The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord on the Mount of Olives (John Chapter 8)
- Chapter 196 -
The Lord teaches in the temple. The opinions of the listening people
When the temple opened in the morning, I on time went with My disciples to temple and was thus one of the first to be there. And when the people saw that I went into the temple, they came in large crowds to Me and I sat down and started to teach them by parables, pictures and examples, as it often appears in the gospels.
2
I showed them the great love, goodness and justice of God the Father, and I also showed them of what actually constitutes the kingdom of God, which now have come close to them.
3
And many believed in Me.
4
And many said: "This is truly a great prophet, and we are quite surprised that the pharisees does not recognize it! At the same time He is in the highest degree unselfishly; since for the many he already provided so exceedingly great acts of relief according to our good knowledge, he never accepts any compensation from anybody, and it is certain that wherever he and his disciples have been cared and provided for with hospitality according to the old custom, the innkeeper always was provided in a miraculous manner with some act of relief, which always exceeded what he has received from the innkeeper by a thousand times. At the same time he is not prejudice and treats all people equally and if he now says: All of you who are labourious and laden, come to Me and I will refresh you, and you will find the right consolation of life and its true rest with Me!', we must believe it!
5
A person however, who speaks so wisely and heartedly and acts in the same way and performs great signs, is truly a prophet indeed, nevertheless from where he is coming from! And if the Messiah will be coming, the question arises if He will do greater signs! If He does not come with thunder, lightening and sulfur rain, the pharisees will just as little believe in Him than this one!"
6
Others who were even more faithful, said: "We do not have to wait for any other Messiah; since we regard Him already as the right one! For His words have power and life and His deeds are of a divine nature, and as such He is perfectly the right Messiah for us. Those who wait for someone else, should wait and deceive themselves!"
7
Again others said: "We are still standing too much under the rule of the pharisees and cannot do what we want. To what use is the truth and believe, for as long the pharisees have the power in their hands, and this now under the Romans more than ever before?!"
8
To that I said: "God Himself is the everlasting love and the truth Himself! Nothing in the world can make you free than only the truth. Who commits a sin, which always is a lie, is also a servant of sin and a slave of the other even greater sinners, who have no conscience and no love than for their own shameful I. However, who carries the truth in himself, is a mighty enemy of the lie and sin and is free; since nobody can lead him into sin. Therefore choose the truth and do not fear those, who can kill your body, but cannot do anything further to your souls; rather fear God, who can kill and destroy your soul and your body!
9
For the damage to your body God will one day repay you a thousand times; but for the damage to your soul God will never repay you. Because therefore God has given the soul a mind, reason, conscience and a free will and the law, so that she can assess what is good and bad, and she can, with her will, choose the one or the other. However, what she will choose, according to it she will judge herself, either for death or for life.
10
The Father in heaven wants, that you all should obtain the everlasting life, and has therefore send Me into this world. Therefore I say to you once more: Who believes in Me, will have the everlasting life; who, however, does not believe that I have been send by the Father to you, will loose his life which he so easily could have taken now. The Father in heaven loves Me, and also all who believe in Me, and I My self will give to him through the truth of My words the everlasting life!"
11
Here some said: "It is however strange, how this person speaks out of himself as if nearly putting himself equal to God. It surely is a true miracle, that today the pharisees can endure him for so long!"
12
Again others said: "He speaks free and openly, and we do not find anything unseemly in his words! He speaks openly the full truth, and the pharisees first have to search to find something against him!"
13
Again others said: "O, be concerned about something else; they soon will find something!"
14
Said a toll collector standing nearby: "O yes, with which they will leave the field again, as always! Long since these lacy dogs cannot find anything against this True One anymore!"
15
Thereupon there was quietness for a while and the pharisees became full of rage and thought about it how they could catch Me with a word or a legal phrase of Mine, so that they can accuse Me of anything untrue and say to the people: 'There look at your true prophet or your nice Messiah now! He now stands as a liar before you!' But despite their intense contemplation nothing really substantial could be found.