The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord on the way to Bethsaida
- Chapter 140 -
The parable of the landowner.
The Pharisees, the usurers who always know how to safely lend their large quantity of gold and silver against high interest rates to other big estate agents and usurers, and then spoil and maliciously squander their high lending interests to whores and falsely swearing adulteresses, and when poor and needy people come to them, they say: 'Turn to God, He will help you, for we are poor ourselves and must beg' - those will later have it very hard to give an account to Me.
2
Such false servants of God, who preach to the people about love for God and fellowman which they themselves never practiced, are to Me the worst sinners and offenders and will receive their reward for it in the beyond from the prince of Hell whom they served, because such fornicators, adulterers, usurers, revelers, and with that the greatest blasphemer of God, will not enter My Kingdom. So do not take their example.
3
How can one of you say to his fellowman: 'In your need, turn to God who loves you above all. He will help you', when he himself does not believe in God and does really not love Him above all.
4
The one who already does not love his needy fellowman whom he can see, how shall he love God above all whom he does not see? Love for God on the part of man is determined by the love for his fellowman. The one who says that for one's salvation it is only necessary to love God above all, but then closes his heart and door for his poor fellowman, is in great error because love for God is without love for fellowman eternally not thinkable and also not possible. So love your fellowman, because they are just like you God's children, then by doing so you will also love God above all.
5
Look, once there was a very rich landowner who had a lot of possessions, and everyone who was in his service had a good life. That landowner had also many children whom he loved and whom he sent to worldly schools, so that they should become experienced men.
6
But he only gave what was most necessary for them in the worldly schools, so that they would not indulge and become lazy and then unsuitable to manage his possessions.
7
These children were not so well off in those worldly schools, and they often had a real poor subsistence and not seldom they asked strange people for alms.
8
Some of the people they contacted said: 'Oh, you have a very rich father. Contact him, he will help you', and they did not give anything to the children.
9
A few others thought however within their softer heart within themselves: 'We know that the father of these children is very rich and he would like to help his children who study here, but he must have very wise reasons not to do so, and these children with us are clearly suffering and in need and we will help them the best we can.' And what they thought they also did.
10
After some time, the very rich landowner himself came to that foreign worldly city where his children had to acquire various knowledge and experience, and he took detailed information as to who showed love to his children.
11
And look, the children brought their father to all the places where love had been shown to them, and the father rewarded the benefactors of his children a hundred times and took the greatest benefactors with him on his possessions and treated them as his own children.
12
Look, here before you stands in Me that landowner. The poor in this world are truly My children everywhere. The rich however are mostly the children of this world.
13
In order that My children would not indulge, I let them also in this hard - but for them extremely beneficial - school of life to suffer need. And in their need they come to the rich of the world. What these will do for My children, I also will do for them, and I will reward them already here manifold and in My Kingdom endlesslyfold .
14
So the one who has the love of the children by his love for the children, has also the love of the Father and has acquired by that the eternal reward. Do you now understand what it means to love God above all?"