The Gospel in Brief

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.

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.

“There, you can see how simple it is to expose your delusion. If I am deceived, then expose me. But if there is no delusion in me, then why not believe me?”

And the Jews began to curse him and said that he was mad.

He said, “I am not mad, I just honor the father and you want to kill me for it. So it seems that you are not my brothers, but are children of some other father. I am not the one to confirm my correctness, it is the truth that speaks for me. And therefore I will repeat to you: whoever comprehends my teaching and lives by it will not see death.”

And the Jews said, “Is it really wrong for us to call you a mad Samaritan? You have exposed yourself. The prophets died, Abraham died, but you say that whoever lives by your teaching will not see death. Abraham died, but you won’t die? What, are you greater than Abraham?”

The Jews were still puzzling over the fact that he was Jesus from Galilee, and the question of whether or not he was an important prophet, so they forgot all that he had told them, that he had said nothing about himself as a person, but that he spoke only of the spirit that was within him.

And Jesus said, “I do not do anything myself. If I had been talking about myself, about how things seem to me, then everything I said would have meant nothing, but what I have been speaking of is the source of all things, which you call God. And you did not and do not know the actual God, but I know him. I cannot say that I do not know him. I would be a liar, just like you, if I said that I do not know him. I know him, I know his will and I fulfill it. Abraham, your father, saw and rejoiced in my knowledge.”

The Jews said, “You are fifty years old,^* how could you have lived at the same time as Abraham?”

He said, “Before Abraham existed, the knowledge of goodness existed, this is what I have been telling you about.”

The Jews picked up stones to beat him, but he left them.

And along the road, Jesus saw a man that had been blind from birth.

And his students asked, “Who is to blame that this man is blind from birth. Is it his fault or his parents’, since they did not educate him?”

And Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents are to blame, but this is how God operates, creating light where there had been darkness. Wherever my teaching goes, it becomes the light of the world.”

And Jesus revealed his teaching of being the son of God the spirit to the blind man, and when the blind man experienced the teaching, he experienced light. And those that previously knew this man could not recognize him. He was similar to how he had been before, but had now become a different person.

He said, “I am the same, but Jesus revealed to me that I am the son of God, and light opened up to me and I saw what I had never seen before.”

This man was called before the orthodox teachers, and it was the Sabbath. And the orthodox asked him how he had begun to understand all things, when previously he had been blind.

He said, “I do not know how, I just know that now I understand everything.”

They said, “You do not understand this in a godly way because Jesus did this on the Sabbath; moreover, a worldly man cannot enlighten people.”

And they began to argue.

And then they asked the enlightened man, “What do you think of him?”

He said, “I think he is a prophet.”

The Jews could not believe that he had previously been blind, but that now he could see light, so they had called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son, the one who was blind from birth? How is it that he is now enlightened?”

The parents said, “We know that this is our son and that he has been blind since birth. But how it happened that he is now enlightened, we do not know. He is an adult, ask him.”

The orthodox called the man a second time and said, “Pray to our true God, because we know for certain that that man who enlightened you is a worldly man and is not from God.”

And the enlightened one said, “As to the question of whether the man is from God or not, I do not know. I know only one thing: that I did not see the light before and now I see it.”

And the orthodox asked again, “What did he do with you, how did he enlighten you?”

He said, “I already told you, but you do not believe me. If you want to be his students, then I will tell you again.”

And they began to curse him and said, “You may be his student, but we are students of Moses. God himself spoke with Moses. But we do not even know where this one comes from.”

And the man answered and said, “It is amazing that he has enlightened me, but you still don’t know where he comes from. God does not listen to sinners, he listens to those that honor him and do his will. It could never be that a man who is not from God could enlighten a blind man. If he were not from God, he could not do anything.”

And the orthodox became angry and said, “You are completely immersed in delusion, and yet you want to teach us.”

So they threw him out.

And Jesus said, “My teaching is an awakening of life. Whoever believes in my teaching, despite dying mortally, will remain living, and everyone who lives and believes in me will not die.”

And again, for the third time, Jesus taught the people.

