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 30 -
Helias' criticism of the fourth commandment.
Said Helias: "Lord, if I do what You ask of me, then surely I do not sin, and therefore I will openly make known what gaps and shortcomings I found in the law of the prophets!
2
See, the first and for me quite considerable shortcoming and large gap in the law, I noticed when I was a precocious and quite clear thinking child, regarding the fourth commandment of Moses, where the man of God urges the often weak and clueless children to be obedient and reverent towards the parents, but does not provide nearly any obligation in the law for the parents towards their children! And therefore such a law looks a little strange, particularly when in general there are many parents whose children are already in the cradle more responsible and better than their quite stupid and with all wickedness filled parents.
3
A child often has by nature a good and noble sense and could, if developed further therein, become a good and noble person, but then according to the law of Moses, the child must rigidly and without any reasonable exception obey the stupid and evil parents and in the end become just as stupid and evil as the stupid and evil parents of the child. The man of God should have made some mention about the obligation of the parents towards their children, and only after such conscientious fulfilment should the children be counter-obliged towards their parents.
4
According to Moses, are also the children of robbers obliged to love and honour their parents and follow in their footsteps? If - what has already quite often occurred - reasonable and innocent children of evil and bad parents notice their dark activities and dislike them, therefore fail to obey and to love their parents but rather leave them and search for an opportunity to reshape themselves into better person among better people, - do such children have also sinned against the law of Moses, since they did not out of love and obedience towards their parents become thieves, robbers, murderers, hypocrites, swindlers and liars?
5
If Moses and the prophets wanted to punish such children and consider the refusal of love and justified disobedience towards their evil parents as a sin, then Moses and all the prophets are a thousand times more stupid and more blind than I have been, and verily did not really render the divine wisdom a great deal of honour with their scriptures and prophecies! - Lord, am I therefore bad, if I have assessed the law of Moses and the prophets as such?"
6
Said I: "O, not at all, since you have assessed this properly and correctly! Nevertheless, your criticism is not completely in order, since Moses through My spirit was clearly aware that was not necessary to separately order the parents to love their children, because this has been already, so to speak instinctively implanted to the fullest measure into the parents by Myself, but what cannot be so much the case with the children since they only just arrived into the school of this earthly life, and they must first be educated to the right and true love.
7
For this very reason each person comes onto this earth weak and without any cognition and love, so that he, in total freedom, as if he were completely abandoned by God, can develop himself by external teachings, by laws and by his voluntary obedience, into a free and completely independent person.
8
And see, therefore particularly the children must foremost be given teachings and laws and less so the parents, who once also were children and only became free and independent persons by teachings and laws given to children!
9
But regarding the particular duties of the parents towards the children, Moses and the prophets already have provided for in the laws of the state, which you of course have not seen yet. But at the right time everything is provided for, and two people cannot get married, if they cannot beforehand show to the priest, that they have a thorough knowledge of the state laws required for marriage.
10
And so see, you My dear Helias, that your criticism concerning the fourth commandment of Moses, was not completely correct and I have now removed the gaps and shortcomings. But you can continue now with your criticism of the other laws, and I shall tell you to what extend you are right or not right!"
11
Said Helias: "O Lord, why should I continue with my stupid criticism? Since I can see from the start only to clearly, that You once more in great detail will show to me how completely incorrect and mindless my opinion is."
12
Said I: "Now, what probable damage can this do to you or anybody else? Since this is the reason why I have come into this world, so that I can free you from all the many mistakes through the living light of the truth. If you do not bring your apparently reasonably based criticism of the law and the prophets to daylight, they will remain inside you and can still waste away the life of your soul; but if you let them come out, then you get rid of them, and the light of the everlasting truth will in exchange take residence in your heart. Therefore speak and continue to criticise without holding back and I again shall give you a right light! See, it is actually now very necessary, because there are many people here, who for a long time, just as you, have criticised Moses and the Prophets! Therefore just open your beautiful mouth and speak with your skilful tongue!"