A Recapitulation

Chapter I

The Son of God

Man, the son of God, is powerless in the flesh, and free in the spirit

(“Our Father”)

Jesus in his childhood called God his Father. There arose in Judaea, at this time, a prophet named John. John preached the coming of God upon earth. He said that when men should change their lives, when they should treat one another as equals, when they should cease to injure one another, and, instead of so doing, serve one another, then God would appear upon earth, and His kingdom would be established on earth. Jesus, having heard this declaration, withdrew from among men and went into the wild places, to meditate upon the meaning of human life, and upon his relations to that infinite source of all being, called God. And Jesus accepted as his Father, that infinite source of being whom John had called God.

After passing days in the wild places without taking food, Jesus began to suffer hunger. Then he thought to himself, “I am the Son of God the Almighty; I ought, then, to be as He is. But now, I wish to eat, and no bread comes for my need; I am not, then, all-powerful.” Then he said to himself, “It is true, I cannot make for myself bread out of stones; but I can overcome the want of bread. So that, though not all-powerful in the body, I am all-powerful in the spirit, and I can quell the body; and thus I am the Son of God, not through the flesh, but through the spirit.”

Then he said, “But if I am the Son of the Spirit, I can free myself of the body, and do away with it.” But to that he answered, “I am born as spirit, embodied in flesh. Such is the will of my Father, and I cannot set myself against His will.”

“But if you cannot satisfy the wants of your body, and if you are no better able to free yourself from your body,” he went on to himself, “you ought, then, to labour for the body, and to enjoy all the pleasures it gives you.”

But to that he answered, “I cannot satisfy the wants of my body any better than I can rid myself of it; but my life is all-powerful, in that it is the spirit of my Father; and it follows that in my body I must serve the spirit, my Father, and labour for Him only! And becoming convinced that man’s life is only in the spirit; of the Father, Jesus left the wild places, and began to declare his teaching to men. He said that the spirit dwelt in him, that henceforth heaven was opened, that the powers of heaven were brought to men, that for men a free and boundless life was begun, and that all men, however unfortunate in the body, may be happy.

Chapter II

Life in the Spirit

Therefore man must work, not for the flesh, but for the spirit

(“Which art in heaven”)

The Jews, holding themselves orthodox, worshipped an external God, whom they regarded as Creator and Lord of the Universe. According to their teaching, this external God had made an agreement with them. According to this agreement, he had promised the Jews to help them, and they had promised to worship him; and the chief condition of the alliance was the keeping of the Sabbath.

But Jesus said: “The Sabbath is a human institution. That man shall live in the spirit, is more important than all religious ceremonies. Like all external forms of religion, the keeping of the Sabbath includes in itself a delusion. It is impossible to do nothing on the Sabbath. Good actions must be done at any time; and if keeping the Sabbath prevents good action, then the Sabbath is an error.”

Another condition in this agreement with God, was the avoidance of the society of infidels. As to this, Jesus said: “God asks for no sacrifice to Himself, but only that men should love one another.”

Still another condition related to the following of rules about washing and cleansing; as to which, Jesus said: “God demands, not outside cleanliness, but only, pity and love towards men.” He taught that all such external ceremonies were harmful, and that the church tradition itself was an evil. The church tradition causes men to neglect the most important acts of love, as for instance, love to father and mother. Of all external ceremonies, of all the ritual of the old law, which had for object, as was held, the purification of men, Jesus said: “Know all of you, that nothing from outside can defile a man; only what he thinks, and what he does, defiles him.”

After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem, a town considered holy, entered the temple, where the orthodox believed that God dwelt, and there taught: “It is useless to offer God sacrifices; man is of more consequence than a temple; and the only duty is, to love one’s neighbour, and help him.”

And he taught, further: “Men need not worship God in any particular place, but they must worship Him in spirit and in act. The spirit cannot be seen or shown. The spirit is man’s consciousness of his sonship to the Infinite Spirit. No temple is needed. The true temple is the society of men united in love.” He said: “All external worship of the divine is not only false and injurious, as with the Jews, among whom it caused murder and admitted neglect of parents, but harmful, because one who goes through external ceremonials, thinks himself made righteous, and free from the need of doing what love demands.” He said: “Only that man aims at good, and does good, who feels his own imperfection. To do good deeds, a man must think of himself as imperfect. But external acts of worship lead men into the delusion of self-conceit. All external ceremonies are unnecessary, and must be thrown aside. Deeds of love are incompatible with ceremonial performances, and it is impossible to do good in that form. Man is the son of God by the spirit, and therefore must serve the Father in the spirit.”

Chapter III

The Source of Life

The life of all men has proceeded from the spirit of the Father

(“Hallowed be Thy Name”)

John’s disciples asked Jesus what was meant by his “Kingdom of God.” He said that the Kingdom of God as preached by him was also that preached by John; and that therein every man, however poor, might be blessed.

And Jesus said to the people: “John was the first who preached to men a Kingdom of God which is not of the external world, but is in the soul of man. The orthodox went to hear John, but understood nothing, because they know only those fictions of their own about an external God, which they preach; and they are astonished when no one pays heed to them. But John preached the truth of the Kingdom of God within men, and therefore he did more than them all. He did so much that, since his time, the law and the prophets, and all external forms of divine worship, are superseded. Since he taught, it is made clear that the Kingdom of God is in the soul of man.

“The beginning and the end of all things is in the soul of man. Every man, in addition to his bodily life, to the fact which he knows as to his conception from a bodily father through a bodily mother, recognises in himself a free spirit, intelligent, and independent of the body. This very Spirit, infinite, and proceeding from the infinite, is the origin of all, and is what we call God. We know Him only as we recognise Him within us. This Spirit is the source of our life, and must be ranked above everything; and to Him we must live. By making Him the foundation of our life, we gain the true and infinite life.

“The Father-Spirit, who sends this Spirit into men, cannot have sent Him to deceive men, so that, while conscious of Him, they might come to lose Him. This infinite Spirit being in man, He must have been given to the end that men, through Him, might have infinite life. Therefore the man who conceives of this Spirit as his life, has infinite life. The man who does not so conceive, has no true life. Men can of themselves choose life or death. Life, — in the Spirit; death, — in the flesh. The life of the Spirit is goodness, light. The life of the flesh is evil, darkness. To believe in the Spirit means to do good deeds; to disbelieve, means to do evil deeds. Goodness is life; evil is death.

“God, the Creator, external to us, the beginning of all beginnings, we do not know. Our conception of Him can only be this, that He sowed in men the Spirit; sowing, as a sower does, everywhere, not discriminating, over the field; and the seed, falling on good ground, grows, falling on sterile ground, perishes.

“The Spirit alone gives life, and men are responsible for keeping or losing it. To the Spirit, no evil exists. Evil is but an illusion of life. There are only the two conditions, of living and not-living. Thus the world presents itself to every man; and for every man there is in his soul a consciousness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Each one can, by his own free will, enter, or not enter, that Kingdom. To enter, belief in the life of the Spirit is necessary. He who believes in that life of the Spirit, has infinite life.”

