authority. Their seminary degrees and appointments by high priests - and today by bishops and deacons - offer them no access to the spiritual realm of love for God. These degrees and appointments only offer authority over physical things: Jewish temples, church buildings, organizations, money and so on, together with those rewards and salaries in return for their services.

And while they might be able to give eloquent sermons on Saturday or Sunday, unfortunately, their sermons have no power to change people's hearts. Some might even offer confessions or other rituals supposed to forgive people of their sins in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet these rituals have no effect. They cannot deliver the authority of Jesus or God because that authority only comes from a heart full of love for God - which Jesus had. Such authority doesn't come from seminary degrees, appointments by high priests, deacons or bishops, or elections by cardinals.

So how did Jesus gain the authority to forgive sins? Only through love of God, and the granting of this authority by the Supreme Being.

This is why Jesus said:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matt. 28:18)

"For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in himself. And He has given him authority to judge because he is the son of man." (John 5:26-27)

The key to this lies in the question:

What does "son of man" mean?

The English phrase, "son of man," has no practical meaning. Why would it be such an important title for Jesus to attribute to himself? Every man is a son of a man. Why is this so special?

The problem lies in the translation of the Greek phrase, υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. The word υἱός (huios) has been translated to "son" incorrectly in this context. υἱός can mean a male offspring with regard to the family, but the word also refers to a devotional relationship. Thayer's Greek lexicon states that υἱός can be "used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower." Consider this for a moment. Someone who depends on someone and follows that person is devoted to the person they are following, yes?

This means that the correct translation of υἱός (huios) in this context - Jesus' referring to himself, should be either "follower," "devotee" or "devoted servant."

The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) can mean "man," "mankind" or "humanity." Jesus is obviously not speaking of a specific man. He can only be speaking of mankind, humankind or humanity.

Thus the appropriate translation of υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου (τοῦ means "of") would be:

'Servant of Humanity'

Why does Jesus consider being a servant of humanity so special? Consider what he told his close disciples:

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35)

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve..." (Mark 10:42-45)

God also gave this same title ("son of man" = "servant of humanity") to Ezekial. And both Job and David also referred to themselves with the same title.

This is the essence of Jesus' position, and he is encouraging his students to also take up that position. And what is that position? It is the position of servant. Jesus is God's servant, and by virtue of his service to God, he is also the servant of all of God's children.

Why? Because Jesus' service is to bring us back to the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being loves each of us and wants us to come home to Him. He wants us to return to our natural position as one of His loving servants. Why? Because the Supreme Being loves us. He wants us to be happy. And we can only be happy when we are in our natural position.

Just as Jesus' position as the servant of humanity is expressed with the phrase, υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, Jesus' position as the servant of God is expressed with the Greek phrase, υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. The Greek word θεοῦ (theosis) is God's Holy Name. Thus Jesus is being described as the devoted servant of God.

Knowing these facts, we can now understand why Jesus has the authority to forgive someone's sins.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matt. 28:18)

"For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man." (John 5:26-27)

The authority that Jesus is referring to is not his. By his own admission, this authority has been given to Jesus. This means the authority is not from Jesus, but the Supreme Being.

The Supreme Being never has to be given authority. Authority originates with the Supreme Being. Thus we can know from Jesus' referral to himself as servant, and as being given authority, that by acting as the Supreme Being's confidential loving servant, Jesus is given certain authority.

Now what exactly is the authority to "forgive sins"? What is "sin" and what is "forgiveness"?

Here "sin" is translated from ἁμαρτία (hamartia), meaning to "to err, be mistaken," "miss the mark," "an offense" and "to wander from the law of God, violate God's law."

A sin is thus a self-centered act, and sinning is self-centered consciousness. It is a consciousness that sees me as the center of the universe. It sees my happiness as my central mission. Thus, self-centeredness is the opposite of love.

What is the essence of "God's law"?

Love for God, as taught by Jesus, Moses and others, as the central, key commandment (Matt. 22:37, Deut. 6:5).

The Supreme Being set up the physical world and these physical bodies with consequences. This is because this is a place of learning - a rehabilitation center of sorts, for those of us who turned our back on the Supreme Being and our true nature.

