And Jesus said: "Truly, truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am."
Jesus was shaking about that spirit of God which lived in him and lives in every man, and which has no beginning and no end; but they did not understand it.
The Jews did not know what to do with him, and could not get him convicted. And he went beyond the river Jordan, and stayed there. John X, 24-38; VHI, 34-59.
XXXIII.
Once, when Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, two of his disciples, James and John, came to him and said, "Master, promise us that you will do what we ask." Jesus said: "What do you want ?" They replied: "That we may be your equals." But Jesus said: "You do not yourselves know what you are asking. Every one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven by his own efforts, but no one can do it for another."
And Jesus called the other disciples to him and said: "Worldly men consider who is higher and who is lower among them; but among you, none should be higher and none lower. Among you he who serves every one will be the highest. He who wants to be first among you, let him think himself the last; for it is the Father's will that the Son of Man should live not to be served, but to serve everybody, and to give his bodily life for the life of the spirit"
Mark X, 35-45. XXXIV.
About this, Jesus told them another parable. He said:
"A master went out early one morning to hire laborers for his vineyard, and having agreed to pay them a shilling a day, sent them into his vineyard. Then at breakfast time
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he went out again, and saw other men without work, and said to them: 'You, too, may go into my vineyard, and I will pay you what is right.* And they went. He did this again at the dinner hour, and in the afternoon. And when it was already evening, he again found men without work, and said to them: *Why do you stand here all day without work?' They said: *No one has hired us.' And he said: 'Go you, too, into my vineyard, and you shall be paid what is right.'
"When the time for payment came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward: 'Call the laborers and pay them all equally, beginning with the last and up to the first.' And those who came in the evening received a shilling.
"Then those who had been hired first, thought they would receive more; but they, too, received a shilling each. Then the first ones began to g^nunble at the master of the vineyard, saying: 'These men only worked one hour, but we worked all day from the morning, and you make them equal with us.'
"The master told them: 'You should not grumble. Did you not agree to work for a shilling? Take what is due to you, and go. If I wish to give to the last as much as to the first, may I not do as I like with my own ? You are offended at my being kind, and are jealous of your brothers. That is not right.'
"And so it is with men: whether a man does what God wishes him to do early or late, all will receive equally, the last the same as the first." Matt. XX, 1-16.
XXXV.
And Jesus explained this by another parable. He said:
"A man had two sons, and the younger wished to go
away from his father, and said: 'Father, give me my share
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of the property.' And his father did so. Then the younger son took his share, and went to a foreign country. There he wasted all he had, and became quite poor, and he sank so low that he had to go as a swineherd. And he had nothing to eat but the acorns that were given to the pigs. And he thought about his life, and said to himself: 'I was wrong to leave my father. At my father's there was plenty of everything, and even his laborers have enough to eat; while here I eat pigs' food. I had better go to my father, bow down at his feet, and say: "I have sinned, father, towards згой, and am not worthy to be your son. Take me back as a laborer.*"
"Thinking this, he went back to his father; and when he came near the house his father saw him, and went out to meet him, and took him in his arms and kissed him.
•'And the son said: 'Father, I have sinned against you, and am not worthy to be your son.' The father did not answer these words, but ordered his servants to bring the best clothes and good shoes; and he made his son put them on. And he also ordered a servant to kill a fatted calf. And when everything was ready, the father told those of his household: 'This son of mine was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found. Let us feast in honor of this joy.'
"And when they had all sat down to table, the elder son came back from the fields, and saw that there was feasting in the house. And calling a laborer, he asked him: 'Why are our people feasting?' And the laborer answered: 'Have you not heard that your brother has returned, and your father is rejoicing?'
"The elder brother was offended, and did not enter the house. But his father came out to him, and called him. Still the elder son would not enter, but said to his father:
*I have worked for you so many years, and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never killed a fatted calf for me! My younger brother went away and wasted all his property with drunkards, and now you make such a feast for him/
"And the father answered the elder son: 'You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. And you should not be hurt, but glad, that your brother who was dead is now alive again, and after being lost has now been found/
"That is the way God receives all, when—sooner or later—they return to the Father and enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Luke XV, 11-32.
XXXVI.
One day Jesus said to his disciples: "Tell me, how do people understand my teaching?" And they answered: "Some think that you teach the same that John did; others say that you teach what Isaiah taught, and others say your teaching is like Jeremiah's, and that you are a prophet."
"Yes," said Jesus, "but how do you understand my teaching?"
And Simon Peter said: "I think you teach that the spirit of God lives in every man, and that therefore every man is a son of God." Jesus said to him: "You are happy, Simon, to have understood this. No man could have shown this to you, but you have understood it because God dwells in you. It is not I by my words that have shown it to you, but God, my Father, has Himself shown it to you."
At this time Jesus told his disciples that in Jerusalem he could not escape attacks and insults from those who did not believe his teaching; but that if they killed him, they would only kill his body, and not that spirit of God which lived in him.
Hearing these words, Peter was very sorry, and took
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hold of the hand of Jesus, and said to him: "Don't go to Jerusalem."
Jesus answered: "Do not speak so. If you are afraid of suffering and death for me, that shows that you do not think of what is godly, but only of what is human. In this life people who live for the Kingdom of God must suffer, because the world loves its own, and hates what is godly. Men of the world always have tormented those who fulfilled the will of the Father."
And, calling the people and his disciples, Jesus said: "He who wishes to live according to my teaching, let him give up his bodily life, and be ready to bear all sufferings, for he who fears for his bodily life will lose his true life; but he who gives up his bodily life will save his real life. And let him who wishes to fulfil my teaching, do so not in words but in deeds."
Then he told them this parable:
"A man had two sons; and said to the first: *Go and work in my garden.' And the son said: 'I won't!' but afterwards repented, and went. And the father went to the second son and said the same to him. The second son answered : T will go at once.' But he did not go. Which of the two fulfilled his father's will ?"