"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ..." (John 15:18-19)

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

What does Jesus mean by 'the world'?

"The world" is being translated from the Greek word κόσμος (kosmos). This Greek word means, according to Thayer's Lexicon, "an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government;" "ornament, decoration, adornment;" "the world, the universe" as well as "the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family;" and "the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God;" and "world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly."

In this discussion with his closest disciples, Jesus is referring to the nature of society in this world.

Jesus mentions hate. Does the planet earth hate Jesus and his disciples? No.

Jesus refers to the nature of the inhabitants of the physical world. More specifically to people of a particular consciousness - people who are focused upon the trappings of the material world.

Why would the people of this world reject Jesus and his disciples? Because Jesus is teaching something that is opposed to the consciousness of many people of this world.

The consciousness of many people of this world is the consciousness of materialism. The concept that we are these physical bodies, and the things that feed the physical body, clothe the physical body, or otherwise surround the physical body will make us happy.

What does 'chosen you out of the world' mean?

The word "chosen" is being translated from the Greek word ἐκλέγομαι (eklegomai), which means being selected by virtue of fitness. Jesus is saying that he chose his disciples, not randomly, but because they illustrated that they were committed to following his teachings.

But how does that take them out of the world so they do not "belong to the world"?

Because Jesus' teachings are spiritual. They are outside the realm of the material world and the physical body. They do not "belong" to the consciousness of materialism and self-centeredness.

But those of us who do "belong to the world" are wrapped up in the trappings of this world, including wealth, position, fame, acceptance by others and sensual pleasures. 

The perfect example of 'the world' is the focus on material goodies represented at Christmastime as worshiping a rich fat man in a red suit and a tree surrounded by material things wrapped up to keep others tempted while partying and gorging. 

Do we realize that this is participating in the very activities that Jesus opposed as we supposedly celebrate his appearance? Even the tree was rejected by early Christians because it was originally part of a pagan ritual.

Jesus is teaching that we belong in another world - the spiritual world. We are not these physical bodies. We are spiritual beings, and each of us has a loving caregiving relationship with the Supreme Being. We each have a unique servitude relationship with God, but we have forgotten that relationship.

We have forgotten that relationship because we became self-centered. This is the meaning of the parable of Adam eating the fruit. The fruit, remember, was from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." 

The Hebrew for this phrase is more appropriately translated to the "knowledge of pleasure and pain." 

Why is knowing pleasure and pain such a big deal? Because "knowing" these elements requires becoming self-centered. When a person is focused on themselves, they are focused upon their own pleasures and their own pains.

Is this related to love?

Self-centeredness is diametrically opposed to love. In the spiritual world, everyone is loving the Supreme Being and His associates. They are focused on God's pleasure. When a person is focused on God's pleasure, they are not focused on their own pleasure - they are not self-centered.

Once we chose self-centeredness over loving service to God we became under the jurisdiction of the mental and physical realm and given physical bodies. Due to our desires for self-enjoyment, we are now in the illusion that we are these physical bodies, and the things of this physical world will make us happy.

This is despite the fact that we can easily observe that even those who have the most of the things of this world - wealth, fame, attention, acceptance - are not satisfied. Even though these things are easily observed as not fulfilling, we still chase them.

That is illusion.

Can we get happiness here?

We need spiritual food. Spiritual happiness. This is the only thing that will make us truly fulfilled. Jesus stated this clearly:

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

And this is what Jesus was teaching. He was teaching that in order to become fulfilled we needed to change our consciousness from being centered around what will make me happy to centered around what will make God happy.

Everyone wants to love and serve someone. This is why we are perpetually seeking someone special to love. That perfect person to love is the Supreme Being.

If we are focused on developing our loving relationship with the Supreme Being, our entire consciousness changes. We might still be surrounded by material things - but we will not see them the same. We will see them as God's stuff, not stuff for our enjoyment. We will only see them as things to possibly employ in pleasing the Supreme Being.

This is confirmed by Jesus' most important instruction:

“ ‘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 Jesus' statement from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"If the material world hates you, you know it has hated me before you. If you were of the material world, the material world would love its own. But because you are not of the material world – because I chose you from the material world – because of this the material world hates you." (John 15:18-19)

"When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt ..." (John 16:8-11)

"When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." (John 16:8-11)

When who 'comes'?

Jesus is referring here to the Holy Spirit of God - though "comes" is an odd choice of translation as we'll discuss.

This statement continues from his previous one:

"But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7)

Jesus confirms the "Advocate" is the Holy Spirit - God's expansive potency that accompanies each of us, enabling those who seek a loving relationship with God to feel His presence and guidance - in this statement:

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)

This translation portrays the Advocate as being pretty heavy here, how the Holy Spirit will "convict the world of guilt" in regard to those things described afterward. Did Jesus really say this and if so, what does it mean?

What does 'comes' mean?

The word "comes" within "when He comes" is being taken from the Greek ἔρχομαι (erchomai), which can mean "to appear, make one's appearance" when used literally, or "to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence" when used metaphorically.

Because Jesus is speaking of spiritual concepts using words normally applied to physical things, we must accept the metaphorical usage of this statement - God's Holy Spirit is being described as arising, coming forth, showing Himself, and influencing.

Yet it is not as if the Supreme Being has to travel anywhere - or "come" from anywhere. He can expand Himself without limit and is thus simultaneously with each of us. Rather, it is us who simply cannot see Him, even though He has expanded Himself right next to each of us the Holy Spirit.

And the reason most of us cannot see God's Holy Spirit next to us? Ultimately we made this choice. We don't want to be with Him, so graciously, He has blocked our ability to see Him.

So what Jesus is discussing is the Supreme Being showing Himself to Jesus' disciples, along with guiding them.

Why and how would He convict the 'world of guilt'?

There is no indication from the original Greek texts that Jesus said anything about "guilt" here at all. None of the Greek indicates this word whatsoever.

The mistranslated phrase "will convict" is being taken from the Greek ἐλέγχω (elegchō) which can mean "to convict" but it can also mean "to call to account" and "show one his fault" according to the lexicon. More importantly, it can mean "to correct."

This means that as the Supreme Being comes forth and shows Himself as the Holy Spirit to Jesus' disciples (Jesus' audience) then He will have influence over them. This is best described as guidance.

It also means that God's showing Himself as the Holy Spirit in the lives of Jesus' disciples after Jesus has left them physically has nothing to do with convicting anyone or anything. It is for the purpose of purifying their lives. God's guidance will help cleanse their hearts and redirect their lives in such a way that enables them to continue Jesus' mission.

We might compare this to how a high school student is often assigned a guidance counselor - who is also often referred to as an advocate. Why does a student need a guidance counselor? To help guide and direct the student towards a more productive education. 

The school guidance counselor will talk with the child about their goals, and help direct them to apply for a college or trade school or some other facility. If they are taking drugs or drinking all the time, the guidance counselor will try to help them kick those habits. In these ways, the counselor will help steer their lives in the right direction.

The Holy Spirit "Counselor" that Jesus is referring to, will also help direct Jesus' students after his physical body is gone and he (the spiritual person) has returned to the spiritual realm. But here the goal is not to become productive adults. 

Here the Supreme Being through the Holy Spirit will be guiding Jesus' disciples in their spiritual advancement and their loving service relationship with God. The Holy Spirit will also be guiding them to continue Jesus' mission of bringing others back to their own relationship with God.

Understanding this form of guidance taken from the word ἐλέγχω (elegchō), meaning to "show one his fault" and help "correct" those faults allows us to understand the rest of Jesus' statement more clearly.

What does Jesus mean by 'the world'?

The Greek word κόσμος (kosmos) is being translated to the word "world" as if the Advocate will be "convicting the world." This is not what Jesus is saying. κόσμος (kosmos) can mean "world" or "earth" but it can also mean "universe." In this context, Jesus is describing the physical world - the material world.

What is the material world - or the physical world? It is the place where its citizens are all focused upon chasing self-centered dreams of being happy without love and the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being built the physical world to house those of us who decided our self-interest is greater than God's interest. We want to be the master. We want to live for ourselves.

