And the disciples said: "The first."
And Jesus said: "And I tell you that the publicans and adulterers will enter the Kingdom of God before those who talk, but do not act."
Matt. XVI, 13-17; 21-25; XXI, 28-31.
XXXVII.
Then the disciples said to Jesus: "Your teaching is hard. Increase our belief that, if we live as you teach us, it will be well with us."
Jesus understood that they wished to know about the reward for a good life, and he said to them:
"Faith is not the belief in rewards; but faith is a clear understanding of what life is. If you clearly understand that your life is in the spirit of God, you will not expect any reward. A master does not thank a servant for doing his duty. And a servant, if he understands that he is a servant, is not offended at this, but does his work and knows that he will receive what is due to him. So you, too, should fulfil the will of the Father, and understand that you are servants; and when you have done your duty, do not expect reward, but be content with what you get. We must not be anxious to receive reward, but must be anxious not to destroy the life given us to enable us to fulfil the will of the Father. Therefore always be ready, like servants who are expecting their master. The servants do not know whether he will return soon or late, but have to be always ready.
"And so it is in life. Always, at every moment, one must fulfil the will of God, not saying to oneself: 'Then or there, I will do so-and-so.'"
"Therefore, live always in the spirit and in the present. For the life of the spirit there is no such thing as time. Take care that you do not burden yourselves, or befog yourselves with drink, over-eating, or cares, but let the spirit of God always rule over your bodies."
Luke XV П, 5-10; X//, 36-40; XXI, 34.
XXXVIII.
And Jesus told them another parable, to show how people should live. He said:
"A master planted a garden, and dug it, and arranged it, and did everything to make it yield as much fruit as pos-
sible. And he sent laborers into the garden to work, gather the fruit, and pay him according to agreement. And when the time came, the master sent a servant to receive the payment; but the laborers had forgotten that the garden had not been planted and arranged by them, and that they had come when it was quite ready; and they drove away the master's messenger emptyhanded, and lived in the garden as if they were the masters, not considering that the garden was not theirs, and that they lived in it by permission of the master. Then the master sent his steward to remind the laborers that the payment was due; but they drove him away too. Then he sent his son. But the laborers thought that if they killed the son they would be left to themselves. And so they killed him.
"What was the master to do ? He could only turn out the laborers, and send others in their place.
"The master is the Father; the garden is the world; the laborers are men; the payment is the life of the spirit; the messengers from the master are holy men who remind people that they should live not for their bodies, but for the spirit.
''People who have gone astray imagine that life is given them for bodily welfare, and not for the fulfilment of the will of the Father, and they kill in themselves the life of the spirit, and so lose their real life."
Mark XII, 1-9. XXXIX.
After this Qirist again came to Jerusalem, and spoke to the people in the Temple about the bad life of the Pharisees.
He said:
"Beware of the teaching of the Scribes, who call them-
selves the orthodox teachers. Beware of them, for they have taken the places of the real teachers, the prophets. They have taken for themselves the right to teach men the will of God. They talk, but do not do what they teach. They wish to be teachers, and therefore try to show off: they dress themselves up, give themselves titles, but do nothii^ useful. Do not believe them. Remember that no one should call himself 'Teacher.' These self-styled, orthodox teachers of truth think one can be led to God by external ceremonies and vows, and they do not see that the external does not matter, but that all that is important is in the soul of a man. They fulfil what is external and easy, but what is really necessary and difficult (love, mercy, and truth) they leave alone. All they care about is to keep the outward law, and by outward means get others to accept it. Therefore they are like painted coffins: clean outside, but abominable within.
"Outwardly they honor the saints and martyrs; but really it is they that tormented and killed the saints. They were, and are, the enemies of all that is good. From them comes all the evil in the world, for they hide what is good, and call evil good. And that is a thing one must fear most of all, for you yourselves know that any mistake may be set right, but that if people make a mistake as to what is good, it is a mistake that cannot be set right. And that is just what these self-styled pastors do."
After that Jesus said: "I wished to unite all men here in Jerusalem, so that they should live loving one another, and serving one another; but these people only know how to kill those who teach what is good."
And having said this, he left the Temple.
And Jesus said: "T tell you truly, that this Temple will fall in ruins with all its ornaments, and nothing will be
left of it. But there is a Temple of Goid—the hearts of those that love one another."
And they asked him, "When will that Temple be?" And he answered: "It will not be soon. For a long time people will use my teaching to deceive others, and this will cause wars and commotions, and there will be great law lessness and little love.
"But when everybody has understood the true teaching, then evil and temptations will come to an end."
Luke XX, 46; Matt. ХХП1, 1-39; Mark /Я, 2S, 29; Matt. XXIV, M4.
XL.
The Scribes and Pharisees tried as hard as they could to destroy Jesus. They assembled in council, and began to discuss how to do it. They said: "This man must be stopped. He makes his teaching so persuasive that if he is left alone, everybody will believe him, and will abandon our religion. Half the people already believe in him; and if all believe his teaching that all men are sons of one Father, and that all are brothers, and that there is nothing in our Hebrew people different from other nations, the Romans will come and conquer us, and there will no longer be a Hebrew kingdom."
And the Scribes and Pharisees long discussed the matter. They wished to kill Jesus, to rid themselves of him; but were afraid of the people, and dared not do it.
Then their High Priest, whose name was Caiaphas, said: "You need not be so much afraid. One man has sometimes to be killed to save a whole nation. And if we do not put an end to this man, the whole nation will perish; or if it does not perish, it will be scattered, and will abandon our one true faith. So we must not hesitate \o kill Jesus."
And when Gtiaphas had said this, all agreed with him, and decided to kill Jesus. And they would at once have taken him and killed him, but Jesus was not in Jerusalem, and they did not know where he was.
But when the Feast of the Passover drew near, the High Priests thought Jesus would be sure to come with the other people to the Feast, and they told their servants that if any one saw Jesus, he should bring him to them.
And really, six days before the Passover, Jesus said to his disciples: **Now let us go to Jerusalem." But the disciples knew that the High Priests wished to kill him, and they begged him not to go to Jerusalem. They said: "The High Priests have decided to stone you. If you go there they are sure to kill you."
Jesus answered: "Only he who walks in darkness stumbles and falls; but he who walks in the daylight does not stumble. A man cannot err who lives in the light of God's will, and does as God wishes. Such a man cannot be afraid. Come to Jerusalem."