Chapter 11: The Knowledge of Evil Killed By Little Children
Time to wise-up. Time to genuinely appreciate the most important presentation in the Bible. A Living-God-of-Light-Inspired presentation, specifically designed to help us restart our Factory Setting. That would be where Jesus picks up a little child and tells us, “Unless you become like this little child, you will never GET the Kingdom of Heaven.” “Get” as in understand (to ABSOLUTELY KNOW the Kingdom of Heaven). And, “get” as in have (to RECLAIM the Kingdom of Heaven). Unless you become like little children you will never absolutely know the Kingdom of Heaven. Unless you become like little children, you will never reclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the most important heads-up of ALL Time, sent to ALL of humanity. A Green-Light gift from our Creator, allowing us to courageously and shamelessly look directly at the Reality of our core self. And, see what? PERFECT GOODNESS. To Truly-Accept-What’s-Been-Done-For-Us-On-the-Cross makes our righteousness forever equal to that of a seven-day-old child — PERFECT even as our Creator is PERFECT.
Had Peter and Paul ground this Wheat for our bread
We’d ALL be Living with NO HORSE in our head
Truly listen to Jesus express the Reality of the Kingdom of Heaven and the exact change of mind it takes to get us there:
Matthew 18:3 (NIV) “Then Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never (get) the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Amazing that the NIV translation (directly above) is True to the original Greek. Amazing why? Because the NIV editors did not change “unless you change.” Likely, in some future NIV edition, the NIV editors will alter Jesus’ statement into something like, “Unless you turn from your evil ways.” For, The Church idea of “change” is bent around morality. As in: “You need to change the way you live your Life to reflect your church family’s idea of morality.” One of the big errors of Christianity. The Jesus idea of “change” should be PERFECTLY obvious — the first Words Jesus shouted across the world. “You need to change the way you think!” Many Bible versions have already altered what Jesus says at Matthew 18:3 — “unless you change.” Jesus never said “unless you repent.” Jesus never said “unless you turn from your sins.” Jesus never said “unless you are converted” (yep — that’s how Matthew 18:3 reads in the KJV). Converted into what? A dues-paying cheese-head, no doubt. While we are here at Matthew 18:3, let’s also be vigilant to pull up the Tare in the verse that follows:
Matthew 18:4 (KJV) “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The translation “shall humble” from the Greek “tapeinōsei” is, at best, a poor representation of what Jesus is actually saying here, taking us completely off-track and turning “simple” (yet again) into complicated. The correct translation is “digress.” As an active verb: “digresses” or “lessens.”
Matthew 18:4 (Original Greek) “Therefore, anyone who lessens himself, becoming like this little child, this is the one who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
What does Jesus mean? “Anyone who lessens himself.” It’s been two-thousand years. Are we ready for the answer? Anyone who un-complicates himself by throwing his black cassock (his Judge’s robe) into the furnace — saying goodbye to IT. Saying goodbye to the Courtroom of Conscience.
A piece of wood stuck inside a man becomes a part of him. Indeed, a complicated part of him. A dangerous part of him which can easily lead to gangrene. That is exactly how Jesus likens the IT part of us — a four-by-four, stuck through the middle of our heads. Stuck through at eye-level, so that IT decisively blinds us. We gave IT a pet name. We call IT “our CONSCIENCE.” Each one of us has allowed Master Knowledge of Good & Evil to pound an ever-increasing, gigantic rotting board into our heads. IT weighs a hundred pounds, and we carry IT, pierced, through our temples, as slaves.
Jesus has given us the PERFECT solution to eradicate this foreign invasion. The Duh-solution. “Duh,” for how simple a cure it is. The PERFECT way to be done with IT. Simply cast IT AWAY.
Wow. That’s a load off! And... oh, my God! Now I can see!
