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 9 -
The Lord's prediction on the destiny of Rome and Jerusalem.
Jarah says, "It goes without saying! If it is obviously as you have just openly revealed it to me, then I have no objections towards you. If you have a good will, its success cannot be fundamentally wrong, not even when it does not appear beneficial before the eyes of the world. I let myself be fooled by appearance certainly least of all; but I admit that by nature one can sooner attain a truthfully good will than the purest truth, which only then becomes a true and most effective beacon of life for the good will. According to what you said, you have generally always had the good will unchanged; individual blurs could change little or nothing of the whole.
2
Now you will receive, in addition to your good will, the purest light of the eternal truth, through which your originally good will must come over the right ways and true means to the certain attainment of the best results, and then obviously nothing but the best will be expected of you! Oh Lord, bless these simple words of mine, so that they become eternal truth!"
3
I say, "Yes, My thousand fold beloved Jarah, your beautiful and true words will be blessed!
4
Rome shall stay for a long time the best abode for My teachings and My special grace, and this great imperial city shall reach an age in this world, like very few Egyptian cities will reach, though not as undamaged as Rome. Its outer enemies shall hardly ever harm this city; if it gets damaged, it will only be because of time and its few internal enemies!
5
But unfortunately My teachings will subsequently pass into a type of idolization even in this ruling city; nevertheless My word and the best sense for the customs of life will be generally maintained within that.
6
In later times the spirit of My teaching will mostly disappear there. People will chew on the outer crust and regard it as the spiritual bread of life; but with the right means I will lead them back onto the right path again and again! Even if they will have committed much harlotry and adultery, I will make them pure again at the right time!
7
For the rest, however, it will stay a herald of love, humbleness and patience, which is why a lot will be condoned at all times, and the great of the world will rally to it and want to hear the words of their salvation from its mouth.
8
However, in general nothing will remain completely pure for a long time in this world, thus neither will My word; but in Rome it will still stay the most pure for the purpose of life and as a relic for history!
9
I assure you of that, My dearest friend Cyrenius, as a complete and true blessing of the most beautiful and true words of our most beloved Jarah!
10
One millennium after the other will show and tell you that these words of Mine regarding Rome's endurance and position will come true!
11
Jerusalem will be destroyed in a way so that henceforth one will not know where it once stood. Future people will build a small town with the same name there; but its form and location will be changed. And even this small town will have to endure much evil from foreign enemies and will in the future remain without any rank and importance, a nest of all sorts of rabble that will lead a puny existence from the moss of stones from our times.
12
Yes, I wanted to make this old city of God first in the world; however, it did not acknowledge Me, but treated me like a thief and murderer! That is why it will fall forever and will in the future not arise from the rubble of its welldeserved curse, which it prepared and spoke out itself! Are you, my thousand times most beloved Jarah, pleased with My blessing?"
13
Jarah says soothed to tears, "Oh Lord, my only love! Who would not be pleased with what you say, oh Lord, and especially with such a great, in the most distant times, deep reaching promise? My dear, noble Cyrenius also seems to be very pleased with it, and Cornelius, Faustus, and our Julius as well. However, it is a different matter whether the children from Jerusalem, of whom several are sitting at this table and more at the tables around us, will be so pleased with your promise regarding Jerusalem; their faces do not glow with the same exhilaration as the faces of the Romans."
14
After this very cogent remark several people from Jerusalem stood up and said, "One shall not wish the downfall of one's parental home, as long as it does not become a home for thieves and brigands; once it becomes that, it should not be spared! "The offspring has the right "without fear of committing a sin "to destroy it over the heads of the villains living inside and forever erase any trace of a former existence.
15
If, according to our best knowledge, Jerusalem is nothing but a mere robbers' and murderers' nest, why should we mourn that the Lord wants to give and will certainly give this nest its for a long time well deserved punishment?! The sad part is just that this most pardoned city of God has for the third time, despite all warnings, finally managed to be chastised most damagingly by God Himself! But His known forbearance and patience are a most certain proof of how much such a city has earned a most strict castigation and for that reason it is not to be lamented or mourned at all.
16
VOLENTI NON FIT INJURIA! [To the consenting, no injustice is done] Will anybody lament or mourn someone who wants to throw himself in a pit in bright sunlight? Not us! We never felt any pity for really dumb burros and oxen, especially when they want to shine as the wisest ones before the whole world; and they especially do not deserve any pity when their feigned wisdom, which in essence is just blatant folly, wants to assert itself as real through all sorts of wickedness and most cunning mischievousness.
17
It is appropriate that a sick soul deserves more pity than a sick man's fragile body. If, however, a knowledgeable and reliable doctor comes to a person with a sick body, who is still completely rational, and recognizes the sickness, and could and would help the sick person, but this one has the doctor thrown out the door by his servants instead of happily accepting his healing advise "who will have any pity of such a sick soul, we ask? Not us, and certainly no one else either! Such an animal-like person should fall under a most bitter and painful sickness and learn from his pains how foolish it was to throw out the skillful doctor!
18
Foolishness in itself deserves pity because a fool can't help that he was born a fool and remained that way; but there are people "as are most high priests, Pharisees and scribes "who are not fools, but constantly make themselves to fools, in order to more easily use poor mankind made ignorant by them to their foul, highly selfish ends! Such people do not have sick souls, but are very strong and healthy wolves in sheep's skins, and do not deserve any better than to be shot down by the sharpest arrows because any pity would be crass foolishness from any human heart.
19
Who in the whole world should feel sorry for the night to which the rising sun puts and end? Or what kind of fool will cry over the oppressive winter, a raging storm, a vanishing pestilence, and passed bad years? And we believe that it would be an even bigger foolishness to mourn that the Lord will soon grant us His greatest blessing. Yes, it is very sad that Jerusalem does not want to acknowledge and accept the brightest spiritual light because it means it has completely incorporated the Satan of the world! Where that, only fire and brimstone from the sky! Sodom and Gomorrah have been resting on the bottom of the Dead Sea for a long time; who would want to weep for the wicked ones? And thus Jerusalem will not be wailed!
20
And you, lovely Jarah, have erred a little in your judgment of us as well! You see, appearance is not always a reflection of the truth and deceives us every now and then! Do you not think that it is like that and it will stay like that forever? Are we right or not?"
21
Jarah says, "But Lord, my love, why does it always have to happen to me that I constantly misjudge people and am never capable of assessing them correctly? It is almost exasperating! Before I was admonished by Cyrenius, kindly of course, but admonished still, and now by a crowd of people! They are all right "only I am obviously not because they are right according to the truth, but I am not. Oh Lord, give me better discernment, so that I will not constantly err with my judgments!"