So the Supreme Being built the physical world as a virtual universe - and created these physical bodies in order for each of us spirit-persons to pretend we were someone else for a while. This virtual universe is set up for us to take on new, temporary identities and pretend God doesn't exist for a while.

And this is precisely described by Jesus as περί ἁμαρτία (peri hamartia) - being translated here as "in regard to sin." More literally, περί (peri) can mean "concerning" while ἁμαρτία (hamartia) means, according to the lexicon, "to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong," or "to wander from the law of God, violate God's law."

What is God's law?

And what, precisely is the "law of God" or "God's law?" Both Jesus and Moses stated quite clearly the most important commandment, summing up God's law:

“ ‘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 (and Deut 6:5))

To "wander" from this law or "violate" this law, according to Jesus' statement, is what is being translated to "sin."

And this is precisely what the Holy Spirit - the Advocate - will be helping Jesus' disciples "correct." His guidance will be purifying their hearts and their minds so they will become more and more focused on their personal loving relationship with the Supreme Being - and working to please Him.

To love someone with "all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" is quite clear. It means giving our lives to that person. Doing whatever pleases them. This means that the Advocate's guidance will lead them to become more and more one of God's loving servants - following in the footsteps of their spiritual teacher, Jesus.

Why does Jesus also mention δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) - being translated to "righteousness" - and κρίσις (krisis) - being translated to "judgment" as well?

When a person says "concerning" or "in regard to" that means that the subjects of the action - in this case, guidance - will relate to those items.

δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) means "integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting" and "the condition acceptable to God" according to the lexicon. This means that God's Holy Spirit - the Advocate - will be helping to steer them away from their self-centered (sinful) consciousness, and towards a consciousness pleasing to the Supreme Being.

But "judgment" here is not that good of a translation of κρίσις (krisis) in this context. The word can mean "judgment" but it's primary meaning, according to the lexicon, is "a separating, sundering, separation." It can also mean "selection." It can also mean an "opinion or decision given concerning anything - especially concerning justice and injustice, right or wrong."

In other words, Jesus is telling his disciples that the "Advocate" will be giving them guidance to help them be able to discern between activities that displease the Supreme Being from those that please Him. They will be able to correct their self-centered consciousness more and more while becoming more focused on pleasing the Supreme Being.

This can be summed up as purifying their consciousness. This is the effect the presence of the Supreme Being has upon someone. God is purifying. And Jesus who is God's representative - is also purifying.

This purifying effect isn't about removing the consequences of a person's prior self-centered (sinful) activities. Being concerned about being cleansed of sins is also self-centered.

God's presence or the presence of God's representative - which includes their Names and visual representations - has a purifying effect upon our consciousness - assuming that we are not offending God at the same time.

God's presence and the presence of God's representative have a purifying effect upon our consciousness because He helps us understand our real identity as not being the physical, and He helps us understand our relationship with the Supreme Being: That He created us to be His loving caregivers. We each have a unique loving service relationship with the Supreme Being.

This purifying effect comes in the form of guidance, either through the words and teachings of God's representative, through the scriptures, or from within as the Holy Spirit. This latter facility is what Jesus is describing in this verse.

*Thus we find a more appropriate translation in the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"And when He appears, He will refute the material world regarding offensiveness, righteousness and justice: About offensiveness, because they do not trust in me. About righteousness, because I depart for the Creator and you will no longer see me. And about justice, because the prince of the material world is condemned." (John 16:8-11)

The word "discernment" is difficult because it is not commonly used. "Justice" is clear, because it describes how a person will be able to make just decisions.

In other words, Jesus' disciples - through the Holy Spirit's guidance - will be able to understand how those who do not believe in Jesus' teachings will succumb to lives of emptiness - wallowing in self-centeredness (sin).

They will be able to perceive how Jesus' returning to his relationship with God in the spiritual realm relates directly to understanding how we too can re-establish our loving relationship with God - translated to the word "righteousness" (see above). They will come to know that not seeing Jesus' physical body means that Jesus has returned to his relationship with God in the spiritual realm.

And lastly, the translation says: "and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned."

Again the word κρίσις (krisis) is being translated to judgment, which is okay as long as the context regards the ability to discern, separate or understand. 

This ability to discern is expressed with, "the prince of this world now stands condemned." What does this mean?

Many will automatically assume this is the "devil" or "satan" - a mythical being who has wrestled the world away from God and now somehow controls certain things here.

First, no one has wrestled any control over anything from God. God is always in control. Of everything.

Is sin caused by the devil?

Some portray that sin is caused by the "devil" or "satan." They are saying that "sin" is not our fault. It is someone else's fault.

They will say that either sin is caused by Adam's "original sin" or that it is caused by "satan." Which is it? And why is sin all their fault?

This is a way to conveniently escape responsibility. We don't want to feel responsible for our own self-centeredness (sinfulness). We don't want to feel responsible for our activities that hurt others (sin) or hurt ourselves (sin). We don't want to feel responsible for our offenses towards God and God's representatives (sin).

We use "satan" to take responsibility for our self-centeredness (sinfulness) because we do not want to change.

Every good psychologist or social worker knows the key ingredient to making any change is to first face ourselves and take responsibility. This is the first step to change.

So we cannot blame Adam's "original sin" or "satan" or the "devil" for our self-centered consciousness. This is our issue. We must take responsibility.

Rather, the concepts of "original sin," "devil" and "satan" are symbolic, just as Jesus' use of the phrase "the prince of this world."

And just who is "the prince of this world"? It is self-centeredness. It is each of us who are focused upon seeking our self-centered goals within this material world. It is the chasing of fame, wealth, attention, recognition and sensual satisfaction of the physical body. 

These are symbolically being represented by Jesus as "the prince of this world" because being focused upon using the things of this world for my own satisfaction is precisely what the virtual physical universe was designed for. The Supreme Being wanted to give us our freedom.

Our "original sin" happened for each of us. Each of us did the "original sin" at some point. This was the point where we decided we didn't want to love and please the Supreme Being. We wanted to love and please ourselves. We wanted to be master, not servant. We wanted to be king, not subject.

Now Jesus is stating here that once he leaves the physical world - after his physical body is murdered - and returns to the spiritual realm, he will be invoking the expansive quality (Holy Spirit) of God - his Beloved - to come and be with his disciples to guide them and help purify their consciousness and help give them discernment - the ability to perceive the difference between the path to happiness and the path to emptiness.

Happiness comes from loving and caring for the Supreme Being. It comes from working on behalf of our Best Friend and Constant Companion - our only Soul Mate - God. It comes from directing our lives in a practical way towards pleasing God. This is how Jesus lived: As well as those of Jesus' disciples who were guided by the Advocate - including James, Peter and others. They all were guided back to their loving relationships with God in the spiritual realm, just as Jesus promised them.

"He will glorify me because it is from me that He will ..." (John 16:14)

"He will glorify me because it is from me that He will receive what He will make known to you." (John 16:14) 

How will God glorify Jesus?

One might wonder how God will glorify Jesus if he is being persecuted like a criminal, and put to death on the cross. This certainly doesn't sound too glorifying.

Throughout the ordeal, Jesus was the recipient of grotesque insults and physical beatings. These were hardly glorifying. So what is Jesus referring to?

"He" is appropriately translated from ἐκεῖνος (ekeinos), but can also mean "that one" or here, "that One." The reference is to Jesus' statement in John 16:12-13, as he has been discussing the Holy Spirit guiding his students after he has physically left them when his physical body dies.

"Glorify" here is translated from δοξάζω (doxazō). The word can certainly mean "glorify" in some contexts, but its primary meaning according to Thayer's lexicon, "is to think, suppose, be of opinion." 

It can also mean "to honor, do honor to, hold in honor;" "to make renowned, render illustrious;" and "to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged." It can also mean "to give splendor" according to common usage.

The better choice of translation would be "honor." God will honor Jesus.

We have seen this result for the past 2,000 years, as Jesus is revered throughout the world to this day. That revere is based upon the honor that God bestowed upon Jesus.

God has to receive this from Jesus?

This translation makes it seem that Jesus is God's superior. That God must wait for Jesus to give something to Him. That God is somehow dependent upon Jesus?

