The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

The Lord in Kis at the Sea of Galilee

- Chapter 134 -

The Lord relates about His temptation in the desert.

Now the wise Philopold asked Me: "Lord and Master, full of love, wisdom and power, we have truly heard so many things from Your godly mouth of what You have done. However, about Your first deeds, when You left Your parental house, we know nothing at all. I talked with Mary, the mother of Your body, and also with Joel and Your other physical earthly brothers about Your whole youth. And what I have heard - about Your wonderful arrival on this Earth in the body of Mary until Your 30th year of life - I faithfully wrote down in the Greek language and scripture in a memorial book, without adding or leaving out anything.

So I also - of course in bits and pieces - added everything that I once experienced myself at Your side here, and from what I heard from reliable eye and ear witnesses from many other parts and places, and I wrote it down in a separate book. But from Your 30th year or from the day You left Nazareth until about almost 3 months I was not able to hear from anyone where You were during that very first time and what You have done.

It is true that from the moment that You let Yourself be baptized by John in the river Jordan with water, I know a few things, as well as about the calling of Your first disciples, but - as I said - about the just mentioned very first time I was not able, despite all my efforts, to know one syllable about where You stayed or about Your deeds.

As a quiet describer of Your whole earthly life and deeds it is very important to me that also something is made known to me about Your life and Your deeds during that first time of Your work as Teacher, about which also Your elder disciples can tell nothing. And this can actually be done by no one else except You, o Lord and Master. If it would be convenient for You to reveal to me a few things about this, for me it would mean a great and extremely valuable mercy from You."

I said: "I know your good zeal for Me, and I praise you as a real friend of My heart, but about that first time I really do not like to tell more than what I have already done - a time in which I was guided by the Spirit of the Father in Me to a desert at the Jordan, where I fasted for 40 days and nourished Myself by necessity with roots and wild honey, and where I, when My body became very hungry after 40 days of fasting in this way, I was tempted 3 times by an evil spirit, a devil of the first degree. And it would not make a hair's breadth of difference for the salvation of their soul if men would know more about it."

Philopold said: "But Lord and Master, how could You let Yourself be tempted by an arch-devil, and how was he able to approach You even a little bit? Because between You and a devil there is such a great gap that is set by Your wisdom and might over which an evil spirit can eternally never come across. Who was that extremely daring spirit actually? O Lord and Master, now that You have told me already so much, tell me something more and more precisely about it."

I said: "Although there are no originally created arch-devils as you imagine, but still, everything in the material world is in its original element as if an originally created arch-devil, and therefore it is the same if one says that he is tempted by the world or the material lusts of the flesh, or by this or that arch-devil. And therefore, he who let himself be captured too much by the world and its flesh, his soul is also a personal devil and continues to live after the dead of his body in a constant connection with the evil, still unfermented material spirits, and his striving remains then evil like his love, and he tries to continually satisfy his evil love.

Those kind of devils can of course not come across the immeasurable gap between Me and them, but since I Myself have come now into this world which is full of judgment and thus full of devils, I have, from the deepest depth of My mercy, built a bridge over the mentioned gap by accepting for a certain time a fleshly body, without which bridge no human being of this Earth could ever attain to the true and full blissfulness. So it is obvious that a devil, just like a man, no matter how evil he is, can approach Me over this bridge and can also tempt Me in his complete blindness and can persecute Me in the most terrible way, although they can accomplish nothing against My might, but can only ruin himself more and more. This you surely will realize.

And look, friend, so it was also possible for a devil to tempt Me during that time you mentioned.

But so that you will know something more about this event, which sounds of course somewhat strange to you, I will tell you briefly the way and manner of the temptation. So listen.

When I had fasted for about 3 weeks in the desert in order to entirely turn away from everything and everyone, and to bring My body in everything more in accordance with Myself than was possible during the time that I, as a carpenter, was often together with My foster father Josef and his sons from his 1st marriage, and when I, living only by roots and wild honey from the desert, became very hungry, and I felt a strong desire in My body to eat bread, the tempter came in the appearance of a serious and worldly wise magician, standing before Me and said: 'Lord and Master, I know You, and know that You, what concerns Your body, are God's Son. Why do You torment Yourself with hunger in this miserable desert while all treasures of all the worlds and Heavens are at Your service? But if You do not want to use them, because for the sake of the poor people You also wanted to become a human being to be a shining example of extreme abstinence and soberness - thus in order to make them more equal to You - then You still can make bread out of these many stones here, which You surely can do, while no one can see You here, and just eat until You are completely satisfied.'

But I said very seriously: 'Listen, you who dare to tempt Me, your Lord from eternity, My body is now also a human being, troubled with the need of every human being in this world, but know and understand that man does not live so much from the bread of this Earth but much more from every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Also for you all, the bridge to pass over to eternal life would be possible. But you rather should humiliate yourselves now and ask Me to forgive your sins, then you would be helped.'

After My words, the tempter left Me for a few days, as if he wanted to take my admonition at heart and finally conform himself to it. But this was not so. Soon he came again to Me and said: 'Lord and Master, You know that I am full of pride and lust for power, but I want - now that You are humiliating Yourself in this desert - to learn the right humility from You. So let Yourself be placed now on the highest peak of the temple, which is very easy for us, then I will continue to talk with You.'

I said: 'I will not allow to be placed there by your powerlessness, but I Myself want it so. And we are already on the spot. And now you can continue to talk.'

When I had said that to the tempter, he said to Me: 'Lord and Master, if, what concerns Your body, You are really God's Son, then let Yourself fall down from this height, then God will certainly command His angels to carry You on their mighty hands, so that not one part of the body will be hit by a stone.'

Then I said to the tempter: 'You should indeed humiliate yourself before Me, your God and Lord, but not I for you by jumping into this deepness. With this you will eternally not accomplish any humility and improvement. This attempt of yours was truly useless, so go away.'

Then the tempter left Me and, carried by My power, I was again instantly in My desert where it was however not so pleasant to live.

But after a few days the tempter appeared once more before Me. And I asked him: 'What do you want from Me now for the 3rd time, you incorrigible devil?'

The tempter said: 'Lord and Master, go with me now to a high mountain. There I want to learn humility from You and improve myself.'

And I went with him on a high mountain and said: 'What do you want here from Me now?'

The tempter said: 'Lord and Master, humiliate Yourself first before Me, after that, I will humiliate myself before You. Look, all these beautiful and rich countries I will give You, if You first will bow down Your knees before me and worship me.'

Then I said: 'Now I have enough of you! Go away from Me now, Satan! For it is written: 'You shall worship God, Your Lord, only, and serve Him and not tempt Him!'

Then the tempter left Me forever, and instead of that, legions of angels came from the Heavens to Me, and they served Me.

And so I left the desert, took already a few disciples to Me and let Myself be baptized by John in the river Jordan. From then on I took the other disciples, who were mostly fishermen, and traveled with them from one place to another.

And now, friend Philopold, you have what was still lacking to you. If My elder disciples want also to write this down, they can do that also."

My Mathew wrote this also down in Kis, because he was more skillful in writing than the other disciples who could write.

Footnotes

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