He Shows Goodwill Tells The Good Story The Gospel Of John

²⁴The tribal leaders came to him and said, “How long will you make us wait? If you are the Chosen One, then tell us!”

²⁵“I already told you who I am,” he said to them, “but you did not believe me. The things I do, representing my Father, speak the truth about me. ²⁶As I told you before, you do not trust me because you are not my sheep. ²⁷I know who my sheep are, for they know my voice and go where I lead them. ²⁸My gift to them is the life of the world to come, full of beauty and harmony, and they will never fade away or come to a bad end. ²⁹My Father gave them to me, and no one can take them from me, because no one is greater than my Father. My sheep are safe in his hands, ³⁰for I and my Father are one.”

³¹The tribal leaders became furious and picked up stones to kill him.

³²Creator Sets Free (Jesus) stood his ground and said to them, “I have done many good things, representing my Father. For which of these do you mean to stone me?”

³³They answered, “Not for any good thing you have done, but for speaking lies against the Great Spirit. How can you, a weak human being, represent yourself as the Great Spirit?”

³⁴Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered them, “In your tribal law it says, ‘You are powerful spiritual beings.’23 ³⁵If Creator’s word, which came to you, says you are ‘powerful spiritual beings,’ and the Sacred Teachings are clear and cannot be changed, ³⁶then how can you say that the one the Father has set apart and sent into the world is speaking against the Great Spirit when he says, ‘I am the Son of the Great Spirit’?

³⁷“If I am not doing what my Father does, then do not believe me. ³⁸But even if you do not believe me, then at least believe in the powerful things I do. Then you will see clearly that I am in the Father and he is in me.”

³⁹The tribal leaders moved toward him to take him by force, but he slipped through their hands and walked away.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) decided it was time to leave Village of Peace (Jerusalem) again.

⁴⁰He went to the place on the east side of the river Flowing Down (Jordan) where Gift of Goodwill (John) first performed the purification ceremony.24 He and his followers remained there for a time.

⁴¹Many people from the area came to hear him and, after seeing Creator Sets Free (Jesus) teach, tell his stories, heal the sick, and force out evil spirits, the people were saying, “Gift of Goodwill (John) never performed a miracle or did any powerful signs, but what he told us about this man is true.”

⁴²And so many of the people there believed in him that he was the Chosen One.

^1-2In House of Figs (Bethany), near Village of Peace (Jerusalem), a man named Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) was very sick. He was the brother of Healing Tears (Mary) and Head Woman (Martha). Healing Tears (Mary) is the one who poured ointment over the head and feet of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and wiped his feet with her hair.25

³The sisters sent a messenger to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who said to him, “Our brother, Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), the one you care deeply about, is sick.”

⁴When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) heard the message, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. Instead, this will bring honor to the Great Spirit and shine a light on his Son.”

⁵Even though Creator Sets Free (Jesus) loved this family dearly, ⁶he stayed where he was for two more days. ⁷Then he said to his followers, “Let us go back to the Land of Promise (Judea).”

⁸But his followers said to him, “Wisdomkeeper, the Tribal Members there tried to throw stones at you to kill you! Why would you want to go back there?”

⁹He answered them, “Does not the sun give us a full day of light? The ones who walk during the day never stumble, because they see the light that shines on this world. ¹⁰But the ones who walk at night stumble in the darkness, because there is no light for them to see.”

He was telling them that he was the light shining in this dark world and that it was time to let his light shine even brighter.

¹¹Creator Sets Free (Jesus) explained to them, “Our good friend, Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), has fallen asleep and I am going to wake him.”

¹²They said to him, “Wisdomkeeper, if he is only sleeping, he will get well.”

¹³They did not understand that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) meant that Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) had died. ¹⁴They thought he was sleeping naturally.

He then told them plainly, “Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) has crossed over to death. ¹⁵It is a good thing that I was not there, so you will believe. But we must go to him now.”

¹⁶Looks Like His Brother (Thomas) said to the others, “Yes, we should go and die with him.”

¹⁷When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came to House of Figs (Bethany), he found out that Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) had died four days earlier and was laid in a burial cave. ¹⁸House of Figs (Bethany) was a close walk26 from Village of Peace (Jerusalem). ¹⁹Many of the local Tribal Members had gathered, along with the women, to give comfort to Head Woman (Martha) and Healing Tears (Mary) for the loss of their brother.

²⁰When Head Woman (Martha) heard that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was coming, she went out to greet him, but Healing Tears (Mary) stayed home.

²¹When she found Creator Sets Free (Jesus), she said to him, “Wisdomkeeper, if you had been here, my brother would still be with us. ²²Even so, I know if you ask anything of the Great Spirit, he will give it to you.”

²³“Your brother will live again,” he answered.

²⁴“I know he will live again,” she said, “when the dead rise up at the end of all days.”

^25-26“I am the rising from the dead and the life that follows,” he told her. “The ones who trust me will live again, even after death. Death will never be the end of the ones who are alive and trust in me. Do you believe what I am saying to you?”

²⁷“Yes, Wisdomkeeper!” she smiled and said. “I believe you are the Chosen One, the Son of the Great Spirit—the one who came down into this world from above.”

²⁸After she said this, she left him and went in private to her sister Healing Tears (Mary) and said to her, “The Wisdomkeeper is nearby and wants you to come to him.”

^29-30Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was still waiting outside the village where Head Woman (Martha) had met him. When Healing Tears (Mary) heard this, she got up right away and went to see him. ³¹The Tribal Members who were comforting Healing Tears (Mary) saw her get up and leave quickly, so they went with her, thinking she was going to the burial cave to weep.

³²When Healing Tears (Mary) found Creator Sets Free (Jesus), she crumpled at his feet and wept.

“Wisdomkeeper!” she said as tears ran down her face. “If only you had been here, my brother would still be alive.”

³³Creator Sets Free (Jesus) stood there watching Healing Tears (Mary) weeping at his feet. He looked around and saw all the Tribal Members who came with her also weeping. A deep anguish began to well up inside him, and he was troubled in his spirit.

He cried out, ³⁴“Where did they bury him?”

“Wisdomkeeper, come with us,” they said to him. “We will show you.”

³⁵Creator Sets Free (Jesus) wept.

³⁶When the Tribal Members saw his tears, some said, “See how deeply he cared for him!”

³⁷But others said, “If this man could open the eyes of a blind man, why could he not have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus), still deep in anguish, found his way to the family burial place. It was a cave, and a large stone blocked the entrance.

³⁹Creator Sets Free (Jesus) cried out, “Take away the stone!”

Head Woman (Martha) whispered to him, “Wisdomkeeper, he has been dead four days. There will be a terrible smell.”

⁴⁰He looked at her and said, “Do you not remember what I told you? If you believed, you would see the shining-greatness of the Great Spirit.”

