Perísseuma (περίσσευμα): Part 1. “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”: The Mind-heart connection, inner healing and the dimension-shaping reality of quantum processing
[Reading Time: 14 minutes]
perísseuma
‘A surplus, or superabundance’
From perisseúō: ‘To overflow in abundance.”
5 occurrences in the NT
This initial writing will focus on the first usage in the Gospels.
Summary Synthesis
The opening use of perísseuma centers all the words that we speak directly in our heart; for there exists, according to Jesus, a deep and intrinsic connection between our mind and our heart, such that
“out of the abundance (perísseuma) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Mt 12:24).
The context of this statement, however, is not a philosophical oration of Jesus about the mind-body connection. Rather, and quite fascinatingly enough, it is his response to the Pharisees immediately after they had accused him of healing a “demon-possessed man” that was “blind and mute.” He had healed this man, they claimed, by none other than
“Beelzebul, the ruler (árchōn) of the demons” (Mt 12:22, 24).
That is to say, Jesus performed an exorcism and healed a demon-possessed man…by an arch demon??
To this Christ uttered the now famous response:
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (12:25).
A heart that is divided, in short, breaks down. And the subsequent words that flow out of such a heart mirror this inner division such that they too devolve into progressively deeper confusion.
As the Kingdom of God, however, breaks into the fallen structures of our Third Dimension through the Person of Christ, it opens up reality-shaping pathways within the deepest parts of our being to the quantum healing of the Fourth Dimension.
We will begin with a verse-by-verse commentary on Christ’s healing of this demon-possessed man, exploring the mind-heart connection and concluding with a brief synthesis of the mechanisms being elucidated in the realm of quantum processing.
Detailed Analysis
A demon-possessed man healed by an arch demon??
The first instance of perísseuma occurs in the dispute that arises when Jesus heals a “demon-possessed” man that was “blind and mute” (Mt 12:22-23).
As to the particular nature of his malady, Calvin explains,
“Many persons, no doubt, are blind and deaf on account of natural defects; but it is evident, that this man had become blind, and had been deprived of the use of speech, though there was no defect in his optical nerves, or in the proportion of his tongue.
We need not wonder that so much liberty should be allowed to Satan in injuring the bodily senses, when God justly permits him to corrupt or pervert all the faculties of the soul.”
When Jesus meets this beleaguered soul, the text declares very simply,
“and He healed him” (Mt 12:22b).
At this miraculous restoration, the crowds then erupt in amazement, asking the question,
“Could this be the Son of David?” (Mt 12:23),
And the Pharisees, who verses before had
“plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him” (12:14),
now seek to take back their religious control over the crowds and suffocate their Messianic question. They do this by an extraordinary accusation:
“This man does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler (árchōn) of demons!” (12:24; cf. Mt 10:25).
That is to say, Jesus is restoring a man from the entropy of disease through….apparently…the demonic power of Beelzebul (the chief Philistine deity originally known as Baal-zebul, who had come to be associated with the devil himself).
Again, it is through this arch devil that Christ had…apparently…just worked healing, restoring an oppressed, afflicted son of Israel to wholeness…right??
That, again, is their claim.
Messianic signs or dark deception?
In the mind of the religious establishment, Jesus and His Messianic signs of healings are a threat to their power base. What can they do when they are witnessing with their very own eyes Isaiah’s prophecies being fulfilled?
How else would you explain what is happening?
For the reality is that this man, Jesus, has somehow been anointed with an other-worldly power such that He is able
“To heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound (Is 61:1b).
How are the religious hierarchs to respond?
The ever-growing witness of His healings cannot be denied…yet His person and character and motives can always be attacked.
They had already taken counsel verses before “how they might destroy him” (Mt 12:14). Now they begin what will be a near continuous stream of false accusations:
Jesus is not a healer Who has been anointed by the living God to bring freedom to the captives.
No, no, no.
