This talk was given by Ed Rabel on August 9, 1993.
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Transcript
Truth is with us at all times. I am open and receptive to God’s living spirit of truth. Together, I am open and receptive to God’s living spirit of truth, and Father, we are grateful. Amen.Look for mysteries in the Bible, not answers
Friends, first I want to talk a little about why I formulated a course like this, an elective like this. It began many years ago when a former Silent Unity worker, I was working in Silent Unity at the time, and one of our former workers had left Silent Unity and gone down to Virginia Beach to join the staff of Edgar Cayce and his group down there. Her name was Lucy, and Lucy had many, many friends here at Unity School and especially Silent Unity, and whenever she had time off from her duties down in Virginia Beach, she would often come back here and have lunch with us, and afterword, those who were interested would meet with her after working hours. She would bring us news and anecdotes about what was going on down in Virginia Beach.
Since she was an insider in that group, she had access to a lot of material that the general public did not have access to. The files down there were not open to the public at that time. I don’t know whether that has been changed or not, but at that time, a lot of the stuff that Edgar Cayce was getting from that source he contacted, a lot of it was considered a bit too strong for general distribution, especially material that was given him that might offend fundamentalists or orthodox Christian sects. That’s dangerous, so a lot of that was kept under wraps, but when Lucy came up here and talked with us, she didn’t have to worry about that because she was talking only to Unity people.
She would reveal certain things to us, which were not common knowledge in the general public, and a couple of the things that she told us struck a spark in me and captured my interest, and especially the things that she revealed that were told to Edgar Cayce regarding the Bible, the gospels especially. All my life, I have been irritated and disgusted with the way the Bible is thrown in people’s faces by fundamentalist religions. I just hate it. How do you know this is true? “It’s in the Bible. If it’s in the Bible, it’s 100% literally true.” Except, is this 100% literally true, dear friends? You tell me this. Jesus is talking to a group of people, religious experts, who are against everything he says. No matter what he says, they’re against it just because he says it, not because it’s true or not, but because he says it. You know what I mean.
Do you know what I mean? It doesn’t matter what you say. It’s, “What gives you the right to say that?” Not, “What are you saying?” But “What right have you to say it?” Am I making any sense here? All right. These people were rebutting everything that Jesus tried to tell them. Now, you tell me if everything in the Bible is to be taken literally. Jesus says to these people, “You do strain out the gnats and swallow the camels.” The Bible is to be taken every word literally? “You do strain out the gnats and swallow the camels.” Please, answer me. Do you think in any way he meant that to be taken literally? Can you swallow a camel? Can a camel go through the eye of a needle? They don’t think about that.
Well, anyway, some of the answers that Cayce got back then regarding the gospel, the Bible in general and the gospel, stirred up this interest in me. After this was stirred up in my, I approached the Bible in a completely different way from the way I had been taught, “This is the way you have to approach it. Take it literally.” If you don’t take one part of it literally, then you’re taking all of it wrong. If one part is to be this, then ... I think that the whole book is one book and that what’s true of page one is true of page 2001. That’s not so, friend. The Bible is a collection of 60-some books, all written in different eras in history by people of every conceivable type of consciousness, so you cannot call the whole thing one book and say, “Well it’s God’s word.”
Anyway, first I want to give a couple of the things that Cayce revealed and that Lucy brought to us here, which stirred me up and is responsible for you being here today in this elective. First of all, the Bible in general. Edgar Cayce, you all know who he was. I’ll assume that. He could go into a trance at will but he could stay conscious while he was in the trance. That’s the big difference between Cayce and other people who go into trances. Most people who go into trances are not conscious of the trance. They’ve only got the trance. Period. But Cayce could not only go into a trance but be completely conscious of the whole thing and know what was going on and when the Source would reveal things to him, he wasn’t just an automaton, repeating like channeled writers.
Channeled writers don’t do their own writing. The writing is done through them and many times, they’re not even aware of what it is they’re writing because they’re a channel. But Cayce was different. Cayce could hear and understand what the source was revealing to him and then he could repeat what the source said as though they were his own words.
All right. Now at that time, the time I’m speaking of, Cayce had been a famous Bible teacher in religious circles where he lived. He taught classes for children and adults in Bible and he was very well known for it and attracted large classes. This was before he made contact with that source in the trances.
