The Great Gospel of John
Volume 7

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

The Lord and his adversary. Gospel of John, Chapter 9

- Chapter 193 -

The parable of the workers in the vineyard.

I said: "God has given every human being a complete free will, together with an intellect and a conscience that always warns and admonishes him. Without these 3 things man would not be more than an animal.

But in order to test man's free will, also the laziness and self-love are inborn in his flesh wherein he feels most comfortable in this world.

With his own power, man should learn to perceive that this is evil for his soul, and with the means that were given by God he should fight against it until he becomes a perfect master over all his bodily passions and tendencies. But to the sensual and lazy man this is too uneasy and unpleasant. He prefers as much as possible to let himself be ensnared into the nets of his growing sensual passions, and by that, he draws thousands of individuals with him, because it also pleases them to bath their flesh in all laziness and sensual pleasure.

But what is the evil consequence of this? Instead of freeing himself from the shackles of matter by acting as God has advised him, and finally even to spiritualize that which is material and to make himself truly alive, the soul is going deeper and deeper into the death of his matter.

When this happens in general too often with people, God has mercy on them, and at the right moment He always sends them people to wake them up. But when they start their task, the many lazy people become enraged with them, fall upon them and even mistreat and strangle them in their blind rage, so that they can continue to sleep in their laziness, which pleases their flesh so much.

But since God has created man only for eternal life and not for eternal death, He continues to send different messengers in order to wake up the lazy and sensual people, so that these should get up and start the heavy work which will make their soul alive.

If they do not listen to the warning prophets but are rather continuously persecuted, then God will send quickly other and sharper circumstances to wake them up, like bad harvest, high cost of living, wars, famine and epidemics, and still many other plagues.

If the people repent and become active again according to the godly advice, then soon God will remove the plagues again. But when they do not bother, then God has still bigger awakening methods in store, and these are then like the deluge of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

So if you persist in your sins until the measure is full, then you too can expect the last big and terrible awakening method. Now, I have told you this, so that you very well will remember My words when it will come over you."

The two said: "Then what evil are we doing, that such things have to come over us?"

I said: "The things that you are doing, and also that which you have always done, I will show you immediately in a parable. Therefore, listen to Me.

Once there was a wise father of the house who laid out a vineyard and put a strong fence around it. Moreover he dug out a place where the grapes had to be pressed, and build a strong tower above it where many people were able to live. When all this was done and when they had promised him loyalty, sincerity, diligence and zeal, he handed everything over to the vine growers, and they were promised a very good reward with which the vine growers were very pleased. And because the father of the house had still many other things to do, he could easily travel through the country, because he let everything behind in an excellent condition.

Now when the time of the harvest was at hand, he sent his servants (prophets and teachers) to the vineyard to receive the its fruits. But when the vine growers, who promised the father of the house complete loyalty, sincerity, diligence and zeal, saw the servants, they were deliberating with one another in this way: 'Well, we are many and it will not be difficult to settle with them, then we can easily divide the harvest among ourselves.' All the evil vine growers agreed upon that and seized the servants who were sent by their lord to receive the fruits. They beat one of them, the other they killed and they threw stones at the third one.

When this was brought before the father of the house, he was full of anger and he once again sent servants there, but a greater number than before. And look, the vine growers also overpowered them and did with them what they had done with the first ones (Matthew 21:36).

When the father of the house heard that, he became really sad and considered if he should bring a hard judgment upon them or if, because of his great goodness and patience, he should try once more to urge the vine growers to freely hand over his fruits. He said by himself: 'I know what I shall do. I will send my only son to them. Him they will respect, and they will do according to his justified request.

But when the vine growers saw the son, they were deliberating among themselves: 'That is the heir. Come, let us kill him also. Then we will have his inheritance.' And they caught him, put him outside of the vineyard and killed him on the spot.

And what do you think, what shall the lord of the vineyard do with these evil vine growers if later he comes himself to them, accompanied with a great power?"

The two said: "He will kill all the evil-doers in a cruel way, and he surely will entrust his vineyard to other vine growers who will hand over the fruits on time."

I said: "This time your opinion is good and true. But do you also know that by the vineyard the church has to be understood, which God as the named father of the house has established by Moses? And that you priests, are the evil vine growers who were mentioned right now, and that the servants are the many prophets who God has sent to you, and that I am now the Heir of the Father, about who you are now deliberating day after day how you can catch Him, put Him out of His inheritance and also how you can kill Him, so that then you can rule undisturbed on His throne and divide the fruits of His vineyard among yourselves?"

