The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First journey of the Lord: Kis - landing place at Sibarah - Nazareth
- Chapter 20 -
The Templers fear the Roman court.
There were stones kept for stoning in all schools as well as in the Temple, and therefore also in this Nazarene school. As the elders, Pharisees and Scribes of this city were blindingly enraged, they took hold of the stones to throw at Me. Then all the disciples rose to their feet and threatened the mad ones. At this moment Faustus, Cornelius, Jairus and the old Cyrenius entered the large hall.
2
When the enraged priests caught sight of these most eminent and well-known personages, they promptly put down their murderous objects and bowed very deeply.
3
Jairus at once rushes over to Myself and Sarah, embracing Me and saying loudly to Cyrenius: "Here stand He, the great Man of all men, and here my beloved Sarah, who He twice awakened from fullest death!"
4
Here the old Cyrenius steps over to Me, tears in his eyes, saying: "Oh, my God and my Lord! With what words should I, a poor, weak human thank You for all the endlessly great graces You have bestowed upon me?! Oh how happy I am for my eyes to once again be inestimably fortunate in beholding You, my holy Friend! For more than twenty years I had heard nothing more of You, notwithstanding that I thought of You many times each day, and also often making appropriate inquiries about You.
5
How downcast I was even a few days ago, when the Emperor in all earnestness began to demand the unfortunate taxation moneys from Pontus and Asia Minor, with my not knowing where they had gotten to! Yet how happy, inexpressibly happy indeed, was I when about three days ago not only the missing taxes, but far more priceless treasures in gold, silver, pearls and precious stones were dispatched to me by my upright friends, Faustus and Cornelius, and all that through Your holy mediation!
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My Lord, my holy greatest Friend Jesus! Oh tell me, what I can do to reciprocate this great indebtedness even marginally! If You were willing to set my Province Chief's crown upon Your head, oh with what unmentionable joy and honour would I desire to place it at Your feet!
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Verily of a truth, Lord, You my life as you are certain to be aware of, the treasures of this earth mean exceedingly little to me; if that which I have already dispatched to Rome were mine, then many thousands of poor people would have already received help! But it was the Emperor's and it had to be my task to produce what had been lost! How should this nevertheless have been possible without You, and thereafter my dear Faustus and brother Cornelius? Oh, You have rolled a world of burden from my breast. Now it is my turn to pay and reward to the limit of my authority! Oh, speak, most holy great friend of mankind, what should I do?"
8
With this brilliant address of Me by Cyrenius, those who previously were about to stone Me turn deathly pale, starting to shake all over as if gripped by high fever, in the assumption that I would now take fullest revenge on them and complain about them to Cyrenius, whom they feared more than death; for he never joked! The Roman judges were notorious for their strictness in carrying out their pronounced judgments and sentences, the reason for the Jews" inordinate fear of them, especially these Nazarene Elders, Pharisees and Scribes, of whom some were accessories to the Roman taxation robbery.
9
But I said to Cyrenius most amicably: "Do you suppose that the Man has forgotten what you had done for the Child when It had to flee before Herod, from Bethlehem to Egypt? Oh, the Man remember this only too well that you did it all without self-interest, because you loved Me, and I should now desire some reward from you? No, such be eternally far from Me! But since you are in command over Asia as the Emperor's representative, command these recalcitrants, Satan-servants and not servants of God, to keep their silence on all that has taken place here, or they shall receive the most severe punishment! For all who take up stones against their neighbours shall receive the most severe punishment!"
10
Says Cyrenius: "Have these miserable ones dared perchance to take up stones against You?"
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Says Sarah: "Yes, exalted Cyrenius! These miserable ones intended stoning the Lord for telling them the Truth. They call themselves 'servants of God yet are the greatest blasphemers; for they keep only their most selfish and domineering regulations, giving them a godly shine through the most shameful strong-arm tactics!
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Whoever does not allow himself to be blinded by their deceptions will be kept blind by the most shameful high-handedness, and we no longer enjoy liberty on God's dear earth! One only has to read Moses and the prophets and next to that their statutes and one can easily discover what I as a young girl not yet sixteen have discovered a long time ago! Verily, whoever follows Moses and the prophets is their fiercest foe. Like the Samaritans, who still are staunch mosaists and disciples of the prophets, is regarded as cursed all the days, and he, like they, amount to the most vehement curse from the mouth of a Jew.
13
But as a young girl I ask, is this the Word of God, is this divine service? Jesus clearly demonstrated to them that this can only be the word of hell, and a service that Satan could wish for; wherefore they intended stoning Him, because He told them the truth too convincingly before the people, who in the end could cost them a lowering of their income.
14
Noble lord! Already twice I have been fully in the beyond and I know what my soul has seen. I saw Moses and all the good prophets. They were at peace and their joy is this time which they call "the great day of the Lord". However, I did not see one Pharisee or teacher of the law among them righteous of Israel. So I asked where they were.
15
Then an angel of light came and bade me follow him, which I did. Soon we were standing at an extremely gloomy place; there was hardly as much light as in a clouded night. A great glow could be seen in the distance and the angel said to me: "Look there. That is the pit where the ones for whom you were asking are dwelling." And I looked but saw nothing but devils and said to the angel: "Messenger of the Lord. I see only devils and no one else. Where then are the ones for whom I asked?" Then the angel replied: "They are the ones you are seeing."
16
This gave me a terrible shock and I remembered my father who is even a head of the Pharisees. But the angel noticed what made me tremble and said: "Do not worry. Your father will find the right way, and you will be a guide for him on this earth."
17
This I have seen and heard and therefore know it; not from hearsay, but from experience. So I need not learn anything from these fools and wicked servants of Satan, for I have seen and learnt truth in a living lesson and can, therefore, as one who has returned from the beyond, testify for the sake of the eternal truth which Jesus, the Lord from eternity, is preaching, that everything these evil teachers say and teach is an absolute lie and does not have a grain of truth in it. - I have spoken."