The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 63 -
A scribe tests the Lord.
Among those who came with the more than 70 disciples to Bethany, there was also a scribe. My words irritated him.
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He came to Me with the purpose to test Me, and said (the scribe): "Master, I have understood from Your words that You well know the Scripture and are giving a correct judgment. Therefore, tell me now what I have to do to become blessed as Your disciples."
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I said: "What is written in the law of God about it, and how do you as scribe read what is written?"
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The scribe said: "You must love God your Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your power and with your complete mind, and your fellowman as yourself".
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On this, I said to the scribe: "You have answered completely right. Do that, then you will live. For only to know what is right does not bring eternal life to anyone. Knowledge is most certainly necessary, for without knowledge is like a blind one standing along the way without a guide. But when the blind one has become seeing by the knowledge but furthermore does not want to continue on the way, then his sight is of little or no use to him. He who does not know what to do and thus also does not do it, has also no sin if he does not do that which is good, but he who knows what is good and does not do it, although he knows what is good, he has sin."
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Then the scribe, being surprised, looked at Me and said, as if he wanted to justify himself before Me: "Master, I can see that You are very well acquainted with the truth, and I also know that for a true, God pleasing life it is not sufficient to only know the laws, but one must live and act accordingly. One can only love God above all by precisely following all His commandments, but if one must love his fellowman as himself, then he should first know who that fellowman actually is who he has to love as himself. Who do I have to consider as my fellowman?"
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Then I said: "It is truly something to be astonished about that you as scribe do not know who your fellowman is. I will tell you a short story to make it clear to you who you should consider to be your fellowman:
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Once there was a man who traveled for business from Jerusalem to Jericho, but along the way he was attacked by robbers. They undressed him completely, then hit him almost unto death, went away with their booty and let him lie there half dead.
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Now by coincidence a priest from Jerusalem came along the same road. He saw the man who was terribly beaten by the robbers, lying there along the road, but he walked by without being concerned about him. Next to the priest there soon came also a Levite and he did the same as the priest.
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Soon after that, a Samaritan came also along the same place, and when he saw the man lying there, he felt pity for the man who was half beaten to death. He went to him, put a bandage on his wounds, poured oil and wine on it, lift him up and put him on his pack animal and brought him like that to an inn and personally took care of him the whole day and night. The next day, when he saw that the wounded man would improve with the right treatment, he called the innkeeper, gave him 2 pieces of silver and said to him: 'Since I have urgent matters to take care of, I will leave now. Take care of him until I will return within a few days. Whatever you need more, I will truthfully refund you.' Then he left, and when he returned after a few days he saw that the man who he had treated so well, was already so far healed that he could take him back to Jerusalem. He paid the innkeeper once more 2 pieces of silver and moreover he gave clothes to the healed man.
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Now what do you think? Who of the 3 was the fellowman of the one who was attacked by the robbers and murderers?"
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The scribe said: "Undoubtedly the one who was merciful to him."
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I said: "Good, then go and do the same. Every person who needs your help in no matter what way is your fellowman, and if you help him, then you also are his fellowman. And when you have helped him, then as your fellowman you also have loved him as yourself. For true neighborly love is: that you do for your fellowmen all that which you could reasonably wish that in case of need they also would do for you. Do you now know who your fellowman is?"
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Upon this, the scribe did not dare to answer Me anything anymore, he withdrew and said to his companions: "Truly, in this Galilean lives a powerful Spirit of truth. It is worth listening to him."
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Then one of the disciples said: "It is still more worth to live and to act according to what He is teaching, for He is the Lord and carries all power over life and death in Himself. Whoever will follow His teaching, will receive life from Him."
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The scribe said: "If He is the Messiah of the Jews, then you are completely right, but if He is the One and possesses all power and authority in Heaven and on Earth, then He still can say that to the high priests, and when they resist to accept and to believe it, then He can reject them and chastise them with fire from the Heavens, as God has once chastised Sodom and Gomorrah."
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The disciple said: "You are speaking in the manner of men. We however speak in the manner of His Spirit. We already know from Him all the things that He still will do, and we know His power, and we are witnesses of all the things He has done and taught in Jerusalem, and so we also can speak and know what we can expect and what still will happen.
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Did not all the high priests see the signs in the sky, which clearly showed to them what they can expect because of their hardness? But this did not make any impression on them, apart from the hatred against Him, and time after time they are deliberating even more intensively with each other how they could catch and kill Him. But still, He walks freely around in the entire Jewish land and He has no fear for His many enemies who think to be supremely powerful. If He would not be the Lord of all power and authority in Heaven and on Earth, then He already since long would have fled out of the country. But because He very well knows what kind of power and what kind of authority He possesses, He is not fleeing for His enemies, but He enters the temple without hesitation or fear and instructs the people about the coming of God's Kingdom on Earth and threatens the Pharisees and Jews with all the sharpness of His words. Who else except He alone, as Lord of all power and might, would dare to do that? Surely, that will be more than a sufficient proof for every intelligent person that He alone and no one else is the true Messiah and therefore also the Lord.
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We have seen His deeds and His signs of wonders and have heard the eternal truth of His words, and believe therefore also truly in Him. You have seen and heard the same and still you do not believe that He is the promised Messiah who now has come to us into this world.
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What could actually be the reason for your unbelief? Look, the reason for this is the great blindness and hardness of your heart. You are scribes and know from the Scripture with what kind of signs and conditions the Messiah will come into this world. Well now, all this applies to Him up to the smallest detail. When this is now incontestably the case, how can you then still doubt and expect someone else?
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Yes, in your blindness you surely will expect someone else who will however not come until the end of the world and its times. A few days ago you have heard us speak like that in Bethlehem and also in other places, and we have explained the Scripture to you, although we as simple men have never learned to read and write, and we have performed signs before your eyes for the salvation and benefit of the people of which you were very surprised. But I am asking you now: from who did we receive such wonderful power, or from which school could we learn such things?
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Oh, if such a school existed somewhere in the world, you surely would know about it and you also would have visited it for the sake of your profit. But such a school does not exist in the world, except only now among this Lord and Master of eternity who is indeed staying as a visible Man of flesh and blood among us, but in His Spirit He is the One by whose love, wisdom, word and will all Heavens, this Earth and everything that exists on it are created.
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Whoever will not learn it from Him now, will also not receive it, even if he would visit all worldly schools of wisdom. And whoever did not learn it from Him, will also not come to eternal life and to Him, for it is written: 'In that time, all who are willing, will be taught by God - the Spirit of the Father will educate them.' And whoever is not drawn by the Father will not come to the Son in who the Father is living, who you do not know and have never known, and thus you also do not know the Son and do not know who He is, just like He told you.
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However, now we know the Son and the Father in Him because He has revealed it to us Himself, and He revealed it to us because we believed in Him at once. He openly said and showed us who He is. But you did not believe and still do not believe, therefore you also will remain in your night of sins and die in the death thereof. Remember this well. For we, who are now His truthful witnesses, have already said this to you in Bethlehem when you were threatening us, and we were not afraid of you, and now in His presence we still tell you once more without any fear or hesitation, so that He Himself can explain to you if we have spoken correctly or incorrectly.
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You have indeed traveled after us as if you wanted to hear the truth from His own mouth, but in fact you only came with us to this place to test the Lord of God's glory. But He has shown you how absurd it is for a weak mortal man to test the Lord of life and dead. And for this reason you are quiet and you have nothing left to test Him once more. Therefore, the wisest thing you can do is to leave this sacred place soon and to retreat into your old nests of sin so that nothing worse would happen to you that had already happened."