The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First day in Sychar
- Chapter 42 -
Nathanael shines a light on the parables of the Sermon on the Mount. Correlation of the natural with the spiritual. The way to understanding the spiritual. Difference between God's Word and man's word.
Here the High Priest turns to Nathanael and says to him, 'Following your Master's direction, I now happen to turn to you. Will you, therefore, explain to me at least the most difficult point of the teaching of your master. But please do use only clear and pure words, for with a haze over a haze, a room cannot be illuminated. And now do speak.'
2
Replies Nathanael, 'Are you of such a closed mind that you cannot grasp a clearly given teaching in its true sense? Have not practically all the prophets predicted that Christ would open His mouth to speak to the people only in parables?'
3
Says the High Priest, 'Yes, you are right, that is how it is written.'
4
Continues Nathanael, 'Well, since you as one versed in the Scripture know that why then do you call the Lord a fool because according to the Scripture He opens His mouth in parables? You may, of course, implore the Lord for a light to help you understand them, but not call Him a fool if you do not understand His allegorical speech, since you are still ignorant in such divine matters.
5
Behold, all things in nature have their order and can exist only in their specific order. Thus have also the things of the spirit their specific order, beyond which they cannot exist nor be imagined or expressed in words. However, between the natural and the spiritual things, since the former have gone forth from the latter, there is and exists an exact correspondence which, of course, only the Lord knows in all detail.
6
Thus, when the Lord tells us - who are all still within the fixed order of natural existence - of purely spiritual things, He can do so only by using metaphors. To be able to understand these properly, we must strive to awaken our spirit through observing God's commandments. Once this awakening has taken place, openly then shall we understand all that the Lord has said and revealed in such a corresponding parable, and that is wherein his divine Word will for ever differ from our human word.
7
But now pay good attention. What the eye is to the natural man, is to the spirit the ability to view the divine and heavenly things, which alone suit the nature of the spirit for its most blessed, everlasting existence.
8
However, since the spirit, according to the most necessary divine order, has to be for a certain time imprisoned in the matter of the flesh of this world, so that it may become firm in its freedom and almost total independence of God without which it would never be able to see God, let alone exist in, beside and with God (but when the spirit is maturing within matter and becoming firm in freedom and independence of God, it is exposed to the quite unavoidable danger of being swallowed up by matter and perishing together with it, from which death an awakening to life in God is and must be extremely hard and painful) - the Lord said, not to the physical man, of course, but to the spiritual man: "If your eye offends you, tear it out and fling it away, for it is better to enter the heavens with one eye, than hell with both," which is to say as much as: If you find the light of the world too tempting, make an effort and turn away from such a light; which would draw you into the death of matter. Deprive yourself as spirit of the empty gratification that enjoyment of the world can offer and turn with your soul to the purely heavenly things, for it is better for you to enter the realm of eternal life without much worldly knowledge than be swallowed up by the death of matter - too worldly wise on the one hand and too little spiritually wise on the other hand.
9
If the Lord here spoke of two eyes, hands and feet, He thereby did not mean the two eyes and the two hands and feet of the body, but only the obviously dual ability of the spirit to see, act and progress. He does not warn the flesh, which has no life, but the spirit not to concern itself with the world, when it feels too much attracted to it. In that case it is better to enter eternal life without knowledge of the world than be in the end swallowed up by the necessary judgement of the world because of too much worldly knowledge.
10
The spirit shall, of course, also see the world and get to know it, but it shall not take pleasure in it. Once it begins to feel that the world attracts it, it should promptly turn away from the world as danger is already threatening. Behold, this necessary turning away is expressed by the corresponding picture of the tearing out of an eye and He who is able to give us such an appropriate metaphor must surely be well-versed in all man's spiritual and material circumstances. In my opinion, this could be possible only to Him through whose power, love and wisdom all things spiritual and material have been created. I think you will now have understood me and realise how flagrantly you have sinned against the One Who carries yours as well as all our lives in His almighty hand!'