KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 7:13 KJV ‘Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”

Our passage of study is from Mark 7:6–23. The Pharisees and the scribes accused the disciples of Jesus of eating with unwashed hands thereby not honouring the traditions of the fathers. The Lord quickly interjected that these people hold to the traditions of men, thereby making the word of God of non-effect.

To these Pharisees and scribes, their bone of contention was the disciples eating with unwashed hands. Our days have its peculiar traditions. Now the basis of every traditional teaching is placing human privileges or benefits before God’s word.

A common tradition making the rounds is that, if a minister of God does not have a flashy car, then he is not an anointed minister. This is what the bible calls judging by outward happenings. Dear servant of God, do not allow anything to demean your commitment to the Lord. Only make sure you are not living in sin or unbelief.

In these times it is becoming a norm to see a young man and a woman, courting for marriage, in which the girl goes to wash for the man, cook for him, and even sleep at the man’s place. Such people are already in marriage and have not allowed themselves to go through the proper processes of entering into marriage. They have broken the foundation of the marriage, and sadly demons CAN easily visit their homes and create future trouble for them.

There is also an unfortunate error shown or taught in spiritual warfare, where it is made to appear as if we engage demons in the kind of battlefield where we shoot, and the demons also shoot at us. This is a wrong picture of spiritual warfare. The main object of the satanic kingdom is to sway or get you out of your privileged position in Christ, where you are far above them. They may use sin, sickness, and attacks of various forms, yet your victory is to maintain your ground in Christ. Eph 6:13 KJV “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” This means, no matter the attack, never give any ground to the enemy, by thinking or believing they have overcome you. Your victory is the victory of Jesus. It can’t be toppled. The day you see yourself down and the enemy is in charge, that is when you have relinquished your authority and victory to them. The armour is our victory garment. So long as you are using it effectively you are standing in Jesus’ victory which cannot be toppled.

There are a lot more traditions, yet the and space will not permit us.

CONFESSION

Father, I thank you for spiritual understanding. I live in accordance with your word. I do not fall into the deceptions of the wicked one. I live above all his tricks and evil scheming.

FURTHER STUDIES

Eph 5:13 KJV “But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.”

Col 2:8 KJV” Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Mark 7:13 KJV Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Traditions are acceptable practices of people that are passed from one generation to the other. Humans easily get hooked up to their traditions such that it can easily prevent them from enjoying or experiencing the power of God. The Lord stated clearly to the Jews that, they are woefully deprived of the word of God through their traditions. Most Christians are unconsciously entangled in certain traditions that sadly deprive them of the blessings of God.

I would go through a few of them. It is a common thing to hear Christians who are anticipating the goodness of God to bring certain answers, say things like, I believe God will answer me someday or I believe God will surely heal me.  Such brethren claim they have great faith in their hearts. Unfortunately, they are often disappointed and they wonder why? These people have accepted teaching which is not the truth. It is a human tradition, not a biblical truth. The Lord taught that; such people are deprived of the power of God.

Now what the truth teaches about this error is that faith in God is now. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is a present-hour assurance that what, I hope to have in the future is present with me. How is it with me? It is with me by believing that, I have the answers now. It may not be physically with me, yet biblical faith takes a hold of the answer and even rejoices that I have it. Anyone who functions this way has escaped the unfortunate deception of the common tradition, that says, I know God will do it someday.

The foundation of most of these traditions is wrong biblical interpretations, that make people think they are functioning in the truth, yet are woefully defeated. Traditions become entrenched because, they are often taught or practiced by those, people who command a pedigree of respect and influence. Their actions and teachings are accepted without a second look at the bible critically.

PRAYER

Dear heavenly Father thank you for your love and the truth of your word. I pray for all children of God to be diligent to study your word, and also be careful in accepting all kinds of teachings, and practices, without cross-checking with what your word really teaches.

FURTHER STUDIES

Mar 7:9 KJV” And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

Mar 7:13 KJV “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Matt 3:15 KJV “And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

We continue with our studies on the person of Jesus and how He viewed and handled certain situations as they occurred to him.