Head Woman (Martha) could say nothing. She watched as ⁴¹they rolled the stone away from the burial cave.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) turned his eyes upward toward the sky and said, “I thank you, Father, that you have already heard my prayers and always listen to me. ⁴²The reason I say this out loud is so that all who are standing around me can hear and believe that you sent me.”

The men and women gathered there stood silently, listening to his prayer.

⁴³Then the voice of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) pierced the silence as he cried out with a loud voice, “Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), come out of there!”

The sound of his voice echoed from out of the burial cave and then faded into the distance. The people looked at Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and then back to the cave. No one dared say anything, so they all waited. Then suddenly, gasps could be heard from the crowd. There was movement in the cave!

⁴⁴Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) came stumbling out of the burial cave with his ceremonial wrappings still clinging to his head, hands, and feet.

He was alive!

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) told the people, “Take off his wrappings and set him free.”

Head Woman (Martha) and Healing Tears (Mary) wept for joy as they tore the ceremonial wrappings from their brother.

They could not stop hugging and kissing him! All the people were full of joy and began to celebrate.

⁴⁵When many of the local Tribal Members saw what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had done, they put their trust in him. ⁴⁶But some of them went to find the Separated Ones (Pharisees) to tell them what had happened.

⁴⁷When the Separated Ones (Pharisees) and the head holy men heard about this great miracle, they called the Grand Council together.

“What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man has powerful medicine and performs many signs and wonders. ⁴⁸If we do not stop him, all the people will believe in him. Then the People of Iron (Romans) will come and take away our sacred lodge and, with it, our power to rule this nation.”

⁴⁹Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man for that year, said to the council, “Is it too hard for you to see? ⁵⁰It would be better for us if one man were to die for the people than for our whole nation to be destroyed.”

⁵¹Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas) was not aware that, as the chief holy man for that year, he prophesied that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) would die for their nation. Little did he know that ⁵²he would not only die for their nation but also to gather together all of Creator’s scattered children from every nation and make them into one people.

⁵³From that day forward the Grand Council set in motion a plan to have him killed.

⁵⁴Knowing this, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) no longer walked openly among the people. He went into the countryside near the desert wilderness to the Village of Fruitful Place (Ephraim). There he stayed for a time with his close followers.

⁵⁵It was time again for the traditional Festival of Bread Without Yeast, called Passover. Tribal Members would travel from their homelands to Village of Peace (Jerusalem). Many would arrive early to perform a purification ceremony to prepare for the festival.

⁵⁶The tribal leaders were all looking for Creator Sets Free (Jesus). As they stood in the courtyard of the sacred lodge, they asked each other, “What do you think? Surely he will not come here to the festival?”

⁵⁷For the head holy men and the Separated Ones (Pharisees) had given instruction that anyone who saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) should report back to them so they could arrest him.

¹It was now six days before the Passover festival. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) returned to House of Figs (Bethany) to lodge at the home of Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), whom he had brought back to life from the dead. ²That night, they had a meal to honor Creator Sets Free (Jesus). Head Woman (Martha) was preparing the meal, and her brother, Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), was sitting with Wisdomkeeper and the other guests.

³Healing Tears (Mary), the sister of Head Woman (Martha), took a small pottery jar that held some costly ointment, broke it, and poured the sweet-smelling ointment on the feet of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). She then wiped his feet with her hair, and the scent of the sweet-smelling ointment filled the whole house.

⁴When Speaks Well Of (Judas), also known as Village Man (Iscariot), the one who would soon betray Creator Sets Free (Jesus), saw this, he said, ⁵“This could have been traded for a year’s wages and given to the poor.”

⁶He said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and, as the keeper of the money pouch, he would take what he wanted.

⁷“Let her be!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to all. “She has done a good thing, saving this for the day of my burial. ⁸You can help the poor anytime, for they will always be with you, but I will not.”

⁹Word got out that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was there. Many people came from all around to see him, and not only him but also Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), the one he had brought back from the dead. ¹⁰The head holy men were also making a plan to kill Creator Helps Him (Lazarus), ¹¹for because of him many of the Tribal Members believed in Creator Sets Free (Jesus), that he was the Chosen One.

¹²The following day, the people who had come to the Passover festival heard that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was entering Village of Peace (Jerusalem). ¹³A great crowd of them took branches from palm trees and went out to greet him.

Waving palm branches in their hands, they began to shout, “Hosanna!” meaning “Help us!” They cried out with glad hearts. “We honor you as the one who is to come representing the Great Spirit. You are the Great Chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)!”

¹⁴Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was riding on the colt of a donkey to give full meaning to the ancient prophecy, ¹⁵“Do not fear, O daughter of Strong Mountain (Zion). Your Great Chief is coming to you, in a humble way, riding on a young donkey.”27

¹⁶At the time his followers did not understand these things. It was not until some time later, when he had entered his place of honor and bright shining-greatness, that they remembered how the things done to him had first been written down by the ancient prophets long ago.

^17-18Among this crowd were the ones who had seen Creator Sets Free (Jesus) bring Creator Helps Him (Lazarus) back from the dead. They were telling every-one about this great miracle. That is why the crowd was so large that day.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came riding down Olive Mountain and went into Village of Peace (Jerusalem). His twelve followers encircled him and led the donkey forward.

He did not fit the powerful image of a conquering ruler, for he was not riding a warhorse. Instead, he rode a small, humble colt of a donkey. No mighty warriors rode next to him. No dignitaries from Village of Peace (Jerusalem) came out to meet him. It was mostly the common people who welcomed him that day.

¹⁹The Separated Ones (Pharisees) huddled together near the crowd.

“Nothing we have done to stop him has worked,” they complained. “Look! The whole world is now following him.”

Along with the Tribal Members of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) who came to participate in the Passover festival, there were also many outsiders from other nations who would come.

²⁰There were people from these nations who came to celebrate the festival from Land of Wisdom Seekers (Greece).

These were people who often prided themselves in their study of wisdom and knowledge.

²¹They went up to Friend of Horses (Philip), who was from House of Fishing (Bethsaida) in Circle of Nations (Galilee). Knowing him to be one who walked with Creator Sets Free (Jesus), they said to him, “Honored friend, we would like to see Creator Sets Free (Jesus), your Wisdomkeeper.”

²²Friend of Horses (Philip) did not know what to do, so he found Stands with Courage (Andrew) and asked him what he thought. Then together they both went to see Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and told him that the Wisdom Seekers (Greeks) wished to see him.

²³He answered them, “It is time for the True Human Being to be lifted up to his place of honor. ²⁴I speak from my heart. If a seed is unplanted, it remains only one seed, but if it dies, falls to the earth, and enters the ground, it will then grow and become many seeds.

