IKTHYS
THE GOSPEL OF BARNABA
~ part 5 ~
Having
thus said, Jesus washed himself, with his disciples, according to the law of God
written in the book of Moses; and then they prayed. And the disciples seeing him
thus sad spake not at all to him that day, but each stood terror-struck at his
words.
Then Jesus opening his mouth after the evening [prayer], said: 'What father of a
family if he knew that a thief meant to break into his house, would sleep? None
assuredly; for he would watch and stand prepared to slay the thief. Do ye not
know then that Satan is as a roaring lion that goeth about seeking whom he may
devour. Thus he seeketh to make man sin. Verily I say unto you, that if man
would act as the merchant he should have no fear in that day, because he would
be well prepared. There was a man who gave money to his neighbours that they
might trade with it, and the profit should be divided in a just proportion. And
some traded well, so that they doubled the money. But some used the money in the
service of the enemy of him who gave them the money, speaking evil of him. Tell
me now, when the neighbour shall call the debtors to account how shall the
matter go? Assuredly he will reward those who traded well, but against the
others his anger shall vent itself in reproaches. And then he will punish them
according to the law. As God liveth, in whose presence my soul standeth, the
neighbour is God, who has given to man all that he hath, with life itself, so
that, [man] living well in this world, God may have praise, and man the glory of
paradise. For those who live well double their money by their example, because
sinners, seeing their example, are converted to repentance; wherefore men who
live well shall be rewarded with a great reward. But wicked sinners, who by
their sins halve what God has given them, by their lives spent in the service of
Satan the enemy of God, blaspheming God and giving offense to others- tell me
what shall be their punishment?'
'It
shall be without measure,' said the disciples.
Then
said Jesus: 'He who would live well should take example from the merchant who
locketh up his shop, and guardeth it day and night with great diligence. And
selling the things which he buyeth he is fain to make a profit; for if he
perceiveth that he will lose thereby he will not sell, no, not to his own
brother. Thus then should ye do; for in truth soul is a merchant, and the body
is the shop: wherefore what it receiveth from outside, through the senses, is
bought and sold by it. And the money is love. See then that with love ye do not
sell nor buy the smallest thought by which ye cannot profit. But let thought,
speech, and work be all for love of God; for so shall ye find safety in that
day. Verily I say unto you, that many make ablutions and go to pray, many fast
and give alms, many study and preach to others, whose end is abominable before
God: because they cleanse the body and not the heart, they cry with the mouth
not with the heart: they abstain from meats, and fill themselves with sins; they
give to others things not good for them, in order that they may be held good;
they study that they may know to speak, not to work; they preach to others
against that which they do themselves, and thus are condemned by their own
tongue.
As God liveth, these do not know God with their hearts; for if they knew
him they would love him; and since whatsoever a man hath he hath received it
from God, even so should he spend all for the love of God.'
After
certain days Jesus passed near unto a city of the Samaritans; and they would not
let him enter the city, nor would they sell bread to his disciples. Wherefore
said James and John: 'Master, may it please thee that we pray God that he send
down fire from heaven upon these people?'
Jesus answered: "Ye know not by what spirit ye are led, that ye so speak.
Remember that God determined to destroy Nineveh because he did not find one who
feared God in that city; the which was so wicked that God, having called Jonah
the prophet to send him to that city, he would fain for fear of the people have
fled to Tarsus, wherefore God caused him to be cast into the sea, and received
by a fish and cast up nigh to Nineveh. And he preaching there, that people was
converted to repentance, so that God had mercy on them.
Woe unto them that call for vengeance; for on themselves it shall come, seeing
that every man hath in himself cause for the vengeance of God. Now tell me, have
ye created this city with this people? O madmen that ye are, assuredly no. For
all creatures united together could not create a single new fly from nothing,
and this it is to create. If the blessed God who hath created this city now
sustaineth it, why desire ye to destroy it? Why didst thou not say: "May it
please thee, master, that we pray to the Lord our God that this people may be
converted to penitence?" Assuredly this is the proper act of a disciple of
mine , to pray to God for those who do evil. Thus did Abel when his brother Cain,
accursed of God, slew him. Thus did Abraham for Pharaoh, who took from him his
wife, and whom, therefore, the angel of God did not slay, but only struck with
infirmity. Thus did Zechariah when, by decree of the impious king, he was
slain in the temple. Thus did Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and David, with
all the friends of God and holy prophets. Tell me, if a brother were stricken
with frenzy, would you slay him because he spoke evil and struck those who came
near him? Assuredly ye would not do so; but rather would ye endeavour to restore
his health with medicines suitable to his infirmity.'