Before He started His ministry, He had to be baptised. Baptism was a form of washing or purification. Jesus had no sin that needed to be washed away, yet this was the divine order. Secondly John was a forerunner to him, and needed to give his full approval of the role he came to play in His life and the upcoming ministry of the Lord. The Lord called it fulfilling righteousness. John was very hesitant in accepting to baptize the Lord, knowing Jesus in reality is the one who commissioned him to take that role or Jesus is the Lord of glory.

Fulfilling all righteousness as the Lord called it meant He was not in anyway going to cut corners. He was saying let us do the right thing. There is an Akan proverb, that says ” short route are an abomination ” Our world especially Ghana and other African countries break statutory systems, laws, and standards with impunity. The safety thing is that those of influence are the most culprits, as well as the general citizenry. Laws, systems, and order are set up to give us all an orderly life that would make the whole system, very smooth and working for all. Sadly, the right ways are stamped and thrown into the dustbin.

Can we learn from the master, to fulfill all righteousness. A young man meets a young lady and they agree to marry. Before both families come together to officially accept the two as couples, these people start living as couples. Our current world view seems to see no problem with it, yet so long as God who instituted marriage says it is not right perpetrators would definitely suffer the consequences of their error. We do not live in only a purely physical world, but there are spirits, who would come at you when you break divine laws and standards. Moral laws and standards are broken left and right. Please whoever you are, it does not matter your status in society   if you fail to observe all righteousness you would pay dearly for it. Your status cannot exempt you from the horrors of electricity, if you do not handle it in its right ways.

What happened after the Lord had observed all righteousness. The bible says right when He was baptised the Holy Spirit descended on Him. The heavenly father spoke and said this is my beloved son, in whom I’ m well pleased. His mission was properly started.

CONFESSION

Thank you, heavenly father. I commit my life to knowing your right ways, and doing them. It does not matter, how humbling an act may demand, so long as it is ordained by God to be observed, I would rigorously go through it.

THOUGHT:  DOING THINGS RIGHTLY MAKES LIFE SMOOTHER

FURTHER STUDIES

Prov 3:5 KJV Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Prov 4:27 KJV “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Heb 4:15 KJV “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

The Lord Jesus was absolutely victorious in all He did. Our key scripture says He was tempted at various points yet He was without sin. In St Matthew narration about Him, he talked about His temptation in the wilderness, immediately after being baptised and subsequently filled with the Holy Spirit. The bible said, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil Matt 4:1. In this time of temptation He fasted. The reading suggests He fasted in order to overcome the temptation. The other view is that whiles He fasted the tempter also did His job.

In all, there were three major temptations. Mark 1:13 also suggests He was there with wild beasts. All these added up to the temptations. The wild beasts could have stirred up fear, yet the Lord will have none of that. Fear had no place in Him.

What is the essence of temptations. The tempter seeks to make the child of God to break faith with God. One’s ability to overcome the temptation, strengthens His commitment, and knowledge of the Lord. According to James 1:2-4 temptations make us perfect and want nothing, only if we overcome.

The temptations of the Lord were in three categories.

1.To satisfy the appetite of the flesh, without waiting for the appropriate occasion. He was hungry, and so must use His power to make stone to become bread to satisfy that hunger.

 This would mean, He becomes a slave of His appetite.

Today’s great failure of our institutions and world is because men are slaves of their appetite, and they would do anything to satisfy that appetite. It could be sex, drink, food or what have you?

2. Once again he the devil challenges His sonship. He played on His pride. He then asked Him to throw Himself down so the angels would save Him. Satan suggested to him to abuse power again, but justifies His trick with a scriptural quotation. Please the fact that one quotes the scriptures does not mean he or she is right. The Lord saw his error and then gave him the right scripture. Have a good understanding of the scriptures, so you would not be deceived.

3. Lastly, he tempted Him with an offer of reigning over the kingdoms of the earth, and so demanded that Jesus worships Him. He tricked Him this time too, by telling Jesus all the kingdoms were his, and must worship Him. Worshipping Him means Jesus had submitted His superior authority into His hands. The Lord refused, and declared that only God must be worshipped.

How did the Lord overcome all these?

Jesus had decided to please and honour His Father before His personal considerations. Failure always results from placing our own interests before God’s word. The Lord then used the word to stop the devil.

