The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Jericho
- Chapter 10 -
The Greek asks the Lord a question about the history of creation.
While our harp player was eating very modestly, the disciples were very impressed and were really surprised about his wise words.
2
But I said to them: "Why are you so surprised about the understanding of our singer? Have you never heard that God gives also understanding to whom He has given a certain task to His honor? I say to you: the task of this singer is on this Earth really not one of the least, because by the great warmth of his singing and string music he softens the hard hearts in which the Word and the eternal truth can then more easily penetrate.
3
When Saul heard the harp of David, his heart of stone became soft and the evil spirit left him, and therefore it is written in the Scripture: 'Glorify God the Lord with psalms, with a clear voice and well tuned harps.' You should look upon the harp player and singer as someone like John."
4
With these words the disciples were completely satisfied and they understood the cause of the wise words of the harp player.
5
But the gentiles could not understand the words of the psalm and they said among each other: "Too bad about that artist. If he, with his divine clear voice would sing as a second Orpheus before our gods, as Homer describes it, then he would be idolized in Athens and Rome and gather great treasures."
6
After a few more of such less than meaningless discussions, the same stranger to whom I just before had given an advice for his stomach, stood up, came to our table and said, after he had once more highly praised the singer: "Forgive me if I am maybe disturbing you, but since we came across one another as guests in this hall and have really no reason to treat one another as enemies, let us also permit on both sides at this unexpected great opportunity to exchange a few kind words. Because whether we are gentiles and you Jews, does with me absolutely not diminish our real human value, and you seem to share my opinion and philosophy of life concerning this."
7
I said: "Friend, to Me everyone can freely say what he thinks, and so you and your companions also. Thus, speak freely if you have something to say."
8
The Greek said: "We Greeks, who are experienced and civilized citizens of the world, already for a long time do no longer care about all our fantasy gods, and the higher class Jews possibly also do not attach more importance to their temple of the one God than we Greeks and Romans to our polytheistic temples. This harp player and singer sang a psalm - which is not unknown to me - of the former king of the Jews who was the second of series of kings of your people and was named David. The poetry is full of hidden divine wisdom, but that which seems to come forward is that the great, mighty, courageous and also victorious king who worshipped one God, wanted to conquer all gentiles to convert them also to his belief, because that would greatly have made his rulership easier and would have greatly increased his reputation with all the nations. But whether he himself seriously followed the one God, as his poems seem to indicate, is a totally different question. Maybe yes, but by the many things which he did, we also could believe the opposite. But anyway, David was and remains a great and very memorable man in every good respect, and the Earth will surely not have many kings like him to boast about, and I only can praise the singer for the fact that he as a strict believing Jew has made the psalms of that great king the subject of his music and singing performances. But despite all his excellence he is nevertheless somewhat one-sided because he only is a singer of David. If he, just like Orpheus would like to and could sing also the sacred songs of our old poets, and would as such like to come to Athens and Rome - as I already made that remark before - he could gather great treasures. However, now we will leave this aside and come to the main point.
9
Among other things, in the psalm there was especially one sentence that attracted my attention, and it sounded like this: 'All gods of all nations are dead idols, but the Lord (thus the one, living God of the Jews) has made Heaven and Earth'. Please tell me if this is indeed according to the full truth that can be proven. Because we gentiles assume that before the Earth and the heaven was completely developed, a chaotic substance was present, out of which certain more or less intelligent powers - which we do not know and which were later transformed into idols by the inventive people - have progressively formed the Earth with everything that it carries and which has also formed the heaven. However, you let everything be created out of nothing in 6 days or periods of time by one God. Now what is true? A lot of people in all parts of the Earth, who are known to us from far and wide, believe the same as we do, with little differences, and also already the oldest Egyptians have believed it as a nearly provable truth. However, you are standing away from our belief as far as heaven is from the Earth. Now who is right, and who of the two has the truth? If you can prove the truth of your teaching, then I and all my companions will abandon our belief and will become Jews, but otherwise we will remain what we are and will also not ever ask the singer to come to Athens or Rome."