²⁵“The ones who love the kind of life this world gives will lose the life they seek, but the ones who let go of their life in this world and follow my ways will find the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.

“Tell these Wisdom Seekers (Greeks) to walk the road with me. ²⁶Anyone who wants to serve me will walk in my footsteps, and I will take them to the same place I am going. If they give up their lives to serve me in this way, my Father will honor them.”

A look of sorrow came over the face of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

²⁷“But now I am deeply troubled and in anguish!” he said. “Should I ask my Father to rescue me from this hour that has now come? No! I came into the world for this time and for this purpose.”

He then lifted his face, looked up to the sky, and sent his words to the Great Spirit.

²⁸“Father,” he prayed, “honor your name and show the world the beauty of it.”

Suddenly, a voice from above spoke out of the sky, “I have honored my name, for it represents who I am, and I will once again honor and show the beauty of it.”

²⁹Some of the people standing nearby heard the voice and said, “Was that thunder?”

Others said, “No, a spirit-messenger has spoken to him.”

³⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, “This voice you heard was not for my sake, but for yours. ³¹It is a sign to you that it is now time for the Great Spirit to make his final decision about this world. The evil one who now rules this world will be defeated and thrown down. ³²But I, the True Human Being, will be lifted up from the ground and nailed to a cross. This is the way I will bring all things, in the spirit-world above and the earth below,28 to myself.”

³³Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said this to show the kind of death he would die and what his death would accomplish.

³⁴The people who heard him said, “How can this be? We have been told from our Sacred Teachings that the Chosen One, when he comes, will remain beyond the end of all days. How can you say the True Human Being will be lifted up like this? Who are you talking about?”

³⁵Creator Sets Free (Jesus) spoke to them with sadness in his voice. “My light will shine on you for only a little while longer, so walk in my light before the darkness comes, for the ones who walk in darkness cannot see the path. ³⁶Put your trust in the one who gives you light, and then you will become children of light.”

He looked around at the people, knowing that these were nearly the last public words he would speak.

He then went away to hide himself from the crowds.

³⁷Even though Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had healed the sick, brought the dead back to life, and shown the people powerful medicine from the Great Spirit, his own tribal nation still did not believe in him or trust him.

^38-39This showed the full meaning of the ancient prophecy, “Who will believe such a thing? Who will see that Creator’s great power would be shown in weakness?”29 ⁴⁰and, “His great light has blinded their eyes and his great love has hardened their hearts. If only they would open their hearts to him, then they would see clearly and he would make them whole.”30

⁴¹The prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) saw the true beauty of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) long ago and prophesied the reasons the people could not believe. ⁴²But even so, many tribal leaders did believe in him but would not tell anyone because they feared the Separated Ones (Pharisees). They knew if they openly confessed their faith in him they would be put out of the gathering houses. ⁴³In the end, their reputation with the people was more important to them than bringing honor to the Maker of Life.

As he was leaving, ⁴⁴Creator Sets Free (Jesus) turned around, lifted his voice, and cried out to the people one last time, “If you trust me, you are not only trusting me, but the one who sent me. ⁴⁵When you see me, you see the one who sent me. ⁴⁶I came into this dark world as a shining light, so the ones who trust me will no longer have to stumble in the darkness.

⁴⁷“I have not come to decide against the ones who have heard my words but fail to walk in them. Instead, I have come to rescue them from the worthless ways of this world and set them free. ⁴⁸But a day is coming when the ones who have turned away from me and my words will be decided against. In the end, it will be the message I have spoken that will decide for or against them.

⁴⁹“The message I have spoken is not from myself. It is from the one who sent me. I have spoken only what my Father gave me to speak, nothing more. ⁵⁰The instructions my Father gave me lead to the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.”

¹The Passover festival was drawing near. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew it was time to leave this world and go back to his Father. His love for the ones who walked the road with him had always been great, and now, at the end, his love for them remained strong.

²The evil trickster snake had already twisted the heart of Speaks Well Of (Judas), also known as Village Man (Iscariot), son of Man Who Hears (Simon), to betray Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

³Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew that his Father had put all things in his hands and that he had come from the Great Spirit and was returning to him.

⁴Knowing all of this, during the meal Creator Sets Free (Jesus) got up from the table, took off his outer garments, and wrapped a cloth around himself like a sash. ⁵He poured water into a vessel and, one by one, he began to wash the feet of his followers and dry them with the cloth.

This was a task reserved for only the lowest servant of the household.

⁶He came to Stands on the Rock (Peter), who said to him, “Wisdomkeeper, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷“You do not understand now what I am doing, but later you will,” he answered.

⁸“No!” Stands on the Rock (Peter) lifted his voice, “This can never be!”

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked deep into his eyes and said, “If you refuse this, then you have no part in who I am.”

⁹“Wisdomkeeper,” he answered back, “if this is so, then wash my hands and head also!”

¹⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) replied, “If you have already had a bath, only your feet need washing, and then you will be clean all over. Now, you are all clean. Except for one.”

¹¹He said this because he knew who would betray him.

After he had finished washing all their feet, ¹²he put his outer garment back on and sat down again at the table.

“Do you see what I have done?” he said to them. ¹³“You are right to call me Wisdomkeeper and Chief—because I am. ¹⁴If I, your Wisdomkeeper and Chief, have washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵So follow my footsteps and do for each other what I have done for you.

¹⁶“I speak from my heart. The one who serves is not greater than the one who is served. A message bearer is not greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷If you walk in this way of blessing, you will do well, and it will return to you—full circle.

¹⁸“I am not talking about all of you, for I know the hearts of the ones I have chosen. Now you will see the full meaning of the Sacred Teachings that said, ‘The one who ate with me has turned against me.’31 ¹⁹I am telling you this ahead of time, so when it happens you will believe that I am the Chosen One.

²⁰“I speak from my heart. The one who welcomes the one I send welcomes me. The one who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

²¹When he finished saying this, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) became deeply troubled in his spirit. As sorrow moved over his face, he said to all, “From my heart I tell you, one of you will turn against me.”

²²His followers’ hearts fell to the ground. They looked around at each other, wondering who would do such a thing. ²³He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), was sitting next to him. ²⁴Stands on the Rock (Peter) motioned him to ask Creator Sets Free (Jesus) who it was. So he leaned back on his chest and whispered into his ear, “Wisdomkeeper, who is it?”

²⁵“When I dip my frybread into the dish,” he whispered back, “I will give it to the one who will turn against me.”

He did as he said and handed the frybread to Speaks Well Of (Judas), also known as Village Man (Iscariot), the son of Man Who Hears (Simon). ²⁶When Speaks Well Of (Judas) took the frybread, the evil snake took hold of his heart.

²⁷“Go now,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him, “and do what you have planned.”