Chapter IV

God’s Kingdom

Therefore the will of the Father is the life and welfare of all men

(“Thy Kingdom come”)

Jesus pitied men because they did not know true blessedness; therefore he taught them. He said: “Blessed are those who have no property, no position, and who do not care for these; and unhappy are they who seek riches and position. Because such poor and oppressed people are in the Father’s will; but the rich and acknowledged people seek only to make gain from men for this temporary life. To carry out God’s will, one must not fear to be poor and despised, but must rejoice in this, while showing men what true happiness is.

“To carry out the will of the Father, which gives life and welfare, mankind must fulfil five commandments, namely:

The First Commandment.

To do no ill to anyone, and to so act as to rouse evil in no one; because from evil comes evil.

The Second Commandment.

Not to follow after women, and not to desert the woman with whom a union has once been formed; because desertion and change of wives causes all the world’s dissoluteness.

The Third Commandment.

To take no oath of any kind; because nothing can be promised, since man is in the Father’s power; and oaths, when taken, are for bad ends.

The Fourth Commandment.

Not to fight against evil, but to suffer wrong, and to give even more than men would exact from us; not to condemn, and not to use the law; because every man is himself full of errors, and cannot guide others. By taking revenge, we only teach others to revenge.

The Fifth Commandment.

To make no difference between a fellow-countryman and a foreigner; because all men are children of one father.

“The observance of these five commandments is necessary, not to win praise from men, but for oneself, for one’s own welfare; therefore there is no propriety in praying and fasting in sight of men.

“The Father knows all that men need, and there is no necessity to pray for particular things; it is simply needful to seek to be in the Father’s will. And this is the will of the Father, that a man shall have no anger towards any other. To keep fasts is not essential, for men may fast merely to win praise from men, and such praise ought to be avoided. It is only necessary carefully to conform to the will of God, and the rest will follow of itself. While caring for the body, care cannot be given to the Kingdom of Heaven. Even though a man does not trouble about food and clothing, he will live on. The Father will give life. The needful thing is, at this present moment, to be in the will of the Father. The Father gives to his children what they need. We must desire only the power of the Spirit, which the Father gives.

“The five commandments mark out the road to the Kingdom of Heaven. This narrow path alone leads to eternal life. False teachers — wolves in the skins of sheep — always try to turn men astray from this road; they must be guarded against. False teachers can always be detected, because they teach evil in the name of good. If they teach violence and executions, they are false teachers. By the deeds they teach they may be known.

“Not that man does the Father’s will, who calls on the name of God; but he who does good deeds. And he who fulfils these five commandments will have secure and true life, of which nothing can deprive him. But he who does not fulfil them will have an insecure life; one soon to be taken from him, leaving him nothing.”

The teaching of Jesus filled the people with admiration and joy, because it offered freedom to everyone.

The teaching of Christ was the fulfilment of John’s prophecy that God’s chosen one should bring light to men, overcome evil, and restore truth, by kindness, meekness, and goodness, but not by violence.

Chapter V

The True Life

The fulfilment of the personal will leads to death; the fulfilment of the Father’s will gives true life

(“Thy Will be Done”)

The wisdom of life is, the recognition of one’s own life as the offspring of the Father’s Spirit. Men set before themselves the aims of the bodily life, and in pursuing these aims, they harass themselves and others.

In receiving the doctrine of the spiritual life, and in subjecting and making less of the body, men will find a full satisfaction in the life of the Spirit, in that life which is appointed for them.

Jesus said to his disciples: “The true food of man is the fulfilment of the will of the Father-Spirit. This fulfilment is always possible. Our whole life is a gathering of the fruits of the life sown within us by the Father. Those fruits are the good we are doing among men.

“We ought not to look forward with anxiety for anything. We ought, without ceasing our interest in life, to do good among men.”

After this, Jesus happened to be in Jerusalem, where was a bath, beside which lay a sick man, doing nothing but waiting a miracle to cure him. Jesus came, and said to him: “Do not expect a cure by a miracle, but live your life according to your strength, and do not be deluded as to the purpose of life.” The invalid obeyed Jesus, got up, and went away.

The orthodox, seeing this, began to reproach Jesus for what he said, and because he had, on the Sabbath, raised an invalid. Jesus said to them: “I did nothing new. I have only the power to act of our common Father, the Spirit. He lives, and gives life to men, and I have done likewise. And to do this is every man’s business. Everyone is free, and can live, or not live. To live, is to fulfil the will of the Father, which is to do good to others. Not to live, is to fulfil one’s own will, not to do good to others. It is in everyone’s power to do this, or that; to gain life, or to destroy it.

“The true life of man is like this. A master apportioned to his slaves some valuable property, and told each one to work upon what was given to him. Some worked; some did not work, but put out of sight what was given to them. The master demanded an account: and to those who worked, he gave yet more than they had; but from those who did not work, he took away everything.”

The portion of valuable property of the master is the Spirit of life in man, who is the son of the Father-Spirit. He who in his Life works for the sake of the spirit-life, receives infinite life; he who does not work, is deprived of what was given to him.

The true life is the common life of humanity, and not the life of the individual. Each one must work for the life of others.

After this, Jesus went to a desert place, and many people followed him. At evening, the disciples came, and said: “How shall we feed all these people?” Among the gathering were some who had nothing, and some who had bread and fish. And Jesus said to his disciples: “Give me all the bread you have.” He took the loaves, and gave bread to his disciples, who gave to others, who did likewise. So all ate of others’ bread, not consuming all there was, and all were satisfied. And Jesus said: “Act just in this way. It is not necessary that each one should get food for himself, but it is needful to do that which the Spirit in man demands, namely, that each shall share to others what supply there is. The true food of man is the Spirit of the Father. Man lives by the Spirit only. Everything in life must be made subservient to this; for life consists in doing, not one’s own will, but the will of the Father of life. And that will is, that the perfect life of the Spirit which is given to men, shall remain in them, and that all shall cherish the life of the Spirit within them until the hour of death. The Father, the source of life, is Spirit. Life consists only in carrying out the will of the Father; and to carry out that will of the Spirit, one must surrender the body. The body is the food, the material for the life of the Spirit. Only in giving up the body does the Spirit live.”

After this, Jesus chose certain disciples, and sent them everywhere to preach the doctrine of the life of the Spirit. In sending them, he said: “Preach the life of the spirit, and, consistently therewith, renounce beforehand all fleshly desires, and have nothing of your own. Be ready for persecution, privation, suffering. Those who love the life of the body will hate you, harass and murder you; but do not fear. If you fulfil the will of the Father, then you possess the life of the Spirit, of which no one can deprive you.”

The disciples went away, and when they returned, declared that everywhere the teachings of evil were conquered by them.

Then the orthodox told Jesus that his teaching, even if it conquered evil, was in itself an evil, because those who carry it out must of necessity suffer. To this, Jesus answered: “Evil cannot conquer evil. If evil is conquered, it can only be by good. Goodness is the will of the Father-Spirit common to all men. Every man has a knowledge of what benefits himself. If he does similar benefits to others, if he does that which is the will of the Father, then he will do good. Therefore the carrying out of the will of the Father-Spirit results well, even though it be followed with sufferings and deaths of those who fulfil that will”

Chapter VI

The False Life

Therefore, in order to receive the true life, man must on earth resign the false life of the flesh, and live by the spirit

(“On earth, as in heaven”)

To the spiritual life there can be no difference between members of one family and strangers. Jesus said that his mother and his brethren, as such, had no superior claims upon him; only those were near to him who fulfilled the will of the common Father. A man’s life and welfare depend, not on family relations, but on the life of the Spirit.

Jesus said: “Blessed are those who retain their understanding of the Father. The man who lives by the Spirit has no home, for, being by the Spirit, he cannot own any special house.” And he said that he himself had no fixed abode; that not being needed to enable a man to carry out the will of the Father, which can be done at all times, in all places.

The death of the body cannot be dreadful to a man who gives himself up to the will of the Father, because the life of the Spirit goes on despite the death of the body. Jesus said that he who believes in the life of the Spirit, has nothing to fear.

No cares make it impossible for a man to live in his Spirit. When a man said that he would obey the teaching of Christ presently, but that he must first bury his father, Jesus answered: “Only the dead trouble about burial of the dead; but the living live always in fulfilling the will of the Father.” Cares about relations and family affairs must not hinder the life of the Spirit. He who troubles about the results to his bodily life from the fulfilment of the Father’s will, does as the ploughman does, who ploughs, looking not in front, but behind.

Cares for the pleasures of the bodily life, which seem so important to men, are delusions. The only, the real business of life, is the making plain of the Father’s will, attention to it, and fulfilment of it. To Martha’s reproach, that she alone troubled about the supper, and that her sister Mary did not help, but listened to his teaching, Jesus said: “You blame her unjustly. Take some trouble, yourself, if you need what comes of it, but let those who do not need pleasures for the body, attend to the one essential business of life.”

And Jesus said: “He who desires the true life, which comes of fulfilling the Father’s will, must first of all give up his own personal desires.” He must not only cease to plan out his life to his own wishes, but he must be ready at any moment to bear any privations and sufferings. One who seeks to arrange his bodily life to his own desires, will wreck the true life of fulfilment of the Father’s will.

Most ruinous to the life of the Spirit is the love of gain, of getting rich. Men forget that, however much they acquire riches and goods, they may die at any moment, and their property is not an essential of life. Death broods over every one of us. Sickness, killing by men, fatal accidents, may at any minute end life. Bodily death is the unescapable condition of every second of life. While one lives, one must regard every hour of life as a delay, granted by the kindness of some power. This we must remember, and not say that we do not know it. We know and foresee in regard to all events of earth and sky, but death, which we know waits on us every moment, we forget. But unless we forget death, we cannot yield ourselves to the life of the body, we cannot build upon it. To follow the teaching of Christ, one has to count up the advantages of serving the bodily life, of serving one’s own will, and the advantages of fulfilling the Father’s will. Only one who clearly takes account of this can be a disciple of Christ. And he who makes the calculation, will not prefer a visionary benefit and a visionary life to the true good and the true life. The true life has been given to men, and men know it, they hear its summons, but, always swept on by the cares of the moment, they are withheld from it. The true life is as though a rich man gave a feast, and summoned the guests. His call to them is the voice of the Spirit of the Father inviting all men to Himself. But of those invited some are busy in commerce, some in the household, some in family affairs, none come to the feast. Only the poor, such as have no cares of the body, come to the feast, and gain happiness. So men, distracting themselves with cares for the bodily life, are losing the true life. He who cannot, and that altogether, decline the cares and gains of the bodily life, cannot fulfil the Father’s will, because one cannot serve oneself a little, and the Father a little.

A man must calculate, whether it is better to serve the body, whether it is possible to arrange his life according to his own will. He must do as one does who would build a house, or who contemplates war. Such an one will reckon whether he has means to finish building, whether he has means to conquer. And upon seeing that he has not, he will not spend for nothing either labour or armies. Otherwise, he fruitlessly wastes, and will be a laughing-stock to men. If one could arrange the bodily life to one’s own will, then it might be well to serve the body; but as that is impossible, then better sacrifice the body, and serve the Spirit. Otherwise, one will gain neither one thing nor another; the bodily life will not be gained, and the spiritual life will be lost. So that, to fulfil the Father’s will, the bodily life must be quite resigned.

The bodily life is involved in the world’s false riches, which we are commissioned to manage in such a way as to gain the true and perfect riches.

If a rich man has a manager who knows that, however he may serve his master, the latter will dismiss him, leaving him with nothing, this manager will do well if, during his management of the other’s riches, he treats people well. Then, even though his master dismiss him, those whom he has benefited will receive him and sustain him. So also must men act as to the bodily life. The bodily life is that wealth, not one’s own, which is given to one to manage for a time. If men will rightly use this wealth, which is not their own, then they will gain true wealth, really their own.

If we do not give up our falsely-held riches, then the true life will not be given to us. The illusory life of the body, and the life of the spirit, cannot both be served. One cannot serve property and God. What is honourable with men, is abomination before God. Riches are evil before God. A rich man is continually guilty, in that he eats abundantly and luxuriously, while at his door the poor starve. And everyone knows that the property which one will not share to others, is held in non-fulfilment of the Father’s will.

Once Jesus was approached by an orthodox and rich ruler, who began to boast that he had fulfilled all the commandments of the law. Jesus reminded him that there is a commandment to love others as oneself, and that this is the Father’s will. The ruler said he kept this also. Then Jesus said to him: “That is not true; if you desire to fulfil the Father’s will, you would not have property. A man cannot fulfil the will of the Father, if he has a fortune of his own, which he does not give away to others.”

And Jesus said to the disciples: “Men think it impossible to live without property, but I tell you, true life is in the giving up of one’s own to others.”

A man, Zacchaeus by name, heard the teaching of Jesus, and believed it, and having invited Jesus to his house, he said to him: “I am giving half my fortune to the poor, and I will restore four times over to those whom I may have wronged.” And Jesus said: “Here is a man who fulfils the Father’s will; for the fulfilment of that will is not a matter of finding an opportunity, but the whole life must go in fulfilment.”

Goodness cannot be measured in any way. It is impossible to say who has done more good, and who less. A widow who gives away her last farthing gives more than a rich man who gives thousands. It is also impossible to measure goodness by utility or inutility.

As an instance of how goodness must be shown, take the woman who pitied Jesus, and in her emotion poured upon him many pounds’ worth of costly oil. Judas said she had done foolishly, because many people might have been fed on the price. But Judas was a thief; he spoke untruth, and in talking of the worldly value of the oil, he did not consider the poor. Not utility, not value, comes into the question, but the necessity of always, every minute, loving others, and giving up to them one’s own.

