The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Aphek
- Chapter 112 -
The reason for sicknesses.
Look at a person in this world who is physically in very good health. It is because that person is very healthy that he misuses his health by all kinds of excessive sensual pleasure and unnecessary powerful performances.
2
Although many real experienced men come to him and say: 'Friend, friend, do not misuse your health, for by such unnatural and unreasonable way of life you will soon and easily lose it, and once it is lost, no doctor and no medicine will be able to give it fully back to you, and you will stay a sick and suffering man for the rest of your life.' But the healthy man does not care about that and goes on with what he used to do.
3
After a few years, a serious physical sickness comes over him, and at first he is greatly angered because the sickness is very disturbing to him. He calls doctors, and they succeed to heal him, although not completely, but sufficiently to make it bearable. After his healing the doctors tell him very seriously: 'Friend, be reasonable now and do not go back to your old way of life, otherwise a sickness will come over you again, much worse than the one of which we barely were able to save you. And then it will be more difficult to help you than this time.'
4
The healed person follows this advice for some time, but then his lust comes up again. Again he lives contrary to the order of life, and although he already discovers clear warnings that he will become seriously sick again, he nevertheless does not care and continues to sin against his already weakened nature.
5
So by necessity he caught an even more serious sickness and is in terrible pain. The doctors come back again and try to heal him. But this time they do not succeed that easily, and they advice him to be patient, for since he did not listen to their advice, he must now blame himself that by his old thoughtlessness he now caught a much more serious and long lasting disease.
6
This person must now suffer for more than 1 year and becomes very weak and desperate. But after a year he feels a little better, and now he swears by everything that is holy to him that he will never again ignore the advice of the doctors and other intelligent and experienced men.
7
Yes, this second experience made this man much more reasonable and more careful, and he becomes stronger. But once he feels completely well again, he thinks within himself: 'O, if I only once will give myself an old pleasure, this will certainly not make any difference.' So he does it once, and this time he comes safely through it. And since he came safely through it this time, he thinks again: 'Well now, since nothing went wrong, it certainly will not harm me a second and a third time.' And so he sins a second, third and also a fourth time.
8
And look, the old sickness throws him on his bed again for a few years, and no doctor is capable anymore to help him as the first and the second time.
9
After 4 long years of terrible suffering, it becomes easier for him, more because he became used to the suffering than because of the medicines. And only now he realizes that his terrible suffering is a mercy from God by which he could be healed of all his carelessness, and by that he was able to make his soul more pure and more pleasing to God, because by the suffering of the body, the soul of man becomes more humble, more patient and more serious, and he becomes stronger to master the sensuality of the flesh.