The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞

The Lord and His adversaries

- Chapter 1 -

Disguised priests visit Lazarus.

When I just finished to speak out these words, a servant of Lazarus came into the dining-hall where we still were sitting cheerfully together, and he said to him that several strangers had arrived who wanted to speak with the owner of the inn.

Lazarus asked Me at once what he had to do.

I said: "You will stay here, just like we will do. Only Raphael and the 7 Egyptians will go outside and have a short conversation with the cunning Pharisees and scribes. Whatever they have to do and say, they know."

Raphael and the 7 Egyptians went immediately outside, and Raphael asked them severely what they were looking for.

Then a very hypocrite Pharisee said: "Young man, are you - who seem to be of good origin - send by Lazarus who we know and to whom we want to speak personally? It has become a strange custom here that when we want to speak with the lord of the house they send us instead a boy without beard. Just go to Lazarus and tell him that we, who want to speak with him, are certainly of a much higher rank in Jerusalem and in all the countries of the Jews than he is.

Raphael said: "If you are such big lords, then it surprises me really that you have disguised yourselves in the evening while it has already become dark and gone upon the Mount of Olives on which you have spoken out a ban. Does your curse not sound as follows: 'Whoever of the Jews will go upon this mountain at day or at night, will be cursed in body and soul'? When this is so, how could you then come up here yourselves to talk with the heretic Lazarus?"

The Pharisee said: "What do you understand of this, beardless boy? If we have the power of God to put with good motives a ban upon a region, then we also have the power to lift up the ban at least for ourselves when we want, because we are not under the law but above it, if we are what you think. Did you understand that?"

Raphael said: "Listen, if you think that you are above the law of God, then obviously you must be more than God Himself. Because God Himself always comply with the eternal laws of His order and never acts in contradiction to it, and therefore will also never abolish a law in order to for instance temporarily - when He would feel like it - act against the law.

However, if you think that you are powerful enough for it, then you must be standing far above God, because God Himself, as the initial law, exists and acts always within His law and consequently stands within and under His law. When God Himself is strictly observing this eternally, then who gave you the right to put yourselves above the law, to disguise yourselves, so that they should not recognize you and be seen how and when you are transgressing your own law? If you are lords over the law, then why this fear that the people should recognize you if you are acting in contradiction with your own laws?"

The very grumpy Pharisee said: "What do you, beardless boy, understand of these higher things about which only the priests of the temple have the right to judge in the name of God?"

Raphael said: "So, then why had Samuel already as a boy the right to speak with God and to judge about godly things?"

The Pharisee said: "Do you want to be more insolent by comparing yourself with Samuel?"

Raphael said: "Then how do you become more insolent by placing yourselves above the laws of God? Who gave you the right for this? Truly, I have a 1.000 times more the right to compare myself with Samuel than you do by putting yourselves above the laws of God.

But now I have enough of your foolishness. Give answer to my first question why you have come up here and what you want here, otherwise you will come to know me better and will come to the conclusion what is giving me the right on good and true grounds to compare myself with Samuel."

The Pharisee said: "This is a secret which we can entrust to nobody else except to Lazarus. Therefore, ask Lazarus outside for us, otherwise we will be compelled to use force to get into the house. Our request to Lazarus does not concern you at all, even if you would be a tenfold Samuel."

Raphael said: "What? You have a secret? What can be a secret if even the sparrows are proclaiming it from the roofs to everybody? I will tell your secret so that you can see that your supposed secret is no secret at all already for a long time.

Since those who were send out by you yesterday were not able to inform you where the by you so much hated prophet from Galilee is staying - and this for the very simple reason that they did not come back - you have decided in the counsel to take information from Lazarus who would perhaps be here and could know where the prophet might be. If Lazarus would not be here you wanted to bribe the innkeeper or another servant who could possibly give you the desired information. In that case you would send out immediately all loyal servants of the law in order to capture the prophet and also kill Him immediately.

Look, this is your praiseworthy secret, which is already known to us since long, and more especially to me, a great friend of the very exalted prophet. Say now truly and honestly if the matter is any different."

