The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Jericho
- Chapter 9 -
The reward of the singer.
When the singer had sung the psalm for the second time, a real outburst of praise and acclamations came from among the strangers. They gave him many golden coins and invited him to sit with them at the table and to eat and drink with them.
2
But he (the singer) said: "I thank you for the honor that you have shown me and the alms that you have given me so abundantly, but I am still a pure Jew of old - even if I am only 30 years old - and I may not eat your food. Besides, only this Lord here has given me permission to perform, and therefore I also shall only do what He will command me."
3
Then the strangers praised the loyalty of the artist, and I invited him to sit at our table and to eat and drink with us, which he also immediately did with many thanks.
4
Our innkeeper and Kado however went away and brought the harp player great alms, which he almost did not want to accept because he already received so much at the other tables.
5
But I said to him: "Just take what has joyfully been given to you, for you yourself have a good heart and you also like to share with the poor the little that you earned with difficulty with your art. And if you will earn more from now on, you will be able to grant your good heart a bigger sphere of work. To do good to the poor is pleasing to God, and to work and gather for the poor is beautiful in God's eyes and is always already rewarded in this life and still more in the other life.
6
The harp player said: "Yes, very kind Lord, so it is, and I also have always believed that, although for a long time it did not produce much earthly reward, while I have faithfully practiced my weak art in this way for almost 15 years. But this time I have received a rich harvest, and for this, all praise and honor and all my thanks will always go to God the Lord who has this time looked upon me in my poverty. But now I also would like to ask You something, good Lord, if You mercifully would allow me."
7
I said: "Oh, with pleasure. Just ask, I will surely not withhold you the answer."
8
Then the harp player asked Me: "O good Lord, to whom I owe, besides God, my great happiness, how do You know my conditions of life so precisely, while I cannot remember to have ever seen You anywhere?"
9
I said: "You also did not have to. It is enough that I have already heard and seen you very often. Look, you have made a performance now and we all have watched you carefully. So we also will easily recognize you again wherever we will meet, but you certainly will not recognize all of us that easily, this because of the simple, natural reason that even many thousands of people will more easily recognize one person who was somehow remarkably special, and observe him completely than for one person to remember the many thousands for whom he has performed. Look, that is the very natural reason why I possibly can know you better than you know Me.
10
There also can be other reasons, which you would however not understand so well, even if I would tell you. Therefore, because of the strangers it is better to keep silent about it. But you have said just now yourself that I could possibly be a prophet, because you have played your harp and sang better in My presence than ever before. If I possibly am a prophet, then I probably could also know from the Spirit of God in Me how the circumstances of your life are. So you have now a natural and a supernatural reason why I always can know you better than you can know Me or anybody else of us. Is it clear to you now?"
11
The harp player said: "Yes, good and also truly very wise Lord. I am not calling You wise without reason, because during my wandering around on God's good surface of the Earth I repeatedly have experienced that truly good people are always wise people. But the fact that the good people are left behind to the hard and bad people what concerns their earthly happiness, is not the fault of the cleverness that they obtain from their wisdom - as if that would be less than the cunningness of the hard and bad people - but it is because of the goodness of their heart, the patience that results from it and the love for the truth for God and even for their enemies who after all, are also human beings, even if they are blind and deaf. And only from all this results the real and true wisdom, which will never value the perishable goods of this world as more important, as all the great and truly wise people have always done. Look, truly good Lord, therefore I called You a wise person because I found so much goodness in You."
12
I said: "But then you are actually also wise, because as far as I know, you also are a good person."
13
The harp player said very modestly: "Good Lord, I will never boast about that, let the wise have their opinion about me. However, about myself I can acknowledge that I have seen people, who considered themselves as very wise and highly educated, doing much more stupid things than I have ever done. I am of the opinion that it is undeniably wiser under all circumstances of life, no matter how unfavorable they are, to believe without any doubt in the one, only true God, and out of true awe for God and out of love to keep His holy commandments than to become weak in faith, to turn one's back to God and as a highly honored, educated person to throw oneself in all thinkable pleasures of the world, and in this way to live and to act as if the other people have no right to this Earth, while they surely also have been placed on it by God to move on it and to search for himself the necessary food and other livelihood. O good, wise Lord, is my opinion correct or wrong?"
14
I said: "In every respect correct and therefore also really very wise. But now eat and drink as you want."
15
Now the harp player ate and drank to his heart's desire, because he was very hungry and thirsty, however, no gluttony and even less alcohol abuse could be noticed with him.