Treasure

The words of Jesus in modern verse

paraphrased and annotated by Donivan Bessinger

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6. Unity in the Spirit

[Sections 93-119]

Chapter Six, Part One

Prolog to the Gospel of John.

Logos is at the beginning,

Logos dwells in Theos

Theos in Logos

Logos in the beginning with Theos

Through Logos all things come into being.

Nothing could come into being without him.

In him is Life

the life that is the light of mankind.

The light appears in the darkness B

the darkness cannot suppress it.

(The man John was sent by God

as a witness to the light

that all might trust because of him.

He was not himself the light

but a witness about the light.)

This true Light illumines everyone

who ever is born.

The Light is in the world,

this Cosmos he brings into being,

yet the world would not recognize him.

To his own he comes

but his own do not recognize him.

Those who do receive him

he empowers as children of Theos,

trusting in his name B born

not by inheritance or natural instinct,

nor by human will, but given birth

by Theos.

Logos has been born into human form

and dwells among us.

We can see his glory,

glory like that of a father=s only son,

generous and giving,
full of truth.

93. To Nicodemus.

Truly I tell you
Anyone who is not
 born anew
Cannot see the spiritual realm.
 
 ** [R: ‘How can one re-enter the womb?’]
 
Truly I tell you 
Anyone who is not
Born of water and spirit
Cannot enter the spiritual realm.
 
Whatever is born bodily is body
Whatever is born spiritually is spirit
So you should not be surprised
That I say you must
 begin anew.
 
The wind blows wherever it wishes. a
You hear its sound, but
You do not know
 where it comes from, or
 where it goes.
So is it with everyone
 who is born of spirit.
 
 ** [R: ‘How can these things be?’]




 You are a theologian  b
And you don't know these things?
 
I tell you 
We speak of what we know
We speak of what we have seen.
But you do not receive it.
 
If you did not believe 
 when I told you about
 ordinary things
How are you to believe
 when I tell you about
  spiritual things?
 
No one has been in God's realm 
Except the one who came from there,
 the Image-of-God.
 
Moses lifted up the serpent  c
 in the desert.
In the same way
The Image-of-God must be lifted up
So that everyone who trusts him  d
May not be brought to nothing
But will have instead
 a timeless life.
 
Yes, this is how much 
God loves creation e
So much he gives
 his only son f
So that everyone who trusts him
May not be brought to nothing
But will have instead
 a timeless life.
 
For God did not send  

The divine Image to preside over, g
 to judge the world
But to heal it,
To heal, through him.
 
Whoever trusts the Image-of-God 
 is not judged.
Whoever does not trust the Image-of-God
 is already sentenced h
Because of not trusting in the name
Of God's only son
God's Image on earth.
 
This is the judgment of the court -- 
That Light has come into the cosmos
But people loved darkness
 rather than light
Because of their evil work. i
 
All of those who do evil 
 hate the light
And do not approach the light
So that their evil work
 will not be seen.
 
All of those who live by Truth
 approach the Light
So that what God has worked out through them
 will be seen.
 
  [93] [T] 

94. Woman at the well. A woman came to draw water at Jacob's well, when Jesus had stopped there on a trip through Samaria.

Give me a drink.
 
 ** [R. Why does a Jew ask a Samaritan for water?]
 
If you had known God's gift 
If you had known who is asking for water
You would have asked for and
You would have been given living water.
 
 R: The well is deep, you have no bucket. 
 Where will you get `living' water? 
 Are you greater than Jacob who drank here? 
 
Everyone who drinks this water 
 will get thirsty again.
Whoever drinks of the water I give
 will never thirst again.
The water I give becomes within
 a fountain of water
 flowing into timeless life. a
 
Go, call your husband 
 to come here.
 
 ** [R: I have no husband.]
 
Yes, it's true. 
You do not have a husband.
You have had five husbands
Your present man is not your husband.
That's true.
 
 ** [R. You must be a prophet: 
 What about the old argument between the Jews and Samaritans? 
 Must we worship on this mountain where our ancestors worshipped?] 
 
Woman, believe me.   b
The time is coming
When you will not worship
 the Beloved Creator
Either here or in Jerusalem.
 
You worship the unknown.
We worship the known.
Ours is the way of healing, c
But the time is coming,
 in fact, it's here
When true worshippers
Will worship the Beloved Creator
 in spirit, and
 in truth.
That's the kind of worshipper
The Beloved Creator seeks.
 
God is spirit. 
Those who worship God
Must worship in spirit
 and in truth.
 
 ** [R. The Christ (Messiah) will teach us about all things] 




It is the Christ 
Who is speaking to you,
I myself.





 [94] [T] 

95. Ready harvest. The disciples offer food, and are puzzled by the answer.

I have food a
You do not know about.
My food is doing the will
Of the One who sent me
And finishing the Creator's work.
 
Wouldn't you say 
There are four months yet until the harvest?
I tell you, Look up now.
See the fields, for they are already
 ripe for harvest. b
 
Whoever reaps this harvest 
 receives a reward
Whoever gathers this fruit
 gathers timeless life.
The one who sows this harvest
And the one who gathers it
 rejoice together.
 
Yes, the old saying is true 
 `One sows, another reaps.'
I am sending you to reap a harvest
Which you have not planted. c
 
Others have planted it 
And you have joined in
 their exhausting work.





 [95] [T] 

96. The father and the son. The religious leaders had challenged again about healing on the sabbath.

My Father is working on the Sabbath a
And so am I.
 
Truly, the son can do nothing himself 
Unless he sees the father do it first.
Whatever the father does
The son copies.
 