If you get below the surface, He is actually an evil sorcerer, anointed by the devil himself to work darkness into the people, in a way that blinds them to His true motives. But what is more, He does this precisely by… fulfilling OT Messianic signs and healings.
He’s that evil. That deceptive—using the appearance of “good works” to deceive.
Or…maybe…just maybe…that is all false.
And the same one, who tested Jesus in the wilderness by quoting Scripture in a way that distorted its true meaning, is now seeking to distort the meaning of Christ’s Messianic signs.
A house divided
How, then, does Jesus respond to these distortions, contradicted by the flesh-and-blood testimony? That is to say, there was a man blind and mute oppressed by a demon who is now fully healed. And this healing is what the Pharisees use to accuse him.
What is His reply?
The text says that Christ
“knew their inward thoughts” (enthýmēsis).
And He responds to the deep reflections lodged within (en) their inner emotions (thymós) with the now famous words,
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation,
And every city or house divided against itself will not stand (12:25-26a).
Then Jesus moves from the general to the specific,
If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.
And thus, the question immediately arises,
“How then will his kingdom stand?”(12:25-26).
How could Jesus be casting out a demon through the power of a demon? To exercise a demonic power requires a power greater than any demon.
From Messianic signs to the coming of God’s Kingdom
It is only God Who has power over the entirety of the natural and supernatural realms. If Jesus is now exerting such power in casting out demons, what does this all truly mean?
It is not by a demon but by the “Spirit (Ruakh) of the LORD God” (Is 61:1).
He continues,
“If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you” (12:28).
For
“How can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (12:29).
If, however, we reject the coming of this other-worldly power, then we become a part of the fallen system that continually resists His Messianic rule.
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (12:30).
The lines that follow go even further.
The Unpardonable Sin
It is in Jesus’ subsequent warning where we find the word, perísseuma.
“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men” (12:31).
What?
There is sin that cannot be forgiven?
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him;
But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (12:32).
Much ink has been spilt on these lines. For the purposes of this writing, we will merely say that the Holy Spirit takes all that is of Christ (forgiveness, grace, wisdom, healing, etc.) and brings it down to us in the here and now.
From the Fourth Dimension down into the Third.
If we reject the Spirit then we reject the transforming power of JHWH. As such, God can, so to speak, do nothing for us or in us.
We become trapped in the entropy of the fallen, Third Dimension.
A command for the legalist
The Pharisees, however, have defined themselves, not by their relationship with the Father, Who can bring life to them from above, but by the work of their adherence to the Law. Christ then, as it were, meets them where they are…and gives them a command:
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt (saprós) and its fruit rotten (saprós);
For a tree is known by its fruit (12:33).
The central problem, however, is that their heart…when all the superficial religious coverings are stripped away…is corrupt. And as this corruption works its way down to the deepest level of their beings (thymós), no degree of command-keeping can “make” it “good.”
And so Jesus continues—and this is where we find the first instance of perísseuma in the NT.
“Brood of vipers!
How can you, being evil (ponērós), speak good things?
For out of the abundance (perísseuma) of the heart the mouth speaks” (12:34).
What kind of treasure?
Jesus continues,
A good man out of the good treasure (thēsaurós) of his heart brings forth (ekbállō) good things,
And an evil man out of the evil treasure (thēsaurós) brings forth (ekbállō) evil things” (Mt 12:35).
It should be noted here that the verb, ‘to bring forth’ (ekbállō) is the same word that can mean to ‘cast out’ or ‘exorcise’ (Mt 7:22, Mt 8:16. Mt 9:33-34,, etc.). When we open our mouths, we ‘cast out’ that which lies deep within this treasure vault…be it good or evil.
The treasure vault of the heart: A word from the Desert on the heart as a multi-dimensional portal
The depth of good and evil within the human heart was spoken of centuries ago by Macarius of Egypt (c. 300 – 391). In his understanding, the heart is not merely a passive organ but a multi-dimensional reality with unimaginable depths, functioning as a kind of portal between this Present Age and the dimensions of eternity…be they good or evil:
He declares,
“Within the heart are unfathomable depths.