Then the two said: "Then where are those who want to kill You, if You are truly the heir? We did not come here to catch You and to kill You, but we came to examine seriously if according to the full truth You are really the One who was promised. We have to keep watch on the threshold of the old door of the church, so that in this wonder-craving time where the Essenes and also other magicians bring in their good harvest, there would not be a false Christ, enchanting and deceiving the blind and credulous people with his false teaching. And he who cannot resist our trial of fire is an intruder and a deceiver, and we have the right to catch him and to throw him out.

If You are the true Christ, then why does it offend You if we in front of the people are testing You? If we are discovering that no deceit is clinging on to You, of no matter what kind, then we will introduce You before the whole people as the One who You are introducing to us. But if we discover with our discernment that it is only Yourself who claims to be something special, for instance because of Your secret magic, then it is our duty, given by God, to reject You as an imposter and blasphemer, and to punish You according to the law. But how can You treat us like this by comparing us with the evil vine growers and to make us in this way suspicious in front of the whole people?"

I said: "Because I have all reasons for that and am not afraid of you. But I will explain this reason for you even further. As you are now, and as you are behaving now, this was also the case a long time ago. Also those, who lived during that time (your ancestors), considered themselves to be the entire lawful watchers and workers of God's vineyard. But no matter how and where they worked, they always kept the fruits for themselves and distorted the law of God, and even changed it for a worldly law to their own worldly advantage.

Then God sent prophets to them, and they were persecuted with fire and sword as they always proclaimed before the people that they were false prophets. And everyone who accepted the teaching of the prophets and lived according to it, they proclaimed that they were breakers of the law and blasphemers.

Only a 100 years later, the prophets who were persecuted by them were considered to be true prophets by the priests of that day. Monuments were erected for them, which even today you are, only out of apparent respect, whitewashing every year. However, now you believe as little in the word of the prophets as the former priests during that time. And as they have persecuted the old prophets, so you also are persecuting the prophets who are send to you. You proclaim that they are false prophets, reject and kill them.

And when you do that - which you cannot deny - am I then not correct if I put you on the same level as these evil vine growers, whose lives will indeed be taken by the lord of the vineyard according to your own judgment? Indeed, you are watchers, but then of a kind that are watching before a robbers' den.

What do you care about pleasing God in who you have never believed? The only important thing for you is your honor before the world, because it produces a lot of gold, silver and precious stones, and moreover the first and the best produce of the land. For if you would believe in God, you also would keep His laws, wherein it is stated: 'You will not covet what belongs to your fellowman', and: 'You shall not kill'. But you covet and take immediately what belongs to your fellowman and what he has earned in the sweat of his face. And whoever does not want to give what you want, you are persecuting, even worse than hungry wolves after a lamb. And the one who warns you that you are acting incorrectly - because he has been awakened by God for that reason - is seized by you and killed.

The fact that you are acting like this and not otherwise, I do not only know Myself, but this is known now by every man, and one weeps and mourns because of your unmerciful hardness. You are putting unbearable burdens on the shoulders of the poor people, but you yourself are not touching them with one finger.

Say to the people here, if Moses or another prophet has ever given you a law by which you are allowed to behave yourself in such a brutal and unscrupulous way. Where is it written that you can appropriate the possessions of the widows and orphans in exchange for long prayers that you are promising to them? And where has Moses commanded to proclaim that true prophets are false ones, to persecute and to kill them?

And if you are doing all these things, which you can never deny, it is then clear to everybody that you are the evil vine growers, of who I have spoken."

Now the two Pharisees and also the others became enraged because I have pointed this out to them, and all the people said: "Yes, yes, He speaks the full truth! This is exactly how it is and not differently!"

When the people said this aloud, the two said in a threatening manner: "Tell us, who are You, that You dare to tell us this in front of the people right in our face. Do you not know our rights and our power? How long will You test our patience?"

I said: "I am the One who is talking now to you. I really do not fear your power because your imagined right for God and for all honest people is the highest injustice. But concerning patience, you rather should ask how long I will have the patience that you think to have with Me. Because all authority and power in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. My will can throw you into ruin and in the fire of My wrath, but you cannot do anything to Me because I can throw you into ruin much sooner than you are capable of hurting Me even with one finger. Yes, when I, because of your great evilness, will allow that you will put your wicked hands on Me, then also the day of your judgment and ruin will have come."

Footnotes

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