Chapter VII

I and the Father Are One

The true food of everlasting life is the fulfilment of the Father’s will

(“Give us this day our daily bread”)

Answering the Jews’ demands for proofs of the truth of his teaching, Jesus said: “The truth of my teaching is proved in the fact that I teach, not in my own name, but in the name of the common Father of all men. I teach that which is good in the sight of the Father of all men, and is therefore good for all men.

“Do as I say; fulfil the five commandments, and you will see that the truth is as I say. Fulfilment of these five commandments will drive away all the world’s evil; therefore it must be that they are true and right. Clearly, he who teaches, not his own personal will, but the will of Him who sent him, will teach the truth. The Mosaic law teaches the fulfilment of men’s own wills, and is therefore full of contradictions; but my teaching is to fulfil the will of the Father, and therefore in it all is harmonious.”

The Jews did not understand him, and looked for external proofs as to whether he himself were the Christ written of in the prophecies. On this he said to them: “Do not inquire who I am, whether it is of me your prophecies speak, but attend to my teaching, to what I say of our common Father. It is not necessary to inquire about outside matters, as to whence I come; but my teaching must be followed. He who will follow my teaching will obtain true life. There can be no proofs of my teaching. It is the light itself, and as you cannot illuminate light, so you cannot prove the truth of truth. My teaching is light; he who sees it has light and life, and has no need of proofs. But he who is in darkness, must come to the light.”

But again the Jews asked him who he was, as to his bodily personality. He said to them: “I am, as I told you from the first, a man, the Son of the Father of life. Only he who will so regard himself (this is the truth I teach), and will fulfil the will of the common Father, only he will cease to be a slave, and become a free man. Because we are slaves only through the error which considers the bodily Life as the real life. He who will understand the truth, that life consists only in the fulfilment of the Father’s will, only he will become free and immortal. Just as a bond-servant in a master’s house is not there for ever, but the son does remain, so the man who lives the life of a slave of the flesh does not remain in life for ever; but he who in spirit fulfils the Father’s will, remains in life for ever. To understand me, you must understand that my Father is not that which is your Father, what you call God. Your Father is a God of the flesh; but my Father is the Spirit of life. Your Father, your God, is a God of revenge, a murderer, one who executes men; but my Father gives life. Therefore we are children of different Fathers.”

“I am following the truth, and you wish to kill me for that, to please your God. Your God is the devil, the source of evil; and in serving him, you serve the devil. But my teaching is, that we are the sons of the Father of life, and that he who believes in my teaching shall not see death.”

The Jews asked: “How can a man not die, when all the most God-pleasing men, even Abraham, are dead? How, then, can you say that you, and those that believe your teaching, will not die?” To this, Jesus answered: “I speak not by my own authority. I speak of the one source of life. Whom you call God, and Who is in men. This source I know, I cannot help knowing, and I know His will, and I fulfil it; and of this source of life I say, that it was, and is, and shall be, being deathless.”

The demand for proof of Jesus’ teaching is like a demand made upon a once-blind man, to give proofs of how and why he sees light. The blind man whose sight was restored, still the same man he was before, can only say, he was blind, but now sees. Just this, and nothing else, can one answer who formerly did not understand the meaning of life, but now does understand. Such a man will say that he did not, before, know the true good in life, but now he knows. The once-blind man, when told he is cured not according to rule, and that he who cured him is the evil-doer, and that he must be cured in another way, can only reply, that he knows nothing as to the correctness of the manner of cure, or as to the faultiness of his healer, or as to there being a better way of cure, but that he knows only, he was blind, and now sees. And just so, he who grasps the meaning of this doctrine, that the true good is to fulfil the Father’s will, can say nothing as to the regularity of the teaching, or as to the possibility of gaining something better. He will say: “Formerly I did not see the meaning of life; now I see. I know no more.”

And Jesus said: “My teaching is the awakening of the life which has so far slept; he who will believe my teaching, shall awaken to eternal life, and continue to live after death. My teaching is not proved in any way, except that men give themselves up to it, because it alone has the promise of life for men.

“Sheep follow the shepherd, who gives them food and life; and in the same way, men accept my teaching because it gives life to all. And as the sheep do not follow the thief who climbs over into the fold, but throw themselves aside from him, so men, also, cannot accept the doctrines which teach violence and putting-to-death.

“My teaching is a door to the sheep, and all who will follow me shall find true life. As those only are good shepherds who own and like the sheep, and devote their lives to them, while the mere hirelings, who have no liking for sheep, are bad shepherds; so, also, only that teacher is true who does not look after himself, and he is bad who cares only about himself. My teaching is, that a man shall not look after himself, but shall yield up the life of the body for the life of the spirit. This I teach and fulfil.”

Still the Jews did not understand, and persisted in looking for proofs as to whether or not Jesus was the Christ, to determine whether they should believe in him or not. They said: “Do not torment us, but tell us frankly, are you the Christ, or not?” Then Jesus answered them: “Belief must be given, not to words, but to deeds. By the deeds I teach you may know whether I teach truth or not. Do as I do, and do not trifle over words. Fulfil the will of the Father, and then you will all join with me and with the Father, because I am a Son of Man, and at one with the Father. And I am that which you call God, and I call Father. God and I are one. Even in your own writings it is said, that God said to men, ‘You are Gods.’ Everyone, by his spirit, is son of this Father. And if a man lives fulfilling the will of the Father, then he becomes at one with the Father. If I fulfil the will, the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”

After this, Jesus asked the disciples how they understood his teaching as to the Son of Man. Simon Peter answered him: “Your teaching is that you are the Son of the God of life; that God is the life of the spirit in man.” And Jesus said to him: “Not only I am a son, but all men are; and this is revealed to men, not by me, but by the common Father of men. Upon this knowledge is based the true life of man. To this life there is no death.”

Chapter VIII

Life Is Not Temporal

Therefore true life is to be lived in the present

(“This day”)

Dealing with the disciples’ question as to the recompense for surrendering the life of the body, Jesus said: “To him who enters into the reality of this teaching, no further recompense can be given; because, first, when a man yields up friends and goods for the sake of this teaching, he gains a hundred times more friends and goods; and second, a man who seeks such recompense wants to have something over and above others, which is entirely contrary to the fulfilment of the Father’s will.” In the Kingdom of Heaven there is neither great nor small; all are equal. Those who look for something extra as reward for their goodness, are like the labourers who claimed a greater payment than that for which they had agreed with their employer; merely because, in their opinion, they were more deserving than other labourers. There are no rewards, punishments, degradations, or exaltations, for him who understands this teaching. No one can be higher or lower, more or less important, than another, according to the teaching of Jesus.

All can equally fulfil the Father’s will. Therefore, in so doing, no one becomes superior, truer, or better, than another.

