The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
At the Sea of Galilee (John 6)
- Chapter 118 -
The guilt of the raft lords.
1
(The Lord:) "Now I ask you My friends, and say: Under such circumstances, did the workers acted right or wrong towards their employer?"
2
Said the eight raft-lords: "Yes, yes, under such conditions the workers had an in all nature well-founded right! For this we also acknowledge that every person with some reason and some intelligence must have without restriction the right to pick and to collect, since he is placed on the surface of this earth and is therefore entitled to food and a scanty dwelling. However, alongside no other person should have such right to take away from the picker and collector what he has picked and collected!"
3
Said I: "Did the rich man himself have picked and collected? O no! This was done by his workers who were people as good as he himself! If they have worked, picked and collected on his behalf and thus have transferred their good personal right for the promised remuneration to them, but when he kept the promised wage from them and on top of it also tyrannised them, they finally had the full right to demand and take their property from him for whom they have picked and collected.
4
Admittedly, if for example A has picked and collected diligently and build up a stock for himself, the sluggish B has no right to lay his hands on the stock of the diligent A. But in My parable the rich man is the sluggish B, and the workers are the diligent A. If so, they also have the right, if no other remuneration is given to them for their troubles and work, to demand back their property from the wrongful owner."
5
Said the rich raft-lords: "In this case without the slightest reservation; but then no monarch has the right to demand all kinds of taxes from us! Since he also does not work and does not pick nor collects, and if we subjects would be stronger than his guards, we also could take away from him what according to right of nature is our property!"
6
Said I: "O, in that you are quite mistaken! With a ruler it is quite different; for he is just a highest and general chairman of a society and has from all societies the crowned right, to care for their inner order and security, and by that also holds the sceptre of power and the sword of law and general right. He must not only keep and post many guards for himself but for all the many societies, for whose necessary maintenance he cannot pick and collect alone with his hands.
7
However, since the laws, the judges and the many guards are mainly maintained for the benefit of the societies, the societies have to willingly and readily contribute, that the monarch always has the necessary funds to arrange and build what is beneficial to the societies. And therefore your taxes and fees are a fair matter.
8
Only then, when a tyrannical ruler imposes too heavy and wilful extortions onto the societies, also they would have the right to remove such tyrant from the throne. The societies had the right from the beginning, to chose a king for themselves and to equip him with all necessary powers, strength and authority. What they had in the very beginning, they still have today.
9
However, it is nevertheless better for every society, to also tolerate a tyrant for some time than to engage in a war with him; for tyrants are normally admitted by God as a scourge, to remind societies, who for a long time already had forgotten about a true God, that there still exist an all-wise and almighty God, who in the end can still help every nation in distress, if they in all seriousness turn begging and believingly to Him for help. - See, this is how things stand! But since you now have heard such from Me, judge for yourself what we should be doing with these twenty-four thieves!"
10
Said the eight raft-lords: "Yes, according to law they have to be punished exemplarily!"
11
Said I: "Quite right; but what should happen to them, once they have served their sentence?"
12
Said the raft-lords: "Now, one then should ban them from the country or sell them as slaves to Africa or Europe!"
13
Said I: "So! I say to you, as people you do not think badly, but since you think like that, I still have to tell you something special.
14
See, these thieves, who already for some time now carry on with their not praiseworthy craft, were five years ago still your workers and served you according to strength and ability quite well! But how did you kept your promise to them? After every work completed you had nothing else to do than strenuously look for shortcomings in their work. Even if you did not find any, you still made them up and made considerable deductions from their wages or withheld their wages altogether.
15
Who gave you the right to force these people to work for you, to pick and to collect for you and thereby rob them of their personal free human right?!
16
When they saw that your behaviour towards them was extremely unfair, they obviously had to think about another means, namely such where they could get compensation from you and several others for their robbed rights! They could not take it by force since you were the more powerful; hence they had to turn thieve's cunningness. Until now they completely got away with it and would also gotten away this time if it wasn't for Me.
17
But I tell you something else: These thieves had a natural right to compensate themselves from you; but they nevertheless did wrong by such their actions, because they could have demanded this from you along the lawful legal way, and this quite easily so since the Roman judge is a strict juridical man, who can be bribed by nothing else than the dry law. But you have absolutely no right to judge them while you are still largely indebted to them! You still owe them wages to the value of many hundred such rafts in Serrhe; therefore pay them first such remuneration, - and then judge them, should they ever touch your goods again!
18
But for now I give these thieves no other punishment then this: Do not steal anything from anybody anymore and be free, honest and active people! However do not go back to Lacotena anymore but stay here in this village and you will find work for your wives and children in abundance! - But you raft-lords have to see to it to pay the arrear wages to these your servants and bring their wives and children well-cared for to this village! And as such you can take possession of your rafts! But this My judgement must be followed very precisely by you, otherwise you could be treated quite badly by Me!"
19
When the raft-lords heard such, they were quite astounded but nevertheless promised to fully comply with My judgement.
20
Thereupon I asked Jored to provide the twenty-four thieves with good shelter and food; but the eight had to pay him adequately for what they need. After that we again went into the house where the well prepared fish were waiting for us.