²⁸None of the others understood what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was saying to him. ²⁹Since he was the keeper of the money pouch, they thought he was going to pay for the ceremonial meal or give something to the poor. ³⁰As soon as he had taken the frybread, Speaks Well Of (Judas) got up from the table and went out into the night.

³¹After he left, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them all, “The time has now come for the True Human Being to honor the Great Spirit and to be honored by him. ³²As soon as the Son gives him honor, it will come back again—full circle.”

The Passover meal was coming to an end. It was time to close the ceremony and face the dark night ahead. The heart of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was full of compassion and love for the ones who had walked the road with him for over three winters.

³³“My little children,” he said to them, “my time with you is almost gone. You will look for me, but where I am going you cannot follow. This is the same thing I said to the other Tribal Members and I now say to you.”

His followers lifted their heads up and looked into the face of their Wisdomkeeper.

³⁴“I am giving you a new road to walk,” he said. “In the same way I have loved you, you are to love each other. ³⁵This kind of love will be the sign for all people that you are walking the road with me.”

³⁶Stands on the Rock (Peter) spoke up and asked, “Wisdomkeeper, where are you going?”

“The path I walk tonight you cannot walk with me,” he answered, “but you will walk it later.”

³⁷“Wisdomkeeper!” he replied. “Why can I not walk with you now? I am ready to give my life for you!”

³⁸“Will you truly lay down your life for me?” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked. Then he said, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you know who I am!”

His followers hung their heads as his words sank deep into their hearts. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) gathered them together and had them sit down in a circle, like an eagle gathering her young under her wings. He spoke softly but clearly to them.

¹“Do not let your hearts fall to the ground,” he encouraged them. “Trust in the Great Spirit, and trust in me. ²My Father’s lodge has room for everyone. If this were not so, then why would I tell you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³When I am finished, I will come back to you, so that you will always be with me. ⁴You already know the path to where I am going.”

⁵Looks Like His Brother (Thomas) interrupted and said, “Wisdomkeeper, if we do not know where you are going, how can we know the path?”

⁶“I am the Great Spirit’s pathway, the truth about who he really is, and the life of beauty and harmony he offers to all. There is no other guide who can take you to the Father. ⁷To know me is to know my Father, so from now on you know him and have seen him.”

⁸Friend of Horses (Philip) said to him, “Wisdomkeeper, show us the Father, and that will be enough.”

⁹“Friend of Horses (Philip),” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said, “how long have you walked with me, and still you do not know me? How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? The ones who have seen me have seen the Father. ¹⁰Do you not believe that the Father is in me and I am in the Father?

“The words I speak to you are not my own. It is the Father speaking in me. ¹¹Trust in me, for I am in the Father and he is in me. Or at least trust in the works my Father does through me.

¹²“I speak from my heart. The ones who trust in me will do the same things I do, and even greater things, for I am going away to my Father. ^13-14When you ask the Father for anything, ask it in my name, representing who I am. When you ask for anything in this way, I will do it to bring honor to my Father.

¹⁵“If you love me, you will walk in my ways. ¹⁶I will ask the Father to send one who will always walk beside you and guide you on the good road. ¹⁷He is the Spirit of Truth, the one this world is not able to accept because it does not see or know him. But you know him, for he is with you now and will soon be in you.

¹⁸“I will not leave you like a child with no parents. I will come back to you. ¹⁹Soon this world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I will live again, you will also live. ²⁰When that day comes, you will know that I am in the Father, that you are in me, and that I am in you. ²¹The ones who walk in my ways and stay true to my message love me. They will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and show them my true self.”

²²Speaks Well Of (Judas), not the one who betrayed him, asked, “Wisdomkeeper, how will you show yourself to us and not to the rest of the world?”

²³“I will show myself to the ones who love me and are staying true to my teachings. They will be loved by my Father, and we will come and make our home in and among them. ²⁴The ones who do not return my love will not walk in my message. This message is not only mine. It is from my Father, the one who sent me.

²⁵“I have told you these things while I am still with you, ²⁶but there is one whom the Father is sending to represent me. He will walk beside you and be your spirit guide. He is the Holy Spirit, who will be your Wisdomkeeper and will help you to remember all that I have told you.

²⁷“I leave you now with my great peace. It is my gift to you. It is not the kind of peace the world gives. Do not let the troubles of this world fill you with fear and make your hearts fall to the ground, and do not let fear hold you back. ²⁸I told you I am going away and that I will come back. This should make your hearts glad if you truly love me, for I am going to the one who is greater than I am—to my Father, the One Above Us All.

²⁹“I have told you all these things beforehand, so when you see them happen you will believe. ³⁰There is only a little time left for me to talk with you. The dark ruler of this world is coming. His power over me is nothing, ³¹but I must walk the path the Father has for me, so the world will know the great love I have for him.

“Get up!” he said to them. “It is time for us to go from here.”

¹“I am the true grapevine. My Father is the Vine Keeper. ²He cuts off the branches in me that have no fruit. He carefully trims back the branches with fruit, so they will grow more fruit.

³“My teachings have purified you, ⁴but you must stay joined to me in the same way a branch is joined to the vine. A branch cannot grow fruit unless it is joined to the vine. It is the same with you and me.

⁵“I am the vine and you are the branches. The ones who stay joined to me will grow much fruit, for without me nothing grows. ⁶The ones who do not stay joined to me are broken off and dry up, and then they are gathered up and used to make a fire.

⁷“If you are joined to me and my words remain in you, you can ask me for anything and it will be done. ⁸When you grow a harvest of fruit, this will show that you are walking my road. You will then bring great honor to my Father.

⁹“In the same way the Father loves me, I have loved you. Never stop walking this road of love. ¹⁰By doing what the Father has told me, I have remained in his love. ¹¹As you walk in my ways, my love will remain in you. I am saying this so your hearts will be filled with the same joy I have.

¹²“To walk the road with me, you must love each other in the same way I have loved you. ¹³There is no greater way to show love to friends than to die in their place. ¹⁴You are my friends if you walk in my ways and do what I say. ¹⁵I no longer see you as my servants but as friends. Masters do not share their hearts and plans with their servants, but I have shown you everything I have heard from my Father.

¹⁶“You may think you chose me, but I am the one who chose you. You are my new garden where I will grow a great harvest of my love—the fruit that remains. When you bear this fruit, you represent who I am—my name. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask for. ¹⁷I am telling you this so you will walk the road of love with each other.

¹⁸“If you are hated by the world, remember, it hated me first. ¹⁹The ones who walk in the ways of this world love the ones who do the same but look down on and hate the ones who do not. I have chosen you to walk away from the ways of this world, on a different path, and that is why the world will hate you. ²⁰Remember, I told you a servant is not greater than the one he serves. If I was hunted down, it will be the same for you. If they walk in my message, they will walk in yours.

