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 78 -
Report of the valley innkeeper on the events in the temple.
After a little while the two disciples with the other two other men came to us. The one was the innkeeper from the valley which we already met before. He is the neighbor of Lazarus near Bethany, where I have stayed a few times before, and the second man was a good friend of his, also an innkeeper but from near Bethlehem, who owned the large inn alongside the main military road, where I also have stayed once and had cured many sick people.
2
The two disciples were Thomas and Judas Iscariot. The latter immediately wanted to tell us in all detail what had happened in the temple.
3
However, I reprimanded him and said: "Speak only then, if I ask you to do so; since until now I am still the Lord and Master of all of you, who surely knows best, whom he will select from the four of you to give him the task to narrate for the sake of the people!"
4
After this rebuke Judas stepped back a little and said a little crustily to Thomas: "I knew it beforehand that I will be pushed back again!"
5
Said Thomas: "I have told you already on the way that you should not try to push yourself forward! Do you still not know from a thousand teachings from the Lord, that only he who always and everywhere tries to humble himself, has any standing with the Lord? I did not push myself forward and have therefore not be reprimanded by the Lord. Listen for a change! There are another two men with us, who observed and listened to everything that happened in the temple before we arrived. Thus they know more than we do, and for the sake of the people the Lord will ask them to tell everything, and perhaps we will be asked to give testimony if this is in any way necessary. Let us therefore go quietly back to our previous places and have a look at the surrounding; because there are a thousand things to observe from which one can learn quite a lot for oneself!"
6
For once Judas Iscariot was content with this rebuke from Thomas and sat quietly in his old place and Thomas did likewise.
7
I now turned to the innkeeper of the valley near Bethany and said to him: "Now, friend, tell us for the sake of the people what you have experienced in the temple; since you were with many from your village in the temple even before sunrise! What do the temple clerics say about the signs which could be seen last night, what do the people say about them, and what do you yourself say about it?"
8
Said the innkeeper: "Lord and Master! I was in fact in the temple before sunrise, very much so about the appearances which took place last night, which were so extraordinary that no Jew and no gentile has ever seen anything like it. If only I could have known that You were still staying in Jerusalem, in particular here on the Mount of Olives, I and this friend of mine who also knows You, would have, come directly here, even during the appearance at night, instead of going to the temple. This my friend stayed the night with me and wanted to return to his house this morning - he came from Galilee where he conducted business dealings -; but the sudden appearing phenomena at night hampered his forward journey and we went up to Jerusalem, to possibly get some light about it. When we came hastily to the temple, there was such a noisy confusion, that one was no longer able to hear ones own voice.
9
One after the other the priests came to the large preacher chair and started to explain this and that; but the people soon recognizing the nonsense, did not wanted to hear anything further from the preacher and asked for someone else.
10
In the beginning the people listen quietly; but as soon as he started to speak about penance and large sacrifices the people became indignantly and said: 'You always shift your crude sins to us the poor people, - and we, if it is necessary, always become your scapegoats! How many sacrifices did we not have given to the temple! Which ghastly penances did we not have to perform already, and you say to us that Jehovah will look at His people with friendly, merciful eyes! In this night, however, we have seen His friendliness only too well, and it became only to clear to us, that all the sacrifices we brought to the temple and all our bloody works of penances were all in vain, and we are not guessing anymore, but it is an apparent truth before us, that all our sacrifices and all the works of penance performed by us, because they were too ludicrous and were surpassing all the statues of Moses, only fanned God's just rage instead of calming it. And this is not so much our, but rather to a far greater extend your, the priests' fault, since you, because of your too great priestly lust for power, have led us to commit too many infamies and atrocities, by saying to us: 'If you do this or that, you immediately will go to heaven!' And by so doing you are the only ones who fanned the rage of God, and not us who unfortunately always faithfully kept to the word which you have taught us, and always have done what you have asked us to do. It is now your turn to make large sacrifices and perform a just penance for all the many sins which you have committed against us and against the many prophets send by God, then God will take care of us again. So, this is the opinion of the people!"