"Will receive" is translated from λαμβάνω (lambanō), but this word means "to take" as in " to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it;" "to take in order to carry away;" and more importantly, "to take what is one's own, to take to one's self, to make one's own." This meaning is also captured by the word "derived."

God does not need Jesus to glean information from His students. God does not need anyone. God is self-sufficient, and this is why He is called God.

But certainly, God can receive an offering from His beloved servant. Jesus can, therefore, make an offering of his teachings and his followers to God. And should this happen, God can certainly utilize that offering.

But God doesn't need it. God can do anything want he wants.

How does God need Jesus to make this known?

"Will make known" is translated from ἀναγγέλλω (anaggellō), which means "to announce, make known," and "to report, bring back tidings, rehearse" according to the lexicon. Thus, "reveal" is more appropriate.

Thus we can see that the concepts are a little more complex than indicated by the translation above. The translation makes it seem that the Holy Spirit or Spirit of Truth - πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας - must rely upon Jesus, and needs Jesus in order for the Holy Spirit to teach them. The translation is making it sound like God in the form of the Holy Spirit does not know the Truth on His own. That He needs to learn it from Jesus first.

The more appropriate translation is based upon revealing, and this is based upon a relationship. Whan a person knows one person in a relationship, they can more easily get to know the other person. That is the nature of relationships. Jesus and God are involved in a loving relationship.

That is why knowing Jesus will more easily get us hooked up with the Holy Spirit.

Is this the role of God's representative?

God's representative is a loving servant of the Supreme Being, who is sent by God to introduce his followers to Him. Those who follow the instructions of God's representative, then, are introduced to God. Jesus clearly stated this when he said to his students:

"I will show you what He is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice." (Luke 6:47)

In this statement, "words" is translated from the Greek word λόγος (logos), which is better translated to "teachings." But whether translated to "words" or "teachings," Jesus is clearly stating here that those who hear Jesus' teachings and then follow them, will be introduced to God. Isn't this what "show you what He is like" means? Certainly, the Greek also indicates this.

This is the role of God's representative. He introduces us personally to God.

This relates directly to the meaning of Jesus' statement above. Jesus is talking about the fact that they're coming to know the Supreme Being has been the result of Jesus having introduced them to God. The current state of their heart with respect to God has come about as a result of Jesus' teachings - and the extent by which they have followed those teachings.

Therefore, their own relationship with God - through the Holy Spirit - draws from their relationship with Jesus and the extent by which they follow Jesus' teachings. There is a three-way bind, so to speak, between the student, God's representative and God.

Let's say that we want to come to know an important person on a personal basis. How would we do that? We can be introduced to them by a mutual friend. If we know this friend and they trust us, then they can relay that trust to the important person.

This element of trust is a big one, however. How is trust established? This friend would need to feel that we were sincere and not just being their friend because we have wanted to get something from them - maybe use them to gain attention or something. This kind of trust is established typically by doing things to please them. This is what friendship is about.

And once the introduction is made, all three can be mutual friends.

In the same way, Jesus must trust that the follower is sincere and ready to be introduced to God. This will be automatically vetted out by us following Jesus' teachings. Then once he introduces the follower to God, they will be irrevocably bound in this relationship.

God is a Person. He enjoys personal relationships. He enjoys seeing His personal friends introduce others to Him. This is part of His enjoyment because He is the Supreme Personal Being and He enjoys friendships and relationships.

Jesus is having an intimate discussion with his closest followers, and this intimacy is being wrapped with his intimate relationship with God. It is a very confidential matter, that not many are let in to. Why not? Because most of us simply want to use whatever we derive for our own advantage. This self-focus makes us blind to the real confidential nature of Jesus' relationship with God, and his students.

Just consider, for example, what a self-centered person might do - and have done - when given a small piece of confidential information about the Supreme Being. They might try to use it to their advantage. 

They might try to, for example, start-up their own church and try to gain many followers based on the fact that they had a vision of some sort - ultimately twisting their vision into some big doctrine. 

This is the kind of thing that goes on within hell in the name of religion. Instead of being humbled by scripture, some have tried to use scripture and the teachings of Jesus to gain fame, followers and create false authority. This is why Jesus instructed his disciples:

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." (Matt. 7:6)

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

"He will honor me, for He takes from me and reveals it to you.” (John 16:14)

"For You granted him authority over all people that he might give ..." (John 17:2)

"For You granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those You have given him." (John 17:2)

Who granted Jesus authority?

Jesus is continuing his prayer to the Supreme Being. How do we know this is part of Jesus' prayer to God?

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: (John 17:1)

Thus we can rightfully understand that the Supreme Being granted Jesus authority. But what kind of authority did God grant to Jesus? That he is the king of all people?

What kind of authority did God grant Jesus?

"Authority" is being translated from the Greek word ἐξουσία (exousia) = "power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases;" "leave or permission;" "physical and mental power; "the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises."

The translation of the Greek to "over all people" is unfortunate. Would Jesus really say that he is now the ruler over all people? Like he is the king of all people? That is something that materialists like to seek - power over all people.

Jesus, on the other hand, taught in other verses that the exalted role was one of servant:

“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:25)

"Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant (Mark 10:43)

"Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him." (John 13:16)

As to this last statement, Jesus clarified that he was sent by God, and thus is in the role of servant or messenger:

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

Furthermore, Jesus identified himself as the servant of humanity. 

So what did Jesus mean to say if he wasn't saying that he was made the king of all people?

The word "people" has been translated from the Greek word σάρξ (sarx), which does not mean people. It means, according to the lexicon, "flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts;" and "the body of a man."

The word σάρξ (sarx) also relates to "the animal nature;" and stated by Strong's lexicon: "the animal nature with cravings which incite to sin."

In fact, this word can in no way refer to the word "people," as in Jesus having "authority over all people."

Let's stop a minute and consider this carefully. Why would this word be translated to "people" when it obviously doesn't mean "people" at all?

It is clear that Jesus is saying that he had been given authority over the materialistic animal nature that rules this dimension. In other words, he was free from the grip this physical world has over us.

Why was this translated like this?

This translation to "authority over all people" began when the early Greek texts were translated into Latin by the Romans, led by Eusebius, who was appointed by the Roman Emperor Constantine. 

Authority over people was a big issue for the Romans at that time. They sought authority over all the people of their region. And they achieved this for centuries with the creation and forced authority of the Roman Catholic Church. 

This dominant role of the Roman Catholic Church as the proxy for the Roman Empire for over 1,000 years is often referred to as the Holy Roman Empire.

Once these and the rest of the Gospels were translated into Latin, the interpretation of those verses was practically set in stone. The Romans translated the texts into Latin during the Fourth Century AD, and it was illegal for over six centuries for a commoner to even own a Bible. Other translations of the Bible were only available to the public after the 14th Century.

Even these new language translations were derived from the Latin Bible translation. Then later the earlier Greek texts were used, but by then the Latin translation interpretations had already been cemented. Christian thought was indoctrinated by the Roman translation and interpretation.

This relates specifically to the agenda of some sectarian institutions borne of political objectives maintained over the centuries, beginning with the assembly of the Roman Catholic Church by the Roman government and Emperors such as Constantine.

And what is that agenda? To gain followers at any cost. Even if it means bending scripture.

To cement this interpretation, the Nicene Creed bore the specifics: That God was split into three elements, and Jesus was God "the Son."

The bishops who gathered in Rome from around the Middle East and Europe were not all in agreement on this conclusion. Many argued vehemently against this position that Jesus was God - but they lost, because Constantine wanted this conclusion, and applied his political muscle to it. He was a smart political tactician: If he was going to get behind a religion, that religion was going to solidify his control over the people.

Those who argued against this conclusion were simply satisfied with seeing Jesus for who Jesus said he was: God's representative. God's perfect loving servant, sent to us specifically by God to bring us back to Him.

This is confirmed by Jesus' own statements:

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

"For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken." (John 12:49)

"As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." (John 9:4)

These statements and many others - including this very prayer by Jesus (why would God pray to Himself?) - indicates that Jesus is not the Supreme Being<, but rather, God's loving servant.

