2026/08/10

260. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Death and Hades

Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John reveals that, deep within those who persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, lay a lack of understanding regarding the Sabbath and the frustration of a people who were unable to call God their Father. Rather than feelings regarding the legalistic observance of the Law of Moses, the recitation of the Psalms must surely have sustained the people’s longing for the era of the kings, said to have enjoyed the height of prosperity, and their hope for the day when they would be liberated from Roman subjugation and saved. Might Jesus, together with those who now longed for the emergence of a prophet who would become a king greater than David or Solomon, or a saviour, have also recited the Psalms and opened the prophetic books with them in the synagogue? Yet Jesus carried with him an entirely new teaching and formation for the priesthood of the New Covenant. From that point on, everything was made new. 

In the previous issue, we discussed how the priesthood of the New Covenant—which Jesus conferred upon the Apostles at the same time as the institution of the Eucharist through the words "Do this in remembrance of me"—unites with the Holy Spirit sent in Jesus' name to re-enact the scene of the table of the Last Supper, at which Jesus was present, during the Mass. We therefore also considered that the Mass is celebrated not only for the faithful to share in that table, but also offered towards the tables around the world where people gather. Moreover, we concluded that it is so that we, believers, by continually receiving the Eucharist, may perpetuate the work of Jesus—who, through His once-for-all death on the Cross, atoned for all the sins of humanity, descended into Hades, and saved the souls of those who suffer even after death due to their ignorance. We then cited and confirmed the passage in Peter's Epistle conveying this fact. 

The Gospel of Matthew describes the events following Jesus' death on the cross as follows: "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many" (Mt 27:51–53). In Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks a teaching that appears to corroborate this description. He says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will" (Jn 5:21). These words refer to those who had died and been laid in their tombs, for the living already have His teaching. Therefore, Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (5:24). 

Regarding those who have died and are in their tombs, Jesus said as follows: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment" (Jn 5:25–29). These words are deeply connected to the "second death" described in the Book of Revelation: 

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:11–15). 

The Eucharist unites us, the faithful who receive it, with the only begotten Son of God and through it brings unity to the Church. The Eucharist is truly the Bread of Life that gives life to both each believer and the Church. However, not only that: by our receiving the Eucharist, Christ, who is truly present therein, can descend once more into Hades to call the souls of the dead—who await there in suffering—to salvation. We who receive the Eucharist are thus able to provide Christ with the opportunity to do so. 

At the conclusion of this theme in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me" (Jn 5:30). Next time, we shall continue our reflection from this point and examine in detail the events unfolded in Chapter 6, as the words "I can do nothing on my own authority" evoke the image of the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. 

Maria K. M.

 2026/08/03

259. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: To the Table of God

At the Last Supper, Jesus conferred upon the Apostles the priesthood of the New Covenant at the very moment He instituted the Eucharist, saying to them, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). Then, He entrusted His kingship to the Apostles with the words, "I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (22:29–30). This kingship was the very one of which the angel had told Jesus' mother: "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever" (1:32–33), by which it was guaranteed that, through the Apostles to whom it was entrusted, the priesthood of the New Covenant would be perpetuated for ever.

The Holy Spirit required tacit knowledge which unconsciously directs the believers' senses towards the Mass prepared by Jesus, so that they might receive the priesthood of the New Covenant. Thus, the Book of Revelation was given. Its training is structured so that, by entering a daily loop that repeatedly passes through the seven prophecies (cf. diagram below), believers learn to thoroughly distinguish "human information"—which constitutes the greatest obstacle to reaching the Mass. Furthermore, the Seven Beatitudes guide the faithful so that they may place the Mass at the centre of their daily lives and recognise the path leading to it as the concrete "Way of Jesus." As the First Beatitude (cf. Rev 1:3) proclaims, the training of the Book of Revelation can become tacit knowledge that, through sensory stimulation, unconsciously triggers signals or commands to prompt them to walk along the "Way of Jesus." This is because the Book of Revelation alludes to the contents of each book of the New Testament and prophesies the completion of the New Testament as canonical scripture as well as the completion of the liturgy of the Mass.

