Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 10:03 AM
Subject: spiritual question
Question:
Matthew 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
These verses sound like Jesus is a separate entity and at the right hand of God, what do you have to say?
Pastor Vitale's response:
XXX, do you know that this is a Scripture that Jesus challenged the Pharisees on?
Matt 22:41-23:1
41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
46 And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. KJV
Jesus, the man/personality, in the days of His flesh was a separate entity from God. We, mankind, in this low world, are separated from God. That is why we need a Saviour.
Christ in the midst of us, the manchild that we hope to birth (we shall be saved in child bearing), is the offspring of the Father. So, Christ, who is the Son of the Father, is our (the personality’s) connection to the Father. That is why Christ Jesus is called Mediator, the only Mediator between God and man.
Your question (“it sounds like Jesus is a separate entity”) presumes that the word “lord” refers to “Jesus” in the days of His flesh, but it does not. The word “lord” refers to the Christ that was living within and through the man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus in the days of His flesh, and the Christ in the midst of Jesus, are not the same person.
The miracle of Jesus’ ascension is that the personality named Jesus of Nazareth was completely joined/braided together with the Christ in the midst of Himself.
Together, the two formed one new, spiritual man, the glorified Jesus, who breathed out of the physical body of Jesus of Nazareth and ascended up to a higher world. Somewhere between the time He breathed out of His physical body and 3 days thereafter, that physical body of Jesus of Nazareth dissolved and disappeared.
Eph 2:15-16
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: KJV
The reason this question was a stumbling block for the Pharisees, is that they, as well as the Jew today and many Christians, do not understand that the man Jesus was called Christ because Christ, the Son of Jehovah/LORD, lived inside of the human being called Jesus. In other words, Jesus was not Christ in his own right in the days of his flesh. Jesus was Christ only because Christ, the Son of God, lived within him.
Jesus could say, “I am the Son of God,” only because he accurately acted out in this world, what Christ, the Son of Jehovah/LORD who lived in the midst of him, desired to say and do.
Question:
And what does it mean make thine enemies thy footstool?
Pastor Vitale's response:
The Greek word translated “footstool” means “foot,” which signifies the Carnal Mind.
Also, there is an untranslated word in that verse, Strong’s 5270, which means “down under.”
The Lord’s judgment upon Cain is that she shall be driven down under Abel’s authority.
“to sit” is a Hebraism for “to marry.”
Jehovah’s right hand signifies the right side of the Sefirotic Tree, the side of mercy (Chokhmah, Chesed, Netzach).
And Jehovah said to Christ [within David], continue to be an expression of my right hand [of mercy] until I utterly prostrate (make) the Carnal Mind (footstool) [of Jesus of David, the personality/soul that you live in and are “saving”], until I drive [Cain], your enemy, down under [your (Abel/Christ’s authority].
Christ is the resurrected Abel.
The suggestion here is that once David’s Carnal Mind (Satan and Leviathan, Cain’s strength), are prostrated, and Cain is driven down under Abel/Christ’s authority, David would become spiritually male, and, thus, anointed to judge sin (the left hand of YKVK) in addition to manifesting YKVK’s right hand, the mercy of God.
And Jehovah said to Christ [within David], continue to be an expression of my right hand [of mercy] until I utterly prostrate Carnal Mind [of David, the personality/soul that you live in and are “saving”], until I drive [Cain], your enemy, down under your (Abel/Christ’s) [authority]. (Matthew 22:44, Alternate Translation Bible)
Copyright © 2007, Sheila R. Vitale. All rights reserved.
Needless to say, Jesus was telling the Pharisees that He was the Son of David and that this Scripture was talking about Him.
Love, Pastor Vitale.