Tell me, O
man, who is thy enemy? Assuredly thy body, and every one who praiseth thee.
Wherefore if thou wert of sane mind thou wouldst kiss the hand of those who
revile thee, and present gifts to those who persecute thee and strike thee much;
because, O man, because the more that for thy sins thou art reviled and
persecuted in this life the less shalt thou be in the day of judgment. But tell
me, O man, if the saints and prophets of God have been persecuted and defamed by
the world even though they were innocent. what shall be done to thee, O sinner?
and if they endured all with patience, praying for their persecutors, what
shouldst thou do, O man, who art worthy of hell? Tell me O my disciples, do ye
not know that Shimei cursed the servant of God, David the prophet and threw
stones at him? Now what said David to those who would fain have killed Shimei?
"What is it to thee, O Joab, that thou wouldst kill Shimei? let him curse
me, for this is the will of God, who will turn this curse into a blessing."
And thus it was; for God saw the patience of David and delivered him from the
persecution of his own son, Absalom.
Wherefore, when thou art
in tribulation do not think of how much thou hast borne, nor of him who
afflicteth thee; but consider how much for thy sins thou art worthy to receive
at the hand of the devils of hell. Ye are angry with this city because it would
not receive us, nor sell bread to us. Tell me, are these people your slaves?
have ye given them this city? have ye given them their corn? or have ye helped
them to reap it?
Assuredly no; for ye are strangers in this land, and poor men.
What thing is this then that thou sayest?'
The two
disciples answered: 'Lord, we have sinned; may God have mercy on us.'
The Passover drew near, wherefore Jesus, with his disciples, went up to
Jerusalem. And he went to the pool called 'Probatica.' And the bath was so
called because the angel of God every day troubled the water, and whosoever
first entered the water after its movement was cured of every kind of infirmity.
Wherefore a great number of sick persons remained beside the pool, which had
five porticoes. And Jesus saw there an impotent man, who had been there
thirty-and-eight years, with a grievous infirmity.
Whereupon Jesus, knowing this
by divine inspiration, had compassion on the sick man, and said to him: 'Wilt
thou be made whole?'
Then Jesus
lifted up his eyes to heaven and said: 'Lord our God, God of our fathers, have
mercy upon this impotent man.'
And having said
this, Jesus said: 'In God's name, brother, be thou whole; rise and take up thy
bed.'
Those who saw him
cried: 'It is the sabbath day; it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.'
He answered: He
that made whole said unto me, "Pick up thy bed, and go thy way to thy
home."
Whereupon,
among themselves they said: 'It must have been Jesus the Nazarene.' Others said:
'Nay, for he is a holy one of God, whereas he who has done this thing is a
wicked man, for he causeth the sabbath to be broken.'
And Jesus went into the temple, and a great multitude drew nigh unto him to hear
his words; whereat the priests were consumed with envy.
One of them came to him, saying: 'Good master, thou teaches well and truly;
tell me therefore, in paradise what reward shall God give us?'
Wherefore the priest was silent, being confounded. And Jesus said: 'Verily I say
unto you, naught is more perilous than speech. For so said Solomon: "Life
and death are in the power of the tongue."'
And he turned to his disciples, and said: 'Beware of those who bless you,
because they deceive you. With the tongue Satan blessed our first parents, but
miserable was the outcome of his words. So did the sages of Egypt bless Pharaoh.
So did Goliath bless the Philistines.
So did four hundred false prophets bless
Ahab; but false were their praises, so that the praised one perished with the
praisers. Wherefore not without cause did God say by Isaiah the prophet:
"My people, those that bless thee deceive thee."
'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees; woe unto you, priests and Levites, because
ye have corrupted the sacrifice of the Lord, so that those who come to sacrifice
believe that Go eateth cooked flesh like unto a man.'
One
of them came to him, saying: 'Good master, thou teaches well and truly; tell me
therefore, in paradise what reward shall God give us?'
Wherefore the priest was silent, being confounded. And Jesus said: 'Verily I say
unto you, naught is more perilous than speech. For so said Solomon: "Life
and death are in the power of the tongue."'
And he turned to his disciples, and said: 'Beware of those who bless you,
because they deceive you. With the tongue Satan blessed our first parents, but
miserable was the outcome of his words. So did the sages of Egypt bless Pharaoh.
So did Goliath bless the Philistines. So did four hundred false prophets bless
Ahab; but false were their praises, so that the praised one perished with the
praisers. Wherefore not without cause did God say by Isaiah the prophet:
"My people, those that bless thee deceive thee."
'Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees; woe unto you, priests and Levites, because
ye have corrupted the sacrifice of the Lord, so that those who come to sacrifice
believe that Go eateth cooked flesh like unto a man.'
