High Stakes Page 6
Francine says what Jesus really preached about punishment was that those who do evil deeds will be punished due to the universal law of karma, which he learned while in India and believed in. The writers of the Bible inserted that God would do the punishing and completely edited out Christ’s words about the universal law of karma because it referred too much to Eastern philosophies and religions and smacked of reincarnation.
Francine also says he never mentioned a Judgment Day, because he knew there wasn’t one; but instead tried to emphasize that doing good works and deeds assured one a place in heaven (the Other Side). She also says Jesus did not believe in a hell and instead taught that evil was a part of this earth and always would be until God decided otherwise; that he was not judgmental other than to point out the hypocrisies that were readily apparent to any observer; that he was also misquoted numerous times and his words were highly edited by the early Church hierarchy in the course of putting the Bible together. For example, she says that contrary to Matthew 5:17, Christ said he had come to “change the law,” not to fulfill it. She said this is why he was so hated by the Sanhedrin and Pharisees. I have no problem with any particular religion, including Judaism, but I reserve the right to differ from some of their beliefs when they come in conflict with my own.
I have always been a staunch believer in religious tolerance. To say that one religion is better than another breeds hypocrisy and violence, and leads one to being too judgmental. I have always believed that an individual, no matter who they are or what their background is or what culture they come from, has the right to decide for themselves how they want to believe as far as religion is concerned. Religion to me has always been a personal and cherished support to help me live my life. To say what is right for me is right for everybody would be the ultimate slap in the face to God and would impinge on the freedom and rights of his Creations. I have never been able to understand how any person or group can say or put forth that they have all the answers and truth and that anyone who doesn’t follow their beliefs is damned or doomed to hell or something even worse. They are not God and never will be, and their insistence that they are right just shows the world how insecure they are in their own beliefs.
It is human nature to want everyone to believe the way you do, because it bolsters a person’s own insecurity that they might be wrong to convert others to their way of belief; but it is an illusion that can be carried away by the wind. If a person has only faith and belief that they are right and doesn’t know they are right, then their insecurity will manifest in the form of trying to convert others to their belief. If a person knows they are right in their beliefs, they don’t feel threatened by other beliefs. Part of the knowing is that each individual must come to their own religious beliefs in their own way. In other words, an individual must feel comfortable and good about their beliefs and also be flexible and tolerant toward those with other beliefs.
The plain and simple fact is that all religions have some truth, but none have all the truth. To build your religious knowledge and beliefs by picking out the truths of any or all of mankind’s religions is the ultimate of all religions. Although it doesn’t necessarily have a name or a church, temple or particular place of worship, this knowledge and truth resides inside of you every day and brings solace to your life and soul. It also allows you the freedom to acknowledge all the good in religion and do away with the bad.
You can pray or meditate anywhere and feel comfortable, whether it be in a church, synagogue, mosque, temple or what ever. You can find your haven of worship in a grove of trees, a garden, a mountain, a hill, on or by the ocean, in the desert or even in your own home or abode. You can live your life of tolerance and religious freedom in the most useful of ways, doing good works and treating others as you would like to be treated; and all the while knowing that what ever beliefs you may have are right for you. You can also be assured that God is smiling down on you and blessing you because you have discovered a great universal truth. It doesn’t matter how you love God, for the love given to God will open the door to the constant love God gives to you and resonate in your soul.
I give my love to God every day, and I always get back the love of God. I am human and make mistakes just like everyone else. I’m not perfect and have my human faults and frailties, which I try to manifest as little as possible, but I also know God loves me and cares for me despite these shortcomings. I have been criticized, defamed, ridiculed and attacked by other human beings on my abilities and writings, but I have always tried my best to do good works for as many people as I can and appreciate those who have been kind enough to send letters or notes on how I have helped them. The people who seek my help, attend my lectures, watch my television appearances, hear my radio broadcasts and read my books are the ones who keep me going. I appreciate and love each one of you.
With that in mind, know that although I can sometimes be controversial, I would never knowingly keep the truth hidden from you as I have researched it and know it to be. In writing about our Lord I will inevitably come to teachings that I disagree with, but I will always try to be as objective as possible and will always try to give you my reasons for disagreement. I am writing this because now we are getting into the portions of his life that may lead to some controversy. Having said that, let us go forward to explore more of the life of Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 4
His Early Ministry and Miracles
THERE WAS A GREEK and Roman legend that said if you were truly holy or descended from the gods, you could turn water into wine. This might not be related to Christ’s miracle at Cana, which we discussed in the last chapter, but I want you to understand that throughout the Bible you will find legends and myths from other cultures that are couched or hidden (like the virgin birth we already covered). These myths and legends were inserted in the Bible to give more substance to Christ’s divinity and those around him so as to counter the influences of other religions. In other words, it was simply a case of “my God is better than your god.” Therefore, we have virgin births, heavenly choirs, angels and miracles galore to show an uneducated populace that indeed the God of the Christians is greater than any other god.
This is not to discredit the miracles of Jesus, for he performed many. It seems he had to fulfill the prophecy that not only he knew, but wanted others to know, that he was from God. Not to malign other messiahs or messengers, but no one has had miracles attributed to them as Christ has. I’m sure that he had direct infused knowledge from God, for he always knew beforehand what was to come.
