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 86 -
The new Chief Korah and Chiwar in the Nazarene Synagogue.
With these words honest Chiwar leaves, soon arriving at the Synagogue and realising at once that he was very much missed by the Chief. The Chief immediately asks him where and what kept him busy for so long.
2
And Chiwar said: "Lord, I had someone dangerously ill and had to seek his help and behold, now he is healed, and as a traveller can now continue his journey untroubled.
3
Asks the Chief: "Where is he travelling and when and whence did he come here? Can I still see and speak to him?"
4
Says Chiwar: "He is a Jew, came from above and has already left for downwards. You can no longer see or speak to him, unless he comes back. But when? It could be many days."
5
Says the Chief: "I cannot be content with such foxtail information! Where is the inn, so I can go there and make enquiries about the one you healed and who is now travelling downwards because such miraculous healing on the part of a Pharisee is an important matter and has to be confirmed by many witnesses or it shall not be believed and therefore not found worthy."
6
Says Chiwar: "If you want to know more than I do then turn to those who know more than I - I faithfully told you all I know. How should I be able to tell you more than I know? The inn was at the carpenter Joseph's house. If you want to know more, go out there! Don't forget to protect your back, because there will be no shortage of blows there! Do you perhaps imagine that an extraordinary esteem for people like us is found over there? I tell you not a trace of such! With the smallest indiscretion, blows are available there by the alphabet, and no God shall then take them away from your body. But as I said, it depends only on trying, after which one can speak from experience."
7
Says the Chief: "From such blunt talk I can see only too clearly that you and all the people of Nazareth have conspired against me. But not to worry, we shall find a handle for this axe too! No I know pretty well where I stand here. But I hope to shortly unmash this pot fully as well; but then beware you and the whole town. Where is the road to the carpenter's house?
8
Says Chiwar: "Look through this window here. At about 2,000 paces distance you can see the carpenter's house quite well and the road leading to it. Go over and convince yourself of everything - and by the way of the certain blows!"
9
Says the Chief : "But you all are going to accompany me and serve me for guards!"
10
Say all: "Are we crazy? This we shall leave well enough alone. Whoever is itching, let him carry his back there!"
11
Says the Chief: "Well, in Jehovah's name I shall go by myself, and we shall yet see if anyone touches me as one anointed of God; for it is written who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? [1 Sam. 26:9]
12
Says Chiwar: "Yes, yes, what you know we have known for a long time! But anointed ones like us, whose anointing is no more than miserable tokenism, counts nothing before God, and He shall not protect our pseudo-anointed heads when justly exposed to our enemies" fists. For as I said much earlier, the people know only too well what is behind us and the Temple."
13
Says the Chief: "Nonetheless I am going there. But all of you beware if I find things differently than you, Chiwar, told me when I asked you where you had been."
14
Says Chiwar: "You shall hardly find out what you want, but something quite different - causing you considerable pain at best, whilst we shall certainly feel no hurt."
15
With these words the Chief rushes over.
16
But walking down the road, the boys and girls are shouting: "This is the wicked Chief who wants to ruin us all! Let's get rid of him!" From all sides young and all converge on him with sticks and stones, with some stones already hitting him, leaving blue marks.
17
The Chief realises soon that the Nazarenes are not joking, swiftly returning to the Synagogue, hastily closing the door behind him whilst a load of stones slam into it leaving their marks showing plainly what the Nazarenes think of the new Chief.
18
On joining the Pharisees he says ragingly: "This is your work and I shall know how to take my revenge on you!"
19
Says Chiwar quite incensed now: "What are you saying, miserable fool! How can this be our work if we all warned you against going? Only after we praise you to the people can you talk and deal with them; as long as we don't commend you, they shall mistreat you every time you dare to walk the city streets by yourself! For you are in their black books already for buying your position. If on your arrival you want to tyrannise us as well as the people in order to juggle things together through tyranny then all hate you like hell, and I tell you that you will do well to sell your position to someone more worthy because I give no penny for your future.