Thus, every self-centered act has a consequence. Furthermore, the consciousness of being self-centered has a great effect: The effect of offensiveness. By being self-centered, we are ignoring the Supreme Being. By ignoring the Supreme Being, we are offending Him.

This is why "sins" are spoken of as being forgiven. A person who forgives another person has been slighted somehow by that other person. If it was an automatic process of removal, the phrase would be "your sins are removed."

This is similar to Jesus' situation. Such a servant of the Supreme Being and a servant of humanity is given authorization by God to act on His behalf. This includes forgiving sins because Jesus knows under what circumstances the Supreme Being requires to have that person's sins forgiven. He has been authorized through his loving service relationship with God.

And the Supreme Being, who enjoys a close loving relationship with His loving servant, always complies with His devoted servant and immediately forgives the person. It is actually quite immediate because God's loving servant enjoys such a trusting relationship with God that the Supreme Being immediately executes the desires of His loving servant.

This is because the desire of the loving servant is linked up with God's desires. Their desires are one and the same, because of the devotional love of God's servant.

Thus, practically any contact with God's loving servant will have a purifying effect - because of that relationship of love that exists between God and His loving servant. This can even include a picture or other representation of God's representative.

This is why the man's paralysis also became cured. Because the consequences of his past activities that created his current physical condition - his paralysis - were forgiven and removed from the person.

The Supreme Being is ready to forgive any of us for our sinful nature. But in order to be forgiven of something we have to also feel sorry.

Let's say that we bumped into a person while walking down the street, and he fell down. Would the person forgive us if we yelled at them for being in our way? Would they forgive us if we just walked on and left them laying on the ground?

But if we stopped and said we were so sorry, and then helped them up, we would certainly be forgiven by the man.

Will God forgive us?

The Supreme Being doesn't need us to be sorry in order to be forgiven. He already forgives us. But in order to be relieved of the consequences of our previous acts, our consciousness must change. We have to become sorry for those activities. We have to feel sorry that we have ignored the Supreme Being for so long. In this condition, the consequences of our self-centered life will be relieved.

Typically a person cannot do this alone. This is because the physical world is so strong, and our envy and self-centeredness are so ingrained that it is nearly impossible for us to have a change of heart, and thus become cleansed of the consequences of our prior self-centered activities and consciousness.

This is where the representative of the Supreme Being comes in. Jesus is God's representative, and his teachings have the ability to change a person's heart from being self-centered to being God-centered. He can introduce us to the Supreme Being, and change our consciousness from self-centeredness to loving the Supreme Being.

This allows one's entrance into the spiritual realm, as the spiritual realm is the domain where its citizens each enjoy a fulfilling loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

Because the loving servant of the Supreme Being is engaged in a loving relationship with God, and because of their love and commitment to God's children to help them, the Supreme Being bestows upon His representative powers as needed to change the hearts of others.

And as those hearts are changed by the teachings and activities of God's representative and loving servant, our consciousness can change, and we can also enter into the devoted servitude of the Supreme Being - as Jesus asked his disciples to enter into.

"Simon, I have something to tell you. Two people owed money ..." (Luke 7:40-48)

"Simon, I have something to tell you. Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (Luke 7:40-48)

What does Jesus' parable mean?

This event and Jesus' parable about the debt is only understood when Jesus' role, purpose, and relationship with the Supreme Being are understood.

First, we must ask: Who was this woman who was washing Jesus' feet?

We find the following verses describing the same woman in the Book of John:

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) (John 11:1-2)

So we find that this woman who was washing Jesus' feet was none other than Mary Magdalene, the sister of Martha. We can see by the verses in John that Mary and Martha were beloved students and disciples of Jesus, and they referred to Jesus as "Lord" and "Rabbi" - as disciples were accustomed to. We also find that Mary also sometimes traveled with Jesus' entourage as he preached from town to town:

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out - (Luke 8:1-2)

Later we find that of all of Jesus' disciples, Mary was the only one who stayed by Jesus' side when he was gruesomely persecuted on the cross. She sat at the bottom of the cross, and also checked on the tomb of his body afterward. It was Mary who is said to have seen Jesus first when he re-appeared after having left his physical body at the time of death.

We also find in the Gospel of Mary that Mary was a close student of Jesus, and Jesus shared with her confidential teachings, which she shared with Peter and some of the other disciples.

