ALIVE: Chapter 134, Silent Power

A man in the crowd of five thousand, who had eaten so many fish and so much bread the day before that he still felt full the following afternoon, listened attentively to every word this Master Teacher was telling them. His name was Simon and he had travelled the long way from Jerusalem to see Jesus. He was a 40 year old graying skeptic and a teacher. He had heard much about this Man, about His outrage in the Temple and about the way He stood up to the scribes and Pharisees. He was intrigued to the point that he had to go and find Him in Galilee. Not knowing what was true and what was hyperbole or gossip, he was driven to find out for himself. The appearance of so much fish and warm bread shook him. He kept eating because with every bite he was trying to convince himself of the miracle, that fish and bread could be multiplied as easily as, well there was nothing he could think of that could multiply so quickly and so abundantly! It would be centuries before men learned about multiplication of cells. But cells are not whole pieces of food. This was a true miracle, more than healing that restores; it created. Simon was dumbfounded. It was like he woke up to find himself in a dream that morning. The Master astounded him. Not with food but with His teachings, such as he had never heard teaching before. Could he bring this message to his students? What would they think? But he must. That was the reason he was chosen to be in this crowd. It was as if God was speaking to him, directly to him, Simon the teacher! Learn!

Simon forced himself to stop thinking to listen, lest he miss anything. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so that they may be seen by others.” Simon chuckled to himself for he thought of old Moshe who fit that description. It was refreshing to hear someone voice what he had been thinking. “Truly I tell you, they have received their reward.” Simon smiled and thought, ‘Sweet truth and justice. How refreshing to hear. I believe this Man. I want to believe this Man though I’ve rarely seen it with my eyes.’ Jesus continued, “But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Simon said to himself, ‘Truly this is the son of David who poured himself before the Lord with his sorrow, his fears, his joy.’ Simon was a scholar when it came to the psalms of David. He had always admired the relationship between King David and God. He could see that David’s sonship was so real and so personal. ‘ Surely, David was a man after God’s own heart. No hypocrisy, no show for others. That in spite of David’s flaws, which were many, the many laws David broke, he was beloved by God. How else could a man be such an outright sinner and be so close to God? It was his honesty, with himself and his awareness of God. Poor David, so many enemies.’

Jesus kept speaking over Simon’s mental meanderings, “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” 

Eli, another man with five children and two wives who had journeyed for healing of oppressive anxieties sensed that a boulder had been lifted off of his heart. Tears flowed from his eyes as he drank in every word from the Master’s lips. He was too relieved to feel ashamed.

“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we also have forgiven those who trespass against us. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Eli was surprised to hear that forgiveness was linked to evil and sickness. All these years Eli thought to himself, he had only thought about himself and his woes, his burdens. He kept fighting to be free of anxiety, but it was impossible. He was a prisoner of himself in solitary confinement. There was too much to worry about. His woes were real and he couldn’t fix anything. Not for a moment had he thought to forgive. Forgive his wives for their nagging, forgive his children for demanding so much of him and for misbehaving, forgive his creditors. He suddenly could see himself as if in a new space, a reality that looked familiar but in truth he had never been here before. This vision was a miracle of the soul. He was indeed in the secret place with God that the Master described. Could it have been his hyper critical nature that caused his mental torment? Suddenly, whether by his thoughts or by an alien but holy spirit, Eli felt another flash of joy as lightning extinguishing darkness. But could he grab this light and hold onto it?

Jesus paused to allow Eli and the rest of the crowd to absorb the meaning of His words. “Stop and think about this. Selah.” Jesus reached for His pouch of water, took a refreshing swig, and still waited for a few moments. The crowd remained quiet. Even the children were still, sensing the power of the situation, or the thousands of whirring minds in the crowd, which if they could be heard would sound like waves crashing on the shore during a storm. 

Simon too was happy for the pause to think through what was just said for the first time, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your Name. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Neither Simon nor any of the five thousand people had an inkling that this was the very first of billions of times men, women and children of every station in life, in sickness and in health, in grief and in joy would repeat those lines for the next thousands of years. ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Deliver us from evil.’ 

‘What a shocking request!’ thought Simon ‘The Master is actually telling us to command or is it to declare that God’s will be done on earth, as if with our words we have the authority to do so! Can the absurd be true? He must know. And look at the value He gives to forgiveness! Not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth as my mother taught me, but instead to let go of offenses, and for what?! So my own offenses can be dismissed. He is raising us to the level of God, as if He wants us to look upon Him. And why not? We aren’t animals, we were made in God’s image and likeness. We have so much to learn about our humanity. To ask God to deliver us from evil? Isn’t that what David asked over and over in so many ways. Poor David, a friend of God surrounded by enemies.’

The pause ended when Jesus resumed, “ And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” ‘There he goes again!’ Observed Simon, He is talking about the inner life, our thoughts being so much more meaningful than our outward expressions. Our thoughts are who we really are. My words reflect who I am, to others and to myself if I pay attention to myself. This is so rich.’

Jesus said, “Your bodies were fed manna from heaven yesterday, now I feed your minds with teaching. Understand this, your behavior and your attitude affect your health and your whole life. If your mind is sick with anger, fear, anxiety, how can your body thrive?. Your behavior is the fruit that falls from the tree. The quality of the tree is known by its fruit.  How you think and what you say, and how you treat others reflect the condition of your soul. Listen to yourself.”