TOPICS: Why four gospels? – no use for blind faith – look beyond literal interpretations – only within can you hear the comforter – four gospels written for different purposes – true meaning of “virgin” – deliberate mistranslation to set Jesus above other people – Jesus denounced salvation through an outer church – look within you for Jesus and the comforter –
Question: Beloved Jesus, could You comment on this fragment from Matthew’s Gospel? As I see, in a dictation given by Mother Mary when she released her very first Rosary in this new dispensation, she told, that union between her and Joseph was physical, but with the participation of Holy Spirit, but this Gospel says that it was without participation of Joseph. Is this a lie? You know, that I usually go away of this fact (because I’m a member of Russian Orthodox Church), and I don’t think it is important for my spiritual growth, even I am afraid to think about this, but now it’s a critical point and I ask You, Beloved Jesus, please put the things on their places and help me.
18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Answer from ascended master Jesus through Kim Michaels:
Let me take this as another opportunity to comment on the common belief among Christians that the official gospels must somehow be the infallible word of God and that they fell from the sky in their present form. If the gospels really are the infallible word of God, then why are there four gospels? Why not simply give one gospel that contains everything you need to know? Furthermore, even though the gospels have many similarities, they also have some differences, even some contradictions. Why run the risk of creating confusion and doubt, why not simply give forth one gospel?
I know many Christians will not acknowledge that there are inconsistencies and contradictions in the gospels, but take a look at the following quotes concerning how I first appeared to my disciples after my resurrection.
Matthew, Chapter 27:
1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Mark, Chapter 16:
9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
Luke, Chapter 24:
13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
John, Chapter 20:
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
I fail to see how anyone can read these quotes and still hold on to the belief that the four gospels are the infallible word of God. It is impossible to explain away the inconsistencies and contradictions in these quotes. Now, there are those who will say that such inconsistencies have no impact on their faith, but that is an attitude that is both constructive and non-constructive.
I am in no way pointing out the flaws in the gospels in order to destroy people’s faith. However, I would very much like to see people go beyond blind faith and come to a faith that is based on understanding, even inner knowledge. As I said:
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Matthew 15:14)
It is not constructive that people maintain the blind belief that the Bible must be infallible, for it prevents them from going beyond literal interpretations. And without going beyond the surface, how can you develop a deeper faith based on understanding? Why do you think I said to my own disciples:
14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? (Matthew, Chapter 7)
I expected my original disciples to look beyond superficial interpretations, and I expect the same of my modern disciples. The sad fact is that those who maintain their blind belief in the infallibility of the Bible have adopted the same mindset as the lawyers of old, namely the people I denounced as follows:
Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. (Luke 11:52)
Blind faith in the outer word and a refusal to look beyond a literal interpretation of that word was what I denounced in the scribes and Pharisees when I said:
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)
Blind faith prevents you from finding the key of knowledge, which can only be found by going beyond the outer word, by going within yourself, which is why I said:
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21)
If you do not go within, how can you hear the directions of the comforter that I have sent to help all people understand the inner meaning of my teachings:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
The Comforter can teach you nothing as long as your mind is closed to anything beyond the official scriptures and a literal interpretation of them. And when you do open you mind, you will realize that the four official gospels did not fall from the sky as the infallible word of God. They were written by four different people, and although they had varying degrees of Divine inspiration, they also had a practical agenda for their gospels.
In other words, the four gospels were not written to be put next to each other in the same book, nor did the people writing them think they were bringing forth the infallible word of God that would stand unchanged for all eternity. The gospels were adapted to specific groups of people and thus each gospel is to some degree adapted to the beliefs and culture of the people for whom it was written. This is common knowledge among people who have studied the Bible and the context in which each gospel was written.
It is also common knowledge that the Gospel of Matthew was written in part to convince Jews that I was indeed the Messiah they had been promised in the Torah. Thus, this gospel starts with a genealogy and contains many references to scriptures and prophecies from the past, including the one in the section quoted above: “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us.’”
In other words, the gospel was written specifically to tie my life to the Jewish prophecies—the law and the prophets. There are many things in Matthew that are specifically designed to accomplish this goal, meaning that the words and the content will support the writers goal. This is not necessarily false, but certainly there are many other valid ways to describe my ministry and there are many other aspects of my life and teachings that could be described. As John realistically says:
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. (John 21:25)
It is not commonly understood that the word “virgin” is actually a mistranslation of the Hebrew word “almah” that more correctly means a “pure woman.” This referred to a woman who was living a holy life and who had dedicated her life to serving God, as was Mary before she met Joseph. In other words, women could commit themselves to the celibate path even after having been married and having children, which would still make them pure. Thus, a woman could be pure while not being what modern people call a virgin, meaning that the Old Testament prophecy could actually be fulfilled by Mary even though I was conceived in a physical manner.
Why was the Hebrew word translated as virgin? Because during the formation of the Roman Catholic church, everything possible was done to set me above other people and make me so special that no one could follow in my footsteps. If I was the only person ever to be born by a physical virgin, I must obviously be above and beyond all other people, meaning that no one could possibly follow in my footsteps. This has allowed mainstream Christians, be they Catholic, eastern Orthodox or Lutherans, to ignore some of the passages that clearly point to the fact that I came as an example for all to follow:
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 1:5)
If you dare to go within and ask the Comforter to reveal the truth to you, you will understand that the Gospel of Matthew seeks to establish my authority as the Messiah in order to convince the close-minded Jews. And later that gospel was mistranslated by close-minded Christians bent on destroying my example by setting me up as an idol that no one can follow. These people took my teachings – given to set people free – and used them to control people by saying people could only be saved by me through the outer church. This is precisely the approach taken by the leaders of the Jewish religion—the very leaders who killed me. I denounced them by saying that the kingdom of God is within you, which means that you can be saved without an outer church.
It is time for modern spiritual people to acknowledge their potential to find the kingdom of God within themselves and thereby be the Christ in embodiment on earth. To do this, they must overcome the belief that the Bible must be infallible in order to be useful. Surely, the gospel writers had Divine inspiration, but their words were adapted to their own consciousness and the consciousness of the people for whom the gospels were written. This is no different from any other genuine revelation, including this website. However, there is a difference in the sense that because humankind have risen in consciousness, I can tell people more on this website today than I could reveal through the Gospel writers 2,000 years ago. And this is proven – undeniably – by my own words:
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (John 16:12)
It is therefore high time and past time to set people free from all fear of looking beyond the official Christian scriptures. Dare to let the Comforter guide you beyond what the official churches want you to know. As Moses said to Pharaoh, I now say to the orthodox churches: “Let my people go!” And to the spiritual people who are still trapped in blind adherence to orthodox churches, I repeat God’s words to Abraham:
1Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee:
2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great. (Genesis, Chapter 12)
Copyright © 2007 by Kim Michaels