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.
ONE OF YOU WILL BETRAY ME
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.
A NEW ROAD
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.”
WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
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!”
NO OTHER GUIDE
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.”
SHOW US THE FATHER
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.
PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
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.
GREAT PEACE
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.”
THE TRUE VINE
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.
THE ROAD OF LOVE
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.
THE WORLD WILL HATE YOU
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
SPIRIT OF TRUTH
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.
IT IS BETTER IF I GO AWAY
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.
THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK
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.
A LITTLE WHILE
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.
A NEW WAY OF ASKING
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.
THE END OF STORIES
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.”
I HAVE DEFEATED THE WORLD
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.”
HE PRAYS FOR HIS FOLLOWERS
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.
First Nations Version Page 35