20
You would have to change sky-high if you want to favourably maintain yourself among us. But his seems well nigh impossible to you. Because to just put on a friendly face externally but to be internally a raving wolf isn't going to do with us, because we all are strangely enough of the prophetic spirit and can tell you to a hair's breadth what you are thinking in your thoroughly wicked heart!
21
For sure, if you completely transform your heart and to let it glow with the pure, divine wisdom and truth, then we shall also commend you to the people, and you shall have a good existence here; but your High Priest, your Pilate and still less your Herod shall be of no avail to you here!"
22
Says the Chief: "How did you know that I was in fact thinking of these three helpers just now?"
23
Says Chiwar: "Because I too possess some of the prophetic spirit which sees through you in smallest detail making it impossible for you to hide from, and just as little in Capernaum; and were you a thousand days journey from here we would still see through you from such distance! Hence you shall find it hard to undertake anything against us without us being able to take the most fitting and effective counter-measures in advance! Are you therefore happy with us?
24
For behold, we are still priests of the old school! Jehovah's spirit is still in us even if it has long ago left the Temple at Jerusalem. If therefore you want to maintain yourself among us then you too must be an orthodox priest for you shall not be able to maintain yourself among us as an imitation priest, and do better to dispose of your position to someone more worthy, as I remarked to you before!"
25
Says the Chief: "Oh you accursed whore-mongering priests of Jerusalem! My lovely gold and silver suited your palate, but didn't consider that instead of a respectable, remunerative position I was granted a veritable nest of wasps! But wait, it shall shortly become obvious to you that Korah did not shove his gold and silver into your jaws for nothing!" - After an interval he turns back to Chiwar, asking: "What am I going to do in order to gain your and the people's goodwill?"
26
Says Chiwar: "I, like Roban, have already indicated it to you and on the table here lies the document which indicates Jehovah's will to you distinctly. Act accordingly and not by the accursed Temple regulations, and a truly favourable existence among us shall be your lot! You must win God's favour and all else shall be added unto you."
27
Says Korah: "Sure, this I shall do from now on, so far as it is within my power, but will it inconvenience you if I transfer myself here to Nazareth for at least a year? For among yourselves I can truly learn, whereas in Capernaum, and probably also in Chorazim and other smaller cities upon the Galilean Sea, only miserable grovellers are to be found!"
28
They all say: "You will do well, and it will give us all much joy to be able to properly serve you as our Chief. Because here no more deception is carried on, no Temple manure sold and there is no haggling over oxen, cows, calves and sheep in the House of Prayer, but our small Prayer house still is what it should be and no money changing takes place in our Synagogue!
29
There may be no flame flickering over some Ark of the Covenant but that flame and much more are truly and vitally in our hearts, and that is more god-pleasing than all the Temple manure in Jerusalem where not a spark of truth glows anymore; and in the Temple fulfills itself what God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, when he spoke: "Behold, these people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me", cannot Jerusalem's falseness be grasped with the hand! Do not the priests adorn the frequently false sepulchres of the prophets annually although their forefathers stoned them? And do the present ones act differently? Oh no, they step into their evil forefather's shoes. Zacharias was killed between the altar and the Holy of Holies, and Herod had John's head chopped off his body! Say, what kind of God's servants be these? We say to you plainly: These are Satan's servants and eternally not God's servants. Fortunately they are in our hands, as they are aware of hence they leave us well alone.
30
Should they still invite one or the other of us amicably to Jerusalem for some feast then we are ever smart enough to not accept for anything in the world and rather await here our natural death than go in search of an unnatural one in the secret chambers around the Temple. Believe us, we are still clever enough even for the lords in the Temple and smell a roast long before they set it near the fire. Hence let you just stick close to us, and you shall definitely not miss anything!"
31
Says Korah: "Now I am fully in the clear about you, making me very happy but the Temple shall rejoice about the diverse pleasantries that we shall render at the appropriate times!"
32
Says Chiwar: "Mind you, we shall not go out of our way to deliberately cause trouble, only let it attack us an then beware! Fore materially we surely are not lacking!"
33
With these Chiwar's words the cook comes to invite them to lunch.