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 83 -
The occasion with the new Temple Chief at Nazareth.
Upon these words Roban hurries home, and moments after arriving in his house, a messenger already arrives compelling him to come to the Synagogue, where the new chief indeed wants to discuss Me; for he had found out that Roban had been in Sychar on My account. Roban goes over at once, and the Chief tackles him despondently at once.
2
But Roban says: "A Nazarene Elder of between 70 and 80 am I, whilst you have not lived thirty yet. Notwithstanding you making yourself Chief with your money, you are still a long way from being a Moses or an Aaron and are not going to teach me anything I would not have already known before you were begotten! We have always managed our position to the satisfaction of your worthy predecessor and the Temple as a whole, judging all appearances with the eyes of pious Jews, placing barriers where needed; should you be better versed in dealing with the situation and make Greeks and Romans into Jews with one blow then just carry on like that, and I guarantee you that you shall be the only Jew in Galilee besides ourselves.
3
Look, for this reason the substantial Jesaira area became wholly Greek, and all Pharisees, Scribes and Priests had to leave the areas! Go and start holding enquiries like that over there, and the Jesaireans will have a thing or two to say to you, and you shall be short of legs to put you to flight! Why did the Jesaireans fall away? On account of the avid greed of the priesthood there, and now Pythagoras is confessed there in stead of Moses.
4
And exactly the same shall apply here now, and you and us all can then take to our heels! Hence don't be blind and recognise facts!
5
The most exalted heads of state are the Romans and Greeks, and they love seeing the Jews come over to their doctrine. How are you going to prevent such transfers when in Galilee the widely held view of the Temple is that of a hollow nut? And who but the greedy Templers are to blame, who shows the holy of holies to rich strangers who then, even when sworn to secrecy appraise the people afterwards with much laughter and ridicule!? Go and ask the inhabitants there, and they shall tell you as they told us."
6
Says the Chief: "What are you saying, - the people know all this?"
7
Says Roban: "Yes, all this the people know. But go and deprive them of such knowledge!"
8
The Chief paces up and down the Synagogue, eventually saying: "This shall no doubt be due in large part to the Nazarene prophet. Hence it shall be done to him as it was done to John through King Herod!"
9
Says Roban: "Yes, it only needs trying to lay hands on the miraculous doctor, and the people and the Romans, Greeks and Jews who worship him like a god shall soon tell you a thing or two. I as an Elder of Nazareth say unto you and give you the faithful and expert advice: Follow in the footsteps of your worthy predecessor Jairus and you shall fare well for a while; but if you are going to try and turn everything upside down as now, then you can soon look for a return to Jerusalem! Jairus is himself in the hands of the Greeks. Borus is his son-in-law; Borus the second wonder physician, wealthy in treasures of every kind will only too soon be telling you a thing or two. In short, just try it out and see whether my advice was amiss!"
10
The Chief stamps his foot in rage, saying: "You are already all of the devil to wit and seem to side more with the opponents than us and followers of the public deceiver's doctrine! Hence, I shall throw you all out of the Synagogue and occupy it with the new people from Jerusalem and hand you over to the courts! Hence I ask you once more: What business did you have with the Samaritans at Sychar?"
11
Says Roban: "I am 79 years old and know what I am doing and need to do! Your threat intimidates neither me nor anyone else; should you want to hand us over to the courts then just try, and we shall see who shall be seized by the courts - us or yourself!
12
Fortunately we are in the good books of the Chief Governor, a brother of Emperor Augustus and who wields great influence in Rome, for which reason he is not going to throw us in prison as easily as you think. But it is Jesus, whom the Temple hates of purest self interest and domineering that the Temple can thank you for not having as yet been razed to the ground by the Romans!
13
You will surely have heard about the notorious taxation robbery, carried out by agents of the Temple under the guise of the Chief Governor, hardly five weeks ago, whose despicable transport - together with many other shamefully robbed and extorted chattels were caught at Kis by the exceedingly wealthy Kisjonah's overseers! Behold, the same Jesus, groundlessly hated so much by the Temple yet whom even the most exalted Romans worship more than Jupiter was the very One Who through His Word and unheard of miraculous deeds was responsible for diverting that most destructive storm from Jerusalem! But it is a long way from over; it needs only some stubbornness on your part, and the storm breaks loose.
14
It furthermore requires only a charge laid by Borus, Jairus and for that matter by myself, and then I want you to look at your Jerusalem and your Temple in three times seven days, and you shall hardly find the place where the Temple once stood. Have you perfectly understood me?"
15
Here the new Chief stamps furiously into the ground again, saying: "Who is able to attest to this by oath? Because they who are supposed to have carried this out sit in the Temple!"
16
Says Roban: "In the Roman law, the perpetrator is not allowed attesting by oath but only the witnesses for the prosecution, and of these they can call ten thousand if necessary and I think that should be sufficient against some ten criminals."
17
Says the Chief quite subdued: "Is one therefore to no longer believe in Jehovah, Moses and the prophets, and no one to any longer keep their commandments on account of the Romans?"
18
Says Roban: "Just don't you talk to me about Moses and Jehovah and all the prophets! There is no trace of all this to be found either with yourself and much less still with the upper and the uppermost of the Temple; for the entire Temple has these last thirty years been turned into a money-changer's and trader's house, and there has been no trace of the real Jehovah and of Moses encountered here for along time! Whatever is still there is nothing but larvae and sham with the raving wolves going about in sheepskins in order to get hold of the poor sheep more easily. If you were keeping the commandments of Moses then you would never have craved after purchasing this position for much gold and silver!"
19
The new Chief nearly burst with rage at this Roban's retort, saying: "Not to worry! I shall find you all a lord nonetheless, to make you marvel right down to hell; for I also know a thing or two that you don't know and know a few ways that may be unknown to you!"
20
Say Roban: "Quite possibly, but very likely that your ways and means are better known to us than you and it is not improbably that we have already blocked off all the ways you already secretly contemplated along which you had hoped to get behind our backs. As said, just try a single time and you shall find out all that we shall tell you!"
21
Say the others to Roban: "But brother, why do you try protecting this brute against his assured demise? He is in our hands, so let him call for help from heaven if we should feel free to let him taste the stones of Nazareth!" - Then saying to the Chief: "We are Pharisees and Scribes just like yourself, and more so actually; for we are descendants of Levi even whilst being aware of your having purchased your own descent, just as everything is these days for sale, including heaven! You hence are an intruder into the holy of holies and therefore a deceiver of God and as such most appropriately due for stoning; hence you need not try much more and we shall reach for the stones!"
22
This empathic threat made the Chief more moderate at least on the outside, yet that much more embittered, and he spoke after a short interval: "You aught not to misunderstand me either, because the Temple's shortcomings are as well-known to me as to yourselves, and it is about now to conceal them and how the Temple can be brought to its former influence."