ON LOVE; PART MDXLXVI
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
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We ended the last essay with some thought regarding the ideas of “the Son of man“, the “false Christs” and the “false prophets” as these ARE used in our subject verses from Matthew’s Gospel. The context for ALL of these appellations IS similar across the three synoptic gospels and, in our view they ARE but various ideas pertaining to the same types of persons with perhaps some measure of degree involved. Our view of “the Son of man” IS that the Master intended for us to see the idea that while He Himself IS a unique combination of humanity and divinity, so can we be. We ARE told this through the words of the Apostle John saying “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17) and while these words can be understood in both ideas of divinity and humanity, through our current context we should see both. We ARE human by being born into this world and we ARE divine as the Christ Within, the Soul and, like the Master, we can combine these together as “the Son of man” who cometh “as the lightning out of the east, and shineth even unto the west“. If we can see this idea as the disciple and the saint who has gained the ability to KNOW “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26-27), we can then better understand the point of “the Son of man” in this context. When then the Master tells us as disciples that “if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not“, He IS referring to those that portend to be of such Power but who ARE NOT. While this may be a unique position to take regarding the idea of “the Son of man” in this context, it IS better than the doctrinal alternatives which ever point us to the ‘second coming’ of the Christ and the end times as neither ARE the subject of the words we ARE discussing. Our selection here pertains ONLY to the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD through the verses that we have now discussed. For clarity, we repeat both sections of the 24th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, the one we previously covered and the one we ARE NOW discussing:
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:5-24).
“Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:25:36).
In the first section the Master cautions us about the “false Christs” and the “false prophets” and there should be no question regarding His intent. Here we should remember that the way par excellence for us to KNOW the real from the false IS shown us through Jesus’ saying “Ye shall know them by their fruits” and then “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16, 20). KNOWING the Truth of “the Son of man” IS NO different. ALL of this brings us to the next idea which Matthew frames as “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together“. This thought DOES NOT appear in Mark’s Gospel but it DOES in Luke where it IS shown us as “Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” (Luke 17:37). The Greek word that IS rendered as carcase IS ptoma which is defined as a ruin by Strong’s who then applies the idea of lifeless body (corpse, carrion) 9a to this idea. Thayer’s tells us that the idea of ptoma IS: in Greek writings from Aeschylus down, a fall, downfall; metaphorically, a failure, defeat, calamity; an error lapse, sin; ALL of which can correspond to Strong’s ruin. Thayer’s goes on to say that ptoma IS: that which is fallen; hence, with the genitive of a person or with νεκροῦ added, the (fallen) body of one dead or slain, a corpse, carcase 9. While we ARE NOT Greek scholars, we can say that there IS NO genitive of a person involved in this particular saying nor IS there the idea of νεκροῦ, which IS nekros, and which IS always rendered as dead. The word ptoma IS rendered as corpse in Mark 6:29 where the idea is that “they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb” and then as “dead body” where it IS connected to νεκροῦ which IS nekros in Revelation 11.
In ALL cases, the idea of body would have sufficed to render ptoma in our subject verse with the understanding that the idea IS that it IS a body in ruin, and one in downfall. These ideas match the definitions of the word and bring Matthew’s version into line with that of Luke who uses the Greek word soma which IS rendered as body. Soma IS defined as: the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively 9a and should we understand that in both Matthew and Luke that this IS the idea, a body, we can then better understand the meaning of this phrase. As we previously discussed the idea in Matthew has several doctrinal ideas attached to it. In understanding ptoma a body and applying the ideas from Strong’s and Thayer’s we should be able to understand that this body IS one in ruin, one that IS fallen and, since we ARE speaking of spiritual ideas, the resultant picture should be clear. If we can see that one that portends to be “the Son of man“, an accomplished disciple or a saint if you will, but IS NOT, IS but a body in ruin and one that IS fallen. Such a man will attract others, noted as eagles, to his ruse. We should understand that there need be NO ‘evil’ intent in one’s pretence, there need ONLY to be the pretence and it IS such that we must “believe it not“. We should understand that this IS NOT an idea that IS an indictment of those living 2000 years ago ONLY. These same dynamics have been in play until today where so many individuals, ‘well intentioned’ or NOT, claim to be prophets, claim to have spiritual Power and claim to speak in the name of the Lord but who ARE just “false Christs” and “false prophets“. This brings to mind the Master’s words which ARE an extension of the second part of our trifecta where Jesus tells His disciples and others that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
We have discussed these words from Matthew’s Gospel several times usually with the idea that these words were predictive and NOT necessarily addressed to the Jews in those days. We say this because of the nature of the ideas presented. First IS the inclusion of the idea “in that day“; what day DOES the Master refer to here? Doctrinally the idea IS understood as the final day of judgment but this IS a concept NOT yet introduced by Jesus. We should note here as well that when this day of judgment IS the reference, the Master clearly says so. Secondly, who in those days would be prophesying in the name of Jesus? Not the Jews to be sure and likely NONE at the time that these words ARE uttered. And who IS there that IS casting “out devils” and moreover who IS DOING so in His name in those days? Finally, in those days who IS there that IS DOING “many wonderful works”? It should not be difficult to see these words as predictive, as a prophecy against a yet non-existent Christianity where men would claim to be DOING such things in the Master’s name without first DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“. It IS to such that the Master preemptively says “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity“. We should note here that these words follow immediately upon Jesus’ words regarding “false prophets” and if we tie these ideas together we can get a clearer picture of the Master’s warning; a better understanding of how the “the coming of the Son of man“, his being “in the desert” or “in the secret chambers” should NOT be believed in the absence of that fruit of which the Master says “Ye shall know them by their fruits” and then “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16, 20). Summarizing our thoughts here we should try to see the idea that this reference to “the Son of man” in this context IS NOT a reference to Himself but rather a reference to any who would qualify to be such and, more importantly, any who would pretend to be such intentionally or NOT. Were we to paint the church today with a broad brush, we would see many in the church being those against whom the Master warns us based on both their failure to “doeth the will of my Father“. And we would see the absence of those fruits that would show us the True prophet, the True teacher and the True “son of man”. It IS against this that we should see then the idea that “wheresoever the carcase body is, there will the eagles be gathered together“.
