The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 125 -
The life of Judas Iscariot.
1
(The Lord:) "In the disciple (Judas Ischariot), however, you have a speaking example. He was the only son of a very wealthy father and also a fool of a mother who loved him to death. The result was, that both parents spoiled their son to such an extend that they allowed him everything and also gave him everything whatever he desired; the further result of that was, that the son, when he gained strength, chased his parents out of the house and amused himself with venal prostitutes whatever his nature could stand.
2
It did not take long and the son squandered the wealth of his parents to such an extend, that both became beggars and soon afterwards died of grief and distress.
3
But the son, also now completely poor, went a little inside himself and finally asked himself and said: 'Yes, why did I became like that and not otherwise? I have not born myself, even less conceived myself; I also could not have educated myself, - and still every person shouts me in the face, that I am a wretched scoundrel and villain, who by his dissolute and evil pranks squandered the wealth of his parents, turned them into beggars and also brought them to their early grave!
4
How can I help it? All this might have been quite bad by me; but what can I do about it if the old did not educated me better?! But what should I do now? Poor, without money, without home, without work and without bread! Stealing and robbing would be the easiest, and it would be the quickest way to reach a good destination; but as a unskilled thief and bloodily punished, does not taste sweet at all! With robbing it looks even worse! But now I know what I will do! I learn some skill, and even if it is the old stupid pottery, which has made my father rich!'
5
Said and done! In Kapernaum he went to a quite cosy potter as an apprentice and learned with a lot of diligence his art within a short time. But the old potter had a daughter who soon became the wife of the art scholar.
6
But just as wastefully our Judas was earlier, he now became hard and stingy as a potter master. His wife quite often had to endure his hardness. He made good products and started to visit all markets, and left his people at home suffering and work sweating blood. If he returned from a market with a lot of money, he gave little to the diligent workers; but if he returned with only a small prey home, hard things occurred in his stingy house.
7
To earn some extra income alongside his pottery business, he leased a fishery business and a few years ago began with natural magic, because he quite often saw in Jerusalem, how much money some of the Egyptian and Persian magicians earned. But he did not made a success of it despite spending a lot of money on it. He also took some lessons from a few external Essenes, who made him believe, if they wanted to, could create a world with everything it consists of and carries.
8
But he soon realized that he was the one being cheated and turned his back on his fine masters. During that year he heard of all the things I did, and that it exceeds everything in the highest degree what ever is called on this earth a 'miracle-making'.
9
This was then also the actual reason why he joined Me, left everything at home, only to learn from Me to perform miracles and after that to earn a lot of gold and silver.
10
My teaching concerns him only very little. When he pays attention to My mouth, he only wants to hear an explanation, in which way and with what means I produce the one or other miracle. Now, about that he never hears something useful for him and is therefore always sullen.
11
By the way, regarding this world he will find a terrible bad account with me. A perfidious action and afterwards the darkest desperation will make him commit suicide, and a rope and a willow tree will be his sad end on this world! Since he is someone who wants to tempt God, which is and must be a great sin. However, who dares to commit a crime against God, will not omit to carry it out on himself. First against God and then on himself!
12
But I say to you, that in the beyond self-murderers will not likely ever see the face of God! I also could even show to you a mathematical ascertain reason for that; but it is truly not worth the trouble. It is sufficient that you believe Me what I have given you, which is the result of suicide. Its reason is always a kind of stupidity, arising from desperation, and this is a result of any crime against God or against His commandments."