Jesus is looking at the inside of a little child as he tells us to “become like this.” Not the outside — as if littleness were some sort of a yardstick for “humility.” Many Christian pilots define humility as: “Not thinking of yourself first.” Does Jesus put a Mature-Christian philanthropist or a canonized Mother Teresa on his knee and say, “Become one of these”? Nope. He puts a LITTLE child on his knee. “Become one of THESE.” Becoming cured of the disease is not a selfless, complicated religious process. Truly-Accepting the cure is ALL-about thinking-of-yourself-first. Truly-Accepting the cure is ALL-about TAKING. Easy, simple and quite natural. Remember the Holy Spirit’s air analogy? “Easy as taking air into your lungs.” Remember Jesus’ bread analogy? “Simple as taking food into your stomach.”
Newborns to one-year-olds (little ones) are always thinking of themselves first. Take a lesson from them. When retrieving one’s Factory Setting, one MUST think of one’s self first. Take it. Get it for yourself... first. Then (perhaps) you can help someone else get it. As Jesus says, “First, get the board out of your own eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5) Frankly, “shall humble” is an absurd translation. A little child (an infant to a one-year-old) is in no way complicated enough to have the need to practice humility. Jesus is talking about our polluted and convoluted way of thinking about EVERYTHING, digressing back to our wonderfully clear way of thinking about EVERYTHING. Our Factory Setting.
The Paul-Taught Church teaches the exact opposite of what Jesus teaches.
1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV) “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
Well said, by golly! How very practical and wise! Here’s to the wisdom of our good sainted, father, Paul! Amen!
Now that we have ALL had a nice, stout “corporate-Amen.” Can we wipe our mouths (please) and ponder what sort of craziness that Jesus dude was talking? Way out in left field stuff. Terribly unwise. Ridiculously unpractical. Telling us, “Truly” mind you, that “unless we become like little children, we cannot get the Kingdom of Heaven.”
What in the Sam Hill was THAT guy talking about?
I will be happy to clue us in. We need clueing in, since so many “believers” and nonbelievers alike have bought-into the Church-Interpretation of this most essential teaching of Jesus. “Humility” being the foundational error. Church dogma decrees: “Humility equals faith.” Church-Taught pilots preach that Jesus (at Matthew 18:3-4) is talking about the humble “faith” of a child.
“Jesus is telling us-a, unless we have the pure, humble faith of a child-a... we cannot get into the Kingdom of Heaven-a!”
(Buzzer sound!) Wrong-a! Thank you for playing.
Consider the source. The Church runs on “faith.” Jesus is neither talking about simple “faith” nor complicated Church-Taught, theological “faith.” Jesus is talking about the Reality of newborns to one-year-olds. Jesus is telling us, with certainty (“Truly”): You cannot get the Kingdom of Heaven unless you become like a little child. Remember — “LITTLE” is Jesus’ BIG clue for us. So... what is... THE REALITY of this? What is so special about a little child? It’s been two-thousand years. Are we ready for the answer? A little child (a newborn to a one-year-old) has no sense of theological “faith” and no need to “believe in Jesus.” Where Jesus wants to take us, the little child is already there. Consider exactly where... there... is. A little child has no inward nor outward Judgments. No complications. No Judgments & Complications. This is the rotten fruit that comes from The Knowledge of Good & Evil. Having The Knowledge of Good & Evil is the stark difference between the bulk of humanity and a little child.
Big children (toddlers and upward — two to nine-year-olds) who “believe in Jesus” are PERFECT examples of the Simple Trust & Faith Department. Big tots are guided by trusted mentors to have “faith” in “Jesus” and “God.” Still, their little ears remain deaf to the theology. A big-child has no practical understanding of any theological-way of perceiving Jesus or God. Most adults don’t either. You have to go to seminary school to get THAT screwed up. With an older child, it is ALL about simple trust. He or she simply trusts that Jesus and God knows what it’s ALL about. He or she has no real understanding of the religious stuff (or stuffing). Get Real. Two to nine-year-olds have no real-comprehension of being: A sinner saved by grace. Most of them would giggle at you if you told them that they had to: Work out their own Salvation. And, they would (to the child) be scared-to-death if you sat them down to seriously impress upon them that they needed to: Die to themselves to kill the sin in their wicked Lives.