Kings and those who serve them, they only are measured by such standards. By my teaching, said Jesus, there can be no superior rank, because he who would excel, must serve everybody; for the teaching is, that life is given to man, not that others may serve him, but that he may give his whole life to serve others, but he who will not do this, but seeks to exalt himself, shall fall lower than he was.

To get rid of all ideas of rewards and of one’s elevation, the meaning, purpose, of life must be understood. That lies in fulfilling the will of the Father; and the will of the Father is, that that which He gave shall be returned to Him. As a shepherd leaves his flock, and goes to look for the lost sheep, as a woman will search everywhere to find a lost penny, so also the Father’s continual work is manifested to us in His drawing to Himself that which pertains to Him.

We must understand the true life, what it is. The true life is brought to light always in the lost being brought back to where they belong; in the awakening of those who slept. People who have the true life, who are restored to the source of their being, cannot, like worldly men, take account of others as better or worse; but, being sharers of the Father’s life, they can take delight only in the return of the lost to their Father. If a son, who has gone astray and left his father, should repent, and return, how then could the other sons of the same father grudge at the father’s joy, or themselves not rejoice at the brother’s return?

To lead us to believe the teaching, and to alter one’s way of living, and fulfil the teaching, we need, not external proofs, not promises of reward, but a clear understanding of what the true life is. If men think they are complete masters of their own lives, and that life is given them for bodily enjoyment, then clearly, any sacrifice made for another will seem to them an act worthy of reward, and without such payment they will yield nothing. A man demands rents from tenants who have forgotten that their ground is theirs on condition that they give up the fruits to the owner; and when he demands the rent again and again, they seek to kill him. So with the men who think themselves masters of their own lives, not discerning that life is given by true understanding; men who demand the fulfilment of their own wills.

Both belief and action are necessary, to learn that a man can do nothing of himself, and if he give up his bodily life to serve goodness, he deserves neither thanks nor reward. We must understand that, in doing good, a man only does his duty, does what he must necessarily do. Only by so understanding his life, can a man have faith to enable him to do deeds of true goodness.

Precisely in such an understanding of life, the Kingdom of Heaven consists. This Kingdom is invisible; it cannot be pointed out as identified with this or that place. The Kingdom of Heaven is in the human understanding. The whole society of the world goes on living as of old; men eat, drink, marry, trade, die, and along with this, in the souls of men, lives the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the understanding of life, growing from itself, like a tree in the spring.

The true life of the fulfilment of the Father’s will is not in the life of the past, or of the future, but it is the life of now, the life which all must live at this instant of time. Therefore one must never relax the true life in them. Men are set to watch over life, not of the past or the future, but the life now being lived; and in that, to fulfil the will of the Father of all men. If they let this life escape them, by not fulfilling the Father’s will, then they will not receive it back again; just as a watchman, set upon a night-long watch, does not perform his duty if he fall asleep even for a moment; for in this moment a thief may come.

Therefore a man must concentrate his strength in the present hour, for in this hour only can he fulfil the Father’s will. And that will is life and blessing for all men. Only those live who are doing good. Good done to men, now, in this hour, is life, life which unites us with the common Father.

Chapter IX

Temptations

The illusions of temporal life conceal from men the true life in the present

(“Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors”)

Man is born with knowledge of the true life of fulfilment of the Father’s will. Children live by that knowledge; through them we may see what the Father’s will is. To understand the teaching of Jesus, one must understand the life of children, and be like them.

Children always live in the Father’s will, not breaking the five commandments. They would not come to break them if their elders did not mislead them. In misleading children to break those commandments, men ruin the children. In misleading them, men are doing as they would do by fastening a millstone to a man’s neck and throwing him into the water.

If there were no temptations, the world would be happy. The world is unhappy by them only. These temptations are wrong-doing which men enact for imaginary gain to the life in time. Temptations ruin men; therefore it is necessary to give up everything rather than fall into temptation.

Temptation against the first commandment leads men to consider themselves in the right against others, and others as in the wrong, debtors to them. To avoid this temptation, men must remember that all men are always infinitely in debt to the Father, and they can only clear themselves of this debt by forgiving their brother-men.

Therefore men must overlook injuries, and not be deterred though the offender again and again injure them. However many times a man may be injured, he must forgive, and still forgive, not remembering the wrong. For the Kingdom of Heaven is forgiveness.

If we do not forgive, we are doing as the debtor did. This debtor, greatly owing, came to him in whose power he was, and began to ask for mercy. The other forgave him all. The debtor went away, and began himself to squeeze a debtor, who owed him but a little. Now, to gain life, we must fulfil the Father’s will. And we pray the Father to forgive us, that we have not duly fulfilled his will, and we hope to be forgiven. What, then, are we doing, if we do not ourselves forgive? We are doing to others what we dread for ourselves.

The will of the Father is well-being, and evil is that which separates us from the Father. Why, then, should we not strive to quench evil right-away, when evil ruins us, and takes our life?

Temptation against the second commandment is, to think that woman is created for bodily pleasure, and that in leaving one woman and taking another, heightened pleasure is gained. To avoid this temptation, we must remember that the Father’s will is, not that man should amuse himself with woman’s charms, but that every man, with his wife, should be one body. The Father’s will is, for every man, one wife; for every wife, one husband. If one man keep to one wife, then there is wife or husband for each one who needs. Therefore he who changes the woman he lives with, deprives her of a husband, and tempts some other man to leave his wife and take the deserted one. A man may do without a wife, but he must not have more than one, because if he does, he goes against the will of the Father, which is, that one man unite with one woman.

Temptation against the third commandment is, for men to create, for the protection of the temporal life, authoritative powers, and to demand from each other oaths, pledges, to do the deeds those powers demand. To avoid this temptation, men must remember that they are not indebted for their life to any power but God. The claims of authority must be regarded as violence; and, following the commandment regarding the non-resistance of evil, men must yield what the authorities demand, namely, their goods and labour; but they cannot, either by oaths or promises, pledge their conduct. Oaths, being imposed, make men bad. He who recognises life in the will of the Father cannot bind his actions by pledges; because for such a man there is nothing more sacred than his own life.

Temptation against the fourth commandment is, for men to hold that, by giving themselves up to animosity and revenge, they can exterminate evil from among themselves. If a man injure another, men think he should be punished, and that justice lies in human judgments. To be free from this temptation, we must remember that men are called, not to judge, but to save each other. To judge of another’s injustice is impossible for men, as they themselves are full of wickedness. The only thing open to them is to teach others by example of goodness, forgiveness, and purity.

Temptation against the fifth commandment is, for man to think there is a difference between one’s own countrymen and men of other nations; and that it is therefore necessary to make defence against other nations, and to injure them. To avoid this temptation, it is necessary to know that all the commandments are summed up in this one, of fulfilling the will of the Father who gives life and well-being to all men; and therefore it is necessary to do good to all men, without distinction. Even though others still make such distinctions, and though nations who look on each other as aliens are at war, nevertheless, everybody who would fulfil the Father’s will must do good to all men, even to those who belong to another nation which is at war.

