The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Jesaira
- Chapter 145 -
The humility of the workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
Now Peter said: "O lord and Master, we were actually not offended just now, and we will even be less offended since we realize now that we can never prevent what You, in all Your almightiness, do not want and wish to prevent. And what can still be done with Your continuous help, will also happen, for we always want to offer our life against the enemies of the truth. And before I fall, then, in case of need, 1.000 enemies of the truth and the life will fall. For we do not only want to be teachers in Your name, but also heroes, and with the word and the sword we want to fight against the adversaries and enemies of the truth. With Your name in our heart, and as our shield, we will conquer the whole world. But never leave us with Your mercy."
2
I said: "If you stay in Me, I will also stay in you. However, without Me you can do nothing.
3
And if you are with Me, and have done everything in My name, then say in yourselves: 'Look, o Lord, how we, while working in Your vineyard, are still standing before You as lazy and useless helpers.' For truly: he who exalts himself, will be humiliated, but he who humiliates himself, will be exalted.
4
Besides, you will call no one 'Lord', for only one is your Lord and Master, and this is I. Also, you will call no one 'Father', for only one is your Father, namely He who lives in Heaven. So you also should call no one good and holy, for only God is good and holy.
5
You are all brothers and sisters among each other. The one among you, who wants to be the first and the most important, should be the helper and servant of all. For in My Kingdom, the most humble, the minor and apparently the least, is actually the most important and the greatest in all wisdom and power.
6
Now you know what you should do and what you always have to heed in order to keep Me and My power and might in yourselves and work with it. Do it always in this way, then you will also stay in Me and I in you."
7
Now our skipper came to Me and said: "O, dear Lord and Master, You said that one should not call anyone 'father', because only God is the Father of all men. I can indeed see that You are completely right. Only, I do not know how I should understand what is written in the law of Moses and how it can be explained when Moses says: 'Honor your father and mother, so that you will live long and that it will go well with you on Earth.' Here Moses, the great and mighty prophet of Jehovah, calls the one who begets children, 'father'. And there is also: 'our father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob'. Now if we as children call our begetter 'father', are we then committing a sin against You, according to what You have said, o Lord?"
8
I said: "The word in itself is not important, but only its inner meaning. Therefore, children can without any problem call their begetter 'father', and the one who gave birth to them 'mother', because children cannot grasp the spirit of the word. But you can grasp now the inner spirit of the word, and know that the eternal supreme, pure love in My heart for you men, whom I educate to become My children and am eternally exalting them, is the only true Father. Thus, friend, understand well, only in this spiritual sense of the word you should call no one 'Father'.
9
Remember also, that every pure outer word, as well as a letter, is in itself dead and can awaken no one. Only the inner spirit in the word - whether it is spoken out or written down in letters - makes everyone alive who thinks, acts and lives according to its inner, living meaning. However, the one who only believes, acts and lives according to the outer meaning of the word, like the Pharisees, remains dead, like also the letter of the word in itself is dead. This to reassure you."
10
The fishermen and all the others thanked Me for this explanation that I added, and they thought deeply about everything I had said and explained to them here this morning still before sunrise.
11
As the sun rose now with a strong red color above the horizon, surrounded by rose light little clouds, which was a beautiful view, the innkeeper said: "Although such morning is a nice and beautiful view, it is a pity that after such rose colored morning there is almost never a rose colored evening that follows. Already of old it is said: 'Roses in the morning, dirt in the evening'. Lord and Master, will these morning roses bring us dirt this evening?"
12
I said: "As long as I am among you, you can leave out the old sayings of the astrologers, although they are indeed confirmed here and there, because the One who is Lord of the morning, is also Lord of the evening. If you have understood this, you do not have to be afraid for the dirt of the evening."
13
When I had said that to him, he became glad, for he was never a friend of dirty evenings.