On the other hand, little children (babes to one-year-olds) need not the help from Jesus which us adults so desperately need. A little child has no need to take What’s-Been-Done-For-Us-On-the-Cross so little-he or she can infinitely supercharge the power needed to destroy the bully that springs forth from The Knowledge of Good & Evil — the bully that makes us strike out against our brothers and sisters with Judgment and Trespass and Conquest. The little child is already there. Untouchable. Little he or little she is not infected with the Good & Evil concept — yet.
The striking difference between a person who has come of age and a little child is... guess what?
The Knowledge of Good & Evil.
Deuteronomy 1:39 (KJV) “Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no Knowledge between Good & Evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it.”
Take special notice of the Living God’s distinction. Clearly and specifically, He is identifying children who have yet to come of age (in other words, children who have yet to gain The Knowledge of Good & Evil). There is no exact “age” number for coming of age. Exactly when IT happens (at what age) varies from child to child. Anyone who has ever reared a child knows the stages; suckers, rug-rats, curtain-climbers and, finally, yard-apes (or online gamer-apes). We know at some point during ALL this, IT happens. Common sense tells us so. Still, it is awfully nice in this lesson to have a Biblical passage spoken directly from the lips of Almighty God Himself (no less) to decree this Holy Truth. Notice, in the Deuteronomy quote (directly above), the Living God includes “your children” — toddlers, no doubt; yet, here is His BIG distinction. Only “your children” (your toddlers) with “no Knowledge between Good & Evil.” Precisely why God begins by including ALL “little ones” (newborns to one-year-olds) who, unquestionably, have no Knowledge between Good & Evil.
God’s exclusive distinction of little children has nothing to do with the “faith” seen in older children nor the Christian concept of “humility.” God separates... little ones... aside in a human category ALL-BY-THEMSELVES — specifically — because they have no Knowledge of Good & Evil. Therefore, they remain uncomplicated by IT. Untouched by IT.
Unchanged by IT.
This is exactly the point Jesus is illustrating — specifically — by putting a little child on his knee and saying, “BECOME like one of these.” How does “me” become like one of these? Truly-Accepting what’s been done for ME on the cross takes AWAY ALL of the “& Evil” part of MY Good & Evil way of looking at MYSELF. ALL of my wrong becomes one big, dead, imperceptible zero.
ALL of us are born into the world having no knowledge of “right” and “wrong.” We remain so as little children until we become infected with The Knowledge of *Right* & *Wrong.
At that point — exactly at that point — our innocence is Truly gone.
Somewhere between being a FREE, pure, PERFECTLY-GOOD little child and becoming what you are now, you took on a yoke. Rarely does it happen before turning two. Usually, between two and almost-three. Likely no later than four. At some point, you gained your first knowledge of Good & Evil... and then... immediately, your knowledge of Good & Evil mutated into super-drive like a cancerous brain virus. You gained IT from everyone. What started in Adam and Eve (from one juicy bite) you gained the super-toxic, exponentially-multiplied variant of IT from every generation before you. You gained IT from mom and dad, siblings, grandparents, friends, neighbors and teachers. You gained IT from books, plays, movies, TV and you certainly gained IT from the Internet. You gained IT from the entire world around you. And, when you were finally introduced to Organized Religion, your Knowledge of Good & Evil became not only “God-endorsed,” but ratified and put to freaking music.
Eventually, you bought into the concept of “SIN.” You bought into this corrupting concept and, along with applying this notion outward to everything in the known universe, you had no choice but to look inward and apply IT to yourself. Let us clearly identify the fatal problem:
Deprecation of self.
It is a human problem, beyond pandemic. It is practically universal. It is humanity’s problem. And, so (quite likely) it is your problem: Seeing some part of yourself (whether huge or minuet) as *Evil.* Your self-destroying self-diagnosis of self. A falsehood you came to accept, 100%, with no ifs, ands or buts.