The bottom line is that it is obvious that Mary became a dedicated and glorious disciple of Jesus. And she was not deserving of some of the depictions given her by early church institution teachers.

What about Mary's 'demons'?

But it is clear from Luke that prior to Jesus' cleansing of her, she had "demons" ("evil spirits and diseases").

Just what are "evil spirits" and what was the nature of Mary's affliction?

The concept of "demons" and "evil spirits" is largely misunderstood. Why? Because it requires an understanding of our spiritual identity.

The fundamental understanding required is that we are not these physical bodies. The physical body is a temporary vehicle the spirit-person occupies. And each of us is spirit-persons: We are spiritual in nature, not physical, and we each occupy - possess - a physical body for a temporary period of time.

This has already been determined scientifically. Biologists know that the physical body is constantly recycling atoms and molecules, and it has been calculated that within five years, the entire body will be recycled and will contain new atoms and molecules. This means that the body is not constant.

We might compare this to a waterfall. The water in the waterfall is always changing. If we turn away and look again at a waterfall, it will be a completely different waterfall because new water is always flowing through the waterfall.

In the same way, if we look at a picture of our baby body, we know that the baby body is gone now, and we are now wearing an adult body. Every atom and molecule is different. This means we have functionally changed bodies.

Yet we know I am the same person that occupied the younger body. We know that I existed then and now, yet the molecules that made up that young body are now gone. I have functionally changed bodies but I am still the same person. This person - the real me - is spiritual, not physical.

And this is why clinical death research has proven that when a person dies, we leave the physical body and can even look down upon the body. Who is looking at the body? This is the spirit-person. This is who each of us is.

Understanding this, we can now begin to relate better with the concept of "evil spirits and diseases." The reality is, a "demon" or "evil spirit" can take many forms. It does not functionally need to be an actual entity - but it can be. As understood during Jesus' times, "demons" may also include bad habits, afflictions or addictions. Even to this day, an expression for a person who struggled with bad habits/addictions will often be something to like: "He wrestled with his demons."

Therefore, in this case, a cleansing would be the removal of these bad habits or addictions.

An addiction or bad habit may also be influenced by an outside party, be they an associate or even a ghost.

Such influence doesn't necessarily mean occupation, but that is certainly possible. It may simply be that the person is under the influence of a person they respect or have to serve. This may cloud the consciousness of a person's mind.

What about cleansing habits?

When we become attached to materialistic life, we will develop particular desires, which lead to habits. These can be cleansed by God's representative, as illustrated by Jesus.

The cleansing of desires and habits can be accomplished by changing our heart. This is accomplished by giving us knowledge and introducing us to the loving nature of the Supreme Being.

This is precisely what Jesus did in the case of Mary.

This is how Jesus was able to cleanse many others. By introducing them to the Supreme Being: By teaching about God, and changing their hearts from being self-centered to wanting to love and serve the Supreme Being.

Such a cleansing does not simply cleanse one or two habits. The teachings of God's representative can change our heart and this may cleanse many habits at once. Or, most likely, they may provoke a gradual change of heart, producing a gradual cleansing of desires and habits.

Just consider a person who might be struggling with depression, perhaps who frequently gets drunk and takes drugs and sometimes hurts those around them as a result.

This person may have multiple addictions and bad habits - which could be referred to as "demons." But such a person may be surrounded by so-called social friends who through their influence, contribute to the person's getting drunk, doing drugs or doing other things. Shouldn't these so-called friends also be considered "demons"?

Certainly, their influencing the drinking and drug-taking of the depressed person would qualify them, in the context of their bad influence, to be described as "demons."

But should such a person be introduced to the Supreme Being, and develop the desire to love and serve God, such a change of heart would naturally result in these multiple "demons" going away. And the person would effectively replace those influencers and their habits with activities that please the Supreme Being.

This is precisely Jesus' role: To affect our influencers and provoke a change of lifestyle, and if we are sincere, over time we can have a change of heart.

What is cleansing?

It is often characterized that such "cleansings" were done by Jesus with a touch or simple command to a particular demon to go away.

While we know that Jesus - as God's representative - had this potential and command to cleanse attachments and desires, we also know that many of these cleansing events accompanied Jesus teaching or outwardly praising and proclaiming God's Name. We also know that Jesus was the ultimate influencer when it comes to teaching love of God.

