And Jesus, having heard that they were amazed by his wisdom, said to them, “My teaching is not my own, but his who sent me. If anyone wants to fulfill the will of that spirit that sent us into life, he will realize that I did not invent this, but that it is teaching from God. Because he who invents things from his own thoughts seeks out what is in his own mind, but he that seeks what is in the mind of the one who sent him is just. There is no falseness in him.
“Your law of Moses is not the law of the father and because of that, those who follow it are not keeping the father’s law, they are committing evil and lies. I teach you only to fulfill the father’s will and in my teaching there can be no contradictions. But your written law of Moses is completely full of contradictions. Do not base your judgments on the exterior, but base your judgments on the spirit.”
And many said, “But they just told us that he is a false prophet. And here he is, criticizing the law, and no one is saying anything to him. Maybe he actually is a true prophet, maybe the leaders have recognized him. There is only one thing that we cannot believe about him, because it is said that when God’s messenger comes, no one will know where he is from. But we know where he is from by birth, and we know all of his relatives.”
The people still did not understand his teaching and they still sought proof.
Then Jesus said to them, “You know me and where I am from according to the flesh, but you do not know where I am from according to the spirit. The one whom I come from, according to the spirit, is the only one you should know, but you do not know him. If I said that I am the Christ, you would be believing in me as a man, and not in the father, who is within me and within you. And the father is the only one you should believe in.
“I am not here among you for a long period of my life. I show you the path to that source of life from which I emerged. Yet you asked for evidence from me and you want to condemn me. If you do not know this path now, then when I am no longer here you will not be able to find it. You should not be condemning me, you should be following me.
“Whoever does what I teach will find out whether what I’m telling you is true. The one for whom mortal life has not become food for the spirit does not seek truth, like the thirsty man seeking water, and such a person cannot understand me. The one who thirsts for truth, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in my teaching will receive true life. He will receive the life of the spirit.”
And many came to believe in his teaching and said, “What he says is true and it comes from God.”
Others did not understand him and still sought in the prophecies to find evidence that he was from God. And many argued with him, but no one could challenge him. The educated orthodox sent their assistants to contend with him.
But their assistants returned to the orthodox bishops and said, “We cannot get anywhere with him.”
And the bishops said, “Why did you not confound him?”
And they answered, “No man has ever spoken like he does.”
Then the orthodox said, “The fact that he cannot be challenged and that the people all believe his teaching means nothing. We do not believe and none of the leaders believe. But these damned people have always been stupid and untrained; they believe anyone.”
And Nicodemus, the one to whom Jesus has explained his teaching, said to the bishops, “You cannot condemn the man without having listened to him and without having understood what he is trying to accomplish.”
And they said to him, “There is nothing to judge or listen to. We know that no prophet could possibly come from Galilee.”
At another time, Jesus spoke with the orthodox and said to them, “There can be no proofs of the truthfulness of my teaching, just as light cannot be shined on light. My teaching is the true light that people can see by and that demonstrates what is good and what is bad. Therefore it is impossible to prove my teaching. It proves everything else. Whoever follows me will not be in the darkness but will have life. Life and light are one and the same.”
But the orthodox said, “You are the only one that says so.”
And he answered them, “If I am the only one that says so, then all the same it is my truth because I know where I came from and where I am going. According to my teaching there is a meaning of life, according to yours there is not. Besides, I do not teach this alone, but my father, the spirit, teaches the same.”
They said, “Where is your father?”
He said, “You do not understand my teaching, so you do not know my father. You do not know where you are from and where you are going. I am guiding you, but instead of following me, you are trying to ascertain who I am, therefore you cannot come to that salvation and life toward which I am guiding you. And you will perish if you remain in this delusion and do not follow after me.”
And the Jews asked, “Who are you?”
He said, “From the very beginning, I have said: I am the son of man, recognizing the spirit as my father; and I tell the world what I have understood from the father. And when you glorify the son of man, then you will find out what I am because I act and speak not for myself as a man. All that I say and all that I teach are just what the father has taught me. And he who sent me is always with me, and the father will not abandon me because I do his will.
“Whoever holds to my knowledge, whoever fulfills the will of the father, will be truly taught by me. In order to know truth, one must do good to people. Whoever does evil to people loves darkness and moves toward that; whoever does good to people moves toward light. And therefore, in order to understand my teaching, one must perform acts of goodness. Whoever does good will come to know truth; he will be free from evil and death. Because everyone who is deceived becomes a slave to their own delusion.
“But just as the slave does not live in the master’s house indefinitely, whereas the master’s son always remains in the household, likewise a man, if he has become deceived in life and becomes a slave to his delusions, will not live indefinitely, but will die. Only the one who is in the truth will remain living indefinitely. The truth is to be found not in being a slave, but in being a son. And so, if you are deceived, you will be slaves and will die. But if you are in the truth, then you will be free sons, and you will live.
“You say to yourselves that you are the sons of Abraham, that you know the truth. But here, you want to kill me because you do not understand my teaching. So it turns out that I speak what I have understood from my father and you want to do what you have understood from your father.”
They said, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were the sons of Abraham, you would perform the same actions he performed. But here, you want to kill me because I told you what I have understood from God. Abraham did not do that. So it would seem that you aren’t serving God, but you are serving some other father of yours.”
They said to him, “We are not bastards, we are all children of one father, we are all God’s.”
And Jesus said to them, “If your father were the same as mine, then you would love me, because I come from the father. After all, I did not give birth to myself. You are not children of the same father as I am, and because of that you do not understand my words, my knowledge finds no place within you. If I come from the father, and you come from that same father, then you could not desire to kill me. If you desire to kill me, then we are not from the same father.
“I am from the father of goodness, from God, and you are from the devil, from the father of evil. You desire the lusts of your father the devil; he has always been a murderer and a liar, and there is no truth within him. If he says anything, the devil, then he says his own personal thing, and not something that would be common to all, so he is the father of lies. Therefore, you are servants of the devil and are his sons.