The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the Vicinity of Caesara Philippi (Matthew 16)
- Chapter 209 -
About inner morality.
Say I: "Completely; for so it is! And I say unto you that whoever does not become like the tax-collector shall verily not enter My kingdom; for also I couldn't care less about all the loveless moral purity forever!
2
A free, true inner moral purity, coupled to an all-sacrificing love for the neighbour, stands above all else with Me; but one as we saw in the hermit does not count a penny with Me. He who is pure, let him be pure just before God, but the world is not to know much about it; for if it praises him, then he shall receive little praise from Me.
3
But for man it is best to always say: 'Oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!'; think no evil of anyone, pray for your enemies and always do good even to those who speak evil of you and perhaps even do you evil.
4
Verily, he who is and does so, not only is pure before Me - and even if he were with sin that his flesh leads him into every now and then, yet he is fully My brother and together with Myself a king of the heavens and all their glory! Because even if a man's flesh often is aroused by wicked demons, his soul nevertheless constantly moves within My spirit.
5
Often even the angels must descend into hell, - the mire of all iniquity; but when they return they are as clean as formerly in the uppermost heaven. And so it is not infrequently with My brethren upon this Earth: even if in their outward parts they descend to hell in order to there also maintain divine order and will-power, their soul nevertheless remains pure in union with Me.
6
In short, he who is made humble through sin like our tax-collector has merely, as an angel descended to hell for a moment, in order to set up peace and order there; but on his return he is at once disgusted by it and his soul is clean as before. But he whom his sins only make arrogant, and if he remains so, is already a devil, even if outwardly he appears ever so clean before man.
7
But I say unto you all: should any sinner whatsoever come to your door for help, you are not to show him the door, but to help him as if he had never sinned; and after helping him, try everything to bring about a permanent change within the sinner along the path of love and wisdom, - along a true wisdom which goes forth only from love.
8
With the Jews, and according to Moses, and adulteress is truly a sinner and is to be stoned at once, and in succession by those who encountered her the soonest after the act. But I say unto you: he who takes the fugitive into his house and tries to save her twofold - physically and spiritually, shall once be amicably regarded by Me, and his guilt shall be written into loose sand, which the wind shall carry away! But he who casts a stone after her without being completely without sin himself, same shall have to withstand severe judgement from Myself! For he who brings Me back what was lost shall once be found worthy of a great reward in the Kingdom of Heaven, whereas he who judges, - even if justly in accordance with the law, shall also once be judged justly and severely in accordance with My law!"
9
Asks Cyrenius: "Lord, what You have now spoken is clear and true, except for one point that is somewhat unclear to me and should beg for a more specific explanation. And the point is this -"
10
Say I: "The unclear point is: how a normally pure person can through committing a physical sin descend to hell, put things in order and to rest there, eventually returning completely pure.
11
Behold, this is quite easily understood, if one knows what is sin and hell, actually, both in particular and general terms! - Hence I shall try to bring these two concepts closer to your comprehension, and hence pay heed with your soul!"