The Pool of Bayth-Essdah (House of Kindness)

Walking alone one day, Yeh-shuah came to the pool of Bayth-Essdah. As usual, there was quite a large crowd for such a small pool. The people there believed that some supernatural force agitated the waters of this pool, and the first to step into the water afterwards would be healed of whatever disease he had. Often, in the wild rush to reach the pool, the weak and the young were trampled to death. Someone put up shelters to shade the hundreds of sick from the hot sun.

Yeh-shuah stood among the diseased humans, wishing he could heal them all. If he did, though, his work would certainly be cut short because of the anger of the priests and rulers against him. On his way out, he stopped and stood before the ultimate case of human wretchedness, a sad, weak old man, despairing of ever reaching the water to be healed of his disease. He couldn’t possibly contend with the selfish, scrambling crowd when the time arrived to get into the water. Disappointment after disappointment was wearing away the last of his strength.

The bearded old man raised his head when a gentle voice said to him, “Do you wish to be made whole?” As he looked up into Yeh-shuah’s kind face, a moment of hope soon faded back into despair.

“Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool. While I am struggling to the edge, others step down before me.”

“Stand up,” Yeh-shuah commanded kindly. “Pick up your bed and walk.”

The old man looked up at Yeh-shuah with a quizzical expression as he tried to comprehend the impossible. Suddenly, his entire body tingled as his faith took hold. He looked at his hands and feet, then stood up, a little unsteadily at first. After rolling up his bed, he turned to thank his healer, but Yeh-shuah was gone.

Nearly bursting with joy, he turned to those around him and shouted, “I can walk! Look, I can walk! Thank you Elo-heem! I can walk!” He searched the crowd intently as he shouted for joy, fearing he would not recognize the man who had done this for him. Not finding him there, he left the place carrying his bed roll. It was a Sabbath afternoon.

Outside, some Faris-Ahyos (Pharisees) stopped him on the street. “Why are you carrying your bedroll on the Sabbath?” they scowled. “It’s against the law to carry certain things on the Sabbath.”

“I forgot it was Sabbath in my excitement,” the old man answered, “but the One that healed me told me to pick up my bed and walk.”

”And who was that?” they asked coldly, but they already knew.

“I don’t know,” the old man answered truthfully. “Excuse me, but I must go to the Temple, now.”

While he was at the Temple, Yeh-shuah found the man and said to him, “See, you are made whole. Do not continue to do evil, or something worse may result.”

Ignorant of their deep-seated hatred of Yeh-shuah, the ex-invalid pointed him out to the Temple rulers. Later, the rulers called Yeh-shuah before their High Council. “You have violated the Sabbath by doing work, and, you have caused another Yeh-oo-dee to work on the Sabbath, too. You cannot deny that you have broken the Sabbath Laws,” the chief of the Faris-Ahyos said angrily.

“You have perverted the Sabbath,” Yeh-shuah countered, “and invented all kinds of restrictions. Your rules are a joke among other nations: You cannot light a fire, or even a candle, so you hire non-Yeh-oo-dee (non-Jews) to do your work for you. Your many man-made rules have made the Sabbath a curse instead of a blessing. To heal the sick, and to relieve suffering honors the Sabbath. Like my Father who works continuously to maintain the universe, so I must work continuously also. The Sabbath was made for men to rest from work for livelihood, for worship, and for holy deeds.”

With murderous thoughts, the Faris-Ahyos bristled at his words, and snarled, saying, “For the blasphemy of calling yourself the Son of Elo-heem you are worthy of death, and were it not for all the people you have fooled already, your blood would be running out on the ground before us right now.”

By these words, Yeh-shuah saw that the Faris-Ahyos had completely separated themselves from Elo-heem. “Here is Truth,” Yeh-shuah continued. “The Son does nothing by himself. The Father loves the Son and tells him what to do, and as you will soon see, even raise the dead. If you do not honor the Son, you do not honor the Father who sent him.

“Whoever hears my words and believes will live forever. The time is coming when the dead who have done good will hear the voice of the Son and will rise to live, but the dead who have done evil will rise later to be condemned. The Father supports me by giving his work to me to finish. You cannot hear his voice or see his form because you do not believe the One he sent.

