The Great Gospel of John
Volume 7
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord on the Mount of Olives. (cont.) Gospel of John, Chapter 8
- Chapter 23 -
The Roman's question regarding the Messiah.
Said Agrikola: "Yes, my dear daughter of Jerusalem, for now not much can be said against such a statement; but the hour will come when you will think and talk completely differently about this marvellous Man.
2
As a Jew, have you never heard about a Messiah of Jews, who shall come to free His people from the gripping hands of tyranny of sin, which seriously threatens the whole world with everlasting destruction? Wouldn't it be possible that by coincidence this very marvellous Man is the promised Messiah of the Jews and at the same time of all people of the world? - What do you think of that?"
3
Said the Jewish girl: "O friend, such foretelling sounds very comforting, but all our prophecies are put in a such a manner that they firstly are not understood by the priests and so much less by us laymen! In the prophecies of the prophets everything is put so vaguely, that no person as we are can learn from it when such Messiah will come, what He will look like, what characteristics He will have and by which He can most quickly and easily be recognised.
4
Sometimes He is a child, sometimes a lamb, the lion of Judea, and again a high priest in eternity - as such according to the manner of Melchisedek -, a descendant of David, a king of the Jews without end, and so He is promised under different other names and meanings, so that finally nobody knows as what and in which human form, manner and dignity He will come in this world to us Jews.
5
By the way, I surely would not have anything against it, if this marvellous man over there were to be the true Messiah; but I really do not understand why our priests do having the fullest knowledge about it - for the sake of the people who foremost will believe them -, but it seems that they totally ignore this true Messiah! Since he was with you at the great city gate, when you argued with the senior cleric regarding my brother, and see, he apparently did not know him at all! Why is that?"
6
Said Agrikola: "The reason for that is that the temple clerics are too domineering and too acquisitive and do not care for anything else than their earthly good life in all things, as you have seen yourself. In order to achieve this, the temple clerics use all sorts of lies and fraudulent behaviour and are, as I have been convinced, enemies of all truth and as such also of every reality. They use the name of Moses and the other prophets in their mouths, but despise their teachings and laws; and in place of Moses and the prophets, they give to the people their selfish statues, by which they torture them, by encumbering them with all kinds of unnecessary sufferings and suppress them spiritually and physically.
7
But this our marvellous Man is love, truth and highest wisdom Himself and testifies about the great wickedness of the Pharisees, who pose themselves as priests and scribes to the people and as supposedly servants of God, - in whom they do not believe, and whom they do not know and also does not want to recognise -, they force the people to pay tribute to themselves beyond all measure and to almost formally worship them, and as such they oppose Him and does not want to know or hear anything about Him, what otherwise is clear as daylight.
8
I have convinced myself, a few days ago soon after my arrival, how they tried to stone Him when He was teaching in the temple, since He preached them the full truth. If you know that, then you will know the reason, why your temple clerics do not want to recognise this marvellous Man as the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world, - but is not relevant to the main issue; since if your temple clerics recognise this or not, He still remains that which He is according to the fullest truth. - Do you understand this, my lovely daughter, quite well?"
9
Said the Jewish girl: "O yes, I understand this quite well; you may be completely right! For them down there, Moses and Elias can come visibly down from the bright heavens and show to them their great atrocities and admonish them to true repentance, and bring them here and point to this marvellous man as the promised Messiah, they still would not believe those two greatest prophets, but would persecute and curse them! O, this is only a matter too well known to us! But let's end our conversation; since I sense that somebody else wants to also speak, and the marvellous man seems to have something on his mind, and we must pay great attention to it!"