To avoid falling into any delusions of men, we must not think about bodily affairs, but about spiritual. To him who has understood that life consists in being, at this moment, in the Father’s will, neither deprivations, nor suffering, nor death, can be dreadful. Only he obtains true life who is, at every moment, ready to give up his bodily life in order to fulfil the Father’s will.

And that all may understand the true life to be one in which there is no death, Jesus said: “Eternal life must not be understood to be like this present life. For the true life in the Father’s will, there is neither space nor time. Those who are awakened to the true life, live in the will of the Father, for which there is no space nor time; and they live with the Father. Though they die to us, they live to God. Therefore one commandment includes in itself all others; the commandment, namely, to love, with all our strength, the source of life; and consequently to love all men, each of whom bears in himself this same original.”

And Jesus said: “This source of life is that very Christ which you await. The comprehension of this source of life, which knows no distinction of persons, no time, no place, is the Son of Man which I teach. Anything which hides this source of life from men is temptation. There is the temptation of the scribes, bookmen, and of the materialists; do not yield thereto. There are the temptations of authority; do not yield thereto. And there is the most terrible temptation, from the teachers of religion who call themselves orthodox. Beware of this last more than of all others; because just they, these self-ordained teachers, by inventing the worship of a false God, decoy you from the true God. They, instead of serving the Father of life by deeds, substitute words, and they teach words, while they themselves do nothing. Therefore you can learn nothing from them but words. But the Father requires deeds, not words. And they have nothing to teach, because they themselves know nothing; but for their own gain they must parade as teachers. But you know that no man can be the teacher of another. There is one teacher for all — the Lord of life — understanding. And these self-assuming teachers, thinking to teach others, deprive themselves of true life, and prevent others from the understanding of it. They teach that their God will be pleased with external ceremonies; and they think they can bring men to serve religion by vows. They are concerned with appearances only. An outward assumption of religion suffices them, but they do not care what is in the hearts of men. Therefore they are like elaborate coffins, very nice outside, but within full of repulsiveness. They give honour, in words, to saints and martyrs, but they are themselves just the very men who have murdered and tortured in the past, and who murder and torture the saints of to-day. By them come all the world’s temptations; because, under the guise of good, they teach evil. The temptation they create is the root of all others, because they defile that which is most sacred. For a long time yet they will not be changed, but will continue their deceptions, and increase evil in the world. But there shall come a time when all the temples will be ruined, with all the external God-worship; when all men will understand, and unite in love, to serve the one Father of life, by fulfilling His will.”

Chapter X

The Warfare with Temptation

Therefore, not to fall by temptation, we must, at every moment of life, be at one with the Father

(“Lead us not into temptation”)

The Jews saw that the teaching of Jesus would destroy their State, religion, and nationality, and at the same time they saw they could not controvert him; so they decided to kill him. His innocence and justness stood in their way, but the high priest Caiaphas discovered a reason for killing Jesus, though innocent. Caiaphas said: “We need not consider whether this man is just or unjust; we have to determine whether our Jewish people shall remain a separate nation, or whether we shall be broken up and dispersed: the nation will perish, and the people be scattered, if we leave this man alone, and do not put him to death.” This argument settled the matter, and the orthodox sentenced Jesus to death. They instructed the people to seize upon him as soon as he might appear in Jerusalem. Jesus, although he knew about this, nevertheless, on the feast of the Passover, came to Jerusalem. His disciples entreated him not to do so; but he said: “What these orthodox can do to me, and all that other men can do, cannot alter the truth for me. If I have the light, I know where I am, and which way I am going. Only he who does not know the truth can fear anything, or can doubt anything. Only he who cannot see, stumbles.” And he went to Jerusalem stopping on the way at Bethany.

When he left Bethany, and went to Jerusalem, crowds of people met and followed him. This still more convinced the orthodox of the need to kill him. They only wanted an opportunity to seize him. He knew also that the lightest incautious word from him at that time, spoken against the law, would be a reason for his execution; but notwithstanding this, he entered the temple, and declared again that the worship of the Jews, with their sacrifices and libations, was false, and he declared his teaching. But his teaching, based on the prophets, was such that the orthodox could not yet find a palpable breach of the law which would justify them in putting him to death; the more so that the greater part of the lower class was with Jesus.

At the feast were certain heathen, who, having heard of the teaching of Jesus, wished to talk with him about it. The disciples, hearing of this, were afraid, fearing lest Jesus, in talking with them, should betray himself, and excite the people. At first they would not bring Jesus and these heathen together; but afterwards they resolved to tell him these men wanted to see him. Hearing this, Jesus was disturbed. He well knew that his speech to the heathen would clearly show his antagonism to the whole Jewish law, would turn the crowd from him, and would give the orthodox a reason to accuse him of being in league with the hated heathen. Jesus became disturbed, knowing this; but he also knew that his mission was to make clear to men, the children of one Father, their real unity, despite differences of religion. He knew that the step he was about to take would end his bodily life, for the sake of giving birth to spiritual results. He said: “He who holds fast to the bodily life is deprived of the true one; and he who is not careful for the bodily life obtains the true life. I am troubled by what is before me, but I have only lived that I might reach this hour; how, then, can I fail to now do what I must do? So let the Father’s will be shown through me now.”

And turning to the people, heathen and Jews, Jesus declared openly what he had only privately told to Nicodemus. He said: “Men’s lives, with all their various religions and organised powers, must be wholly changed. All power and authority must disappear. It is only necessary to understand the nature of man as the son of the Father of life, and this understanding abolishes all division among men, and all ruling power, and makes men one.”

The Jews said: “You wholly destroy our religion. Our law looks to the Christ, but you speak only of the Son of Man, and say that he must be set up. What do you mean?” He answered them: “To set up the Son of Man means to live by the light of the understanding which is in men, to follow this light into more light. I teach no new faith, only that which everyone may know within himself. Every man knows he has life, given to him and to all men by the Father of life. My teaching is only this, that man must live the life given by the Father to all.”

Many of the humbler kind of people believed Jesus. But the notable and official classes disbelieved; because they did not want to consider the universal basis of what he said, but only its immediate and temporary bearings. They saw that he turned the people from themselves, and they wished to kill him; but they were afraid to seize him openly, and did not seek to do so in Jerusalem and in the daytime, but secretly elsewhere.”

And one of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, approached the authorities, and him they bribed to take their emissaries to Jesus when he should be away from the people. Judas promised this, and went again to Jesus, awaiting a suitable opportunity to betray him.

On the first day of the feast, Jesus and his disciples kept the Passover. And Judas, thinking Jesus was not aware of his treachery, was with them. But Jesus knew Judas had sold him. And as they all sat at table, Jesus took bread, broke it in twelve pieces, and gave a piece to each disciple, including Judas with the rest. And not mentioning any name, he said: “Take, eat my body.” Then he took the cup with the wine, passed it to them, for them all, including Judas, to drink from, and said: “One of you will shed my blood. Drink my blood.”