²¹“The people who walk in the ways of this world will do this to you because you walk in my ways, representing me. This shows they do not know the one who sent me.

²²“If I had not come to them and represented the truth, they would not be guilty of this, but now their guilt remains. ^23-24If I had not done the things no one else has done, they would have no guilt. But now they have seen with their own eyes and hated me and my Father. ²⁵The full meaning of their own Sacred Teachings have become clear, ‘They hated me for no reason.’32

²⁶“I am sending you the Spirit of Truth, the one who is coming from the Father. He will walk close by your side, representing me, and telling the truth about me. ²⁷You will also represent me as truth tellers, for you have walked with me from the first and have seen these things with your own eyes.

¹“I am telling you these things to keep you from stumbling away from the path. ²The tribal leaders will force you out of their gathering houses. The time will come when they will put you to death, thinking they are doing what the Great Spirit wants, ³all because they do not know me or my Father. ⁴I am telling you this so when the time comes you will remember I told you ahead of time. I did not tell these things from the first because I was with you— ⁵but now I am going away.

“I am returning to the one who sent me, but none of you are asking, ‘Where are you going?’ You are thinking only of yourselves ⁶because my words have made your hearts fall to the ground. ⁷I speak from my heart, it is better for you that I go away. If I remain, the one who will guide you will not come. If I go, I will send him to you.

⁸“When the Holy Spirit comes, he will clearly show the wrong ways of this world, the right ways of the spirit-world above, and the answer that will be required of them in the end. ⁹He will show them that the answer to their broken ways is to trust in me. ¹⁰The right ways of the spirit-world above will come when I return to the Father and they no longer see me. ¹¹The final decision about this world will come because Accuser (Satan)—the ruler of this world—has been found guilty.

¹²“There are many more things I want to say to you, but your hearts are not strong enough to hear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will be the one to tell you. He will be your one true spirit guide and will lead you down the path of truth. He will fully represent me and will tell you only what I have told him. The Spirit will show you what is coming on the road ahead. ¹⁴He will honor me by making known to you everything I have shown him. ¹⁵All that I am and all that I have comes from the Father. He has not held back one thing from me, and the Spirit will not hold back anything from you.

¹⁶“Soon I will be gone and you will not be able to see me, and then after a little while you will see me again.”

^17-18His followers began to whisper to each other, “What is he saying? We do not know what he means by ‘a little while’ and not seeing him and then seeing him again. What does he mean by ‘I go to the Father’?”

¹⁹Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew what they wanted to ask him, so he said, “You want to know what I meant when I said ‘soon you will not see me, but then you will see me again.’

²⁰“I speak from my heart. Your tears will be many, and your hearts will fall to the ground, because of what will happen to me, but the world around you will have glad hearts. ²¹All of you will be filled with sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into dancing!

“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow, for her time of pain has come. But when she gives birth to her child, she forgets her pain, for a new human being has been born into the world. ²²It will be the same for you. You will have sorrow for now, but when I see you again, you will dance for joy. And no one will be able to take your joy from you.

^23-24“When that time comes, your questions will be answered, not by asking me but by asking the Father himself. You will then ask the Father in my name, fully representing me. I know you have never asked in this way before, but it is now time. I speak from my heart. When you ask in this new way, the Father will answer, and your hearts will know the full meaning of joy.

²⁵“I have told you truths from the spirit-world above, using earthly stories. The time is coming when I will not have to use stories but will tell you plainly about the Father. When that time comes, you will not need me to ask the Father for you, because you will ask him yourself. ²⁶When you ask in my name, you are representing me. ²⁷Your love and trust in me will bring the Father’s love to you—full circle. ²⁸You now believe that I came from the Great Spirit. Yes, I came into this world from the Father, and now I am leaving this world and returning to the Father.”

²⁹His followers said to him, “Now you are speaking plainly to us instead of using stories! ³⁰We now see that you know all things and can answer a question before it is asked. This helps us to believe that you came from the Great Spirit.”

³¹“You say you believe now,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, ³²“but soon you will all be scattered and return to your families. You will leave me alone, but I will not be alone, for my Father is with me.

³³“I have told you all these things so you will have my peace. This world is full of sorrow, pain and trouble, but have strong hearts, for I have defeated the world.”

¹When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was finished speaking to his followers, he lifted his eyes to the spirit-world above and sent his voice to the Great Spirit.

“O Great Father,” he prayed, “it is time for you to bring honor to your Son, so he may bring honor to you. ²You have put all human beings under the care of your Son, so he can give them the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. ³This life comes from knowing you, the only true and Great Spirit, and from knowing the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the one you have sent into this world.

⁴“I have brought you honor on earth by finishing the work you sent me to do. ⁵It is now time, my Father, for you to honor me with the beauty I shared at your side before you created all things.

⁶“I have shown who you truly are to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours and you trusted me with them, and they have walked in your ways. ⁷They now know that everything I have comes from you. ⁸The message you gave to me I have given to them. They have welcomed the truth about who I am and trust that you sent me. ⁹These are the ones I now pray for. I am not praying for the ones who walk in the ways of the world, but for the ones you gave to me, for they belong to you. ¹⁰My followers bring honor to me. They are a gift from you, a gift we share together.

¹¹“Since I am returning to you, I will no longer be in the world, but my followers will still be here. O Father of all that is holy, watch over them with the loving care that we share with one another. In this way, they will also share the love that makes us one.

¹²“During my time on earth representing you, I kept them safe in your loving care. Not one of them has been lost, except for the one foretold in the Sacred Teachings, the one doomed to a bad end.

¹³“I am returning to you now. But while I am still here, I pray for my followers, so they may share in my joy. ¹⁴Your message, which I gave them, has taken root in their hearts. Like me, they have chosen not to walk in the ways of this world, and so the world hates them. ¹⁵I am not asking you to remove them from the world but that you keep them safe from the evil one and his ways. ¹⁶They no longer belong to the ways of this world, any more than I do. ¹⁷Make them holy through the beautiful message of your truth.

¹⁸“You sent me into the world, and now, in the same way, I send them into the world. ¹⁹I set my life apart for them in a sacred manner, so they may also set their lives apart to walk in the beauty of your truth.

²⁰“My prayers are not only for them, but for all who will trust in me through their message. ²¹I pray that all who walk with me will be joined together as one, in the same way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you—that they may be one in us. This is how the world will believe that you have sent me.

²²“The beauty you gave to me I have given to them. This will join them together with us. ²³In the same way you are in me, I will be in them, beautifully joined together as one. This is the reason you sent me into this world, to show that you love them just as you love me.

²⁴“O Great Father, I want the ones you have given to me to share this place of beauty that I have with you, so they can see the power of your love for me, a love that we shared before you created all things.