As he began his public life, he knew he would be addressing people who were largely illiterate, just as most of his disciples were. He therefore addressed people using a lot of parables that still hold great meaning and truths to this day. His parables were mainly ways to explain to the masses how to care for their fellow man and how to live life as a good person. He was much more interested in the society of the times than the politics. Even when asked about taxes he simply said, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and render unto God that which is God’s” (Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25). If you look a little beneath this statement, as well as many others he made in his sermons, you will see a general theme that he preached all his life. It is simply—quit being concerned about all the daily bustle of money and the worry over property and what you have here; it is truly transient and your real reward is in heaven.
It is also interesting to note that some of Christ’s miracles are recorded in the Qur’an (Koran), the holy book of Islam. The Qur’an mentions Christ healing a leper (mentioned also in Matthew, Mark and Luke), the healing of Bartimaus, a man born blind (also mentioned in John), and the raising of Lazarus from the dead (mentioned by John). It also mentions a miracle performed in Christ’s childhood—the bringing to life of pigeons made of clay (mentioned in the noncanonical books—the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and the Infancy Narrative of James). Both of these noncanonical books explain some of the childhood of Jesus but are not accepted by th
e Church as canon, or as genuine. If you ever get a chance to read them, you will understand why the Church did not accept them. For example, they say that Christ as a boy killed two boys and struck the parents of one boy blind in fits of anger (Francine says he did none of those actions).
The second miracle performed by Christ, according to all of the four canonical gospels, is when Jesus cured a servant of a centurion in Capharnaum (Matthew 8:5–13; Luke 7:1–10; John 4:46–54). Both Matthew and Luke write that the person afflicted is a servant of a centurion, while John writes that the person is the son of a ruler (another inconsistency). John’s is the only gospel where it is written that this was the second miracle of Jesus. It may be incorrect, as Matthew has written, that Jesus cured a leper before this incident, and Luke has written that Jesus had healed a man with a withered hand in a synagogue on the Sabbath before the above incident (more inconsistencies). We are going to find many inconsistencies in the four gospels, which cause suspicions that the gospels are not factual. They are also very tiresome, because they present different versions of the same story.
This miracle of the servant (or son?) does give us our first insight into the power that Christ commanded, however, for this healing was done from afar and Jesus was never in the presence of the person afflicted. This is also the first case of a person being healed by their faith in Jesus…as the centurion (ruler?) expressed his faith in Jesus and Jesus in turn healed his servant (son?).
Jesus performed many miracles while in Israel, and I will touch on most of the major ones that are chronicled in one or more of the four gospels. There are only a few that are mentioned in all four books: feeding the five thousand; converting bread and wine into his body and blood (not accepted literally by all Christians); and the resurrection from his tomb (not accepted by most Jewish Christians and Gnostics).
I’ll start with the miraculous catch of fishes (Luke 5:1–11; John 21: 6). This is the miracle in which Jesus tells Simon Peter to cast his nets in a certain place and they bring up a huge cache of fish. There is a big inconsistency here, in that Luke has this miracle occurring just before he takes Simon Peter, James, John and Andrew as disciples; while John has this incident taking place after Christ’s rising from his tomb! This is not a small inconsistency here, as someone is clearly wrong as to the time this miracle happened. Luke and John also describe it differently, which has most Biblical scholars thinking that they are two separate instances of the same miracle. Francine says this is true and that Luke’s is more compelling, as Jesus wanted to show Simon Peter and Andrew that he had power so that they would follow him as disciples. John’s account is set after Jesus escaped his tomb, and it mentions that a group of Christ’s disciples gathered by the sea did not recognize him. We will get into this later, but the reason they did not recognize him was because he was in disguise. Jesus in a disguise? Wait and see.
Jesus then cures a man who is possessed by a demon in a synagogue. Before we get into this, let me make a few comments. There are numerous accounts of Christ throwing out demons in various people throughout the four gospels, as well as elsewhere in the New Testament. In ancient India, several thousand years before the birth of Christ, the whole concept of demons was invented. When people got sick they were thought to be inhabited by evil spirits or demons. This type of belief is still prevalent in Africa, South America, New Guinea, Borneo and elsewhere where primitive tribes still exist. The shaman or witch doctor will bring his or her potions and herbs and cast spells to eliminate the evil “demon” and cure the one who is sick. I have always said there are no demons and no devil and that so-called “possessions” are either schizophrenia or the overactive and suggestive mind emoting emotion in a big-time way. Under hypnosis, some people can actually manifest a blister when an ice cube is put on their arm or hand when told it is something very hot. The mind can be very powerful…especially in a person who is highly suggestive or mentally ill.
Francine says that these accounts of Jesus casting out demons are greatly exaggerated. She says there were several epileptics whom Christ pulled out of seizure by keeping them calm and one or two schizophrenics whom he gave herbs to that seemed to help; but that most of these “demons” were simply the Judaic belief of evil spirits causing illness of some kind, which the writers of the Bible exaggerated to be actual evil entities. Francine goes on to say that Christ did most of his healing by the laying on of hands and by prayer and meditation. He went into an altered state of consciousness to become a tube or vessel for healing energy from God. He had learned how to alter his consciousness to a deep meditative state in India, as it was one of their primary healing techniques. In any case, Francine says his healings had a dynamic impact on the uneducated masses and word of his healing abilities spread like wildfire.
