The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 192 -
On the blessing and curse of wealth.
But Cyrenius says to Me, "Lord and Master, truly, I have never met such generously-minded and kind people in all seriousness; I must give these people protection against the attacks by the idolaters - no matter what it costs! The Persian king is also only a vassal of Rome and is subordinate to me; oh, a stop should soon be put to the work of these vile creatures! Also You, oh Lord, should give these people a particular mercy; for they seem to me to be fully deserving of it!"
2
I say, "In any case, otherwise I would not have had them rescued from certain drowning by My angel; for where I perform something miraculous, there is certainly a very good reason. And here there is no lack of reason!
3
A great earthly wealth in the hands of such people is a true blessing from the heavens for a whole land; if such people also possess a higher wisdom, they can perform miracles for the true good of humanity.
4
But a great wealth in the hands of a greedy person or a usurer is a curse from hell for a whole kingdom; for he seeks only to seize everything for himself at the cost of all people! No misery moves him, neither affliction, nor the tears of poor, deserted widows and orphans. Thousands can be on the brink of starvation before the cold face of a usurer, but he will nonetheless never give anyone a piece of bread to satiate him!
5
Therefore I also tell you that the whores and adulterers and thieves and savage murderers will enter the kingdom of God one day, but the soul of a greedy person and a usurer never; for it cannot be corrected and therefore becomes the matter out of which the devils will build their deepest hell!
6
A usurer is a true machine of hell, constructed for the ruin of all man, and as such it will remain for eternity the full property of hell!
7
Put a king's crown on the head of a usurer, give him a scepter and sword and a powerful army in addition, and there you have placed a Satan as tyrannical regent over the poor people who will not spare his subordinates the last drop of blood! He will rather strangle everyone than let them out of paying a single stater! Therefore let every greedy man and every usurer be cursed by Me!
8
But such people who have become extremely rich through the industriousness of their hands under the influence of mercy from heaven are a good and noble fruit of this Earth. They are constant collectors for the weak and poor, they always build new houses for the homeless and weave clothes for the naked brothers and sisters. Therefore their reward will be great; for they carry the most beautiful and highest heaven already within themselves on this Earth!
9
When their soul will one day leave their body, heaven will unfold from their hearts and place it in the centre, just as the rising sun spreads out its own light and revels then in the great centre of the all-animating and creating light emitted by it!
10
But other good human souls will only be blessed like the planets which rejoice in the warming and animating beams of the sun, but which still have a dark side however!
11
Yes, My dear Cyrenius! To be rich on this Earth and only use as much for yourself as one really needs for the maintenance of oneself, that is, to be sparse towards oneself, in order to be all the more generous towards the poor, this, this is the greatest divinity even in the flesh on this Earth! But the greater this genuine and only true divinity exists in a person, the more blessings and mercy constantly flow to him from the heavens!
12
It is just the same for such a person as for the sun! The more she lets her light flow out over the Earth, the brighter she shines in herself; but if she become more sparing with her sharing of the light in winter, even if only seemingly, then she is also in herself of a poorer and weaker light, even if only seemingly so!
13
Whoever gives much with love and joy, to him will also be given much!
14
For if you place a strong light in the centre of a room, it will also shine back again from all the walls towards the middle of the light and will seize the strong light with a powerful aureole, and thereby the original light will become even more magnificent, powerful and effective; but if you only place a weakly flickering lamp in the centre of a great room, the weakly-lit walls will only give back an extremely small light, and the glory of the original light will look very poor!
15
Therefore you, abundantly equipped with the goods of this Earth, be generous, just as the sun in the sky is generous with its light, you will be the same and will reap just as the sun does!
16
For you cannot sow a good seed in good earth without it bringing you a harvest a hundred times greater. But good deeds of a good heart are truly the best seeds, and the poor humanity is the best earth; never let it lie barren, but sow this earth lavishly and it will always bring you a hundred times greater harvest here and a thousand times greater harvest in the beyond, for which I stand here as firm warrantor!"