The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First mission of the messengers. Great teaching mission
- Chapter 136 -
Judas' questions and comments about travel without money. The Lord's holy hints - 'Be ye clever without guile and gentle.' Judas' judgmental retort.
But Judas asked, saying; 'Lord, this is in order and the people on the land shall provide for us; but we shall surely have to also go to the cities and markets, where erstwhile hospitality has come to an end. How shall we get on there and how go about without money?'
2
Say I; 'When you go to a city or a market, find out (since you know what you are capable of) whether there is someone worthy of you there who needs what you are able to give. If you have found such, stay with them until you are off to somewhere else (Matt. 10:11).
3
It speaks for itself that you first greet the house you enter (Matt. 10:12), because true love always precedes into a stranger's house with civilised steps. If a house, i.e. its occupants are worthy of you, then your peace shall come over it: if however the house is not worthy of you, then peace shall turn back upon you. (Matt. 10:13).
4
And where an occupant of a house will not receive you or hear you speak, leave such house at once, as also in the end such town, and shake off the dust clinging to your feet, as a once powerful witness against it! (Matt. 10:14). For truly I say unto you: on judgment day in the other world once, the land of the Sodomites and Gommorrheans shall fare better than such city! (Matt. 10:15).
5
Behold, I send you out as sheep among rapacious wolves; hence be clever as serpents, yet without guile, as doves, which are a picture of gentleness.' (Matt. 10:16).
6
Says Judas thereto, 'Lord! Under such dubious circumstances we shall not get very far! Of what use some future judgment day in the spirit kingdom, on which no man believes! If we cannot or must not with divine power You assigned to us, impose as severe a judgment day as possible upon the rapacious wolf-men, then we might as well stay home. Because if we witness of You with even moderate loudness before such wolves, with which particularly the cities are teeming, we shall be seized, bound and dragged before the city halls and severely judged; and there, if judgment is not over-severe, they shall flog us in front of the Jews in the schools and finally make us free as the birds by thrusting us out of town. For such present truly I want to say thanks in advance. Of what use all cleverness, truth and fullest sincerity, where confronted by wilful power in its blind rage?
7
Where full truth and proper righteousness have an existence, for which contemporary mankind has not the slightest taste, there the Roman adage has to apply also for us: 'Let the world perish; but righteousness is to be practiced to the full. Let the true virtue always find its sure reward; let the lie, envy, avarice, guile and all unrighteousness however always find its most relentless punishment.' If we are to accomplish anything with the generally most wickedly depraved mankind, we have to proceed like the angels at Sodom and Gomorrah; he who hears and accepts us in Your name, let him be rewarded through Your grace; but let a plague come over him who shall not hear and accept us. But whoever wants to persecute us and haul us before a worldly court, let a consuming fire fall over him from heaven and do to him what it once did to the Sodomites!
8
If You oh Lord allowed us to act thus, we also shall work decidedly good results from our present mission. If however we are not allowed to proceed thus with the altogether depraved and ruined mankind, then all our efforts and work are for nothing. We shall in the end be stoned; and You Yourself, if it were possible, shall be killed and our countless enemies shall be walking over our bodies laughing and drunk with victory. And that shall be about all we shall achieve with all our untimely goodness, compliance and gentleness. In short, in order to achieve anything with Satan, one has to either be his complete master, or serve him as a slave.