AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
AFTER this,
the Orthodox chief priests tried to do all they could to ensnare Jesus, so as
in one way or other to destroy him. They assembled in council and began to
consider.
They said: “We
must somehow finish with this man. He so proves his teaching that if we let him
alone everyone will believe in him and cast off our belief. Now already half
the people believe in him. But if the Jews come to believe his teaching that
all men are sons of one Father and are brothers, and that our Hebrew people are
not different from others, then the Romans will overwhelm us completely and we
shall no longer have a Hebrew kingdom.”
And the
Orthodox chief priests and scholars long consulted together and could not
decide what to do with him, for they could not make up their minds to kill him.
Then one of
them, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them: “You must
remember that it is expedient to kill one man rather than let the whole people
perish, and if we leave this man alone the people will perish. I warn you of
that, so it is better to kill Jesus. Even if the people did not perish, still
they will be scattered and will go astray from the one faith unless we kill
this man. So it is better to kill him.”
And when
Caiaphas said this they all agreed not to hesitate, but that it was necessary
to kill Jesus without fail.
They would
at once have taken him and killed him, but he withdrew from them into the
desert. But just then the feast of the Passover occurred, when many people
assembled in Jerusalem for the holiday; and the Orthodox
chief priests counted on Jesus coming with the people to the feast. So they
made known to the people that if anyone saw Jesus he should bring him to them.
And it so
happened that six days before the Passover Jesus said to his pupils:
“Let us go
to Jerusalem.”
But the
pupils said to him: “Do not go. The chief priests have resolved to stone you to
death. If you go there they will kill you.”
Jesus said
to them: “I cannot fear anything because I live in the light of understanding.
And as every man, that he may not stumble, walks by day and not by night, so
every man, that he may not doubt or fear, must live by this understanding. Only
that man doubts and fears who lives by the flesh; he who lives by understanding
neither doubts nor fears anything.”
And Jesus
came to the village of Bethany near Jerusalem, to the house of Martha and Mary.
And when he sat at supper Martha waited on him. But Mary took a pound of fresh
scented oil, poured it over his feet and wiped them with her hair.
When the
scent of the oil had filled the whole room, Judas Iscariot said: “Mary was
wrong to waste this expensive oil; it would have been better to sell it for
three hundred pence and give it to the poor.”
But Jesus
said: “You will have the poor always with you, but I shall soon have gone away.
She has done well! She has prepared my body for its burial.” In the morning
Jesus went to Jerusalem where many people had come for the
feast, and when they recognized Jesus they surrounded him, tore branches from
the trees, and threw down their clothes on the road before him, and all
shouted: “He is our true King, he has taught us to know the true God.”
Jesus rode
on an ass's foal, and the people ran before him and shouted. So he entered Jerusalem. And when he had ridden thus into
the town all the people were excited and asked: “Who is he?” And those who knew
him answered: “Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth in Galilee.”
And Jesus
went into the temple and again drove out thence all the buyers and sellers.
When the
Orthodox chief priests saw all this they said to each other: “See what this man
is doing. All the people follow him. And they dared not take him straight from
among the people, because they saw that the people were on his side, and they
considered how to take him by cunning.”
Meanwhile
Jesus was in the temple and taught the people, among whom besides the Jews
there were Greeks who were heathen. The Greeks had heard of Jesus’ teaching and
understood that he taught the truth not only to Hebrews but to all men; so they
also wished to be his pupils and spoke about this to Philip. And Philip told it
to Andrew.
These two
feared to bring Jesus and the Greeks together. They feared that the people
would be angry with Jesus for not making any difference between the Hebrews and
other nations, and they long hesitated about telling him. Afterwards they told
him both together, and hearing that the Greeks wished to be his pupils Jesus
was troubled. He knew that the people would hate him for making no difference
between Hebrews and heathen, and yet he acknowledged himself to be one with the
heathen.
