Here is what happened, according to the Gospels of Jesus:
This narrative according to the Gospels of Jesus takes a departure from the typical translation of the Greek word υἱός from "son" - as in "son of David" - to "follower" - in "follower of David."
The explanation of this translation is stated clearly here. To summarize this, the word, υἱός (huios) does not exclusively mean "son." Even in the New Testament, we find this word translated variously, to words such as "subjects," "people," "associates" and otherwise.
Furthermore, Thayer's lexicon specifically states the word can mean, "used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower."
In fact, this word υἱός (huios) can only be translated to "son" when the context specifically refers to being the direct physical offspring of parents - in humans or animals.
We know that Jesus was not the offspring of David, who lived on the planet about 1,000 years before Jesus arrived. So how could Jesus be the "son of David?"
Furthermore, if we trust the scriptures that tell us that Mary was a virgin then we would know that Jesus was not even part of the physical lineage of David. How can he be the son of David then?
The Bible tells us that Jesus was a follower of David's teachings. And he was accepted into the teaching lineage of David. Jesus accepted John the Baptist as his spiritual teacher, and John the Baptist had accepted a teacher who was the student of a teacher who was the student of a teacher (and so on), continuing back to David, Samuel, Eli, Moses and Abraham.
This makes Jesus part of David's spiritual lineage because Jesus was teaching the same teachings that David taught. Jesus would thus be considered the representative of David's lineage - and a follower of David.
The concept of follower here is not to be taken lightly. Jesus himself stated that the follower - the servant - was most exalted position:
Jesus is referring to faith in God.
If the blind man was simply thinking of Jesus as a witch doctor who healed people, then there would be no question of faith in God. It was the man's faith that Jesus was connected with God as the servant of the servant of the servant of God.
Why is being the servant (or follower) the most exalted position as Jesus states it above?
Because this is our natural position. The Supreme Being did not create us for the purpose of pretending to be God - or being rulers of our little "kingdom." He didn't create us with the intention of having us run off and try to forget Him and claim that there is no God and we are the greatest.
Rather, the Supreme Being created His children to love Him and serve Him - to be His servants and associates. Our purpose for existence is to love Him and serve Him. That's why He created us.
So why are so many people not loving God? Why are so many here on this planet and others ignoring God and struggling with each other to become the greatest?
Because real love cannot exist without the freedom not to love. In other to truly love God, one must be given the free choice to reject God.
In order to become one of God's loving servants - and truly care about Him - one must have the choice to not care about Him.
This is the essential key to why there are so many who have chosen not to love God.
But this doesn't mean there aren't more of God's children who did choose to love Him. It's just that we cannot see them. We cannot see them because we were embodied into temporary physical bodies and separated from the spiritual realm - the realm of love for God.
This is how God gives those who choose not to love Him the ultimate freedom. By giving us these temporary physical bodies and this temporary physical world, we are blind to the spiritual realm. The vision to see God is blocked. This allows us the freedom to pretend that He doesn't exist.
This situation of not being able to see Him with these physical bodies or mind also gives us the ultimate freedom to choose to want to return to our loving relationship with Him. The key is that this requires faith in His existence, and faith that He is our Best Friend and Protector - even though our physical eyes cannot see Him. It requires that we trust Jesus - and thus trust David and other Prophets - that tell us about the existence of God.
Medical research is done like this for similar reasons. When doctors want to test a new drug they use a method that is "placebo-controlled" and "double-blinded." This means that half the patients are given the drug and the other half are given a placebo - a fake drug. Then none of the patients know (they are blinded) which they are given - the placebo or the drug. And none of the other doctors giving the drugs know (they are blinded) either.
This is what the term, double-blinded comes from. Neither the patients nor the doctors in the study know who has received the drug and who has received the placebo.
The need for "blindness" among the patients and doctors allows the researchers to better know that the drug worked on its own - it wasn't because the patients or doctors thought it would work.
In the same way, in order to not coerce us or prejudice our decision to love Him in any way, the Supreme Being blinds us - He covers our spiritual eyes. Those who still seek Him, despite their "blindness" to Him have faith in Him.
In other words, their faith and trust in God is so strong that they don't care whether or not they can see Him. They trust Him anyway.
Such a position of faith is attractive to God. This is why God invites those who have faith to return to Him in the spiritual realm. These are the people He guides back to Him.
