The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

The Lord in Galilee

- Chapter 67 -

Some Pharisees and scribes tempt the Lord.

During the evening all Pharisees, rabbi's and a scribe who held an office in this market place where also in this inn, and the innkeeper informed them about it, assuming to give Me a pleasant company with that, for I, who had cleansed before the 10 from their malicious leper disease in a miraculous way, was now also his guest and was with several companions in the large dining hall.

When the Pharisees, the scribe and the rabbi's heard that from the innkeeper, they stood immediately up from their table and said among each other: "Good, we will test Him to see if it is really true what is known about Him from far and wide and even among the gentiles. They say that He is the promised Messiah of the Jews and who will establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. We will see how He will stand before us."

So with these intentions and escorted by the innkeeper they came to us in the big dining hall, ordered immediately a table to be set for them and let abundantly the best wine and bread and well-prepared fishes and still other food be put on it. When the table was richly provided, for the great gratification of their thick bellies, they went to sit down and showed by their words and gestures that they were in charge in this place.

However we behaved very indifferent before them as if we hardly noticed that they had installed themselves in our dining hall. We ate and drank and talked about very casual things. The fishes were now also put on our table and we began to eat them.

The Pharisees noticed that we ate the most expensive noble fishes and that besides that we also drank the best wine. Then one of the Pharisees turned to the innkeeper and said: "Why did you not also have these kind of fishes be prepared for us? Are we perhaps less than these Galileans of whom we know several of them very well?"

The innkeeper said: "Less or not less, that makes no difference to me. Whatever someone has ordered, he also receives. What you have ordered stands also on your table, but if you also want noble fishes then there is still time to let them be prepared for you, as much as you want."

But the Pharisees knew that these kinds of fishes were very expensive and that the innkeeper always let himself be paid very well for that, and therefore they did not order any noble fishes. But in order to explain away the stinginess of the Pharisees, one of them said: "If we cannot be first to have these kinds of fishes, then we also do not want to be second to have them."

The innkeeper said: "You can now say what you want, this does not confuse me in the least. Who can force me to give what I want to someone who only has desired something to eat without specifying out of what the food had to consist, and who can command me to set something else on the table than what he clearly desired? In short, with me counts the ancient principle: 'everyone his own.'

The Pharisee said: "You are right in this, and we have no objections, but it is strange of you, since you do not have exactly the reputation of being a generous man, that precisely towards these Galileans you are so well-disposed while all of them are not from far away, and there is also the question if they will be able to pay you for these expensive fishes."

The innkeeper said: "Also that is of no concern to you. People like you are to me really nothing exceptional, but people like the Savior Jesus of Nazareth who you know, who by the truly miraculous power of His word and will can heal in one moment 10 men from the most malicious leper disease and make them completely healthy, and to whom you gave hardly 1 hour ago the written certificate, are surely extremely exceptional and have actually never existed until now. And therefore, everyone will surely well understand that out of free will, this consideration that they deserve should be given to them."

On this excellent counter remark the Pharisees did not know what to answer and they tried to save their face with good looks, although inwardly they were full of wickedness. They ate and drank now very considerably, and we did the same and did not care about what the displeased Pharisees were doing or about what kind of words they were speaking among each other.

But when the wine had greatly heated up the Pharisees and were trying to start an argument with Me, the scribe stood up, came shamelessly standing before Me and said: "Master, do tell us out of which power You are doing Your apparent miracles?"

I said: "This I surely want to tell you - but first you should answer My question. Tell Me: were the preaching and baptism of John ordained by God or were they purely a work of men?"

Now the scribe did not know what to answer Me, for he thought: If I say: 'they were ordained by God', then He will tell me: 'then why did you not believe him?' and if I say: 'they were purely the work of men', then we soon will have the innkeeper and tomorrow the whole market place against us, because they all took John for a prophet who was awakened by God.

Only after a while he (the scribe) said: "Master, this truly none of us know, and so I cannot answer You yes or no."

I said: "Then I also cannot tell you out of which power I am doing My miracles, and so we are just as far with one another as before."

Then there was also a Pharisee who came to Me and said: "Master, we have heard already many different things about You, and among those, also that by You the Kingdom of God will be established. By Your deeds You are witnessing of Yourself that You are the One whom all the Jews are expecting, based on the ancient promise. Look, also we want to believe in You, but do tell us how and when the Kingdom of God will come among the people on this Earth."