Afterwards Jesus got up, and began to wash the feet of all his disciples, including Judas. And having finished, he said: “I know that one of you will betray me to my death, and shed my blood; but him I have fed, and given to drink, and washed his feet. I have done this to show you how you must act towards those who do you harm. If you will act in this way, you shall be blessed.” And the disciples went on to ask who the betrayer was. But Jesus did not give his name, so that they might not turn on him. And when it had grown dark, Jesus showed that it was Judas, and at the same time told him to go away. Judas got up from the table and went off, no one hindering him.

Then Jesus said: “This is the meaning of setting up the Son of Man. To set up the Son of Man is to be like the Father, good; and that, not only to those who love us, but to all men, even to those who do us harm. And therefore do not argue over my teaching, do not pick it to pieces as the orthodox did, but do as I have done; do as I have done under your eyes. This one commandment I give you: Love men. My whole teaching is, to love men always, and to the last.”

After this, fear came over Jesus, and he went in the dark with his disciples to a garden, to be out of the way. While walking, he said to them: “You are all wavering and timid; if they move to take me, you will all run away.” To this, Peter said: “No, I will never leave you; I will defend you even to death.” And all the disciples said so. Then Jesus said: “If that be the case, then get ready for defence; take provision, because we must hide, take weapons, to fight for ourselves.” The disciples said they had two swords.

When Jesus heard this about the swords, anguish came over him. And going to a vacant place, he began to pray, and entreated his disciples to do the same. But the disciples did not understand his state of mind. Jesus said: “My Father, the Spirit, end in me this struggle with temptation. Strengthen me to the fulfilment of Thy will. I do not want my own way. I do not want to defend my bodily life. I want to do Thy will, in not resisting evil.”

The disciples still did not understand. And he said to them: “Do not consider the concerns of the body, but try to rise into the spirit; strength is in the spirit, but the flesh is powerless.” And a second time he said: “My Father, if suffering must be, then let it come. But even in suffering, I want one thing only: that not my will shall be fulfilled, but thine.” The disciples did not understand. And again he struggled with the temptation; and at last conquered it. Coming to the disciples, he said: “It is settled now; you can be at rest. I shall not fight, but shall surrender myself into the hands of the men of this world.”

Chapter XI

The Farewell Discourse

The self-life is an illusion which comes through the flesh, an evil. The true life is the life common to all men

(“Deliver us from evil”)

Jesus, finding himself prepared for death, went to give himself up. Peter stopped him, and asked: “Where are you going?” Jesus answered: “I am going where you cannot go. I am ready for death, and you are not yet ready.” Peter said: “No, I am even now ready to sacrifice my life for thee.” Jesus said to him: “A man cannot promise anything.”

And he said to all his disciples: “I know death is before me, but I believe in the life of the Father, and therefore am not afraid of it. Do not be distressed over my death, but believe in the real God, in the Father of life, and then my death will not seem dreadful to you. If I am united with the Father of life, then I cannot be deprived of life. It is true, I do not tell you what and where my life will be, after death, but I point out to you the way to true life. My teaching does not reveal what that life is to be, but it reveals the only true way of life. That is, to be in unity with the Father. The Father is the source of life. My teaching is, that man shall live in the will of the Father, and fulfil His will for the life and well-being of all men.

“Your teacher, when I am gone, will be your knowledge of the truth. In fulfilling my teaching, you will always feel that you are in the truth, that the Father is in you, and you are in the Father. And knowing in yourselves the Father of life, you will experience a peace of which nothing will deprive you. And therefore, if you know the truth and live in it, neither my death nor your own can trouble you.

“Men think of themselves as separate beings, each with his own power of will in life; but this is only an illusion. The only true life is that which recognises the Father’s will as the source of life. My teaching reveals this oneness of life, and represents life, not as separate shoots, but as one tree, on which all the shoots grow. Only he who lives in the Father’s will, like a shoot of a tree, only he lives; and he who wishes to live by his own will, dies away like a torn-off shoot.

“The Father gave me life to do good, and I have taught you to live to do good. If you will fulfil my commandment, you will be blessed. The commandment which sums up my whole teaching is no more than this, that all men shall love one another. And love is to sacrifice one’s own bodily life for another’s sake. Love has no other definition. In fulfilling my commandment of love, you will not fulfil it like slaves, who follow the orders of a master without understanding them; but you will live as free men, as I am, because I have made clear to you the purpose of life, which follows from the knowledge of the Father of life. You have adopted my teaching, not from accidental choice, but because it is the only truth by which men are made free.

“The teaching of the world is to do evil to men; but I teach that men love each other. Therefore the world will despise you, as it has despised me. The world does not understand my teaching, and therefore will persecute you, and do you evil, thinking thereby to serve God. Do not be astonished at this; you must understand that it is necessarily so. The world, not understanding the true God, must persecute you; but you must affirm the truth.

“You grieve because they will kill me; but they kill me for declaring the truth. And therefore my death is necessary for the declaration of the truth. My death, in facing which I do not go back from the truth, will strengthen you, and you will understand the nature of untruth and of truth. You will understand that untruth lies in men’s belief in the bodily life, and their disbelief in the life of the spirit; that truth consists in unity with the Father, from which results the victory of the spirit over the flesh.

“Even when I shall not be with you in the bodily life, my spirit will be with you. But you, like all men, will not always feel within you the power of the spirit. Sometimes you will relax and lose strength of spirit; and you will fall into temptation; and at times you will again awaken to the true life. Hours of bondage to the body will come upon you, but for a time only; you will suffer, and again be restored to the spirit, like a woman who suffers birth-pangs, and then has joy because she has brought a human being into the world. So will your experience be, when, after falling under the power of the body, you rise again by the spirit. You will then feel such joy, that nothing will be left for you to desire. Know this, then, beforehand; and in spite of persecution, in spite of internal struggle and casting down of spirit, know that the spirit lives in you, and that the only true God is the knowledge of the Father’s will, as I have revealed it.”

And addressing the Father, the Spirit, Jesus said: “I have done that which Thou hast commanded me; I have revealed to men that Thou art the source of everything. And they have understood me. I have taught them that they all come from the source of infinite life, and therefore they are all one; and that as the Father is in me, and I am in the Father, so they, too, are one with me and the Father. I have revealed to them also, that, like Thee, who in love hast sent them into the world, they, too, shall with love live in the world.”

Chapter XII

The Victory of the Spirit over the Flesh

Therefore, for him who lives, not the self-life, but a common life in the will of the Father, there is no death. Bodily death is for him union with the Father

(“Thine is the Kingdom, power, and Glory”)

When Jesus had ended his discourse to the disciples, he rose, and, instead of running away or defending himself, he went on the way to meet Judas, who was bringing soldiers to take him. Jesus came to Judas, and asked him, why he had come. But Judas did not answer, and a crowd of soldiers came round Jesus. Peter threw himself forward to defend his teacher, and, drawing his sword, began to fight. But Jesus stopped him, and said to him, that he who fights with a sword must himself perish with the sword, and ordered him to put up the sword. Then Jesus said to those who had come to take him: “I have up to now gone about among you alone, without fear, and I do not fear now. Do as you choose.”