In John 9:4 above, Jesus clarifies, "we must do the works of Him who sent me." This is what a loving servant does for his master. And the very act of speaking on behalf of someone - "the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken" - indicates the type of relationship that exists between a master and his loving servant.

Can we also gain authority over materialism?

Self-centered enjoyment is, in fact, the reason for these physical bodies. We were given these physical bodies because we rejected our loving relationship with God in the spiritual realm. We wanted to get away from God. We became envious of God. We wanted to enjoy ourselves and be "like God." 

So God tossed us out of the spiritual realm and gave us these physical bodies to play out our self-centered desires. This is the clear message of the symbolism of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit.

These physical bodies are not us. We are the living spirit-persons who dwell within these bodies. The physical body is a constantly changing vessel. Most of its cells live no longer than five years and its molecules are recycled constantly. It is like looking at a waterfall. The water within the waterfall is constantly changing.

Meanwhile, we are still the same person, even though our body changes. This is why aging is so frustrating for us. We see our body aging but we do not feel older. We feel like we are the same person we were when our body was in its 20s. This is because the spirit-person within is not the physical body at all. The spirit-person within (or soul) is eternal.

Due to God's arrangement, when the spirit-person comes into the physical world and dwells within the physical body, we begin to identify with these bodies. This is due to the fact that we want to achieve self-centered desires, and our bodies give us this facility to act without having to be aware of the existence of the Supreme Being. This is also described symbolically in Genesis.

These physical bodies allow us to ignore God, in other words. They allow us to pretend to be someone we are not for a while. They allow us to pretend that we are great lawyers, politicians, movie stars, rock stars, youtube video stars, business moguls or even great firemen or bosses. 

These bodies also allow us the ultimate desire - pretending to be the creator of others, as we can use these bodies to procreate children. This procreation ability of these bodies lends us the ability to think that we are "creator" and we created beautiful children.

But all of these pretend roles - including parenthood - are fleeting and temporary. They do not last. As parents, our kids grow up and flip us off as they take off to party with their friends. As movie stars, we get old and soon have to act in the bit parts as the old lady in the rest home. As rock stars, we soon find ourselves playing guitars on stage in our wheelchairs. As business moguls, we find our businesses fading in popularity, being taken over by internet businesses. As youtube video stars, we soon fade to the next craze online.

As for any other role we might pretend to play for a while - we eventually have to retire from it, and then our bodies eventually die and we leave everything behind including our family and all our possessions and any temporary roles we played.

Eventually - yes, we are talking years - just a few years away - we will leave everything in this world behind.

Yet even though we can easily see that our bodies will all die in the coming years and we will have to leave all these temporary roles and their related achievements behind - we still strive for them. We still think that they will make us happy. We still seek these achievements, along with the temporary fleeting sensory flashes of the physical world - topped by the orgasm, which is the most fleeting of all.

And despite the fact that none of these sensory flashes or temporary roles satisfy us, we continue to strive for them. We continue to seek the next flash or the next achievement.

This continual desire for the next self-centered achievement or flash is what drives us because this world is set up by the Supreme Being< - programmed by Him - to give us the illusion this world will make us happy. These illusory desires thus grab us and hold us, driven by our self-centeredness - and our identification with these temporary physical bodies.

Is this world a place of happiness?

The physical world is a place of learning. It can also be a place of suffering. In this place, we suffer emptiness and loneliness in a self-centered world while competing with others to achieve temporary materialistic goals. In this place, we ignore the suffering around us as we pretend that the next thing will satisfy us.

This world is also a place where we become subservient to those who always seem to demand more than we can give. Whether it is an unreasonable boss or employer, unreasonable stockholders, unreasonable family members, unreasonable neighbors, unreasonable customers or otherwise, the demands of those around us in this world are always more than we can keep up with. We can never satisfy them no matter how much we serve or give.

This is a place where everyone is empty and lonely inside yet everyone pretends they are happy. This is a place where everyone wants someone else to satisfy their emptiness, so we seek to control and dominate others.

This is the world of "flesh" - the "animal nature" that leads to the self-centeredness that Jesus is referring to in his prayer. We can also sum up the meaning of this word with the concept of "materialism."

Jesus isn't talking about having "authority over all people." He is talking about being given the ability to not be controlled by the physical world and its various illusions: Having authority over these illusions means not being controlled by them.

Having power over one's animal nature or the illusory nature of the physical world is given by the Supreme Being. How is that?

Love for God. By loving the Supreme Being a person can have authority over self-centeredness. We can have authority over desires to gain self-centered things of this world, whether they be sex, wealth, power, fame or authority over others. These desires melt when we are in love with God. These desires - along with the need for others to make them happy - fade away when our purpose becomes pleasing the Supreme Being with our lives.

Jesus is God's pure loving servant. His love has given him the ability to have the power over materialism - the desire to be happy in a self-centered manner, away from God.

What is love of God?

It is a relationship. A relationship with a Person - the Supreme Being, who reciprocates that relationship. Remember that Jesus states that this ability to have authority over "flesh" was granted to Jesus by God: "For You granted him..."

This is part of the reciprocation of the loving relationship with God. God reciprocates love and loving service by allowing His loving servant the ability to counteract the illusory nature of the physical world. Jesus is clearly stating that this ability is granted by God.

And this is not the only thing Jesus says is granted by God. Consider very carefully the last part of this sentence: "that he might give eternal life to all those You have given him."

It is clear here that Jesus says his ability to "give eternal life" to others comes from God. And the phrase "those You have given him" means those people are steered to Jesus by God. The Supreme Being has given Jesus this ability and also brought him those upon whom that ability is exercised.

This is the way our beautiful Supreme Being works. If He wanted to force Himself upon us He could at any time. But He doesn't. For those who desire to return to Him, He sends His loving servant to bring us Home to Him. Then He guides those who want to come home to His representative.

And Jesus is clarifying this. He is stating that the Supreme Being gave Jesus the authority to not only represent Him, but to change people's hearts, giving them "eternal life." How does Jesus do this?

Jesus does this with his teachings. He amazed people with his teachings. Just consider this statement from the Book of Matthew:

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching... (Matt. 7:28)

This indicates clearly that Jesus' teachings had phenomenal power. They were able to change a person's heart from being self-centered to being a loving servant of God. This is played out as we find Jesus' disciples like Peter and James became great teachers and also changed the hearts of many.

Consider carefully what "eternal life" is. The word "eternal" comes from the Greek word αἰώνιος (aiōnios), meaning "without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be."

And the word "life" comes from ζωή (zōē), meaning "the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate - every living soul; and "of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical..."

This indicates that what Jesus is describing is resuming our innate spiritual identity - one that never dies - and that which is complete and spiritually satisfying.

This is none other than the state of existence of loving the Supreme Being and serving Him in love. This is our natural position - one that most of us have forgotten. And Jesus has come to help us turn to the Supreme Being< and renew our relationship with Him. Jesus' teachings quite simply asked us to give our hearts to God, and love Him. Serve Him. Praise Him. Care for Him:

“‘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 verse from Jesus' prayer from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"Because You gave him authority throughout the material realm, he can give eternal life to those You have entrusted to him.” (John 17:2)

"For I gave them the words You gave me ..." (John 17:8)

"For I gave them the words You gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent me." (John 17:8)

What were 'the words' God gave Jesus?

Jesus is continuing his open prayer to the Supreme Being in front of disciples after what is considered the 'last supper.'

The term, "words" is being translated from the Greek term ῥῆμα (rhēma), which means "what one has said" and "subject matter of speech, thing spoken of."

A more appropriate translation would be "teachings."

"I gave them the teachings You gave me" is precisely what a messenger does. He passes on the exact message that he has been given to pass on.

Jesus is clarifying his role and identity. He is clearly putting himself in the position as God's servant and messenger. His statement illustrates that the teachings of Jesus did not originate with Jesus. If they did, Jesus would not be saying "I gave them the teachings You gave me."

The word "gave" here is taken from the Greek word δίδωμι (didōmi), which indicates not only something being given but a gift: According to the lexicon, "of one's own accord to give one something, to his advantage - to bestow a gift."