Moving on we come again to the Master’s words saying “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken“. While we have discussed these words in an earlier essay we should refresh our ideas here again. First the tribulation that IS spoken of IS the destruction of Jerusalem and the siege that led up to the sacking of the city. We also discussed this idea of tribulation in previous essays against the idea that “then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be“. This tribulation results in the end of the Jew’s religion as it had existed for 1500 years, the end of the temple and all that this meant in the doctrines of the Jews. Second, we should see that much of the Master’s words here CAN NOT be taken literally as such things CAN NOT happen….even against the idea that “with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). Luke has a more realistic presentation of these ideas saying that “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring” (Luke 21:25) but even here the meaning IS quite elusive. We should try to see here that the overall subject of these verses in ALL the gospels IS the destruction of Jerusalem and while much of the church sees their vision of the end times in much of this ‘Olivet discourse’ as it IS called, many also see the sacking of Jerusalem….some try to see both. Let us take a step back here and put ourselves into the mindset of the Jews in those days when the city IS under siege by the Romans. We DO so with the presentation of the events from Google’s Gemeni AI model which summarizes the available data for us; we read that:
- Encirclement (April 70 AD): Titus arrived before Jerusalem just before Passover, trapping a massive influx of pilgrims inside the city.
- Internal Strife: Inside the walls, Jewish resistance was weakened by a violent three-way civil war between rival factions led by John of Gischala, Simon bar Giora, and Eleazar ben Simon.
- Breaching the Walls: Roman forces systematically breached the city’s defenses: the Third (outer) Wall fell in May, followed by the Second Wall days later.
- Fall of Antonia Fortress (July 70 AD): After a grueling struggle, the Romans captured the Antonia Fortress, which overlooked the Temple Mount.
- Destruction of the Temple (August 70 AD): On the 10th of Av (late August), the Second Temple was set ablaze and destroyed. While the historian Josephus claimed Titus wanted to save it, many modern scholars believe the destruction was an intentional military and ideological act.
- Final Collapse (September 70 AD): The last resistance in the Upper City fell on September 8, marking the complete Roman victory.
Ancient sources like Josephus estimate over 1 million deaths, primarily from famine and disease, though modern scholars often consider these numbers exaggerated. Approximately 97,000 survivors were captured and sold into slavery***.
It IS easy to see the idea of “great tribulation” in these events and it IS, according to Matthew, in the immediate times after this tribulation that “the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken“. We DO KNOW that these things DID NOT happen historically and this IS likely one of the reasons why the idea has become pivotal to the end times theories of so much of the church. For people in Jerusalem in 70 AD, and we should see that this was more than the regular population as there was also ‘a massive influx of pilgrims inside the city, there was little if any hope. For ALL such people trapped in Jerusalem it certainly could feel like “the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” as they could see naught but their own end and the end of their existence as Jews. This IS the meaning that should be assigned to these words and while we may NOT be entirely right in this, we ARE infinitely more right than believing that they ARE about the end times. The next verse IS equally bewildering and difficult to understand and probably purposefully so. We should remember here that the Master IS speaking to His disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of Judaism as it had been KNOWN for 1500 years. Jesus tells His disciples that “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory“.
