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 148 -
Raphael reveals the sins of the Pharisees.
When Raphael had taken the bread, a few fishes and also a cup of wine before the people, he quickly went to the four men and said: "Look I am already finished and will help you now immediately out of your justice dream.
2
Just now you were justifying yourselves with the strict laws of your temple, which you have not made nor established. But then, who gave you the law that prescribes that you have to send accomplices, dressed in all kinds of styles, to the people in order to seduce them with all kinds of tricks to make them sin against God, against yourselves and against the temple? When someone was seduced by them, then he was accused by the seducers to you, and then you immediately send the executioner and servants of the law. These brought the culprit to you and, whenever he had any wealth, you charged him with unpayable penalties. Sheep, calves, cows, oxen, bulls and donkeys, corn, chickens, wine and money he had to give to you as atonement for his sins. If ever he had any beautiful daughters, then he had to offer them to the temple or he had to pay big ransom money. Now say for yourselves if that was not a sin, which you have committed in an abominable way.
3
But the last time, you have made for yourselves an even better arrangement. Now you do not need anymore the seducers who are wandering around to seduce the people to all kinds of sins, but now you are sending out immediately the executioners and servants of the law. These must at once hold the people, who have any possessions, to ransom - under the pretext that the temple is completely aware of the fact that they have sinned heavily and in a condemning way against God and the temple - and take away immediately all their possessions. And whoever offers resistance must be punished immediately.
4
Maybe your way of acting against the poor people can also be found in one of the Mosaic laws, or is it not a sin against mankind and against God?
5
If ever you knew any attractive woman, then you seduced her to commit adultery. And when you had made her an adulteress, then surely every one knows what you further have done with her.
6
In short, I am telling you: it was not as bad in Sodom and Gomorrah as with you in the temple, and still you dare to say in my face that you have treated the people only according to the law, which was not made by you.
7
Can you excuse your trade in blood with the barren women from the neighboring province in the north of the Jewish land? And do you know nothing about the street robbers who were hired by you, who already many times, dressed as Roman servants and officials took away the treasures of the richly loaded caravans and kept it for themselves? That means, for you and the temple.
8
Your way of acting is also, as I know too well, not mentioned in any law. But it is written that one has to be righteous, also to foreigners and, if they are no enemies, to give them the freedom to travel along the roads. However, because you as Jews, you have committed such unlawfulness against local people as well as against foreigners, how can you and will you make up for these and still a lot more iniquities that you have done to the poor people with immense brutality?
9
How will those, who you have killed in a horrible way - spiritually as well as physically - ever forgive you? And how will you give the robbed merchandise back to the many foreigners, and the unlawful extorted atonement to all the local people for the sins you attributed to them?
10
I have spoken now. Now what can you answer to me when I still add that you and your predecessors have only tried in a very zealous way to persecute and to kill the prophets because they showed you your abominations and warned the people for your deceitful and lying teachings and prescriptions, and that you yourselves for precisely the same reason want to destroy the greatest prophet from Galilee, because He, just as I and this foreigner from Upper-Egypt are witnessing against you? Speak now and apologize before me, because also I am a messenger of God, the Lord of eternity."
11
A Pharisee said: "That, you can be indeed, but I only do not understand how you, merely a young man, came to this wisdom. Are you perhaps also a man from Galilee and did you learn all that from the great prophet, to be able to act before us in front of everybody? And still, as far as we know, we have never done any harm to you.
12
You have now accused us, even in front of these eminent high Romans, of abominable injustices for which we can never make up, even with the best of good will. However, if you take the miserable worldly circumstances into account wherein we live, then you will also see with your wisdom that no human can swim against the stream and that everyone must live according to the circumstances.
13
By the man of wonders from Upper-Egypt and now also by your hard words, honorable exalted young man, we have, for the first time, come to realize and are convinced that there truly must be a higher life in man. Now then, the man who is completely convinced about this can of course talk and act easily. However, we for the first time have experienced things today that have told us that Moses and also all other prophets are no illusions of a heated-up human fantasy, but are real truths of which we did not have any knowledge before. And therefore, we now also realize that, according to the pure law of Moses, we have sinned terribly against mankind. But it is impossible to repair that now again, and it is also a total impossibility to, now that we ourselves have come to insight, to inform the whole temple and all the Pharisees in the whole Jewish land about our insight as a living truth.
14
The Lord in Heaven will surely know why He has punished us that long with the greatest blindness. But because of that, I am also of the opinion that in all justice He cannot condemn us, because we fell over the cliff as blind people. As far as our strength and means are reaching, we shall do everything that possibly can be done. But to make up for every evil and wicked thing that has been done in our blindness, is impossible, except in thoughts.
15
Thus, we also will take care in the temple that in any way the great prophet will no more be persecuted by us, because we will no more take part in the assemblies of the high and now in fact evil counsel. But whether the high counsel will therefore give up persecuting the great and mighty prophet, we really do not know. But according to what you and the great mighty wonder man from Upper-Egypt have said about Him, He will even be less scared of the high counsel than the two of you. Because what can the high counsel with all its tricks and decisions accomplish against the power of a Man who is equipped with all the power of God's Spirit? Now I have spoken and it is now your turn to tell us if I have spoken correctly."