There is both Good & Evil in humans — in ALL people. Yes, I have come to truly accept this as a Truth. That means that SOME portion of WHAT I AM... is *Evil.*
It matters not what percentage you consciously (or subconsciously) think is evil — 98% of you or .00000001% of you. At some point, you came to accept that... a part of you... is *Evil.* One could verily, verily say: The evidence is ALL in your mind:
Ezekiel 36:31 (KJV) “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.”
Brain cancer. More powerful than glioblastoma multiforme (that’s a very bad kind of brain cancer).
Only GOOD can come from the universal mindset of IT’S-ALL-GOOD. BUT... uh-oh. We opened the door to a fatally destructive quest. Under the mindset of Good... & Evil... we cannot help but ask the tragic question. What is “Evil”? In doing so, we imagined what IT is. We no longer have to imagine IT. We have livid examples of IT ALL around us. Upon gaining The Knowledge of Good & Evil, we changed our minds. Upon changing our minds... we changed our world.
God’s “VERY GOOD” created world became... convoluted. Complicated to say the least. A world once ALL healthy and pleasurable became a world that knew both healthiness & sickness, both pleasure & suffering beyond reason. A world once ALL caring and loving became a world that knew both care & murder, both love & cruelty. A world once ALL satisfied and well to do became a world that knew both satisfaction & hunger, both great wealth & utter poverty. A world, once ALL-FREE, became a world that knows both liberty and constriction, boss and underling, ruler and ruled — Master and Slave.
The human world is exactly as it began. A solidly-physical, conscious Reality. A solidly-physical, conscious Reality in which ALL people (ALL two of us) could have FREELY chosen eternal Life. Instead, we chose that which was forbidden to us. In doing so, we brought death into our world. And, so, our world has become a place to experience the terrible loss of loved ones as one awaits one’s own inevitable demise. The ALL-GOOD world made by the Living God became what we made of it.
Can we ever get our ALL-GOOD world back? Jesus says we can. Easily, simply and quite naturally. Metanoeo. We are going to take a big look at this Word in our next chapter. Easy for us to miss the totality of what Jesus means by it. The English translation does not quite do justice to the Greek. Worse, in English, the expression translates into an overused modern cliché: “Change your mind.” We use the expression so often, the idea itself has become superfluous to us.
“I was going to order the Caesar salad, but I changed my mind.”
“It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.”
Jesus uses the expression (metanoeo) in a much bigger, ALL-encompassing way. He uses the Word in regard to our total way of looking at things. The Jesus Concept is ALL about us changing our counterproductive way of seeing things... back... to our original way of seeing things. ALL the way back to our Factory Setting: IT’S-ALL-GOOD
How do we get there?
By locking into something way beyond “faith” that’s for sure. By fighting fire with FIRE. We have a powerful psychological disease. We need a much-more-powerful psychological cure. A spectacle, so far reaching in its power and scope that even the weakest of men can draw more than mere “faith” from it. Rather, the power of absolutely knowing, 100%, with no ifs, ands or buts. Undefeatable power.
Pai Mei asks Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill 2: “Is it your wish to possess this kind of power?”
Well? Is it? If your answer is “Yes,” then keep reading, and welcome what continues to get more and more familiar (repetitive). It is GOOD to embrace repetition... as Beatrix did under Pai Mei’s direction. Repetition is what got Bea out of the inescapable box in which she was buried alive. Practice makes PERFECT.
If you want it, KNOW it. By KNOWING it, you gain the undefeatable power it takes to beat the HORSE dead. Then, by knowing the same thing, over and over, a thousand different ways to Sunday, you are going to “beat a dead horse.” Then you can “Go in peace,” absolutely knowing: The horse is dead.
Ladies, gentlemen and ALL others, ABOSUTELY KNOWING is when Divine Power comes into play.
Truly knowing is the force behind ALL of Jesus’ “miracles.” The miracle of turning water into wine. The miracle of calming the wind and the sea. The miracle of bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Truly knowing is the force behind ALL of MAN'S “miracles” as well. The miracle of flight. The miracle of putting humankind on the moon. The miraculous cell phone. The miracle of splitting the atom.