The first question here IS what IS “the sign of the Son of man in heaven“; it IS important to understand “the Son of man” as we address above and in the previous essay before we address what “the sign” of this would be and what the meaning of “in heaven“. Again we ARE faced with a doctrinal idea that this IS a part of the second coming of the Christ and most ALL available information points ONLY to this idea. An exception can be seen in John Gill’s commentary on the beginning of this verse; it IS in our view meaningless blather which references the idea that: he shall appear, not in person, but in the power of his wrath and vengeance, on the Jewish nation which will be a full sign and proof of his being come 8. We should try to see here that Mr. Gill IS somewhat ascribing these ideas to the fall of Jerusalem as he DOES the last verse and for this we give him credit; however, in other places he IS yet a proponent of end times theology. Most doctrinal theologies however see the second coming of the Christ in this verse; the common idea IS that: following tribulation, a “sign of the Son of Man” appears in heaven, causing all tribes of the earth to mourn as they witness Jesus returning on clouds with power and great glory. This event signifies the Second Coming **. None of what we have seen in our research defines “the sign of the Son of man” except this same AI reference where we read that: the “sign of the Son of Man” refers to a dramatic, universally visible manifestation in the heavens that signals the immediate, glorious return of Jesus Christ to earth. It is widely interpreted as the Shekinah glory—a radiant, divine light—or the appearance of Christ himself in the clouds, often compared to lightning flashing across the sky **. For too many the belief IS that this IS the way that the second coming will happen and this despite the reality that these ideas pertain to the destruction of Jerusalem.
The word rendered as appear IS the Greek word phaino and we should note that this word IS rendered as shineth in the previous verse where the Master describes of the idea of “the Son of Man” as being likened to lightning. As we discussed this idea of “the Son of Man” we came to a different conclusion regarding disciples and saints; that either of these would qualify as the “the Son of Man” in the stated context. Again we must remember that the broad subject IS the sacking of Jerusalem and that the Master will be ‘long’ gone by 70 AD. We should remember also the idea that the Master offers us much earlier saying primarily to His disciples that “Ye are the light of the world“. The word Light in this saying IS rendered from the Greek word phos of which phaino IS a verb form though NOT necessarily a derivative. Strong’s tells us that phaino IS: prolongation for the base of G5457 which IS phos 9a. It should be easy to relate these ideas and to use some idea of Light in the context of our current verse rather than appear. Also, while we ARE here in the Master’s words saying “Ye are the light of the world“, we can go a bit deeper into our previous analysis of the idea of “the Son of Man”. This IS NOT a standalone statement by the Master; it IS coupled with the previous idea that “Ye are the salt of the earth” and if we take these ideas together we can perhaps see our first introduction to the idea that the disciple and the saint IS “the Son of Man”. The “salt of the earth” is the man in this world as a mortal being imbued with the Light of the Soul, a disciple if you will, and the message to His disciples IS that “if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?“. Here we should try to see that if the disciple, “the salt of the earth“, should lose his way and revert, that as that salt he IS “good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men“. It IS in the idea that the mortal man IS, as a disciple, imbued with the Light of the Soul, that we should understand the next words saying that “Ye are the light of the world” and that as such one must “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 13, 16).
Our purpose in going back to the Sermon on the Mount IS to show that it IS this Light, “the light of the world“, that IS the idea that we should take into the idea of “the Son of Man”, especially in the context of our current verse from the ‘Olivet discourse’. While we still DO NOT KNOW what the Master intended as “the sign of the Son of man” we can likely get a hint from its relationship to Light and, here perhaps, we should see that this sign IS that Light which IS being shined “before men“. The Greek word semeion IS rendered as sign in this phrase and we should note that this IS NOT an ordinary sign as we would understand the idea. The idea and the use of semeion IS heavenly signs, spiritual signs if you will; it IS used earlier in this chapter in the disciples’ question asking “what shall be the sign of thy coming” and it IS also frequently rendered in terms of miracles. If we can take a step back here and completely disregard the doctrinal assertions applied to the ‘Olivet discourse’ perhaps we can see the idea that it IS the Light of the disciples of the Lord, His saints, that IS what will be seen. From the perspective of the disciples whom the Master IS addressing we should see that they ARE, their Light IS, the very sign of which the Master speaks. It IS the apostles and the disciples of the Lord that DO pick up the mantel and go forth into the world to teach the Truth of Jesus’ teachings according to the Master’s words saying “Go ye therefore, and teach make disciples of all nations people, baptizing immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Before we continue we should review again our recent use of AI in our commentaries. As we have said in recent essays, the AI models that ARE available today ARE able to read through and summarize volumes of information in an instant which IS a benefit of time and resources for most any writer. Before our use of AI we would have to read as much information about the doctrinal churches’ positions of various matters as we could and use that information in our own writing. In this effort we often used John Gill whose Exposition of the Bible reflected the doctrinal positions of much of the church. AI offers us much greater access to a much fuller spectrum of doctrinal ideas regarding most every biblical subject and, as we can see above, this differs from John Gill’s thoughts on some matters.