He said, “People are devoting themselves to my teaching, and not because I prove it myself. It is impossible to prove the truth. Truth proves everything else. But people devote themselves to my teaching because it is unified and is familiar to people, and it promises life. For the people, my teaching is like the familiar voice of the shepherd is for the sheep, when he comes in at the gate and gathers them in order to take them to pasture. No one believes your teaching because it is foreign to people, and people notice within it your lusts. For the people, your teaching is the same as the appearance of a stranger who does not enter at the gate, but climbs over the fence for the sheep. The sheep do not know him and can sense that he is an outlaw.

“My teaching is the one truth, like the one gate for the sheep. All of your teaching from the law of Moses is a lie. It is all like thieves and outlaws for the sheep. Whoever devotes themselves to my teaching will find true life, just as the sheep will go out and find food if they follow the shepherd. Because a thief only comes intending to steal, plunder and destroy, but the shepherd comes to give life. And only my teaching promises and gives true life.

“There are those shepherds for whom the sheep are their entire lives and who would give those lives for the sheep. These are true shepherds. But there are also hired workers, those that are not too troubled about the sheep, because they are just hired workers and the sheep do not belong to them, those who, if a wolf comes near, drop everything and run, allowing the wolf to destroy the sheep. These are not true shepherds.

“Likewise, there are false teachers, those that have no stake in the lives of people, and there are true ones, those that give their souls for the lives of the people. I am such a teacher. My teaching is to give my life for the people. No one can take it from me, I myself am freely giving it for the people, in order to receive true life. I received this commandment from my father. And just as the father knows me, I know the father, and therefore I lay down my life for the people. And for that, the father loves me, because I am keeping his commandments. And all people, not only those here and now, but all people will understand my voice and they will all gather together as one; all people will be unified and their teaching will be one.”

And the Jews surrounded him and said, “Everything that you say is difficult to understand, and it does not correspond with scripture. Do not torment us, just tell us, simply and directly: are you that Messiah who is supposed to come into the world, according to our scripture?”

And Jesus answered them, “I already told you who I am, but you do not believe me. If you do not believe my words, then believe my actions. Through them, you will understand who I am and for what purpose I have come. But you do not believe, because you do not follow me. Whoever follows after me and does what I say will understand me. And whoever understands my teaching and fulfills it will receive actual life.

“My father has united them with me and no one can divide us. The father and I are one.”

And the Jews were offended by this and picked up stones to beat him.

But he said to them, “I have shown you many good works, revealing to you teachings about my father; for which of these good works do you want to beat me?”

They said, “It is not for goodness that we want to beat you, but because you, a man, are making yourself God.”

And Jesus answered them, “Well, this very claim is made in your own scripture, after all. It is said that God himself told the evil rulers, ‘You are gods.’ If he called even the unholy ones Gods, then why do you consider it sacrilege to refer to something that God lovingly sent into the world as the son of God? Every person is a son of God in spirit. If I do not live in a godly way, then do not believe that I am a son of God. If, however, I do live in a godly way, then believe, based on my life, that I am from the father and then you will understand that the father is within me and I am within him.”

And Jesus said, “My teaching is an awakening of life. Whoever believes in my teaching, although he may die in the flesh, will remain living and everyone who lives and believes in me will not die.”

And the Jews began to argue. Some said that he was possessed.

Others said, “There’s no way a possessed man can enlighten people.”

The Jews did not know what to do with him, and they could not condemn him.

And he went again across the Jordan and remained there.

And many came to believe in his teaching and said that it was true, just as the teaching of John was true. And so, many people believed in his teaching.

Once, Jesus asked his students, “Tell me, how do people understand my teaching concerning the son of man?”

They said, “Some understand it like the teaching of John, others just like the prophecies of Isaiah, still others say that it resembles the teaching of Jeremiah; they understand that you are a prophet.”

He said, “And what do you understand of my teaching?”

And Simon Peter said to him, “In my opinion, your teaching is that you are the chosen son of the God of life. You teach that God is the life that exists within man.”

And Jesus said to him, “You are lucky, Simon, that you have understood that. A person could not have revealed that to you, but you understand it because the God within you has revealed it to you. It was not mortal reasoning, and it was not me with my words that revealed it to you, but God my father revealed it to you directly. And on that rests the foundation for the gathering of chosen people, for whom there is no death.”