This indicates that Jesus considers the "word" - his teachings - as a gift. A gift that he has been given by God, and a gift that he has passed on to his students.

This is the traditional role of the spiritual teacher. Jesus was not inventing the teachings he gave to his students. He took on the role of teacher, which is a role that passes on knowledge given to others.

This is why Jesus often quoted those teachers who came before him, including Isaiah, Moses, David and others.

And Jesus did not solely take on this role - as many sectarian institutions have portrayed. Here Jesus clearly states, "and they accepted them."

This means that not only did Jesus receive those teachings and pass them on. But Jesus' students also received those teachings.

Does Jesus want his followers to pass on those 'words'?

Jesus is clearly instructing his students to pass on the teachings that Jesus has taught them. How do we know this?

Consider this instruction Jesus gave his students:

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' ... Freely you have received; freely give." (Matt. 10:5-8)

We also know that this instruction passes on what Jesus had taught and also what Jesus' teacher John the Baptist taught. How do we know this?

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matt. 3:1-2)

Then, after John became imprisoned, Jesus began teaching the same message:

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. (Matt. 4:12)

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matt. 4:17)

This phrase in Greek - μετανοεῖτε ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν - certainly did not encompass all of Jesus' teachings. This is obvious, as there are so many verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John detailing Jesus' teachings. In addition we find many of Jesus' teachings among scriptures found in the desert - translated in the Lost Gospels of Jesus.

Rather, this phrase - μετανοεῖτε ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν - summarizes the teachings that Jesus had received and was passing to his students - and then asking his students to pass along to others.

What does 'repent' mean?

The word "repent" taken from μετανοέω (metanoeō) relates to change - "to change one's mind for better" according to the lexicon. But to the word "change" relates also to changing ones activities - which goes beyond just changing the mind. This means, basically, to have a change of heart.

The concept of "the kingdom of heaven has come near" or "the kingdom of heaven is near" as translated in other Biblical versions, does not relate to the end of the world as promoted by some sectarian teachers and the many fanatics that walk the streets proclaiming the end of the world is at hand.

The word "near" is being translated from the Greek word ἐγγίζω (eggizō) which means "to bring near, to join one thing to another;" and "to draw or come near to, to approach" according to the lexicon.

This has nothing to do with time, as in "the time is near." It is solely a word indicating closeness in distance.

So John, Jesus, and Jesus' students were preaching that the kingdom of heaven is close by? Yes.

But what does that have to do with Jesus' teachings?

Jesus' teachings promoted loving God and doing to the will of God - serving God:

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (Matt. 12:50)

"Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:35)

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21)

And this service certainly comes from a place of love:

" '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)

So how does a person come to know and love God? Through the teachings that were being passed on by John, Jesus, and Jesus' students.

In other words, they were introducing people to God. They were teachings about God - praising God's glories - and these teachings, once people heard them - had the power to change people's hearts. Why? Because they were coming from God.

The Supreme Being is here. God is not locked away in heaven and cannot be with us. Quite the contrary, the Supreme Being is not bound by physical space and time. God is next to each and every one of us at every moment. All we have to do is turn to Him and He is there for us.

As soon as any of us realize our position as God's servant - we have a change of heart or "repent" - we will be able to know who we are in relation to God. We will be able to understand our spiritual form and our service to Him.

Why can't we see God?

Because we don't want to see Him. We want to chase our self-centered goals. We want to find happiness for ourselves. We want pleasure. We want people to love us and praise us.

We don't want to praise someone else. We want others to praise us.

Yet regardless of how much praise we get and how much physical pleasures we receive, we are never happy. We are never fulfilled by them. We can see this not only in our own lives with what we have or have had, but in others - such as movie stars, rock stars, politicians, and wealthy businessmen. They all have had the ultimate in receiving praise from others, along with all the money and pleasure they could ever want. Yet they remain unfulfilled. Many will try to numb themselves in drugs and drinking - and some have even committed suicide. Or at the very least, they look for their happiness elsewhere - such as having a family.

These illustrate that receiving praise or physical pleasure brings no fulfillment. They bring no happiness. And even having a big family does not fulfill us. It only brings pain as our family members get sick and eventually die or otherwise leave us - or we leave them first. Even this most sacred part of our society is temporary and therefore unfulfilling.

These simply indicate - as does the science - that we are not these physical bodies. We are spiritual beings - spirit-persons. These physical bodies are simply temporary vehicles. They are born, they get old and then they die. And once they die, they decompose.

We are merely possessing our physical body. It is like a car we drive. It is not us.

Therefore, anything we bathe our body in - whether it is praise or physical pleasure - does not touch us. It is like a person bringing their car to the carwash. The carwash will clean up the outside of the car, shine it up and make it sparkle. But all that soap and water will not touch the driver inside the car. The driver might be stinky and sweaty from a workout or a hard day's work as he takes the car to the carwash. But the carwash will not remove his stink. This is because the driver is not the car. The driver is possessing the car. The driver is driving the car.

In the same way, we are driving this physical body. It is a vehicle. We - the spirit-person - is sitting within the body directing it to go get that or do this. And when that body gets pleasure or praise - it doesn't touch us.

What is heaven?

Many picture heaven as a bunch of old people with white beards floating around on clouds playing harps. The spiritual realm is a real place. It is more real than the physical world we see with our physical eyes.

The spiritual realm has countless beings, and each has a form and a unique identity. We have forgotten our real identity.

We might compare this to a boy who plays a video game for hours and hours every day and loses touch with reality. The boy starts feeling that the video game is more real than the life outside the computer. The boy begins to identify with his computer game icon and begins to forget the physical reality around him. But when he turns off the computer and gets up from the chair, he will see another reality.

The fact is, we are currently blind to our spiritual selves. We cannot see them. We have lost touch with them. Like the boy playing a video game, we have become so immersed in this physical identity - like the boy who begins to identify with his video game icon - we have forgotten our spiritual identity.

Why? Because our spiritual identity is linked with the Supreme Being. We are connected to Him. We are His loving servants.

Was Jesus God's servant?

This is why Jesus prayed:

"Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42)

Jesus is focused on doing God's will. He is putting himself in a subservient mode. This means he realizes his identity is related to being one of God's loving servants.

Service means not only giving freely, but also giving even when it becomes difficult to give. Even when there is hardship.
This concept of service is confirmed directly by Jesus in this verse within his open prayer to God:

"They knew with certainty that I came from You, and they believed that You sent me."

The "they" here is obvious - it is Jesus' students: the same "they" as referred in "they accepted them" - "them" being Jesus' teachings, as indicated with "the words You gave me."

Jesus says to God, "You gave me" and "You sent me."

When a messenger is sent by someone - say Tom - what do we say? We say "the messenger came from Tom." This does not mean the messenger magically appeared from Tom's body. We may also say, "Tom sent them." This confirms the messenger was a separate person from Tom. But they are connected because they are passing along the message Tom gave them to pass along.

This also means the messenger is subservient to Tom. Tom engaged them to send the message. They are connected by that message and the service of the messenger delivering the message.

This is Jesus' role. Jesus is subservient to the Supreme Being. He is the perfect loving servant of God, and he passed along God's message with perfection.

And what was the message? That the kingdom of heaven - and thereby God - is close to us. We can turn to Him at any moment and realize our position as His child and servant. And we can love Him. We can depend upon Him. We can praise His Holy Names. We can give our hearts and our lives to Him and be fulfilled without even trying to become fulfilled.



*Here is the translation of this verse from Jesus' prayer from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"The words that You gave me I have given to them; and they received them and surely understood that I came forth from You, and they trust that You sent me.” (John 17:8)

"My prayer is not that You take them out of the world ..." (John 17:15)

"My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15)

Here Jesus continues his prayer, now asking the Supreme Being to protect his students and disciples. From what?

Who is 'the evil one'?

First, let's clarify what Jesus really said.* The reality is that Jesus did not even say "evil one" according to the original Greek.

Here "evil one" is being translated from the Greek word πονηρός (ponēros), which means according to the lexicon: 1) "full of labours, annoyances, hardships;" and 2) "bad, of a bad nature or condition."