After he made this contact with the source in these trances and thousands and thousands of people were being healed. Are you with me friend? Thousands of people that he never heard of, never would see, never get near were being healed just by him knowing their name and where they lived. That’s all he had to know: their name and where they lived. He would go into the trance and the source would diagnose their case where doctors could not diagnose these patients. Not only diagnose the trouble but prescribe treatment, and some of this treatment was the complete opposite of what Materia Medica said is right.
Not just a few people got healed folks, thousands and thousands of people got healed by this revealing through the source, and most of these people that God healed, well many of them, were babies and young children who would have died otherwise because they could not be diagnosed. There could be no treatment prescribed. This source diagnosed, gave the treatment. Thousands and thousands of young children and babies lived, were healed.
Now, I don’t know how you feel about this, but if I knew that even one baby was cured, I would adore that source. Are you hearing me? If I learned that only one baby was healed through that source, I would adore that source and trust it, but when hundreds of thousands were cured, my goodness, what have we got here?
Anyway, Cayce then, because of his awe and wonder, his contact with the source, began to have second thoughts about this Bible business. Sure, he had the reputation. He had the crowds coming, but he also now had second thoughts about the way he was teaching this Bible. I wish a couple of my minister friends would. Billy Graham included. He then began to wonder, “Am I treating the Bible right? Am I seeing it right? Am I teaching it the way it should be taught?” So he took some questions to the source in one of the trances, and Lucy shared some of the answers he got.
First of all, he asked about the authors of the books of our Bible, and he was told in no uncertain terms, get this, “There is no known authorship for any of the books of our Bible.” Any of the books of our Bible. You take any one of them, the authorship is not known. There are a lot of assumptions about it. Friends, if you go to some theological seminary, some professor is going to tell you who wrote this book, that book ... and nobody knows. The authorship is completely unknown, no matter what we call the book, the Gospel of Matthew, of Mark, we don’t know who Matthew was. We don’t know who Mark was. There’s assumptions, but no, we don’t know who wrote Genesis. We don’t know who wrote Exodus.
“Oh, but Moses did.” Uh-huh. We don’t know. That’s the answer. We do not know. We do not have any proof of who wrote any of the books of our Bible. Now, the source told Cayce that. Personally, I believe the source rather than Billy Graham. You hearing what I’m saying folks? I don’t want authorities that haven’t proved their spiritual validity.
Also, he asked the source about what the original manuscripts of our Bible are like. Where are they? What language are they? The source told him this. “There are no original manuscripts in existence for any of the books of our Bible. Did you get that? There are no original manuscripts of the books of our Bible. Then Cayce asked, “How did they get destroyed?” The answer was, “We did not say they were destroyed. We said they do not exist.” Now you can take that whatever way you’d like.
He asked the source, “How complete as biographies are the four gospels we have?” The answer was, “Far from complete. Our four gospels are merely fragments of fragments. Very incomplete.” Then Cayce asked, “Well then how reliable, if they’re so incomplete? How reliable are they?” The answer was, “Perfectly reliable for what we’ve got.” See, nevermind worrying about what we don’t got. Handle what we do got, and you’ll find they are perfectly adequate. Then two other questions he asked concerning Jesus. “What did Jesus look like?” He asked the source, and the source answered, “Whatever you want him to look like,” because friends, if you read the four gospels, you will find that there is not one word about what Jesus looked like, not a single solitary word of what he looked like. Isn’t that strange?
I mean, here are four books that are fragmented biographies of the greatest human being in Earth history and not one word about what he looked like. Don’t you find that a little strange? Wouldn’t you think that a biography of the most famous of famous people would have some mention about what the guy looked like? Wouldn’t you? If you were writing a biography, wouldn’t you say something about what your subject looked like? Or wouldn’t you? No answer? No response? We all would. But in the gospels, there isn’t a ... Was he tall? Was he short? Was he blonde? Was he black? Was he white? Not a word about it, so he’ll look like whatever you and I want him to look like. Aren’t you glad?
Also, he asked, “Where did he learn all these things?” I mean, Jesus was from a small town and there’s not one word in the gospels about him ever going to school about anything, and yet he knew everything. It says in the gospels no one needed to tell him anything about man because he knew all that was in man. How? Where did he get it? No mention is made. We have these mysteries that bothered Cayce, and because they stirred him, then they stirred me. What I did, I went through the gospels again. I already had read them a dozen times, but only to teach them, give you the answers from the Bible. This time I wasn’t looking for answers in the Bible. I was looking for mysteries, and I call them mysteries because we don’t have the answers. You got it folks?
