The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Aphek
- Chapter 98 -
The Lord shows the right way to search God.
On these words of Mine, the priest said: "Truly, very wise Master, inspired by God, I possess a great fortune. Is it sufficient if I spend three quarters of it for good deeds to those who suffered some damage through me according to the laws of Moses - which from now on I want and will completely observe them all - and if I would perform with that other one quarter other good deeds of neighborly love until the end of my life?"
2
I said: "Friend, that is more than sufficient, for look, God is in Himself the eternal cleanest and purest love.
3
If someone wants to take a woman because he needs a woman, but has no love, and does also not search that woman with love but only with his dull worldly reason, do you think that such person will ever find a good woman who is full of love for him? He will find a foolish woman, yes, one who will not marry that man but only his gold in order to squander it with others, but no woman who is full of love for him. Therefore, the one who wants to find a woman full of love must also search her with love.
4
Whoever wants to search and find God, who is the purest love, must also search Him with the purest love in his own heart to which no other love for the dirty world adheres, no matter how insignificant it seems. And if he will search Him in this way, he also will most certainly find Him.
5
When you were still a young man, you were fortunate to be pleasing to a very beautiful and very rich daughter of a patrician. You also had a great love for her and you would have received her as wife if your great love for her would have been completely pure. But while that daughter, whom at that time was called a pearl of Rome, loved you very much without you noticing it more than necessary, it was her intention to be secretly informed about your love for her through ways that were unknown to you, and she soon discovered that you also had other maids for whom you also opened your heart.
6
When the pearl of Rome knew about it, she soon turned away from you and showed no more love for you, and so she turned away her face from you.
7
Then you became of course very sad. You still made a few futile efforts to regain her affection, and you also might have succeeded but you could not deny yourself and free yourself from your passion for the others by which you lost that pearl completely.
8
And look, this is more or less how it is with God who is the eternal purest love. Only with the purest and completely spotless love you can and will find, see and praise Him and receive from Him the eternal life.
9
It is for the one, whose heart is full of all kinds of worldly things, of course difficult to cleanse himself from them, but a firm will is a hard worker, and what seems impossible to you today will be tomorrow, and still further in the future, more and more easy to accomplish.
10
But ask yourself now in your heart if what I have explained to you now, you also understood as you should."