CONFESSIONS

Father, you are highly exalted, I live to honour you. My interest only leads to failure. It is in pleasing you that I win over the tricks and strategies of the wicked one. I will always seek your glory and honour always.

THOUGHT: IF YOU PLACE GOD FIRST YOU CANNOT BE LAST, YOU WOULD BE SECOND

FURTHER STUDIES

Matt 4:4 KJV “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Matt 4:10 KJV “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

KEY SCRIPTURE:1Co 2:16 KJV” For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Our key scripture asks, who has the mind of Christ? He answers his question by saying we have the mind of Christ. We have considered a number of thoughts concerning the mind of Christ. Jesus is filled with thoughts of pleasing the father. This is exactly what should occupy our minds. We must be consumed with thoughts of honouring and pleasing the Father. This should culminate in actions that would bring satisfaction to the heart of the master.

The son said I always do that which please the fathers. Our minds ought to be filled with ways that we could be of useful service unto Him. We could serve Him by winning souls unto Him as He has commissioned in the great commission. We could also serve Him by serving in the body of Christ in various capacities. Example is serving in the choir, serving in protocol teams, serving in the intercessors group, or individually cleaning up the church.

We bear the mind of our master by maintaining a Christ consciousness. A Christ consciousness is to acknowledge that it is no longer us that live, but Christ who lives in us. Gal 2:20a”. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” In this mental state we see ourselves as Jesus Himself who has taken over our bodies. We talk as He would talk. We love as He loved. We forgive as He would forgive. We heal the sick as He would heal. We maintain that sense of Him living through us and doing things through us.

With this way of thinking sin is not a factor. Fear of various forms is non existent. We see Satan as fully defeated who cannot stop us from doing whatsoever the Lord asks us to do for Him. He is at home in us and we face all challenges with the mind of a master. We do not consider failure as an option. It is Christ in us, not us and so, we can’t be victims, but will always be victors.

CONFESSION

Christ in me, the hope of glory, an end to shame, failure, disease, hatred, anger, but now I am filled with peace, power, and prosperity. I am the light of my world.

THOUGHT:  MAINTAIN THE MIND OF CHRIST AND WALK IN THE VICTORIES OF CHRIST.

FURTHER STUDIES

1Co 6:17 KJV “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”

Phi 2:5 KJV” Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Heb 11:6 KJV” But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

In this series of studies, we are looking at the various aspects of the personality of Jesus, His priorities, and His general philosophies to life. The Lord led the most successful life since He did everything to please the Father. He remains the best example for anyone to follow. During His days on earth, He showed us what moves God the most. He said faith in God moves God into action. Our key scripture shows us that without faith, it is impossible to please or attract  God. The Lord Jesus was always moved with excitement when He encountered anyone who expressed faith in God, or Him. In Matt 8:9 when the centurion who sent for Jesus to come to heal his servant, sent to tell Jesus that, he was not fitting to have Jesus under his roof, but the Lord should only say the word and his servant would be healed. The Lord was really amazed at that answer. He quickly asked them to go for the servant was healed.

Why is faith in God so important to Him?

God is a Spirit. Faith is operated through the heart, where the spirit of man is Faith is also an act of the spirit. God can only be encountered not in the senses or reason but through the spirit. Believing God also declares that God is just or righteous. God subsequently justifies he that believes in Him. Rom 10:10 KJV “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” We believe with the heart and so are justified or made righteous. The Bible is such an amazing book because it is a compilation of the exploits of people of faith.

Believing God’s word is of great importance to us. Jesus described little children as the kind of people that have easy access to heaven and the father as well. Children are very receptive and easily yield. This is what faith in God is all about. It is a total surrender unto God. Faith is casting your life on the faithfulness of God.

Faith in God is not a mental issue yet it begins with a decision to let the heart yield to what the word says. It grows by yielding to the word of God. Faith also grows through meditation on the word. Finally, our faith gets more robust through practicing the word.

Matt 7:24 KJV” Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:”

Just consider this scripture. Heb 11:33 KJV” Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, He Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

CONFESSION

Thank you, heavenly Father, for the gift of faith. Faith is not an initiative of us men, rather it comes from you, God by your faith in us we overcome every onslaught of the devil .

