"You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas." (John 1:42)

Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter). (John 1:40-43)

What is Jesus doing with Peter?

Jesus is taking Peter as his disciple - naming him Cephas. This word means, "like a stone."

Just as John the Baptist took on Jesus as his disciple, Jesus took on Peter as his disciple. And just as John took on other students and disciples, Jesus also followed in his footsteps and took on other followers and disciples. This is a long-honored tradition among saintly teachers, and the basis for passing on the teachings of love for God.

Confirming this, we find practically every saint and prophet became a student under a saintly teacher. In some cases, the teacher was the father of the student. In other cases, a priest anointed the student:

"[God speaking]Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve Me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” (Exodus 40:15)

This lineage of priests and their students becoming priests has continued through the centuries. In the case of David and Solomon, we also know that David requested the priest Zadok and Nathan the prophet to take Solomon to Gihon. What happened in Gihon? The Old Testament says:

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. (1 Kings 38-39)

What is anointing?

The presumption was that the "anointing" was merely the appointment of Solomon as king. Why would a priest have to do this, however? Why couldn't David simply just select Solomon and be done with it?

We also see this same "anointing" is considered in the book of Samuel, as it applies to Samuel and David:

Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either." Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, "Nor has the LORD chosen this one." Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these." So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.(1 Samuel 16:1-13)

So we can see from this discussion that "anointing" was not simply the choosing of a king. The anointing process was taking place between one of God's loving servants (in this case, Samuel, who did the will of God) and someone that God has chosen to be anointed. Notice that after the anointing, "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David."

In other words, the "anointing" process was not the choosing of a king, but a ceremony that represented God's selection of one of His representatives. Note also that David was Jesse's son. Who was Samuel? David's spiritual teacher.

We can see the same tradition of teacher to student with respect to Samuel in the Old Testament:

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
"My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me."
Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."(1 Samuel 3:1-10)

So again we see here that Samuel had a spiritual guide and teacher, Eli, and "he ministered before the LORD under Eli". This illustrates the process of learning under a teacher and servant of God, as the path towards establishing our own relationship with God.

Is this a succession of teachers?

Notice also how Eli called Samuel "son" even though Samuel was not actually his genetic offspring. Samuel was Eli's student.

This tradition continued throughout the Old Testament, even to Jesus' day. When John the Baptist hesitated to baptize ("anoint") Jesus, Jesus said:

“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matt 3:15)

Remember that Jesus also took on disciples.

This indicates a continuation of the process of handing down God's message from teacher to student. It is the process that God has empowered, because God enables us to come to know Him through His loving servants. This process concludes in the student also following in the footsteps of his teacher, and working to pass on God's message just as his teacher did.

This is the process that is empowered by the Supreme Being. It is a succession or lineage of teachers, passing on the Truth from one generation to the next.

"Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit....." (John 1:47-50)

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."
"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel."
Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that."(John 1:47-50)

Was Jesus the 'king of Israel'?

the word "king" here is translated from the Greek word βασιλεύς (basileus). According to Strong's lexicon, this word can mean "leader of the people," or "prince," or "commander," or "lord of the land." It can also mean "king."

Obviously, Jesus was not a king in the common sense of the word. Jesus held no legal governmental authority that could have attributed the word "king" to him.

The word “king” here is thus a mistranslation. The better translation is “leader,” as taken from the lexicon. This would fit the circumstances of the situation and the English language.

Interestingly, the word "Israel" here may not mean a region or country as it does today. This Hebrew word means, literally, "he shall be a prince of God." This name was given by God to Jacob, and it is assumed that this is a character identifier rather than a common name.

While "leader of Israel" is an appropriate translation, one could certainly make the case that what Nathaniel was describing Jesus as also representing the lineage of Israel - referring to those who love and serve God.

What does 'Son of God' mean?

Now let's consider Nathanael's statement regarding being the Son of God, and then afterward, Jesus' own use of the word "son" in the context of "Son of Man":

Here the Greek word that has been translated to “son” is υἱός (huios). This may indicate a relationship of offspring in the limited sense of the physical body, but it is more appropriately defined, as taken from the Greek lexicon, to mean "one who depends on another or is his follower."

Furthermore, the Greek word that has been translated to "man" is ἀνθρώπου, which can mean "man" but can also mean "humankind," "people" or "humanity."

Thus, within the context of the self-reference of υἱὸς τοῦ [of] ἀνθρώπου, the more appropriate translation would be something like:

"servant of humanity" or "servant of the people"

We find this alternative use for the word "son" throughout the scriptures For example, we see this use of the word "son" as follower or servant in this text spoken by Eli to his student, Samuel:

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” (1 Samuel 3:6)

"Son" is also the wrong translation used in connection with υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ or "Son of God." Let's consider how the term "Son of God" is used in the larger context:

...the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.(Genesis 6:3-5)

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Jesus, Matthew 5:8-10)

...because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:13-15)

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. (Romans 8:18-20)

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:25-27)

We can see by these statements that the use of the "Son of God" is much broader than simply Jesus being the only Son of God. We are certainly seeing this among Jesus' disciples as well.

Are we saying that God can only have one son? Are we saying that God is now impotent since He had His one son and no one else?

Certainly, this is ridiculous. God has innumerable children. He has directly created each of us. It is not as if, as the politically-driven Synod of Nicea - assembled by emperor Constantine in the fourth century as part of his effort to control Europe and the middle east through the control of the Christian church - Jesus is the only begotten Son of God while we are all indirect sons of God. This is preposterous. We are all children of God.

Rather, as we can see from the use of the phrase "sons of God" in the texts above, the word "son" was used to signify a loving servant of God: Someone who has, out of freedom of choice and love, given their life to God. The "Son of God" is someone who has dedicated their life to God.

While we find many references to "Son of God" in the Bible that many sectarian teachings have singled out Jesus as the only Son of God.

In reality, this reference is describing a particular role or position, not one single person. When the prophets in the Old Testament refer to a coming "Son of God" they are referring to someone who will take on the role of loving servant of God and become God's representative.

This might be compared to the word "ambassador." While we might refer to someone in particular as "ambassador," we will also refer to the duties of a person in that role in general. A person might say, "the ambassador will represent the president of the United States and all of the people of the United States." This would be a correct statement that could be applied to a particular person who is currently holding that office, as well as any other future person who may hold that office in the future.

But if someone says, "there will only be one ambassador," well that is another story altogether. What about those who served as ambassadors of the U.S. before this particular ambassador? How about those who will succeed the ambassador currently holding office?

This is the same misconstruction that has happened within the sectarian world. Because of a combination of two things:

1) The desire of emperors, popes and bishops (and other sect and church leaders) to control the people and thus declare that Jesus was the only Son of God (i.e., if there were others, they would lose their control)

2) Those not becoming servants of God themselves. Because they did not follow Jesus and surrender their lives to God and become the loving servants of God, they instead took on this falsehood of just proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God and then supposedly being saved by Jesus (salvationism - a selfish desire that has nothing to do with serving God).

We can see this also in Acts, where Jesus is described as God's servant, yet it is translated to "Son of God" in the King James version. In the New International Version, it has been translated correctly:

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus. (Acts 3:13)

Here the Greek παῖς or ‘pais’ better translates to "servant" than "son."

The combination of these two elements has created this misconstruction of the notion of Jesus as the only Son of God. In fact, we are talking about Jesus being the loving servant of God. And as he says above in Matthew 5:8-10, we can all become sons of God simply by following Jesus' instructions, the first and most important being:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

What is a better word instead of son then?

When most people hear the word "son" they conjure up a male offspring. Sometimes a supervisor or older person might also greet a younger man as "son." But this is quite rare compared to the typical application of the word "son" in modern English.

