The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
At the Sea of Galilee (John 6)
- Chapter 59 -
The nature of worldly people.
When he (Peter) came to Me, he said: "Lord, I have heard Your call in me! What is Your will that is constantly holier to me than anything?"
2
I said: "Nothing other than that you have said quite enough to the rich old codger! If that does not bring him to a brighter realization, nothing else will bring him any further. But that was enough of speech. In your homeland it is indeed difficult to lead people to the pure truth! For immediately one hears the same old question: Where does this come from then? We have known him since his childhood! And then that is already the end of any further instruction. For whoever is confused by the teacher will also be confused more or less by his teaching. And to force such people who are basically not evil, into a faith with miracles and extraordinary signs is the same as robbing them of all freedom of their soul and their will at one fell swoop; therefore it is better to let them go until they in the end come themselves and ask for a further explanation.
3
But if during the several days of our stay here some should nonetheless come, who demand further information about Me, then tell them very little about My signs and particularly about those that should be kept secret, but instead just give them hints; but above all tell them exactly what they should do in order to achieve eternal life. If they are not satisfied with that, then let them go; for it is not correct to throw pearls before swine. Whoever does not respect a small gift truly does not deserve a greater one!
4
There are people here who enjoy chatting from time to time about spiritual things and relationships for hours and hours, but at the same time are quite edified and full of good things and intentions; but as soon as they then go home again to their familiar worldly business, everything is as if forgotten! If something just gets in their way, they become full of the most oppressive worldly cares despite all their previous spiritual comfort they received and do not even want to remember the pure spiritual comforts they had. What are they good for then?!
5
And so, you see, My Simon Juda, your good conversations with your old friend were just like this! You see, he now no longer is thinking about it, because a trader from Canaan has come to him and both have now to make a very profitable sale of various trading goods! He very well knows it that I am here Myself, and he would have been able to come to Me in order to discuss with Me My capabilities which are so extraordinary to him. I truly would not have shown him the door! But no, the merchant from Canaan stands much higher in his estimation, and you now do not have to fear that he will discuss anything else with you about Me!
6
Therefore such people are not suitable by far or apt for the kingdom of God. They are like those farmers who when ploughing do not direct their eyes forward, but backwards and thus cannot see forwards how the ox pulls the plough and whether it is cutting the correct furrow and throws up the soil. Such people are therefore not suitable for the Kingdom of God by far. It is also better to leave such people standing, where they may stand, because they are not to be turned away from their worldly cares with light-filled words.
7
I say to you all as well: If you ever start to preach My teachings to the people in My name as complete disciples, then be attentive to the following: If you are received warmly in an area or in a house, remain there and teach the people well and good, and baptize them in My name with water, as John did, and I will then baptize them with My spirit from above!
8
But wherever you are not welcomed or in the same manner like your old friend has now accepted your words, then even shake off the dust from your feet that remains stuck to them, so that nothing worldly should remain with you from such a place or house! For you know that My kingdom is not of this world, but instead must be created through realization and through the observance of My word in the inside of man. But the creation of this inner spiritual world of life and heaven is always a difficult thing as long as something worldly is stuck on a person.
9
I mean by the mentioned dust on your feet however not the natural dust of a room or on the streets, but by dust I mean those worldly clever speeches of such people who are very like your old friend. They sound very polite, friendly and very suitable for worldly understanding; but they are nonetheless nothing but sheer dust, because they stand for only worldly things and there is no trace in it of any true seriousness. But just like the empty void dust of the street cannot be of any use to a hiker, such worldly dusty speeches of such rich and clever citizens are the same.
10
Although such dust can be of no use to anyone, nonetheless it can be more or less harmful to the hiker. If a wind comes and lifts the dust into the air, then the eyes must be closed and the mouth kept shut, otherwise one can be blinded or suffocated. One must also remain standing or even lie on the ground with the face to the earth until the wind has carried the annoying dust away. And that will certainly have cost the hiker time, as a consequence of which he will reach his destination later than if the dust spreading had not occurred.
11
But whatever the dust or the streets and alleys is to the hiker, the vain worldly dust of words is to a pilgrim of life on the path of life that I have shown you all. It easily dulls the inner eye and can even have an quite suffocatingly effect on the true, inner, spiritual eye of the soul. Even with all care being taken, it still impedes the spiritual progress! Therefore I say that you all should shake off even the dust that remains stuck to your feet so that nothing worldly at all should be in you; for truly I say unto you: As long as some worldly atom sticks to a soul, it cannot fully enter My kingdom; for everything worldly is to the soul what poison is to the body. A smallest hardly visible drop of a strong poison can give death to the body, and likewise an atom of worldliness can quite destroy the soul of a person or at least bring such damage that it then will have to take a long time to be fully healed to bear eternal life. Experience will give you the fullest confirmation of this."