He said: “The
time is come to explain what I understand by the 'son of man'. And though I
perish in explaining this because I destroy the distinction between Jews and
heathen, I will still speak the truth. A grain of wheat only fructifies when it
itself perishes. He who loves his fleshly life loses the true life, but he who
disregards the life of the flesh preserves the life everlasting. Let him who
wishes to follow my teaching do as I do. And he who does as I do shall be
rewarded by my Father. My soul is now troubled: shall I yield to consideration
for my temporal life, or fulfill the will of the Father now at this hour? Can
it be that now, when the hour in which I live has come, I shall say: Father,
deliver me from that which I ought to do? I cannot say that, for I now live.”
“Therefore
I say: Father, show Thyself in me.”
And Jesus
said: “Henceforth the present society of men is doomed to destruction. From
this time that which rules this world shall be destroyed. And when the son of
man is exalted above the earthly life he will unite all in one.”
Then the
Jews said to him: “We understand from the scriptures that there is an eternal
Christ. How then do you say that the son of man shall be exalted? What does it
mean-to exalt the son of man?”
To this
Jesus replied: “To exalt the son of man means to live by the light of
understanding that is in you. To exalt the son of man above the earthly life
means to believe in the light while there is light, in order to be a son of
understanding.”
“He who
believes in my teaching believes not in me but in that spirit which gave life
to the world. And he who understands my teaching understands that spirit which
gave life to the world. If anyone hears my words and does not fulfill them, it
is not I who blame him, for I came not to accuse but to save. He who does not
accept my teaching is accused, not by my teaching but by the understanding
which is in himself. It is that which accuses him. I do not speak of myself,
but say what my Father-the living spirit within me-suggests to me. That which I
say has been told me by the spirit of understanding, and that which I teach is
the true life.” Having said this, Jesus went away and again hid from the chief
priests.
And among
those who heard these words of Jesus were many powerful and wealthy people who
believed his teaching but were afraid to acknowledge it to the chief priests.
Not one of the chief priests acknowledged that he believed the teaching, for
they were accustomed to judge by human standards and
not by God's.
After Jesus
had hidden himself, the chief priests and elders again gathered together at the
palace of Caiaphas. And they began to plan how to take Jesus unknown to
the people, for they were afraid to take him openly.
And one of
the first twelve pupils of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, came to their council and
said: “If you want to take Jesus secretly so that the people may not see it, I
will find a time when there will be few people with him, and will show you
where he is and then you can take him. But what will you give me for that?”
They promised him thirty pieces of silver. He agreed; and from that time began
to seek opportunity to lead the chief priests upon Jesus to take him.
Meanwhile
Jesus withdrew from the people and only his pupils were with him. When the
first feast of unleavened bread was at hand the pupils said to Jesus: “Where
shall we keep the Passover?” And Jesus said: “Go into the village, enter a
house, say that you have not had time to prepare for the feast, and ask the man
who lives there to admit us to celebrate the Passover.”
The pupils
did this: they asked a man in the village and he invited them in. So they came
and sat down to table Jesus and twelve pupils, Judas among them. Jesus knew
that Judas Iscariot had already promised to betray him to death: but he did not
accuse him and did not revenge himself, but as all his life he had taught his
pupils love, so now he only reproved Judas lovingly. When they all twelve had
sat down to table, he looked at them and said: “Among you sits one who has
betrayed me. Yes, he who eats and drinks with me will destroy me.” And he said
nothing more, so that they did not know of whom he spoke, and began to eat.
When they
began to eat, Jesus took bread, broke it into twelve pieces, gave each of the
pupils a piece, and said: “Take and eat this-it is my body.” And then he filled
a cup with wine, handed it to the pupils and said: “Drink all of you of this
cup.” And when they had all drunk he said: “This is my blood. I shed it that
people may know my will that they should forgive one another their sins. For I
shall soon die and shall not be with you any more in this world, but shall join
you only in the kingdom of heaven.”