From a spiritual context, this creates quite a bit of confusion because a son is typically a physical offspring. When we try to apply this term applied to the physical body to a spiritual context things get confusing.

Now let's consider the true meaning of the words being translated to "son" in 'Son of God' and 'Son of Man.' What the heck is a "Son of Man"? Does this make any sense?

Remember the translation of υἱός (huios) to "follower" or "loving servant." This also applies to the meaning of “Son of Man.” The use of "man" is not a single "man" here. It is not one man, but men in general. In other words, mankind, or humanity.

Here Jesus is describing himself as a “servant of mankind” or a servant of humanity. In other words, he feels that he has come to serve people by bringing them the teachings of God. This is certainly the highest service, as Jesus is practicing the second greatest commandment:

"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matt. 22:39)

The reason the second command is like the first is that once a person loves God, they will automatically love all of God's children. It is automatic. They will instantly feel saddened by the state of existence that some of God's children are in as they (we) are ignoring God and not loving God. Thus, the loving servant of God will work to deliver the message of love of God to all of God's children.

What is 'heaven and earth opening' mean?

Consider Jesus’ next statement. Jesus predicts that they will see heaven opening, and angels ascending and descending on the servant of humanity. What is Jesus saying here?

Jesus is saying that he will be teaching them about God, and those teachings will open the gates of heaven to those men (the translation from Greek refers to a plural “you”) who accept the guidance of God's representative.

Should they follow the teachings of God's representative(s), they will guide them back home to the kingdom of God. Notice that some of the angels are "descending." Why?

These are God's representatives - angels - who are being sent down to earth to teach us about God. It isn't that God is losing some angels and gaining others. They are coming and going because God is sending them and bringing them back. It is a passageway, that allows God's messengers to descend to the earth, and bring others back home, back to God's kingdom. And why are they on the "backs of the Son of God?"

It is because as these angels descend from God's kingdom to bring us back, they become loving servants of humanity. They bring God's message to us as a gift. And the message: If we also become God's loving servants (sons of God) we will be happy, and will return to our eternal loving relationship with God.


*Here is the translation of these verses from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, and said of him, “Truly, an Israelite in whom there is no deceitfulness.” Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to him, “Rabbi, you are the Representative of God; you are the leader of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I saw you under the fig tree, you are believing? You will see greater things than this.” (John 1:47-50)

"I who speak to you am he." (John 4:26)

This statement by Jesus came after the Samaritan woman said:

“I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” (John 4:25)

Is Jesus the Messiah?

The word "Messiah" is translated from the Greek word Μεσσίας (messias) and the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (mashiyach). We'll discuss the meanings below.

By all accounts from the New Testament, we find that Jesus was indeed considered Messiah.

But according to the Jewish interpretation, Jesus was not the Messiah. This interpretation suggests that the Messiah still has yet to come. 

According to some other sectarian interpretations, Jesus was the Messiah, but Jesus still has to come again to save the faithful. 

So both of these doctrines apparently consider there to be only one Messiah. For the Jewish sect, he has not yet come. For other sects, he came as Jesus but he is coming again.

The key question both of these sectarian interpretations bring up: Why would God – the most Powerful Being in all of existence – only be able to create one Messiah for all of humanity? Is God impotent?

And why would God make everyone wait for that one Messiah - long after most have died? 

And if God will send another Messiah, why hasn’t He? Does God not care about us? Does God not want us to be saved? If so, why would all of His believers have to wait for thousands of years for this one Messiah to come (or come again) - long after their bodies have decomposed?

We can only conclude that both interpretations make no sense. They are interpretive speculation put out by those who claim to have authority from God, but actually don’t.

Let's dispel these erroneous doctrines, using Scripture as our guide:

What does Messiah mean?

The Greek word used in this verse is Mεσσίας (messias) - used only twice in the New Testament, here and in John 1:41 - which means "anointed one" according to Thayer's lexicon.

Other versions of the New Testament (such as NIV and others) translate the Greek word Χριστός (Christos) to "Messiah." But this Greek word also means "anointed" according to Thayer's lexicon. This word has been translated to "Christ" in King James and some other versions.

Furthermore, the word "Messiah" is only used twice in the Old Testament, in the Book of Daniel. This is translated from the Hebrew word מָשִׁיחַ (mashiyach) as mentioned above.

The Hebrew word for "Messiah" also means "anointed priest" according to Gesenius's lexicon. 

What does anointed mean?

We find a clear description of the meaning of "anointed," "anointed one" and "anointed priest" as we review the Biblical texts:

[God speaking] "Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve Me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue for all generations to come." (Exodus 40:15)

[God speaking] "This is the offering Aaron and his sons are to bring to the Lord on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening." (Lev. 6:20)

He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. (Lev 8:12)

The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments. (Lev 16:32)

He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. (Num 35:25)

[God speaking] "I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in My heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before My anointed one always." (1 Samuel 2:35)

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord." (1 Samuel 16:6)

[God speaking] "Do not touch My anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." (1 Chron. 16:22)

[David's prayer, referring to himself as anointed] "O Lord God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David Your servant." (2 Chron. 6:42)

[David glorifying God and referring to himself] "He gives His king great victories; He shows unfailing kindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever." (Psalm 18:50)

[David glorifying God and referring to himself] The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one. (Psalm 28:8)

[God, referring to David] "I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him." (Psalm 89:20)

[Isaiah, glorifying God and referring of himself] "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners..." (Isaiah 61:1)

[an angel of God, speaking of Zerubbabel and Zechariah] So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth." (Zechariah 4:14)

[Jesus, speaking of himself] "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed..." (Luke 4:14)

Thus we can conclude that God's anointed priest or anointed one is a person who has become a devoted servant of God. Someone God has empowered to represent Him and teach others. 

Using this understanding, we can conclude that God considered all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament as anointed. He considered the priests to be anointed. He considered those who He sent to teach others as anointed.

Why would "anointed one" be used in a singular fashion then, such as in:

"The Lord is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one." (Psalm 28:8)

Is David speaking of some person in the future? No, David is speaking of himself, in the singular:

Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on Your anointed one. (Psalm 84:9)

But You have rejected, you have spurned, You have been very angry with Your anointed one. (Psalm 89:38)

Is Messiah a role?

We can see in the Psalms above that David is referring to himself as "anointed one" (Messiah) as if the "anointed one" is a role, title, or position. And we can see that anointing was considered a type of consecration and God referred to this as a role as he instructed that His priests be anointed.

This means that the anointed one - or Messiah - was considered a role in Scripture. Those who were anointed became God's representatives - His priests. His Messiahs.

Let's use an example. Let's say that a military person has undergone the training and schooling, and has been given the title of "captain."

This person is now addressed as "captain" by both superiors and subordinates. He might also refer to himself to those superiors or subordinates as "your captain," or even "the captain." (e.g., "I am the captain," he says to his soldiers.) Does this mean that there is only one "captain" in the military? Certainly not. There are many who hold the position of "captain," and many in the past have also held the position of "captain."

At the same time, however, there is only one "captain" in any particular unit, and that "captain" is in charge of the unit. Therefore, anyone in the unit can refer to the captain as "the captain" and everyone else will know precisely who he is referring to.

But if someone outside of the unit referred to "the captain," now that would be confusing, because which unit's captain were they referring to?

This is the same issue that has occurred in scripture, and why some have inferred that there is only one Messiah (anointed one).

“Messiah” can also mean “savior.” This specifically refers to the pure loving servant of God who is empowered as a messenger from God to teach us about God. They have been empowered by God to save us, in other words.

A Messiah is a position, not a specific person. God has sent many Messiahs. And He will continue to send Messiahs to earth. God is not impotent. He can produce multiple Messiahs - multiple representatives who can each guide us back to Him. 