²⁵“O Father of all that is good and right, the world does not know you, but I know you, and my followers know you sent me. ²⁶I have represented and will always represent who you truly are so that the love you have for me will be in them and I will live in them also.”

¹When he finished sending up his prayers, he and the ones who walked the road with him walked across the Valley of Darkness (Kidron) and entered a garden with many olive trees.

²Speaks Well Of (Judas), the betrayer, knew about this place because Creator Sets Free (Jesus) would often go there with his followers. ³The betrayer came into the garden, and with him came a band of lodge soldiers sent from the scroll keepers, head holy men, and Separated Ones (Pharisees), representing the elders of the Grand Council. The air was filled with the smell of burning torches as they entered the garden carrying clubs and long knives.

⁴Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew all this would happen, yet he turned to the soldiers and asked, “Who have you come for?”

⁵With one voice they answered back, “Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth)!”

The betrayer, Speaks Well Of (Judas), was standing there with the lodge soldiers when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered, “I am he!”

⁶At the sound of his voice they all moved back and fell to the ground.

⁷He asked them again, “Who have you come for?”

They answered, “Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from Seed Planter Village (Nazareth).”

⁸“I told you already, I am the one you are looking for,” he said. “Let these other men go.”

⁹He said this to fulfill his promise, “None of the ones you gave to me have been lost.”33

¹⁰Right then, Stands on the Rock (Peter) drew his long knife from its sheath and cut off the right ear of the servant of the chief holy man. The servant’s name was Chieftain (Malchus).

¹¹Creator Sets Free (Jesus) turned to Stands on the Rock (Peter) and cried out, “Enough of this! Put your long knife back into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup of suffering my Father has asked of me?”

¹²The lodge soldiers, along with their head soldier and the Grand Council representatives, took hold of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), tied him securely with cowhide strips, ¹³and took him first to Walks Humbly (Annas), one of the high holy men. He was the father of the wife of Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man ¹⁴who had advised the Grand Council by saying, “It will be better if one man dies for all the people.”34

¹⁵Stands on the Rock (Peter) and one other follower35 had been watching from a distance. Since this follower was known by the chief holy man, he entered the courtyard of the house. ¹⁶But Stands on the Rock (Peter) stood outside the gate. This follower spoke to the gatekeeper, a young woman, who then let Stands on the Rock (Peter) in.

¹⁷She said to him, “Are you not one of his followers?”

“No!” he told her, “I am not.”

¹⁸The night was growing cold, so some of the men, along with the soldier guards from the lodge, built a fire in the courtyard to keep warm. Stands on the Rock (Peter) stood there with them, trying to stay warm.

¹⁹Back inside, the chief holy man began to question Creator Sets Free (Jesus) about his followers and his teachings. ²⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him, “I have spoken openly to all, in the gathering houses and the sacred lodge. I said nothing in secret. ²¹Why ask me? Ask the ones who heard me. They will know.”

²²One of the head soldiers struck him in the face and said, “Is that how you answer a chief holy man?”

²³Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered him back, “If I have spoken wrongly, tell me what I said wrong. If I spoke what is true, then by what right do you strike me?”

²⁴Walks Humbly (Annas) decided to send Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas), the chief holy man. So they took him, still bound by ropes, to Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas).

²⁵Outside in the courtyard Stands on the Rock (Peter) was still warming himself by the fire. The others asked him, “You are not one of his followers, are you?”

“No!” Stands on the Rock (Peter) denied. “I am not!”

²⁶One of the servants of the chief holy man, a relative of the man whose ear had been cut off, looked at him, and said, “Yes, you are! I saw you in the garden with him!”

²⁷Stands on the Rock (Peter) shook his head in denial—and right then a rooster began to crow.

²⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was taken from the house of Hollow in the Rock (Caiaphas) to the lodge of the governor of the People of Iron (Romans). The tribal leaders stayed outside, for they did not want to become ceremonially unclean by going inside. It was early in the morning, and many of them had not yet eaten the ceremonial meal of Passover.

²⁹Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) came outside to meet them.

They took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and stood him before Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate). He took a good long look at him, then turned back to the crowd.

“What has this man done wrong?” he asked them.

³⁰“If he were not a criminal, would we have brought him to you?” they answered.

“Take him away!” ³¹Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them. “Use your own law to decide what to do.”

“Our tribal law will not permit us to put him to death,” they answered.

³²This proved that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was right when he told them how he would die—by being nailed to a tree-pole—the cross.

³³Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) went back into his lodge and had Creator Sets Free (Jesus) brought to him, so he could question him in private.

Once inside, he said to him, “Are you the chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?”

³⁴“Is this your question,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked, “or are you listening to others?”

³⁵“I am not from your tribes,” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) answered. “It is your own people and their head holy men who have turned you over to me. What have you done?”

³⁶“My way of ruling is a good road. It is not in the ways of this world. If it were, my followers would have fought to keep me from being captured.”

³⁷“So then, you are a chief,” he said back to him.

“It is you who have said it,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “I was born for this and have come into the world for this purpose—to tell about the truth. The ones who belong to the truth will listen to my voice.”

³⁸Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) shook his head and said, “What is truth?”

³⁹Then Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) went outside to the tribal leaders and said to them, “I find no guilt in this man. By your own tradition we set free one criminal during your Passover Festival. Do you want me to release Creator Sets Free (Jesus), your chief?”

⁴⁰“No! Not him,” the crowd roared back. “Release Son of His Father (Barabbas)!”

Son of His Father (Barabbas) was a troublemaker who had caused an uprising.

¹Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) turned Creator Sets Free (Jesus) over to his soldiers to have him beaten. ²The soldiers twisted together a headdress from a thorn bush, pressed the thorns into his head, and wrapped a purple chief blanket around him. ³They bowed down before him, making a big show of it, and kept mocking him, saying, “Honor! Honor to the Great Chief of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).”

They took turns hitting him on his face until he was bruised and bloodied.

⁴Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) stood before the crowd again and said, “I bring to you the one in whom I have found no guilt.”

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was brought forward, blood flowing down his bruised face. ⁵He was wearing the headdress of thorns and the purple chief blanket that was wrapped around him.

“Behold the man!” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them. ⁶“Take a good long look at him!”

The crowd stared at him in stunned silence.

But then the head holy men and the lodge guards began to shout, “Death! Death on the cross!”

“Then take him and kill him yourselves,” Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) said to them. “I find no guilt in him!”

⁷They answered him back, “Our law tells us he must die, for he has represented himself as the Son of the Great Spirit.”

⁸When Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) heard this, his fear grew stronger, ⁹so he took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) back inside his lodge.

“Who are you, and where are you from?” he questioned him.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) stood there and remained silent.

¹⁰“Speak to me! Do you not know I have the power of life and death over you? I can have you killed or set you free,” he warned him. “Have you nothing to say?”

