The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 101 -
The weed among the wheat.
1
(The Lord:) "Yes, the earth will be ploughed anew and the purest seed will be strewn into the fresh furrows, and guardians will guard the field, - but nevertheless, I already see a lot of weed among the new wheat! How does this get under the wheat?
2
Yes behold, this is a sin among the guardians! They fell asleep when night came; since they thought and said: 'Who dares while we have the field surrounded?!' [mt.13,25] When the people were asleep, the enemy came and sowed weed between wheat and went away.
3
But when they slept, the enemy crept onto the field and quickly strewed an evil seed onto the field.
4
And when in the morning the guardians noticed, that a lot of weed appeared between the wheat, they of course hurried to the lord and said: 'Lord! The purest wheat as you has given it to us, we sowed it into the equally pure earth and guarded well the most beautiful field; but to what use was this all?! The enemy still came, somehow secretly without us knowing, and strewed a lot of weed among the wheat! Now it rises wildly! Should we remove it or should we let it grow?'
5
What will be the response of the lord to them? I say to you what he will say: 'While you were not awake during the time of the night, which is a life test for every person, it was easy for the prince of darkness to sow his weed between my wheat! Let both grow until the time of the new harvest; then we will say to the reapers: 'First collect the wheat and bring it to my barn, and after that also collect the weed and bind it in bundles and make a fire and burn all weed bundles, so that its seed does not get into the ground anew and make it impure!'
6
You now ask busily in your hearts and say: "Why, how so, how can one understand this?"
7
And I say to you that this can be understood quite easily. The field is like the hearts of the people of this earth; the purest wheat is my teaching; the plougher and sower am I now Myself and you with Me. The recruited guardians are also you and those who will be recruited in My name by you. I am the lord and My barns are My heavens. But Satan is the enemy, and his weed is the evil world with all its evil and deadly cravings. The newly recruited reapers are those messengers, which I will at the time awaken anew out of heaven and send them to collect the wheat and burn all the evil weed, so that it not that easily impurifies the field and the wheat in future. - Now, you will understand the true picture?
8
'Yes', you say, 'now we understand it! But You, o Lord, could with Your almightiness and Your all encompassing wisdom easily prevent it, if sometimes during the night of the life test sleep comes over us, that the enemy does not sow his evil seed among the purest wheat!'
9
And I say to that: 'My almightiness cannot have anything to do with that, where there should develop a free life in My children. I Myself cannot do more, than you yourself among each other. I give you the field, the plough, the wheat, and hire the reapers; but you work yourself! And if you work properly, and if you lack the necessary strength, by now you will know, that I will always equip you with that, if you request it from me in your heart, and you will be able to work well with new strength; but I can forever not work for you! And if I would do that, it would be of no use to your freedom and independence of your lives; then you would become pure machines, but forever not free, out of themselves living, thinking and acting people!'
10
From all this it must now be absolutely clear to you, that the mutual serving according to My teaching, is the main condition of all life! - Understand this quite well!"
11
Says Cyrenius: 'Lord, You the most true in eternity, there is no one equal to You! Your words are clear, are the truth and life! I only now start to live, and it appears to me, as if I had been woken from a very deep sleep. Thus, as You, o Lord, has spoken now, can only speak a God and not a person, since no man can know, what is in him and what makes him alive, and how he can fruitful cultivate life! We, o Lord, are now provided for and protected by You directly forever; but those who will come after us, will already, nevertheless their serving zeal, have to battle with all kind of weed on You field between the most marvellous wheat! But whatever is in my power, it will be not that easy for hell to sow its weed into the field, which You just have shown to us!
12
But now I want to hear from Your mouth, how hell and its prince will influence the people! How does they bring the weed on the field of the heavens?"