The people of the Old Covenant were entrusted with the priesthood, which involved repeatedly offering sacrifices and interceding on behalf of the people, so that they might continue to live in communion with the holy God. However, the people, anxious about the reliability of those entrusted with the priesthood, asked God for a king and placed all their hopes in the king who was given to them. Eventually, both the king and the people raised their voices in longing for a Saviour. The Psalms served as a foundation for maintaining communion with God by unconsciously uniting the voices of the king and the people, and by enabling them to continue directing their hope towards the future Saviour. Therefore, there is absolutely no point in using it as a textbook for the formation of modern believers, who have already been entrusted with the priesthood of the New Covenant and are striving to perfect the liturgy of the Mass in preparation for the Kingdom of God. Whilst it is necessary to make the Old Testament known to believers as part of their education, as required, we must not engage in a form of formation that seeks to engrave it upon the believers' memories (cf. Lk 5:36-39).

The priesthood of the New Covenant, which Jesus conferred upon the Apostles at the same time as He instituted the Eucharist through the words, "Do this in remembrance of me," makes the scene of the Last Supper, at which Jesus was present, present, in union with the Holy Spirit sent in Jesus' name. That is so that we may continue the work by which Jesus, having atoned for all the sins of humanity through His single death, descended into Hades and saved the spirits of those who were suffering even after death, as a consequence of sin (cf. Matt 27:51–53). The Epistle of Peter conveys this as follows:

"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water" (1 Pet 3:18-20).

There are still many people today who are dying as those "who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited." As Peter says, "that he might bring us to God," we believers are by no means an exception. The Mass is, in nature, an act of gathering around a banquet table, just as Jesus said: "that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom..." However, until that day comes, we believers, whilst gathering at the Lord's table, continue to stand at the foot of the Lord's Cross, so that through receiving the Eucharist, we may offer Christ the opportunity to go and preach to the spirits in prison.

The San Damiano cross, with which St Francis of Assisi encountered and which we have discussed in the previous issues, speaks volumes about this. The pattern painted surrounding the Cross of Jesus, like white lace edging, breaks off beneath his feet, signifying that it continues beyond that point. This suggests that the Mass is offered not only for the congregation gathered in the Church, but towards the tables surrounded by people throughout the world. There will be also those who, because of our lack of zeal in proclaiming the Gospel, must wait even after death. In the gaze of Jesus, looking into the distance from the Cross, the following words of Jesus are hidden:

"I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd" (Jn 10:14–16).

Maria K. M.

(Notice)

A new article has been posted on the blog, The Wind of Patmos. It is a translation of an article I submitted to and was published in the Japanese internet magazine, Catholic Ai.

 2026/07/27

258. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John

From Chapter 5 onwards, the Gospel of John depicts how Jesus—who was born as the "enmity God has placed" (cf. Lk 2:34–35)—begins to confront "human information" in earnest. The Gospel of John contains a far greater number of instances of the term "Jews," compared to the other Gospels. A deep sense of regret must have accompanied the Gospel writer's fervent affection for his fellow countrymen towards those who would not accept Jesus nor believe in his name. This was because he realised that the underlying current of the priesthood of the New Covenant, running through the Gospel of John, served to fulfil the Old Covenant priesthood—whose source lies in the story of Genesis—and to bring God’s plan to fruition. From the very beginning of Chapter 1, the Gospel of John sets out these thoughts in a manner reminiscent of Genesis (cf. Jn 1:1–18).

In Genesis, after God expelled humankind from the Garden of Eden and barred the way to the Tree of Life, He left the "enmity God has placed" to work within the depths of the human heart to safeguard their "human knowledge." At the same time, He sought out those who were pleasing in His eyes and entrusted them with a mission, guiding the people to maintain their relationship with Him. Thus, the people who came together as one nation have upheld the name of God, the priesthood and the Law given to them in the time of Moses. Even after the era of David and Solomon, and despite enduring the hardships of Exile, they continued to uphold these things to the very end. Just as the construction of the Second Temple continued even after the birth of Jesus, so too was there a single-minded devotion of the people to the Temple. However, when the Son, who bore the will of God the Father, appeared on earth as Jesus, their minds were no longer aligned with God's will.

Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John records the incident in which Jesus first healed a sick man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. It states that, as a result of this incident, "And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus " (Jn 5:16). Jesus replied to them, "My Father is working still, and I am working" (5:17). Then the Gospel states: "This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God" (5:18). This shows that their attitude shifted from "the Jews persecuted Jesus" to "the Jews sought all the more to kill him," and draws attention to the fact that the turning point lay in the fact that He "called God his Father, making himself equal with God." As we have examined many times in this blog, a structural problem lies hidden here.

This incident illustrates that, for the Jews of that time, Jesus' declaration that God was his Father came as a great shock. They were well aware of the history in which, despite God's promise to David concerning his son Solomon—"I will be his father, and he shall be my son" (2 Sam 7:14)—this promise was not fulfilled because Solomon turned away from God (cf. 1 Kgs 11:1–10). The Gospel of John continues, "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you’" (Jn 5:19), and records the words with which Jesus spoke in strong terms about the relationship between the Father and the Son right through to the end of chapter 5. This is because they had such a problem that Jesus could not help but bear witness to.

From a young age, the Jewish people were raised in an environment where they learnt the Psalms by ear and memorised the Old Testament. Within this context, the idea of likening God and Israel to a bridegroom and bride, or husband and wife, had already emerged and developed as far back as the time of Solomon. Later, the tradition of reading the Song of Songs as an expression of the love between God and Israel also became entrenched. This must surely have been a desperate measure for a people who were unable to establish a parent-child relationship with God. However, applying the image of marriage—bridegroom and bride, husband and wife—to the relationship between God and His people carried great risk. This is because the notion of being on an equal footing with God would secretly take root there. Even under a patriarchal system, on the day of the wedding, the bride was congratulated alongside the bridegroom and could feel that she was in an equal relationship with him. In this way, understanding the relationship with God as analogous to a marriage between a man and a woman becomes a motive for those presiding over worship, whilst worshipping God, to divert the people's gaze—which ought to be directed towards God—towards themselves (cf. Mat 23:1–39). They become ensnared by the illusion that they are equal to God.

In this way, we can see that the sentiments of the Jews recorded in the Gospels—"because he ... called God his Father, making himself equal with God"—were imbued with a twofold anger. One was anger at being confronted with their own reality—that they failed to enter into a relationship between father and son with God, and had not been recognised as children of God; the other was anger that the fictional world in which God loved them as His equals—within the mystery of marriage, where God’s love for His people is likened to the love of a bridegroom for his bride or a husband for his wife—had been shattered. These emotions were so intense that they drove them to the point of wanting to kill Jesus. From the Psalms and the texts of the Old Testament with which they were so familiar, they had developed a theology coloured by a kind of nuptial mysticism. As a result, the Old Covenant priesthood, which had continued since the time of Moses, had gradually changed its nature through the eras of David and Solomon. And by the time Jesus began his public ministry, it had become something incapable of connecting with the priesthood of the New Covenant.

I believe that John the Evangelist, who, despite chanting the Psalms and being well-versed in the Old Testament just like his fellow Jews, had come to understand the priesthood of the New Covenant, imbued the term "Jews" with his sense of regret towards them. That sentiment must also have been shared by Jesus, who brought about the priesthood of the New Covenant to fulfil the priesthood foreshadowed in Adam (cf. Gen 3:19) and to realise the hope given to David (cf. 2 Sam 7:14). It was undoubtedly also a sense of regret felt by Jesus, who came as a descendant of David and received the same education as the Israelites. John first realised that these problems, into which the Jewish people—among whom he himself was born and raised—had become entangled, were utterly incompatible with the priesthood of the New Covenant brought by Jesus. They had become so fundamentally distinct that one might even describe them as an "Old Covenant-dominated mindset" and a "New Covenant-inspired mindset."

Maria K. M.

