THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 189 -
The question on the Messiah.
Says Hiram: "This is now quite all right, and we have no longer any objections, for now we believe you , who alone will surely know and clearly enough comprehend it, since we know nothing about the countless strange worlds and even less about their mysterious inhabitants, - who they are, what they look like and what their nature is like. But I mean to say one more thing, namely, that at least some of the better people of this earth ought to be informed from above while they are still in the flesh, so that they will be prepared to deal with such people."
2
Says John: "Listen, there have always been men in the world who informed the people of this earth about these and similar things through all kinds of metaphors. There are several such references in the Song of Solomon. Yet the people, or rather their souls, have merged too deeply with worldly matter and have thus turned their backs on their spirit out of God, wherefore they are no longer able to comprehend and understand any of the highest and purely spiritual things. We came into this world precisely for this reason, to rehabilitate the souls that became depraved through their own fault and to show them the proper roads to their spiritual and eternal salvation."
3
In the future after us everything will be revealed by the holy spirit of God to thousands of people a thousand times brighter than I could now reveal it to you all. But if then the spirit of God will come upon you all, he will lead you in all depths of his divine wisdom, and only then will you see also perfectly clearly what you now have begun very weakly to believe. Until then believe and investigate in the Scriptures and also in the whole of nature; they will say to you that it is so and not otherwise! But you will only see the full reason later, as I said. "Do you now have anything to object to?"
4
Says Hiram: "No, my noblest and wisest friend! Now there is no doubt at all among us about these things any longer! But since we now have talked about some subjects towards the wane of this most beautiful day, I would like to ask you about something else. I am indeed only a pure Greek, but nonetheless I have acquired some things through my time from Judaism which amused me a lot, namely their claim of a Messiah who will be nothing less than the highest divinity Himself. He will of course make them all immortal in an instant and reside in Jerusalem as their eternal, unconquerable king and from there rule the whole world and at the same time naturally the whole eternal infinity as well.
5
They laugh at us for our mythical religion of the gods now almost in every place and declare it to be the very sheerest old nonsense; but what should one say then to the Jews about their Messiah? By heaven! Such unlimited foolishness and confusion of the human spirit has truly never crossed my path in the entire world that I have travelled! Tell me what sort of an empty joke is behind it all! That is indeed a truly most terrible panache by the particularly very distinguished Jews mainly against us Greeks and Romans, and they rejoice already that their Zeus will drive us out of their lands with an enormous flaming sword, at every well-struck blow of which at least a hundred thousand of the most destructive bolts of lightning will spring forth over all the Gentiles! Well, that is a little bit too much! "What do you say then as a Jew yourself to this old, foolish Jewish joke?"
6
John says, "This issue is also not quite as senseless as you as a pure Greek might think; and perhaps it is closer to you than you could ever think! But of course in the way that you have heard it from the mouth of the Jews it is obviously a very most colossal ridiculousness, behind which not even a spark of an even seeming truth resides! But what the Jews in the highly foolish way expect and afterwards will expect until the end of the world in vain has already appeared a long time ago hidden in front of their blind eyes and deaf ears "but not to drive out the Gentiles who have long been bothersome to the Jews, but instead quite the reverse: The Jews will be driven out of the land and the Gentiles will be given the word of God forever! Yet we will begin a significant conversation on this topic later; but now we want to begin to sort out an evening meal and accommodation! For we will remain here tomorrow as well and then another few days, and then much will be discussed."
7
Both say, quite overjoyed at this assurance, "Immediately on all our sides as far as possible everything will be best looked after!"
8
With this both leave very cheerfully, and I praised the disciple for his untiring perseverance and for his truly very great patience.