What did the man known as Jesus the Christ who once said "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me." ..and who fulfilled that promise, what would he teach us about the workings of faith?
When we look at the account of his miracles by a close follower, his Disciple Matthew, each time he attributes nothing to himself and all to the recipient of said miracle.
One of the more miraculous examples of faith in action as evidenced by Jesus' own reaction was that of the faithful Centurion.
Although the Centurion admitted his own embeddedness in the Matrix of the time-that of the Roman army and Hierarchy, he also clearly believed in the truth of love and that man can be God-incarnate. Jesus in turn, spoke of his amazement at the faith of this man.
The Centurion teaches us we do not need to live the life of a Monk, Saint or Holy One to find and access the deep wells of faith that are part and parcel of the human condition, of our very essence.
We only need to surrender to Faith, but is this not both the hardest and easiest thing to do in the world?
The faith of the Centurion:
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralysed and in terrible suffering. Jesus said to him " I will go and heal him." The Centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one 'Go' and he goes, and that one 'Come' and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this' and he does it". When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Then Jesus said to the Centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
From Matthew are other examples of miracle events that Jesus consistently attributed to the deep condition of faith that is the Human condition when in surrender to Love, the natural state of Humanity that is, will be and has always been the bringer of miraculous change....
Jesus heals many:
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him (Jesus) and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself "if I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart daughter," He said, "Your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out "have mercy on us, Son of David!" When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes Lord," they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said "according to your faith will it be done for you;" And their sight was restored.
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Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven....At this some of the teachers of the law (old Jewish law) said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier to say "Your sins are forgiven, or to say "Get up and walk? But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins...Then he said to the paralytic "Get up, take your mat and go home" And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
Note how Matthew writes the TRUTH that the people saw, that God had given such authority to MEN, not exclusively to one man and even though at that point in time this man called Jesus/Jeshua who was conduit of these miracles referred constantly to the faith of people that in fact enable conditions for miracles to occur. He also hoped, encouraged and expected his closest Disciples to step up onto that platform of faith, and later they did perform miracles themselves, although at first their faith fell short...
Jesus calms the storm:
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying 'Lord save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Jesus heals the Demon possessed men:
When evening came many who were demon-possessed were bought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the Prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our disease."
When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon possessed men coming from the tombs met him. they were so violent that no-one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God/" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." He said to them 'Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
A dead girl:
...A ruler came to him and said, my daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus got up and went with him and so did his disciples.When Jesus entered the rulers house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand and she got up. News of this spread through all that region.
Why do I write this stuff from the deeply uncool Bible? Because these words hold so many truths that have been SO misrepresented. The established religious hierarchy of the day spend a lot of time elevating Christ in order to make him Superhuman. What if he came to Earth to show us what the human condition in TRUTH is? By being in complete faith and by resonating with divine love, a state which has a complete absence of fear, we may access for ourselves and each other manifestational change to whatever extent we set our sights upon, individually and collectively.
This weekend a great vibe came upon me as I stood in nature and on a complete whim I played with a stick in the strong current of a swollen river without touching it at all ...and held it there against the current, until I said 'thankyou..'' and off it went sailing downstream...released. In seeking to explain to myself this phenomenon, I went home and picked up my Bible for the first time in a long while and turned to whatever page it should turn to, and the above were some of the words from Matthew that helped me begin to understand the depth of the power of faith and love and miracles we can and do create.
I now know we are stepping into the timeline spoken of in Corinthians 13;13 where only three things remain...
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
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