If we had the answers, I wouldn’t call them what? Mysteries. I would call them instructions, information, but what I’m going to share with you, the answers aren’t in, so they are mysteries, and boy did I find a lot. I didn’t even know they were there until I read it looking for the mysteries. They had been hiding all the while.
Luke 2—When did Jesus attain Christ consciousness?
Okay. Now, a lot of teaching, a lot of metaphysical teachers, some of our own Unity ministers, when they’re talking about the life of Jesus, they will say things like, “Well he was a man who gained a degree of Christ consciousness while he was alive on Earth,” that he came to Earth born as a baby and then somewhere along the line, he acquired Christ consciousness, which enabled him to then be resurrected and ascend. But we have something interesting here.
In the second chapter of Luke, right after Jesus has been born in the manger in Bethlehem, now if it was true that Jesus was born the way an ordinary baby is born and for the most part the baby’s mind is a clean sheet of paper, right? Except for the DNA programming. Then the baby begins learning at a certain age. In Jesus’s case, he learned so spectacularly that he gained Christ consciousness probably at the age of 30. I’ve heard a lot of teachers teach that. I could never buy it, mostly for this reason.
In the second chapter of Luke, as a part of the Christmas story, we are told that an angel confronts the shepherds abiding in the field and they are frightened because of that bizarre star that had come down and that had gone across. They couldn’t understand that and they were frightened, but notice this. “And the angel said unto them: ‘Be not afraid. For I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord.’”
What tense is that sentence constructed in? Present tense all the way. Now, if Jesus was an ordinary bloke who was going to attain Christ consciousness, then this angel should have used future tense. Wouldn’t it? I mean, if Jesus gained Christ consciousness after being born here, then that angel had no right using present tense. It should have used only future tense. Here we have a mystery. If Jesus had gained Christ consciousness then the angel was incorrect. Well angels don’t tell lies, folks. That’s why they’re angels. What they say is correct, and so this baby who had just been born is Christ the Lord. Jesus didn’t get Christ consciousness in that incarnation. He brought it with him. He had attained in a prior evolution and brought it to our three-dimensional level of existence because we were stuck in a religious cul-de-sac. You understand?
The religion of that time was frozen into a mold and you didn’t dare tamper with it in any way. Jesus had to come and break that, make a breakthrough in that, to bring a fourth dimension teaching to a three-dimensional prison, and that’s what he did. He didn’t gain Christ consciousness. He brought Christ consciousness and gave it to us. All of us now have access to the full Christ consciousness of Jesus Christ. Even Paul knew that. He said, “Let the same mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus.” Then again, Paul said, “We have the mind of Christ, but we do not yet have full consciousness of it, but we know we’ve got it. Jesus was the one to show us that we have it.” He came here already Christly. All right.
Luke 2—What did the 12-year-old Jesus say to the rabbis?
We’re told next that at the age of 12, Jesus and his parents go to the temple where they are to register as a part of the census and after they registered they began to return home and suddenly they noticed that Jesus is not with them. We’re told in Luke 2, “And it came to pass after three days, they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors,” that is the rabbis and the priests and the Sadducees and the Pharisees, “both hearing them and asking them questions, and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers, and when they saw him, they were astonished.” Now, we are not told what Jesus said to these religious big shots that caused them amazement and astonishment. Not one word are we given what he said to them that caused that reaction in them.
It’s all left out. That’s one of the mysteries. What did he say to them to cause them amazement and astonishment? About a year or so ago, I was giving a preview of this to some students here and one of the students raised her hand and she said, “I know what he said to them.” To say the least, I was surprised. I said, “Well if you know, would you tell us what it was?” She said, “Of course. We’re told Jesus was 12-years-old, and we know he was Jewish. It could have been only one thing. He gave the bar mitzvah correct answers.” You all know what that means? Jewish boys, at the age of 11 are required to go to their synagogue and the rabbi asks the little boy questions. The little boy knows what all the questions are going to be and he’s well-rehearsed. You hearing me? And he’s got his answers well-rehearsed.
