Jesus was instructing his disciples in the time just before he was taken by the religio-political authorities. Warning them of troubles they would face, He said, "a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God" (John 16:2).

Who are the actors in this statement? If you accept that Jesus is an authority on the identity of God, then this relates to the one real God. Jesus was speaking to his disciples, the very first Christians. And he was talking about killers that would not be acting as agents for God.

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John 14:8-21 is a discourse with a famous verse in it ("ask for anything & I will do it").

What does this verse mean? Often this is interpreted for things like ministry accomplishment, etc. Does experience bear out that Jesus does what we ask regarding ministry advancement? -no it does not. Even for the most godly people that we know, they do not receive everything for which they ask from Jesus. This promise is unequivocal, so it must be a promise of something else. I think the promise is more simple and basic than the popular interpretation.

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