JACOB'S LADDER

           
                   THE OTHER SIDE

This weekend I wanted to do something different. Instead of doing a paper on a particular subject, I decided to take one chapter out of the book of Matthew and see what interpretation comes to me with it.

I didn’t know what to write this morning, but felt like I needed to. As a writer you get that itch and its needs a scratching, so I began to think about what would I share… One of the things that came to mind was where Jesus said he had “no where to lay his head”. That was about 5am, I went about my usual routine and then sat to write, forgetting the thought I had.

Then when going through some of my older papers I noticed I had a page title MATTHEW CHAPTER 8, I opened it and there was nothing but the chapter, no insight, no notes, no nothing… But then, I SAW IT! The very thing I had originally thought about this morning, “foxes have holes, but Jesus had nowhere to lay his head.” Now if you have learned anything about me, you know, I do not believe in coincidence. There was a reason I thought of this scripture this morning, and there was a reason why I found it one hour later.

So let’s see what comes out of Matthew 8 this morning. Enjoy! Matthew 8

1When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

Christ, we know by now is the TRUTH OF GOD. Well when the TRUTH comes down from the mountain. It is symbolic of a “HIGHER SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING”  coming down to us. This HIGHER TRUTH which is Christ is now in our midst, our grasp, our understanding.  And when this TRUTH is revealed to us, we see how “sick’ we were before it.

2And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

A leper is a great symbol, it is the disease of the FLESH, and it is incredibly contagious. As a lie spreads quickly, so does Leprousy. The individual covers in leprous sores and scales as the Flesh rots away until death.

 Scripture teaches us in Ecclesiastes that “scales” are a symbol of our “Carnal Pride”. When the TRUTH is revealed to us, we see how SICK we are. Let’s face it before CHRIST, we are all sick in the FLESH (our carnality) and when the TRUTH of GOD is revealed to us, we want to become clean (MADE WHOLE)

3And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

The Hand is a SYMBOL of one’s authority and position. Christ sits on the RIGHT HAND of the FATHER. Moses led Israel out with his HAND. This is why we see the allegory of the Christ healing the man with the WITHERED hand on the Sabbath. I even used this wonderful allegory in my novel, where the lead character’s teacher “Mr. Brooks” has a withered hand. Being symbolic of how the first spiritual teachers we have in life are stunted, and do not have the AUTHORITY of GOD. But Christ is the embodiment of GOD’S TRUTH, and it is only the TRUTH that can heal the DISEASE of the FLESH (carnal mind) –And the instant we embrace this GOSPEL, the instant the TRUTH OF GOD is revealed to us, we want to be made WHOLE. And the process begins. You see, the TRUTH casts out the LIE, so once we UNDERSTAND the MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD (that is CHRIST within you/is you/as you). You are no longer under the curse of the Law and Flesh. But to be healed of your PRIDE AND CARNALITY you MUST understand that GOD IS IN CONTROL. You must submit to God’s authority. As Isaiah puts it in Chapt 46, “I am God and there is none else, I am God, and there is NONE like me. Declaring the end from the beginning.” … We must understand this to be made whole, for the life we live before the TRUTH is REVEALED to us, is an illusion, a lie. Indeed the first nature of MAN is dead/ignorant, all ego and no truth.

But when Christ comes down from that mountain, when the Truth is revealed to us from the heights of HEAVEN WITHIN, then we say… “it is no longer I that live, But Christ” as Paul said, and our DISEASE of the FLESH (IGNORANCE) is healed by recognizing its authority in our lives. “I can do nothing of myself” in other words. 

4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Many question why after Jesus healed someone, he always said, “tell no one”. Here is the reason. The HEALING is WITHIN, and the understanding that these men and women came to, could NOT be understood until God drew others to the same Truth.

It is actually good advice. When I first came to some understanding, I went around telling everyone. Needless to say, few, if any at all were ready for such things. And I was attacked for this beautiful Gospel I had been given.