So this little Jewish boy, Jesus was 12 we are told, about 11 or 12, he gets the questions and he gives the right answers. It’s expected. Now, if what Jesus gave these rabbis was expected, then why use the words “amazed” and “astonished”? Come on folks. If you’re a rabbi and you’ve got a kid coming in for a bar mitzvah and he knows all the questions and he gives you all the right answers, you’re just going to be satisfied. You’re just going to say, “That’s right.” But these guys weren’t just satisfied. They weren’t just approving. It said, I’m using the gospel words, “amazed” and “astonished.” That means what he was giving them was "not par for the course," was not bar mitzvah answers but something else, something way beyond the normal, but we’re not told what it was, darn it. I want to know what it was.
What did he say to them? Because I want to be astonished. Well, so what? We aren’t told. We’ll get astonished enough if we read the Sermon on The Mount correctly, right? That’s amazing. That’s astonishing, but one of the mysteries is what did he say to those big shots that caused them to be so astonished and amazed.
Matt. 3—What voice said "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased"?
All right, now a little later, Jesus learns that a relative of his whom he didn’t know yet, he didn’t meet yet, but he knew he had this relative named John and that John was conducting a type of ministry consisting of water baptism, John The Baptist (Matt. 3). We’re not told why, but Jesus goes to witness this event and he takes his place in line along with the other people lined up to be dunked, and when he approaches John, John looks at him and reads him and he is astonished and amazed.
He goes, “You’ve come to be baptized by me? I ought to be baptized by you.” John saw something in Jesus, but Jesus said, “No.” He says, “Suffer it to be so for the sake of righteousness.” Now you know that baptism, water baptism, symbolizes the cleansing of sin, so Jesus needed water baptism like another hole in the head, but Jesus submits and takes his turn and John dunks him, which is fine. Then we’re told, after Jesus rises up out of the water that a dove descends from the sky and a voice came out of heaven, saying, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
Now, the mystery is who’s voice was it that this large crowd heard. Is God a person? Please answer. No. God doesn’t have a larynx or mouth or vocal chords and certainly there was no need for God to say that, but yet this large crowd heard those words, and so the question is, the mystery is, what voice was that. Where did it come from? What caused it? Well, we don’t know because we’re not told, but once in a while I like to make a guess. Okay? Do you mind if I just take a guess? A shot in the dark. I don’t want to give you all mysteries. I want to give you a little bit of possible answers. Here’s the way I feel about this intuitively. I can’t prove it. I can only share it.
I think that Jesus did everything that he did, everything that Jesus did that’s in the gospels, Jesus had a purpose for it. He knew why he was doing it and how to do it and he knew what effect it would have on the future. He knew all that. Here he gives a demonstration of sublime consideration for another person’s feelings, for another person’s work. Even this other person knew that Jesus was way beyond what was happening here, but Jesus says, “Let’s do it for the sake of righteousness,” which means let’s do the right thing here. Jesus deliberately performed an act of sublime consideration for a fellow worker, something he didn’t have to do, but he did it to set an example.
Now, here’s my spooky theory about this. Since Jesus was obviously a fourth-dimensional consciousness, we are three-dimensional consciousness, Jesus obviously was fourth-dimensional consciousness, that anything Jesus would do would cause intense vibration in the ethers. Speak the word. See? Raise the dead. Multiply the loaves and fishes. Only a fourth dimension person can do that in a three-dimensional environment.
I believe that Jesus’s act of consideration and humility caused such intense vibrations of approval in the ethers that these vibrations in the ethers touched the ear drums of the bystanders. When silent vibrations touch the ear drum, what happens? The vibrations travel along the auditory nerve and reach an area of the brain where the vibrations are heard as sound. What these people were hearing was not a voice of some critter up there saying, “This is my beloved son in whom ...” What they were experiencing was vibratory approvals, divine approval vibrating, touching their ear drums and going along the canal to the brain where words of approval were heard in unison. It was group consciousness.
They all heard the same words. “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” You can take that or leave it, but that’s my intuitive feeling about the meaning of this, of the mystery itself.
John 2—Why did the wedding servants do what Jesus said?
In the second chapter of John, we’re told that there is a wedding being held in Cana of Galilee and we’re told the mother of Jesus was there and Jesus also was bidden. Isn't that cute? “And the mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus also was bidden.” In other words, he was an “also.” At this stage in the gospels, he is not famous yet. Are you hearing me? He’s not famous. He’s just Mary’s son. Period. Any guest list at a wedding, he would be an “also.” And the disciples were there. Now, I won’t go into reading this, but we know what happened at that wedding, or what almost happened. Don’t we?