And while all the disciples ran away, Jesus was left alone. The officer of the soldiers ordered Jesus to be bound, and led before Annas. This Annas was a former high priest, and lived in the same house with Caiaphas, who was then high priest. Caiaphas it was who provided the reason upon which they decided to kill Jesus; namely, that if he were not killed the nation would disappear.

Jesus, feeling himself to be in the will of the Father, was ready for death, and did not resist when they took him, and was not afraid when they led him away. But the very Peter who had just promised Jesus that he would not renounce him, but would die for him, this same Peter who wished to protect him, — now, when he saw that they were taking Jesus for execution, and being met with the door-keeper’s question. Whether he was not with Jesus? gave up, and deserted him. It was only afterwards that, hearing the cock crow, Peter brought to mind all that Jesus had said. Then he understood that there are two temptations of the flesh, fear and fighting; and that it was with these that Jesus struggled when he prayed in the garden, and asked the disciples to pray. And now he, Peter, had fallen before both these temptations of the flesh, of which Jesus had forewarned him; he had wished to fight against evil, and to defend the truth, he had been about to strike and to do evil himself; and now he could not endure the fear of bodily suffering, and had renounced his teacher. Jesus had yielded neither to the temptation to fight, when the disciples got ready two swords for his defence, nor to the temptation to fear before the men of Jerusalem, first, in the case of the heathen, and now before the soldiers, who had bound him and led him to trial.

Jesus was taken before Caiaphas. Caiaphas began to question him about his teaching. But knowing that Caiaphas was examining him, not to find out what his teaching was, but only to convict him, Jesus did not answer, but said: “I have concealed nothing, and now conceal nothing. If you wish to know what my teaching is, ask those who heard and understood it.” For saying this, the high priest’s servant struck Jesus in the face, and Jesus asked him why he so beat him. But the man did not answer him, and the high priest continued the trial. Witnesses were brought, who deposed that Jesus had boasted that he made an end of the Jewish religion. And the high priest interrogated Jesus; who, seeing they did not examine him to learn anything, but only to make a show of a judicial trial, answered nothing.

Then a priest asked him: “Tell me, are you the Christ, the Son of God?” Jesus said: “Yes, I am the Christ, the Son of God; and now, in torturing me, you will see how a Son of Man is like to God.” And the priest was glad to hear these words, and said to the other judges: “Are not these words enough to condemn him?” And the judges said: “That is enough; we sentence him to death.” And when they said that, the people threw themselves upon Jesus, and began to beat him, to spit in his face, and insult him. He was silent.

The Jews had no power to punish men with death, and for that needed permission from the Roman governor. Therefore, having condemned Jesus in their court, and having subjected him to ignominy, they took him to the Roman governor, Pilate, that he might execute him. Pilate asked why they wished to kill Jesus. They said, because he was a criminal. Pilate said that if he was so, they must judge him by their own law. They said: “We want you to put him to death, because he is guilty before the Roman Caesar; he is a rebel, he agitates the people, he forbids payment of taxes to Caesar, and calls himself the Jewish king.”

Pilate summoned Jesus before him, and said: “What is the meaning of this; are you the Jewish king?”

Jesus said: “Do you really wish to know what my kingdom means, or are you only asking for form’s sake?”

Pilate answered: “I am not a Jew, and it is the same to me whether you are the Jewish king or not; but I ask you, who are you, and why do they call you king?”

Jesus said: “They say truly, that I call myself a king. I am indeed a king, but my kingdom is not of earth, but of heaven. The kings of the earth war and fight, and have armies; but as for me, — you see they have bound and beaten me, and I did not resist. I am king from heaven: my power is of the spirit.”

Pilate said: “Then it is indeed true that you think yourself a king?”

Jesus answered: “You know this yourself. Everyone who lives by the spirit is free. I live by this only, and I only teach by shewing men the truth, that they are free by the spirit.”

Pilate said: “You teach the truth, but nobody knows what truth is, and everyone has his own truth.”

And having said this, he turned his back on Jesus, and went again to the Jews. Coming out to them, he said: “I find nothing criminal in this man. Why, then, put him to death?”

The priests answered: “He ought to be put to death, because he incites the people.”

Then Pilate began to examine Jesus before the priests; but Jesus, seeing it was only a mock inquiry, answered nothing. Then Pilate said: “I alone cannot condemn him; take him to Herod.”

At Herod’s tribunal, Jesus again answered nothing to the accusations of the priests; and Herod, thinking Jesus to be a common fellow, ordered him, for mockery, to be dressed in red clothes, and sent back to Pilate.

Pilate pitied Jesus, and began to entreat the priests to forgive him, if only on account of the feast. But the priests did not consent, and all — the people with them — cried out to crucify Christ. Pilate tried a second time to persuade them to let Jesus go; but priests and people cried out that he must be executed. They said: “He is guilty of calling himself the Son of God.” Pilate again summoned Jesus, and asked him what he meant by calling himself the Son of God. Jesus answered nothing.

Then Pilate said: “Why do you not answer me, seeing that I have power to execute you or to set you free?”

Jesus answered: “You have no authority over me; authority only comes from on high.”

And Pilate a third time began to persuade the Jews to set Jesus free. But they said to him: “If you will not execute this man, whom we have exposed as an enemy to Caesar, then you yourself are not a friend, but an enemy to Caesar.”

And hearing these words, Pilate gave way, and ordered the execution of Jesus. They first stripped him and flogged him; then they dressed him again in a ridiculous way. And they beat him, mocked him, and insulted him. Then they caused him to carry the cross, and led him to the place of execution, where they crucified him.

And as Jesus hung on the cross, the whole populace mocked him. But to this mockery Jesus answered: “Father! do not call them to account; they do not know what they are doing.” And then, as he was now drawing near death, he said: “Father! I yield my spirit into Thy care.”

And bowing his head, he breathed his last.

The End

Note upon Matt. xvii. 24-25, as to Payment of Taxes (see page 117).

In the third part (now preparing for press) of The Four Gospels Harmonised and Translated, the Author renders the above passage thus:

“When they were come to Capernaum, the collectors of the double-drachm came to Peter, and said: Thy master does not pay the double-drachm. And he said: Yes.”

This rendering, the Author accompanies with the remark:

“I have substituted a full-stop for the note of interrogation generally placed at the end of verse 24. The construction of the sentence is not interrogative, and the verb is in the present tense. The tax-collectors ask no question, but positively say, ‘Your master does not pay the tax.’”

So that Peter simply confirms the statement, that Jesus does not pay taxes.

This explanation of a novel reading of the Gospel text may serve as an example of numerous other explanations, to be found in the larger work, The Four Gospels Harmonised and Translated.