It is but a small vessel and yet dragons and lions are there, and poisonous creatures and all the treasures of wickedness; rough uneven paths are there, and gaping chasms.
There likewise is God, there are the angels, there life and the Kingdom, there light and the Apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasures of grace: all things are there” (43.7).
“All things are there”—An absolutely extraordinary statement. Our heart is neither a mere anatomical organ, nor simply the center of our emotions, but a complex realm overflowing (perísseuma), both with the darkest of evils and the highest divine treasures of light.
From the Proverbs to Modern Physics
But what is more, that which flows out of our heart has the power to actually form the pathways of reality. For the treasures stored inside it—to say it again, be they good or evil—possess the distinct capacity, in Solomon’s words, to “determine the course of [our] life.”
We are called, then, to
“Guard our heart with all diligence
Or more literally,
“Keep [nâtsar] our heart [in a way that safeguards something most precious]
more than any guard” [mishmâr, with the utmost protective vigilance, as a sentry guarding his post]
And why?
“For out of it are the sources of life” (Prov 4:23).
With the GWT translating it as
“because the source of our life flows from it.”
And the NLT even more directly,
“for it determines the course of our life.”
We could add to this the later Proverb,
“As a man thinks (shâ-ar) in his heart, so is he” (Prov 23:7).
The verb here conveys the idea of carefully ‘estimating and calculating.’ In Greek, the parallel is logízomai, from which we derive the term, ‘logic’ with the meaning of the verb form being to ‘logically determine’ something based on our calculations.’
That is to say, our inward thoughts are not mere momentary flights of emotion, but calculating quantum computers.
The developments from Newtonian Mechanics into Quantum Processing
These concepts take us into a quite fascinating intersection of linguistics, neuroscience, and quantum theory.
Quantum processing in the brain, particularly through the lens of the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) theory proposed by Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff, suggests that consciousness arises from quantum computations within microtubules—tiny protein structures inside neurons.
Unlike the linear, deterministic framework of Newtonian mechanics, which models systems as predictable and sequential, quantum processing operates on principles of superposition, entanglement, and probabilistic outcomes.
In this model, microtubules act as "minuscule quantum computers," integrating vast amounts of information non-linearly. This allows for highly complex, adaptive processing that could underpin how inner thoughts (perisseuma of the heart) shape neural pathways.
Emerging research highlights that quantum effects, such as coherence and tunneling, may influence neurochemical processes—like neurotransmitter release or ion channel activity—potentially amplifying how thoughts rewire neural networks via neuroplasticity.
This, again, contrasts with classical models where thoughts are mere byproducts of firing neurons in a stepwise fashion. Instead, quantum processing suggests a dynamic, holistic system where the "abundance" of inner states could collapse into specific realities (e.g., spoken words or actions), mirroring quantum wavefunction collapse.
In this way perisseuma reflects not just a surplus of emotion or intent but a quantum-driven overflow, where integrative processing in microtubules bridges the immaterial (thoughts) and material (neural pathways, speech), shaping reality in ways Newtonian mechanics can’t fully explain.
Extraordinary!
The perisseuma of thoughts flowing out of our heart can shape our particular reality.
The Hebraic understanding witnessed in the Proverbs and taken up by Jesus centuries later highlights this profound integration, opening us up to concepts that would take millennia to be more fully elucidated.
Conclusion: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the neural structures of reality is formed
This is, no doubt, much to take in, especially as it requires a paradigm shift in our understanding of reality from the static, linear and mechanical to the dynamic, holistic and integrative. This being the case, we will continue to explore these concepts in our next synthesis writings, demonstrating with real-life examples how our thoughts, when aligned with the Fourth Dimensional realities of the Kingdom of God, bring such realities down to the here and now in ways that bend and reshape it.
Amen!
So may it be!