John 17:3-4 … Oh this eternal Life (01/16/17)
“And this is eternal Life: to know YOU — the One, and the Christ essence that You have sent to reside within us all. I glorify You on earth by repeatedly engaging the Work that You have enabled me to fulfill.” ~ Jesus (John 17:3-4)
Admittedly this verse is traditionally read much differently, with most English Bibles having it as something akin to “And this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ”
That having been said, such a translation is highly misleading. Alone Jesus’ apparent reference to himself (instead of the Son of God he was emulating – an essence residing within every sentient being; see John 14:4 & John 14:12 & John 14:20-26) is in direct contradiction to the humility he demands of us (a la Matthew 18:3-4) and his own blatantly humble beliefs about himself (see Mark 10:18, John 5:41, John 7:16, John 8:50-54, John 12:44 et al).
Please note as well that the other Greek words used in this passage support this particular translation as well – with “eternal” actually being the Greek “aionios,” a word that actually meant “age long”, or “seemingly eternal” (Strong’s #166), …with “know” actually being the Greek “ginoskosin,” a word that actually meant “come to realize” (Strong’s #2222), … with “true” actually being the Greek “alethinon,” a word that actually meant “genuine” (i.e. made of Truth — Strong’s #228), … with “glorified” actually being the Greek “edoxasa,” a word that actually meant “honored” (Strong’s #1392), ,,, with “on earth” actually being the Greek “ges,” a word that actually meant “on the land” (Strong’s #1093), … and with “the work” actually being the Greek “ergon,” a word that actually meant “deeds” or “actions” (Strong’s #2041).
And putting all these more accurate definitions together – and then mixing them with a decent dose of the fundamental teachings of Christ as read in the Gospels – leads clearly and quite directly to the translation I have offered above at the very beginning of this essay.
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