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 154 -
The Lord and the Pharisees.
Since Lazarus did not give them an answer, the Pharisees turned again to Raphael and said: "Do tell us why we may not know where the great Man of salvation from Galilee is now."
2
Then I went and stood before the Pharisees and said: "Here I am, a good Shepherd amidst My lambs. I do not flee when wolves are approaching My flock, because these lambs are My property. I am no mercenary who runs away when he sees a wolf approaching his flock. A mercenary flees because the sheep are not his. What will he care about the property of his lord?
3
But I am the Lord Himself. I love My sheep because they are Mine. They know Me and always hear My voice when I call them.
4
It is true that you also are shepherds, but the sheep are not your property. As long as you can receive wool from them you do not care much if the sheep that are already shaved are torn up by wolves or bears, because the flesh of the sheep is obviously not yours.
5
At first you came as savage animals among My flock, but I as their good Shepherd did not run away and did not leave My flock. Rather I would give My life for them than to leave the flock. Would you also do that for your flock?"
6
One Pharisee said: "Lord and Master, truly, up to this moment we would not have done that, but now, because we have been partakers of the great grace to know You personally, we would put our lives into the balance for Your sheep, although we are Your lowest helping shepherds. Yes, we ourselves were for the people until now only savage wolves in sheep's clothing. But here, a great light has come upon us. We have completely changed our viewpoint and want from now on to be Your disciples. Because in the teaching of our temple there is now only death and judgment and the greatest night and the darkness of life. But in Your teaching there is light, life and invincible power, of which we have seen proof in a more than convincing way.
7
Therefore, we have also taken the firm decision to leave the temple forever and to conform ourselves completely to Your teaching, so that maybe we still can attain to the lowest degree of the true inner life perfection, for which reason your young servant, as well as before that, this man from Upper-Egypt, have very clearly shown us the way. But still we wanted to know You also better, so that eventually we can receive from You some more prescriptions about what we all have to do in order to be partakers of Your grace, even in a very little measure.
8
Do forgive us our many big sins, especially those that are impossible to make up again in one way or another. However, for those that we can make up, in love for You we will exert all our effort to make up for them in a way that hopefully You kindly will show us. But moreover, we ask You, o Lord and Master, to forgive us, because we have troubled You here."
9
I said: "Yes, yes, all this is certainly well meant, if it would not be for the fact that you have sinned so dreadfully and so completely unscrupulously. Such an uninterrupted sinning for years against God and all fellowmen and even against the whole nature has weakened and totally crippled your souls to such a degree that it will cost you considerable effort before your souls will look human again.
10
It is true that in your puffed-up worldly blindness you did not know what you did, and therefore you are somehow to be excused. But also, out of Me you did not lack any warnings in your heart which clearly told you: 'Fear God and do not do wrong to a person'. But you did not pay any attention to these warnings, and each one was criticizing the other for his bad human prescriptions and said: 'It is more intelligent to act according to the prescriptions which are established anyway than to give way to our own inopportune feelings of mercy and then to become the target of the mockery of the eminent and mighty of the country.' Finally that has made you totally inhuman, and you became in your soul the most fierce and savage animals. And look, that is now the difficulty with you all. How will you now change your bloodthirsty true tiger souls into human souls again?"
11
The two Pharisees said in a small voice: "Yes Lord and Master, You are seeing us also inwardly, and everything will therefore be precisely as You have so mercifully revealed to us. But precisely for that reason we would like to receive advice from You, how we can be helped. From Your servants we have heard that for You all things are possible, and we trust therefore also firmly that You can still help us, if You want it. Really, Lord and Master, we are firmly decided to do everything whatever You will advise us for the improvement of our soul."