'Thou
askest me to tell thee what God will give us in paradise. Verily I say unto you,
that those who think of the wages love not the master. A shepherd who hath a
flock of sheep, when he seeth the wolf coming, prepareth to defend them;
contrariwise, the hireling when he seeth the wolf leaveth the sheep and fleeth.
As God liveth, in whose presence I stand, if the God of our fathers were your
God ye would not have thought of saying: "What will God give me?" But
ye would have said, as did David his prophet: "What shall I give unto God
for all that he bath given unto me?"
'I will speak
to you by a parable that ye may understand.
There was a king who found by the
wayside a man stripped by thieves, who had wounded him unto death. And he had
compassion on him and commanded his slaves to bear that man to the city and tend
him: and this they did with all diligence. And the king conceived a great love
for the sick man, so that he gave him his own daughter in marriage, and
made him his heir.
Now assuredly this king was most merciful; but the man beat
the slaves, despised the medicines, abused his wife, spoke evil of the king, and
caused his vassals to rebel against him. And when the king required any service,
he was wont to say: What will the king give me as reward?" Now when the
king heard this, what did he do to so impious a man?'
They all
replied: 'Woe to him, for the king deprived him of all, and cruelly punished
him.' Then said Jesus: 'O priests, and scribes, and Pharisees, and thou
high-priest that hearst my voice, I proclaim to you what God hath said to you by
his prophet Isaiah: "I have nourished slaves and exalted them, but they
have despised me."
'The king is
our God, who found Israel in this world full of miseries, and gave him therefore
to his servants Joseph, Moses and Aaron, who tended him. And our God conceived
such love for him that for the sake of the people of Israel he smote Egypt,
drowned Pharaoh, and discomfited an hundred and twenty kings of the Canaanites
and Madianites; he gave him his laws, making him heir of all that [land] wherein
our people dwelleth.
'But how doth Israel bear himself? How many prophets hath he slain; how many
prophecies hath he contaminated; how hath he violated the law of God: how many
for that cause have departed from God and gone to serve idols, through your
offense, O priests! And how do ye dishonour God with your manner of life! And
now ye ask me: 'What will God give us in paradise?' Ye ought to have asked me:
What will be the punishment that God will give you in hell; and then what ye
ought to do for true penitence in order that God may have mercy on you: for this
I can tell you, and to this end am I sent to you.'
'As God liveth,
in whose presence I stand, ye will not receive adulation from me, but truth.
Wherefore I say unto you, repent and turn to God even as our fathers did after
sinning, and harden not your heart.'
The priests were consumed with rage at this speech, but for fear of
the common people they spoke not a .
And Jesus continued, saying: 'O doctors, O scribes, O Pharisees, O
priests, tell me. Ye desire horses like knights, but ye desire not to go forth
to war: ye desire fair clothing like women, but ye desire not to spin and
nurture children; ye desire the fruits of the field, and ye desire not to
cultivate the earth; ye desire the fishes of the sea, but ye desire not to go a
fishing; ye desire honour as citizens, but ye desire not the burden of the
republic; and ye desire tithes and first fruits as priests, but ye desire not to
serve God in truth. What then shall God do with you, seeing ye desire here every
good without any evil? Verily I say to you that God will give you a place where
ye will have every evil without any good.'
And when Jesus had said this, there was brought unto him a demoniac who
could not speak nor see, and was deprived of hearing. Whereupon Jesus, seeing
their faith, raised his eyes to heaven and said: Lord God of our fathers, have
mercy on this sick man and give him health, in order that this people may know
that thou hast sent me.'
And having said this Jesus commanded the spirit to depart, saying: 'In
the power of the name of God our Lord, depart, evil one from the man!'
The spirit departed and the dumb man spoke, and saw with his eyes.
Whereupon every one was filled with fear, but the scribes said: 'In the
power of Beelzebub, prince of the demons, he casteth out the demons.'
Then said Jesus: 'Every kingdom divided against itself destroyeth itself,
and house falleth upon house. If in the power of Satan, Satan be cast out, how
shall his kingdom stand? And if your sons cast out Satan with the scripture that
Solomon the prophet gave them, they testify that I cast out Satan in the power
of God.
As God liveth, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is without remission in
this and in the other world; because the wicked man of his own will reprobates
himself, knowing the reprobation.'
And having said this Jesus went out of the temple. And the common people
magnified him, for they brought all the sick folk whom they could gather
together, and Jesus having made prayer gave to all their health; whereupon on
that day in Jerusalem the Roman soldiery, by the working of Satan, began to stir
up the common people, saying that Jesus was the God of Israel, who was come to
visit his people.