¹¹“The only power you have is what has been given you from above,” he answered. “The ones who turned me over to you carry the greater guilt.”

¹²Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) tried harder to have Creator Sets Free (Jesus) released, but the people would not have it.

They stood their ground, saying, “If you release a man who says he is a chief, you are not honoring the ruler of your people, for anyone who claims to be a chief challenges his power.”

¹³When Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) heard this, he took Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and went to the Stone of Deciding, called Gabbatha in the tribal language, and sat down. ¹⁴It was now midday on the Day of Preparation for the Passover Festival.

He brought Creator Sets Free (Jesus) before the people and said, “Here is your chief.”

¹⁵“Take him away! Take him away!” the crowd shouted with one voice. “Nail him to the cross!”

“Would you have me nail your chief to the cross?” he asked them.

This time the head holy men answered back, “We have no other chief than the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar).”

¹⁶Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) then turned Creator Sets Free (Jesus) over to the soldiers to have him put to death on a tree-pole—the cross—so they took him away.

The cross was an instrument of torture and terror used by the People of Iron (Romans) to strike fear into the hearts of any who dared to rise up against their empire. The victim’s hands and feet would be pierced with large iron nails, fastening them to the cross. The victims would hang there, sometimes for days, until they were dead. This was one of the most cruel and painful ways to die ever devised by human beings.

The soldiers placed a wooden crossbeam on his back and forced him to carry it to the place where he would be executed.

¹⁷Creator Sets Free (Jesus) carried the crossbeam to the Place of the Skull, which is called Golgotha in the tribal language. ¹⁸There they nailed his hands and feet to the cross, along with the two others, and placed his cross between the two of them.

¹⁹Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) fastened a sign to the top of the cross where they attached the crossbeam with these words written on it:

CREATOR SETS FREE FROM SEED PLANTERS VILLAGE CHIEF OF THE TRIBES OF WRESTLES WITH CREATOR

²⁰This was near Village of Peace (Jerusalem). So that many of the Tribal Members could read it, the sign was written in Aramaic, their tribal language, but also in Latin and Greek, the languages of the People of Iron (Romans).

²¹The chief head holy men and the tribal leaders said to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate), “Do not write ‘chief of the tribes.’ Instead write, ‘He said he is chief.’”

²²But he answered, “What I have written will stand.”

²³The soldiers stripped his clothes from him when they nailed his hands and feet to the cross. They tore one of his garments into four pieces, one for each guard. His long outer garment was woven together into one piece, ²⁴so they said, “Let us not tear this, we can draw straws for it.”

This gave full meaning to the Sacred Teachings that said, “They divided my clothes between them and gambled for my garment.”36 This is what the soldiers did as they kept watch over Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

^25-26Standing near the cross was Bitter Tears (Mary), the mother of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), who had come to see him, along with her sister. Two other women also came with her, Brooding Tears (Mary) the wife of Trader (Clopas), and Strong Tears (Mary) from Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala). He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), was also there with them.

When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked down and saw them, he said to his mother, “Honored woman, look to your son.” ²⁷Then he said to his follower, “Look to your mother.”

From that time the follower took Bitter Tears (Mary) into his family and cared for her.

²⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus), knowing he had done all the ancient Sacred Teachings had foretold, said, “I thirst.”

²⁹There was a vessel of sour and bitter wine standing nearby. One of the soldiers dipped a cloth in it to soak up some wine. He wrapped the cloth around the tip of a hyssop branch and held it up to the mouth of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

³⁰He then tasted the bitter wine, turned his head to the sky and cried out loud, “It is done!”

He then lowered his head to his chest and, with his last breath, gave up his spirit.

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was dead.

³¹Soon the sun would set and a special Day of Resting would begin, when no work could be done. It was time to prepare for this day, so the Tribal Members asked Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) to have the legs of the men on the crosses broken, which would make them die sooner. Then they could take the bodies down and prepare them for burial.

³²The soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men on each side of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). ³³When they came to him, they saw he was already dead. Instead of breaking his legs, ³⁴one of the soldiers took a spear and pierced his side. Blood and water flowed out from the wound.

³⁵The one who saw these things with his own eyes is telling the truth about this—so that all will believe. ³⁶This was foretold in the ancient Sacred Teachings that say, “Not one of his bones was broken,”37 ³⁷and, “They will look upon the one they have pierced.”38

³⁸He Gets More (Joseph) from High Mountain (Arimathea), a man with many possessions, was a follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), but in secret, because he feared the tribal leaders. Since it would soon be sunset, when the Day of Resting would begin, he went to Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) and asked permission to remove the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) from the cross.

Spear of the Great Waters (Pilate) released the body to him. So he and another man, ³⁹Conquers the People (Nicodemus), who had come to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in secret at night, took his body away to prepare it ceremonially for burial. Conquers the People (Nicodemus) had brought a mixture of myrrh and oils weighing about seventy-five pounds. ⁴⁰Together they ceremonially wrapped his body for burial in the traditional way, using strips of cloth and herbal spices and oils.

^41-42So because it was the Day of Preparation for the Passover Festival, and the day of resting was about to begin, they laid the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) in a nearby burial cave that had never been used and then returned to their homes.

¹Early on the first day of the week, Strong Tears (Mary) from Tower of Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala) came to the burial cave early in the morning while it was still dark. When she saw the stone had been removed from the burial cave, ²she ran to find Stands on the Rock (Peter) and He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus).

She found them and, catching her breath, she said to them, “They have taken the body of our Wisdomkeeper away, and we do not know where he is!”

^3-4Stands on the Rock (Peter) raced to the burial cave, but the other follower outran him and came there first. ^5-7He stooped low to look inside but did not go in all the way. He saw strips of cloth lying there, but the cloth that had been wrapped around the head of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was rolled into a bundle, lying by itself. Stands on the Rock (Peter) arrived behind him and came to the cave. When he went inside, he saw the same things.

⁸The other follower, who arrived first, now found the courage to go inside all the way. He saw the burial cave was empty—and believed. ⁹But they still did not understand from the Sacred Teachings that he would return from death. ¹⁰Then they went back to the place where they were staying.

After the men left, Strong Tears (Mary) from Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala) went back to the garden.

¹¹Her heart was on the ground as she stood outside the cave, weeping. As the tears ran down her face, she looked inside. ¹²There she saw two spirit-messengers dressed in white. They were sitting, one at the head, the other at the feet, of where the body of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had once lain.

¹³They looked at her and said, “Honored woman, why do you weep?”

“My Wisdomkeeper is gone,” she answered, “and I do not know where they have taken him.”

¹⁴She turned around to see a man standing behind her. It was Creator Sets Free (Jesus), but she did not recognize him.