The wine began to run out and Mary, the mother of Jesus, sees what is happening, and she tells Jesus they have no wine, and Jesus stalls. He says, “Woman, what have I to do with thee? My time has not yet come.” She doesn’t go for that. She quickly turns to the servants, and says, “Whatever he tells you to do, do it.” Now, here are these servants. There would be six of them. They’re being hired by the parents of the bride or groom. They take their orders from the one who’s paying them.
Here’s this stranger, this “also,” this “nothing.” He comes to them and he says, “There’s six big heavy water pots empty there.” Now, this is a Jewish wedding folks. At a Jewish wedding water isn’t important. Are you hearing me? It’s wine that’s important, and they’re running out. Here this stranger, telling these hired servants, “Get those big heavy water pots and fill them up with water.” Right then I would have said, “Get lost buster.” If I had been one of those servants, folks, and this guy, this Mr. Nobody, tells me to take that big water pot and fill it with water, I’d tell him “Get lost.” You understand? But they don’t. They do it. They fill these big things with water. They bring them back. He says, “Now pick them up again and take them over to the ruler of the feast.” I would have said “Get lost,” twice, “buster.” Now can’t you see that literally speaking, their jobs were in jeopardy. This was a wedding and I picked up a water pot full of water and put it down before the ruler of the feast. Can’t you see how ridiculous this is?
This ruler of the feast should have fired them on the spot for bringing water over here and putting it down there. You’re not getting this. Can you see the ludicrousness of this? What right had they to fill water pots with water and bring water to the ruler of the feast? That’s the kiss of death. Their jobs were at stake. They should have been fired. The mystery is why did they do it. Why did they do it? Here’s this guy. He has no right to give them orders, tells them to do something so stupid like fill those water pots with water. They do it without hesitation. Then he adds insult to injury by saying, “Now take them over to the ruler of the feast.” Their boss. They shouldn’t have done it, but they did it without question, without hesitation.
The mystery is "why did they do it?" There was nothing in for them except the danger of losing their job, but they do it without hesitation. Well, Charles Fillmore had a theory about this. He said, “Remember that we are not told one word in the gospels about what Jesus looked like,” so probably the solution to this particular mystery is he looked like something nobody ever saw before. He must have had a presence, an aura, that even servants would immediately do what he wanted, even something unreasonable like that. But because they did it, folks, because they didn’t argue, they didn’t hesitate, we got our first miracle in the gospels, and once you’ve got the first one, then there’ll be others. If you never get the first one, there won’t be any others. They start with his first one. I wish I had been one of those servants. Then I could tell you what he looked like.
John 4—Why did the nobleman journey to Jesus?
Okay. Here we have another mystery. In the fourth chapter of John, we’re told that a very important man, a nobleman, makes the trip from Capernaum to Cana and begs Jesus to come and heal his young son who is dying back in Capernaum. Then in the chapter, conversation between Jesus and the father is recorded and then the successful outcome finishes the job, but the mystery is this. Why would this nobleman, this very important man, make that journey? Now, you understand back in those days, making a journey was not easy. Travel conditions were bizarre, but this nobleman makes this long trip to beg Jesus to come and heal his son.
Well the son does get healed, but the mystery is why did this nobleman do this? Why did he make that long journey? What caused him to beg Jesus to heal his son? Because there is not one word in the gospels up to this point of Jesus doing any healing whatsoever. Are you hearing me friends? If you have your four gospels in front of you, now this is the gospel of John, there is not one word about Jesus doing any healing whatsoever at this point. What’s the mystery? Why would this father take that trouble to beg someone to heal his son when in the gospels, there’s not one word about any healing being done? Well, what it must be friends is there are sections of the gospels missing. And we don’t know what went before this, but this but the gospel very clearly says that this is the second work that Jesus did.
What would be the first one? The water into wine, and it says, “This is the second work that Jesus did.” According to John, there was no healing. If that water into wine in John is called the first and this healing is called the second, then there’s nothing in between. First and second, see? We have a mystery here. The son did live and that’s what’s important isn’t it? Isn’t it? The son was healed.
Mark 1, Matthew 4—Why did the fishermen give-up their livelihood?
All right. Now we have a similar mystery in regard to the disciples that Jesus called. First we had those servants at the wedding doing what Jesus said. Ridiculous, but they did it and so we got a miracle. A similar thing happens in regard to Jesus calling the 12 who become his disciples.
