The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 137 -
Negotiation with the Pharisees.
Mathael says secretly to Cyrenius, "That is another difficult task which we are too weak to solve! Mark did his thing very well; but what can we do if we cannot prove any neglect of duty from what they say? Let's listen to Ebahl and Julius now! But what they will say will not be of much use to us either; for the old fellow is too sure of himself and is capable of completely justifying every very shameful act from the Scriptures. What can be done then against this?"
2
Cyrenius says, "Alright, then I in my complete power will damn every piece of scripture that goes against the healthy sense of a person and we will have him then in chains!"
3
Mathael says, "That cannot be done, because he can then say: Healthy human sense however also demands that a law is given and sanctioned before someone can be judged by it. What will you have then to say against that? One must collect oneself quite unusually carefully in order to be able to do anything against these lads from a human point of view! Now Cornelius, Faustus, Kisjonah from Kis and a certain Philopold from the same area should be here soon; they will certainly be of great help! I am looking forward to their arrival very much!"
4
After a measured while of consideration about what has been said both on the part of the high Pharisee as well as about the somewhat more secret remarks by Mathael and about his joy about the announced arrival of Cornelius and his entourage, Cyrenius orders Ebahl to say something tenable about the arch-Pharisee.
5
And Ebahl rises and says, "High friend! Foxes and your proteuses (fickle, easily changeable people) are hard to catch; the foxes, because they always have two ways out, and the proteuses because they can change into anything, even into the elements themselves. Therefore my opinion is this: Since after what has been said about these people by the most true and faithful witnesses whom you know as well as I, you can have no doubt at all whether things are so or not, on the other hand however as a worldly judge you can only come to a judgment of the world which can convince your eyes and ears, my advice is thus the following: Let these annoying proteuses go without the least granting of what they want, and without damning them to any punishment by a judgment! Thereby you have done enough for the inner spiritual truth and the senses of the world! That would be my opinion!
6
I could tell you hundreds of facts about the many deceptions and the unscrupulous oppression of the people which I have experienced at some occasions with these wannabe servants of God; but what good would that do for you? They will certainly find a hole through which they can slip into freedom! They cover themselves very carefully against every potential outer damaging wind with the cloak of Moses and with the coat of Aaron and the prophets, and no wind however cold can cause them even a sniff!
7
But everything that can be done to external understanding from the Scriptures of the prophets, we know very well; for they are fit for everything, as long as one does not know their inner spiritual sense, and that is the main hiding place for these people. Therefore nothing much else can be done except what I have advised you."
8
Cyrenius says, "Yes, yes, you are quite right, I recognize that completely in its depths; but nonetheless I believe that one could counter these people perhaps with somewhat provable criminals where they then could certainly no longer get away!"
9
Ebahl says, "Oh dear, with anything but that; for these lads know every jot of the Roman law and know how to get around the Law better than any lawyer, so that no Satan can touch them. They will have committed such crimes either personally or participating in a group. Before God they will certainly not be able to hide; but we cannot touch them if we want to deal with them legally! Perhaps Kisjonah, Cornelius, Faustus of the Greek Philopold? But among us, except for the Lord and the angel Raphael, no-one can touch them!"
10
Cyrenius shakes his head and says, "I could nonetheless have them guarded as suspicious people; perhaps such seriousness would then be a little sobering for their minds!?"
11
Ebahl says, "Try it; but I put my word on it that you will not be able to withdraw the guards from the high Pharisee after the first protests fast enough! We have not a haze for the outside world about any CAUSA CRIMINIS. There are no prosecutors, and therefore there can be no judge! The quiet statement of the Lord cannot be seen as a complaint for two reasons. Firstly there is a lack of any worldly supervision, and secondly the Lord Himself would only be half a witness before the world; for at least for now one could not consider His divinity, neither His prophecy, legally applicable ANTE FORUM ROMANUM! We know exactly where we stand with them; but the dry Roman law does not know our Lord and Master at all and thereby neither His statement from His wisdom, and yet now, despite all your innermost conviction about this person, you can only judge from what you can discover from the people as proof of guilt. And a prosecutor is needed, and only then come the witnesses under oath! Or is the statement by a prophet or an oracle valid for something if neither belongs to your religion?"
12
Cyrenius says, "Yes, in extraordinary circumstances, particularly when the prophet has proven himself first before a proper court as worthy of complete belief! If the court bears no concern against him, he can serve as complete proof like a statement of a tested oracle! For only the judge has the right to accept the validity of a witness or not, and to decide whether he is admissible or not!"
13
Says Ebahl: "Good, but what if the prophet can be used neither as a prosecutor nor as a witness? How can you force him to it?! As a witness rather; but as a prosecutor - never! Here we certainly have one; but how will you force this great one and the angel Raphael to appear either as a prosecutor or witness?"
14
Cyrenius says, "Certainly no force can achieve anything! Let's wait; for those announced will not be waited for long! It seems to me as if I saw oars at quite a distance on the sea!"
15
Mathael says, "I have been noticing that since half an hour; but they seem to remain at the same spot! Well, how is the trial going? Are you still at the same point?":
16
Cyrenius says, "Not an inch further! You were right, and Ebahl was right, and I see that we with all our authority in worldly things can achieve little or nothing, and the arrivals will most probably not help much either."