The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 195 -
Explanation of a scripture by the Lord.
At this question of Mine and the previous revelation everyone opened wide their eyes and did not know what to answer. For the more they thought about it, the more confused their understanding and their mind became.
2
One of the two deputies made a remark after a while, saying, "High, wise friend! You seem to me to be very experienced in the Scriptures, although you are perhaps a Roman or a Greek. The highly mystical picture of the prophet Elijah that you described to us was extremely correct; but it has never been understood by anyone before now. It would be truly strange that a heathen should shed light on it to us Jews. But we ask you for it nonetheless; for I have already had some dubious points from the prophet Isaiah explained to me by a wise heathen from the east and had the most justified reason to be amazed about his deep wisdom. But here this seems to me to be a similar case. Therefore we all that are here ask you to explain this parable to us according to your opinion!"
3
I say, "Well then, so be it! But above all I must correct your mistake, that I am a heathen, for I am no heathen, but from My birth a Jew like you; now truly I am everything with everyone in order to win everyone for the Kingdom of Light, for the Kingdom of eternal truth! Whoever has ears, hear this, and whoever has eyes, see this now!
4
Elijah represents the pure soul of man, and the cave in which he was hiding the world and actually the flesh and the blood of man. The spirit speaking to Elijah, or to the human soul, is the Spirit of God with which the soul is to be united but cannot be as yet because Jehovah has not yet passed by the flesh- or world-cave.
5
The passing storm describes the time from old Adam until Noah, the fire - the time from Noah until these days.
6
But the time of the soft breeze before the cave of the prophet is now upon us, which will give every soul which has a good will the full redemption in the spirit and in all truth, and, nota bene, you also find yourselves now at the point of receiving the freedom of Elijah!
7
The ship which brought you here was also like a prophet's cave. It was at first at the mercy of the great force of the storm, and you were in great distress and fear; and when the storm drove you out to the bottomless sea, a thousand fold fire crackled around your small, frail world of rotting boards. But Jehovah was not in the fire, although He brought you with His arm (an angel) deliverance and preservation.
8
But now you are in the place where after the storm and fire the soft rustling goes past you. Who could possibly be in this soft rustling before you and close to you?"
9
Here the Persians are amazed beyond measure, and the representative says: "Strange, strange! This very picture is surprisingly like that ancient one of the prophet Elijah. Also our rescue was miraculous and that by no means in a small measure, and now on this hill I truly sense physically and morally that strange, mysterious rustling, of which the spirit said to the prophet that Jehovah had gone past in the same. What do you think, all my brothers and sisters? What do you think of this matter?"
10
The others say as if with one voice, "It seems just as miraculous to us as to you; but we will not reach the light on our own! Let this wise man speak for you and for us all!"
11
The deputy says, "Yes, that would certainly be the best thing to do; but one cannot immediately demand this or that in this place where Rome's highest rulers are staying and kings and princes, but instead we must first beg for the merciful permission to ask for something that we would like!"
12
I interrupt, "Friend that is not needed here at all! This is certainly a custom in Persia, but it shall always be far from us! Before God, My friend, a foolishly demeaning humility of the human soul is as much craziness as any other which occurs in paganism - all the more so a too great humility of a person before simply another person. Such a too bootlicking expression of humility of a person before another person only makes them both worse; the former, because he only feigns such humility and thereby pulls his neighbor to even greater arrogance, and the latter because he thereby really becomes more arrogant!
13
That humility which comes from pure love is a correct and true humility; for it observes and loves in its neighbor a brother as a brother, but makes neither itself nor the neighbor into a god, before whom one should fall on ones knees and worship.
14
Whatever you want or would like, demand it as a person from a person and as brother from your brother; but no person should crawl in the dust before another!
15
What God never demands from a person, all the less should a person demand it from his fellow man! That is also a correct wisdom in the fullest order of God; therefore observe it and act accordingly, and you will be pleasing before God and before man!
16
But now about something else again! So that you can understand the gentle breeze before the prophet's cave a little deeper as corresponding with this time, I will now give you another question, since you are still in a manner of speaking solid Jews."