 2026/07/20

257. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: The Reality of God

Human beings were created to subdue the earth, to rule over every living creature, and to worship God in spirit and in truth. They are to celebrate the day sanctified by God with Him for all eternity, and to gather round His table. To this end, God endowed humankind with the spontaneity of the flesh—accompanied by power, wealth and authority—so that they might manifest "our image" (cf. Blog No. 252) and created humankind such that this spontaneity is connected to "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)"—which manifests "our likeness" through "human knowledge" and via "the Word (the Tree of Life)"—as a normal state of affairs. Human beings can collaborate with the Holy Spirit and, through this collaboration, manifest the resemblance to God only when they are in this normal state. For human beings—who possess a physical body born alone and destined to die alone in order to manifest the form of the one true God—the Holy Spirit, with whom they cooperate to manifest the resemblance to the Triune God, has been their one and only neighbour from the very beginning of their existence; and, if properly trained, human beings can live in cooperation with the Holy Spirit throughout their lives. 

What the "man" in Genesis experienced in collaboration with the Holy Spirit whilst he was alone has been passed down to us believers today. The description, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Gen 2:15), reminds us that, by working in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, we too till and keep our own memories. The words, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (2:16-17), mean that if we indiscriminately absorb "human information" and turn it into our own "human knowledge," we will certainly die. The words "you shall die" signify that we will lose our original human state and become unable to partake in the supreme happiness of working in partnership with the Holy Spirit. 

The account that "whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name" (Gen 2:19) is precisely the experience of a person working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the fact that, amongst the creatures to which he gave names, "for the man there was not found a helper fit for him" (2:20) indicates that there will be an encounter with one who has been trained to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in the same way, as a helper suitable for him. Without this understanding, we too may harbour hostility towards God, just as Adam did when God said to him, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (3:11) because in this case we would be those who are unable to grasp the true meaning of the fact that the words, "in the day that you eat of it you shall die," did not come true for us. 

The Lord God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15), thereby ensuring that the "enmity God has placed" would take effect before "hostility towards God" arose. That is because preventing "hostility towards God" in this way serves as a powerful means of curbing sin. Even if "hostility towards God" overcomes the "enmity God has placed" and is directed towards one’s neighbour, the effect of the "enmity God has placed" can still bring the person back to God. Furthermore, this word of God determined that the Son would become human and be sent to earth. "He shall bruise your head" refers to Jesus exposing, in a way that people could understand, the fact that the entities known as devils and Satan are "human information." “You shall bruise his heel” refers to how, by "human information," the course of Jesus' steps of ministry was halted in the following manner and directed towards the fulfilment of salvation on the cross. 

"Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?'" (Jn 6:70) ⇒ "And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him" (13:2) ⇒ "Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, 'What you are going to do, do quickly.'" (13:27). 

Consequently, Adam’s hostility towards God was directed towards his neighbour, his wife. He himself named her "Eve." By calling her by that name, he placed his wife under his dominion. Human beings cannot dominate their neighbour. All created beings possess a spontaneity that originates from God. Therefore, in their conduct, they possess the freedom to obey God. Every human being was created as one endowed with a physical body possessing power, wealth and authority, and as one capable of cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Adam debased the spontaneity of such a neighbour to obey God, subjugated her to his control, and thereby blasphemed the Holy Spirit, who is the true neighbour. 

"He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). Jesus was sent to earth also to save those who had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and to reveal the tree of life.

 Maria K. M.

 

 2026/07/13

256. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Enmity God Has Put

When people come together in a group, information ("human information") is exchanged between them by chance. If one fails to distinguish this from oneself and absorbs it as one’s own knowledge ("human knowledge"), one receives images of good or evil from it, and an illusion arises. When an image of good is received, although a person's body is a single entity, like that of other animals, they harbour the illusion of having become one with another person, and this gives rise to great pleasure. We can see this in the words spoken by the "man" upon seeing the "woman" whom God had brought to him, when God created man and woman from "man": "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Gen 2:23). This is because, just as the "man" in the beginning of Genesis tilled the soil and named the animals in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, the Lord God grants human beings the experience of unconsciously collaborating with the Holy Spirit, so that they may, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, manifest the resemblance to God.

