What is time?

A quick comment before I begin: this post is intended to raise questions rather than make a specific point.

I was reading John 16 and 17 tonight, and I noticed something I had never noticed before. In Jesus’s prayer to His Father, he says two interesting things:

“I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (17:4).
“I am no longer in the world” (17:11).

At the moment he said “I have accomplished the work You have given me to do” he had not yet been crucified. The actual victory had not yet been accomplished. At least according to the passage of linear man-made time.

Similarly, at the moment he said “I am no longer in the world” he was still physically in the world. At least according to the passage of linear mad-made time.

What’s up?

I have an idea.

Mark 11:24 says “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”

This, too, seems to violate the linear passage of time. You are to believe when you ask, not when you’ve received it.

So, perhaps, the passage of linear time is something we as followers of Jesus are called to transcend. Is it really possible to live in such a way that time is not the ultimate deciding factor in our prayers and our faith?