Instead, Jesus says, go and show the TRUTH to the PRIEST and to offer the gift that Moses commanded… Now this was a CLEANSING process, which always had to do with TWO ANIMALS, Birds, Lambs, etc… You can find the account in Leviticus 14. But I believe the point Jesus is making here, is there is no QUICK FIX. Even though we have been cleansed of the LIE (sin of our CARNAL MIND/FLESH) there is still a process we MUST go through. And part of that process, in Levititus we find, is cutting off all our hair (Our self effort and strength), clothes must be changed and cleaned (we need to wear new beliefs) etc… For those who think there is a POOF, your whole! Well, there isn’t.

Sure, there is A POOF when we are told the truth, we recognize it, understanding it, but it may take many, many years for us to WALK IT.

The big lie is looking at these “miracles” as something you can find at some Miracle healing crusade, it just doesn’t happen that way. This is why we have great reason to hope and not get discouraged. It is a process, even though the TRUTH has been revealed to us, we still have to go through the steps to bringing what is WITHIN, WITHOUT… and when that happens, WE BECOME THE LIVING EPISTLE read of all me. We become the TESTMONY.

5And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Now what is interesting is the definition of some of the words in this passage. Capernaum, for example literally translates into “Village of Comfort”. When the Truth is revealed to US, our COMFORTER (Christ/Holy Spirit) does come indeed, and we enter into to a place where we are brought to remembrance all things. This CENTURION which means “Ruler over One Hundred” or a soldier in the Roman Army, has a SERVANT. The one who SERVED him, he recognized was of great importance to him. “the greatest of all is servant to all”. His SERVANT was sick with the PALSY. Palsy which translates into PARALYTIC, is an allegory for us to learn from.

This servant had no ability to MOVE, to WALK, He was WEAK. – The symbol here is that THE SERVANT is CHRIST IN US, and before the TRUTH was revealed we had no hope for this SERVANT OF ALL, would be able to WALK/WORK/SERVE again.

This does not have much to do with a literal servant and literal Roman guard, but it has everything to do with Faith. The Guard understood by looking to the natural world and order of things, he learned the same would be true of spiritual things. As God created the temporal world to teach us and lead us to His Great Truth and Nature and Unity of Spirit. 

The Centurion knew that as He was in charge of others and only needed to say “do this” and others would do it. That in the spiritual he only needed to Believe, and this Great Truth that was Revealed In Him, would strength the SERVANT WITHIN. It was not the Centurion good works, study of scripture, or even his devotion to a church that gave him this favor, it was his UNDERSTANDING and FAITH. A lesson we all can learn from. But few do today.

11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

This great message, this great understanding, OUR HOPE OF GLORY will be revealed to MANY! And some today, will embrace their TRUE NATURE in Christ. But we will see many others will not, in fact they will fight the good news tooth and nail.

12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The outer darkness is a wonderful allegory… NO, IT IS NOT SOME PLACE OF INFINITE TORTURE… It is exactly what it is called, OUTER (outside) DARKNESS (ignorance) – There will be many that will put their faith in the EXTERNAL WORLD and in their own works. They will not see that God is in control AND within… They will not submit to the Truth that is within, they won’t seek this TRUTH/SPIRIT OF GOD to heal them. Instead, they will rely on their self effort, their own strength, which is why they find WEEPING and GNASHING OF TEETH. Which is another way of saying, suffering, backbiting, gossip, lies, sadness, they will find more testing instead of rest.

13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

This is why the CENTURION, who was NATURALLY looked upon as the enemy of ISRAEL was a picture of the Grafted ISRAEL, understanding that his own EFFORT was worthless, and that the TRUTH REVEALED could do all things. Notice, Jesus didn’t say I HEALED HIM… Jesus said, “as you have believed, so be it done unto you” …

We must realize in CHRIST ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE, and that WITHOUT FAITH nothing is possible at all. Without faith we cannot please God, and if we cannot please God, we will not be PLEASED. (anyone catch that? :))

14And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

Here the allegory continues, Peter’s House is symbolic of the TEMPLE of the LORD. His BODY is Peter’s house and WITHIN this “HOUSE” … His Mother was SICK. The Mother GIVES BIRTH to a person, the MOTHER is a picture of Mankind’s Soul/sense of Being, and IT WAS SICK.

