Biblical Passages

Literal Interpretation

Spiritual Interpretation

Mark 6:39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.6:40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.6:41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.6:42 And they did all eat, and were filled.6:44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

John 6:12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

6:13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed

Jesus wants to feed all of the people who have come to spend time with Him.

He realizes there is not enough food for 5000 men, so He says a prayer and the fish and bread were divided into thousands of pieces and every one ended up having enough food, and they even had some leftovers.

He reminds them that they came seeking miracles but instead ate so much that their stomachs were now full.

He then tells them not to labor for meat (go fishing?) because it will spoil, but to labor for meat that never spoils-perisheth, like the meat that the Son of Man will give them.

Jesus has special meat that never goes bad?

"It is evident that the bread of which the disciples ate and were filled was the heavenly bounty; for in verse 33 of the same chapter it is said: "For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 97)

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Although there is no question that Jesus could have literally performed this miracle, another way to interpret this is: The 12 baskets represent the 12 apostles who were familiar with Jesus' teachings/ parables and He instructed them to break up the 5000 men into smaller groups as the apostles went around the green grass countryside and took different loaves of bread and meat/fish = heavenly words of God and fed these teachings to the 5000 men. The fragments  that remained over and above may represent any questions that the men had and needed more guidance on.

Jesus tells the disciples that it is much more difficult to grasp the meat = eternal spiritual truths of God, than it is to catch a fish.

Biblical Passage

Literal Interpretation

Spiritual Interpretation

Luke 17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 17:18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

10 lepers in a village ask Jesus for mercy. Jesus told them if they want mercy they should go see their priests. They did and they were "cleansed"

One of the 10 lepers realized that he was not only cleansed but he was "healed."  He then turned back toward Jesus and loudly glorified God while falling to the ground.

Jesus then wants to know where the other 9 lepers are?

He clarifies the fact that all 10 were cleansed by the priests but why haven't the 9 others come back to see Him?

Did Jesus really only like one of the ten lepers and allowed him to be "healed ?"

What does it mean to be cleansed as opposed to being healed?

Is it better to be cleansed of leprosy and not to know the new word of God?

Did the other 9 merely get a sponge bath from the priests, and the one got special help?

We testify that when He(Jesus) came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 86)

Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.1:42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

1:43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; 1:44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man:

Leprosy is obviously a terrible unfortunate disease and I do not mean to sound like I am belittling it in any way. Many cultures believe that people with leprosy are possessed by evil spirits and that they are unclean and are being punished by God for sins they have committed. Having said this, it makes sense why the lepers ask for cleansing-healing from Jesus and not to be alleviated from the symptoms of the disease = skin lesions, peripheral nerve damage, weakness, eye damage etc.

A few times in the Bible, after Jesus performs a miracle, He sends the person away but commands them not to tell anyone of the miracle. Why? A miracle is truly & only a miracle intended for the person who receives it or witnesses it. Jesus knew that if people went around emphasizing these miracles,  they would lose sight of His true mission, which is to teach the world about God's Kingdom and salvation.

Luke 17:19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

 John 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. Mark 10:51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.10:52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

There are a few stories in the new testament that tell about Jesus performing miracles for blind people. For some reason there seems to be a lot of people in the Holy Land who are blind (no vision from their eyeballs)?  Jesus wants the blind to see and he wants the Pharisees to go blind?

Jesus wants everyone to have sight because he doesn't think that legally blind people will believe that He is the Messiah, unless He cures them of their literal blindness ?

 There is no doubt that through the power of God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus can perform any miracle He wants. Mark 10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. However, sticking with the theme of John 6:63 (It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life), it seems that it would be more important for a spiritually blind man to be granted the gift of spiritual sight-insight, because he will take this gift of sight with him to heaven-forever. If he was literally blind and only received 20-20 vision for a few years, but did not understand God's message, this would not stick with the theme of all of the other teachings of Jesus.

John 11:1

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

John11:3

Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

11:4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Is Lazurus sleeping or is he literally dead? Is he sick from some earthly disease? Lazarus and Jesus are already friends, and he is certainly familiar with Jesus' teachings. Jesus tells Lazarus' sister that he is dying because he has lost his faith in God.

Is he literally dying or spiritually dying-dead-asleep? Every person (eventually) literally dies of this earthly body. Did Lazarus then live forever, or did he die at a later date?

 John 11:11 ...Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

The deeper spiritual message of the story of Lazaurus is that the spiritually dead can be raised and blessed with eternal life, even if they wait to believe in the words of God on their death bed.