Just consider this practically. What if a person were to trust you even though other people called you a liar? Wouldn't you feel thankful that they trusted in you despite what others said? They trusted in you despite what others said about you.
In the same way, faith in God means trusting in Him when most people around us don't.
You see, God could appear before any of us at any time. He is, after all, God. He has complete control. But He doesn't show us Himself while we are avoiding our relationship with Him. He doesn't interfere with our quest to achieve our desires.
After all, if we could see God all the time, who could claim being the "greatest" - as so many do today?
People often debate about the idea of self-determination versus fate. Some will speculate that everything is already planned out - and we have no choice. Others speculate that there are no governing forces and we are each free to do whatever we want.
Neither is completely right. The fact is, each of us has the freedom of choice - to choose whether we want to love God or not. Whether we want to serve God or not. We are given this choice constantly in many forms. Sometimes the choice is translated through choosing to be kind or hateful - or passive or violent - or caring or not - and so on. These choices are indirectly related to God - in that one choice is pleasing to God while the other isn't.
But once we make these choices, our choices will play out in the form of consequences. These are ultimately designed to help us learn.
These consequences might be compared to an "If/Then" protocol in a computer program - where one action will yield a particular consequence. And the next choice - the next action - will yield another.
In the same way, we find ourselves within a system that plays out the consequences of our choices. While we have the freedom to make those choices, we cannot determine the consequences. We can only make our choices - which then play out with consequences.
The relationship between choice and consequence - or 'reaping what is sown' from Biblical texts - illustrates that we are not the controllers. We do not have control over the consequences, therefore, we cannot be God. We are the children of God - the created of God - with the choice to love Him and serve Him or not.
Jesus' teachings centered around informing us of our choice to love and serve the Supreme Being. This is why Jesus' most important instruction was (as he quoted Moses):
Then they entered into Jericho. As he left Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, a blind man named Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus sat on the side of the road, begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he cried out, saying, “Jesus, follower of David, have mercy upon me.” Many admonished him and told him to be quiet, but he only cried more, saying, “Follower of David, please have mercy on me.” Then Jesus stopped and requested he be summoned. So they summoned the blind man, saying to him, “Calm down – and stand up! He is requesting for you.” Tossing his coat to the side, he jumped up and approached Jesus. Then Jesus responded and said to him, “What do you want from me?” The blind man said to him, “Master, to receive my sight.” So Jesus said to him, “Go on your way – your faith has healed you.” Then immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus down the road. (Mark 10:46-52 DT)
Son of David or follower of David?
This narrative according to the Gospels of Jesus takes a departure from the typical translation of the Greek word υἱός from "son" - as in "son of David" - to "follower" - in "follower of David."
The explanation of this translation is stated clearly here. To summarize this, the word, υἱός (huios) does not exclusively mean "son." Even in the New Testament, we find this word translated variously, to words such as "subjects," "people," "associates" and otherwise.
Furthermore, Thayer's lexicon specifically states the word can mean, "used to describe one who depends on another or is his follower."
In fact, this word υἱός (huios) can only be translated to "son" when the context specifically refers to being the direct physical offspring of parents - in humans or animals.
We know that Jesus was not the offspring of David, who lived on the planet about 1,000 years before Jesus arrived. So how could Jesus be the "son of David?"
Furthermore, if we trust the scriptures that tell us that Mary was a virgin then we would know that Jesus was not even part of the physical lineage of David. How can he be the son of David then?
Was Jesus a follower of David's teachings?
This makes Jesus part of David's spiritual lineage because Jesus was teaching the same teachings that David taught. Jesus would thus be considered the representative of David's lineage - and a follower of David.
The concept of follower here is not to be taken lightly. Jesus himself stated that the follower - the servant - was most exalted position:
"But this is not the case for you – rather, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant." (Mark 10:43 DT)Why do you think that Jesus connected the blind man's statements with his having faith? The blind man commented multiple times about Jesus being David's follower. This is the key to his having faith.
Faith in what?
Jesus is referring to faith in God.
If the blind man was simply thinking of Jesus as a witch doctor who healed people, then there would be no question of faith in God. It was the man's faith that Jesus was connected with God as the servant of the servant of the servant of God.
Why is being the servant (or follower) the most exalted position as Jesus states it above?
Because this is our natural position. The Supreme Being did not create us for the purpose of pretending to be God - or being rulers of our little "kingdom." He didn't create us with the intention of having us run off and try to forget Him and claim that there is no God and we are the greatest.
