The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and the Priests of the Temple (John 5)
- Chapter 4 -
On the hardness of heart of the Temple Jews.
A few Jews said: "Your deeds are indeed very extraordinary, but you yourself do not have the slightest prestige for this, and in addition the Essenes perform the same things, although they are our enemies, but nonetheless they tell to the Jews that the Messiah will come from among them."
2
I said: "Oh, I know you all only too well! You have not just discovered this, instead you have known for a long time how the Essenes perform their miracles, and justly so, also have become worked up about it, and have even shown the Essenes' tricks to the people many times with much success; since such arts and tricks you know just as well as the Essenes, and the prestige of My person is not really that important to you. Thus, this is not at all the reason of you for not wanting to recognize or accept Me as what I am in all truth - but instead you quite simply do not want to come to Me, to receive the eternal life from Me and through Me. (John 5:40)
3
I of course do not accept any honour from the people for the sake of any greater and external prestige, for they forever not could give Me a greater honour than already resides in Me; (John 5,41) but I know you from a totally different side! Because of your haughtiness, your world- and self-love, the love for God is for a long time already not in you anymore, - and therefore you do not accept Me!" (John 5,42)
4
Said again some of the Jews: "These are of course quite nice and clever words, but by a far cry they are no proof that you are suddenly the promised Messiah! You can, what we perhaps can accept, be a seer in His name, although it is written that no prophet will rise out of Galilee; but there can be of course no talk that you might be the Messiah! Are we right or not?"
5
I said: "Not at all; but I will tell you in all truth how things stand! And thus listen: I did not come to you as a prophet in the name of the coming Messiah, but instead as the promised Messiah Himself in the name of My Father, with whom I am fully one, of which the works and deeds that I perform bear the most truthful witness, and you still do not accept Me! But if another person comes with great pomp in his own highly selfish name, you will surely accept him without a second thought! (John 5:43) But how can you believe Me, since you all take glory from one another and let yourselves be honoured by all the world, but have never sought the modest glory which is from God and also now you do not seek it!" (John 5:44)
6
The Jews said: "Alright then - but you are saying quite openly that the all-powerful God is your father! If we then are wrong in that we do not believe you, then lay a charge about us with your father, and it will soon show what will happen to us because of it!"
7
I said: "Oh, do not think that I will impeach you before the Father! There is another who will impeach you, and that is Moses, who you are hoping will come again with Elijah. (John 5:45) And he has indeed come, but was recognized by you just as little as now I Myself. (NB: Moses' spirit was in Zachariah, and Elijah's spirit in John.)
8
If you in your worldly mind had ever believed in Moses, you would also believe Me; for Moses bore witness of Me. (Joh.5,46) But since you have never believed his Scriptures, how can you now believe My words?!" (John 5:47)
9
The Jews said: "How can you say that we, who sit on his throne, have not believed Moses?"
10
I said: "Whatever a man should believe, he must first know, but I say to you that you have only become priests for the sake of money and since your childhood you have not found it worthwhile to read Moses' Scriptures. And why should you; since things always went very well for you even without such an effort! Do you know who were your Moses and your prophets at all times? I tell you: It was your stomach!"
11
Then the Jewish priests pulled somewhat puzzled faces, and one of them said: "Are the Scriptures not read to us every week at the specified time of day?! We possess only five samples and the original Scriptures, which as a sacred object no-one but the High Priest may touch without being punished by death. How can you say then, that we do not know what Moses and the prophets have written down?! Of course we cannot read them ourselves, but we hear them all the time whenever they are read out!"
12
I said: "You indeed hear with your ears, if you with your full stomachs do not fall asleep during the reading; but you have never listened to them with your hearts, because this is always spread over the whole world with its desires. You obeyed the Commandments in any case only for appearance's sake before the eyes of the world, because you go about in priestly clothing; but for yourself you disregard it! I say this to you because I know you better than anyone in the world."
13
Hereupon many of the people who had heard this too, began to taunt these Jewish priests quite severely and grumbled about them, and they immediately retreated to their chambers. But I likewise went out of the Temple with My people and headed with My disciples and the innkeeper to take up the invitation from Lazarus, towards Bethany, which was an area about fifteen fields' journey (according to today's measurements almost seven quarter hours (13/4 hour) of leisurely walking) away from Jerusalem. It goes without saying that we were received extremely well there.