The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

17 And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who has faith in me, though he be dead, yet shall he live;

18 And he who is alive, and has a living faith in me, shall never die. Do you believe what I have said?

19 And Martha said, Lord, I believe that you are come to manifest the Christ of God.

20 Then Jesus said, Go back and call aside your sister, and my mother and the prophetess and say that I have come; and I will stay here by the gate till they have come to me.

21 And Ruth and Martha did as Jesus bade them do, and in a little while the Marys and the prophetess had met the Lord.

22 And Mary said, Why did you tarry thus? If you had been with us our brother, dear, would not have died.

23 Then Jesus went up to the house and when he saw the heavy grief of all, he was himself stirred up with grief, and said, Where is the tomb in which he lies?

24 They said, Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept.

25 The people said, Behold how Jesus loved this man!

26 And others said, Could not this Lord who opened up the eyes of one born blind, have saved this man from death?

27 But soon the mourners stood beside the tomb, a sepulcher hewn out of solid rock; a massive stone closed up the door.

28 And Jesus said, Take you away the stone.

29 But Martha said, Lord, is it well? Behold our brother has been dead four days; the body must be in decay, and is it well that we should see it now?

30 The Lord replied, Have you forgotten, Martha, what I said while we were at the village gate? Did I not say that you should see the glory of the Lord?

31 And then they rolled the stone away; the flesh had not decayed; and Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said,

32 My Father-God, thou who hast ever heard my prayers, I thank thee now, and that these multitudes may know that thou hast sent me forth, that I am thine and thou art mine, make strong the Word of power.

33 And then he spoke the Word, and in a voice that souls can comprehend, he said, O Lazarus, awake!

34 And Lazarus arose and came out of the tomb. The grave clothes were about him fast, and Jesus said,

35 Loose him and let him go.

36 The people were amazed and multitudes confessed their faith in him.

37 And some went to Jerusalem and told the Pharisees about this resurrection of the dead.

38 The chief priests were confounded, and they said, What shall we do? This man is doing many mighty deeds, and if we do not stay him in his work, all men will look on him as king, and through the Romans he may take the throne, and we will lose our place and power.

39 And then the chief priests and the Pharisees in council met and sought a plan by which they might put him to death.

4 °Caiaphas was the high priest then, and he came forth and said, You men of Israel, do you not know the law?

41 Do you not know that in such times as these we may give up one life to save our nation and our laws?

42 Caiaphas did not know that he was prophet, speaking out the words of truth.

43 He did not know the time had come for Jesus to be offered up a sacrifice for every man, for Jew and Greek, and all the world.

44 From that day forth the Jews conferred together every day, maturing plans to put the Lord to death.

45 Now, Jesus and the twelve did not remain in Bethany; but in the hills of Ephriam, upon the borders of Samaria, they found a home, and there abode for many days.

CHAPTER 149

The Jews gather in Jerusalem to attend the feast. The Christines go to Jericho. Jesus dines with Zaccheus. He relates the parable of the ten talents.

The great passover of the Jews, the feast of spring, was calling every loyal Jew up to Jerusalem.

2 Ten days before the feast the Lord and his disciples left the Ephriam hills and, by the Jordan way, went down to Jericho.

3 And as they entered Jericho a wealthy publican came out to see the Lord; but he was small in stature and the throng was great and he could see him not.

4 A tree, a sycamore, stood by the way and he climbed up the tree and found a seat among its boughs.

5 When Jesus came, he saw the man and said, O Zaccheus, make haste, come down; I would abide with you today.

6 And Zaccheus came down and joyfully received the Lord; but many of the stricter sect called out and said,

7 For shame! he goes to lodge with Zaccheus, the sinner and the publican.

8 But Jesus did not care for what they said; he went his way with Zaccheus, who was a man of faith, and as they talked together Zaccheus said,

9 Lord, I have ever tried to do the right; I give unto the poor half of my goods, and if by any means I wrong a man, I right the wrong by paying him four fold.

10 And Jesus said to him, Your life and faith are known to God, and lo, the benedictions of the Lord of hosts abide with you and all your house.

11 Then Jesus spoke a parable to all; he said, A vassal of an emperor was made a king, and he went to the foreign land to claim his rights and take the kingdom to himself.

12 Before he went he called ten trusted servants and to each he gave a pound and said,

13 Go forth and use these pounds as you have opportunity, that you may gain for me more wealth. And then he went his way.

14 And after many days he came again, and called the ten, demanding a report.

15 The first one came and said, Lord, I have gained for you nine pounds; you gave me one and here are ten.

16 The king replied, Well done, you faithful man; because you have been faithful in a little thing I judge that you will be a faithful servant in a greater thing;

17 Behold, I make you ruler over nine important cities of my realm.

18 The second came and said, Lord, I have gained for you four pounds; you gave me one, and here are five.

19 The king replied, and you have proven up your faithfulness. Behold, I make you ruler over four important cities of my realm.