The Gospels were written many decades after Jesus' persecution and rarely convey the entire scene and event. We know there are missing elements. Therefore, it only makes sense that we see the practical nature of how Jesus influenced those who were encumbered with bad habits and desires. He influenced people to have a change of heart.

In other words, what is missing from many of these "cleansings" and "healings" is that Jesus was preaching - introducing people to God. And as their heart was changed, they became cleansed of various bad habits - and whatever influential people or unembodied spirits that surrounded them were naturally repulsed by the worship of the Supreme Being.

This expansion is in fact portrayed in this case about Mary. Then we find later that this statement of forgiveness is later being described as "from whom wicked spirits had been cast out ."

In reality, they are the same event, but the "wicked spirits had been cast out " were inclusive of the bad habits (which may have included drunkenness) - as well as the repulsion of those around her who influenced those activities.

What does cleansing have to do with forgiving sins?

Some might ask what cleansing of demons has to do with Jesus' forgiving her sins.

It is called love, and this requires a loving relationship.

Let's use an example. Let's say that a rebellious teenager disobeys her parents and goes out partying - drinking and doing drugs - with her friends. Her parents then ground her as a consequence. At some point in her being grounded, she has a talk with her parents and they extend to her how much they love her and care about her, and this is why they grounded her.

And let's say that this sinks in and she realizes that her parents simply love her and care about her. She then sincerely apologizes for her behavior and they all hug. The parents, understanding the teenager has learned her lesson and also the love they exchanged, releases her from being grounded.

This compares favorably to being forgiven by the Supreme Being for our sins: It is not a mechanical thing - it is about love. In fact, love for God - which is part of asking for forgiveness - has a cleansing effect in itself because that love replaces self-centeredness, which traps the person within their desires. This is reflected in Jesus' statement:

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little." [Then Jesus said to her,] "Your sins are forgiven."

Then we find later that this statement of forgiveness is later being described as "from whom seven demons had come out."

In reality, they are the same event, but the "seven demons" that "came out" were inclusive of the "evil spirits and diseases" - which included bad habits (which may have included drunkenness) - as well as the repulsion of those influencing or participating in those activities.

Some might ask what cleansing of demons has to do with Jesus' forgiving her sins. It is called love, and this requires a loving relationship.

Why is Jesus forgiving her sins?

Jesus is God's representative, and her love is what is yielding forgiveness.

We could again compare this to the story about the teenager. Let's say that after the parents and the teenager have their big hug, the teenager goes back to her room. Then, as her brother heard everything, the brother asks the parents to remove her curfew and grounding. An hour later, her brother comes in and tells her that she is no longer grounded.

In this case, the parents still made the decision. But the brother still made the request and is at least partially responsible. But who ultimately made the decision to lift the curfew? The parents.

This is what is effectively taking place between God, Jesus and Mary.

You see, Jesus and God enjoy a loving relationship. Jesus is God's loving servant and God reciprocates that relationship. When a person serves such a loving representative of God that person partakes of the relationship between God's representative of God, because by serving God's representative, God is pleased.

And because God's representative knows that God is pleased by this service, Jesus can immediately say what he said: That because of her loving service to Jesus, her sins are forgiven by God.

Jesus' statement indelibly connects forgiveness to love. In fact, the two are synchronous. Consider again the parents lifting the teenagers' grounding after the brother's plea. The process is based on love. Her brother loves her and her parents love her. And because she reciprocated that love, the mutual love resulted in forgiveness.

Does love lead to forgiveness?

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown."

Jesus is speaking of loving service here. In the same way, if someone offended us and then later showed their love for us with loving service we would immediately forgive them even if they didn't apologize for their offense. We would forgive them because of their loving service to us. Their loving service to us effectively erases any issue we have with them.

This is our innate nature because we were created by God and this is God's nature. God is a loving person. He is a soft, gentle person. He can be rough on us (expressed through our physical bodies) when He sees we need to change. But on a personal basis, He is lovable and caring. Always.

Notice Jesus' next statement:

"But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."

Again, this statement connects love to forgiveness. While it might seem like a quid pro quo scenario of loving more because one was forgiven more, it actually reflects something deeper and more profound than this.

It is not as if the more sinful things we did and were forgiven for, the more love we will have. This would mean that being more sinful would equate to a better position in heaven later.

