When Jesus instructs people to do things “ in his name “ he is not talking about doing things while literally mentioning his name . It means to follow the way he practices: ie meditating, fasting, service to others etc. and in regards to references to his blood, it’s also a metaphor of what happens within us when we go into stillness. When I say it’s metaphor it’s really happening within when we devote ourselves to being Still / silent .
“all who go to my father” (the universe) must go “through me” ?
This is the verse that most often gets cited when people claim that “Jesus is King of Kings” and claim that enlightenment/spiritual awakening is only possible through Jesus (It’s not). However, this verse is simply saying anyone who wants to achieve spiritual awakening can do so by following Jesus’ instructions, however keep in mind that the other faiths like Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism are completely fine paths to reach the end goal of a spiritual awakening.
Why did Jesus use so much symbolism and metaphorical language? He was definitely a poetic guy, but this led to several problems. First, as a result his message was not always communicated effectively. Plus he had the disadvantage of not being able to speak or teach directly to his audience/followers hundreds of years later. This can be incredibly off-putting for people like myself who just want his messages taught in a very direct way without needing to decrypt or deconstruct his messages communicated in riddles. If you’re anything like me, you prefer direct language. For anyone who is thinking “who doesn’t get these lessons??” Well, they’re not always clear and the use of metaphorical language unfortunately leaves his teachings up to multiple interpretations. So what are the translations? Please peruse my blog for a modern take on his teachings.
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