And there is no word in Jesus' statement in the Greek that could be translated to "one" either. It is just ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ - "from the [hardships or bad nature]."

While asking God to protect his students from hardships seems plausible, within this context it is more likely Jesus is discussing "bad nature" or "badness" or even "wickedness" - appropriately derived from "bad nature."

We can also derive this from other statements Jesus made that used this word, πονηρός (ponēros). For example, Jesus used this word in these two statements:

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matt. 7:18)

and

"A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!" (Matt. 12:39)

In these verses, "bad" and "wicked" are both being translated from the word πονηρός (ponēros).

So now that we have more dimension to this word πονηρός (ponēros) - just what is it?

Consider the "generation" and the "fruit" - what is wrong with these?

Why should they not be taken 'out of the world'?

Jesus is praying for God not to take his followers "out of the world." Why not? 

Because Jesus wants them to stay here so they can pass on his teachings. If they all left "the world" with Jesus then there would be no one to pass on his teachings.

Jesus connects "the world" with the "evil one" not because of a physical connection. It is the connection between self-centeredness. The "evil one" is a figurative expression that describes self-centeredness within each of us.

The type of "badness" or "wickedness" Jesus is referring to is one's interest being only about oneself - and disregarding the interests of others - or the Supreme Being.

This approach to life is what drives all the crime, hatred, envy, violence and wars within the physical world. Self-centeredness is the key driver of the physical world. Even economists admit this when they say stuff like "greed drives the economy."

Thus we find that Jesus is not asking God to protect his students against some outside party. Jesus is asking the Supreme Being to help protect them from becoming self-centered and envious.

This is, in fact, why we are here in the physical world. We are here because we rejected the environment of the spiritual realm. And is the nature of that environment?

Where is love?

Each of us has the capacity to love, but we find "the world" a place where love is the exception, not the rule. Mostly we find self-centeredness here - and its extensions, nationalism, racism, sectarianism, hatred, violence and envy. 

Contrasting this world, the spiritual realm is a place of unconditional love. Citizens of the spiritual realm are naturally in love with the Supreme Being, and they each exchange loving relationships with God and God's other children.

Yes, the spiritual realm is a feast of love. It is a love-fest.

Sometimes we dream about such a place, and we each hope we can make earth such a place. But no matter how hard peace-loving people try, there continues to be violence, bloodshed, greed, envy, crime, hatred and so on here in this world. It never seems to stop. Why?

Because this is where those of us who rejected the love-fest of the spiritual realm go. This is the place where all the people with πονηρός (ponēros) in their hearts get put.

Yes, the physical world is a rehabilitation center. And each of us has the opportunity to become rehabilitated and return home to our loving relationship with the Supreme Being.

Why is there so much envy in 'the world'?

In this world, when someone succeeds, most others will become envious. This is why so many glamour magazines focus on the rich and famous - because people envy their fame, their looks and/or their wealth.

This condition of envy is not our natural position. But somehow we fell into such an attitude. Once we did, we became self-centered.

Since those in the spiritual realm are tender and soft-hearted, our newfound selfishness and envy had no place in the spiritual realm. There we would be like elephants in a crystal shop. This is why the Supreme Being set up the physical realm.

We were pushed out of the spiritual realm and into the physical and subtle physical realms.

The physical realm is like a rehabilitation center and these physical bodies are our tools for rehabilitation. They are like icons or avatars in which we get to set up various situations to learn from and be tested with.

This rehab center and our temporary physical avatars also have some other characteristics. They effectively allow us to forget about God completely and chase our self-centered dreams around. They even allow us to deny God's existence altogether.

This is God's programming - set up to enable us to get away from Him and pretend we are the center of the universe - while teaching us that we aren't the center of the universe. In other words, God set up the physical world to be a rehabilitation center as well as a place for us to exercise our quest for freedom from Him.

And as far as the illusory nature of the physical world, yes, this is organized and created by the Supreme Being. It is also managed by some of His servants - as God's universe is a personal universe, and He delegates many operations to His various servants.

But the illusory nature surrounding each of us is perfectly tailored to fit our particular self-centered desires.

And those who help Him manage the illusions of the physical world are His servants. God never has a challenger - as many have attributed to this notion of a devil or satan. If we want to define someone who helps God carry out His illusory nature - yes there are personalities that we can look to.

But if need to talk through the classic devil or satan story - about satan rejecting God and being thrown out of the spiritual realm - well, that is the story of each of us. That story - of rebelling against our relationship with God - is what each of us did to get tossed out of the spiritual realm. Yes, in that metaphorical sense, the story of Satan is the story of each of us.

Why do we have the choice?

God wants us to love Him, but only if we choose to. Therefore He gives us the choice to love Him or not. And should we decide not to, He sets up this world so we don't have to see Him or be with Him. We can completely escape His existence while we are within these physical bodies.

This is the "world" that Jesus is discussing here in this verse and the previous verse when he said:

"I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world." (John 17:14)

And we can see that Jesus is using the word "world" in two respects here - one (in John 17:14) to indicate the consciousness of the physical world - one of self-centeredness, trying to avoid the Supreme Being. The other (in 17:15), is the reality that they are still physically within the physical world, and Jesus is saying that they - his students - will be remaining within the physical world for the time being ("My prayer is not that You take them out of the world...") - but their consciousness is not "of the world." 

Their consciousness is not "of the world" because they are focused - at least in this prayer as he is giving them the benefit of the doubt - on pleasing Jesus and thus pleasing God.

While Jesus' students remain in the physical world, Jesus wants them to pass on to others this consciousness - in the form of his teachings. This is expressed in coming verses, such as:

"As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." (John 17:18)

Jesus is saying that God sent Jesus to the world to try to bring us back to the spiritual realm - and Jesus is sending his students out with the same mission.

And what is that mission? To inform us that we will never be happy chasing our self-centered dreams around this state of temporary illusion. We will only be happy when we resume our natural position as the loving servant and friend of the Supreme Being. Yes - despite our self-centered past, and all the crap we've done - God still wants us to come home because He loves us and knows only this will make us happy.

And this is why He sent Jesus - to invite us back home. This is why Jesus' most important instruction was:

“‘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 part of Jesus' prayer from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

"I ask not for You to remove them from the material world, but to keep them from wickedness.” (John 17:15)

"You would have no power over me if it were not given to you ..." (John 19:11)

"You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." (John 19:11)

Was Pilate responsible for Jesus' persecution?

Jesus says the above statement in response to Pilate's questions:

"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" (John 19:10)

This is taking place as Pilate has more than once proclaimed that Jesus had committed no crime and there was no basis to persecute him. He told the institutional temple leaders:

"Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 19:4)

Prior to that, Pilate said to them:

"I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 18:38)

And we find Pilate repeatedly tried to release Jesus:

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar." (John 19:12)

So clearly, the force to crucify Jesus was coming from the institutional temple leaders, and ultimately the high priest. It is for this reason Jesus is saying to Pilate:

"Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

Who 'handed' Jesus over to Pilate?

Some have speculated that Jesus is referring to Judas. This is not correct, however.

Jesus is referring to the temple high priest Caiaphas, who ultimately made the decision to arrest Jesus and accuse him of a crime. It was Caiaphas who handed Jesus over to Pilate. And it was Caiaphas who ordered his followers to cry out for Jesus' persecution.

It wasn't wasn't Judas.

Yes, Pilate and Judas certainly participated, both reluctantly. Judas didn't know that this would end in Jesus' crucifixion. Yes, the Romans who carried out the execution are held accountable.

But the driving force of the operation to execute Jesus was Caiaphas.

We see that Pilate had some authority in this situation, but his hand was being forced. If he released Jesus he faced an uprising from the institutional temple leaders. And he also faced losing his position completely if things got out of hand. This is reflected with this verse that followed:

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid. (John 19:8)

This points to Caiaphas as the driving force for Jesus' persecution. But we must be careful not to blame an entire race of people or an entire religion. This would be wrong. Jesus, in fact, followed those teachers before him such as Moses and David. And Jesus also preached among the institutional temples, and was even called "rabbi" by many.

