THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the house of Simon Peter. Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18
- Chapter 247 -
The mystery of Calvary.
Says Simon Judah: Yes, Lord and Master, there is still many a word coming from Your mouth that should be discussed as it is not quite comprehensible in the fullness of its light to even the soundest human reason. And there in the background, grinning like a monster, is the strict and indisputable necessity of the suffering in store for the Son of Man, and I dare to maintain firmly that no ever so healthy and excellent man's reason will be able to quite clearly see this necessity.
2
No matter how necessary such an act may be for the accomplishment of a principal goal set by You eternities ago, all this is of little or no avail and has no calming and illuminating effect on human reason, which will at all times raise the question: 'Why did the Almighty have to be to such an extent ill-treated by His created beings in order to give them eternal life and bliss? Were not His purest teaching and His miracles, which are only possible to God, sufficient? If all that does not better men, how can His suffering and death be expected to better them?'
3
I, as one of Your staunchest followers, do quite frankly declare: Your suffering will become a stumbling block for many good men, so much so that they will become wavering in their faith. Therefore, I am asking You already now to give us a proper light so that we can at the right time give those who ask us a proper enlightenment and, thus, set their minds at rest."
4
Said I: "You are here probing into a rather good and just matter which you, as a mere man, will never be able to comprehend completely and properly, even if I now give you the right explanation. Only after My resurrection, when you will be reborn in the spirit, will you be able to find the answer to the great 'why' in all purity and clarity.
5
I, as the sole supporter of all being and life, must now also redeem that which, eternities ago, had fallen to judgment and death through the firmness of My will and must, through the very judgment and the death of this My flesh and blood, penetrate into the old judgment and death. Thus I can, for the sake of the material side of things which as such has matured, loosen and undo the fetters of My own divine will so that henceforth all created beings will be able to pass from eternal death into a free and independent life.
6
And it is exactly for this that the Son of Man has come into the world to look for what was practically lost from eternity, to redeem it and render it suitable for eternal bliss (Matt. 18:11)
7
What do you think Suppose a man has a hundred sheep. If one of them strays somewhere in the woods, does he not leave the other ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the one that strayed? (Matt. 18:12) And if he should find it, truly I tell you this: Will he not be more delighted over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that never strayed? (Matt. 18:13).
8
And behold, the same thing applies also to God, although He has through His almighty will created everything contained in infinite space out of the eternal fullness of His everlasting, innumerable thoughts, ideas and concepts that He put, as it were, outside of Himself through the firmness of His will. If everything had to stay forever as it is now, in rigid judgment and death, it would be like the lost sheep that could no longer be found anywhere. And what pleasure and joy would a forever dead, material creation give to God?
9
This is mainly why I now came into this world, clothed in matter, namely, to look for this lost sheep and lead it to its blissful destination.
10
God's Spirit and will are now being appeased and, as it were, made pliable and loosened up in this My body, thus in matter. Once this has been accomplished, this My matter must, in the greatest degradation and humiliation possible, be detached and then broken and the Spirit of God that dwells within Me and is at one with My soul must awaken and enliven this broken matter, purified through the fire of His love, and it will then rise as a conqueror over all judgment and death.
11
I have told you in advance that at present you will not yet clearly understand how and why this must - and will -happen. But you can conclude from this that such an act, however abhorrent it may look to a mere human eye, is yet necessary if all creation is to be led back in the proper course of time to a free, independent, pure life in God.
12
Now that I have unveiled this sufficiently for you to understand, you will inwardly see - since you now understand who the little ones really are - that it is the Father's will that not even the least and most insignificant of them should ever be lost (Matt. 18:14).
13
And I therefore presented these children to you all and showed you in a well-ordered correspondence to the will of Him who lives in Me and is a Lord for eternity over all creation in the whole infinity. And since I now have spoken such to you and we have time and leisure in abundance, you may speak again and show where you are still lacking. Peter, is there something else?"
14
The disciple said, "Oh Lord and Master, there is indeed something! But I must digest this a little bit more; for if I now came with something new, what I have just heard would leave me right away, and You would have given the great light in vain."
15
At this there was a short pause in the speaking and the disciples thought very hard about what I had just said to them.