There are many things Jesus wants to tell his disciples before he leaves. As he moves into Jerusalem in Matthew 21, he is demonstrating to them much more than he could tell them with teachings and healings. In this chapter Jesus is showing his disciples the meaning of faith. For Jesus faith is direct knowledge of what is real. In this chapter, Jesus teaches how actions unfold when one has direct knowledge of reality.
As Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem, he asks two disciples to seek a colt and an ass. If someone tries to stop them, the disciples are to say, "The Lord has need of them." Were we not reading scripture about Jesus, we might easily think of the disciples as Jedi knights waving a mind-cloud across a soldier of the empire and absconding with the animals. If Jesus is the Son of God, of course, these things are possible. What's to question? What's to learn? When Jesus is seated on the ass and ready to enter the city, crowds appear all along the way and offer him worship. When he arrives at the temple, he drives out the money changers and confronts the chief priests, who are terrified at the way their reality is being challenged. As fellow Jews, the scribes and priests cannot imagine that Jesus does not appreciate the significance of what he is doing. "Do you hear what they are saying?" Crowds are worshiping Jesus and he is healing the sick.
The difference between these two events serves to distinguish the reality of story versus the reality of perception. The Jewish torah is strong, ancient and binding. It defined reality for the Jewish people of the time and anything that threatened it was pulling not only on their beliefs but on their existential place in the universe. Jesus is threatening the Jewish story of reality. His deference to scripture always falls on deaf ears because for them, quoting scripture is not enough to stem the tide of their anxiety. When Jesus asks the two disciples to bring him the ass and the colt, he is showing how things happen when one acts as a real being. He is engaging reality as an act of perception. Are the colt and ass there because Jesus knows they are there, or are they there because he says they are there?
This is the difference between existing in earth reality zone and existing in cosmic reality zone (the kingdom of heaven). In earth reality zone, one accepts the story that Jesus is Lord and is, therefore, capable of knowing these things. From cosmic reality zone, where he exists as a real being, Jesus transforms his reality and the reality of those around him any time he wishes. What he says becomes real. When Jesus sends the disciples off on their mission, they find the animals because he wants them to find them. When crowds appear to worship him, they appear because he wants them to. When the scribes approach him, they approach because he wants them to. From the perspective of earth reality zone, these events are narrative; from the perspective of cosmic reality zone, events transpire according to the power one has to make them happen.
Jesus spends the night in Bethany and the next morning as he is returning to Jerusalem, he comes across a fig tree. Because Jesus is hungry and the tree bears no figs, he curses it and makes it wither. The disciples are astonished at what he has done. "How did the fig tree wither at once?" they ask. Jesus can't explain how he did it because he acts from within cosmic reality zone and they act from within earth reality zone. He tells them that if they had faith enough, they could lift up a mountain and cast it into the sea. From earth reality zone, this teaching appears to be ludicrous. Does he really mean lifting up a mountain dripping soil, water, and stone, and dangling roots, and moving it through the air and dropping it into the sea? Ludicrous indeed. What he is telling them is that with enough faith they can seriously alter their reality. In the kingdom of heaven, when they are ready, that is what they will be doing--generating their own realities. That is the power of faith. The power of faith is the power of unobstructed intent, the power to manifest things, move things, to contribute to cosmic life, to exist without illusion.
As Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem, he asks two disciples to seek a colt and an ass. If someone tries to stop them, the disciples are to say, "The Lord has need of them." Were we not reading scripture about Jesus, we might easily think of the disciples as Jedi knights waving a mind-cloud across a soldier of the empire and absconding with the animals. If Jesus is the Son of God, of course, these things are possible. What's to question? What's to learn? When Jesus is seated on the ass and ready to enter the city, crowds appear all along the way and offer him worship. When he arrives at the temple, he drives out the money changers and confronts the chief priests, who are terrified at the way their reality is being challenged. As fellow Jews, the scribes and priests cannot imagine that Jesus does not appreciate the significance of what he is doing. "Do you hear what they are saying?" Crowds are worshiping Jesus and he is healing the sick.
The difference between these two events serves to distinguish the reality of story versus the reality of perception. The Jewish torah is strong, ancient and binding. It defined reality for the Jewish people of the time and anything that threatened it was pulling not only on their beliefs but on their existential place in the universe. Jesus is threatening the Jewish story of reality. His deference to scripture always falls on deaf ears because for them, quoting scripture is not enough to stem the tide of their anxiety. When Jesus asks the two disciples to bring him the ass and the colt, he is showing how things happen when one acts as a real being. He is engaging reality as an act of perception. Are the colt and ass there because Jesus knows they are there, or are they there because he says they are there?
This is the difference between existing in earth reality zone and existing in cosmic reality zone (the kingdom of heaven). In earth reality zone, one accepts the story that Jesus is Lord and is, therefore, capable of knowing these things. From cosmic reality zone, where he exists as a real being, Jesus transforms his reality and the reality of those around him any time he wishes. What he says becomes real. When Jesus sends the disciples off on their mission, they find the animals because he wants them to find them. When crowds appear to worship him, they appear because he wants them to. When the scribes approach him, they approach because he wants them to. From the perspective of earth reality zone, these events are narrative; from the perspective of cosmic reality zone, events transpire according to the power one has to make them happen.
Jesus spends the night in Bethany and the next morning as he is returning to Jerusalem, he comes across a fig tree. Because Jesus is hungry and the tree bears no figs, he curses it and makes it wither. The disciples are astonished at what he has done. "How did the fig tree wither at once?" they ask. Jesus can't explain how he did it because he acts from within cosmic reality zone and they act from within earth reality zone. He tells them that if they had faith enough, they could lift up a mountain and cast it into the sea. From earth reality zone, this teaching appears to be ludicrous. Does he really mean lifting up a mountain dripping soil, water, and stone, and dangling roots, and moving it through the air and dropping it into the sea? Ludicrous indeed. What he is telling them is that with enough faith they can seriously alter their reality. In the kingdom of heaven, when they are ready, that is what they will be doing--generating their own realities. That is the power of faith. The power of faith is the power of unobstructed intent, the power to manifest things, move things, to contribute to cosmic life, to exist without illusion.
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