What Jesus is talking about is humility and gratitude. It is the depth of the love being given to God, not the amount of love being given to us by God.

In other words, two people may be forgiven for the same thing but one person appreciates the forgiveness and the other person may not. Were they forgiven the same? Yes, but the one who appreciated the forgiveness the most received more forgiveness. This is again because forgiveness relates directly to love.

This is confirmed in Jesus' parable:

"Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

The "moneylender" forgave the borrowers equally. There was no prejudice between them.

But Jesus is saying that the love coming back from the debtors to the moneylender would correlate with how much was forgiven.

This question of how much doesn't relate to the relative dollars: It relates to the value that the forgiven person put upon those dollars.

For example, who would be impacted the most: a person who has $50 to their name being forgiven a $100 debt, or a person who has $10,000 in the bank being forgiven $1,000? The person being forgiven the $1000 will have the most money forgiven, but that $1000 forgiveness doesn't affect him as much as the many who has $50?

Certainly, the man who has $50 will be impacted more and will likely appreciate being forgiven for $100 more than the person being forgiven $1,000 who has $10,000.

Jesus, however, was assuming in his parable a direct comparison - that each person had similar relative worth, reflected by the phrase, "Neither of them had the money to pay him back..."

Since we are talking about love here and not bank accounts, it is the amount of gratitude a person feels that relates to the depth of their love. A person who has been given so much by God yet appreciates it little or not at all while a person who may not have as much might appreciate every little bit of what he has been given.

So Jesus is speaking of the intensity of the appreciation and gratitude felt by Mary as she wept and washed Jesus' feet with oil mixed with her tears. She was feeling so much love and appreciation for what had been given to her.

And just what had Jesus given to her? Was it just forgiveness of her sins?

What does forgiveness mean?

The word "forgiven" comes from the Greek word ἀφίημι (aphiēmi), which means "to send away," "to bid going away or depart," "to disregard," and "to let go" according to the lexicon.

This means that what is taking place is that her past activities - or bad habits - are being disregarded or dismissed. How does this work?

Sins are actions taken on the basis of self-centeredness. They are selfish activities.

These types of activities become offensive because while we are mired in self-centered consciousness, we disregard our innate loving service relationship with God. While in that consciousness, we ignore God and His love and care for us.

It might be compared to a person ignoring their parents after they were raised by their parents and nurtured over the years until they grow up and leave the house. Their parents might try to call them by phone one day and they purposely do not pick up the phone. Then they purposely do not call back. This is offensive to the parents because the parents loved and cared for their child for so many years.

In the same way, by ignoring God and His representative - not responding when they call us back to Him - we offend God. When we ignore them because we'd rather go to a party or take drugs or something else, those activities become offensive to God.

But when we reach out to God and/or His representative and ask for forgiveness, and then feel gratitude for being taken back despite our having ignored God for so long, this rekindles our innate loving relationship with our Supreme Best Friend. With such an attitude, we can now begin to travel the path of regaining our innate loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

This is what Jesus was trying to teach them. A relationship with God is about love and loving service. It is not a quid pro quo relationship. It has nothing to do with the number of things, money or any other physical objects. It is about loving with sincerity, humility, and gratitude. This is why Jesus's central teaching 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)

"If your brother or sister sins against you ..." (Luke 17:3-4)

"So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them." (Luke 17:3-4)

Who was Jesus speaking to?

Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples. The Greek word ἀδελφός (adelphos) is being translated to "brothers and sisters" - as though Jesus is speaking in general to everyone.

This word means "brother - of the same parents" according to the lexicon, but also "a fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection." Jesus is in fact addressing his disciples and students here - he is speaking and referring to his followers.

And he is speaking of how his followers should treat each other and help each other.

For example, Jesus isn't speaking of anyone going around and "rebuking" - or admonishing strangers for their sins. It is none of our business. This might be what fanatics like to do, but Jesus is not a fanatic. He was very practical during his mission on earth.

What did Jesus want them to do?

Jesus wants his followers to help each other. Jesus wanted his students to assist each other in their spiritual growth. He wanted them to help each other, but also be forgiving of each other.

This misunderstanding of the intended audience of Jesus' statement here has led to ecclesiastical translators adding in words to make it sound more feasible. This includes the NIV translation here, where the translators have added the words "against you" to their translation - as though Jesus is speaking to everyone and speaking about someone sinning against us. There are no Greek words indicating "against us" in the original Greek manuscripts.

