The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 152 -
The disciples ask the Lord about the reason of His joy over the nature.
In the morning before sunrise we were outside again at the shore of the lake, with some cure guests who were almost healed and who enjoyed the play of the waves on the extended clear water surface.
2
A few disciples asked Me: "Lord and Master, since the time that we are around You, we notice that You are always going outside more than 1 hour before sunrise, also during the winter, and You enjoy, just like we men, the phenomena of the world's nature. But since You know everything visually what is not only on and within this Earth but also what is and happens in the whole of infinity, what there was and happened and will be and will happen, we already thought many times about it how it is possible that You still can have pleasure in the things and phenomena on only a little place on this Earth."
3
I said: "This was again a really human blind question of yours. If I would not have a greater and deeper pleasure than you in the things and phenomena, also in this material nature, then very soon there would not be a little point present anymore of this whole Earth with everything on, in and above it.
4
For all that exists is My eternal love, incarnated before your eyes. How could I not be pleased in My love, which is since eternity everything in all?
5
However, the fact that I like to be outside already early in the morning, and also often until late at night, has a double reason. For firstly you should learn from it that also in the soul of man the spiritual morning, just like of this Earth, has to wake up early, and that I also will be sooner present on such early morning in man than when the sun in him will have already completely risen. And I will rejoice just as much about the ever lighter morning of life as I visibly have rejoiced before you - as a real example for you - about every natural morning.
6
Secondly, from My continual early morning visits you should learn the activity and the right zeal. Also in this respect you should be like Me, and you should well remind the people about this to whom you will proclaim My gospel. For only through the right zeal and through an early activity can man attain to the true Kingdom of God in himself, and will then also be able to keep it for eternity.
7
That I also like to spend the evening outside, is to show you in the first place that man should also be active in the evening of his earthly life in order to make his inner light of life stronger. For the one who will go to rest too soon in laziness and who will, in his house, give in to careless sleep, will easily experience that thieves are breaking in with him, and rob him from his treasures. But the one, who will stay awake long, will not so easily be overtaken by such disaster.
8
The other and second reason why I like to spend the evenings outside is the following: from this you can conclude that a free rest in the evening will only become a real bliss if one has been fully active during the whole day, from the early morning till the evening.
9
If you have well understood now what I have told you, then remain in that light, and from now on do not ask anymore so easily about things which should be clear to you from itself. If you have well understood this, then also act accordingly, because by only understanding it, you cannot awaken the true Kingdom of God in yourselves."
10
When the disciples, and also all the others, heard that, they thanked Me for My patience with them and asked Me also for patience in the future.
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And I said: "Every person who has much love has also much patience. And I have the most, highest and purest love for you, and thus I certainly have also the greatest patience with you. The one who stays in Me by his love for Me, in him I will stay also, for I Myself am his love and patience."
12
Now 2 guests who took a cure came close to Me and asked to the innkeeper Marcus, who stood next to Me, who I was, for they heard that I had spoken wisely and thought that I was a philosopher. They were 2 Greeks who were followers of the teaching of Pythagoras.
13
Marcus said to him: "Here is unspeakably much more than the Greek philosopher Pythagoras. Pythagoras could not make the blind see and the deaf hear. However, He can do this out of His very own power, and even a dead person He can awake to life. And this is certainly endlessly much more than Pythagoras."
14
Then the 2 wanted to begin a conversation with Me, but a servant came to invite us for the morning meal. And the 2 Greeks followed us to the house and waited until I would again come out of the house, for they wanted to know Me better at any price.
15
This time we stayed for more than 1 hour for the morning meal, and this was a long time for our 2 Greeks. However, they did not dare to enter the house, since, as well educated men, they considered this to be improper, but they asked one time to the one and then again to the other servant whether they did not know Me better.
16
But the servants received instruction from Marcus not to make Me known before time, for if it were necessary I would determine that time Myself for that. And so the 2 Greeks could not know anything further about Me than what Marcus had said to them before, even when they presented a generous tip to one of the servants.
17
Finally we were ready with our meal, which lasted longer this time because our Mary related several events from her and also from My childhood, which were also faithfully written down by Matthew in a special book.