12
Peter said: "Lord, it will be no easy thing for us, to teach Your word to other people! For how will we know whether a person is suitable to accept Your gospel? The old fellow out there would have been quite a suitable person for me, since he otherwise has a quite good mindset and enjoys discussing higher and more spiritual things in his hours when leisure, and, as far as I know, also does good to poor people. Well, if such people also belong to the doubtful, with whom one should have nothing to do, then I truly do not know whom one should consider suitable for the messenger of Your gospel."
13
I said: "Are you all still blind and do not notice what I say to you? Last year did you not see the rich youth? He asked Me what he should do in order to achieve eternal life. And I said to him that he should keep the commandments and love God above all things and his neighbour as himself. Then the young man said and insisted that he had done all that since his childhood. But I said to him: Well, good then - if you want more, sell all your goods, distribute the money among the poor and then come and follow Me, and in that way you will prepare a great treasure for yourself in heaven! Immediately the young man became sad, turned his back on us and went his way. But I then made the remark that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. Then you were surprised about it and thought that very few will reach the kingdom of heaven. And I said to you all that many things seem impossible to man which are very possible to God indeed.
14
At that stage you did not fully see things; but now they should be much more comprehensible to you. What would we have won, for example, if we had begun to intensively trying to persuade the young man so that he should nonetheless do what I advised him to do? Nothing at all! He would have produced his worldly reasons for us for several days, that with even the best will he could not follow My advice for the moment, and we would have stood on the same spot with him after several days like at the first moment of our meeting. But we preferred to move on quickly and soon found an opportunity where we could perform a lot of good. You see, there we shook off the dust that the young man obviously had spread and moved on unhindered along our way!
15
Those out there in the forecourt are all such people who in themselves are very just and very clever people, characteristics which have made them also very rich; but they are not yet mature enough for My gospel by far and will also find it difficult to get that far in this life. Thus you should in future not preach My word to such people; for it will cause no roots to grow in them and even less mature to any sort of fruit.
16
You, Peter, have truly said very appropriate truths to the rich citizen, just as if you had spoken with My mouth! What effect did it have on him however? You see, none at all! He now speaks as freely and unhindered with his fellow merchants as if you had never spoken a word about Me to him! He knows that I am here; at least curiosity should lead him to Me, so that he could discuss with Myself what you told him about Me! In itself, this is as indifferent to the rich man as a fly which is squashed by his foot along the way. He does not think much of us and our help which seems too little to him, since he is a very rich and clever man - and there are many who are just like him.
17
You see, those are the true world-wallow-swine, to whom you should not throw My pearls; for they do not care about anything other than whether and what can be materially gained in a matter. That is why the rich man admonished you for having left your profitable business and followed Me in a way for nothing at all.
18
These people are otherwise very well behaved and observe fine customs in front of everyone; but that is all like the fine and dainty whitewash of a grave which externally is seen as quite edifying, but inside it is nonetheless full of the rot of death and the disgusting smell of pestilence. As long as a man can very calmly put away his profit and no mishap in business befalls him, he will always be in the best and also even the most generous mood; but if we allow him to really heavily loose when speculating, then just look at your friendly man and begin to speak to him about inner, spiritual truths, and I guarantee you that you will be chased out before you even open your mouth! And see, this is mainly the reason why I have called you away from your otherwise very praise-worthy enthusiasm; for with such people every inner spiritual word is almost fully in vain!
19
You have indeed revealed to him that this great movement of the sea is caused by My all-powerful will alone, and that in general I only need to will it and all elements obey Me. This is certainly no little matter! But just look outside and you will immediately convince yourself what a trifle impression such news of yours has made on him! He has not even gone to look whether the sea is still in great motion and whether a part of it is quite calm!
20
You also let him taste the fact that the unbelievers will have to face My judgment. That only cost him at most a little smile, and he thought by himself: 'Oh you poor hungry man, just make sure that the judgment of an empty stomach and bare skin does not come upon you soon! Tell Me now whether such people should be preached My word!"
21
Said quite angrily Peter: "Ah, if so, then I would much rather be a Greek's swineherd than a preacher to such people! Now I understand for the first time Your zeal last year in the Temple! One must preach to them a different word with whips and ropes as You did in the Temple! This brood is in the end even worse than the most enthusiastic Pharisees in the Temple; for those at less have the semblance of being spiritual - which of course is also good for nothing - but this brood has nothing but the purest and very most material world! Oh it is good that You, oh Lord, have drawn our attention to all this! Truly, with this dust of the alleys our feet shall nevermore be dirtied! But what shall we do now?"
22
I said: "We will now go a little outside, so that you can all be convinced of the indifference of these people; then we will come back here again. I soon will then have a very heavy rain coming, however, and soon we will soon be rid of these annoying guests. Thus let us go outside as I have said! But pay particular attention to everyone we meet! Here we will then speak further about it and then our make our decisions."