THOUGHT: MY FAITH DELIVERS VICTORY INTO MY HANDS, AND I CAN’T GIVE UP ON IT

FURTHER STUDIES

Heb 10:35 KJV Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Heb 11:1 KJV” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 15:15 KJV” Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

The Lord Jesus was a very diligent leader who was very serious with whatever He did. Despite His diligence to duty, He found time to relate to His disciples in a very cordial way. He actually got the best out of them, because never broke the laws of God. He said I sanctify myself so they may be sanctified. He was a real motivation to them in all things. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, He encouraged him not to make anyone despises His youth, but to be an example,

1Tim 4:12 KJV “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

The Lord was also an example to His disciples. They were even prepared to die like He died.

We see the friendliness in the master when He called His disciples. He has some of them nicknames. Mark 3:17 KJV “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:”

In John 13:23 the bible said one of His disciples leaned on his chest. Can you imagine a leader who was so close to His disciples in such a way? Even Judas dipped his bread into the bowl of the master when they were eating. John 13:18. In our key scripture He says He no longer calls His disciples, servants or slaves, but friends because He has made everything known to them.

As I said in the first paragraph, it is in breaking God’s laws or word that makes leaders lose their authority. In spite of this, a leader cannot stoop so low, in such a way that His subordinates tend to despise his authority. In light of the above explanations, what makes friendship leadership very important? Good associations help in building loyal relationships. It only takes a devil to become disloyal, as Judas did. The bible called him a devil. Good associations help in passing on information or ideas on the heart of the leader to his associates in a quick and easier way. Such information flows fast, and they learn a lot from the leader. The Lord Jesus taught His disciples more in an informal way than formal. As he walked along with them, He shared important teachings with them. They also asked questions without being afraid of Him. Jesus truly loved His disciples.

What makes leaders to relate on cordial levels with their associates? The answer is Humility. It takes a humble mind to relate in a very cordial and friendly way with your associates. Those who maintain a stern bossy face soon lose their associates. The man may not brake away but might have broken away in his heart.

PRAYER.

Dear Father I pray for all leaders to be real examples to their associates, yet very friendly as well to them. May they play these two roles to perfection.

THOUGHT: A FRIENDLY LEADER WINS HIS ASSOCIATES

FURTHER STUDIES

John 13:1 KJV “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

John 15:15 KJV” Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: Joh 14:10 KJV” Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

On our key scripture, the Lord spoke about the Father in Him who does the works. Who is the father in Him? Before the birth of Christ, the Angel explained to Mary, the to be mother of Jesus, what would be happening to her. “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:35. Jesus came from the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the Father in Him. The Lord throughout His ministry consistently remarked that He did nothing without the Father. John 5:30 KJV” I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

The preceding verse is a very strong statement. The Lord said He does not seek His own will in whatever He foes. This implies He must of necessity ask the counsel of the Spirit before taking any step. In His mind the only sure way for a successful lifestyle is to do always the will of the Father.

He said in John 8:29 Joh 8:29 KJV And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. What a life!  In the light of this He always go to the Father for His counsel. Jesús’ deep prayer life was as a result of His pursuit of the Father, to know His will on any matter. It would have been great for all children of God to relate to the Holy Spirit that way.

With this understanding, we must not treat the Holy Spirit as an extended boy.it is the highest level of ignorance of who the Holy Spirit is to say to the Spirit Holy Spirit go and do this or that for me. You must attend to Him with a great deal of respect. You may say something as Dear Holy Spirit or Please Holy Spirit. Qualify Him with an adjective of honour. Example Glorious Holy Spirit. He is God, the creator of the universe. Your proper attitude to Him gives you the right frame of mind to relate with Him , to bring results.

CONFESSION

Dear Holy Spirit, you are my father. I am totally subjected to you in all I do. I always seek His counsel and assistance in all matters. I have a heat and a glorious life, because I have the Almighty Holy Spirit ad my help.