Were Jesus' disciples also Messiahs?

We can see the process of anointing in action during the life of Jesus. We see that Jesus baptized his disciples. Baptism is a form of anointing. Oil was not readily available to impoverished preachers. So water was used.

Then we see how Jesus taught his followers and confided with them about God. Then after some time, he instructed those who were ready to teach others:

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. But be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matt. 10:16-20)

The last sentence describes God's mechanism of how God communicates through His empowered representatives.

Why would Jesus tell his followers to go out and teach if he were the one and only Messiah or savior for humanity? Why would he send his students out to preach if he was saving the entire human race with his crucifixion, or by his coming back sometime in the future?

As we compare this statement by Jesus with the statement by Jesus about himself in Luke 4:14 (above), we can see the pattern. We also see this same pattern in John the Baptist's preaching, and in the many prophets before. They all taught about God, and taught that their serious followers also go out and teach the same teachings. They were all God's messengers, and thus Messiahs.

Quite simply, we can see that Jesus is showing his followers how they can also become representatives of God. They can also, like Jesus, become an instrument for God to speak through. This also means they would be able to save people: they would, as long as they followed Jesus' instructions, also become saviors or Messiahs.

What is the Messiah's purpose?

The Messiah has a personal relationship with God, and introduces others to God. And should we accept that introduction we become saved.

The legend of some future one and only Messiah has been promulgated by those teachers who are not anointed. They have not been empowered by God. Instead, they have been elected by councils of men. Thus their teachings are political in nature. They do not represent God, so they must make up an interpretation that somehow gives their organization some exclusive right or power. They have to present their organization as the exclusive means to reach God.

The problem becomes, how do they create this exclusive access? They must create a future icon who is supposedly going to come in the future. This gives them the ability to fabricate exclusivity. This gives them the ability to say that once the Messiah comes he will only be picking those who have joined this organization.

Consider the consequences of this future one and one Messiah: What has happened for all those billions of people over the centuries who have come and gone (and even joined the organization) while humanity waits for the Messiah to come (or come again)? Have they just missed the boat? Or are they all just waiting in some kind of gigantic “waiting room” for that magical day to come?

The speculative idea that everyone get held in some kind of waiting room (or “purgatory” some like to call it) after death is just that: speculation.

When we, each a spirit-person, leave the physical body at death, we will move on. In most cases, this will mean a new physical body according to their consciousness and past activities. Typically there is a period of reflection on the previous life and some learning experiences between our physical incarnations. These add to the learning experiences of our physical lifetimes.

God loves us. He wants us to come home. He is constantly sending His messengers (Messiahs) to gather up those who are seeking Him from every generation.

And the day of judgment spoken of in scripture is the day each of our bodies dies. Each of us will be judged for our lifetime in the body. At that moment we will face the judgment of our Maker, and face the consequences of our activities within this lifetime.

At the same time, each of us has an opportunity to come home at any time. We simply have to make the decision. God is waiting for us, out of love and compassion. If we make the decision to come home to Him, God will arrange for us to meet His representative, who will re-introduce us to Him.

Does God require exclusivity?

The real Messiah of God does not fabricate exclusivity. Why not? Because the empowered representative of God doesn't need to. God's representatives do not teach exclusive means to access God. They teach that any one of us can turn to God and access Him at any time.

God does not require exclusivity. Any of us can pray to God and thus access Him at any time.

Yes, the most efficient way to discover more about God from within this physical world is from someone who already has a loving relationship with God. Knowing more about God is critical. Love of God requires that we establish a relationship, and we cannot love someone we do not know.

But there is no need to panic. Each of us also has a spiritual guide outside this world who is helping guide us back to the Supreme Being. We can speed this process through humble prayer. The Supreme Being can reveal Himself to us as He wishes, relative to our sincerity. He is never restricted.

Yes, Messiahs are rare in this world. This is because the physical world is the place where those who don't want to be with God go. 

That is why the Supreme Being also provided us with Scripture, to be able to look back in time to understand the teachings of those Messiahs He has sent us in the past.

One who sincerely seeks to return home and renew our lost loving relationship with the Supreme Being can seek Him from within our hearts. God will guide us towards Him and utilize those guides He considers appropriate.

We can rest assured that God cares about each and every one of us. He is watching over us, and wants the best for us.

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent me ..." (John 4:34)

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 4:34) 

Who is the 'Him' Jesus is referring to?

Jesus is undoubtedly referring to the Supreme Being here. This is who Jesus loves, and this is who Jesus is  serving.

This statement clearly identifies that Jesus is living for God. He is acting on behalf of God. He wants to please God.

Curiously, the sectarian translators and institutions that published the NIV and most of the other versions do not capitalize the words "Him" and "His" in this statement (the capitals were added in the NIV translated verse above). Why not?

We find this issue throughout the New Testament, as translators have repeatedly missed capitalizing references to God in Jesus' teachings.

This is because these translators - like the Pharisees Jesus was speaking to - know nothing about - what Jesus is referring to here.

Why is this the 'food' they 'know nothing about'?

Before Jesus says this he said:

"I have food to eat that you know nothing about." (John 4:32)

Now that we know what he was describing, we can correlate that Jesus is saying they do not know about this "food" because they weren't interested in doing the will of the Supreme Being.

This key statement by Jesus defines his central mission and his prime directive. It also clearly defines who Jesus is, spoken by Jesus himself.

With this statement, Jesus clearly defines himself as God's servant and representative. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me" means that Jesus identified himself as God's servant and God's messenger.

The Pharisees and the priests of the institutional temple system of Jesus' time knew "nothing about" this because they were more interested in their own self interests. They were interested in their positions within the temple system. They were interested in being honored and respected by parishoners.

Why is this considered 'food' by Jesus?

If someone does someone else's will, then they are subjugating their will to that other person's will. Why would doing God's will be like food to Jesus?

The primary purpose of food is to provide the body with its basic nutritional needs. In order to keep the body going, we must have food.

The spirit-person does not need this sort of physical food because the composition of the spirit-person is spiritual. 

But the spirit-person needs another form of food for sustenance. This is the food of love.  

Each of us needs love. Because we are each a spirit-person, we need love. This is why we chase love throughout our lives. We want others to love us. And we want to give love to others. This is why families are so important to so most of us. Because families are a source of the exchange of love.

Jesus is speaking of the exchange of a higher form of love: Spiritual love. He is speaking of exchanging love with God. This is spiritual food.

That's what doing God's will is. It is an act of love. It is an exchange of love.

This is why Jesus compared doing God's will to his food. Because he becomes fulfilled by exchanging love with God.

This was Jesus' primary objectvie: To please God, whom he loved.

The concept of pleasing God bothers many of us. Why? Because we don't want to please someone else. We don't want to do someone else's will. We want to be the king of our lives. We want to do what we want. We want to please ourselves.

This also goes for those who use Jesus to get what we want. To pray to Jesus to get wealthy or to help our football team win is not tasting the spiritual food that Jesus is speaking of.

Was Jesus God's servant?

This is essentially what Jesus is admitting to here. To do someone else's will means to serve them. Jesus saw himself as God's servant.

He is teaching by example to be God's servant. Furthermore, Jesus is teaching that God sent him. This makes Jesus God's messenger and representative.

If someone says that someone has sent them, then they are representing the person who sent them. They become the sender's messenger. This means that Jesus is God's representative and messenger.

The fact that Jesus is mentioning food also means that Jesus is thriving from His service to God. This is his pleasure. This is what Jesus enjoys. Jesus is not focused on his own pleasure. He wants to please the Supreme Being. Jesus confirmed this simply in another statement:

"... for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." (John 5:30)

This is not such a foreign notion to most of us. Most of us have experienced at some point "falling in love" with another person. While "falling in love" is but a tiny glimpse of love for God, from it we find that there is a kind of pleasure in loving and caring for someone else besides myself. Why?