Yes, Jesus certainly fell into the category of being a Jew just as was Caiaphas. At least with respect to the heritage of their physical bodies. But they were not at all in the same league. Of course, Jesus was not his physical body anyway.

And it is complete nonsense to blame either the Jewish people or the Jewish religion as being responsible for Jesus' persecution. This is about one corrupt man: Caiaphus the high priest.

It was, in fact, the product of a singular issue: envy.

Why did Caiaphus do this?

Caiaphus was envious of Jesus. This is the reality of the situation. Caiaphus was appointed to the position of high priest because he wanted the honor of being the religious leader of the Jewish religion. This was so important to Caiaphus that he could not accept the possibility that Jesus was gaining so much attention, and gaining so many followers.

Caiaphas was envious of Jesus because he (Caiaphus) wanted to be the big leader.

Thus we can blame the quest for power, made available through the means of gaining authority* within sectarian institutions.

In fact, this ability to abuse authority and use the position as a religious leader to do evil is inherent within any ecclesiastical religious institution.

The word "ecclesiastical" relates to the appointment or election of a religious leader or teacher, through politics or councils of people - or even through a singular appointment by a predecessor.

This type of election or selection process is wrought with abuse because it is ultimately a political process. When people choose who is to supposedly be God's representative, they make choices based upon physical attributes rather than spiritual attributes. This is because most people have no spiritual vision. So they choose someone who appears to be religious, or who has the right degrees or has a great resume.

These are all things that can be gained without any spiritual authority. A person may, for example, pass all the seminary classes, and pass all the tests through the memorization of scripture. Yet they may truly understand none of it. They may be able to recite all the prayers and drone on in their sermons what they heard their own priest say, but they still may not be spiritually advanced.

In other words, they may not have a relationship with the Supreme Being. And thus they will not be representing Him.

Preaching in exchange for compensation prevents such a person from representing the Supreme Being. They are performing a service in exchange for compensation, and they must please those who pay their salaries in order to keep their positions. One cannot please those paying their salaries and please God at the same time.

This is why Jesus said:

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13 NKJV)

What is 'mammon'?

The word translated to "mammon" - μαμωνᾶς (mamōnas) - has also been translated to "wealth" or "money." But mammon is distinct. 

But the word itself refers to materialism. The want of material things - be it money, property, success, fame, popularity, followers, and so on.

These are things in the physical world that are connected by self-centeredness.

Being in charge or having power over others is also part of mammon. Mammon is often referred to as money, but it is also material power.

Yet the physical things in themselves are not mammon. Power or money, for example, can be used to serve the Supreme Being - or used to serve oneself.

The point of Jesus' statement is that a person cannot be proposing to serve God while that person is working for themselves. 

For this reason, being paid to serve God is an oxymoron. The two are mutually exclusive because being compensated for service is inconsistent with loving service to God. It is for this reason that being a professional teacher runs contrary to being God's servant.

We might compare it to two people getting married. If a woman was offered a million dollars to marry the man then the man will be disgusted with such a situation. He would certainly understand the woman wasn't marrying him for love - but rather, the money. And the only way the woman could release herself from marrying him for the money would be to reject the money and marry the man anyway.

We can see from Jesus' own life and teachings that he never received compensation for his preaching, and never specifically appointed or set up a process to appoint the next teacher. Rather, he instructed all his students to go out and pass on his teachings. For example, in Luke he instructs 72 of his disciples to go to towns and villages throughout the region passing on his teachings (Luke 10:1-10). Could there have been a political appointment of 72 people? Hardly. Jesus was sending anyone who was following him who was fit for traveling and preaching.

And not only did Jesus forbid their receiving money for their preaching, but he forbade them from moving to better quarters once their preaching began.

Did Jesus try to gain power?

Jesus did not set up an ecclesiastical organization. Neither did he set up a hierarchy of appointments as most sectarian institutions have done. Is this a coincidence? Was Jesus simply not a very good organizer?

Don't be ridiculous. Jesus didn't set up an institution because he understood how they would be abused. Rather, he simply surrounded himself with those who put forth strong efforts to follow his instructions. Yes, certain disciples had skills that were used - for example arranging for a place to stay in a village - but there was no hierarchy. No organization to abuse. And no compensation involved.

And certainly, Jesus accepted the gifts of others given freely, including a place to stay and food. But these were given freely and never demanded. There was never a contractual arrangement or a quid pro quo involved.

As soon as there is, there can be no service rendered. The service is being compensated.

And since ecclesiastical religious institutions are specifically set up to compensate their teachers and leaders, and glorify those who hold the positions of authority - they attract those who abuse those positions.

And this is precisely what occurred with the institutional temple high priest - Caiaphas - who was threatened by Jesus' real authority. Because Caiaphas was pretending to be God's representative, and he needed to continue this facade in order the maintain his position of authority, he was threatened by the reality that Jesus was really representing the Supreme Being.

Thus we can say that the reason Jesus was crucified was that his representation of God threatened the authority of the ecclesiastical religious institution leadership.

But we also see here that the Supreme Being ultimately grants anyone their authority. Jesus says here to Pilate, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." This means that even that power theoretically given by men is still ultimately being granted by the Supreme Being. This is because the Supreme Being has ultimate authority over everything. And if we desire self-centered authority, the Supreme Being will grant it in one respect or another.

Why does God allow people to wield power?

Why does God grant the self-centered desire for authority? Because He is allowing us to play out our self-centered fantasies. He is allowing us this virtual landscape of the temporary physical world to pretend that we have authority. Whether it is having authority over people in the form of being a boss, or being a business tycoon, or a politician, parent or even an ecclesiastical priest or preacher, the Supreme Being is ultimately allowing us to play out our quest for authority.

Yet as Jesus indicates here, there are consequences for our use of our self-centered authority.

The true representative of God ignores ecclesiastical authority. Why? Because God's representative is focused on pleasing the one he loves - the Supreme Being. This is communicated by Jesus clearly:

"The One who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him." (John 8:29)

Jesus is speaking of the Supreme Being, who not only sent Jesus, but stayed with him during his preaching. And we see that this (God staying with Jesus) is specifically connected to Jesus' working to please God: "for I always do what pleases Him."

Because Jesus was working to please the One he loves - the Supreme Being - God remained with Him. This allowed Jesus to speak on behalf of God. This gave Jesus the authority to represent His Beloved Supreme Being. And what did Jesus do with that authority? He taught us to love and serve 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 verse from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:

“You would have no authority over me unless it had been granted to you from the realm above. For this reason, those who delivered me to you have committed the greatest offense.” (John 19:11)

"Woman, here is your son," ... "Here is your mother." (John 19:26-27)

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27)

Why did Jesus say this to his mother?

We must carefully understand what is taking place here. Jesus' body has been gruesomely nailed onto a cross. His body is being tortured and obviously in severe pain, yet he is still concerned about those he will be leaving behind as he leaves his physical body. Here is the full text from these two verses:

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:27-28)

So while Jesus is suffering from excruciating pain and torture at the hands of the Roman and institutional temple leaders, he is still caring about those around him. 

So what is he saying?

Jesus is introducing his mother to one of his confidential disciples, and he is requesting the disciple to take care of his mother. This is confirmed by the statement:

From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:28)

Who is this disciple 'whom he loved'?

Notice also that the text describes this disciple as "whom he loved." What does this mean? Did Jesus have some sort of special relationship with this disciple?

Those who have suggested this - as well as those who have suggested that Jesus and Mary had some sort of intimate relationship - have no spiritual vision. They see Jesus as an ordinary person, and suggest that his relationships were like their own - based upon a materialistic identification with the physical body.

Jesus did not see those around him as physical bodies to exploit as those in the physical world do. Because we are blind to the spiritual identities of ourselves and those around us, we think that I am this body and those around us are their physical bodies.

He saw the spiritual person within. He communicated this on multiple occasions. For example, he said:

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." (Luke 12:4-5)

So while we might see others as physical bodies, and have self-centered desires relating to the use of those physical bodies, Jesus had no such consciousness. Jesus could see others' spiritual forms. And his love for others was purely spiritual.