How can someone sin against us?

The word "sin" here is translated from the Greek word ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) - which means, "to err" or "to miss the mark." But when the context is one's relationship with God, the word specifically means, "to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong" according to Strong's lexicon.

Thus we find that the word relates specifically to wandering from one's spiritual path - more to the point - to wander from one's relationship with God.

This has nothing to do with how a person acts towards us. Jesus is not speaking of everyone being sensitive to how others "sin against" them.

He is speaking of his students helping each other - and forgiving each other - for their 'wandering' ways.

Surely a fellow disciple will admonish his fellow disciple or follower of his teacher when he sees them "wandering" from their path to God. He wants him to succeed in his journey home to the Supreme Being. But at the same time, according to Jesus, that fellow disciple should be immediately ready to forgive others' spiritual errors: Over and over again if needed.

What does forgiveness mean?

Does forgiveness necessarily mean that forgiveness excuses the responsibility - the consequence - of the action? Does having forgiveness cleansed or purified the consequence? Possibly. Or possibly not - depending upon who is doing the forgiving.

Let's give an example. Let's say that some high school bully emails out an embarrassing picture of a classmate to everyone in the class. This would be a pretty insulting thing to do, right? And we could admonish the classmate for doing that, right? It doesn't have to happen to us for us to be upset, in other words.

But then let's say that the bully becomes sorry, and expresses that he is sorry. Even though we weren't the person whose picture was sent out, we could still have forgiveness for the bully, right? But our forgiveness doesn't necessarily eliminate the consequence created by the act. The bully might be punished by a principal or someone else, even though we forgave them for doing that.

But if the bully expressly apologized to the classmate that had their photo sent out, and the classmate forgave them and decided not to report it, then those consequences could be mitigated - at least to some extent - by the victim.

Do you understand? A person who is not the victim of the insult can still be upset or forgiving. It is not necessarily the forgiveness that is necessary, however. In this example, we might tell the apologetic bully that he will need to apologize to the one he bullied.

In the same way, if we offend God by wandering from His path - and forgetting Him - then ultimately we need to seek forgiveness from God.

But this is why it is important that we associate with those who are trying to progress in their spiritual lives. Because we can help each other - by encouraging each other to stay on the path towards achieving love for the Supreme Being. This encouragement includes admonishment if we are wandering off the path - as well as forgiveness if we are feeling sorry.

What does 'repent' mean?

And by the way, the Greek word translated to "repent" - μετανοέω (metanoeō) - actually refers to having a change of heart (or mind according to the lexicon). It doesn't just mean feeling sorry. It means deciding to make changes in one's life, and in this case, it refers to a person deciding they want to return to our loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

After all, this was the stated goal Jesus asked his students to attain:

“ ‘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)

“And that the change of heart leading to the release from sin ..." (Luke 24:46-47)

“Thus it is written that the Anointed of God [Messiah, Christ] will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. And that the change of heart leading to the release from sin would be preached on his behalf to all peoples, starting from Jerusalem." (Luke 24:46-47 Lost Gospels)

What does 'rise from the dead' mean?

Jesus is speaking to his disciples after he has suffered and rose "from the dead." What does this mean, "rose from the dead"?

"The dead" is being translated from the Greek word, νεκρός (nekros). According to the lexicon, this word means, "one that has breathed his last, lifeless; deceased, departed, destitute of life, without life, inanimate."

This is referring to the physical body - which dies. What is destitute of life? Was Jesus ever "destitute of life?" No. But his physical body became destitute of life. His physical body became lifeless. His physical body became deceased.

This is confirmed by this verse in Luke:

Then Jesus cried out loudly and said, “LORD, into Your Hands I commit my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

"Breathed his last" means his physical body died. The death of Jesus' physical body was also confirmed by the fact that they wrapped the body in linens and put it in a tomb. People don't put living bodies in tombs. They only put dead bodies in tombs.

So we know from the fact that Jesus committed his spirit - his spirit-person - to the Supreme Being - that he left his physical body at the time of death. His body became lifeless because he left that body.

But the gross physical eyes do not see this. This is because the gross physical eyes do not see the spirit-person. The spirit-person dwells on another dimension than the physical body.

