"I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me." "Come now; let us leave." (John 14:30-31)
Who is the 'prince of this world'?
Who is the "prince of this world"? And why is he "coming" and what does this have to do with Jesus not speaking with them "much longer"?Many have speculated that Jesus is speaking of the devil, or Satan when he says this. This is contradicted by Jesus' statement about him "coming." The common definition of 'Satan' is that he is always around, tempting us.
Jesus is not referring to Satan. Jesus is using symbolism here, as he often did in his teachings.
Jesus is not referring to Satan. Jesus is using symbolism here, as he often did in his teachings.
The "prince of this world" is the death of the physical body. Jesus is referring to his coming persecution and subsequent death by crucifixion.
A prince is typically someone who has been delegated some power over something. In the world of kingdoms where there was an emperor of a country, the emperor's princes were given significant powers over the subjects of the kingdom. If a prince ordered someone to do something, there would be consequences if their orders were not followed, as they had regal status.
Death is the "prince of this world" because the time of death has significant authority in the physical world. When our body dies, we lose everything - all our money, education, reputation, status, house, cars, family - is wiped out in an instant. We lose all of this. Death in effect steals every physical possession and every sense of who we think we are away from us.
This is because the physical body is a temporary machine. It is a vehicle we get in and drive for a few decades. It is not us. But because we identify with these physical bodies, we become attached to them and attached to those possessions we think are ours. But once the body dies, we are pulled away from our physical body - and our identification with it vanishes, along with our supposed ownership of those things we considered our possessions.
Jesus knew his real identity: As one of God's loving caregivers. He knew he was a spiritual being, not a physical body. He knew he was a citizen of the spiritual realm.
This is actually our real identity too. We are natural citizens of the spiritual realm. We are not these temporary physical bodies. We are each one of God's loving caregivers in our natural state.
But we are away from that natural state as we dwell within these physical bodies. This is because we have the choice to love God or not and we decided not to. Instead, we wanted to be king. We wanted to be the center of attention. We wanted the glory of being praised and being exalted by others.
Isn't this what we are each striving for in this physical world? We are each working for our own version of being king. This is why all the supposed gurus teach us to "follow your dream." They are encouraging us to follow our desires and try to carve out our own little kingdom.
A prince is typically someone who has been delegated some power over something. In the world of kingdoms where there was an emperor of a country, the emperor's princes were given significant powers over the subjects of the kingdom. If a prince ordered someone to do something, there would be consequences if their orders were not followed, as they had regal status.
Death is the "prince of this world" because the time of death has significant authority in the physical world. When our body dies, we lose everything - all our money, education, reputation, status, house, cars, family - is wiped out in an instant. We lose all of this. Death in effect steals every physical possession and every sense of who we think we are away from us.
This is because the physical body is a temporary machine. It is a vehicle we get in and drive for a few decades. It is not us. But because we identify with these physical bodies, we become attached to them and attached to those possessions we think are ours. But once the body dies, we are pulled away from our physical body - and our identification with it vanishes, along with our supposed ownership of those things we considered our possessions.
Why does the 'prince' have 'no hold on me'?
Who is tJesus is saying that death "has no hold on me." How is this? Because Jesus did not identify with his physical body. He did not - as we do - confuse his real identity with the temporary physical body.Jesus knew his real identity: As one of God's loving caregivers. He knew he was a spiritual being, not a physical body. He knew he was a citizen of the spiritual realm.
This is actually our real identity too. We are natural citizens of the spiritual realm. We are not these temporary physical bodies. We are each one of God's loving caregivers in our natural state.
But we are away from that natural state as we dwell within these physical bodies. This is because we have the choice to love God or not and we decided not to. Instead, we wanted to be king. We wanted to be the center of attention. We wanted the glory of being praised and being exalted by others.
Isn't this what we are each striving for in this physical world? We are each working for our own version of being king. This is why all the supposed gurus teach us to "follow your dream." They are encouraging us to follow our desires and try to carve out our own little kingdom.
Whether it be becoming wealthy, being the president or a senator, being the CEO of a big company, being a sports hero or being a parent of a big family, we are chasing our "dream" to be king of our own little kingdom. This is all taken away at the time of death.
This means our supposed little kingdoms are simply an illusion. We might be the boss of others when we are CEO, but even the CEO has to report to the board and stockholders. So the CEO is not really in complete charge.
How does our kingdom end?
Death - the "prince of this world" takes our supposed kingdom away from us.This means our supposed little kingdoms are simply an illusion. We might be the boss of others when we are CEO, but even the CEO has to report to the board and stockholders. So the CEO is not really in complete charge.
And the parents of a big family end up serving the needs of the children including having to work hard to feed them. The president and senators must also serve the needs of their constituents or they get booted out of office. All of our "dreams" are in fact, illusions.
The reality is that even though we might think we are kings of something, we are never kings. This is an illusion. It is like children being given a little sandbox by the parents. A child might think he is the king of the sandbox but this is an illusion. The parents can dismantle the sandbox at any time.
It is the same for us. We are not kings by nature. We are caregivers by nature. We are servants by nature. And even in this physical world of illusion, we are servants. We serve our bodies, we serve our family members, we serve our bosses, we serve those who have the power over our living situation - we are always serving someone.
Our natural position is to be one of God's servants. Should we decide to serve Him, death will also have no hold on us, because we will be in our eternal position. A loving service relationship with the Supreme Being dissolves the effects of death because it dissolves the illusions of this physical world.
The reality is that even though we might think we are kings of something, we are never kings. This is an illusion. It is like children being given a little sandbox by the parents. A child might think he is the king of the sandbox but this is an illusion. The parents can dismantle the sandbox at any time.
It is the same for us. We are not kings by nature. We are caregivers by nature. We are servants by nature. And even in this physical world of illusion, we are servants. We serve our bodies, we serve our family members, we serve our bosses, we serve those who have the power over our living situation - we are always serving someone.
Our natural position is to be one of God's servants. Should we decide to serve Him, death will also have no hold on us, because we will be in our eternal position. A loving service relationship with the Supreme Being dissolves the effects of death because it dissolves the illusions of this physical world.
It dissolves our mistaken identity that we are this physical body. It dissolves our illusion that we have some sort of kingship. It dissolves our illusion that we will be happy outside of a loving relationship with the Supreme Being.
Why, with these clear statements, have some been teaching that Jesus is God?
Why would Jesus speak of the Supreme Being in such a way if he were the Supreme Being?
A devoted loving servant of that person.
This is clearly - as Jesus is describing himself - who Jesus is. He is not "God become man" as some are teaching.
We must look deeper into the relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being to also see Jesus' authority and powerful teachings - able to change people's hearts. A person who serves another "exactly" becomes that person's representative.
Consider an administrative assistant of a CEO who calls someone from another company and says, "our company will not be signing your agreement." Does this mean the administrative assistant is in charge and they are the CEO?
What is Jesus' role?
Here Jesus is explaining with clarity his loving relationship with the Supreme Being, and with the physical world.Why, with these clear statements, have some been teaching that Jesus is God?
Why would Jesus speak of the Supreme Being in such a way if he were the Supreme Being?
"...the world must learn that I love the Father ..."How would we describe a person who loves someone and does "exactly" what they say?
A devoted loving servant of that person.
This is clearly - as Jesus is describing himself - who Jesus is. He is not "God become man" as some are teaching.
We must look deeper into the relationship between Jesus and the Supreme Being to also see Jesus' authority and powerful teachings - able to change people's hearts. A person who serves another "exactly" becomes that person's representative.
Consider an administrative assistant of a CEO who calls someone from another company and says, "our company will not be signing your agreement." Does this mean the administrative assistant is in charge and they are the CEO?
No. It means by nature of the fact that they are following the orders of their CEO, they are representing the CEO, and thus their communications with the other company have the same authority as if the communication came from the CEO himself.
This is the same situation with Jesus and the Supreme Being. Jesus is God's loving servant and representative.
This is why Jesus' most important teaching was:
*Here is the translation of Jesus' statement from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:
This is the same situation with Jesus and the Supreme Being. Jesus is God's loving servant and representative.
This is why Jesus' most important teaching 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 Jesus' statement from the Lost Gospels of Jesus:
"I won’t speak too much more with you because the prince of this world is coming and he has nothing to do with me. But so that the world may know that I love the Creator, I do exactly what the Creator instructs me. Let’s get up and leave this place.” (John 14:30-31)