The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 209 -
Roklus reveals the intentions of the Pharisees.
This speech of Roklus was of course not suitable in the least for what the 2 temple servants wanted actually to achieve here, and therefore they did not know now how they should present their request.
2
But after a while, one of the Pharisees had the idea to bring the chief into a different mood by threatening him, and in a certain way to make Hell as red-hot as possible for him, and thus the Pharisee said with a blown-up face: "Listen, you chief, who are boasting so much about your truth and honesty. In your zeal you have forgotten something. Firstly before whom you are standing and to whom you are talking to, and secondly you have not only openly spoken out a malicious blaspheme against us who are chiefs in the temple, but also against the temple and you have made yourself punishable in the highest degree. If we would persecute you, it would turn out very badly for you and your whole following. So let us talk to you under 4 eyes and then do what we want from you, then we will make no use of what you have made yourself punishable in the highest degree in our presence."
3
When Roklus heard these words he was almost glowing from anger, looked at the two with piercing, investigating eyes and said with a very loud and strong voice: "Listen, you thoroughly cunning Pharisees! As true as there is a God, whom I know well but whom you still have not come to know, and as true as I am standing here, speaking and living, I will not do what you want to ask me under 4 eyes in order to cover your sins! You have said that I have blasphemed you and the temple, and have thus made myself punishable in the highest degree, but in which degree have you made yourselves punishable in the eyes of God, of the temple and of the people by your whoring, adultery and shameful abuse of boys in the temple!?
4
You have brought here your half dead lecherous prostitutes, virgins and women who became unfaithful to their husbands because of you, and shamefully abused boys, under the expression 'for healing', but your intention and will is quite different! The excess of your sins has brought in the meantime a very malicious smell over you in Jerusalem, and a great fear has come over you, not so much for God, in whom you have never believed, but for the laws of Rome! That is why you have come here with those who are now badly taken care of in the inn at the large square, and now you do not want that those people who have been made sick and unhappy by you would be healed here, but that they would be murdered by us and buried or at least be banned to a very faraway country among wild men and animals in order to cover your many, more than big sins! And that is how we should complete the final touch of your sins for which you would leave us a part of your share of the street robbery, which you held back in secret!
5
You said that I had blasphemed you and the temple and have made myself punishable! But how are things with you!? And what I am saying here who have received the capability to see completely through every person and to test his heart and kidneys, I can prove to you with a thousand witnesses before God and all common worldly courts of law! And if I will do that, then how will you fare!? You thought to force me to do something abominable by your high priestly threatening, but now things are reversed and I have you in my power now! Now what will you do!?"
6
Completely astonished by the words of the chief, the 2 said: "Even if you could prove the first, then it still will be difficult for you to prove that we have brought the sick here with evil intentions. And even if you can maybe with the help of the old Egyptian chiromancy (palmistry) discover our evil intentions - and certainly not with the help of God about whom you are boasting so much and of whom you do not consider that God does not associate with magicians - then this will have for the court of law not a single value, for the thought alone is still by far not an act, not even when we would have entrusted this aloud to you of which you are now accusing us. So on this point you would achieve nothing with us. For what concerns the first point, all the temple servants are the same, and it finally could be difficult for you - even if you are in high esteem with the Romans, being a Greek and half gentile - because such a big and important college of priests as that of ours in Jerusalem, which possesses a great power, is not so easy to attack successfully. Thus, desist from your threatening, then we also will not make any use of ours and will also not ask you to heal the sick that we have brought here, for there are other healing places elsewhere."
7
After these words the 2 wanted to leave but Roklus said to them: "It is easy to come here but it is much more difficult to leave from here and return back home again, and we will not allow you to leave this place before you will do what we will prescribe you in the name of Jehovah. You are in our power and it will be difficult for you to resist it.
8
The sick will be healed here and with your treasures you will take care of their livelihood. The place where the healed ones will receive a good and save accommodation, that will be my concern.
9
The street robberies, which were maintained by you, will be stopped completely, and all robbed treasures will be brought to this place and be given back to the many who are still here. For it is written: 'You shall not steal and not covet the possessions of your fellowman.'
10
Are you not the worst blasphemers when you say that you are the most important servants of God, that He alone hears your prayers and that the power has been given to you to open the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven for the souls of the people? You yourselves have never believed in a God nor given Him the right honor in your heart, but you have persecuted in a raging manner, those who were awakened and filled with God's Spirit and who by necessity began to witness against you.
11
I myself went to the little desert at the Jordan and have listened to the penance preacher John. I found every word of him to be all too true and have conformed myself to it. However, you also have indeed listened to him but then you were filled with hatred and he had to become the very disgraceful victim of your insatiable lust for vengeance. But now the great promised Messiah has come, full of the highest and godly power and might, which He is also showing in words and deeds. And also Him you try to kill. Whose spiritual children are you actually?
12
Although you are preaching the laws of Moses to the people, but you yourselves do not even keep one of them and commit every sin that the devil who is your true father puts into your malicious heart. You always lie before God and all men, you cheat, swear false oaths, you steal, rob, kill and murder, as I can prove as clear as the sun before God and every worldly court of law with a thousand times thousand witnesses, and you dare to call the One a blasphemer and then also to persecute Him who, awakened by the true Spirit of God, witnesses against you and even wants to save you from the brink of eternal ruin.
13
Say and judge for yourselves if the Sodomites were ever worse than you, and yet, God has exterminated them from the Earth with fire from heaven. Then what will He soon do with you?"
14
By this you can see that we Essenes know your black temple servants all too well and also know well how good and honest your intentions are with us and how you put a poor Jew under a ban of whom somehow can be proven that he would look and also find help with us, but still you yourselves are coming to us when things are going bad with you and you want help. Would that not be as helpful for the poor Jew as it is for you? O you evil hypocrites and fakers, you brood of snakes and vipers! If you will not thoroughly improve your life, you will bring all the more cursing and eternal damnation over you! Now at least you know what you ought to do here.
15
If you will not comply with my demand, which is justified before God and all men, I will begin to chastise you with the power that has been given to me by God, in a manner that even all devils would flee! Do you understand me?"
16
The Pharisees who were innerly thoroughly furious, said: "O yes, friend, that certainly, and we will also comply here with your wish according to our capability, but how the whole temple will react later on for the injustice that has been done to us here, this we do not know. For we will bring everything that has happened to us here before the great counsel, just like... - and just now something comes to our mind about this - the fact that John the penance preacher and now certainly also the famous Nazarene came from your institution, and the Nazarene comes from among you.
17
But we are now prepared to do everything you have asked us, and we think that it is time now to go at work at once, for we still want to leave today. So let us go to our inn where our sick people are, then in a short period of time everything can be settled."
18
The chief Roklus said: "Very well, this is how I want it. So let us go there."