The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 167 -
Peter asks for the disciples' reward.
Now also Simon Judah came to Me and he said: "Lord, we have left everything, and without any reservation we have followed You at the first call that You directed to us, and for that we have not ever asked any earthly indemnity from You, but since many things are now said here about the Kingdom of Heaven and about the eternal life, can You give us some assurance about what we can expect in the other life?"
2
I said: "Truly, there is no one who leaves his house or his parents or brothers, sisters, wife or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold in return, already during this time, and will reap in the future world the eternal life. If I say this to you as the One who has everything and can also do everything, giving whatever He has promised, then you can also believe Him. For you have now seen, gone through and experienced successively for almost 2 years now that I have never said one word which was left without result and unfulfilled.
3
Truly, I say to you all: this Earth, as it is now, and also this whole visible and also material sky will perish, and new creations will come instead of the old ones, but My words will remain forever, and consequently also the fullest accomplishment of all promises that were spoken out by Me.
4
Whoever believes in Me and does My will, will also have the eternal life, as I have said and have also shown you at many occasions, and that is why it is somewhat strange that you can ask Me once more what you will receive because of the fact that you have left everything and have followed Me."
5
Simon Judah said: "Lord, You certainly must have noticed that I did not ask this question so much for our sake, but rather for the sake of the people who are here, who still love the world very much and who can thus also hear by my question that we are the ones who have left everything and have followed You for the sake of the Kingdom of God."
6
I said: "If I would not have noticed this intention of yours, I would not have spoken the way I did. However, what I have said, I did no say it so much to you, who know My promises already for a long time, but rather to all men. And when you in the future will proclaim My gospel, then everything should be mentioned what has mainly happened here."
7
The disciples were satisfied with that, and we stood up to continue our trip.
8
However, the tax collector and also the others who were present asked Me if I at least would not like to stay overnight here, since the day was almost coming to an end.
9
But I said: "What you have savored here by My presence will also be savored by the people in your nearby village. However, in the spirit I also will stay with you when you think about Me with a living faith and the right love."
10
They all promised Me with all their heart, and on this I blessed them and then continued My way. When they wanted to give Me an escort unto the next village, which was certainly still 1 hour walking away from here, I refused it. And so they all remained here, and the whole night they talked about everything what had happened here.
11
Now someone - nota bene - could ask how it was possible that the inhabitants of that village, who also made pilgrimages to Jerusalem, did still not hear anything about Me, while My reputation had already gone out in almost the whole of the Jewish land and while Jerusalem was filled with My teaching and My deeds.
12
What concerns these places this is easy to explain, because all the inhabitants of these villages came seldom to Jerusalem, because most of them were very poor. And also the few rich people preferred to stay home instead of undertaking a trip to the expensive Jerusalem. For firstly they were afraid of the unnecessary expenses, and secondly they feared that during their absence they might be cheated, stolen or even robbed by the many poor.
13
And so for a few years none of the inhabitants of these villages came near Jerusalem, and also, since this road was not traveled by other travelers because it was really unsafe, My reputation in these villages was still not very spread - because these regions were still quite far away from Jerusalem, and besides, they were more inhabited by Greeks and Arabs than by Jews. And precisely for the fact that they did not know My teaching at all, made Me decide to go to and reveal Myself to them, for I mainly came into the world to search for those who were lost and to raise up those who laid down in the dust.
14
What I have faithfully and truly said here may serve as a clear answer to everyone who would ask how it was possible that during My time in the Jewish land, and even later, there still could be places that hardly or not at all knew anything about Me, while on the other hand My teaching became already well known during My earthly life even as far as Europe, Persia and even in India and Egypt.
15
These words are meant for the readers of this gospel that I have given now anew. Blessed is the one who will accept it into his heart, will give Me the honor, and will act accordingly.
16
And now, let us go back to our trip.