The father loves the son 
And shows him
How to do what he himself does.
 
You will see greater works than these 
And you will be amazed
For as the Father raises and gives life b
 to the dead
So also does the Son give life 
To whomever he wishes.
 
For the Father does not judge
But has given all discernment c
 to the Son
So that all may honor the Son  d
Just as they honor the Father.
 
Whoever does not honor the Son 
Does not honor the Father
Who sent him.
 
I tell you truly 
Whoever hears my word
And trusts the one who sent me
Has timeless life,
And does not come to judgment
But passes out of death e
 into life.
 
Yes, the time is coming -- 
In fact, it's here now
When the dead will hear the voice
 of the Image-of-God
And those who hear will live.
 
Just as the Father has life in himself 
So does he give the Son life in himself.
He gives authority
 to practice discernment
 to decide
Because he is the Son,
 the Image-of-God.
 
Do not be amazed by this.  
The time is coming in which
All those who hear his voice
Will come forth from tombs, f
Those who lived for the good
 arising to new life
Those who lived for evil
 arising to a new judgment. 
 
On my own I can do nothing. 
I decide on the evidence
My decisions are fair g
Because I do not
 represent my own will
But the will 
 of the Beloved Creator
 who sent me.
 
If I told you about myself  h
It would be prejudiced testimony.
Listen to what a true witness
 says about me.
I know what he says about me is true.
You asked John i
And he has told you the truth.
 
Mine is not an ordinary human testimony. 
I am saying these things so that
 you may be healed.  j
 
John was a lamp 
 burning
 shining
And for a while
You could all be joyful 
 in its light.
 
My testimony is greater than John's. 
God has given me works
 to complete.
These works which I do
 are my testimony
The works which themselves testify
That the Beloved Creator has sent me.
 
Indeed, the Beloved Creator 
 has testified for me.
You cannot hear God's voice
You cannot see God's form.
 
God's word does not live   k 
 in your awareness
Because you do not believe
 the one God sent.
 
Look in the scriptures. 
You search them
Thinking you will find 
 eternal life in them.
That's where you will find
 testimony about me
Yet you are still unwilling
 to come to me for eternal life.
 
I don't receive people's praise. 
I know you, you do not have God's love
 in yourselves.
 
I have come in the name 
 of the Beloved Creator
And you do not receive me
But if others come on their own
You do receive them.
 
How is it that you believe it 
When someone else praises you
Yet you do not seek praise
 from the only God?
Do not think that
I will accuse you to the Beloved Creator.
Moses did that.
You had your hopes in him.
But if you had believed Moses
You would have believed me
Because Moses wrote about me.
 
If you don't believe Moses' writings 
How are you going to believe
  what I say? l
 
  [96] [T] 

97. The bread of life. After the feeding of the thousands, Jesus withdrew, but the crowd followed.

You do not seek me
Because you saw strange things
But because you ate bread
And were satisfied.
 
Do not work for food which will spoil  a
But for the food which is fresh forever,
Food given you by the Image-of-God
Food from the one who carries 
God's own mark.
 
 ** [R: How do we do the works of God?]
 
The work of God 
Is to trust the one God sent.    b
 
 ** [R. And what sign can you give us that we can see and trust, 
 like when our ancestors ate bread from heaven in the desert?
 
It was not Moses 
Who gave bread from heaven.
The true bread from heaven
Is given by God.
The bread of God
Is the one from God's realm
Who gives life to the world. c
 
 ** [R(D): Lord, always give us this bread.]
 
I am the bread of life. 
Whoever comes to me
 may never hunger
Whoever believes on me d
 may never, ever, thirst. 
 
I have said that you have seen me 
And did not believe.
 
All -- the Beloved Creator   e
 grants me this --
All shall come to me.
 
I will not reject anyone 
 who comes to me
For I have come from
God's own realm f
Not to do my own will
But to do the will
 of the One who sent me.
 
This is the will 
 of the Beloved Creator
 who sent me --
That I should not diminish g
Any aspect of my powers
But lift it All
To the Day of Completion.
 
This is also the will 
Of the One who sent me --
That everyone who
 truly sees and trusts h
 the Image-of-God
Should have a timeless life.
Each one I will also lift
To the Day of Completion.
 
 ** [R(Ph): How can he say `I' will raise him?]
 
Quit muttering among yourselves!  i
 
Only those may come
Who are drawn to me
 by the Beloved Creator
 who sent me.
I will lift up each one j
In the Day of Completion.
 
The prophets wrote 




`They all shall be taught of God.' k
Everyone who has heard that
From the Beloved Creator
  and learned it
Will come to me.
 
No one has seen the Beloved Creator 
Except one who comes from God.
 
Truly, 
Whoever trusts me
Has timeless life.
 
I am the bread of life.
Your ancestors ate manna in the desert
 and died.
This is the bread from heaven
Which anyone may eat
 and not die.
 
I am the living bread from heaven. 
Anyone who eats this bread
 will live in eternity. l
The bread which I will give,
 my body, 
I will give for the life of the world.
 
 ** [R(Ph): How are we to eat his flesh?]
 
Truly, unless you
 eat my body, and m
 drink the blood
Of the Image-of-God
You will not have
 life within yourselves.
 
Whoever eats my body  
 and drinks my blood
Has life in eternity.
Each one I will lift
To the Day of Completion.
 
My body truly is food. 
My blood truly is drink.
 
Whoever eats my body 
 and drinks my blood
Lives within me, n
We live within each other.
 
Just as the living Creator sent me