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 7 -
The Lord with His followers on a hill near Bethany.
When we had all gathered on the hill which, as has been said, was behind Lazarus' house and had a beautiful plateau at its top and was well covered with many benches, we sat down under the bright night sky of a full moon; and although we were indeed about fifty five heads in all and yet had more than enough space, nonetheless some Jews began to exchange words about the fact that the seats had not been allocated fully according to the order of rank.
2
Lazarus however noticed this and said: "My friends! After everything that we have heard, seen and learnt, the very first rank among us is deserved only by the One among us, and He has sought out the very worst place of all! How can we then be so rank-seeking, since we as basically only pure mortal men are nothing before Him?!"
3
This speech of Lazarus' as the generally respected man of the house had a good effect and removed the annoying and fully useless exchanges of words.
4
Once everything had more or less been brought to order, I said, "First of all I command you to keep all that you will now hear and see strictly to yourselves forever, so that thereby no one shall be coerced - either in his will or in his conscience to believe in Me and My mission, but alone by way of the new teaching intended for that purpose and by way of the signs chosen for it by My wisdom.
5
Any inner, moral coercion is already in itself a judgment. For, anything a man does not accept and do of his freest will and out of his very own cognition and conviction does not give him life but brings about his judgment. If man is to become quite good and full of the true, spiritual life, he must not be coerced by anything else but his own, quite free and firm will.
6
Neither law nor reward or punishment must influence him in any way, but only his free belief, his inner conviction and his pure cognition, and only then the obedience of his outer man and his free will, which must stem from the pure love for God and for all that is good and true.
7
I tell you as the greatest truth, full of light: I could just as easily - and actually even more easily - have come down to earth in the form of a man of giant size, accompanied by countless hosts of angels and under fire, lightning, thunder and storm and proclaim to you the new word of grace in a thunderous, mountain-shattering voice. Surely, none of you could then have had the least doubt, for the greatest terror and fear would have instantly gripped you, so much so that you would have been incapable of even the simplest thought. Would that have benefited anyone in his inner true liberation? Oh, by no means! This would have meant a judgment for every human soul and an imprisonment of all hearts which would have turned them into the hardest rocks.
8
Behold, this is why, quite unnoticed, I came into this world in this lowliness, just as I had announced Myself through the mouth of the prophets, so that no man's heart should be imprisoned but that man should lovingly recognize Me solely through the blissful power of the truth of My words and precepts and then freely change his life accordingly.
9
My signs are only meant as a confirmation of the fact that I really am the One as Whom I present Myself to the people. Therefore, I warn you again not to tell anyone about the things you will hear and see during this night, so that no human heart's understanding might be imprisoned! Nor shall you allow yourselves to be imprisoned in your hearts, but you shall only be guided by My word and its truth.
10
For, if you spontaneously denounce My signs and freely act according to the truth of My words, you still have eternal life and its fullest freedom within you. However, if you are only guided by My signs, not heeding the truth of My words, you are imprisoned and under judgment and are nothing but merely human machines without an inner, true spiritual life and therefore dead, just as a stone is dead.
11
I, as the sole Lord and Master of all life and being, have told you this in advance so that you can act accordingly in your heart. Heed these words and you will live."
12
This speech of Mine shocked everyone deeply, and therefore many began to fear everything that would now happen.
13
But I said to them: "Yes, My dear children, if you are now already worried and are beginning to be overcome by all sorts of fears, then I will not be able to do much at all before your eyes!"
14
Lazarus said: "Oh Lord, I am not worried and neither are Your disciples! But whoever is now worried should simply be allowed to worry - it will do him no harm!"
15
I said: "Well then, let us hear and see!"