CHAPTER 27.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Levi
Jesus attends a feast in Behar. Preaches a revolutionary sermon on human equality. Relates the parable of the broken blades.
The fame of Jesus as a teacher spread through all the land, and people came from near and far to hear his words of truth.
2 At Behar, on the sacred river of the Brahms, he taught for many days.
3 And Ach, a wealthy man of Behar, made a feast in honor of his guest, and he invited every one to come.
4 And many came; among them thieves, extortioners, and courtesans. And Jesus sat with them and taught; but they who followed him were much aggrieved because he sat with thieves and courtesans.
5 And they upbraided him; they said, Rabboni, master of the wise, this day will be an evil day for you.
6 The news will spread that you consort with courtesans and thieves, and men will shun you as they shun an asp.
7 And Jesus answered them and said, A master never screens himself for sake of reputation or of fame.
8 These are but worthless baubles of the day; they rise and sink, like empty bottles on a stream; they are illusions and will pass away;
9 They are the indices to what the thoughtless think; they are the noise that people make; and shallow men judge merit by the noise.
10 God and all master men judge men by what they are and not by what they seem to be; not by their reputation and their fame.
11 These courtesans and thieves are children of my Father-God; their souls are just as precious in his sight as yours, or of the Brahmic priests.
12 And they are working out the same life sums that you, who pride yourselves on your respectability and moral worth, are working out.
13 And some of them have solved much harder sums than you have solved, you men who look at them with scorn.
14 Yes, they are sinners, and confess their guilt, while you are guilty, but are shrewd enough to have a polished coat to cover up your guilt.
15 Suppose you men who scorn these courtesans, these drunkards and these thieves, who know that you are pure in heart and life, that you are better far than they, stand forth that men may know just who you are.
16 The sin lies in the wish, in the desire, not in the act.
17 You covet other people’s wealth; you look at charming forms, and deep within your hearts you lust for them.
18 Deceit you practice every day, and wish for gold, for honor and for fame, just for your selfish selves.
19 The man who covets is a thief, and she who lusts is courtesan. You who are none of these speak out.
20 Nobody spoke; the accusers held their peace.
21 And Jesus said, The proof this day is all against those who have accused.
22 The pure in heart do not accuse. The vile in heart who want to cover up their guilt with holy smoke of piety are ever loathing drunkard, thief and courtesan.
23 This loathing and this scorn is mockery, for if the tinseled coat of reputation could be torn away, the loud professor would be found to revel in his lust, deceit, and many forms of secret sin.
24 The man who spends his time in pulling other people’s weeds can have no time to pull his own, and all the choicest flowers of life will soon be choked and die, and nothing will remain but darnel, thistles, burs.
25 And Jesus spoke a parable: he said, Behold, a farmer had great fields of ripened grain, and when he looked he saw that blades of many stalks of wheat were bent and broken down.
26 And when he sent his reapers forth he said, We will not save the stalks of wheat that have the broken blades.
27 Go forth and cut and burn the stalks with broken blades.
28 And after many days he went to measure up his grain, but not a kernel could he find.
29 And then he called the harvesters and said to them, Where is my grain?
30 They answered him and said, We did according to your word; we gathered up and burned the stalks with broken blades, and not a stalk was left to carry to the barn.
31 And Jesus said, If God saves only those who have no broken blades, who have been perfect in his sight, who will be saved?
32 And the accusers hung their heads in shame; and Jesus went his way.