“They would prefer to satisfy the law on the outside and to lead others to the law on the outside. And due to this they are like decorated coffins, on the exterior they seem clean, but inside there is something atrocious. On the outside they respect the saints and the martyrs. But in reality, they are the very ones who torture and murder the saints. They were before and are now the enemies of goodness. All of the evil in the world comes from them because they hide goodness and promote evil in the place of good. You must fear the self-proclaimed pastors more than anything else.
“You know yourselves that every error can be corrected. But if people are deceived in what constitutes goodness, then that error cannot be corrected. And that is what the self-proclaimed pastors do.”
And Jesus said, “I wanted to unite all the people here in Jerusalem into a single knowledge of true goodness, but the local people are only capable of punishing teachers of goodness. And therefore they remain the same non-believers as they were before and they will not come to know the true God, so long as they do not lovingly accept his knowledge.”
And Jesus went away from the temple.
Then his students said to him, “Well, what about this temple of God with all of its decorations that people have brought into it as offerings to God?”
And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you that this temple, with all of its decorations, will be destroyed and nothing will remain of it. There is only one temple of God and that is the heart of people when they love one another.”
And they asked him, “When will there be such a temple?”
And Jesus said to them, “It will not be soon. For a long time still even my teaching will be used to deceive people and there will be wars and disturbances because of it. And there will be great lawlessness and there will be little love. But when the true teaching is spread to all people, there will be an end of evil and temptation.”
Chapter Ten THE STRUGGLE WITH TEMPTATIONS
And therefore, in order to not fall into temptation, one should be united with the father every hour of one’s life.
AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
The Jews see that Jesus’s teaching allows a place for government, faith and nationhood, and consequently they see that there is no way for them to refute his teaching, so they decide to kill him. His innocence and the demands of justice slow them, but the chief priest Caiaphus invents an argument that allows them to kill Jesus.
Caiaphus says, “We do not need to reason out whether this man is just or unjust. We just need to reason out the following: do we or do we not want our nation to remain an independent Jewish nation, or do we want it to be destroyed and scattered? This will happen if we let the man continue and do not kill him.” This argument resolves the issue and the orthodox condemn Jesus to death, stirring up the people to capture him as soon as he appears in Jerusalem.
Jesus, although he knows about this, comes to Jerusalem for the Passover holiday. The students attempt to convince him not to go, but Jesus says, “What the orthodox want to do to me cannot change the truth. If I see a light, I know where I am and where I am going. Only he who does not know truth can be afraid or have any doubt about the future. Only the one who does not see can falter.” And he goes to Jerusalem.
Along the way, he stops in Bethany, where Mary anoints him with a bottle of expensive oil. Knowing that a quick death of the flesh awaits him, Jesus tells the students, as they rebuke Mary for pouring such expensive oil on him, that the balm she had poured out was to prepare his body for death.
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, crowds of people meet him and follow after him, which convinces the orthodox even more of the necessity of killing him. They await an opportunity to apprehend him, and Jesus knows that. He also knows that even the slightest incautious word against the law would give them reason to execute him. Despite this, he goes to the temple and again announces that the Jews’ former method of worship of sacrifices and libations is false. His teaching, based on the prophets, is such that the orthodox still cannot find any blatant violation of the law, by which they might have been able to condemn him to death.
There are gentiles at the celebration, and hearing the teaching of Jesus, they ask to speak with Jesus. The students become frightened that this conversation with gentiles will compromise Jesus and upset the crowd, but they decide to inform him of the gentiles’ wish. Hearing this, Jesus is confused. He understands that preaching before the gentiles would clearly demonstrate his rejection of the entire Jewish law and provide an angle for the orthodox to accuse him of wrongdoing. He also knows that his calling is to explain to people their unity as the sons of the one father, free from any distinctions of faith. Therefore he says, “Just as the wheat kernel must be destroyed in order for it to bear fruit, man must give away his mortal life in order to bear spiritual fruit. Whoever preserves his mortal life will be deprived of true life, but whoever does not care for the flesh will receive true life. I am confused by what awaits me, but I have made it to this moment in life, so why should I not do now what I am called to?”
Addressing the people, both gentiles and Jews, Jesus speaks openly about what he had only spoken of in secret to Nicodemus. He says, “All the varied faiths should be completely changed and all human power structures should be destroyed. You must come to understand man exclusively as the son of the father of life, and this knowledge will destroy all human divisions and unite all people as one.” To the Jews’ accusations he says, “I do not teach any sort of new faith, I just teach what everyone knows within themselves. Everyone knows that life is given to them and to all people by the father of life. My teaching simply consists of loving the life that the father gives to all people.”
Many of the simple people believe Jesus; the important and high-ranking ones do not believe since they are focused on the temporal meaning of his words. They decided not to seize him in the Jerusalem daylight, but somewhere in secret. One of the twelve students, Judas Iscariot, comes to them, and they bribe him to lead their men to Jesus when he is not surrounded by the people.
Jesus and the students celebrate the first night of Passover and Judas, thinking that Jesus does not know of his treachery, accompanies them. But Jesus knows that Judas has betrayed him and when they sit down to the table, Jesus breaks bread and offers each of the students a piece and gives them each wine from a cup, treating Judas no differently than the others. Not naming anyone, he says, “One of you will spill my blood, but I have fed him and given him drink and washed his feet. I do this in order to teach you how to behave with those who do evil to you.” The students all ask which of them is the traitor, but Jesus does not name him. When it had grown dark, Jesus points to Judas and commands him to leave. Judas stands from the table and runs so no one could stop him. Then Jesus said, “To exalt the son of man means to be as good as the father is, not merely to those that love us, but to all people, including those who do evil to us. Do as I have been doing and as you have just seen me do. I give you one commandment: love people. That is my whole teaching: always love people, until the end.”
Jesus becomes frightened and goes with the students by night to a garden, in order to hide. He grows sad as the students discuss how they will defend themselves. He goes into a deserted place and prays, prompting the students to do the same; but they do not understand him. Jesus says, “My father, spirit! End this struggle with temptation inside me. Make me strong enough to fulfill your will. I do not seek my own will, to defend my mortal life, but I seek your will, to refrain from opposing evil.” The students still do not understand him. He says to them, “Do not think about the flesh, but try to lift your spirits. There is power in the spirit, but the flesh has no power.” At another point he says, “My father! If suffering is unavoidable, then let it be. But even in suffering I have one desire, that your will be satisfied and not mine.” The students do not understand. And after more struggle with temptation, he finally conquers it, saying to the students, “Now it has been decided, you may be at peace. I will not struggle, but will offer myself into the hands of the people of this world.”