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 59 -
The true adoration of God.
After the morning meal was consumed, the same Greek who did the most talking the previous night, came out to Lazarus and Raphael and wanted to immediately start talking; but he was so stunned by the beauty of the angel, that he stood there as mute as a stone statue and was not able to utter one word.
2
After a while of greatest amazement he said as if to himself: "Yes, yes, this is truly the Olympus where the gods reside! Had you not taught me yesterday that there was only one God, I would regard you, you most magnificent youth, infallibly for our god Apollo; but since according to your certainly very true statement there exists only one God, whose children you apparently are, you most marvellous youth are surely a very dear son of His. And since you are infallibly children of God and are immortal, as we believe that of the gods, allow us mortals to worship you, and graciously accept a sacrifice from us!"
3
The Greeks put their hands into the bags which they brought along, took out Roman gold pieces and wanted to lay them at the feet of the angel as a sacrifice.
4
But the angel said: "Dear friends, just put your gold back where you have taken it from! But see and listen, what I have to say to you! True gods do not allow people to worship them, nor do they take any material sacrifices from them. The gods wisest and dearest wish from the people of the world consists therein, that you should believe in the one, only true, eternal and almighty God and to love Him with all your life's strength and what you want your neighbour should do to you, do the same to him!
5
If you take this to heart, believe and act accordingly, then you thereby worship the one true God worthily and appropriately and bring Him the only true sacrifice which pleases Him. And if you people of the world will do this, then this one, true God will accept you just like us as His immortal children, and the might and power of death will leave your souls.
6
To worship with lips and sacrifices of all kinds has been only invented by evil and power-hungry priests and kings. They ask for sky-high veneration and demand mountainous sacrifices from the people, into whose ears they continuously shout that they are great sinners and therefore must bring large sacrifices to the gods, otherwise the gods would strike them with great and heavy plagues. But the evil priests do not do such things for the sake of the gods, but for their own sake, so that they become rich and powerful to enslave the poor and blind people even more.
7
However, the true God wants only that all people should love one another as brothers and should walk free and unenslaved on this earth and should by the mercy of the only true God become wiser and wiser in all things. Since you have heard it out of my mouth openly, faithfully and true, what the only true God wants from the people, take your gold back; because true people and the true God do not need these excrements of the earth.
8
Here the Greeks picked up their gold again and put it back in their bags.
9
But the spokesman said with a very friendly face: "O you God person worthy of my highest love, your words were true, soft, mild and sweet like honey, and we will also adhere to them! But since you do not want to accept any sacrifices from us, I don't understand, why you accept money from us for your of course excellent food and drink! Wherefore do you need money?"
10
Said the angel with a smile: "To satisfy you people is even for God not an easy task. Did you know already yesterday that we are children of God? No, you did not know that and regarded us as completely ordinary people, who get paid for the food and drink they serve. Since we knew that, we did what people do, and last night it took a lot talking and proof, until you changed your mind about us.
11
But since you now know whom you are dealing with, you have now eaten and drunk, and nobody has asked any money from you, nor will anybody.
12
See, this is the truth of the matter! With us only foreigners pay duty, the locals are free according to our old law. Foreign is everyone who does not know our God and His laws and is an idolater. But whoever believes in our one and only true God, knows His laws and believes in them and lives and acts accordingly, is a local and is with us true Jews exempt from paying duty or for his meals.
13
Of course there are many among us, who are Jews, but do not believe in God anymore and do not keep His laws, but only live and act according to their desires. They also demand duty and let people pay for their meals, locals as well as foreigners they are not seen and treated as locals anymore; by us but as foreigners. - Are you clear about this?"