This spiritual love is reflected upon in the original Greek. The phrase "he loved" is being taken from the Greek word ἀγαπάω (agapaō), which means, according to the lexicon, "to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly," and "to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing."

These indicate that Jesus was pleased with this disciple. And the love he showed towards the disciple in this respect relates to spiritual love. A love that is deeper than the physical body. A love that relates to the self - the spiritual being that is temporarily wearing a physical body.

There is some indication from elsewhere in the Gospel that the disciple is John. This also follows similar phrases later in the Gospel of John:

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. (John 21:7)

This is affirmed also later:

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. (John 21:20-24)

This would mean that the disciple 'whom he loved' is none other than John – the apparent author of this Gospel.

This of course also means that John did not depart Jesus as some of Jesus' other disciples did, including Peter.

Why did Jesus address his mother as 'woman'?

Our spiritual self has nothing to do with our physical body. It also has nothing to do with the gender of the physical body. Our spiritual form is unrelated to the temporary physical body we are wearing.

In the same way, a rich man might get into an old beat-up car and drive it around. Or a poor person might drive a fancy car. The body is a vehicle just as a car is a vehicle. The driver has an identity independent of the vehicle.

At the same time, Jesus also cared for others' physical bodies. He saw that the mother of his physical body needed to be cared for, and he instructed one of his close disciples to care for her.

It is not as if seeing the spiritual person within should make us ignore their vehicle - their physical body. For example, if we cared about a friend of ours, we wouldn't dent up their car. We would care about their car because the car belongs to someone we care about.

In the same way, we can still care about the bodies of our family and friends. But we can still differentiate them from their spiritual identities and know our permanent existence relates to our spiritual self. Jesus confirmed this when he said:

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matt. 12:50)

So Jesus is understanding his spiritual identity relates to his loving service to the Supreme Being. Those who also work for God's pleasure he considers his true family.

This is confirmed by the fact that Jesus addressed his mother as "woman."

Jesus also knew that his spiritual self would be leaving his physical body shortly. This is reflected in this statement:

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30)

This term, "gave up his spirit" (from the Greek phrase παρέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα) refers to the spiritual person leaving the physical body ("a human soul that has left the body" per the lexicon). This is what happens at the time of death. Each of us will leave our physical body at the time of death.

And at that point - when we leave our physical body - our physical lives are judged. This is called "judgment day." Yes, 'judgement day" has been misinterpreted by ecclesiastical teachers who have tried to suggest it relates to some end of the world scenario. Rather, the time of death is the 'end of the world' for each of us.

Jesus, however, is not like us. He is God's representative, and thus able to return to the physical world after he left his physical body in order to provide further instructions to his disciples.

But didn't Jesus' body "rise from the dead"?

Because Jesus' close disciples, including Mary and Peter - did not recognize Jesus when he appeared to them, we know that his body did not rise. If he rose in his dead physical body then they would have been able to identify him immediately. Consider these verses:

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." (John 20:14-15)

She didn't recognize Jesus because he wasn't appearing in his physical body. That body had died - and it was taken away:

This is why Mary told Simon Peter:

"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" (John 20:2)

In other words, they took Jesus' physical body away - as the tomb his body was placed in actually belonged to someone else - Joseph of Arhimethia - so it wasn't the permanent tomb for Jesus' body. Jewish custom at the time was that a person's dead body was put into a tomb belonging to the family.

So while some have created this lavish myth of Jesus' physical body rising, we can see this isn't true because his body would have been immediately recognized. Rather, Jesus' spiritual self left the physical body, and later he reappeared to his disciples using spiritual potency.

This is the same technology used by angels. The Supreme Being gives some of His special loving servants the ability to appear to certain people in the physical world.

This is also confirmed in the ancient Nag Hammadi scripture called "The Wisdom of Jesus" apparently written in the Second Century:

1. After he rose from the dead body, his twelve disciples and seven women continued to follow him. They traveled to Galilee and to the mountain referred to as Devotion and Joy. After gathering together they debated about the nature of the material world and its arrangement; and the spiritual path, the power of the demigods, and all the confidential guidance the Savior had provided.
2. The Savior appeared not in his earlier form, but in the ethereal spirit. His appearance was like a beautiful illuminated angel. But I cannot properly describe his appearance. No material body could bear this – only the purified spiritual body – just as he taught us about from Galilee to the mount referred to as ‘the olives.’
3. Then he said, “Peace be to you – I give you my peace.” Then they were all astonished and afraid. The Savior laughed and told them, “What were you thinking? Are you confused? What do you seek?” (The Wisdom of Jesus 1-3)

What rose then?

Jesus' spirit rose. We can see clearly from this text that Jesus' spiritual self rose up out of that physical body that was murdered on the cross (evidenced by the guards). This confirms Jesus' other statements about them not being able to kill the soul.

This is also the classical meaning of resurrection - the spirit-person's leaving the physical body and rising. Jesus defined this clearly:

"At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." (Matt. 22:30)

The word "resurrection" is being translated from the Greek word ἀνάστασις (anastasis) - which means "a raising up, rising (e.g. from a seat)" and "a rising from the dead" according to the lexicon.

The fact that the spirit-person - or soul - rises out of the body was clearly defined by Jesus. But he also clarified that the resurrection of the righteous - those who perfected their relationship with the Supreme Being - was rising out of the body and returning to the spiritual realm as stated above.

It is also clear from the scriptures that this is also what took place with Jesus:

They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matt. 27:53)

Thus we have it clearly defined from the Gospels that Jesus did indeed leave his physical body at the time of death. He "rose" - resurrected - from the physical body.

Jesus knew he was not his physical body. This is why he let his physical body be persecuted. Rather, he knew he was spiritual in essence and he was God's loving servant. This is why his mission was to serve the Supreme Being. This was his focus. This is why Jesus prayed the night before his persecution:

“Abba, Father, everything is possible for You. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36)

Jesus knew what was coming. He knew he would be gruesomely tortured until his physical body died. Being crucified is the most gruesome torture imaginable. And yet Jesus did not escape it. He did not try to avoid it. He understood this was part of his service to the Supreme Being.

Why?

Was Jesus dying for our sins?

First, Jesus never died. Only his physical body died. And that physical body died on the cross, as proven by the guards as they tested the body.

And Jesus' torturous persecution does not remove the responsibility of our actions - regardless of whether we claim it did or not.

What a ridiculous assumption - that all we have to do is go to church and "accept" that Jesus died for my sins and suddenly we are not responsible for our actions? That we can steal or hurt someone and we won't have to suffer the consequences?

This is not consistent with reality. Regardless of whether we claim to be saved by Jesus' crucifixion, we will still be accountable for our actions. It is not that Jesus' suffering somehow removed our responsibility.

The reality is that Jesus was murdered because of his teachings. Yes, he could have run away before being arrested and disavowed his teachings.

But he didn't. He stood up for his teachings. And he allowed his body to be killed to illustrate the importance of his teachings. This is because his teachings have the ability to save us from self-centeredness - sinfulness. If we allow them - by learning and practicing his teachings.

Jesus' teachings were the focus of his life. And allowing himself to be persecuted for those teachings was the ultimate sacrifice - indicating the importance of those teachings. Consider this verse:

Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. (Luke 19:47)

We can see here the connection between Jesus' teachings and his being killed. He risked being killed in order to teach. And what was Jesus teaching?

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

Jesus was teaching the message coming from the Supreme Being, who sent Jesus. Jesus was performing loving service to the Supreme Being.

And following Jesus' teachings was of the utmost importance to Jesus:

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples." (John 8:31)

And Jesus also confirmed, that following his teachings is what will save us:

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." (John 14:23)

This indicates what being saved is: "we will come to them and make our home with them."

It is called a loving relationship. Yes, it is a loving relationship with the Supreme Being that saves us. What does it save us from?

A loving relationship with the Supreme Being saves us from our self-centered hell. Even if we are still here within the physical world we can be saved if we are involved in a loving relationship with the Supreme Being. Our body might be in the worst of physical circumstances, but if we are loving and serving the Supreme Being, we are in His world. We are at "home" with the Supreme Being.

This is why Jesus' most important teaching - the teaching that will save us if we follow it - was:

“‘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)