What can clinical death tell us?

This has been confirmed by thousands of clinical death experiences. Here a person's body will die in the hospital or somewhere else and the person will leave the body and then look down upon it and watch the events unfolding around it after it is dead. No one else sees the spirit-person rise up and float over the body.

In clinical death situations, the body is later revived. The spirit-person returns to the body and reanimates the body. To the gross physical eyes, the body comes back to life.

In many of these accounts of clinical death, the person whose body died describes how they floated above the body and watched everything happening around their dead body. They will describe events that corroborate with what the doctors and nurses say happened: Things they could not have seen when their body was clinically dead with eyes closed and no brain waves.

From this we can conclude that the spirit-person is not visible by the gross physical eyes. Yet we have clear evidence that the spirit-person can exist outside the physical body. The spirit-person can leave the physical body and move on after the body dies.

Because the physical eyes can only see the physical body, Jesus' persecution relates to the death of the physical body. Therefore, for Jesus to appear to his disciples after the death of his physical body is therefore described as "rising from the dead." Because Jesus appeared before their physical eyes after his physical body died.

Did Jesus die?

This means the spirit-person of Jesus never died. He lived on after the death of his physical body. He simply left the physical body. He existed before being born into the baby Jesus body, and he existed after the body of the adult Jesus body was murdered on the cross. Other Gospels describe this:

After Jesus called out again with a loud voice, his spirit departed. (Matthew 27:50)

Then Jesus cried out loudly, and his spirit passed. (Mark 15:37)

Then when Jesus had received the vinegar he said, “It has been accomplished!” And he bowed his head and released his spirit. (John 19:30)

So we find in all three descriptions, that Jesus' spirit left his physical body. Then he appeared before his disciples three days later, effectively "rising" or returning from the realm of the unseen - by appearing before their physical eyes.

So why did he appear before them after his body died? Was it to prove how great he was? This is the interpretation of some institutions: That Jesus needed to show his disciples that he was truly great.

Yet Jesus' disciples were already convinced he was great. They had witnessed miracle after miracle. They knew Jesus was extraordinary.

The point Jesus was making was that he - and all of us - are not these physical bodies. We live on after the physical body dies. He wanted us to know this clearly so that we would plan our lives accordingly. He wanted us to plan for the next destination - and return to the spiritual realm after the death of the body. This is why the next thing he discussed was having a change of heart, and a release from sin.

What does 'change of heart' mean?

Jesus speaks of what is translated as the "change of heart." This phrase comes from the Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia), which is translated to "that repentance" in many institutional translations. So why does the Devotional Translation use "change of heart?"

According to the lexicon, this Greek term means, "a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done."

Given this definition, simply "repentance" would be wholly inadequate, yes? It is one thing to repent, but it is another to have a change of purpose. Or, as the lexicon puts it, a "change of mind."

Having a "change of heart" is more accurate than "change of mind." Why? Because someone can have a "change of mind" without making a change in their purpose in life. Changing one's purpose in life is a much more real and deep change.

One can, for example, have a "change of mind" on a theoretical basis - without that change affecting their purpose in life. A person can change how they think about something. But a real change - a change of purpose in life - comes from what is referred to in modern language as a change of heart.

One problem with the word repentance is that many institutional teachings have interpreted this word to mean joining a particular group and going to a particular institution or church every week.

This is not what Jesus is speaking of. He is speaking of changing one's course in life. He is speaking of living our life for God rather than living our life for ourselves.

What does the 'release from sin' mean?

Note that Jesus states that this "change of heart" leads to something else: "leading to the release from sin."

'Release from sin' means that having such a change of heart. It means beginning to live for God instead of for ourselves. This can gradually lead us to give up those things that are considered sinful.

What is "sin" anyway?

Sins are activities that harm others, and conflict with the objectives and purpose of the Supreme Being. The key objectives of the Supreme Being relates to our welfare. He cares for each of us. He loves each of us dearly and wants the best for us. Therefore, to harm others is to sin, because opposes God's love for us.

God also knows that what will make each of us happy. That is love. And the ultimate form of love is love for God and all of God's children. This is what is fulfilling to us.

This is what will make each of us happy. So this is what is also best for us.

So doing things that harm others - spiritually and physically - conflicts with these objectives and purposes of the Supreme Being to make us happy and fulfilled.