The Mother was not MINISTERING to others, she was laid UP, much like the Centurion’s servant (useless)… But when the TRUTH was revealed WITHIN Peter’s HOUSE (Understanding)….

15And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

Notice where Jesus touched her “the Hand” – He restored HIS AUTHORITY within. The TRUTH healed the MOTHER (Man’s SOUL). No longer would she produce disease, the SOUL would now minister the TRUTH… You see, we cannot be fruitful if our SOUL (who we think we are) is ILL. We need our SOUL and God’s Spirit to TOUCH, to become ONE. Then we will be ready to share the GOOD NEWS to the world, to cast out devils (false beliefs) and heal the sick (ignorant)

16When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Think about that last line. CHRIST TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES… BORE OUR SICKNESS. This again, is a great mystery. For our LIFE is HID WITH CHRIST…In other words, CHRIST IS OUR LIFE. And because we have been separated from CHRIST in our THINKING, Christ DIED  because we began to believe we were something and someone that we were not.

For example, if I am the son of god and I begin to believe that I am merely a sinner, failed mortal who will die, the Truth of who I am DIES (I become ignorant of my TRUE NATURE) …

You see, when we began to believe that the EXTERNAL TEMPORAL world was truth, and that WE (our ego/antichrist) were god – The TRUTH (Christ IN us) was made subject to this VANITY, and had to BARE our sickness and infirmities (ignorance and suffering).

But when the TRUTH comes to us (revealed to us) we can be healed. All the lies we once believed are cast away, all the things that kept us from peace are disposed of. As Ishmael was cast away so Isaac could inherit the Kingdom, so we learn to rid ourselves of our First Natural Carnal Nature, so the CHRIST WITHIN can rule and reign. For that day we learn, it is not longer I (Jacob) that live, but CHRIST.

18Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

When the CHRIST (truth) is revealed IN US, we see those around us. We understand that not all of them are ready to hear what we hear(UNDERSTAND). We are told NOT TO TELL OTHERS of the miracle that has taken place inside of us, and we listen.

Here we see Jesus telling the multitudes to LEAVE HIM and go to the OTHERSIDE… In scripture we see the “Other side” as being the opposite of Truth… Remember the Good Samaritan, those who lacked the truth and charity passed along the “Other Side”… And like Jesus we must not try and force anyone to come and stay on the SIDE OF CHRIST, for not all will embrace such things at our whim and will.

We need to let them go, the Lord will deal with them as God dealt with us. No one can come to the Son unless the Father draws them, anyway. Jesus knew this, this is why he said, “get away from me” … Like Jack Nicholson in a few good men, Jesus could have screamed “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH” and, few this day can. But the good news is all will.

19And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

So many will say they want to know God, they want to know Christ, they want the Truth and nothing but the Truth. But Jesus understood, as we MUST understand, NOT EVERYONE in the WORLD is ready to follow this great MESSAGE wherever it will lead us. Even those who the world would think, would follow God, like the  SCRIBE we see here… But Jesus knew better.

20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Jesus knew, and we must understand also, that there is plenty of room in a man or woman’s heart for lies, false beliefs, and misconceptions, but the SON OF MAN has nowhere to lay his head. – Now this can be seen two different ways. One way is there are many that will not take on the Mind of Christ…

HOWEVER, the words SON OF MAN, give us another angle to look at this verse from. You see the SON OF GOD finds rest, but the SON OF MAN, will NEVER FIND REST. The Child of NATURAL MAN will never find rest, it is only the CHILD OF GOD that enters into this rest…

So we learn two things from this very revealing verse.

21And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

The CHILDREN of NATURAL MAN are too hung up on natural things. They always mistake the NATURE (spirit) for the NATURAL, The Messenger for the Message (Spirit).

