Judas, the one not called Iscariot, said to him, “But why can’t everyone live by the spirit of truth?”
And in answer, Jesus said, “Only the one who fulfills my teaching can be loved by the father and my spirit can take up residence only in one such as him. Whoever does not fulfill my teaching cannot be loved by my father because my teaching is not my own, but my father’s. And that is all that I can say to you right now. But my spirit, the spirit of truth, which will take up residence within you after I am gone, will reveal to you everything, and you will recall and understand much of what I have just told you.
“And so, you can always be at peace in your spirit, and not with the worldly peace that the people of the world seek, but with the peace of the spirit, in whose presence you will no longer fear anything. From this, if you fulfill my teaching, then you have no reason to be distressed by my death. Like the spirit of truth, I will come to you and together with the father’s conscience will take up residence in your heart. If you fulfill my teaching, then you will rejoice because in my place the father will be in your hearts, and that is better for you.
“My teaching is the tree of life. The father is he who cultivates the tree. He cleans and grooms those branches that bear fruit so that even more will grow on them. Hold to my teaching of life and life will grow within you. And just as the branch does not live of itself, but takes life from the tree, likewise you will take life from my teaching. My teaching is the tree; you are the branches. Whoever lives by my teaching of life will bear much fruit. And so, apart from my teaching there is no life.
“Whoever does not live by my teaching will shrivel and perish, and all the dry branches will be pruned and incinerated. If you live by my teaching and fulfill it, then you will have all that you desire. The will of the father is that you live the true life and receive what you desire. Just as the father gave goodness to me, likewise, I give goodness to you. Hold on to this goodness.
“I am living because the father loves me and I love the father; you must live by that same love. If you will live by this love, you will be blessed. My commandment is that you love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than to sacrifice your life for the love that you have toward those close to you, as I have done.
“You are equal with me if you do what I have taught you. I do not consider you to be slaves, to whom orders are given, but to be equals because I have made plain to you everything that I have come to understand from the father. You are not choosing my teaching of your own will, but because I have directed you toward the one truth, the truth that allows you all to live and have everything you desire. The entire teaching is nothing more than loving one another.
“If the world hates you, do not be amazed: it hates my teaching. If you were one with the world, then it would love you. But I have separated you from the world, and for that, it will hate you. If they drove me out, then they will drive you out. They will do this all because they do not know the true God. I have explained it to them, but they did not even want to listen to me. They did not understand my teaching because they did not understand the father. They saw my life and my life showed them their mistakes. And for that they hated me even more. The spirit of truth which will come to you will confirm this. And then you will confirm this.
“I tell you this in advance so that you won’t be deceived when the persecutions fall upon you. They will turn you into outcasts. Everyone will think that by killing you they are pleasing God. They cannot avoid doing any of this because they do not understand either my teaching or the true God. I tell you all of this in advance so that you won’t be amazed when this all happens.
“And so, I will go off now to that spirit which sent me. You understand now that you cannot ask me where I am going. Earlier you were distressed that I would not tell you where exactly, to what place I was going. But I tell you truly that it is good for you that I am going. If I do not die, then the spirit of truth will not appear to you, but if I die, then it will take up residence within you. It will take up residence in you and it will become clear to you what is a lie, what is truth, and what the resolution is.
“The lie is when people do not believe in the life of the spirit. The truth is that I am one with the father. And the resolution is that the power of mortal life has been destroyed. I would still tell you much more, but it is difficult for you to understand. When the spirit of truth takes up residence in you, it will show you all truth, because it will not tell you what is new or what you want to hear, but what comes from God. It will show you the way in all situations of life. It will also be from the father, just as I am from the father. Therefore it will say the same things that I say. But when I, the spirit of truth, am within you, you will not always see me. Sometimes you will, but other times you will not hear me.”
And the students said to each other, “What does that mean?”
He said, “Sometimes you will see me, other times you will not see me.”
“What does it mean when he says, ‘Sometimes you will, sometimes you will not’?”
Jesus said to them, “You do not understand what it means that sometimes you will but other times you won’t see me. You understand, as it always happens in the world, that some people are sad and grieving while others are rejoicing. You will be sad, and your sadness will turn into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, grieves when in labor, but when it ends, she doesn’t remember the grief because of her joy at having brought a person into the world. Likewise, you will be sad but suddenly you will see me, the spirit of truth will enter into you and your sadness will turn into joy. And then you will no longer ask anything of me, because at that point you will have everything that you desire. At that point, everything that a man could desire in the spirit will be given to him by the father.
“Earlier, you did not ask anything from the spirit, but in the future, you may ask anything that you want from the spirit and it will come to you, so that your blessedness will be complete. Now I, as a man, cannot say this clearly to you with words, but when I live within you as the spirit of truth, I will clearly make known to you all things concerning the father. Then, everything that you ask the father in the name of the spirit will be given to you, and not by me. Your father will give it to you because he loves you for accepting my teaching. You have understood that knowledge from the father comes into the world and returns to the father from the world.”
Then the students said to Jesus, “Now we have all understood and we have nothing left to ask. We believe that you come from God.”
And Jesus said, “I have said all of this to you, so that you would have surety and peace in my teaching. Whatever misfortunes you may have in the world, do not fear anything because my teaching will overcome the world.”
After this, Jesus lifted his eyes toward heaven and said, “My father! You gave your son freedom in life, so that he could receive true life. Life is knowing the true God, the knowledge that I have revealed. I revealed you to the people of the earth. I did the deed that you commanded me to do. I manifested your existence to the people of the earth. They were yours before as well, but according to your will I revealed the truth to them. And they came to know you.
“They have understood that all they have, even their life, comes only from you. And I taught them, not from myself, that both they and I issue from you. I plead to you for those that have acknowledged you. They have understood that all that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine.