John 14:12-21

John 14:12-21 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."

To often in Christianity do we see God as separate individuals. This comes mostly from the way that so much scripture has been translated. We also see the Spirit in a masculine form, but even in the Greek, when actually speaking to gender, the Spirit is feminine. Most of the identities in this passage are inferred by the translator, and are not there in the Greek. I have taken the task of word by word translation of the text from the Greek. All this is using strong’s numbers, and easily checked. I also see the text as being filled with more promise and power that we can be assured of. I started studying this passage for a sermon on prayer that I am preparing, and got side tracked for over 2 hours. Enjoy, and reflect on these powerful words of Jesus.

If you put your faith in God, you will do the deeds that we have account of Jesus doing while he was here on earth. That’s all his deeds, from casting unclean spirits from people who were maimed and crippled, to celebrating the feast days and Sabbath, all the deeds that Jesus did, and even greater deeds caused by Jesus moving towards our father. Ask all that you ask in the authority of Jesus the Anointed, and God will do these things.

The condition that shows that you love God is to guard his commands. He didn’t just tell us that we need to do his commands to show our love for him, we HAVE TO guard them, protect them, and ensure them. This is a much greater task, it alludes to military action, we are to violently protect the commands of God, with force, we are to protect them, if not we are not proving our love.

Then Jesus requests of the father, likewise he shall bring forth more comfort, so as to remain accompanying you throughout the world. You are promised to always be comforted, with Jesus always near you anywhere you go in the cosmos.

The very breath of truth which the world has no possibility to attain, because considering of truth is absolutely not, never aware of truth: moreover you can speak this truth because these remains near you even will be resting in you. The world does not consider truth, and therefore cannot be aware of truth, but we speak truth, because truth is near us, and will be resting with us. Jesus is speaking of himself, the spirit of truth, the Torah, and that is what we are to profess.

No way forsaking you as comfortless, come enter forward to you. Jesus will not forsake us, or leave us without his comfort; he is coming forward into us.

Still a little while and this world consider me absolutely not still; now you consider me for I live you live likewise. In other words, even with all this, the world does not even think about Jesus, but we do, because we live like he lives. So if we think we are thinking about Jesus, we better be living like him, or we are not really even thinking of him.

In that time you absolutely know how I am in my father even you in me, and I also in you. So when we consider Jesus, and follow his ways will understand this concept of how he is in the father, and so are we in Jesus, and so Jesus in us, which by our human understanding is not possible.

Hold my commands and guard them, which profits love for me: moreover love for me is love of my Father, therefore I love them, likewise manifest myself to them. When we firmly follow and guard the commandments it shows our love for Jesus, and also for the father, and because of this, Jesus loves us and shows himself to us.

If you wish to contend with any of my paraphrase, please first show the minimal respect of looking at the text yourself and trying the same. That is only fair, if you have a question ask, but look at the text first if you wish to debate. Thank you.