It is not “small faith” Jesus is talking about when he tells his disciples: “If your pistin was that of a mustard seed, you could send mountains into the sea.” Jesus is talking about something way beyond “faith.” Jesus is talking about absolutely knowing. The Greek Word Jesus uses is πίστιν. Pronounced pistin. Our Church-Taught Bible-Makers have translated this Word to mean “faith.” What it actually means is “fidelity” or “soundness.” Pistin. Very close to our mechanical word for what gives a car its horsepower. Well beyond “let go and let God,” it means that our pistons — our natural abilities to be ALL of what we were created to be — are firing in PERFECT-Unison with the Living God of Light. There is an infinite difference between “believing” and knowing. Jesus explains the better of these two states of mind to his Apostle Thomas: “Do you really know what’s been done because you have seen me? Blessed are those who know what’s been done without having to see.” The Church-Taught “believe” Jesus is talking to Thomas about “faith.” Actually... Jesus is talking about absolutely knowing. Through and through. Brain to bone. The Roman Centurion in the Gospel of Matthew is one of the best New Testament examples of anyone fully demonstrating this God-Given blessing. The Centurion KNOWS that his servant, who is suffering miles away, will be healed. Not by the power of “command” (as most any Centurion would assume) nor by the power of “faith” (as most any Mature-Christian would “believe”). No. By the power of KNOWING. The false translation, “great faith,” would be more obvious to everyone had our Christian Bible-Makers inserted its opposite equivalent: “small doubt.” “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such small doubt.” Takes ALL the wind out of Jesus’ compliment to the Roman officer. Why? Because even the greatest of “faith” contains some doubt. Jesus is talking about “ABSOLUTELY KNOWING” (“big pistin”) Anyone who absolutely knows could say to Mount Everest, “Go!” And, Mount Everest would break off and fly into the sea.
To KNOW this is to KNOW the power of God’s Creation. The power of the human mind. The power of ABSOLUTELY KNOWING. You are God’s creation. Same as the mustard seed is God’s creation. Consider the internal soundness of the unstoppable mustard seed. How does the mustard seed (the smallest of ALL seeds) become the largest of ALL plants? Because it KNOWS that it can. There is not one “if,” “and” or “but” within that little engine that keeps it from doing what it does. That should give us some great insight into a much more important application of knowing. Much more important than pushing mere mountains into the sea or meagerly splitting the atom. Knowing that you have simply and Truly-Taken something, 100%, with no ifs, ands or buts, is, actually, a pretty easy thing to ABSOLUTELY KNOW.
Yes, by God, I’ve got it. I have it. I HAVE TAKEN it. It’s MINE.
George, an Agnostic, points out: “We already HAVE The Knowledge of Good & Evil in our heads. We can’t erase IT from our minds.”
Truer words were never spoken. Actually, George’s statement is the True inherency of the Gospel. That is our problem. Not sin. Sin is one of the many results of our problem. Our problem is ALL of the Good & Evil garbage in our thinking. Which has become our way of thinking.
BUT... How can me TRULY TAKING What’s-Been-Done-For-Us-On-the-Cross cancel out my personal knowledge of Good & Evil?
The exact same way ME gave Life to IT. Psychologically. By ME ABSOLUTELY KNOWING What’s-Been-Done-For-Us-On-the-Cross... and ME ABSOLUTELY KNOWING: “I’ve taken it.” By getting and taking this gift, ME sees the “& Evil” part of The Knowledge of Good & Evil as inconsequential nothingness. ALL ME needs is a little help from our Doctor. Do you know how your great, great-grandparents took a pill? By wrapping a piece of bread around it. The simple prescription from Doctor Jesus to the entire world: “Put my little blue pill into a piece of wonder bread... and swallow it down.”
Why has it taken us so long to simply realize this?
