The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Second day in Sychar
- Chapter 74 -
At Sychar. The confrontation with the brazen dumb ones with their lying mates. Joram's resoluteness and the disciples vigour against the liars. The Lord's rebuke and His guidelines in dealing with men's wickedness. 'Do not return evil for evil'. Parable of the master and servant. The evil of dogmatism and retribution.
Soon thereafter a fairly large crowd armed with sticks comes to menace us, with the ten who were made dumb by the physician on the first day in their midst; and the crowd menacingly demands that the former's tongues be loosed!
2
Joram the physician however steps forward at once, saying vigorously with manful tone, 'O you children of wickedness! Is this the new way of coming to God to beg for mercy?!'
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The crowd steps back somewhat, yelling, 'Who is God here and where is He? You are not holding out to be God yourself, or else yonder magician from Galilee, you wide-shouldered blasphemer?!'
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Joram replies even more vehemently, 'Who is your magician from Galilee, you miserable wretches?! Screams the crowd, 'Yonder Nazarene carpenter named Jesus it is, whom we know only too well, and his mother who is here too, together with his brothers and sisters! We know his father too, who is supposed to have died a year ago - from grief we hear, because his wife and children didn't want to obey him and are supposed to have deceived him in every direction!'
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At such disparagement Joram is filled with rage. He hastily steps up to Me, with Jacob and John joining him, saying, 'Lord, Lord, Lord! Will You not let fire fall from heaven to consume these fellows? The impudent lies these fellows dare yelling screams to heaven!'
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Say I, 'There now, children of thunder! Let them lie; is there a fire that burns more fiercely than that of the lie?! Do them good on top of that and they shall run off with glowing coals over their heads! - Remember that! Never return evil for evil and bad with bad!' - The three relent, and Joram asks what he should do for these miscreants.
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Say I, 'Do what they ask, in My name, and tell them to depart!' And Joram speaks to the crowd, 'In the name of the Lord, let all speak who now are dumb among you, and then go their way home, giving God the glory.'
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Upon these words of Joram's the tongues are loosed of all who were dumb; yet none bar one, who at least exhorted them, praised God. But when the others said, 'You fool, did Jehovah make us dumb?! An initiate into magic inflicted this harm, and are we to praise the heathen god of magic?! If we did this, what shall we expect from the almighty, true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?!' Thereupon the somewhat better one also left with the other nine, not daring to give Me the due honour.
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Joram and all the Mine were angry about that, and Simon Peter also stepped up to Me full of anger and said, 'Lord, it is good that it please You; but if I had but a spark of Your spiritual power and might, I would know what I had done with these stupid and evil blasphemers of Your name, over-holy to me!'
10
Say I, 'Simon, have you already forgotten what I taught on the mountain? What good can you achieve by returning evil for evil? If you were to cook a meal which in itself is tasteless, will you gain anything by adding gall and alloe, instead of seasoning it with salt, milk and honey? If you add something still better to an already good meal, then certainly no one will call you stupid; but if you make an already bad meal worse with still more inferior ingredients, where is the man who will not say to you: 'Look at what the fool is doing?!
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Behold, that much more is it with men! If you return them evil for evil, then ask yourself whether their wickedness is improved! If however you return good for evil then you shall soften the evil in your brother and perhaps in the end make a good brother of him!
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If a master has a servant to whom he entrusts much, whilst the latter, knowing the master's goodness, commits a sin against him and hence merits punishment, and being called to account for his faithlessness, meets his master with rage and vituperates against him, will this soften the master towards his servant? I tell you no; there the master shall only get angry over the faithless servant, have him bound and thrown in jail!
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If however the servant sees that the master is about to treat him harshly, and he falls down before him to confess his transgression remorsefully and gently, and lovingly asks his forgiveness, will not the master treat him as formerly?! No, I say! Through the servant's gentle contrition the master shall not only become gentle and pliable but shall do good to his servant besides.
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Hence do not repay evil for evil, if you want all to become good. If however you are going to judge and punish those who have sinned against you, then you shall in the end all turn evil and there shall be no more proper love and goodness in any of you!
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The mighty shall take it upon himself to punish those sinning against his laws; the sinners however shall in turn enkindle with revenge and attempt to ruin the mighty. Question: what good shall come of all that?!
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Hence judge and condemn no one, that you may not be judged and condemned! Have you all now understood this My most important teaching, without which My kingdom can never have a place in you?'