Most scientists and scholars also question the veracity of exorcisms, saying there is no scientific proof whatsoever for demonic possession. Most of the evidence in this area, they say, points to psychological disturbances and mental illness. While most scientists and scholars say demonic possession does not exist, the early Church used the fears and superstitious beliefs of the masses in demonic possession to advance their dogma of a devil and hell. Many Christian churches today still have experts who handle exorcisms, especially the Catholic Church.
In Mark 1:23–28 and Luke 4:33–36 we have the story of a man in the synagogue who was supposedly possessed by an unclean spirit (Mark) or devil (Luke). He tells Jesus that he knows that Jesus is the Holy One from God. Jesus then tells the spirit or devil to go out of the man and then it leaves the man without harming him. In Mark we have the witnessing people amazed and in Luke we have them afraid, for they wonder how Jesus was able to command an evil spirit or devil to do his bidding.
We then have Jesus curing Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever (Matthew 8:14–15; Mark 1:29–31; Luke 4:38–39) and again throwing out devils or unclean spirits from many who came to him for healing. In many of these gospels at this time in his life it seems that every other paragraph has Christ doing some miracle or another. It would be consistent for the early writers or editors of these gospels to try and portray Jesus as the Messiah and to try to have him do as many miracles as possible to document his authenticity as the Jewish Savior put forth in their many prophecies. Although he was not accepted as the savior for the Judaic people, he did become, through Christianity, the Savior and Messiah of Christians worldwide.
Jesus heals a leper for the first time (Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–14) and tells him to not tell anyone of his healing, but to go to the priests and make offerings per the Law of Moses. This incident clearly shows that Jesus is trying to uphold Jewish tradition and law. It also shows the humbleness of Christ in his asking the healed leper not to tell anyone. Francine says that Jesus was always humble because he knew that God was the one giving him any power that he used and was always able to keep his ego in check.
Francine also says that as his fame grew it became harder for him to get any solitude to pray and commune with God. Crowds of people were not only following him everywhere he went, but as he moved from location to location he had multitudes waiting for him. Many times, she says, it was like a modern-day rock star trying to go through a crowd of his or her fans. It seems that the curiosity had worn off and now people flocked to him for healing or to listen to what he had to say. The Sanhedrin (Jewish council of elders and sages who were the judges and lawmakers of Israel), Pharisees (the most powerful political party at that time) and priests all took notice of the popularity of Christ and many in these bodies became skeptical and jealous. There were also some who sought his advice and counsel and believed in him, such as Nicodemus; but as we will see, the majority followed the lead of the high priest Caiphas.
Jesus then heals a paralytic (Matthew 9:2–8; Mark 2:3–12; Luke 5:18–25;), which carries some significance. Although the healing was great, it was what he said to the man with palsy that grabs our attention. He told the man that his sins were forgiven, which was a no-no a
s far as the Jews were concerned, for they believed that only God could forgive sins. Feeling the animosity starting to build at his supposed audacious statement, Jesus then told the witnesses that he had the power to forgive sins, and as proof he told the paralyzed man to arise and walk, and he did. Jesus thus showed them that he had been given the power to forgive sins by his Father in Heaven.
For those of us who believe in reincarnation, it also shows that this could have been a situation in which the paralyzed man was fulfilling karma. Jesus, knowing that the man was fulfilling a karmic obligation, forgave him the sins that caused the karma and thereby the man was able to walk. This would make perfect sense because Christ had learned and accepted the philosophy of reincarnation (which, as you will see, manifests several times later on) and knew all about karma with its cause and effect.
We see Christ’s position on karma later on with the next healing, which is mentioned in John 5:2–16, in which Christ heals another man unable to walk at Bethsaida (Bethesda). This healing also has significance in that the healing was done on the Sabbath, which was another no-no as far as Jewish law was concerned. Now, this particular portion of the Book of John mentions a pond in Jerusalem called Bethsaida (having five porches), which was sort of like the water at Lourdes. As John relates the story, the sick and infirm lay around this pond because from time to time an angel of God would descend into the pond and make the water move. It was at the time that the water moved that the first one in the pond would be healed and made whole. Jesus came to this place and noticed by the pond a man unable to walk, and asked him if he wanted to be healed. The man replied that he had been there a long time, but had no one to lift him into the water before someone else went in. Jesus healed him and left and others asked the healed man who had done the healing and rebuked him, for it had been done on the Sabbath. The passage I like, though, has references to the premise of reincarnation when Jesus found the man in the temple and said to him, “Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.” Again, we see Jesus referring to sin as being the reason for the man’s illness because of karma and that he should sin no more or his karma might become worse. Once the crowd of Jews found out that Jesus had done the healing on the Sabbath, they started persecuting him because of it; but he told them that he was the son of God and had been given the power of God to do as God would do.