The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 42 -
The right penance.
All of them said: "Yes, truly most wise Lord and Master. Thus the true and perfect penance is and remains the only real cure for the soul (sacramentum), and all the rest is nothing and has no value for life. This we all can see now well and very clear. But what do You, o Lord and Master, think about the strict penance in sack and ashes? Are the sack and ashes necessary for a strict penance?"
2
I said: "These are quite as unnecessary as it was unnecessary from your side to ask Me about this, since I have already told you clearly wherein the true and for Me valuable penance of a sinner consists. What kind of sanctification can a sack and ashes offer man for his soul? A sack and ashes were instituted by the elders as symbolic images under which the right penance has to be understood, because the sack stands for the outer humility and the ashes for the true inner humility of the soul. But only the carrying of a sack and the strewing of ashes on the head has given man quite as less sanctification as fasting and castigating. Like a soldier who creeps away in a safe hole out of fright and fear for the enemy instead of courageously accepting the fight against him, will most probably not be crowned with a crown of victory.
3
For this reason: away with sack and ashes, away with castigating and fasting, and away with the sacrificing of goats, and away with all the other temple sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins, for those do not have the least of value for life for Me. However, instead of this, one should display a firm and inflexible will for a true inner improvement of life, as well as a living love for God and fellowman, and the full faith in God and His incarnation in Me, for only this sanctifies man and makes the soul strong, giving him to live entirely in My Spirit that prevails in him.
4
Remain with this, and teach it also to all other nations, then you will save Me from sending the threatened judgment over all the heathens in later times. However, you should not shudder and tremble before the people, but with a good and courageous will you should proclaim to them openly the full godly seriousness of the truth. And even if you should not be able to oppose effectively and successfully all the heathens in a short time, the pure truth will very well be able to do that in future times. Because the great judgment over the kingdom of the lie that I have announced, consists in the victory of the truth. And that will not be a different truth than what I am proclaiming to you now.
5
During that time, I will again awaken men and even virgins who will be transmitting this truth out of My mouth as pure and as clear into their heart as I am proclaiming it to you now with My physical mouth, and that truth will be the mighty and relentless judge over all the blind heathens.
6
Thus, no more sack and ashes, but the full truth in everything and a firm will.
7
And so, My disciples and friends, I have spoken to you now fully clearly and not in images, and so you should also clearly understand and grasp it, more precisely through action, for knowledge alone is of little or no use at all for the soul. But whoever offers a real sacrifice through the action of the truth, will receive eternal life.
8
And now, tell Me once more if there is still a dark foolish thing bothering you, and if in full truth you have understood these clear words of Mine. However, I do not ask you this as if I should not know how and if all of you have understood all this, but I am only asking you this so that you also should ask in your heart how the truth is formed in you, because only this belongs to your own life. And now you can speak again."
9
All of them said as if with one mouth: "O Lord and Master, we have now all well understood everything that You have explained to us and we can also see the full truth of what has been said and what has been explained. Therefore, we also will execute it in course of time - in the first place for ourselves - and we will also announce it to the other people who are of good will. But nevertheless we strongly doubt if the many very blind people will joyfully accept this golden light truth as such. Because he who can see, will certainly always experience joy at the daybreak, but for completely blind ones the night and the day are nearly the same.
10
Yet, there are a great number of people who are completely blind in spirit and are only feeling happiness in the old mysterious ceremony, thinking that they are sinning against God - who they never knew - if they have to give up one or the other thing of the old customs, and consequently have to lay off the old man as an old, half decayed garment and have to put on a completely new garment.
11
With such people it will be difficult to talk to and to act, and this can be easily foreseen, for he who has not already walked on the way of many experiences and did not come to a clearer thinking, will therefore also not completely accept this shining truth as such into his heart. But because of the old rusted habit he will hold on to the ancient mystery. He will consider the old manners and customs as a religion that has to be supremely honored above everything else, and will finally consider these new, shining truths as heresies and will despise and persecute them. And so, it will become difficult to proclaim these shining truths to the very many blind ones and to persuade them that these are also valid for them.
12
So there is an old custom with the Jews according to which they have to make a confession in front of a priest, so that he can know his sins as well as his good works, weighs out the pro's and cons and compares them, with the help of which he can establish the penance and the sacrifices of purification for the atonement of the sins. Now the one who has shown himself in such a way to a priest, and furthermore has also done and accomplished that which was imposed by the priest will then consider himself as completely purified and justified before God. But if one will take a closer look at him, then he is and remains after such purification still completely the same incorrigible person, and until his next confession he not only commits the old sins again but often also a few new ones. And from this, it is clear that this old custom of purification is not only making the person not any better but often only worse than what he was before.
13
But if one would try to act against this old nonsense and to teach, he will have to flee if he does not want to be stoned. What do You, o Lord and Master, have to say on this?"