The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

Der Herr in der Stadt am Nebo

- Chapter 163 -

The Lord and the Pharisees before the city gate.

While I was teaching we came again close to an old city that was mostly inhabited by Romans but also by Greeks and Jews, and there we, as one use to say: were lucky or unlucky - no matter how one will name it - that we first met several Jews and among them a few Pharisees.

The Pharisees recognized Me and said to the Jews: "Look, there must be that Nazarene with His disciples who at the last feast performed several so-called miracles, which He probably learned in the school of the Essenes after which He instructed the people in the temple that He is older than Abraham, and many other things.

He was lucky then not to have been completely stoned, for we were very much irritated to see that He intended to present us as stupids before the people.

At the same time He claims everywhere to be God's Son, and His disciples and the people believe this from Him. And He does not care about the Sabbath. He is a glutton and a drunk and associates with toll collectors and sinners. But about us, who adhere to the precepts of Moses, He speaks with contempt everywhere, and at every opportunity He prospects eternal damnation for us.

It is understandable that we cannot be friends with such person, especially since we know all too well from where He is, who His parents and His brothers and sisters are.

But He certainly is not a fool, for He very well knows how to win the gentiles by His speeches and miracles - Romans as well as Greeks - in order to overthrow us with their help. But His plan will not succeed. And He should not come too often to Jerusalem, or else we will make an end to that divine sonship of His in a manner that truly will not be pleasant to Him.

Now He commits His bad practices here in these gentile cities, certainly also with the purpose to set up the inhabitants as much as possible against us. But He will do bad business with that because Jerusalem will remain Jerusalem, even if a thousand of such sons of God like Him are against it."

My disciples could also fully understand these last words because at that time we were already close to that group. And they wondered about Me as to how I could tolerate and bear this.

But I said to the disciples: "If you are so terribly offended because they give such bad testimony of Me, then go to them and bind the mouth of each one of them so that they cannot speak anymore. I think that this will be a very difficult task for you. Anyway, it is easier for us to pass them by silently.

Let the dogs bark, for as long as they bark they will not bite. But if they will attack us and bite when we pass by, then we will show them that our mouth is not without teeth and our hands not without nails."

These words of Mine calmed down My disciples for the greatest part, but inwardly they were nevertheless boiling, so that a few of them also liked to say something against those Jews and Pharisees which they would not have liked, but they controlled themselves and followed My example.

We soon came close to them, did not look at all where they stood and passed them by silently.

However, these Jews and Pharisees were driven by curiosity to see and watch what we would do in this city. And before we reached the city gate, 2 Pharisees came with a fast pace towards us just at the gate to prevent us from entering the city.

One of them, whose name was Dismas, asked Me sharply what I wanted to do in that city, if I would stay or only pass through it.

And I said to him: "Are you here perhaps a judicial city officer who is the only one who has the right to question travelers as to why they came to the city and can ask them to see their travel papers?"

Then that Pharisee said: "I am not a judicial city officer but I am a chief of the Jewish community here and as such I also have the right to ask the travelers for what reason they came to this city, and especially You and Your company, for I know You from Jerusalem and know all too well that You are not a friend of us, and You do not keep our old precepts in the least, for we cannot and will not accept what You often loudly claimed to be before us and the people.

We know that You can do many thing, can speak wisely and are capable to perform signs which bring all people to great amazement, but You are also our enemy and You try to bring us to ruin, us who keep the old laws. But take care to see if You will reach Your goal, for Your wonder signs which You learned from the Essenes will soon be perceived, and then it will appear what else You can do.

You can deceive the gentiles with that, but not us who are ancient descendants of Abraham. But if You really can do something godly, then perform a sign before us, then we will believe that You can do more than all the Essenes and other magicians on Earth, and that You are really filled with the Spirit of God."

I said: "I performed many tremendous signs in your presence, never performed by a human being on this Earth, and you said that Beelzebub, the chief of devils, had helped Me. If you believe this - and it was in that same belief that also your forefathers stoned and killed almost all the ancient prophets because they also said that they had the devil and that it was with his help that they made predictions and performed signs - then how can there be any light in you to recognize the truth of My teaching and My deeds?

You have Beelzebub as father, and you teach and act according to his inspiration, which I very well can see. For this reason I came to you several times, to free you out of his shackles, but you prefer to remain servants of the devil rather than to become servants of the one and only true God whom you do not know and have never known. Then remain with your servitude. I will remain with Mine, and quickly I will reveal before the eyes of the whole world who you are and who I am. And let us now go, and may it go well with you in the name of whom you serve."

These words of Mine offended these Pharisees so greatly that they wanted to bring Me and My disciples immediately to the office of the judicial city officer.

But I said to them: "I am the Lord, and I will do what I want. You better take care that you will not sooner have to deal with the judicial city officer.

I came with My disciples to you very peacefully and I did not want to trouble any of you, not with a word neither with a facial expression, although I heard from afar what kind of lowly talk you had about Me among each other. I therefore would have had the right to call you to account as to whom gave you here the right in a foreign country to criticize Me with which neither Me nor any of My disciples can be pleased. And thus, I say to you one more time that I am the Lord and have the power to enter this city and not to let Myself be hindered by you. But if this will not be sufficient to you and you want to remain with your intention I will know how to act against it."

After these words of Mine, Dismas, who took this whole matter to heart, said to his very stubborn companion: "In God's name, let them go. Let us simply return to our group, for I do not want to further interfere with such people who possess secret powers. If they act against God's will, God will know how to chastise and to destroy them at the right time. But if they nevertheless act according to the will of the Almighty, we will not be able to do anything against them."

But the companion of Dismas did not want to listen to that and called the others, who slowly walked behind them to help them and to jointly bring Me and My disciples to the judicial city officer.

I said: "Up till here and no further with your Beelzebub-rage against Me and My disciples! I will put up guards before you who will prevent you from entering any gate of this city! And those guards will also be the sign that you wanted to receive from Me! Hopefully you will see by that that I am truthfully a Lord over all creatures on this Earth and also a Lord infinitely far beyond, much further than you can ever imagine! I want it, and so be it!"

At that same moment, 14 big, angry lions stood before the Jews who were coming after us, and one of them grabbed the stubborn companion of Dismas and brought him back to his companions.

But Dismas fell before Me on his knees and asked Me to spare him since he thought very differently about Me, and that he as much as possible spoke words in My favor already several times in the High Counsel, but that it was like pouring oil on the fire, and he recognized that he finally by necessity had to bark along with the dogs. Now his stubborn companions should bark against the lions, and these will probably not be scared of their barking.

I said to him: "Go before us into the city and bring us to an honest inn. After that you can go to the judicial city officer Titus and tell him that I wait for him in that inn."

Dismas thanked Me, stood up and brought us immediately to an inn close by in this city.

Footnotes

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