“You study the Ancient Writings thinking you will possess eternal life by them, yet these are the very words written about me. My teaching is spiritual, demanding the sacrifice of self: Therefore you do not understand it.”

The Faris-Ahyos stood condemned, but they resisted conviction and locked themselves in the darkness of fanaticism. Seized with the fear of losing their power, they became even more determined to see Yeh-shuah dead. After this, they sent men to warn the people about the imposter and had spies follow him to observe everything he said and did.

Maybe if some of the Pharisees of Jesus' time attended one of our churches today, we might just think they were typical ultra-conservatives who get uptight when they see a fellow church member doing something they don't like. Ultra-conservatism is not so bad if we just apply our rules to ourselves, but there's a real problem when we expect other's to follow our own rules, or, expect others to accommodate us so we don't violate our conscience.

The League of Rule Makers, and it's offspring, the League of Rule Enforcers, have always been with us. In fact, we all make rules and maybe even try to keep most these rules, consistently. Again, it's OK if these rules are for ourselves, only. We can try to explain them to our children, and if they make any sense, maybe when they're older, the children will keep a similar set of rules to guide their lives, too.

Jesus also had a set of rules, very simple ones, originating in the Land of God.

Three Simple Rules:

Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Love others as yourself and do no harm to them.
Do no harm to yourself.

These rules covered everything in a place where there was no evil. In fact, most in the Land of God probably didn't even know these rules existed. Not until selfishness arose, created by the Evil One.

The Disease of Selfishness spread like wildfire in the Land of God, leaving all of those infected unhappy with their crummy jobs and lack of pay. But selfishness is a downward spiral.

Once you love yourself more than others, their welfare and well-being is of little concern to you. So what if you've done something to hurt them. Too bad for them. Just yell at them or insult them if they complain about it.

Maybe they need to be killed just to get rid of them so you can have their stuff. Maybe they need to be killed just because you don't like them or their religion or their politics. Maybe they need to be killed because it's fun to kill people, giving you a rush like nothing else can.

There will be no room for selfish people in the Kingdom of the Stars. That's why we have to avoid it at all costs while we're living here on Earth. That's why Jesus talked about dying to self. It's painful to stop being greedy or self-centered, but it's worth a Kingdom if we're overcomers of our naturally selfish natures.

What God is looking for is loyalty so fierce that we are willing to give up everything, even our lives, to die for him. These are the kind of people he's looking for to serve with him on the Mt. Zion. These are the only people he can trust with the secrets of the universe. These are the people he can trust not to re-create evil behind his back.

Apply now to be a crew member of the Mt. Zion, but only if you are willing to become a martyr. A limited number of positions are available. Positions will be filled rapidly near the end of life on Earth, so apply early, while you still have time.

Jesus came here to recruit workers for the next life in which they won't own much of anything and are governed only by the Three Simple Rules. He's told us everything we need to know ahead of time. We can quit the League of Rule Makers and Enforcers and join the Kingdom of Unselfishness. True happiness, not selfish happiness, guaranteed.

Jesus, as our Cosmic Recruiter, has given us work to do for him here on Earth. Whoever believes in him and wishes to follow him must become his Assistant Recruiters. It's their job to advertise the unfilled positions in the Kingdom of the Stars and explain the application process and requirements for joining God's team.

If we accept this assignment, our devotion to our recruiting work reveals how much we really love God and how much we really believe his words. If we instead surround ourselves with stuff to make us comfortable and entertain ourselves, then exert little or no recruiting effort, we're like the workers who said they would work in the vineyard, but did nothing, except maybe find something in the vineyard to complain about.

We can serve our Master Recruiter faithfully, enlisting many for service in his Kingdom, then stand tall when we meet him face-to-face, or, we can be lazy, self-centered slobs who care little for others, then hang our heads down in shame when we meet Jesus face-to-face.

It is amazing that the Pharisees could not be happy for the sick man's healing.

But that is so like me, in a way. There are times when out of jealousy or envy that I refuse to share in another's happiness

Here's an update on the Three Simple Rules for Eternal Life:

1. Love, honor, and obey God at all times.

2. Do no harm to yourself or others.

3. Self-sacrifice for the good of others