Rather, the Supreme Being created His children to love Him and serve Him - to be His servants and associates. Our purpose for existence is to love Him and serve Him. That's why He created us.
So why are so many people not loving God? Why are so many here on this planet and others ignoring God and struggling with each other to become the greatest?
Because real love cannot exist without the freedom not to love. In other to truly love God, one must be given the free choice to reject God.
Does freedom to love require the freedom to reject?
In order to become one of God's loving servants - and truly care about Him - one must have the choice to not care about Him.
This is the essential key to why there are so many who have chosen not to love God.
But this doesn't mean there aren't more of God's children who did choose to love Him. It's just that we cannot see them. We cannot see them because we were embodied into temporary physical bodies and separated from the spiritual realm - the realm of love for God.
This is how God gives those who choose not to love Him the ultimate freedom. By giving us these temporary physical bodies and this temporary physical world, we are blind to the spiritual realm. The vision to see God is blocked. This allows us the freedom to pretend that He doesn't exist.
This situation of not being able to see Him with these physical bodies or mind also gives us the ultimate freedom to choose to want to return to our loving relationship with Him. The key is that this requires faith in His existence, and faith that He is our Best Friend and Protector - even though our physical eyes cannot see Him. It requires that we trust Jesus - and thus trust David and other Prophets - that tell us about the existence of God.
Could this be likened to a double-blinded test?
Medical research is done like this for similar reasons. When doctors want to test a new drug they use a method that is "placebo-controlled" and "double-blinded." This means that half the patients are given the drug and the other half are given a placebo - a fake drug. Then none of the patients know (they are blinded) which they are given - the placebo or the drug. And none of the other doctors giving the drugs know (they are blinded) either.
This is what the term, double-blinded comes from. Neither the patients nor the doctors in the study know who has received the drug and who has received the placebo.
The need for "blindness" among the patients and doctors allows the researchers to better know that the drug worked on its own - it wasn't because the patients or doctors thought it would work.
In the same way, in order to not coerce us or prejudice our decision to love Him in any way, the Supreme Being blinds us - He covers our spiritual eyes. Those who still seek Him, despite their "blindness" to Him have faith in Him.
In other words, their faith and trust in God is so strong that they don't care whether or not they can see Him. They trust Him anyway.
Such a position of faith is attractive to God. This is why God invites those who have faith to return to Him in the spiritual realm. These are the people He guides back to Him.
Just consider this practically. What if a person were to trust you even though other people called you a liar? Wouldn't you feel thankful that they trusted in you despite what others said? They trusted in you despite what others said about you.
In the same way, faith in God means trusting in Him when most people around us don't.
You see, God could appear before any of us at any time. He is, after all, God. He has complete control. But He doesn't show us Himself while we are avoiding our relationship with Him. He doesn't interfere with our quest to achieve our desires.
After all, if we could see God all the time, who could claim being the "greatest" - as so many do today?
What about self-determination or fate?
People often debate about the idea of self-determination versus fate. Some will speculate that everything is already planned out - and we have no choice. Others speculate that there are no governing forces and we are each free to do whatever we want.
Neither is completely right. The fact is, each of us has the freedom of choice - to choose whether we want to love God or not. Whether we want to serve God or not. We are given this choice constantly in many forms. Sometimes the choice is translated through choosing to be kind or hateful - or passive or violent - or caring or not - and so on. These choices are indirectly related to God - in that one choice is pleasing to God while the other isn't.
But once we make these choices, our choices will play out in the form of consequences. These are ultimately designed to help us learn.
These consequences might be compared to an "If/Then" protocol in a computer program - where one action will yield a particular consequence. And the next choice - the next action - will yield another.
In the same way, we find ourselves within a system that plays out the consequences of our choices. While we have the freedom to make those choices, we cannot determine the consequences. We can only make our choices - which then play out with consequences.
The relationship between choice and consequence - or 'reaping what is sown' from Biblical texts - illustrates that we are not the controllers. We do not have control over the consequences, therefore, we cannot be God. We are the children of God - the created of God - with the choice to love Him and serve Him or not.
Jesus' teachings centered around informing us of our choice to love and serve the Supreme Being. This is why Jesus' most important instruction was (as he quoted Moses):
"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’" (Mark 12:30)
