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 194 -
The court over the bailiffs.
At that moment we heard rough voices laughing mockingly and calling, "Hurrah! Hahahaha, the funny birds are sitting all together with Greek illuminations, and we have got them finally in our power!"
3
But I said: "Is there then no mercy and consideration at all possible among you all at least until tomorrow? For whether you leave with us quite innocent ones today or tomorrow, in order to cool your revenge, will be all the same!"
4
The castellan and both the Pharisees scream, "No, it must be quite without any mercy! Just get up, and move!"
5
I now said with a powerful and most serious voice, "Well then! Since there is no spark of compassion in you and you have become true arch-devils, all compassion for you in My heart has also been quite exhausted! Let things be for you according to your hearts, minds and nameless most evil deeds!"
6
With these words of Mine they all suddenly became stiff and seized by the most unbearable pains, began to cry and beg and promise to do everything that I might ever demand of them "but only for Me to free them from such an unbearable torture! They wanted rather to die a thousand deaths than to bear such most unbearable pain a moment longer!
7
But I said, "I asked you for mercy and compassion only until tomorrow and found none; therefore you shall now find no mercy or compassion with Me! The only mercy that I will grant you consists of this: that the savage beasts of these mountains will put an end to your evilest life and do to you what you have already done to many innocent people! Yes, even the little children were not spared from your indescribable and unheard-of cruelty!
8
You were then as just young sprites the most conscientious of the Bethlehem child murder, because you imagined killing Me then among them. But Jehovah's eternal spirit, which always filled Me with all power and strength, knew how to prevent that. After that event however you have practiced countless other unheard-of cruelties to the poor humanity, for which human reason has not yet found a name; therefore I Myself have wanted thus for you as devils in human form to come here in order to receive your well-deserved reward!"
9
At this they howled even more and begged for mercy and promised the most complete improvement of their evil life. Only this one time I wanted to let their mercy be replaced by justice. But at the same time their cries of pain became ever worse, so that Aziona and Hiram and even some of My disciples began to beg for them.
10
I said, "Believe Me, as soon as I release them for even ten moments from their most perfectly deserved torture, they will immediately fall upon us like the angriest tigers and want to strip the flesh from our bones! Oh, I know best of all how one has to deal with angels, people and genuine devils! Truly, for these arch-devils who have smuggled their way in among My human children there is no compassion any longer in My heart!"
11
But the villains howled even more and begged for mercy.
12
But I said, "Those who will put an end your pains will be here in an instant, and your black souls shall inhabit the dragons of the hottest deserts of Africa for ten thousand times a thousand years, buried in the glowing sands, Amen!"
13
Now from all sides there came a powerful roar from the mountains, so that all the poor inhabitants of this place began to be very scared.
14
But I comforted them and said to Aziona, "Both the fishermen should now be freed from their pain; but you take them capture and lead them into the hut!"
15
Aziona did this. When both of those who had been led astray by money had been taken into custody, and Aziona came back to our table, immediately a whole herd of tigers and big bears sprang onto the now already terribly howling tartars, grabbed them with their teeth and sprang away hastily into the mountains as if they had only sparrows in their claws. And soon all the howling stopped; for the beasts, which I had already driven down even from the Ganges for this purpose, had soon finished their meal and then headed back quickly to their homeland.
16
But I now said to each of them, "Never let a word pass anyone's lips about this; for such a thing would be very bad for him! Both the fishermen however will find favor only tomorrow, and will not commit any other betrayal in this world."
17
Only now Hiram summoned up the courage to speak again and said now to Me, "Only now I know which of you is the lord, and I must admit that I consider you to be obviously a truest god! You are indeed goodness itself; but your anger is certainly the most terrifying thing in the whole world and under all the stars! What very miserable sprites must they have been that you would not and could not have the very least compassion with them!"