Are we meant to serve God?

By nature, we are all lovers and caregivers. We are by nature not masters. We are caregivers. We were created by the Supreme Being to love and serve Him, and love and serve each other.

But because the Supreme Being wants an exchange of true love, he also gave us the freedom to love Him or not. Without the freedom not to love God, how could we truly love Him?

This is the reason we are here in this temporary physical world: We are the ones that chose not to love Him. We are the ones that rejected our loving relationship with the Supreme Being. And because we wanted to be independent of Him - He kindly gave us a dimension where we could pretend He doesn't exist. A place where we could focus on ourselves and pretend to the bosses and masters, even though we aren't.

One might compare this to parents who give a child their own room so the child could get away from the parents sometimes. The child can close the door and play alone without the parents. But this doesn't mean the child is independent of the parents. It also doesn't mean that the child is now the boss of the house. It just means the parents gave the child the freedom to exercise some independence.

Doesn't this mean that Jesus is not God?

If someone does someone else's will, there are obviously two individuals involved, each with their own will. One who does another's will is subjecting themselves to the other out of choice. In this case, out of love.

The interpretation that Jesus is God was born from those organizations that sought to gain authority by virtue of exclusivity. This is a product of politics, not service to God.

To claim that the loving servant of God is God is to forget God. This is offensive to both Jesus and God. This is why Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

"Moreover, the Father judges no one ..." (John 5:22-23)

"Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him." (John 5:22-23)

Is the 'Son' the 'judge' here?

This is a mistranslation.* This translation incorrectly indicates that the Supreme Being does not judge anyone, and the "son" - assumably Jesus - is the exclusive judge. This contradicts many statements all over the scriptures that God is our ultimate judge.

Jesus is explaining how the Supreme Being empowers His loving servant and representative. This is confirmed by the translation below.*

Did Jesus take over God's position?

Is Jesus God? No. This is misinterpreted from a mistranslation.

Let's clarify and correct the translation.*

The words "judges" and "judgment" have been mistranslated. The Greek word translated to "judge" is κρίνω (krinō), which has the following definition according to the Greek lexicon:

1) to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose

2) to approve, esteem, to prefer

3) to be of opinion, deem, think, to be of opinion

4) to determine, resolve, decree

5) to judge

Notice that "to judge" is the fifth use of the word κρίσις (krisis). In other words, there are four more common meanings of this word. The first is to select or choose, while the second and third are to approve, esteem or deem.

Likewise, "judgment" is being translated from the Greek, κρίσις (krisis) which is similarly translated to separating or selecting, and less commonly to judgment. In other words, the most common (and applicable here) meaning of κρίσις (krisis) and κρίσις (krisis) would be to select or choose.

Why is 'select' a better translation?

Certainly, the Supreme Being will let His messenger select or choose those whom he wants to take in as his students and disciples, and ultimately bring back home to the spiritual world. This does not mean that the Supreme Being gives up the position of judge. God is still the ultimate judge.

The key to the true meaning of Jesus' statement also lies with the translation and use of the word "son".

Quite simply, "son" is a mistranslation that began with the Latin translation by professional translators working for the Roman emperor Constantine and his political council of assembled "bishops." The interpretation was also developed during the politically-oriented Nicene Council, which developed the Nicene Creed for the purposes of controlling Europe and the religion of Christianity.

The idea was that if Jesus could be made into the exclusive means to reach God and be saved, then they could control the people. Therefore, the Nicene Creed and Latin translation of the Bible - both of which were forced upon the people via the Roman Catholic Church that dominated Christianity for over 1,000 years - to interpret that Jesus is God's exclusive "son," extending that exclusivity to mean that Jesus is also God.

Is Jesus God incarnated?

This is their doctrine, but it is contradicted by scripture. Such a doctrine created an exclusivity that made it so that no one could reach God unless they joined the official church sanctioned by the Roman empire.

In fact, those who did not subscribe to these official religious interpretations approved by the Roman empire were typically imprisoned and/or burned at the stake. And Constantine, supposedly a convert, murdered his wife, his brother, and many others around him. He was a blood-thirsty and power-hungry ruler that would utilize any means to remain in power: Bending the scriptures to fit his agenda? No big thing.

Furthermore, Jesus is referring to a role rather than exclusively himself. This is why he referred to "son" in the third person. There are other "sons of God" according to the Bible.

The word "son" in this verse has been translated from the Greek word υἱός (huios). While this might indicate a relationship of offspring. The lexicon clearly states that the translation of this word to "son" is applicable "in a restricted sense, the male offspring (one born by a father and of a mother)." And since Jesus is not speaking of one born by a father and mother here, "son" is a mistranslation.

Rather, the more accurate translation, taken from the Greek lexicon, is "one who depends on another or is his follower." This is the more appropriate translation in the context of one's relationship with God.

This would mean the more accurate translation would be "devoted follower" or "loving servant."

To prove this as the correct translation, let's review other uses of the Greek word υἱός (huios) in Jesus' statements in the Bible:

"But the subjects [υἱός (huios)] of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)

"The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people [υἱός (huios)] of the kingdom." (Matt. 13:38)

“Say to Daughter [υἱός (huios)] Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” (Matt. 21:5)

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child [υἱός (huios)] of hell as you are." (Matt. 23:15)

“How can the guests [υἱός (huios)] of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them." (Mark 2:19)

"Truly I tell you, people [υἱός (huios)] can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter" (Mark 3:28)

"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children [υἱός (huios)] of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." (Luke 6:35)

"Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers [υἱός (huios)] drive them out? So then, they will be your judges." (Luke 11:19)

“The people [υἱός (huios)] of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children [υἱός (huios)] of the resurrection." (Luke 20:34-36)

Does υἱός have different possible translations?

Yes. Let's summarize the different words that have been translated from the Greek word υἱός (huios) from Jesus' statements above:

• subjects of the kingdom
• people of the kingdom
• daughter of Zion
• child of hell
• guests (actually better translated to servants) of the bridegroom
• people
• children of the Most High
• followers
• children of this age

What is the commonality among these phrases? The subject - υἱός (huios) - is a subject or follower of the next thing - the kingdom, Zion, this age, the Most High, etc.

Thus what we have here is a meaning to this word υἱός (huios) that relates to being a follower or a devoted servant or a subject of someone or something.

Jesus is calling himself a devoted servant of God - or a follower of God - a loving servant of God.

This fact is also confirmed by the phrase, "children of the Most High" in Luke 6:35.

Thus we find that υἱός (huios) is being used to describe someone who is a devoted follower or subject to the context of that particular statement. When the context is hell, the υἱός (huios) is a follower or subject of hell. When the context is "the kingdom" the υἱός (huios) is a follower or subject of the kingdom. 

But when the context is the Supreme Being - as it is in Jesus' statement in John 5:22 (e.g. "the Father"), we know that υἱός (huios) is referring to someone who is the follower or subject of the Supreme Being: A devotee or loving servant of God - who when preaching, would be God's representative.

Thus we can more appropriately translate "son of God" in the Bible to "Representative of God."

Also notice that Jesus is referring to υἱός (or huios) in the third person. Jesus does not say, "The Father gave me the exclusive ability...." Rather, he is talking about υἱός (huios) in the third person.

For example, if a person was a captain of a ship, those who were on the ship might call him captain. But this doesn't mean the captain is the only captain to ever exist. Such a captain might say "a captain's duty is to steer the ship." This is a general statement that would define the role of captain - for every captain.

In the same way, Jesus is utilizing the third person as he speaks of the relationship between God and His representative (rather than "son") because "representative" is a role, rather than an exclusive position for Jesus alone. 

