The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First journey of the Lord: Kis - landing place at Sibarah - Nazareth
- Chapter 77 -
A yardstick for the three kinds of love.
Say I: "All right, so I will give you a measure by which you and everyone may know how he stands concerning his self-love, the love for his neighbour and his love for God.
2
Take the number 666 which in good or bad proportions shows either a perfected man or a perfected devil.
3
Divide a person's love evenly into 666 parts; of that give God 600, your neighbour 60 and yourself 6. However, if you want to be a perfect devil, give God 6, your neighbour 60 and yourself 600.
4
Behold, it is the righteous servants, male and female, who cultivate their master's fields. In your opinion they should also take the harvest since it is the result of their industry and toil. But instead they put it in their master's barns and granaries and it gives them great pleasure to be able to say to their employer: "Master, all your barns and granaries are already full and half of the crop is still on the field. What shall we do? And their pleasure grows when the master tells them: "I commend your great and unselfish diligence and zeal. Go and fetch me builders to build me in the shortest possible time storerooms, so that I may store up the field's blessing for future years that might be less blessed in all produce than was this one." Behold, nothing belongs to the servants, they have no granary, no barns and storerooms, and still they work for a small reward as if they were doing it for their own barns, granaries and storerooms, for they know that they will not want when the master's storerooms are full.
5
And look, the actions of a righteous servant show the whole relationship of every true man to himself, to the neighbour and to God. The true servant looks after himself 6fold, after his fellow-servants, so that they may be well-disposed to him, 60fold and after his employer 600fold and thereby, quite unintentionally, 666fold after himself. For the other servants will prefer the fellow-servant in whom they find the least self-love to all others, and the employer will soon put him in charge of all the servants. But at a servant who only provides for his own pocket, likes to be the last at a job and puts his hands only to the lightest work, his fellow-workers will be looking askance and his employer will be quite aware that the selfish servant is a lazy labourer. Therefore, who will never put him in charge of the others, but reduce his wages and sit him at the farthest end of the dining table. And if this selfish, lazy servant will not change his attitude, he will be sacked from his service with a bad testimonial and will not easily ever get into another service. But if he has only one friend towards whom he has been unselfish, that one may take him into his own lodging, and the master will not reproach him for it. - Do you understand this?
6
Everyone has, and must have, a certain degree of self-love, or he could not live but - as already shown - only the smallest possible degree; slightly more already destroys the purely human relationship; and thus things are exactly balanced on the scales of divine order. - Now you have been shown the border-lines and we shall see how you will actually stick to them."
7
Says Judas: "It requires much profound wisdom to be able to determine the exact measure of self-love. How can shortsighted man judge that correctly?"
8
Say I: "Let him do the best he can with an honest will, God will then add what is still lacking. There is no reason to fear that any man will use less than six parts for himself, at least of all men of your kind."
9
Here Judas remains silent and deep in thought walks away from the table to prepare himself a resting-place for the already far advanced night.
10
Josoe now gets up saying: "Of a truth, this person's stupidity has annoyed me beyond all measure! A disciple and yet as stupid as an owl in broad daylight. I had no trouble understanding everything you told him straight away, yet he understood nothing, asking and interjecting all the time and finally walking off as if You had not spoken a syllable to him. A child's asking is excusable, but when an old person, and that one trying to be smarter than his fellowmen asks as well - and that visibly for derisive rather than good intentions, - then one has to get angry! I am happy to die thrice more if this person should ever reform. He is to all appearances a miser and calculator as if capable to rise up to mountains of gold and silver imminently. And as truly as my name is Josoe, I would give all I have and suffer to man's limit if this person ever seizes upon self-improvement!"
11
Say I: "My dear Josoe, let it be, for we need all sorts of odd job men for building a new heaven and a new earth, and Judas is just the type we can use. But now tell Me what you will say to your earthly parents when you join up with them again! What shall you say?"