FURTHER STUDIES

John 14:17 KJV “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

Joh 15:26 KJV “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 2:17 KJV “And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”

An activist is a militant reformer. We have encountered such activists in men or women who stage a revolution. Such men are fearless and even ready to die to achieve their course of bringing the kind of change they desire.

The Lord Jesus came at such a time that the Israelites had a history of going through cycles of hoping from exile to hardships because they broke the laws of God. This was the reason for the synagogues and the evolution of the pharisaic group that taught God’s laws, so they would not enter into those punishments. As a result of this, they established the Pharisaic group who were the custodians and teachers of the law that would make them obey God’s laws and not incur His judgment when they broke the law. Unfortunately, these Pharisees and the high priest made the practice of the law a tradition of men. The Lord Jesus came to establish a new order of relating to God. It was also a new covenant. The Pharisaic order, coupled with the Roman administration was a very tall order for Him to overcome. He needed to be very strong and tough to penetrate this order and establish the new order.

He needed to be resolute and set His face as a flint. Isaiah 50:7 KJV “For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore, shall I not be confounded: therefore, have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” Flint is a very hard rock. From the very first time, He started His ministry to the final day He died; He was faced with hostilities. They were constantly at His heels to cause Him to err against the Roman regime or the law of God. The story of our key scripture is about The Lord Jesus who made a whip to drive out all those who were selling and changing money in the temple. He overturned their tables and actually cleaned up the temple.

He was not in any way afraid of their faces. He told them the truth always. Herod who killed John the Baptist, could not intimidate Him. Luke 13:32 KJV “And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.”

He was totally given to doing the will of God and so when Peter rebuked Him about not going to the cross, He addressed Peter as Satan who perverted the way of God but exalted the ways of men. Matt 16:21-24

 The Lord boldly went to the cross to suffer such shame because He came to establish a new order. What do we learn from His example?

CONFESSION

The student is never greater than the master

As the Lord selflessly committed His life to achieve so much for the Father, so do I commit my life, to also be an activist, challenging the standards Satan has set in place to influence humanity.

THOUGHT: A PLANTED LIFE WILL ALWAYS MULTIPLY RESULTS.

FURTHER STUDIES

Matt 10:24 KJV “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.”

John 12:24 KJV “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

KEY SCRIPTURE: John 5:8 KJV” Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”

The Lord Jesus never prayed for any sick person to be healed. He always gave commands or just asked the sick person to arise. This was how the Lord instructed His disciple to do. Matt 10:8 KJV “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”

In our day, we mostly pray for a sick person to be healed. We can find this in the epistle of James to the brethren. Apostle James wrote. Jas 5:14 KJV” Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:”

Now, what is the impact of the James approach in comparison to how the Lord ministered to the sick? The two may be effective depending on the level of faith or spiritual understanding that the individual has.

Normally most ministers of healing who approaches the healing by giving commands to be healed on a number of occasions understand their spiritual authority. Because of the understanding they have about faith in God as well as the absolute defeat of the devil, they get quicker results.

A minister, Smith Wigglesworth met a man who had no foot on one of his legs. This man of God asked the man to go get knew shoes for his foot. The man acted on the instruction and went to a shoe shop. At the shop the shop attendant looked at the man’s legs and told him they don’t have his type of shoes, since he had no foot to wear a normal shoe. The footless man insisted he wanted a normal pair of shoes and even gave the size he wanted. The attendant found one which he paid and then put his clubbed foot into these pair of shoes. To the amazement of the attendant and the man himself, the footless man had a new foot growing out to fill the shoes.

This is a miracle which required the faith of the minister as well as the man. Miracles are normally worked out through definite actions of faith.

The Lord also instructed people to act out their faith. Examples are the blind man He smeared clay on his eyes and asked him to wash in the pool of Siloam. Another event is the lepers he asked to show themselves to the high priest.

May we learn from the way Jesus ministered to the sick, so we can also see greater results.

CONFESSION

I am a representative of the Lord. I do all things in His name. I seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to minister to the sick. So long as I act in faith God honours His word, to set the sick man free.

THOUGHT: ACTING LIKE JESUS BRINGS HIS KIND OF RESULTS.

FURTHER STUDIES

John 11:43 KJV “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”

Acts 3:6 KJV “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”