Jesus departed from Jerusalem after the Passover, and entered into the
borders of Caesarea Philippi. Whereupon, the angel Gabriel having told him of
the sedition which was beginning among the common people, he asked his
disciples, saying: 'What do men say of me?'
Then was Jesus angry, and with anger rebuked him, saying: 'Begone and depart
from me, because thou art the devil and seekest to cause me offense!'
And he threatened the eleven, saying: 'Woe to you if ye believe this, for I have
won from God a great curse against those who believe this.'
And he was fain to cast away Peter; whereupon the eleven besought Jesus for him,
who cast him not away, but again rebuked him, saying: 'Beware that never again
thou say such words, because God would reprobate thee!'
Peter wept. and said: 'Lord, I have spoken foolishly; beseech God that he pardon
me.'
Then said Jesus: 'If our God willed not to show himself to Moses his servant,
nor to Elijah whom he so loved, nor to any prophet, will ye think that God
should show himself to this faithless generation? But know ye not that God hath
created all things of nothing with one single , and all men have had their
origin out of a piece of clay? Now, how shall God have likeness to man? Woe to
those who suffer themselves to be deceived of Satan!'
And having said this, Jesus besought God for Peter, the eleven and Peter
weeping, and saying: 'So be it, so be it, O blessed Lord our God.'
Afterwards Jesus departed and went into Galilee, in order that this vain opinion
which the common folk began to hold concerning him might be extinguished.
Every
one was offended hearing this, and they said: 'And who is this who forgiveth
sins?'
Then said
Jesus: 'As God liveth, I am not able to forgive sins, nor is any man, but God
alone forgiveth. But as servant of God I can beseech him for the sins of others:
and so I have besought him for this sick man, and I am sure that God hath heard
my prayer. Wherefore, that ye may know the truth, I say to this sick man:
"In the name of the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham and his sons,
rise up healed!" ' And when Jesus had said this the sick man rose up
healed, and glorified God.
Then the common
people besought Jesus that he would beseech God for the sick who stood outside.
Whereupon Jesus went out unto them, and, having lifted up his hands, said: 'Lord
God of hosts, the living God, the true God, the holy God, that never will die;
having mercy upon them!' Whereupon every one answered: 'Amen.' And this having
been said, Jesus laid his hands upon the sick folk, and they all received their
health.
Thereupon they magnified God, saying: 'God hath visited us by his prophet, and a
great prophet hath God sent unto us.'
At night Jesus spoke
in secret with his disciples, saying: 'Verily I say unto you that Satan desireth
to sift you as wheat; but I have besought God for you, and there shall not
perish of you save he that layeth snares for me.' And this he said of Judas,
because the angel Gabriel said to him how that Judas had hand with the priests,
and reported to them all that Jesus spoke.
With tears drew near unto Jesus he who writeth this saying: 'O master,
tell me, who is he that should betray thee?'
Jesus answered, saying: 'O Barnabas, this is not the hour for thee to
know him, but soon will be wicked one reveal himself, because I shall depart
from the world.'
Then wept the apostles, saying: 'O master, wherefore wilt thou forsake
us? It is much better that we should die than be forsaken of thee!'
Jesus answered: 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither be ye fearful;
for I have not created you, but God our creator who hath created you will
protect you. As for me, I am now come to the world to prepare the way for the
messenger of God, who shall bring salvation to the world. But beware that ye be
not deceived, for many false prophets shall
come, who shall take my words and contaminate my gospel.'
Then said Andrew: 'Master tell us some sign, that we may know him.'
Jesus answered: 'He will not come in your time, but will come some years
after you, when my gospel shall be annulled, insomuch that there shall be
scarcely thirty faithful.
At that time God will have mercy on the world, and so
he will send his messenger, over whose head will rest a white cloud, whereby he
shall be known of one elect of God, and shall be by him manifested to the world.
He shall come with great power against the ungodly, and shall destroy
idolatry upon the earth. And it rejoiceth me because that through him our God
shall be known and glorified and I shall be known to be true; and he will
execute venegeance against those who shall say that I am more than man.
Verily I
say to you that the moon shall minister sleep to him in his boyhood, and when he
shall be grown up he shall take her in his hands.
Let the world beware of
casting him out because he shall slay the idolaters, for many more were slain by
Moses, the servant of God, and Joshua, who spared not the cities which they
burnt, and slew the children; for to an old wound one applieth fire.
'He shall come with truth more clear than that of all the prophets, and
shall reprove him who useth the world amiss. The towers of the city of our
father shall greet one another for joy; and so when idolatry shall be seen to
fall to the ground and confess me a man like other men, verily I say unto you
the messenger of God shall be come.'
IKTHYS