At the same time, Jesus is also recognizing that this role is special - just as a captain's role might be - in that it has specific authority, as granted by the Supreme Being.

Does God empower His representative?

Jesus is telling his students that the Supreme Being empowers His loving servant to represent Him. Again this might be comparable to a captain of a military ship, who is empowered by his government's military to command that ship.

We can see how God empowers and delegates with Jesus' statement as well. Consider delegation in the workplace. Let's say a business owner promoted an employee to become a manager, and then gave the manager general instructions on how to run the business. The manager will execute those instructions, but in a way that he or she feels is most appropriate for the situation, right?

So let's say the manager decides to fire someone. They didn't do a good job, and the manager saw them goofing off. Does the owner of the business go behind the manager's back and rehire the person after the manager fired them? Would that be a good business practice? No. It would completely undermine the authority of the manager. It would show that the owner did not trust the manager. The owner did not support the manager's judgment.

On the other hand, a good owner would support the manager. Once they delegated the management position, they would only intervene if either the manager requested it. Otherwise, they would trust the judgment (here selection and choices, not ultimate judgment) of the manager.

In the same way, God sends His loving servants as messengers to bring us home. God has had many messengers. Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Job, Jonah, David, Solomon, John the Baptist, and even many of Jesus' disciples were God's messengers. 

God empowers His messenger. He gives them certain authorities with regard to spreading His message. When God's messengers spread His message, they are supported by God.

Certainly, God doesn't need anyone to help Him communicate to us. God communicates directly to each of us through the Holy Spirit.

But God also wants to understand love for God from the perspective of someone who already loves Him. This is the purpose of His sending Jesus and other messengers.

God is also allowing those who care about Him to do some practical service for Him by spreading the teachings of love for God.

Why does not honoring the "Son" not honor God?

Remember that the "Son" is referring to a role. God's representative - or messenger. This is someone who is representing the Supreme Being much as an ambassador is representing their country.

Using this analogy, if another country were to disparage an ambassador, they would effectively be disparaging the country - because the ambassador is representing that country and its government.

In the same way, if someone does not honor God's representative they will be insulting the Supreme Being, because of the close relationship between God and His representative.

God is pleased when His messengers work to help bring other children of God home to Him. They work to please the Supreme Being. 

Because God loves each of us and wants us to come home to Him, those who help Him in that effort are empowered by Him.

Indeed, there is also a close relationship between God and His messenger. This is a loving relationship whereby each of them wants to honor the other.

This is typical of any loving relationship. Consider a husband and wife who love each other. The wife is always looking for the husband to be honored, and will always speak highly of him (assuming she truly loves him). The same for the husband. The loving husband will always want to honor the wife.

In the same way, God's loving servants are always honoring God and speaking of God's glories. So naturally, God wants to honor His loving servants. 

While Jesus spoke generally of himself as a messenger ("son") of God, we know Jesus is an exalted loving servant of God, who is to be honored as God's representative. 

Jesus' position as God's representative renders the greatest honor to Jesus. 

To claim Jesus is God is to dishonor Jesus. Jesus loves God. And Jesus wanted us to become lovers of God. This wasn't an underhanded attempt by Jesus to get us to love him. Jesus wanted us to love someone else - God.

Therefore, to claim that Jesus is God is to ignore the Supreme Being - the very Person that Jesus wants us to love.

By praising God, we can honor Jesus. We can exalt him and follow his teachings because His teachings were about how to love and serve the Supreme Being.

To follow Jesus means to work to please God. This is why Jesus said:

“Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50)

 

*Here is the translation of these verses from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"Furthermore, neither does the Creator select anyone, but He has entrusted selection to the Representative, so that all may honor God’s Representative just as they honor the Creator. He who does not honor God’s Representative does not honor the Creator who sent him." (John 5:22-23)

"Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set ..." (John 5:45-47)

"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" (John 5:45-47)

Why does Jesus refer to Moses as their accuser?

The reason is that Moses was (and is) the central spiritual teacher of the Jewish nation, and Moses delivered to the Jewish nation many instructions and commandments from God. Therefore, Moses was God's representative, and the institutional temple priests that Jesus is speaking to here held Moses as the father of their faith.

This is confirmed by the word "hopes" - as in "Moses, on whom your hopes are set." The word "hopes" is not the best choice of translation.* The Greek word ἐλπίζω (elpizō) can mean "to hope" but also "hopefully to trust in."*

In other words, because these institutional temple priests are supposedly relying upon Moses' teachings, and presented to the people that they represented Moses, they will have to answer to Moses, not Jesus.

We can understand two clear things from this: We can understand that Jesus held to the standard of taking instruction from a particular representative of God and then passing those instructions on. This is the standard that Jesus accepted, rather than a standard of blindly following the teachings of an institution. 

Coming to know and love God is a personal thing: It is not a group thing. A relationship with God has nothing to do with our standing with a particular organization or congregation: It is between each of us and God. Jesus taught love of God to personally introduce us to the notion that we could have a personal relationship with God.

Were they hearing Moses' teachings?

Thus Jesus is clarifying that while the institutional temple priests were presenting to others that they had some special connection with Moses, they indeed were not even focused on what Moses actually taught. If they were, they would have recognized that Jesus was the embodiment of Moses' teachings. Jesus was functionally practicing and teaching what Moses taught.

So what did Moses teach? Consider Deut 6:5:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5)

And what did Jesus teach?

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt. 22:37-38)

Jesus says this is the "first and greatest commandment," yet the instruction is identical with the instruction of Moses. Why would Jesus quote Moses and then say this was the first and greatest commandment? Because they were teaching the same thing.

Furthermore, Joshua also confirms the essence of Moses’ teachings:

“But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to obey His commands, to hold fast to Him and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul." (Joshua 22:5)

We can see that Joshua was also teaching the same thing as Moses taught, and as Jesus taught. So we can see here that Joshua, the student of Moses, is truly representing Moses to the people, because his teachings are consistent with Moses.

How did Moses write about Jesus?

Is Jesus saying that Moses wrote specifically about Jesus? Because Moses’ focus was to instruct the Israelites about loving and serving the Supreme Being, Jesus is the embodiment of those instructions. Jesus is carrying out those instructions. He is loving God. He is serving God. He has given his life to God, just as Moses instructed.

And because Moses instructed his students to work for the pleasure of God, Jesus carried out Moses instructions. Thus Jesus could say that Moses’ teachings were about him. Yet Moses’ teachings were also about Joshua, David, Solomon, Job and so many others who also gave their lives to God and worked to please God. They all embodied Moses' teachings.

Context is important. Jesus is speaking to those who were saying they represented Moses but were not living by the primary central instructions of Moses. God was not the center of their lives. 

Rather, they were so caught up in the organizational minutia and rituals of their priestly positions. Their focus was in maintaining their positions of authority. This is why they were questioning Jesus, instead of realizing that Jesus was the pure loving servant of God: Moses' true representative.

The institutional temple priests were wearing priestly clothes and following rituals discussed in the scriptures. But they were not living the central instruction of Moses. 

They did not get (or teach) the essence of Moses' teachings. This is actually no different than some of today's sectarian priests, ministers, reverends, popes, cardinals and bishops who claim they represent Jesus. They may wear the robes and practice so many rituals. But do not focus on "the first and greatest commandment.”

Moses also said:

“And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear [honor and respect] the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

This is the essence of Moses' teachings, and what Jesus’ life and teachings were all about. Jesus was perfectly following the instructions of Moses: Jesus was loving and serving God with all his heart and all his soul.

*Here is the translation of Jesus' statement according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"Do not think I will accuse you before the Creator; the one who accuses you is Moses, upon whom you put your hope. For if you trusted Moses, you would trust me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not trust his writings, how will you trust my words?” (John 5:45-47)

"The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent." (John 6:29)

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." (John 6:28-29)

How is this 'the work of God'?