I said: "Most certainly not in the way you imagine."

Now the scribe said: "But then how?"

I said: "The Kingdom of God will come without any outer pomp and splendor, and it will not be said: 'Look, here', or 'there it is', because the Kingdom of God is not a material, but a spiritual Kingdom, because God is in Himself the eternal original and purest Spirit, and His Kingdom is therefore also not given for the body and established on this Earth, but for the soul and the spirit of the body. The soul and the spirit are however inside man and not outside of him, and so the Kingdom of God is only inside man, and when it will come to man, he will only feel it in himself and not outside of himself."

On this My answer the Pharisees did not know anymore what to reply to Me and they returned to their table.

The innkeeper was secretly glad that I shut the mouth of the Pharisees, and he let new, first class wine to be set on our table and he said to Me: "Eat and drink as much as you want, for the bill is for me this time."

And we ate and drank very cheerfully.

When the Pharisees saw that, they were even more offended and said aloud among themselves: "And this should be the Messiah sent by God in this world! What are He and His disciples gluttons and drunkards! And moreover we know that He associates with tax collectors, heathens and other sinners and eats His bread with unwashed hands, and no matter how much miracles He performs, a true scribe and Pharisee will not believe in Him!"

Then the innkeeper said: "He certainly will care very little about that. If He is the Lord - and this I also do believe now - then He, who is in Himself the most perfect Spirit out of God, will not need to conform Himself to our worldly institutions, but we should conform ourselves to the ones He will give us."

The Pharisees said: "What you say to us does not irritate us, because we know that you are more a Samaritan than a Jew. We are irritated about the fact that He, through His teaching and deeds, is seducing many Jews and claims to be something that He cannot be because in many respects He does not keep the law of Moses."

Then I stood up with a serious face and said: "With whom will I compare this kind of degenerated people? John ate and drunk almost nothing else except grasshoppers and wild honey and led a strict life of penitence. Then they said: 'What is this man a pretender and a hypocrite. But this they said because John showed them their complete godlessness and countless sins, and for this reason they planned to bring Herod to the point that he would throw him into prison and let him cut off his head.

I eat and drink, do not behave as an extremist or a sulking person and meet everyone in a friendly way. I help everyone who comes to Me, believes in Me and asks Me for help, and then they say: 'What is this Man a drunkard and a big eater and a friend of sinners, tax collectors and heathens, and He does not keep the rules of Moses.'

But what about when they teach: 'If you make an offering it will be more useful to you than if you yourself would honor your father and mother.' Do they not abolish God's commandments with that and torment the people with rules that they invented for the greatest benefit of their bellies? Therefore, later all the more damnation will come over them. They put unbearable loads upon the people, while they themselves do not touch them with the little finger. For the big offerings they promise to keep long prayers and let them be rattled off before the eyes of the deceived and blind people in a disgusting heartless and useless manner by their subordinate servants. Are they then not the same as men who are nursing mosquitoes and in return for that swallow up camels?

Yes, yes, although they eat their bread with washed hands but their heart is full of filth and dirt. Therefore they also look like neat and elegant whitewashed graves that are inside full of rotting and stench. To eat bread with unwashed hands does not defile man - and the least when there is no possibility to wash his hands before eating bread, which happens often - but lie, deceit, jealousy, stinginess, gluttony and revelry, pride, hatred, anger, fornication, harlotry, adultery and the denial of God in man are defiling the whole man and make him a child of Hell."

When the Pharisees heard that from Me they became very angry, stood up from their table and left the hall, which was very pleasant to us all.

The innkeeper came to Me and could not thank Me enough that I had thrown the truth straight into the face of the Pharisees, and also all My disciples praised Me.

Finally the innkeeper said: "O Lord and Master, I suppose that these words of Yours will bring one or the other of these Pharisees to a better opinion about You?"

I said: "You will more easily whitewash 10 Mores than that 1 of these hypocrites would repent and do penance. When stinginess, jealousy and lust for power are too deeply rooted in man, then they hardly can become truly better. But we will just let them breed among each other, tomorrow is another day on which there will be something to do."

Footnotes

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