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 6 -
The confession of the Pharisees.
When they saw Me coming, they immediately began to shout (the mesmerized): "Lord, help us out of our miraculous affliction, and we will believe in your name as well as in your divine mission! We have sinned before God, in that we wanted to lay hands on His hallowed One. We admit openly that we have sinned in our great blindness; therefore release us, oh Lord, from this torture!"
2
I said: "Your words indeed sound good; but in your hearts it sounds differently!"
3
Then the mesmerized asked: "How does it sound then in our hearts?"
4
I said: "If you profess your faith in truth, you shall be helped, and indeed immediately after the open and truthful confession; but if you deny it, you shall stand here till morning!"
5
One said: "But how can we know what any of us thinks independently?"
6
I said: "There is no difference in your thoughts! Speak therefore if you want to!"
7
Here one of them began to speak and said: "Lord, you know that out of cleverness one must often speak very differently in this world than one thinks! For one can speak like this and that, and the thoughts are nonetheless hidden and, as they say, toll free; but if you read the thoughts in our hearts, then there is certainly nothing left for us to do than to speak exactly according to our thoughts. You will surely forgive us for considering you in our thoughts to be only an exceptional magician and also to have produced the rudest curses against you, because we thought that you had done such a thing to us; for once, about ten years ago, we indeed saw an Indian magician in Damascus who froze not only people but also even animals to the ground. Well, after so many experiences that we have already lived through in our lives, it is truly difficult to distinguish a genuine miracle from a false one, and you must therefore hold it to our credit a little if we, for various reasons, do not recognize you immediately as what you presented yourself to us to be in the Temple.
8
In addition it says in the Scriptures that one shall believe in only one God and not have any other foreign gods besides Him. But you present yourself to us as a true God equal to the old gods, since you said openly that you are His Son and have exactly the same power as He, and judgment on top of that. Who can automatically believe you - in appearance only a person, and from Galilee at that, where in any case more gentiles live than Jews - such fine words, that you are really who you present yourself to be?! We could not do that either despite your competent sign, which you performed even today on a celebratory Sabbath, which had to throw your supposed divinity even more into suspicion. Now of course, quite another light has risen in us, and will even shine brighter for us if you will now hopefully release us from this great torture. We beg you to do this!"
9
At this I said: "Then you are free!"
10
In that moment they became free and could walk again and they thanked Me.
11
But I said to them: "You are now free; but this I say unto you and to everyone: that not even a word will be spoken to anyone of what has happened here! For I perform signs that everyone may see and know, but also those which are suitable only for a few people, and these must remain for the meantime in silence from the general public. I know the important reason Why. But you may not go back to Jerusalem today; for I want to discuss many other things with you today.
12
For He who first gave Moses the Commandments on Sinai under thunder and lightning and whose spirit floated over the waters before Adam, He stands before you in this unostentatious person. You may believe it now or not, but what follows will give you light! Let us now go home and you twenty, who are still fasting, will first take a strengthening meal!"
13
At this everyone was silent and did not dare to exchange a word with one another.
14
But when we came into Lazarus' house, Peter said to Me: "Lord, You have not yet told us, Your constant disciples, all this!"
15
I said: "I told you it tangibly enough many times; but your comprehension was until now always too weak and will surely remain so for some time! But now busy yourselves with something else; I still have many a thing to discuss with the Jews!"
16
The disciples were satisfied with this and went outside.
17
But the meals for the twenty already stood on the table, only the sun had not yet gone down; thus they did not dare to touch anything yet and often looked at the sun to see whether it would soon go down.
18
But I said to them: "Listen! Who is greater: the sun, the Sabbath or I, who am the Lord of both in My spirit and have been so since all eternity?"
19
Then they said: "Yes, if you are seriously what you presented yourself to us to be, then you are certainly higher than the sun and the Sabbath!"
20
I said: "Sit down and eat and drink cheerfully! Once it was said: No-one can see God and keep his life; for God is an all-consuming fire. But now you can see God and eat and drink and still reap eternal life!"
21
Then they said: "That would all be fine if only there was no law of Moses!"
22
I said: "Wherever I am, there is also Moses and all the other prophets; therefore do what the Lord desires!"
23
Then finally everyone sat down at the tables and ate and drank again before the going down of the sun. And when they had eaten and drunk, I led them all up to a small hill behind Lazarus' house where we discussed many a thing, which the next events will display.