Jesus told us exactly why. Someone (the Desolate One) threw a truckload of impeding Weeds in the way. Someone hid the formula for the little blue pill. Someone trashed the Johnny-Appleseed path of Wheat from which the wonder bread is made. Doctor Jesus repeatedly warned us about loosing his PERFECT yield of Wheat to Weeds — Weeds sown among the Wheat. It happened. Only worse. The Weeds have pushed the last remnant of Wheat under the path. Rendering the path long forgotten. With blind eyes, Organized Religion tends this overgrown field of Weeds. To the Church-Taught Mature-Christian pilot, the Weeds ARE the Wheat. The Good News? Jesus left us everything we need. He left us the cure. He left us his warning of what would happen to the cure. And, he left us the Holy Spirit to help us dig up, unwrap and breathe Life into the cure.
In this discussion, we have done exactly as our Father advised. We went ALL the way back to where we made our wrong turn — ALL the way back to when we first let the HORSE loose. At this point in our discussion, I’d say we understand The Knowledge of Good & Evil quite well. We have examined every pertinent aspect of IT as well as ITS progression. We are now, once again, at the precipice. Exactly where we postponed our forward motion a few chapters back. We are at the edge of the Weed field. A field full of weeds is an infestation. We’ve got a job ahead of us. In order to find where to dig, we must first clear ALL the Weeds out of the way. Not to worry. Leave the pitchforks and the flamethrowers in the trunk. The Holy Spirit has loaned us Her Farming-Gear. State-of-the-art equipment. When She cranks it up, we may want to stand back a few yards. Only don’t bother using ear plugs. Our ears have been plugged up long enough. Keep your ears open. As George points out, we still have The Knowledge of Good & Evil (the HORSE) in our heads. That’s a fact, Jack. Warning: As we stand here at the edge of the field, the HORSE Lives. IT knows our intentions. IT sees us as Trespassers come to put the HORSE-Killing-Sword back together — the only weapon in the universe that can kill the HORSE. Moreover, ALL five pieces of the sword are buried under the HORSE. Even deeper. Under the Weeds. Five wonderfully simple Words.
RANSOM. AWAY. PERFECT. FREEDOM. ALL. The Living God likens these five Words of Jesus to cold bodies that, for ALL practical purposes, are dead. They are buried out there... somewhere beneath the Weeds... in suspended animation. Although the field spans the entire face of the earth, knowing the simplicity of what needs to be done should be a comfort to us ALL. Simple Farming 101. Pull up ALL the pig-weed, zizania, thistles, thorns and such to the roots — every destructive and multiplying inch of it. Then, we do what is done with trash. We take it to the curb.
The Harvest is now. Only, in this late day and age, the Wheat lay under the field. So then... make way for the Excavation. Actually, the chapters that follow are an Exhumation. The Living God of Light has given us a Court Order to find the bodies. The first big bundle of Wheat we are looking for is “RANSOM.” Once we find, unwrap and breathe Life into RANSOM, we bring in the heavy equipment. The best mining and tunneling equipment known to God. For, miles under the surface of what used to be a path of Wheat is a treasure wrapped-up and put asunder — “AWAY.” With RANSOM and AWAY safe in our silos, we will have no problem finding and unwrapping “PERFECTION” and “FREEDOM.” Once we exhume, unwrap and breathe Life into PERFECTION and FREEDOM, we will dig wider... and still wider until we get “ALL” up and out of the ground (ALL fifteen chapters worth). These five grains of Wheat boil down to a powerful, solid extract. A little blue pill. On the table. Next to a glass of water and a piece of whole-wheat wonder bread... at the hospital. At the end of The Ambulance ride. The application of the cure is ridiculously simple. ALL one need do is simply TAKE the little blue pill that makes ALL the bad go AWAY. Easier for a non-Christian to swallow than a Christian.
Granted, Paul: When we were little children, we thought as little children. Then... at some point... we stumbled into the hands of our captor. We were taken AWAY from ALL of our childish ways — we were taken AWAY from our purity, our GOODNESS, our self-love and our FREEDOM. We were taken AWAY from our PERFECTION. Taken captive and thrown into a hole.
Kidnapped.
