The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 16 -
The conditions for receiving wisdom.
After we all had physically strengthened ourselves, the captain asked for Kisjona and Philopold.
2
I said to him: "See the men here at My right side. The first one is Kisjona and the second is Philopold. You will often have the opportunity to speak with them. But I know about all the things you would like to speak with Philopold, for which it is however not the right opportunity and time now. So rather delay your intention until another time. You saw and learned a lot today to eliminate your old pagan superstition. Reflect on that, so that it will stay in your memory and in your heart, and that you will not lose it again when you soon will return again to your worldly things and activities.
3
What you and your companions came to know now, the men of the ancient times knew also, but when their descendants spent more and more time with the things of this world and became proud and were lusting for power they soon forgot the old wisdom, did not pay attention to it anymore and thought that it was not necessary anymore to know such things to sustain life. According to them it was sufficient when only certain wise men knew about it. The people on the other hand should only care about their flocks and their fields, gardens, pastures and prey hunting and not about the things at the sky. Look, because of that, the people and their leaders became dumb and blind, not only in these things but also in other things, and finally they fell into complete dark superstition - as this is still the case now - and they drew back from the truth and fled for its light.
4
In addition to all wisdom, man can also take care for what he needs for his body, but everyone should especially take care for what concerns his soul and the spirit of life in the soul and be concerned about that. For no one was set on this world for the sake of food, drink or for trying to be important, but for the life according to the order which God faithfully revealed to him, and this only for the purpose which God set before him.
5
Now that you have received here the since long lost truth concerning the things of Heaven, digest in your soul what you have received. Once you will have strengthened yourself in this you can look after something further with Philopold."
6
The captain said: "Yes, Lord and Master, You are right in all things. I realize now how many and great things I have received by Your mercy from this wonderful young man what concerns the visible sky. Once I will have ordered all that in myself and will also have made drawings of it - what I can do well - to teach others, I will look after further things."
7
I said: "You are right in this, but the best thing is mainly to search for the Kingdom of God and its justice in yourself by living and acting according to My teaching. The one who has found that in himself will truly also receive the rest as a free extra gift because the spirit in man is from God, and when this has become lord in man, it teaches the soul in 1 hour much more than what you can learn from even the most wise teachers on Earth in 1.000 years.
8
My Raphael, who is a completely pure spirit - what you can believe from Me and remember - has shown the 3 of you in what kind of short time he can teach you things which men with all their cleverness and with all their zeal and searching, investigating and thinking cannot know in more than 1.000 years in that kind of purity and truth. In this manner, a soul can learn from a spirit in 1 moment endlessly much more than men among each other with their natural reason. Remember this well and act accordingly."
9
The captain said: "Lord and Master, the basic principles of Your teaching are known to me. Namely that firstly one should believe in You and also recognize the one, only true God in You. Then to also love that recognized God as the best and most perfect eternal Being above all and one's fellowman as oneself, and that one should also observe and keep the commandments of Moses.
10
Well now, what concerns Your demands, these should be easy to keep, but Moses has prescribed a great number of laws, precepts and regulations which are firstly difficult to remember and to understand, and then also difficult to observe and to keep.
11
Must all those laws, precepts and regulations also be kept and faithfully observed by every person who wants to bring Your Spirit in himself to full rulership, and thus wants to receive Your Kingdom and its full justice?"
12
I said: "If you recognize in Me the one, only true God, believe in Him and actively love Him above all and your fellowman as yourself, then you have fulfilled by that also everything that Moses and all the prophets have taught. For concerning the duties of men in relation to God and each other they said with their many words nothing else than what I have told you in those few words.
13
But then it means that you as a Roman captain should not, on your own authority, immediately demand from someone like Ebal who blamelessly offended against your regulations that came from your blind zeal, such great fine in gold and silver that - with exception of Jerusalem and the temple - almost the whole of Palestine, Samaria and Galilee could not bring together. Because in such demand there is not one spark of neighborly love or justice of the Kingdom of God in man, for from such demand appears not even a spark of your Roman justice, and that demand gave evidence that you hardly know its basic principles.
14
If you want to live and act according to My teaching, you must in the future strictly change your sharp regulations which you made on your own authority, because with such regulations you still are very far away from true neighborly love, and thus from the Kingdom of God. And the knowledge that you now have from the Earth, the moon, the sun and the other planets will not exalt you in itself. For everything that you can see with your physical eyes in the great, visible space has only value for the Kingdom of God in man when it is also seen from that point of view and spiritually enlightened. In itself, as matter, it has no value for the whole man, but has only an extremely fleeing and transitory value for the body. That, My friend, I say to you, so that you would act accordingly."
15
The captain said: "Lord and Master, I thank You also for this very true and good advice that I certainly will also follow as far as this is possible for me. For the sake of the order I will have to look very strict, but in my heart it will look different. And I suppose that this will not be wrong in Your eyes, o Lord and Master?"
16
I said: "O not at all, but be only strict according to the real laws of Rome which show a lot of alleviations for certain small offences. A soft judge in this world will also be judged softly by Me in the other world, and the merciful person will also find mercy with Me. In short, with the same measure with which you measure, will also be measured to you."
17
The captain took this at heart, and now I said to all those present: "With this, a heavy work, of which I told you before during the midday meal, is well ended, and we count 3 new disciples. But since it is now already quite late at night, we will again give our limbs the necessary rest."
18
Then I stood up with a few disciples and I went to another room to rest, and so did also Mary and Jarah. However, the others remained seated and discussed with each other about Me, My teachings and deeds.