THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 160 -
The egotistic striver for reincarnation.
1
(The Lord) "The exclusive striving for the kingdom of God requires the greatest activity. If a true disciple has made this entirely his own, even that king who will also truly reward the true service, and so it remains true through all the good spheres of human life, will also find that "wherever and in whatever a person does what is good and true for its own sake and strives after the true perfection "the just recognition and reward will and must come to him of its own accord.
2
There is, for example, a person for whom it is important to achieve through this teaching of Mine the rebirth of the spirit - which truly is not withheld from anyone - who has truly striven after it with all eagerness and just love. This model person knows that the love for God and for one's neighbor is the one and only way to this. He now keeps all the commandments of God strictly, loves God in his heart as much as he possibly can, shows to all only goodness according to his good strength and supports the poor richly, and wherever he sees a true wise man of God, he hurries over to him, supports him richly and makes him his friend.
3
He does that for years; but the promised and demanded rebirth, hoped for daily all the more, nonetheless does not come. He indeed notices here and there light moments, but they are only flashes, whose light will not take form. Then the eager applicant of many years for the spiritual rebirth speaks: Now however I am beginning to consider the whole issue of the rebirth of the spirit to be a sheer fable! I have now spent twenty full years until this hour doing everything that the doctrine demanded of me, and nonetheless I am at the same point where I began to live accordingly and to strive! Thus perceptible truth cannot be achieved; therefore it is the very most intelligent thing to continue to live as a proper person in the world again and withdraw from all the deceptive spiritual connections!
4
Now here comes the main question: Well, why then could this very honestly striving person not achieve the rebirth of the spirit? "Exactly because he had done all that good only in order to achieve it!
5
Whoever loves God and his fellow man for any other motive than God for the sake of God and the neighbor for the sake of the neighbor will not come to full rebirth, because this is a most direct union between God and man.
6
Through such a motive the person always places a partition wall between himself and God, which, however thin, nonetheless does not let the spiritual light through, and therefore cannot fully become one with the spirit of God. But as long as this union does not happen, there can be no talk of a full rebirth.
7
I tell you: Every type of any self-use must be cleared out of the soul, and the person must stand perfectly free, and only then can he achieve the highest thing! "And now tell Me whether this issue is now clear to you!"
8
Cyrenius says, "Yes, now I am quite in order, seeing very clearly also this issue! Yes, there is truly an enormous difference between doing one and the same thing! But when one knows this, one can already fully act correctly if one only has the firm will for it, and that can truly not be lacking for a person who has recognized the bright and only true reason and the path on which he has to walk. But much time and effort is needed until someone has realized this; for even if someone believes that he has understood the whole matter, one discovers only too soon that something, even the very most important thing, is lacking. But now I believe that not very much more shall lack in me! If something nonetheless is lacking, then I hope that Your love, oh Lord, will provide me with the same at the right time.
9
But now, as I can see, our Pharisees are already coming back, and their main leader is caught up in deep discussion with Mark. I am very curious myself to see which effect the deeper insight into these miracles of Yours has made!"