Now, these are all fishermen. You know that back in those days, they did not have freezers and there was no ice in that part of the land, and so the fisherman’s livelihood depended on what? Daily catch. No fooling around. Fish spoil quick in hot climates, so a daily catch was ... their survival depended on it.
All right. In the gospel of, first chapter of Mark, Jesus approaches a number of these fishermen. He’s a stranger. He had no connection with them up to this point and Jesus said to them, “Come ye after me and I will make you to become fishers of men.” Straight way the left their nets and followed him. Then in Matthew, fourth chapter, we read, “And Jesus said to them, come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men and the straight way, they left their nets and followed him.”
Now, in the gospel of Luke, it’s quite different. The same incident, but it’s different. In the first two examples, you notice that Jesus said, “Leave your nets,” didn’t he? And they do, and they follow him. Notice how different it is in Luke. It says, “And when he had left speaking, he said to them, ‘Put out into the deep and let your nets down for a draft.’” (Luke 5:4). You see the switch there? In the first two gospels, it’s “Leave your nets and follow me.” In Luke, it’s “Stay with your nets and go out and cast them into the water and catch the fish,” which they did. Then Jesus said unto Simon later, “Fear not, from thenceforth, thou shalt catch me.”
We have the same situation here, mystery, that we had at the wedding where the servants did what he said without hesitation. Here we have an even more serious case. These fishermen whose lives depend upon a daily catch, this stranger they don’t know, “Leave your nets and follow me,” and they all do it.
They march away from successful fishermen and become immortal. What would have caused them to do that? Again, I think Mr. Fillmore was on the right track. There was something about the presence of Jesus that was irresistible. John The Baptist saw it. The servants must have seen it. The fishermen must have seen it, and because of this, they all become immortal. We’ve got another point and then we’ll dismiss.
Mark 1, Luke 4—Why is it only unclean spirits, devils, and demons who recognize Jesus?
We’re told that among the healing work that Jesus did, he did an awful lot of casting out of demons. Evidently, back in those days on that much lower level of evolution, there were cases of demonic possession. It’s mentioned so often in the Bible and in other folklore, that demon possession. Jesus did an awful lot of this demon, we would call it exorcism today. But first thing is it never says that he killed any of these demons or destroyed any of them. He only does what to them? Cast them out if they are inhabiting a human body. He doesn’t kill them, but he casts them out of a human body. Now, where they go from there, it’s okay. It’s their business, but we don’t want them in human bodies, do we?
For instance, right now we have a virus that causes something called AIDS. Now there is a right place somewhere for that virus or it could not exist, but we know its right place is not a human bloodstream because it destroys the immune system and horrible death, so our job is to cast it out so that it can find it’s what? Right place. Right.
Now, here’s the mystery, not so much about casting out of demons, but when you read the gospels carefully, you will see that the only beings in the gospels who immediately recognize Jesus for who he is and what he is are demons, unclean spirits, and devils. Now, you would think that the illumined religious big shots should have recognized it, but none of them do. Only the devils, the demons, and the unclean spirits recognize Jesus immediately, who he is, what he is, and they even know his name. They call him by name.
Let me give you three examples of this. In Mark, he’s approaching a man who was possessed of an unclean spirit, “And the unclean spirit cried out saying, ‘What have we do to with thee?’” (Mark 1:24) Now, this is one unclean spirit using plural pronoun. “What have we to do with thee?” This is also in the first chapter of Genesis where Elohim says, “Let us make man in our image.” A singular person using a plural pronoun. Very mysterious. Anyway, “What have to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of God.” Don’t you wish the Pharisees had said that? Don’t you wish the rabbis had said that? But no. The poor little devils and unclean spirits and the demons.
Then in Luke, we read, “And a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil,” gee, not just an unclean spirit but an unclean devil, that’s as worse as you can get, “and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Ah! What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of God.” (Luke 4:34) Okay, now a little later, in Mark, first chapter it says, “And he healed many that were sick with diverse diseases and cast out many devils, but he suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him.”
Now in Luke 4 again, and it says, “And the devils also came out from many, crying out and saying, ‘Thou art the Son of God,’ and rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.” Isn’t that a delightful mystery? That only those unclean spirits, devils, and the demons recognized Jesus. I think that’s terrific. Okay? Time is up. God bless you. More mysteries tomorrow.