A man or woman is not the body in which they inhabit, they are the SPIRIT within. If a disciple cannot get past this, how could they ever follow the TRUTH? If they believe they must BURY THEIR DEAD FATHER, they are DEAD (Ignorant) themselves.

23And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. 27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

This picture of the great storm and Jesus asleep, is the picture of US in the world. The Book of Revelation reveals that the SEA is mankind’s ways, nations, etc… The ways of the world. A SHIP is what is used to travel those seas. The SHIP is also compared to a good women in proverbs, and we see the woman is the one who gives birth, perhaps another allegory of our SOUL…

And when the TRUTH is ASLEEP inside of the ship (Our Soul) Meaning we are ignorant of it – STORMS come, WINDS (false doctrines), waves (Mankinds ways and thoughts pounding us) –

So the disciples STIRRED UP THEIR FAITH… and WOKE CHRIST UP. This is what we must do, WAKE UP the CHRIST WITHIN. This is the HOPE OF GLORY. When the TRUTH is alive and working in our lives, the storms of life become calm to us. We learn there is nothing to fear at all.

 28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

Here we see the OTHERSIDE again. This means the WORLD (lusts of flesh/eyes and pride of life) Jesus (The TRUTH) was revealing itself in GERGESENES – which literally means “a stranger drawing near” 

These demoniacs as they were known, are nothing more than STRANGERS to the faith. Notice there were TWO (duality), where there should be ONE in CHRIST. But they were COMING OUT OF THE TOMBS… This is actually a wonderful thing, as the TRUTH is REVEALED it draws the worldly men and women out of their old beliefs, they start to come out of the LIE.

29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Here shows the IGNORANCE of what the RELIGIOUS have taught us all. That JESUS comes to TORMENT instead of SAVE. We see this again and again in scripture, anyone who is “possessed” believes that the TRUE CHRIST will Torment them, instead of save them.

Think about what is taught today is a majority of Churches andReligions in the world… When the SAVIOR comes, those who do not follow will be TORTURED or HORRIBLY PUNISHED… This is a great lie. In fact it is because of this lie, that we are suffering. “according to your faith be it done unto you”… But these demoniacs did not know the TRUTH. That Christ has come to the world not to condemn it but to save it.

So what were they possessed with, that would make them think such things? LIES PEOPLE, FALSE BELIEFS, nothing more. Not spooky invisible monsters. So the POSSESSED come out of the TOMB (Carnal nature), and Jesus does NOT TORMENT them, instead, he casts the LIES out of them. So they come to their RIGHT MIND.

30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

These lies are only welcome in the SWINE now. The SWINE are a picture of those who will believe about any slop thrown in front of them. The SWINE believe these lies, and guess what, they end up destroying themselves. Because the LIE brings Death, where the TRUTH will life.

32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

Those that believe the LIES and FOLLOW the LUSTS OF THE WORLD will run quickly and dive deep into the traditions, and vain beliefs and ways of mankind. And yes, they will perish (become ignorant) in the waters (beliefs/lies)

33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

Now this many of you reading right now have probably already experienced. Once someone on the “Other side” is FREED from the lies they have been fed over the years, the False Prophets, Teachers, and Shepherds, become angry… They think the work done in those delivered and saved is not of God, but many will say it is the work of the devil. Like some who have read my articles and most likely believed the same.

34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

And this is the sad state of affairs today, most of the world is so lost, they will believe these blind guides and kick out the TRUTH to continue on in the LIE. The darkness hates the Light, because it shows them their ways are evil (wrong). And no one wants to be wrong, do they?

So, don’t be offended if few, if any at all, will rejoice in your new found freedom in Christ. Do not be upset if you are attacked because of the liberty that has been revealed in you, as it was to so many before you.

Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice, because those on the OTHER SIDE will one day allow the TRUTH to be revealed WITHIN. And then there will be only one side, and that is CHRIST’S SIDE, out of which COMES A RIVER OF FLOWING WATER OF TRUTH!

Peace Jacob