The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 59 -
Good and bad qualities when reprimanding.
A third one from the party of twelve, who was called Bael, says, "Friends, let me say something for once! True, I normally speak little and prefer to hear something wise quite silently; but in all your speech very little wisdom has been seen until now. The young disciple is right in all seriousness when he makes fun of you very heartily; for I say to you too that you don't see the forest for the trees. Consider who we are and who the great party is; then thank God that we are still alive! We are pitiful, weak and quite worthless worms of the Earth, and this party consists of rulers before whom the whole Earth trembles; and we worms dare to exchange words with them in the most foolish way!? Why were you embarrassed, friend Suetal, that this high, miraculous and truly all-powerful youth just consumed eight fish before our eyes?! Are we not being fed for free then, and didn't we eat enough? I believe: Since we have now been satisfied more than enough, what more can we want? If the nature of this youth is so created so that he has to eat more than we starved rogues of the temple in order to be satisfied, we have no right to cast a critical eye on this! For firstly he didn't eat from our bag, and secondly it was extremely unseemly on your part to call him to question in this way! I beg you, become more astute! All the elements obey this disciple, and you speak to him as if he was your equal. Oh you truly foolish donkeys! He deserves our entire honor more than the prophets of old, for the sake of the spirit of God which moves through him, and you treat him like an equal of yours! When you have to enter the temple before the high priest, you shake in sheer awe; here there is a million times more than a thousand high priests on one spot, and you behave like a couple of the very greatest idiots! Tut, tut, you should be ashamed! Be silent, listen and learn something; only then speak to people who are less wise than you! But leave the divine disciple in peace; otherwise I will have to become rough with you in the name of all the other brothers who sit here at this table!"
2
Raphael says, "You spoke well, it is true, dear Bael, but such crude reprimands are never in order because they do not have love in the background, but a hidden arrogance. For when you reprimand your brothers so roughly, you burn with anger, become infuriated and you talk yourself into a rage and then you cannot do anything good; for grapes and figs do not grow from thorns and thistles, and no grass appears on a burnt patch for a long time.
3
If you want to lead your brothers, you must not grab them so tightly at the arm like a lion its prey, but as a mother hen leads her chicken, so you with your brothers; then you will be accepted by God because you acted according to the order from heaven.
4
First always test the power and strength of love, what they can do, and how far it extends! If it should be shown that in its softness little or nothing is achieved, only then cover the love with the clothing of full seriousness and thus lead your brother out of deepest love, holding him tightly until you have brought him onto the correct path! Once he is standing on it, then uncover your love and the brother will eternally remain your heavenly friend full of thanks! And that is better because it is in God"s order for eternity."
5
Bael opens his eyes wide at this reprimand, and Suetal and Ribar press Raphael"s hands in sheer joy; for they were well pleased to have found a representative of their human rights in this supposed young disciple.
6
But the young disciple says to them, "Friends, gratitude for a good service is good if it has a good reason; but if the reason is not fully good, yes, actually more bad than good, then all the rich gratitude is not a jot better than the reason itself!"
7
At this comment by Raphael Suetal and Ribar open their eyes wide, and Suetal asks Raphael, "But, dearest young friend, do tell us what you mean!? It seems to us that you are not at all satisfied with our gratitude!"
8
Raphael says, "You see, according to the order of God everything in a person must be in God"s full order. Pure love as the basis for all life just as in God, so also in a person, must shine out of every action. You are now grateful to me for reprimanding Bael, because his reprimand directed at you was not based on reasons of love, but of anger, which is a child of rage and revenge. Bael had clearly injured your pride and you were burning with anger in your hearts about it and you were cultivating the desire that Bael would be given a very rough reprimand for it. And you see, such a wish is the youngest child of the thirst for revenge which belongs only in hell! But now I forestalled your desire and showed him clearly the wickedness of his reprimand, and you both took joy in this and were thankful to me for it.
9
But your joy did not stem from the fact that I had brought brother Bael onto the correct path of the order of God, but because I dealt him a heavy blow on your behalf and in your opinion, whereby your thirst for revenge was slaked a little and you have another reason to reproach him in order to often slake your thirst for revenge. And you see, because your gratitude was based on such a reason, which is bad because there was no love in it, the gratitude itself cannot be good!
10
Oh, but if your gratitude is the fruit of a genuine heavenly joy that a somewhat confused brother has been put back on the correct path, then it is also a fruit of the order of heaven, which is called love, and is for this reason good.
11
If you want to be true children of God, as you have been called, any reason must never prompt you to commit an act which is not based in all its parts on pure love; there can be no trace of anger, a thirst for revenge or even the slightest gloating in your hearts, for that belongs in hell and not in heaven.
12
You see, if in your house a brother lay down severely ill in his body and was in great danger of death through the illness, whereby you could lose a dear brother causing great sadness, you would surely offer everything in order to help your brother from his suffering and to save him from the danger of death! What a joy would you have if your brother became better from hour to hour through your effort!
13
But if you feel such a joy over the physical improvement of your brother in yourself - how much more will you, as children of one and the same father in heaven, rejoice when a spiritually sick brother who is standing on the way to possible eternal destruction is healed again and given eternal life? Do you agree or not?"