Yes, this definition of "sin" may depart from the institutional definition of sin. The institutional definition is built around rules and regulations set up by people who have put themselves in seats of honor and authority. Those who in some cases also harm others, and even call upon others to harm others.

Yet the word "sin" is translated from the Greek word ἁμαρτία (hamartia), which means, "to be without a share in - to miss the mark - to err, be mistaken - to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong - to wander from the law of God, violate God's law."

Consider this carefully. When we "wander from" our relationship with the Supreme Being, we in fact miss our mark. We err. Why? Because our relationship with the Supreme Being is our basic innate nature. A loving relationship with God means loving others because God loves others. To harm others is contrary to that love. It misses the mark.

When we harm others, we err. We miss the mark.

And to err or wander from our relationship with God does not "send us to hell." We are in hell when we wander from our relationship with God.

So it is living outside of our relationship with God that brings sin (and hell) upon us. It is living outside the context of our constitutional position.

And what is our constitutional position?

Most of us think that our constitutional position is to enjoy ourselves.

Yet as we look around us, we see that so many of us are doing so many things to try to enjoy ourselves. Yet these activities of so-called enjoyment are not bringing us joy. They do not bring us fulfillment.

For example, we find rich and powerful people who have so many billions of dollars. They are in positions of power and prestige. They are able to control people. They are able to facilitate so many ways of physical enjoyment. Yet they are not fulfilled. They are not happy. They continue to search for happiness. They are frustrated with what they have, and only want more. They think the next deal, or the next billion, or the next yacht, or the next mansion, or the next girl, or the next whatever will make them happy. Yet even though they get these things, they remain frustrated and want more.

We can see this in our lives even if we aren't rich or powerful. When we get some material thing - or some fame or money we were looking forward to - it doesn't fulfill us. We simply want more. We look forward to the next thing. Why?

Because we are not this physical body. Each of us is the spirit-self that is temporarily occupying this physical body. Therefore, physical and material things cannot fulfill us. It would be like a car driver satisfying his hunger by filling up the gas tank of the car. The car's tank might get full, but the driver would still be hungry. This is because the car driver is not the car. The car driver can be in the car - but can never become the car.

In the same way, we are in these physical bodies, but we are not these bodies. So physical and material things cannot satisfy us.

So what does satisfy the real person within?

Love. We are each hungry for love. We need love. We gotta have love or we feel empty. We have to receive love, and we have to give love.

The physical love of the physical world is not the love that fulfills our real person within. Yes, it can give us a glimpse of real love. But it is not real love.

Here in this physical world, our form of love is usually based upon the physical body. We confuse love with a likening of our physical body with related physical bodies of our family members, or fans or whatever social communities our bodies dwell in.

Because these emotions are based upon the physical body - they do not satisfy our need for real love. Why?

Because they are conditional - they are conditional upon the physical body. The object of this type of love is another physical body.

What our inner person - our spirit-person - seeks is unconditional love. This type of love comes from the Supreme Being. Unconditional love has no conditions.

No conditions mean no requirements. One doesn't need a particular type of body to receive God's love. One doesn't need to belong to a particular group or sect. One doesn't need to do a certain thing.

The Supreme Being and His representative love us without condition. No matter what we do or say. No matter whether we ignore them or not. They continue to love us and care for us.

Now we can either enter into such an unconditional loving relationship or choose not to. It is our choice.

If we want to enter into an unconditional loving relationship with the Supreme Being and His representative then this is the first step: To want to. To ask. To knock. To beg to be let in.

Then gradually, according to the proportion of our desire, the Supreme Being and His representative will begin to open the door to let us in. He gives us a glimpse of Himself and His eternal love for us. As this happens, we can continue to embrace Him (by serving Him) or we can choose to ignore Him. It continues to be our choice.

And to whatever degree we continue to embrace our loving relationship with the Supreme Being, we become fulfilled to that degree. To that degree, we also begin to truly love others. Not based upon whether they are part of our family or club or sect. But because they are fellow children of God.

This is the element that Jesus wants for his disciples. He wants them to embrace their loving service relationship with God, and then help pass this on to others.

Jesus is describing loving service: The primary teaching of Jesus being "preached on his behalf to all peoples:"

" '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 related: 'Love others as yourself.' (Matt. 22:37-38)