The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the Vicinity of Caesara Philippi (Matthew 16)
- Chapter 239 -
Julius passes his supreme advice unto the Pharisees.
After that, Julius turned bak to his young Pharisee, saying: "We have, my friend, already found the right means by which you and your elders shall stand completely justified before the Temple and all its demands, and where your parents can even lay a charge against the Temple with the Roman protectorate, whereby sentence shall be passed upon the Temple to compensate your parents for your loss, -on account of your of Temple-enforced non-adhesion to Roman law in respect of proper travel documents, which the Temple to this hour stubbornly refuses to acknowledge, leading to your arrest and immediate conscription into foreign legion service! Hence you are now for your own good already under arrest. Are you pleased with that?"
2
Say all: "Oh lord, whoever may be, this godly advice only a God could have given you! Verily, in this way we shall reach our goal, and no less that of our parents as well. Oh for the sweet taste of joy, and how much wiser is the great Rome than our currently dirtiest Jerusalem! Old host and father of this house, after this good news for us, go and fetch us some wine, for now everything around here must come alive! We have just been lifted out of hell, straight into heaven! The blind Jews still await a promised Messiah Who is to free them from the Roman yoke, yet we have found among and within you, dear Romans, the real and only true Messiah for all mankind! Pure truth is the true Messiah of all mankind. This is now however in your midst, and so you are now with the fullest and purest truth among and within yourselves, the Messiah of all pure and honest Jews, and also of that mankind whose feelings are bonded through and through to all the worst laws. Old host, go, go, and let them serve us some more wine, to the best of our redeemers and Messiahs."
3
Marcus at once orders more bread and several pitchers of wine to be set up the new strangers' table; and the young speaker again asks Julius what guests might be among the company, and who he is himself.
4
Says Julius: "As I had already said unto you before, that Julius, standing in disrepute with yourselves, will always make good any injustice inflicted upon you, unwittingly of course; at the right time he shall also make it good to you as best he can. And that Julius, so much feared by you, am I myself, and opposite me is the exalted governor of all Asia and Egypt, - Cyrenius, to whom you had intended to journey in Sidon. And now tell me whether you are satisfied with us hard, inexorable Romans!"
5
On hearing this, the young Pharisees and his colleagues at first take fright; on re-gaining composure however he says: "Exalted Commander, are you offended by my former talk, which obviously could not have been very faltering to your ears? But I cannot possibly be blamed, just as you yourself could not be blamed for having us shipped to Capernaum with mud stopped eyes and ears. Had you known us as you do now, you would not have done that to us. But you took us for average Pharisees of the worst kind, and it excuses your former hard treatment of us. But now forgive us, and me especially, as you henceforth know why!"
6
Says Julius: "I speak gladly with forthright people, and shall never be offended by men who fearlessly and undisguised give out the truth without reservation; but beware of those who don't mean what they say, and feel differently from how they talk! Nothing abhors me more than a lie, and I condemn even a white lie; because before God and all honest men, it is better to die than save oneself with an untruth! But as I said, I like your frank language. And since I know your circumstances in Jerusalem and Bethlehem fairly well, I also know that you have presented your case here without reproach. There is still something in your background, but it is minor, and you will achieve that too, so long as you show us Romans sincerity and brotherly submission!"
7
Says the young speaker: "Esteemed lord, let it please you to also be frank with us and tel us straight out what is still in our background that should be part of this case! Because for sure, there is a thing or two that we could not divulge here, firstly through shortage of time and secondly, among such glorious company, one cannot as it were fall into the house with the door, especially when a most senior governor of all Roman Asia is in attendance, whose high standing and majesty we hardly dare to openly behold after knowing it is he. Beside that, there is also a youth and a maiden at your table, which tells us: bridle your tongue somewhat! When we are among ourselves however then, esteemed lord, we shall keep nothing secret! But since you have shown us poor sinners so much grace and mercy, please tell us what, between ourselves, still puts you off about us, and whether the person you consulted on our behalf in the Roman tongue also is an exalted Roman!"
8
Says Julius: "Well then, that which you withheld on account of decorum is of no further importance, neither for me nor yourselves. But your acquaintance with yonder conspicuous man could be of the highest consequence. But no time is left for that to-day either; hence more about it tomorrow!" - with this the rescued ones were most graciously satisfied, and again took bread and wine and gave their emotions cheerful reign.