The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 127 -
The fear of death.
1
(The Lord:) "The becoming to be of a thing, a being or even a person does always carry something joyful in it, but the visible disintegration and the dissolving, especially of a person, is only something sad, which fills the feelings of every person with melancholy.
2
But I ask and say: Yes, why so, if there is still a believe left in people about the immortality of the human soul?! The reason lies deeper than you might think. Foremost this sadness originates from the fear of death and afterwards still many others, which I cannot reveal to you all at once, in order not to confuse you in this and soon in something else.
3
Once a soul has been completely reborn and gone over in all true life activity, all sadness and all the empty fear of dying or passing away is of course something of the passed; but with souls who do not have reached the right degree of the inner life perfection yet, there always remains something of a sadness about their diseased next of kin and in themselves something of a fear about death, of which they in this world can only completely rid themselves, if their soul in their spirit and the spirit in it has grown up.
4
Just look at a properly spoiled child, if it has not been in time made used to more and more activity, what a terrible sad face it will make, if after the twelfth year it must perform a serious and continuous work, although within the boundaries of its strength! It starts to cry, becomes full of sadness, full of sullenness, full of annoyance and also full of rage against those who started to drive it to a continuous work.
5
Compare it with a child of the same age, which has been from its earliest youth kept busy with serious work according to its compatible strength! How joyful and with how much pleasure will such a child romp about the whole day, without becoming tired!
6
Just like a sluggish soul has a great fear about all serious and continuous work, from the same source originates the fear about death in the soul, yes even about a somewhat dangerous illness.
7
You also will have quite often experienced the opportunity, that quite diligent and very busy people by far does not have such a great fear about death, as those work-shy but nevertheless pleasure seeking and lascivious people; and this fear does not disappear, until such souls have taken up the serious job.
8
You of course think that this fear is only a result of the uncertainty of knowledge and recognition of the beyond. But I say to you all: Absolutely not, it is only the result of a deep rooted work shyness of the soul, and because the soul feels it secretly that with the removal of her body her further existence will be highly active, she is quite disconsolate about it and falls into a kind of fever, in which then also a kind of uncertainty about the future existence arises. - think about this a little and we will continue with this very important matter!"
9
Upon these My words, Mathael stands up and says: "If it is permitted, I want to add a word to this matter for the better understanding!"
10
Says I: "Just keep on talking what you know and how you understand it; since your knowledge and insight is standing on the best ground!"