The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Nahim in Judea
- Chapter 34 -
The difference of opinion about the personality of the Lord.
After these very sound, true words of the Greek, a Jew of this place who was a rabbi and leader of a synagogue said: "As a gentile who is not so well acquainted with our Scripture, you have indeed a good judgment and on many points it cannot be objected, but if you would be equally well acquainted with our Scripture as I am you surely would be of a somewhat different opinion. Look, every time when God used a pious person for the sake of the people, such a person could not act and speak differently than as he was driven by God's Spirit. One of our first 4 great prophets spoke almost each time to the people as if he was God Himself, about which he was oftentimes blamed by the Jews, but he could not speak and act differently than how he was urged by God's Spirit.
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An example of how he spoke will clarify the matter for you. The prophet that I mentioned, who is called Isaiah, says for instance immediately at the beginning of his 42nd chapter, where he probably already announced this Man who is filled with God's Spirit: 'Behold, this is My Helper. I set Him apart. And He is My chosen One, and My soul is well pleased with Him. I have given Him My Spirit. He will bring justice among the gentiles. He will not shout or cry out. His voice shall not be heard in the streets. He will not break the reed that is cracked, and He will not extinguish the smoldering wick. He will teach to keep justice truthfully. He will not be bad-tempered or cruel, so that He will bring justice on Earth.
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So do I, the Lord God, speak, who creates and expands Heaven, who makes the Earth and its vegetation, who gives breath to the people that lives on it, and the spirit to those who conform to it. I, the Lord, have called You with righteousness, I have taken You by the hand and have preserved You and have given You as a covenant among the people and as a Light for the gentiles. You will open the eyes of the blind and lead the prisoners out of their prisons, as well as those who are sitting in darkness in the dungeons. I, the Lord - that is My name - will give My honor to no one else, nor My glory to a human idol. Behold, what will come, I announce now in advance and I announce something new. Before it will happen I let you hear it.'
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Now look, my otherwise very wise Greek, in this manner God has once spoken through the mouth of a human being, so that one could think that the man Isaiah was actually God himself. But still, that was not so. And as it was during that time, so it is nowadays. Thus, this Man, who does miracles, is nothing else than the Helper who was predicted by the prophet, His chosen One for the salvation of also the gentiles, as He has just actively proven to you.
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Therefore, God will crown Him with the highest glory and make Him King over all nations on Earth, because He gave Him such great power as no man has ever possessed. But by that He is and remains still only a human being and He is not a God out of Himself and still less a human idol, of which you gentiles have already so many. He is a Helper of God, gifted with all imaginable power, a special chosen One, and therefore clearly God's most beloved.
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Look, this is how we Jews see it, who are very acquainted with the Scripture, but you, who are used to make a god out of every exceptional appearance, will take such a Man, who is filled with the Spirit of God, all too soon immediately for the true God because He has done signs before your eyes that most certainly can only be done by God. But still, He does such unheard-of miracles not out of His own human power, but only by the power of God's will, which has been given to Him for a time. This is how it is, and I am convinced that He will not give a different testimony about Himself."
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The Greek said on this: "You have now also spoken well, and you will also be right in many respects what concerns the worldly reason of men. But the prophet that you mentioned has also spoken differently in many of his chapters, which are not unknown to me, despite I am a gentile, and these could be more in favor of my opinion than yours."
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The rabbi said: "Then let hear what you know."
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The Greek said: "Good, how can in that respect the text be understood in which the prophet says: 'A Boy is born to us, a Son is given to us and He carries His rulership on His own shoulder. His name is: Wonderful, Counsel, Power, Hero, God, Eternity, Father, Prince of Peace'. How do you explain this testimony of the prophet?"
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On this the rabbi did not know what to answer, but said only something casual: "Well yes, that is also written in Isaiah, but in a lot of his predictions this prophet is very unclear and cannot be understood, and then it cannot be determined what he meant by that."
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The Greek said: "It is strange that you as a Jewish scribe want to give your conclusion in this manner while the born Child and the given Son, whose great name was openly spoken out by the prophet, is unmistakably standing here in person, in word and actions before us. As a Human Being who is visible to us He is also a Helper in whom God is most highly pleased because He certainly lives in all His fullness in Him. His body is only the Helper, but His soul is God from eternity. That body is surely a most high chosen One of God in whom He is most highly pleased. As a gentile, according to my natural intellect, I am practically standing closer to the truth than you with all your - according to your own testimony - unclear and incomprehensive knowledge of the Scripture."
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On this the rabbi said nothing at all anymore, became angry and left.
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But I said to My disciples who became also secretly angry with the blind rabbi: "There you can see another example of how the light will be taken away from the Jews and be given to the gentiles. These Greeks were only a couple of hours ago still convinced worshippers of idols, and now they are standing in the true light already much higher than the Jews who because of their knowledge of the Scripture have such high opinion of themselves. So be glad that it actually turned out this way. Truly, David's throne will be no more established among the Jews, but among the gentiles."
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Only at that moment the widow with her son fell right at My feet and said: "O Lord, Lord, only now my eyes are opening! You are the Messiah who is promised to us! O forgive us our blindness by which we could not recognize You immediately!"
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But I said to her: "Stand up from the ground, go home with your son and prepare an evening meal for us, for today we will stay in your inn. Although I already told you before, but do now immediately what I have commanded you."
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Then the woman stood up immediately and hurried home with her son while she was really overjoyed, and she started immediately with the preparation of a good evening meal which we surely needed.