The translation* above focuses the question on "the work of God." Did Jesus really say that to "believe in the one He has sent" is the "work of God"?

This makes absolutely no sense rhetorically. "Work" relates to doing something - an activity. And "to believe" is a principle or feeling.

Yes, the Greek word ἔργον (ergon) can mean, "business, employment, that which anyone is occupied" according to the lexicon. But it can also mean "an act, deed, thing done."

In this case, the topic is what is being done to please the Supreme Being - not just a job or work that one does in exchange for compensation. Thus what is being discussed is not the work of the Supreme Being - the issue is about what is pleasing to God. Doing what pleases God.

That is what a person does when they love someone. They don't do "work." They find out what is pleasing to the one they love, and they do that.

In other words, Jesus' followers are asking what pleases God, and Jesus is telling them what pleases God. Therefore, an action of the body or an act of the heart may fulfill this question, because both are a "thing that is done."

Why is believing this so important?

Here Jesus is answering a question that arose from his students. From Jesus’ statement, we know there are two distinct individuals being discussed – the Supreme Being and God's messenger ("the one He has sent"). In other words, there is a sender and the one being sent – two personalities.

Therefore, we can know clearly from Jesus' statement here that he is not and never claimed to be God. He was identifying himself as God's representative – God's messenger. To send someone means to dispatch a messenger.

So why is "believing" in God's messenger so important?

The word being translated* to "believing" is πιστεύω (pisteuō). This word means "have confidence" and "to entrust a thing to one" and "to be entrusted."

In other words, Jesus is not speaking of belief. Certainly, his students all believed in Jesus. Jesus is speaking of trust: Trusting

Why is this about trust?

Just consider what we currently trust. We might trust in our family, or our job, or our health. But none of these things can truly be trusted because none of them will last. Once our body dies, all of these things will disappear.

Trust in the sense that Jesus speaks goes further - it is putting one's life in the hands of the person we trust. It means to surrender oneself or give of oneself.

This lies at the very crux of spiritual life: The loving relationship between God and His loving servants. To trust the loving servant of God is to honor the one who is being served - the Supreme Being. It means to put oneself under the shelter of the Supreme Being.

Trust in what?

Furthermore, to "trust" in Jesus means to trust in his instructions, because those instructions are ultimately coming from the Supreme Being. And by trusting in the instructions of God's messenger, we can learn to enter the relationship of love that exists between the Supreme Being and His loving servant.

To enter into such a relationship of loving service with God is to satisfy the primary instruction of Jesus, Moses, and all other bonafide representatives of the Supreme Being:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matt. 22:37-38)

What is a loving relationship?

Within the loving relationship between the Supreme Being and His loving servant lies the intent and meaning of all the scriptures. Within this loving relationship lies the importance of Abraham, the instructions of Moses, the songs of David, the devotion of Solomon, and the focus of Isaiah. Within this loving relationship, we see the true essence of the spiritual world.

We see the intention of God as He works to bring us back. We see the rationale for all the suffering and pain upon the temporary physical bodies of the illusory material world. We see the reason for prayer; for songs of praise; for temples and offerings. We see the reason for beauty, kindness and compassion.

We see the reason we are away from God now. And finally, we see the essence of the relationship between Jesus and God, why Jesus can say "I and the Father are one," and the reason why Jesus sacrificed his physical body in God’s service.

All of this can be seen within the relationship that exists between God and His loving servant. The loving servant is the embodiment of this relationship, simply because the loving servant works to please God, and the desire to please God is the symptom of love for God – the first and foremost commandment.

This relationship is so important to God that even God Almighty treasures this relationship, and treasures the one who shares it with Him.

*Here is the translation of this verse according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

Therefore they asked him, “What must we do to please God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “What will please God is that you trust in the one He has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

"... it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven." (John 6:32-33)

So they asked him, "What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (John 6:30-33)

What is 'the bread of God'?

The word "bread" is being translated* from the Greek word ἄρτος (artos). According to Thayer's lexicon, this can mean "bread" but also, "food of any kind." 

Food, as we all know, gives the body sustenance. Jesus is speaking of spiritual food here. Jesus is using a metaphor. This is not physical bread made from wheat flour. The "bread of God" that Jesus is referring to is love of God. 

'The bread of God' is having a loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

The reason for this metaphor is that Jesus is teaching that love for the Supreme Being gives our spirit sustenance. Love of God is fulfilling to our soul.

Jesus used a similar metaphor when he spoke of "food" they didn't know about.

This loving relationship with God is illustrated by the life and activities of Lord Jesus. He "came down" to provide us with information about the need to love God, and how we can achieve this relationship by pleasing the Supreme Being.

And what did Jesus do to please his beloved Master and Creator, the Supreme Being?

He gave up everything. Just think about it. Jesus walked from town to town with no possessions, no home, and even though many criticized him, he never wavered in his teachings and his mission to serve the Supreme Being.

What is the 'true bread from heaven'?

Remember that Jesus is answering a question related to food. The questioning said, Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Those questioning Jesus were talking about the Exodus, when Moses led the Israelites out of slavery and to Canaan. Please see below for an alternative translation* of this verse.

Thus we find that the "true bread from heaven" is the opportunity to re-connect with God, and re-develop our loving relationship with God.

Ultimately, only the Supreme Being can give us this opportunity, but He may utilize His messengers to communicate this. Through His messenger, the Supreme Being illustrates to us how we can make changes in our life in order to advance our own relationship with God. 

This is because God's messenger already has a loving service relationship with God, and can help guide us in the same direction. But it is ultimately God who gives us this opportunity. This is the meaning of "my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven."

The loving messenger of God enjoys a transcendental relationship with the Supreme Being. We may not see that relationship with the physical eyes. But we can know of it by seeing the activities of His messenger. 

Seeing those activities - seeing God's servant sacrifice his life to the Supreme Being - is the means by which we can get a glimpse of their relationship. 

This is why Jesus' crucifixion is such an important event: It is a teaching event. An event that helps us get a tiny glimpse of Jesus' love for God.

In other words, Jesus didn't just teach with words. He also taught with his actions. Through his life, we can at least partly understand what love of God is.

Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice in the physical world: His physical body. Why? Because he would not budge or retract any of his teachings, Jesus was persecuted, tortured, and murdered because of his teachings. And his teachings were about love of God.

Jesus could have escaped such a fate if he wanted to. He could have run off from Jerusalem and escaped arrest. He could have mellowed out his teachings so they wouldn't inflame the high priest. Instead, he carried on in his mission to please the Supreme Being and teach us about God.

This is the stuff of love. This is the stuff of devotion and the reason why God's representative is the "bread from heaven." Because the life and teachings of God's representative reveal the intense loving relationships that exist between the Supreme Being and His devoted children who dwell in the spiritual world with Him.

*Here is the translation of this verse according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“Very truly I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the food from heaven, but it is my LORD who gives you the true food from the spiritual realm. For the food of God is that which comes out of the spiritual realm and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33)

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will ..." (John 6:38-40)

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:38-40)

Is Jesus saying that he is God?

Many have misinterpreted this statement to mean that Jesus is saying that he is God. (See below for a clearer translation.*) 

The Jewish Pharisees listening to Jesus also thought this. They began to grumble and question:

"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" (John 6:41)

In other words, how could someone who was born among men claim to suddenly have the authority of the Supreme Being?

The primary fact not understood is that Jesus was not his physical body. His physical body was a temporary vehicle for Jesus' spirit-person.

The physical is occupied by a person of another plane of existence - of spirit - making the occupant of each physical body a spirit-person. In the case of Jesus, his physical body was occupied by a superior spirit-person - a loving servant and representative of God, whom God dispatched to teach on His behalf.

