June 21st, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.
I am here, St. John, Apostle of Jesus.
Well, you were surprised at the last message and it is not to be wondered that you were, for I know that to you this story was a mere legend, as it is to most others of the mortal life, who have thought on the subject. And again, the wandering Jew was not in your mind as I know, for I was present before you commenced to write and know just what the contents of your mind were, and what expectations you had. I recite these facts to impress you that this message is not the result of any subconscious mind that the philosophers speak of, but the message came solely because the spirit who wrote came to you and took control of your brain and hands and actually wrote the message.
He is truly the man known as the Wandering Jew, and the legend is true so far as his having treated the Master as he said and the Master's sentence upon him to "tarry until he should come." Naturally the question arises, how could the Master have imposed such a sentence, or what power had the Master to do that which is so contrary to all the ordinary known laws of God?
Well, the question is a pertinent and proper one and is entitled to an answer. At the time of the Master's crucifixion he was surrounded by a great host of spirits, in whom was vested the most wonderful powers of the spirit world, and they accompanied him in his weary march to the cursed cross, all trying to sustain him, and listening to his words, and many of them knowing his thoughts and the travail of his soul; and when he rested because of the burden of carrying the cross, they were with him and heard the inhuman command of the Jew and the Master's reply, and then they determined that the sentence should be carried out and never end until the Jew had traveled the weary road of suffering that he saw Jesus was travelling, and until he should seek relief in that way that the very Master came to earth to make known to mortals, and this Jew was among them.
The spirits were with the Jew continually sustaining him in his physical life so that the friend that he hoped and prayed for - I mean death - should not come to him, until first should come the Great Love of the Father to redeem him from the results of the sentence. And strange as it may seem to you, at the very time that these spirits were exercising their powers to prolong the physical life of the man, they were also trying to influence him so that he would open up his soul to the inflowing of the Love; and among those who thus worked was the Master himself.
But the old beliefs of this Jew in the teachings of the laws of Moses, and in Abraham as his father and the great medium of his salvation, and that great power which he possessed - the human will - prevented the opening up of his soul for many long years, and not until he was convinced that the sentence of the Master was being carried out, did he commence to realize that the teachings of his church and father Abraham were not sufficient for his salvation from the awful doom pronounced upon him; and there came to him the thought that the man whom he had cursed might be the truly son of God, and that his teachings of the only way to the Father and happiness was through this Love; for in the meantime he had lived among the Christians and had learned what the teachings of this love were, and that it was waiting for all, and could be obtained by all through prayer and the submission of the human will.
Well, he suffered and sought in every way to obtain this death, but it always evaded him, until at last his will broke and the truth came to him and with it prayer, and then came freedom; for I must tell you that when the soul of a mortal prays in earnestness and with true longings, all the powers of all the spirits in the spiritual or Celestial Heavens cannot prevent that Love from responding to the prayers, and from making the longing soul free and at one, to a degree, with the Father.
The sentences of spirits and angels cannot exist contrary to that Love's demands. And this being so, mortals can readily understand that all the powers of the hells and the evil ones cannot prevail against that Love. And thus further will you understand that the true prayers of a longing soul are more powerful and will bring the response from the Father, than all the powers of angels, and spirits and devils combined. Thus you may comprehend what an important creature is one poor mite of a mortal when in truth and earnestness he comes to the Father, seeking His Love.
Well, when I came tonight, I had no thought of writing such a message as I have written, but as I realized that you may in thinking about the message of the Wandering Jew, and doubt that the laws of nature may be set aside even at the command of the Master, I thought it best to write you as I have. No laws of nature were, in fact, set aside, but the powers of the spirits were exercised upon preserving the physical organs and functions of this Jew, so that life would remain, and the vitalizing principle perform its work in preserving the Jew as a living mortal.
Do not wonder at this, for I must tell you that before these messages shall be completed you will be told of many truths that will be more astonishing and contrary to what men call the laws of nature, than is the case of the Wandering Jew. I will not write more now, and with my love to you and your friend, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ, John.