THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Beyond the Jordan at the Sea of Galilee. Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 19
- Chapter 264 -
The observance of the Sabbath.
When we woke up in the early morning, we already found the whole house buzzing with activity. On the hearth was burning a cheerful fire already, around which several pots were standing, in which all sorts of aromatic dishes were cooking for us and for the people of the house. There were also fish, and indeed the best and most beautiful mountain trout. The healed daughter was the most active at the hearth and bustled about very much to prepare a good breakfast for us as soon as possible. When she caught sight of Me, she positively threw herself towards Me with a hasty passion and thanked Me once again for her healing.
2
But I said to her, how could she work thus today, on a Sabbath?
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To this Elisa answered and said, "Lord and Master, there is no law in the Scriptures that forbids the people to serve God on a Sabbath!"
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I said, "Very well "on the Sabbath one should indeed serve God alone very well; but you are now serving with all energy only Me and My disciples! Are we gods then?!"
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The assiduous daughter said, "Oh Lord, Your disciples are indeed only people like us; but You are God through and through, which I now see only too clearly! And if I and everyone in the house serve You through our activity, then we certainly do not desecrate the Sabbath!"
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Said I: "But tell Me, My very dearest Elisa, who told you that I was a god! For look, if I were a god, and Jehovah in heaven is also a very truest god, then there would obviously be two gods; but in the Scriptures it says very expressly: I alone am your God and Lord; therefore you shall have no other and foreign gods besides Me! Well, how do they go together then, if I am also a god?"
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Elisa said while busily preparing the fish, "Oh Lord, they go together very well!"
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Said I: "Yes, but how so?"
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She said, "Because You and the Father in heaven are not two, but quite perfectly one and heaven is always and eternally only where You are, oh Lord!"
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Said I: "But who told you that, and who taught you in this?"
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She said, "First of all, You Yourself, oh Lord! 'Peace be with you and with your house!' and 'The kingdom of God has come close to you!' Those are words which can only come from a divine mouth! And then came Your miracles, which apart from God no one can perform! Then yesterday, when You, oh Lord, laid down to rest, I spoke for a long time about that twelve-year old Jesus in the temple with my father, and looked through all the texts in Isaiah that refer to You, and then it turned out more brightly then the sun that You are none other than the promised Messiah and can be none but Jehovah Zebaoth Himself in Your spirit! You see, oh Lord, those are my reasons to consider You what You obviously are!"
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Said I: "Well, you are right, as is your earthly father; but you must not disclose Me to your neighbors before the right time! And since you have recognized Me and are serving only Me today on the Sabbath with your hard work, then work; but see that none of your neighbors are annoyed by it!"
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Elisa said, "Oh, do not worry about that! We are all far beyond that point. We indeed do not perform any hard, slavish tasks on a Sabbath; but wherever there is need we also do that on any Sabbath. We now are no longer under the hypocrisy of the temple and its selfish laws, from which any rich person can buy himself free for a certain time, but instead our law is the truth and its goodness and this forbids no one to do the most necessary for his house on a Sabbath.
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But if the idle going and hanging around was something necessary for the achievement of eternal life, then You, oh Lord, would certainly give all the people a good example, since You would not let any sun, moon or stars go up and down on the Sabbath, which would certainly be within Your powers. Thus neither would any wind blow, no clouds or fog would form, no river flow, no sea move, and even the animals would have to instinctively observe the full Sabbath as an example for us people! But if one observes the whole great creation only somewhat exactly, one sees only too soon that You are just as active on the Sabbath as on any other working day, and since we are already God's children according to the Scriptures, we certainly are not doing anything wrong by imitating in all things our good, holy and dear Father!"
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I said, "Truly, I had not sought such cleverness in you as a person! Therefore remain as you are and be a good example for everyone of how the Father in heaven always provides all people with the best example!"