The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First day in Sychar
- Chapter 45 -
Nathanael's apostle-confession about the imitation of the Lord according to the new teaching of love from the sermon on the mount.
Says Nathanael, 'This far I had to instruct you, from here on everything is in the Lord's hand. What He wills, we also shall will and do, for all of us are spiritually still very poor. Therefore, we must remain with Him, so that we may gain the Kingdom of Heaven. We will bear together with the Lord all suffering and persecution, so that with and in Him we shall have the proper comfort. In His name let us be meek in all our thoughts, opinions, wishes and desires, also in all our actions, so that we may be able to take real possession of the true soil which is THE PURE LOVE OF GOD IN OUR HEARTS.
2
We shall not shun the land where conditions are harsh and unjust either; we shall be hungry and thirsty for true justice, since we have the One with us Who can truly satisfy us everlastingly.
3
And we ourselves will be most merciful towards everyone, be he just or unjust in his dealings with us, so that in the eyes of the Lord we may be considered worthier of God's great mercy.
4
We will also everywhere, just as here before you, guard our hearts as much as possible against impurity, so that the Lord may not turn away from us when we face Him. For with an impure heart one cannot approach God and in spirit contemplate in all truth His countenance and the abundant wonders of His works.
5
If we are of a pure heart, we must be peaceful, patient and gentle toward everyone, for an angry heart can never be pure, since anger always grows out of the ground of pride. But if we are of a peaceful heart, we may confidently approach as children the One who brought us the SONSHIP OF GOD and taught us Himself to pray to God as our Father.
6
It is of no importance, my friend, if, as you believe, we shall be persecuted in other lands and places on account of our most righteous cause, for we have Him and through Him the heaven of heavens. And thus we are happy already here, supremely happy, whether people love us or scorn and persecute us for His sake, because He is Lord over all and over everything. We serve Him above all, whom all the heavens obey and are always prepared to serve, as we could convince ourselves yesterday and on earlier occasions, and this alone is our highest reward and greatest honour. Therefore, do not be concerned about us, for we know and recognise what we have to reckon with.
7
The High Priest was quite surprised at this speech so full of determination and said, 'Truly, if I were not needed here and did not have wife and children and some other responsibilities, I would go with you.'
8
Says Nathanael, 'We have left wives, children and other things and have followed Him, and our wives and children are nevertheless living. I tell you what I think about this: Whoever cannot in this world, for the love of Him, leave whatever it may be, is not worthy of His grace. Whether it offends you or not, this is the position. My heart tells me so, and in the heart everything is truth once the spirit within it has awakened to the living thinking in God. He does not need us, but we do need Him.
9
Have you ever helped Him to raise the immense sun above the vast horizon and spread its celestial light across the wide earth? Or have you ever seen, let alone forged, the shackles the Lord puts on the winds, how He constrains the lightning and the mighty thunder and the sea in its depths? Who can claim ever to have helped the Lord in anything? And if this is so, who, when he is called by the Lord to follow Him, can still think of his wife, his children and his things and not follow unconditionally - Him, the Lord of all life, of all the heavens and all the worlds, for whom we have waited so long to come and who has now come exactly in the way all the prophets and patriarchs had predicted?'
10
Says the High Priest, 'If I only were not the high priest, I would in truth do what all of you have done. But I am the high priest and since you, as I have heard, will stay here only for one more day, these people, who are so weak in faith, need me like the eye for seeing. So you will understand that I have to remain here, not so much because of my wife, my children and things, but rather because of these weak believers, who for quite some time yet will be unable to completely relinquish their set idea of old about the nature of the Messiah and the purpose of His coming. It will cost me a great effort, but what can I do?
11
I now believe firmly that your Master is the promised Messiah, but what about my flock? You have seen how already during the sermon many left. These are of a vexed unbelief which they will now diligently spread and many who still remained and yesterday fully believed have now their doubts, too, and do not know what to believe.
12
Imagine what a job I, being an oracle to all of them, shall have! But if I do not convert them, they will remain to the end of the world whatever you can imagine, but not what they are supposed to be. And look, that is the main reason why I have to stay here, and I am convinced that the Lord will not deny me His grace because of it. Even if I am not bodily in His company, I shall remain so spiritually for ever and endeavour to serve Him as a most faithful servant and shepherd in full accordance with His here proclaimed teaching, and I think that He will agree to this.'
13
Say I, 'Yes, I would like that and it suits Me very well. You shall be an excellent tool for Me in this community and your reward in heaven shall once be great. But now evening has come and let us go home again. So be it!'
14
Following these words we walked down from the mountain and homewards. There was still quite a crowd around, although earlier, when I ended My sermon, many had left full of unbelief and vexation.