The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 64 -
The complaint of the scribes.
This strong speech was like a stench in the nose of the scribe and his companions and therefore they came to Me and asked Me: "Master, do You give the right to Your disciples to speak to us like that? When we do not want to believe immediately what they believe, but as learned men are still searching for all kind of other proof, then this is certainly not their business. If they come to us in a good and gentle way, then we also will listen to them and will kindly examine their words, but if they come to us like this, then finally there is nothing else to do, except to treat them exactly as they are treating us. However, if they have the right from You to treat us, learned men, like that, then they will not be able to achieve much with us."
2
I said: "Every word that this one disciple has spoken to you, I Myself have put into his mouth, and so I Myself have spoken to you with My mouth. And with this, your question has been completely answered. And it shows to you from who My disciples have the right to speak like that to you. But you just never want to hear the truth and you honor vain flattery and hypocrisy. For this reason, My words seem hard and rude to you and they irritate you.
3
But I say to you: "whoever is once rooted in what is false, and moreover teaches untrue things, and for that wants a great honor from the blind people, because in his blindness he considers himself as somebody great, finds the light truth always hard and offending for his imagined honor, and this irritates him. However, I say to you that such a person will also never find the way to the truth if he in his false conviction does not want to humiliate himself by the great light of the truth, but in his darkness he will continuously want that honor be given to him, and furthermore, with that he will also go to ruin.
4
Once there was a man who truly read a lot about all the streets and roads. They honored the man because of his knowledge, and the man attached much important to that honor. But although he knew a lot about the streets and the roads of the world, he never traveled on the roads, which he had known from the writings of the Romans and the Greeks.
5
Now it happened that a man from royal descent who was planning to make a faraway trip, took this road expert as guide into his service in return of a great reward, although he still had other guides into his service, who however were not so learned as he but had made already many trips and therefore they also knew the streets and roads from experience.
6
Then it happened on a trip far away in Egypt, that the man of royal descent wanted to reach the old city of Memphis in a few days, and he deliberated with the road expert what would be the shortest and safest way to that place. The old road experts advised to continue the road along the river, although this was a little longer. But the learned one said: 'You do not know anything, and that which you have known, you do not know anymore already for a long time. I as the only one have learned the streets and roads of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and I know them all very well. I suggest that we go straight here through the desert, so that we can reach Memphis 3 days earlier instead of continuing along the river.'
7
This suggestion satisfied the royal man and he appointed the road expert as guide.
8
With great difficulty the caravan traveled already for days through the sand and was beginning to lack water and food supply.
9
Then the royal man called the guides to him again. He asked the road expert for an account and threatened him in case he, because of his stubbornness brought the caravan on wrong tracks.
10
Then also the old guides said: 'Lord, if we will not go back and travel to the east, but instead will continue going to the west, we will all die.'
11
The learned guide still wanted however to pretend that he was right, since his worldly honor was very important to him.
12
But then the royal man commanded that they should take the itinerary that lead to the east. All obeyed and luckily all reached the river again within 3 days, and the old city within 7 days.
13
To what use was the imagined and greedy road expert actually for the caravan? If it had followed him completely, it would be undeniably lost, and because it only had followed him for a few days, it reached the goal much later and was more tiresome.
14
When the royal man arrived in Memphis, he said to the imagined road expert: 'You have badly done your job. Therefore you must from now on be the last and least among my servants. By experience you must become intelligent and useful in humility, otherwise you will have no reward, but only a rightly punishment.'
15
And what the royal man said to the imagined road expert, I say also to you, scribes and theologians. Also you are leading the people in your greedy self-righteousness to the pitiful ruin of the inner life instead of going to its growth. And if someone will say this to you, you become filled with offence and anger, because you are indeed carrying the dead letter of the Scripture, but the spirit that makes alive which is present in it, you have never discovered, because your heart was always filled with pride and a worldly attitude, and the spirit that lives only in the true humility of the heart could never be awakened to the clear life full of light.
16
Since in the future you are not useful anymore to lead My caravans, I have appointed again in the old and first manner guides who are not-learned, who however are very qualified and experienced on the roads of the humility of the heart and neighborly love, and these will lead the caravans - that came into the desert because of you - again to the river of life. But you will not escape the reward that follows pride if you will continue to persevere in your pride. For I say to you: the sheer letter of the Scripture kills, only the spirit makes alive. That spirit accepts however only those who follow Me in humility and love.
17
As long as a well-meant word of truth out of the mouth of your fellowman can still hurt and offend you, you are still far away from God's Kingdom. However, he who wants to be My true disciple and follower, should even forgive his true and actual enemies, pray for those who have cursed him, and bless those who hate and damn him and also do good to those who harm him. In this way he will rather pile up glowing coals of repentance on the head of his enemies, rather than repaying evil with evil.
18
If you will not let go your obstinacy and proud hardness, the light will be taken away from you and will be given to the gentiles, which was already foreseen a long time ago, and for this purpose you are under the yoke of the gentiles and you must abide to hard laws, because you have treaded the light laws of God under foot.
19
I have come now to gather and establish you again and want to make you really free by the power of the truth. However, if you want to stay in your self-created slavery, then stay. Then I will give My light to the gentiles, but you will be left in the night of your sins, and the gentiles will from now on rule over you. This country that was promised to you will be trampled down by the enemies, and will from now on remain waste and empty. Let this be said as a warning to you.
20
When all this will be executed, you surely will know Me and call out: 'Lord, Lord!' Then however, I will not know you, but I will say to you: 'I have never known you, go therefore away from Me, you enemies of the truth."