After that,
Jesus rose from table, girt himself with a towel, took a ewer of water, and began
to wash the feet of all the pupils. When he came to Peter, Peter protested and
said: “Why should you wash my feet?” Jesus said to him: “It seems strange to
you that I should wash your feet, but you will soon know why I do this. Though
you are clean, not all of you are so: among you is my betrayer, to whom I gave
bread and wine with my own hands and whose feet I wish to wash.” And when Jesus
had washed the feet of all his pupils, he sat down again and said: “Do you
understand why I did this? I have done it that you may always do the same to
one another. I, your teacher, do this that you may know how to behave with
those who do you harm. If you have understood this and will do it, then you
will be happy. When I said that one of you would betray me I did not speak of
you all, for only one of you, whose feet I washed and who ate bread with me,
will destroy me.”
And having
said this Jesus was troubled in spirit and again said: “Yes, yes, one of you
will betray me.”
And again
the pupils began to look at one another, not knowing of whom he spoke. One of
them sat near Jesus, and Simon. Peter made a sign to him that he should ask
Jesus who the betrayer was. And he did so.
Jesus said:
“I will soak a bit of bread and will give it to him and he to whom I give it is
my betrayer.” And he gave the bread to Judas Iscariot and said to him: “What
you wish to do, do quickly.”
And Judas
understood that he must go away, and as soon as he had taken the sop he at once
went out. And he could not be followed as it was night.
When Judas
had gone, Jesus said: “It is now clear to you what the son of man is that in
him is God, to make him as blessed as God Himself.”
“Children!
I shall not be with you long. Do not argue over my teaching, as I said to the
Orthodox, but do what I do. I give you a new commandment: as I have always and
to the end loved you; do you always and to the end love one another. By that
alone will you be distinguished. Seek only thus to be distinguished from other
men-love one another.”
And after
that they went to the Mount of Olives.
On the way
there Jesus said to them: “Now the time is coming when what was said in the
scriptures will happen: ‘the shepherd will be killed and the sheep will all be
scattered.’ It will happen tonight. I shall be taken and you will all abandon
me and scatter.”
And Peter
said to him: “Though all others may be frightened and scatter, I will not deny
you. I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
And Jesus
said to him: “I tell you that tonight, after I have been taken, before cock
crows, you will deny me not once but thrice.”
Peter
answered that he would never deny him; and all the other pupils said the same.
Then Jesus
said to them: “Formerly neither I nor you lacked anything. You went without a
wallet and without change of shoes, as I bade you. But now that I am considered
an outlaw we can no longer do this, but must procure supplies and get knives
that we may not perish uselessly.”
The pupils
said: “See, we have two knives.” and Jesus replied: “It is well.”
Having said
this, Jesus went with the pupils to the garden of Gethsemane. And on reaching the garden he
said: “Wait you here, I wish to pray.”
And coming
up to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee he was sorrowful and distressed and he
said to them: “It is very hard for me-I am sad before my death. Wait here, and
do not be cast down as I am.”
And he went
off a little way, lay prone on the ground, and began to pray, saying: “My
Father, the spirit! Let it be not as I wish, which is that I should not die,
but as you wish. Let me die. But for you, as a spirit, all is possible- grant
that I may not fear death and may not be tempted by the flesh.”
Then he
arose, went to the pupils, and saw that they were cast down. And he said to
them: “How is it that you are not able for one hour to live in the spirit as I
do? Exalt your spirit, so as not to yield to the temptation of the flesh. The
spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak.”
And again
Jesus went apart from them, and again began to pray, saying: “Father! If I must
suffer and die, then let me die, and let Thy will be done!” Having said this,
he again came to the pupils and saw that they were still more cast down and
were ready to weep.
And he
again went apart from them and for the third time said: “Father, let Thy will
be done.”
Then he
returned to his pupils and said to them: “Now calm yourselves and be at ease,
for it is now decided that I shall give myself up into the hands of worldly
men.”
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