Chapter Seven THE FATHER AND I ARE ONE
The true food of everlasting life is the fulfillment of the father’s will and communion with him.
GIVE US OUR DAILY BREAD
In answer to the Jews’ demands for proof, Jesus says, “The truth of my teaching can be proven by the fact that I teach not from myself but from our common father. I teach what is good for the father of all people and therefore what is good for all people.
“Do what I say, keep the five commandments, and you will see that what I say is true. Keeping these five commandments will drive out all evil from the world and this will verify their truthfulness. The law of Moses teaches the fulfillment of people’s will, therefore it is full of contradictions; my teaching teaches us to fulfill the father’s will and therefore it leads all things toward unity.”
The Jews do not understand him and seek external evidences regarding whether or not he is the prophesied Christ. In response to this, he tells them, “Do not try and ascertain who I am and whether or not I am written of in your prophecies, but ponder my teaching concerning our common father. You do not have to believe in me as a person, just believe in the words that I speak in the name of the common father of all people. There can be no proofs of my teaching. It is light. And just as it is impossible to shine a light onto light itself, it is impossible to prove the truthfulness of truth. My teaching is light, and whoever is in the darkness should move toward it.”
But the Jews ask him again who he is, in terms of the flesh. He tells them, “I am what I have said to you from the beginning: a man, the son of the father of life. Only he who understands the same of himself will cease to be a slave and will become free. Just as how a slave will not always remain in his master’s household, but a son remains forever, likewise a person living as a slave to the flesh will not always remain in life, but a person who fulfills the father’s will through the spirit will always remain in life.
“In order to understand me, you should understand that my father is not like your father, the one that you call God. Your father is a God of the flesh, but my father is the spirit of life. Your father is a God of vengeance and a murderer of men, one who punishes people; whereas my father gives life. Therefore we are children of different fathers. I seek truth and you want to kill me for it, in order to appease your God. Whoever believes in my teaching will not see death.”
The Jews say, “How can a person not die if even the people who pleased God most, like Abraham, died? How can you say that you and those that believe in your teaching will not die?”
Jesus answered this by saying, “I am speaking of that same source of life which you call God and which is within people, I say that it has been, it is, and it will be, and that death does not exist for it. Any demands for proof of the truthfulness of my teaching are similar to people demanding evidence from a blind man on how and why he came to see the light.
“A healed blind man, remaining the same person that he was before, could only say that he was blind, but now he sees. Exactly this and nothing more can be said by the person who did not previously understand the meaning of life, but then suddenly came to comprehend it. Such a person would only say that he previously did not know true goodness in life, but now he knows it. Like the healed blind man, who says ‘I do not know anything about the correctness of the healing or the sinfulness of the healer, nor anything about some different, better healing. I know only one thing and that is that I was blind, but now I see,’ he cannot say anything about whether it is a correct teaching, whether the one who revealed it to him is a sinner, or whether there is some other, better goodness to be known. He will just say, ‘Before I did not see the meaning of life, but now I see it and I do not know anything more than this.’
“People will devote themselves to my teaching because it alone promises life to all. Just as the sheep follow their shepherd who gives them food and life, people accept my teaching because it gives life to all. And just as the sheep do not follow after the thieves that climb into the fold but scatter in every direction, people cannot believe in teachings of violence and punishment. The only good shepherds are the ones that are their own masters and love the sheep and give their lives for them, whereas the bad ones are hired workers that do not love the sheep. Teachers are the same; the only true teacher is the one who does not care for himself. My teaching is to not care for yourself but to give up your mortal life for the life of the spirit. I teach that, and I do it as well.”
The Jews still do not understand him and continue to seek external proofs as to whether or not he is the Christ and therefore whether or not to believe him. Jesus says to them, “You should believe in actions, not words. By the actions that I tell you to perform, you can understand whether or not I teach the truth. Do as I do, and do not get caught up in figuring out the words. I am the son of man—the same as the father. I am not the Christ, I am greater than Christ. I am the same as what you call God and what I call the father. And in your own scriptures it is said that God told people, ‘You are gods.’ In his spirit, every man is the son of the father. If he fulfills the father’s will, then he communes with the father. If I fulfill his will, then the father is within me and I am within the father.”
Jesus asks his students how they understand his teaching about the son of man. Simon Peter answers him, “Your teaching is based on the fact that you are the son of the God of life and that God is the life of the spirit residing within a person.”
And Jesus says to him, “This is not just true of me, but of all people. True life rests on this concept. For this life, there is no death.”
After this the Jews attempted to condemn Jesus to death, and Jesus went to Galilee to stay with his family. The Jewish holiday for the renewal of the tabernacle had arrived and Jesus’s brothers gathered to go to a celebration and they called Jesus to go with them.
They did not believe in his teaching and they said to him, “Now, you say that the Jewish way of worshipping God is incorrect, but that you know that the real way to worship God is with actions. If you really think that no one but you knows the true way to worship God, then come with us to the celebration. There will be lots of people, so you can then announce in front of everyone that the teachings of Moses are false. If everyone believes you, then your students will all see that you are correct. Otherwise, why hide? You say that our worship of God is false, that you know the true way to worship. If that is the case, you should demonstrate it for everyone.”
And Jesus said to them, “For you there is a special time and place to worship God, but for me there is no special time to worship God. I am working for God always and everywhere. And I demonstrate that very thing to people. I show them that their worship of God is false, and for that, they hate me.
“You go to the celebration and I will go when I feel like it.”
And his brothers left, but he stayed behind and only went later, arriving in the middle of the celebration. The Jews were bothered that he did not respect their holiday and did not attend it. And many argued about his teaching. Some said that he spoke the truth, and others said that he was just confusing the people.
In the middle of the celebration, Jesus entered the temple and began to teach the people that their worship of God was false, that God was not to be worshipped in temples and with offerings, but in spirit and in action, by keeping the five commandments. Everyone listened to him and they were amazed that he was versed in such wisdom, despite having no training.