The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 17 -
Of the power of the Lord's Will and the freedom of the human soul.
1
(The Lord) "Look, you are the bearer of the whole Law, of all power and all strength of Rome for the whole of Asia and a part of Africa, and nonetheless it depends on My will to execute the criminals or to let them go, and you cannot do anything against My will.
2
So I could coerce by My will all the people of the world to do good things; but that would also be a judgment which would turn a free man into a machine.
3
But you are not a machine because you see that what you do through My word is completely within the order of God; and if you don't understand something, then you ask and act according to your understanding, and then there is no coercion from outside, but from inside, which is within the system of free life.
4
For if My will coerces you, then you are a bound slave, but if your own will moves you, then you are a free man; for your will now wants what your mind, as the light of your soul, recognizes as true and good! But it would be different with the world if it was forced to act according to My will; it would not recognize what is good and true and their actions would then be a like that of an animal and even worse. For the animal stands on such a level that a force which is implanted in its nature cannot do any further moral damage to its soul, because the soul of an animal cannot have anything to do with a free moral code; but the soul of a free person would suffer great damage through an inner mechanical force, because the animal side would go quite against its free moral nature.
5
Now, My dear Cyrenius, I hope you can see more than clearly from this why I keep away from those who persecute me as if I were fleeing, and go out of their way wherever and however possible, not to protect Me from their anger, but to keep them who are also My blind and foolish children from the eternal perdition.
6
But if I see that some people who persecute Me nevertheless have a better nature and can recognize the correct spiritual light and pure goodness, I do not flee from them, instead I let them come to me where they can be taught to recognize their night and their judgment and finally become people according to the order of God. You have just seen a living example in the thirty young but active persecutors of My feared person. Certainly I would not have had them brought here if I had not found their hearts to be suitable for Me when they were still far away.
7
The powers of nature were certainly forced by My will to bring them here; but their soul was not affected in any way through this. Now that they are here, they will be taught, their mind will become lighter, and they will then freely choose what is beneficial for their souls.
8
You see, it is now almost the time for the sun to send its rays out over the horizon and still it has not occurred to any of you to make any noise about a need to sleep! Why not? You see, because this is how I want it today! But that is no coercion of the soul, only a material need which must serve the soul longer than usual. I used such coercion on you and Myself mainly for the sake of the thirty, and none of you will be able to say that you are sleepy or tired. But for our vigilance we have saved thirty brothers twice over: physically and spiritually. Our effort and our vigilance are rewarded many times over and in the future will be rewarded even more; so an external coercion does no damage to any soul. But if I had forcibly dragged their souls into the light, they would have been nothing more than machines, and none of their actions would have had any more value than the action of a machine or a tool.
9
What use, for example, is a hatchet that chops well and a saw that cuts well? That is only useful to a person who has a free and knowledgeable awareness and knows how to tell the difference between what is of service, good and useful. Or what use is light to a blind man or a running track to the lame? It is only useful to someone who has a correct awareness of himself, the need, the use and the application.
10
The same applies to the spiritual light. The holy freedom of will of the people can and must not be touched by anyone; instead the light must be set in an open place where it can be noticed by everyone. Whoever wants to use it can do it without impediment; but whoever does not want to use it, he can leave it alone just as the light of the sun which brightens the day. But whoever wants to use it, may use it for work; but who wants to be lazy despite all the bright daylight of the sun, may do so and it does not damage the world at all. For the light does not compel any soul with free will for any action.
11
I have power enough to turn around your cognition and to make your free will into a bound beast of burden, and the beast will go around humbly as My All-powerfulness decides; but in itself it will be dead. But if I teach you and show you and give you the correct light, then you will be free and can accept the light or leave it. Do you understand that, My dear Cyrenius?"
12
He (Cyrenius) says, "Yes, now I understand that too and now I believe that I see the reason why You, oh Lord, have chosen the level of lowliness to teach all people about their true destiny and how they can achieve it. But in order that one should take on a more intensive belief and a clearer insight and conviction, You do all sorts of deeds which give Your words more weight and a more intensive light. And so everything happens through You for the true salvation of man in the greatest order, and Your behavior and conduct seem to me as if You had already decided this from eternity. Maybe I am mistaken in this, though I find that very hard to believe."
13
I say, "No, no, you are not mistaken in the least; for God"s order must be eternal! If it was not eternal it would not be an order or a truth; for a truth must always be a truth and must therefore have been planned for eternity. But now something quite different!"