Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the LordAbbott, Edwin Abbott
Religion
Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord
Abbott, Edwin Abbott
Christian fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
As we walked towards Bethphage, it came to pass that Philip said to Jesus
(thinking to please him), that certain Greeks which were in Jerusalem
desired to see him. Now so it was, that when Philip spake these words, we
chanced to be passing through the fields of corn; and the corn was now
strong and in ear, for the spring was well advanced. But Jesus stopped at
that word Greeks, and looked down at the corn; and then he said that the
hour was verily come when he should be glorified: “For,” said he, “except
a corn of wheat fall into the ground, it abideth alone: but if it die, it
bringeth forth much fruit.” Then he went on to say that, after his death,
we need not fear lest we should be left desolate, for a Spirit should
strengthen us; and of this Spirit he spake, at one time as coming from
himself, but at another time as coming from his Father; moreover it should
come to us, he said, by a certain ordinance, which could not be altered.
For just as the ear of wheat cometh not unless the corn of wheat first
die, even so his Spirit should not come, except he also should first
depart from us.
Hereat Judas brake out in hot anger, “Wherefore, then, go we up to
Jerusalem, if our going is to be for naught, and if thou art to depart
from us, and if we are to be left as sheep without a shepherd?” Jesus
rebuked him not, neither answered as we had expected; but said that it
could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem. Hereat one
said, “Nay but, O Master, the prophet John perished not in Jerusalem.” But
to this Jesus made no answer; but only spake a few words touching the
difference between the simplicity of the Galileans and the subtlety of the
men of Jerusalem; and he condemned the Scribes of Jerusalem and the
priests of the temple, for that they made darkness instead of light,
causing all Israel, and even the Galileans, to transgress. He also spake
as if Satan reigned in the Holy City, and as if he were shortly going down
to do battle there with Satan in Jerusalem. So he seemed to signify that
Jerusalem was as it were a field of battle, whereon it was meet and right
that a true prophet should die. After this he added, that if he were
lifted up in the sight of all men, he should draw all men unto him. This
joining together of words diverse in nature, of perishing and lifting up,
and of departing and drawing all men unto him, filled us with perplexity;
insomuch that Judas said in a low voice that the words of Jesus were like
unto oil and vinegar, which cannot be mixed. The rest of us also showed,
as I suppose, by our countenances that we understood him not; for he
looked kindly on us, and rebuked us not, but said that he had yet many
things to say unto us, but we could not bear them now. He also added at
another time, this promise, that a Spirit of Truth should come, which
should guide us into all the truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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