Then the Pharisee looked at Raphael in astonishment and said after awhile: "Who gives you, beardless boy, the right to make us suspicious? Firstly you do not know if we truly belong to the temple or if we are Jews, and secondly we say that we hardly know anything about your great prophet. It is true that here and there we have heard something about it, that a great magician is making sensation in the land of the Jews by His tricks and magic. However, if He is a friend or an enemy of the Jewish priests or if they are persecuting Him, this leaves us totally indifferent. We are salesmen and never interfere with such minor things. But if this is so, how can you accuse us of things about which we do not care?"

Raphael said: "So, because the water is already reaching unto your mouth, you even want to deny your rank. But against me and my 7 companions here it will be of no use to deny who and what you are. However, in order that you should perceive and understand better that you cannot disguise yourselves for us, I will take the liberty to rob you from your upper clothing, so that you certainly will not be able to deny anymore that you have indeed the qualities that I have pointed out to you."

Then the Pharisees grabbed their upper clothing, but this was of no use because Raphael commanded it in his will, and at once the temple servants stood in the well-known priest's clothing and they wanted to run away. But the 7 Egyptians were quick, blocked their way and made them understand that they had to stay and not move one step to try to escape. If they would not obey this desire, it would go wrong with them.

In order to make a greater impression on the now very scared Pharisees, they pointed to 3 great lions that were lying a little down along the way and were behaving furiously. This method worked and the Pharisees - 10 altogether - started to beg Raphael for forgiveness and admitted at once now why they were on the Mount of Olives and said also that he had said the truth.

While they stood there in great fear, Raphael said to them: "Tell me now: who of all the people can be more wicked than you? You want to be servants of God but you are servants of Hell. Which devil has begotten you? The great Master from Nazareth has proven to you with words and deeds, clearer as the sun, that He is the promised Messiah, and as such, also the only Lord of Heaven and Earth - just like it has been predicted of Him through the mouth of the prophets. You do not believe in it, but also, with anger and eagerness you persecute the Lord of Heaven and Earth. O you powerless fools. What do you want to accomplish against the might of the Almighty who can destroy you with the least of thoughts or can cast your wicked souls into Hell, which you have deserved already for a long time? What do you miserable people want to do now?"

Another Pharisee said: "Listen, young wise orator, we ask you now only to let us go unharmed back to town again, and we give you the full assurance that we, who are here now, will never more in the least take part in the persecution of the wonderful prophet from Galilee. Yes, we even as much as possible will dissuade others from doing it. However, if we will be able to bring our colleagues to more kindness with respect to the performer of wonders, that we can of course not guarantee. However we can assure you that we will do our utmost best to temper the persecution anger of our colleagues. Because we have experienced now and have convinced ourselves that our blind persecution of the Galilean is one of the greatest follies, which can lead to nothing else except to our ruin. And therefore we will also do what we have promised here. But let us now - as we have already asked before - reach the city unharmed."

Then Raphael said: "Very well then. You can leave again, and you will suffer no harm, but woe to the one of you who will brake his word that was given to me. For think about it, that God's power, wisdom, omnipotence and earnest are infinite, and a weak mortal human being cannot and will not accomplish anything in eternity against God and His ways.

You can see and understand that the works, which the Anointed of God is accomplishing for the people are of such a nature that only God can bring them about. And you also will realize that God Himself is working closely united with the prophet from Galilee who is so hated by you, and that it would be more than foolish to resist against the decrees of God.

Tell this also to your wicked and blind colleagues. They can increase their anger against Him to such a measure that they - because He is allowing it - will lay hands on Him and will kill Him. However, with this they will have accomplished nothing else except to speed up their judgment over themselves and over the whole of Jerusalem. He can however not be killed because He is Live Himself, and He will continue to live and will bring the whole of humanity of this Earth to justice. Blessed is the one who believes in Him and will search only that which is pleasing to Him and will search His friendship.

Now you know what you have to do, and you can leave now if you wish. However, if you first want to speak some wise words with Lazarus, then this will now also be allowed to you."

A Pharisee said: "If he is here I gladly would like to speak with him, but about something completely different from that of which we wanted to ask him initially. Because you have made it very clear to us why we have come here. But this will be no more the case now. It will be about a much different subject. So it would be very pleasing to us if we could speak a word with Lazarus now."

Then I said to Lazarus in the hall: "Now you can go outside and have a good discussion with the very frightened Pharisees, but do not mention anything about where I am staying."

Footnotes