The Great Gospel of John
Volume 7
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord on the Mount of Olives. (cont.) Gospel of John, Chapter 8
- Chapter 125 -
Criticism of the magician concerning the parable of the entrusted pounds.
The magician said: "Lord, I have come to the point now where reason has left man and will make men's hair stand on end of even the most patient of us. You surely are not the king who, like a tyrant takes where he did not deposit anything and wants to reap where he did not sow? Because it seems to me that it is exactly from You that everything is originating and that it is precisely You who sowed everything, and therefore, You also can take and reap everywhere because everything is Yours and also has to be Yours.
2
The fact that the offenders are punished is totally correct to me because it is exactly the godly longsuffering that is intolerant, because in this way the wicked one wins more and more time and space to bring about his cruel acts, while the one who is behaving well comes into a still greater misfortune, he finally loses all faith and is forced to put the entrusted pound into the sweat cloth of his need and gives it honestly back to the severe, unmerciful lord. Yes, in that sense it is of course better to be a called one than a helper.
3
It is completely true that the zealous helper will also receive his reward according to his works, but the fact that the somewhat slower and fearful helper receives totally nothing for the returning of his pound, this I find very hard of Your king.
4
I love people and I do not like to see anyone suffering, especially when he did not really deserve it, because he is not an evil person. The helper who gave the 1 pound in the sweat cloth back to his lord exactly as he received it, did apparently not have the same perception and intelligence of the first helper, and also not even of the second one who with the 1 pound earned 5 pounds. Because if he had the same intelligence, then he also could have earned 10 or at least 5 pounds, but because he lacked perception, the right intelligence and therefore the necessary courage he did not dare to do anything else with the 1 pound than to leave it untouched and give it back to his lord. I really can still see nothing evil and I would like to ask You explicitly what happened further to this helper who was called a rascal by his lord."
5
I said: "Well, that person stayed the way he was before: a very simple and common helper, because he did not possess any ability out of himself for an important task. For also a chosen one receives exactly like any other person only the ability or the talent, which he then has to develop, so that his free will would not suffer any harm.
6
The one who develops his received talent as zealous as possible, possesses then also a true treasure, and to him will be added more and more. The one however who did not develop it and did not want to pull himself away from his laziness can only blame himself, because by keeping the pound in the sweat cloth he finally becomes even more foolish than those who did not want that the king of light should rule over them.
7
For this reason, such lazy helpers do not progress and such called servants persist in their darkness, and the worst that finally can happen to them is that the noise of the bright day wakes them up from their sweet sleep. Or does the sun first have to send messengers to those long sleepers to ask if it suits them that it would rise above the mountains? Look, the sun will not do that because of the universal order that sustains the worlds. Even less will the king of light and life do that.
8
The one who receives the pound did surely also receive the command of the king. Whether the helper conforms to it, will depend on his free will, and the king is not guilty of the laziness of the helper, but only the helper himself, because the king of the light knows all too well which talents he gave to a helper. And therefore, it is always the king who is right and not the lazy and slow helper, and this is certainly not an imagined justice.
9
Think about this carefully now, consider this image deeply and tell Me then if according to you the king is an unmerciful tyrant. Did you understand Me well now?"
10
The magician said: "Yes, that o Lord, I did understand well now, and Your parable is therefore completely coming into the light while only as image it was difficult to understand. Thus, he who recognizes a special talent within him must develop it in all earnest, namely by and out of himself. If he has done this, then he surely will receive the other things of the king of light and so he will be able to become a true teacher of many people that You identify as the called ones. Because the one who was already a teacher for himself will also more easily be a teacher for others. The one however, who was already lazy for himself will all the more be lazy for others, and he also will have nothing from what he eventually could teach his fellowmen. And therefore, it is very true and just that to the one who has, will be given much more so that he will have in abundance. But from the one who has not, will also be taken away that which he had. This is now perfectly clear to me. But there is still something in it that still does not want to be clear to me, and therefore I take the freedom before You, o Lord, to speak out what is still not comprehensive to me.
11
Look, true diligence and zeal in all that is good and true is a virtue that can never be praised enough, and laziness is a cause for all possible vices. But who is the one who gives to one person diligence and zeal, and to the other laziness? I believe that neither one nor the other can be received by man himself, but that it is given to him by a higher, divine willpower.
12
I myself have some children with whom I have experienced that a few of them - namely my oldest son and a daughter - are, without my intervention, extremely zealous in developing their skills and knowledge, while the other children are lazy and slow and must always be severely urged to study. These are now children of the same parents, they are all healthy, receive also the same teaching, and nevertheless there is such a great difference in their talents and even more so in their zeal to study. What is the cause of this? It cannot be our fault because we treat all our children equally and we do not pamper either one or the other in whatever way. The cause can also not be found in the physical health of the children because we are completely healthy and strong - for this we do thank you, o Lord - and while we all are also receiving the same food, there are nevertheless these apparent differences within one and the same family. How can I make this clear?"