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 80 -
The questioning of the scribes by the man from Bethlehem.
1
(The innkeeper:) "After this highly wise scribe stepped onto the speaker's podium, he started to speak with a very serious face and voice: 'God only spoke to Moses and Aaron. Nowhere is it written, that God ever spoke directly to the people; because the people were always too unholy before Him, which was proven by the fact, when still standing under the miracle staff of Moses, that, with the gold they carried with them, they poured a golden calf for themselves to worship. Because of that God did not any longer speak directly to the people, who made themselves unholy before Him, but only through specifically awakened prophets and priests. Thus remember this quite well, that the voice of the people can never be equal to the voice of God; and if you allege this to be the case with you, you thereby commit a great and most curse-worthy sin before God and us, his actual priests. We priests, however, have forbearance with your great stupidity and weakness and forgive you such a sin; but if also God will forgive you, is another question.'
2
With this address the people were already fed up, and a man with a huge build, according to his appearance from Bethlehem, came forward and said in the name of the people to the scribe: 'That God has talked with Moses and Aaron, we know just as well as you arrogant scribe; but we also know that in the beginning God only spoke to the people. But since the people started to fear the tremendous thunderous voice of God too much, they asked that God should announce His most holy will only to Moses, and they will act according to His will, although not listening directly to His tremendous voice. The people then moved faraway to the opposite side of the valley from Sinai. And only from then on did Moses received the laws from God alone. - Let's leave it there, and I want to draw your attention, arrogant scribe, to something else!
3
You said, that God did not speak with the unholy people, but only with Moses, Aaron, and later with the prophets and also with you priests. We do not deny this at all; but we want to ask you to explain to us, with what reason did you deviated from the statues of Moses entirely and have replaced them with your own selfish and power-hungry laws. And why is it that the priests nearly killed most of the prophets, and recently even Zacharias and John? And why do you try to even kill the prophet from Nazareth, who performs the greatest signs ever produced by any prophet, and preaches to the people the true word of God?
4
If we had not quite often listened to His truly divine word and had not seen His signs, which, except for God, nobody can produce, we would not speak out; but we are thousands who experienced it by Him personally, and therefore we can now, where the rage of God for you is obvious like the sun in brought daylight, speak to you without pretense and without any fear, precisely as we know it, feel it and see it. I have put a question to you, and you as an arrogant scribe will give us an absolute clear answer, otherwise you will taste the strength of the fists of your unholy people as a first realization of the second sign of the night, so that you and many wretches as yourself can feel our unholiness and us being cursed.'
5
When the aforementioned man from Bethlehem had spoken such words, the scribe who earlier was standing with such fiercely seriously looking face on the speaker podium, became quite fearful, pale and feverish and as an old man he nearly did not have the courage to excuse himself with a sudden indisposition, not having the necessary strength to answer the people these questions.
6
But the speaker said: 'Go, old sinner in the sanctum of God - because we knew this a long time in advance, what kind of creatures your type of people are -, otherwise you will be blessed with our fists!'
7
When the scribe heard such orders from the mouth of the man from Bethlehem, he left the podium in a big hurry and hid somewhere in the side halls of the temple."