¹⁵“Honored woman, why the tears?” he said to her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the keeper of the garden, so she said, “If you have carried him away, tell me where, and I will find him.”

¹⁶“Strong Tears (Mary),” he said to her in a soft and kind voice.

She looked closer at him and her eyes grew wide. Then she hugged him close and whispered in his ear in her native language.

“Rabboni!” she said, meaning Wisdomkeeper.

¹⁷“You must let me go,” he said back to her. “I have not yet gone up to the Father. Go to my brothers who walked the road with me and say to them, ‘I am going up to my Father and your Father, to the one who is the Great Spirit and Father of us all.’”

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had chosen to show himself first to a woman, Strong Tears (Mary) from Creator’s High Lodge (Magdala), the one he had set free from seven evil spirits.

¹⁸Strong Tears (Mary) then went and found the followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and said, “I have seen our Wisdomkeeper!”

She then told them everything she had heard from him.

¹⁹It was now late in the same day, the first day of the week. His followers were all hiding behind locked doors in fear of being captured by the tribal leaders.

Suddenly, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) himself was standing in front of them and said, “Peace be with you!”

²⁰He then showed them where the iron nails had pierced his hands and where the spear had cut into his side.

When they saw their Wisdomkeeper, the hearts of his followers were filled with joy, ²¹so he said to them again, “Peace be with you! In the same way the Father above has sent me, I am now sending you.”

²²He blew his breath on them and said, “You will breathe in and receive the Holy Spirit. With his wisdom and guidance, ²³if you release others from their bad hearts and broken ways, they are released. If you do not release them, they are not released.”

²⁴Looks Like His Brother (Thomas), one of the original twelve followers, was not there when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) showed himself to the others. ²⁵They told him, “We have seen the Wisdomkeeper with our own eyes.”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into them, and put my hand into the hole in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶Eight days later his followers were gathered together again, and Looks Like His Brother (Thomas) was with them. The doors were all locked, but Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came in and stood before them all.

“Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁷Then he turned to Looks Like His Brother (Thomas) and said, “Look closely at my hands and touch my scars with your finger. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Then put away your doubts and trust in me.”

²⁸“You are my Honored Chief and my Creator,” he said.

²⁹“Now you believe, because you have seen me?” he said to him. “A greater blessing will rest on the ones who have not seen but still believe.”

³⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) did many more powerful signs before the eyes of his followers that have not been written down in this book. ³¹But I have told this much so you will believe that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the Chosen One, the Son of the Great Spirit. When you put your trust in all that his name represents, the life of beauty and harmony he has promised to all will be yours.

¹A while later, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) showed himself again to his followers by Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee), also called Sea of Rolling Water (Sea of Tiberias).

²Stands on the Rock (Peter) along with other followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had gathered there. With him were Looks Like His Brother (Thomas), Creator Gives (Nathanael) from Village of Reeds (Cana) in Circle of Nations (Galilee), the two sons of Gift of Creator (Zebedee), and two other followers.

³Stands on the Rock (Peter) said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They all agreed and said, “Take us with you.”

So they took a canoe out onto the lake. Under the light of the moon and stars they worked hard all night. Again and again they threw out their nets and drew them back in—empty.

⁴Just as the first light of day was dawning, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came and stood on the shore. But they did not know it was he.

⁵“Friends,” he called out to them, “have you netted any fish?”

“No!” they answered.

⁶“Throw out your nets to the right of your canoe,” he shouted to them. “You will find some fish there.”

They did as he said, and the net was filled with so many fish they could not pull it into the canoe. ⁷He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), said to Stands on the Rock (Peter), “It is our Wisdomkeeper!”

Stands on the Rock (Peter) had taken off his outer garment to fish. He put it back on and jumped into the water. ⁸The shore was not far, so the others made their way in, dragging the net full of fish behind the canoe.

They came to the shore and stepped out of the canoe. ⁹They saw a warm fire with fish cooking over the coals and some frybread to eat.

¹⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked up from cooking and said, “Bring me some of the fish you caught.”

¹¹Stands on the Rock (Peter) climbed into the canoe and pulled the net to shore. The fish were large, and they counted them—one hundred and fifty-three in all! But even with so many fish the net did not tear.

¹²Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said, “Let us eat.”

They all sat down to eat, but no one dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it must be their Wisdomkeeper.

¹³He took the frybread and gave some to each of them, along with a piece of fish. ¹⁴This was the third time he had shown himself to them after coming back to life from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) took Stands on the Rock (Peter) and sat down with him by the lake.

He spoke to him, using the name his family gave him, “One Who Hears (Simon), son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me more than the others love me?”

“Yes, Wisdomkeeper,” he answered, “you know I am your friend.”

“Then feed my lambs,” he said.

They sat looking out over the water and listening to the sound of the waves coming in to the shore.

¹⁶Then a second time Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked, “One Who Hears (Simon), son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me?”

“Yes, Wisdomkeeper,” he answered him again, “you know how deeply I care for you.”

“Then watch over my sheep,” he said.

The sound of the water birds could be heard in the distance, and the sun felt warm as it rose higher in the sky.

¹⁷Creator Sets Free (Jesus) asked him a third time, “One Who Hears (Simon), Son of Gift of Kindness (John), do you love me as a friend?”

Stands on the Rock (Peter) felt his heart sink because he asked the third time, “Do you love me as a friend?”

“Wisdomkeeper!” he said, “you know all things, you must know how deeply I care for you. I am your friend!”

Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to him again, “Feed my sheep.”

¹⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then said to him, “I tell you from my heart, when you were a young man, you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and take you to a place you do not want to go.”

¹⁹He was telling him the kind of death he would die, to bring honor to Creator.

Then he said to Stands on the Rock (Peter), “Come, walk the road with me.”

This was the same invitation he had given years earlier to Stands on the Rock (Peter) in Circle of Nations (Galilee) after the canoes had been filled with fish.

²⁰Stands on the Rock (Peter) looked over at He Shows Goodwill (John), the much-loved follower of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He was the same one who, during the ceremonial meal, had leaned back and asked, “Wisdomkeeper, who will betray you?”

²¹When Stands on the Rock (Peter) saw him, he said to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), “Wisdomkeeper, what about this man, how will he die?”

²²Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered him, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, why would it matter? You must walk the road I have chosen for you.”

²³When the others heard what Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had said about He Shows Goodwill (John), talk began to go around that he would never die. But Creator Sets Free (Jesus) did not say he would not die. He said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, why would it matter to you?”

²⁴The one telling you this story has seen and heard these things with his own eyes, and all can agree he is telling the truth. ²⁵Many more things could be told about Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the message of his good road, and the people his life touched. This story has been written down in a book, but not everything. For he did so many things, if they were all written down in books, the whole world would not have room for them.

Aho! May it be so!