Jesus states this clearly here when he says:

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me."

Is this not clear enough? If a person says they are not doing their own will but someone else's will, does that make them the other person? Certainly not. There are still two individuals present. One is choosing to work on behalf of the other.

Furthermore, Jesus clearly speaks of two entities here: "me" and "Him who sent me." How could Jesus be the sender and the messenger at the same time?

Jesus did not become the Supreme Being and the Supreme Being did not become Jesus, just as an ambassador of a country's president does not become the president when he goes to another country. God has empowered Jesus as His representative, and Jesus furthered the will of the Supreme Being by acting on behalf of God.

Why isn't Jesus doing his own will?

Jesus is speaking of choosing to work on behalf of someone else. This is called service. And when that service is performed with love and the desire to please the one being served, that is called being a loving servant.

In the case of Jesus, he is speaking of doing the will of the Supreme Being. Doing God's will, in other words.

Jesus was God's loving servant. This is confirmed by another statement:

"I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me." (John 5:30)

What did Jesus mean by 'son'?

In this context, "loving servant," is a more appropriate translation of the Greek word υἱός (huios). The lexicon clearly states that the translation of this word to "son" only "in a restricted sense, the male offspring (one born by a father and of a mother)." Otherwise, it indicates the word means "one who depends on another or is his follower."

As described elsewhere, the most appropriate translation of the Greek word υἱός is devoted follower or loving servant, not "son," because son only applies to an offspring of a physical family according to the lexicon.

Just consider a few of Jesus' statements that utilize this word υἱός (huios) - using NKJV:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matt. 5:9)

“But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection." (Luke 20:35-36)

"The people of this age marry and are given in marriage." (Luke 20:34)

These uses of the word υἱός (huios) illustrate the alternative use of the word outside of the relationship of physical bodies - parents and their children. This means that references Jesus makes in his spiritual relationship with the Supreme Being (translated to "son of God") and to humanity ("son of man") are akin to his statement in Luke 20:35-36, wherein it is clear a more appropriate translation would be devoted follower or loving servant.

Thus we would have:

"Son of God" is thus better translated to: "Devoted follower of God" or "Loving servant of God." In the case of Jesus, depending upon the context, it would be better translated to "Representative of God." Such a case for this translation is also made in Thayer's lexicon. 

And "Son of man" is better translated to: "Servant of humanity" or "Servant of the people."

This makes more sense, doesn't it? A person who is led by God is certainly following God. And a person who is following God is certainly serving God. Furthermore, a person who is following God by saving humanity would therefore be serving humanity.

Jesus confirmed his position as servant in other verses, such as:

“For even the Son of Man [Servant of humanity] did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45)

"The greatest among you will be your servant." (Matt. 23:11)

Thus by Jesus' own admission and teachings, he stated clearly that he was in the position of servant - God's loving servant and the loving servant of humanity.

Jesus is describing the empowerment that God’s representative and loving servant receives from God. The loving servant and representative of God has been empowered by God to be able to save someone from the depths of the hell of the physical world by passing God's message on to the student.

What does the 'last day' mean?

This also is the meaning of "raise them up on the last day." Many ecclesiastical sectarian teachers would like us to believe that Jesus is speaking of some supposed day in the future where Jesus will return to earth and bring all his flock - who have been waiting after having been dead for how long? - back to heaven with him. This is actually an absurd and comical interpretation of this statement by Jesus.

"The last day" that Jesus is speaking of is the day when each person's body dies. The day the body dies is the last day of our physical life in this body. It is not some kind of mysterious "second coming" that so many sectarian teachers have predicted over and over (incorrectly) as Armageddon – its Greek word (only used once in the Bible) referring to a hilly region (“harrar”) of Megiddon – a region located in Northern Israel.

What about the "Rapture"?

Then there is this speculative concept called the “rapture” – a theory developed by John Nelson Darby in the early part of the Nineteenth century and proselytized by Cyrus I. Scofield, who wrote it into his “Scofield Reference Bible.”

The concept of the “rapture” is never mentioned in the texts of the Bible – at all. It is a speculative theory made up by sectarian teachers interested in attracting followers.

The “rapture’ theory nonsensically states that we will all wait in our graves until some moment when Jesus “comes” and frees all the believers from their graves, whereupon they float up to the clouds to meet up with their families and then float up above that to meet up with Jesus.

Perhaps these "rapturists" never dug up an old gravesite. If they had, they would have realized that within a few years, the body decomposes and turns into soil. The bugs and microbes eat it up and discharge the waste into the soil. The body will be completely gone within a few decades following death – depending upon how it is buried.

The reality is, the day each of our bodies dies we will have to leave them. This is our own personal "Armageddon." This is the day when everything we thought we owned is torn away from us. This is the day that our family is torn away. This is the day when our reputation is torn away from us. This is the day that all our plans and all our accumulated wealth are all torn away from us.

Yes, this day brings upheaval and great calamity and great wailing, as the scriptures discuss. But this is a personal event that each of us faces individually when we are forcefully pulled away from our physical bodies. Because each of us dies alone, regardless of how many family members we are surrounded by at the time.

On this day of the death of our physical body not only do we leave our body, but our lives will be judged, and our next destination will be determined. This is also called "Judgement Day." The day that we leave our bodies is our own personal "Judgement Day."

God's messenger Jesus was empowered by God with the ability to guide us towards achieving our loving relationship with God. God is ultimately in charge, but He empowers His messenger to help those who want to return to Him after their "last day."

The fact that Jesus is doing God's also explains the "oneness" that exists between God and His messenger Jesus. They have become "one" in purpose, and "one" in love. But they remain two individuals: God remains God, and God's representative is His loving servant.

But they have the same purpose because Jesus is God's representative - and thus doing the will of the Supreme Being.

*Here is the translation of these verses according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“For I have descended from the spiritual realm not to please myself but to please Him who sent me. And what pleases Him who sent me is that I shall lose none of those He has entrusted to me, but raise them up at the time of death. For what pleases my LORD is that everyone who perceives the Representative and trusts in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the time of death.” (John 6:38-40)

"No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draws him ..." (John 6:44-51)

At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:41-51) 

What does 'unless the Father who sent me draws him' mean?

Jesus is saying that those who seek the Supreme Being are directed to God's messenger and representative of God. It is God who directs us to His messenger if we are seeking the Truth.

Furthermore, Jesus is clarifying that the Supreme Being sent him and authorized him. This clearly makes Jesus God's messenger and representative.

Jesus also indicates here that the Supreme Being directs us according to our desires. If we desire to know Him, then the Supreme Being directs us to someone He has empowered to represent Him. This is the meaning of: "No one can come to me unless the Father Who sent me draws him" and "Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me."

Jesus is explaining how people are given the vision to see Jesus' relationship with the Supreme Being: God gives that vision from within, should there be a sincere desire to come to know the Supreme Being.

Via God's direct and indirect arrangements, we are each directed towards our particular goals. If we have certain physical desires, then God's physical mechanisms automatically direct us to those means. Or if we want to pretend we are religious to impress others, then God or His mechanisms will direct us to charlatan religious teachers and their institutions to achieve those goals.

But if we are serious about knowing Him, the Supreme Being will direct us to His bona fide representative.

What does 'they will all be taught by God' mean?

Jesus is quoting Isaiah when he said, "'They will all be taught by God.'" What did he mean by that? We find the meaning when we read Isaiah in context (Isaiah 54:5-13):

"For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is His Name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
He is called the God of all the earth.

The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected," says your God.

"For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.

In a surge of anger
I hid My Face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,"
says the LORD your Redeemer.

"To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.

Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor My covenant of peace be removed,"
says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

"O afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will build you with stones of turquoise,
your foundations with sapphires.

I will make your battlements of rubies,
your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones.

All your sons will be taught by the LORD,
and great will be your children's peace."

(Here is Isaiah 53 in context.)

Who are these verses referring to?

Here God is referred to as "Maker," "Holy One of Israel," "LORD" and "LORD Almighty" in the above verses.

God is communicating through Isaiah that He wants us back. He wants us to return to our relationship with Him. We belong to Him. We are His loving companions and He is our husband. He is our Redeemer. He is our ultimate Master and He loves us deeply.

But because He also gives us the free will to love Him or not, each of us has the choice to love Him or not. We have strayed from Him, but He wants us to choose to return to our relationship with Him.

We might carefully consider God's statement above: 

"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion, I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you."

What kind of God is speaking these words here? Is this coming from a vague force or cloud in the heavens? Are we talking about a burning bush or a thunderous voice?

No. The Supreme Being is a Person. He has a Personality and a Face. The Supreme Being also has feelings and emotions. He cares deeply about us. He is Someone we can love and care for. He is someone we can love and serve.

Why isn't this a common interpretation?

We might wonder why so many teachers of sectarian institutions do not see that these and so many other verses and books of the Bible are referring to a beautiful, loving Supreme Being. Why do so many interpret this as God being a vengeful, jealous and angry God?

The answer is that the leaders and teachers of these institutions are not ready to accept a superior being. We don't want to accept that the Supreme Being is greater than ourselves and He is in charge. This has caused a gross misinterpretation and in so many cases, a mistranslation of the Bible scriptures with respect to the Supreme Being.

This is a common thread among humans simply because we want to be masters rather than caregivers or servants. This has created a barrier between us and the Supreme Being - caused by our intention to be superior.

This is why we are away from the Supreme Being, and why we misunderstand His communications to us over the centuries. Because we wanted to be superior, we were tossed out of the spiritual realm into a rehabilitation center of sorts. We abandoned our natural position as caregivers and servants.

Yes, the physical world is a rehabilitation center, and our rehabilitation efforts are voluntary. This means we have the freedom to keep ignoring the Supreme Being and His dedicated children - or not. We have the choice to work ourselves back into the spiritual realm to be with Him - or not.

Now should we desire to return to Him, as Jesus stated above, He will direct us to His empowered representative. God's representative is like an ambassador in a foreign country. A traveler who gets put in jail in a foreign country will have no other hope but the ambassador of his home country to negotiate his return to his homeland.

The Supreme Being is doing the same thing when he embarks His representative. We are in a foreign country, in that this physical world is not our home. We are trapped here, without a refuge other than God and His representative. Should we sincerely desire to return home, God directs us to His representative, who guides us back home.

Is it really this practical?

No fantastic or imaginative scenarios are needed. The Supreme Being is a very pragmatic and practical person. He has a purpose for each of us - but still gives each of us the freedom to decide whether we want to be part of that purpose or not.

“I will raise him up on the last day,” refers to the time of death. Being raised up means having a spiritual consciousness at the time of death. Such a consciousness can be given to us by following the teachings of Jesus. Should we have such a consciousness, we'll be raised up back to the spiritual realm.

This is ultimately the power of the Supreme Being. Jesus states clearly elsewhere, these teachings are coming from the Supreme Being:

“My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me." (John 7:16)

As indicated, above, the “last day” is the time of death of our current physical body. Each of us has a last day of the physical body. It is not some mysterious day in the future when there will be an apocalypse (an interpretation originally conjured up by ecclesiastical teachers of the church - dictated by the Roman government - to scare followers into paying their tithings). It is the day that each of us dies. 

On that day, everything in our physical world is torn away from us: Our family, our name, our reputation, our money, our home and all our material possessions are ripped away from us in one fell swoop. This is the day that each person dreads.

This is also the day we are judged for our activities in this lifetime: It is Judgement Day. If we have taken refuge in the teachings of the representative of God, we are guided back to God's spiritual world. If not, we are given more training and sent back to the physical world for continued rehabilitation.

Why does Jesus say, 'I am the bread of life' again?

Jesus also mentioned this earlier, when he said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry."

As explained with that verse, the reason why Jesus says, "I am the bread of life" is because He is representing God, and delivering God's message - which gives life: "But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die." 

We are obviously not talking about eating Jesus. That is ridiculous. Jesus is using bread as a metaphor.

So what would Jesus be bringing to the people that would give them the ability to not die?

Why did Jesus say, 'the bread is my flesh'?

Jesus also spoke about the bread being his flesh at the last supper. Was he speaking of his literal flesh? Many teachers of sectarian institutions say that Jesus was speaking of his sacrifice on the cross, thinking that by devouring his dead physical body we are saved (as is done ceremoniously during rituals with wine and crackers). This doesn't make sense. It is also ghoulish - akin to cannibalism. Jesus was not referring to them literally eating his physical body.

Jesus many times spoke of the physical body as differentiated from our actual identity as spiritual:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...." (Matt 6:25)

He taught that we should seek the higher realm:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt. 5:6)

Why would Jesus suddenly want people to start eating his physical flesh to become saved?

So what do the metaphors of "bread" and "flesh" mean, then?

Jesus was speaking of the knowledge he was giving to others: His teachings. This is Jesus' very substance - what his focus was as he walked the earth. Jesus spent so much time teaching people. He stood before masses and he spoke to small groups. He spoke privately and he spoke publicly. 

The four books of the New Testament contain only some of his teachings. Biblical scholars say there were at least 50 books of Jesus' teachings being distributed before the Roman government compiled their own set into the Bible and banned the rest.

What does 'bread' refer to?

The use of the word“bread” as analogous to hearing knowledge from the loving servant and representative of God is appropriate because this knowledge is like food in that it satisfies the spiritual living being - assuming the person takes that knowledge to heart and begins to act upon it. This culminates with taking up the loving service to the Supreme Being. Jesus stated this elsewhere:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." (John 4:34)

Acting on the instructions from God's representative is also the meaning of "he who believes has everlasting life." "Believes" is not a good translation* of the Greek word πιστεύω (pisteuō). The word also means to trust - see below for a more appropriate translation*

In other words, simply accepting God's or Jesus' existence does not save us. Anyone can accept God's existence - even the most selfish, evil person can believe in God's existence.

Rather, Jesus is speaking of trust. This means to rely upon God. It means to trust that Jesus' instructions come from the Supreme Being, and the Supreme Being cares for us.

It means trusting that the Supreme Being wants the best for us, and everything that happens is ultimately for our welfare. The Supreme Being wants us to be happy. If we follow the instructions from God's representative, we will become happy, and fulfilled.

Jesus represented the Supreme Being as he delivered to others the knowledge about how they could come to know and love God. Once we come to know and love the Supreme Being, we can return to Him at the time of death ("raise him up on the last day.").

This is also precisely what the Supreme Being spoke of through Isaiah. God wants us to return to Him, and He sends His loving servants as His representatives to give us the knowledge and instructions to be able to return home to Him. And what is the central instruction given by Jesus, Moses and all the other bona fide representatives of God?

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matt. 22:37-38)

*Here is the translation of this statement according to the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can follow me unless the Creator who sent me guides them, and I will raise them up at the end of their lifetime. It is written by the Prophets: ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Anyone who has heard and learned from the Creator also follows me. No one knows the Creator except one who associates with God; only he knows the Creator. Very truly I say to you, one who trusts in me achieves eternal life. I am the food of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died. This is the food that descends from the spiritual realm, that which one may eat and not die. I am the living food that descends from the spiritual realm. If anyone consumes this food they will live forever. And the food I give for the sake of life in the world is my very substance.” (John 6:43-51)