The next point IS the idea of heaven, that “the sign of the Son of man” will be “in heaven“. This IS a word and an idea that has been captured by the churches and made to mean things that should NEVER have been applied to it. The idea IS generally spiritual; it IS used by Matthew in place of the clearer idea of the Kingdom of God; we should understand that these ARE the same. Being the realm of the Godhead however DOES NOT place the idea into any of the doctrinal ideas regarding heaven. Here we should remember the Master’s words saying that “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20:21). Using this idea that “the kingdom of God is within you” we should be able to at least glimpse the idea that the Light of the disciple, that Inner Light, which must be exposed to the world in “your good works” takes into consideration the whole of the Master’s words saying “then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven“. Of course we must change these ideas to include the Light in place of the idea of “shall appear” and understand that the Light IS “the sign of the Son of man” and that it IS their Inner Light, it IS the Light which IS “within you“. We understand that this IS a radical departure from the interpretations of the churches but when we consider how illogical and irrelevant such interpretations ARE, we should at least be able to glimpse this reality. The next idea presented in this verse IS “then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn“. The use of the Greek word phule, which IS rendered as tribe, IS a word that IS misused by the doctrines of men to be equivalent to ethnos in this context. The word IS generally used to refer to the Old Testament tribes and the remnants of these that still exist in Jesus’ day. In this context however, instead of maintaining this understanding, Thayer’s shows us that the idea IS: a race, nation, people 9, ideas that ARE generally covered by the Greek word ethnos. Maintaining the original idea of the 12 tribes of the Jews however makes the entire statement more understandable according to our views on the preceding words.
Understanding that the remnant of people left after the historic events chronicled above DO feel as though “the sun” IS darkened, that the moon no longer illuminates the night, “and the stars” ARE as though they fell “from heaven“. And while ALL that they can see before them indicates that “the powers of the heavens” have been disrupted, they ARE thoroughly dismayed. It IS at this time that “the sign of the Son of man” will be in heaven, NOT in a particular place as the churches believe but in the reality of the Inner man. We should try to see that it IS those that survive the tribulation that will have the opportunity to see “the lightning“, the Shekinah glory if you will, which emanates from the disciples and saints in their “good works“; they will have the opportunity to see and to join these sons of men who ARE imbued with the Light of the Soul. Perhaps we should try to see that it IS in these times of trial for the remnants of the Jews in Jerusalem that the Christian era begins in earnest as men turn away from the failures and the demise of Judaism that they have witnessed. There IS NO easy way to parse the Master’s words here and what we say can ONLY be some sort of foundation to see past the error of the churches in allowing the Master’s words to be turned into an end times prophecy. As we have discussed, even John Gill ONLY sees the destruction of Jerusalem in these words from the Master while he still holds onto his end times ideas which he interprets from other bible sources. Again his interpretations of Jesus’ intent here are largely gibberish. Then, understanding these things, we should be able to see that this remnant IS what IS spoken of in the words “all the tribes of the earth“, that these ARE the remnants of the twelve tribes of Israel. While the Greek word kopto IS rendered here as mourn, it DOES have other meanings and IS used to express the idea of cutting as in “others cut down branches off the trees” (Mark 11:8) where the subject IS the Master’s arrival in Jerusalem. We can see here that the idea IS that the remnants of the twelve tribes ARE cut off as they surely ARE but we can also see that they would be mourning the loss of their city and their religion. Vincent tells us that we should see the idea that they: beat their breasts in anguish 4.
The next words ARE again among those that have fed into the end times theories of the churches and while they seem to be hard to understand, they ARE related to the previous ideas of “the Son of man” and “the sign of the Son of man“. The Master tells us in words that expand upon these ideas that “they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory“. We previously discussed another word that IS rendered as coming, parousia, and we settled on Vincent’s explanation that the idea IS presence which made sense in the context of lightning as the nature of “the coming of the Son of man“. Here, in this verse we have a different word rendered as coming, erchomai; this word has a more definite physical meaning. That being said, we come to the Greek word nephele which IS rendered here as clouds. The idea here IS NOT ordinary clouds however; the idea of nephele should be understood in a spiritual way s this IS the way it IS used in both the Old and New Testaments. We will further address this idea of “the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” in the next essay. We close here with our trifecta which we DID NOT have opportunity to work into our essay today; the Master tells us:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect | Potency | Aspect of Man | In Relation to the Great Invocation | In relation to the Christ |
| GOD, The Father | Will or Power | Spirit or Life | Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN | Life |
| Son, The Christ | Love and Wisdom | Soul or Christ Within | Heart of God | Truth |
| Holy Spirit | Light or Activity | Life Within | Mind of God | Way |
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- ** Google AI on Matthew 24:30
- *** Google AI on the sacking of Jerusalem
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