The spontaneity inherent in human reproductive functions, just as in other animals, serves to perpetuate the species as human beings and embodies God's freedom, which is the eternity and truth of the almighty God. For animals, the spontaneity inherent in their reproductive functions focuses their relationships and connections with others solely on the preservation of their species. However, the spontaneity inherent in the human reproductive function—endowed with power, wealth and authority so that humans, created in the image of God, may act in a manner befitting collaboration with the Holy Spirit—exhibits not only a drive for the survival of the species but also a strong inclination towards power, wealth and authority (cf. blog, No.252). This spontaneity, imbued with such inclinations, is linked to one's "human knowledge." When these inclinations are transmitted to his "human knowledge" whilst it is absorbing "human information," they develop into higher-order desires such as the need for recognition and self-actualisation; simultaneously, this involves a transition from illusion to fiction, leading to action. The desire that arose in the "woman" at the beginning of Genesis was to become "like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen 3:5).

In Genesis chapter 1, the Creator is referred to as "God," demonstrating that the work of creation, accomplished through the relationship of the Trinity, was the work of the only God (cf. Gen 1:1–2:3). In Chapter 2, the term "the Lord God" is used to denote the Father and the Son, illustrating how humans entered into the relationship of the Triune God and collaborated with the Holy Spirit (cf. 2:4–2:22). Meanwhile, in Genesis Chapter 3, it appears that the text clarifies the state and circumstances of humans at any given moment by using the phrase “the Lord God” when they could collaborate with the Holy Spirit, and simply “God” when they were unable to do so. This can be confirmed by noting that, in relation to "the man," the term "the Lord God" is used initially (cf. 3:9–10), followed by "God" (cf. 3:11–12), whilst "the Lord God" is used in relation to "the woman" (cf. 3:13–15).

The "man" was likely, whilst sharing information with the "woman," to have incorporated it into his own knowledge without distinguishing it, and found himself in the experience of saying, "I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen 3:10). Eventually, his words, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (3:12) indicates that his fear of God had turned into hostility towards Him. Just as had happened to the "woman," strong inclinations towards power, wealth and authority—derived from the spontaneity inherent in human reproductive functions—had been transmitted to his "human knowledge." At this point, his "human knowledge," having absorbed "human information," was unable to maintain a personality befitting one standing before God.

Therefore, "the Lord God" said to "human information" (the "serpent"): "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15). Here, the "enemy God has put" is like a fortress within one's "human knowledge" that prevents "human information" from intruding. It protects the realm of the human spirit from "human information." However, if a person crosses that fortress, absorbs "human information" and makes it part of their own "human knowledge," they will suffer. That is because a contradiction arises between one's "human knowledge", which has absorbed "human information," and the "enmity God has put." As this struggle intensifies and as that contradiction threatens to shatter the fictional world born of one's own delusions, one attempts to avoid the crisis by directing hostility towards his Creator.

This hostility towards the Creator eventually transforms into hostility towards one's neighbour to get a practical solution. Hostility towards one's neighbour is, so to speak, tantamount to directing hostility towards the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit is, after all, one's first neighbour. Human beings were created in such a way that, as a normal state of affairs, the spontaneity of the physical body—endowed with power, wealth and authority to manifest "our image"—is connected, through one's "human knowledge" and via "the Word (the Tree of Life)," to the "divine spontaneity (the breath of life)" within the person who manifests "our likeness." In this state, human beings can collaborate with the Holy Spirit and manifest the resemblance to God. The Holy Spirit is, for humankind, truly the one and only neighbour. When the time was fulfilled, the "enmity God has put" was born as Jesus Christ (cf. Lk 2:34–35). When a lawyer asked Jesus which commandment was the most important, Jesus replied as follows:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:37–40). "The Lord your God" refers to the Father and the Son. The neighbour whom one can love as oneself is the Holy Spirit. When one seeks to love the Holy Spirit as one's one and only neighbour, God's love is directed towards all one's neighbours.

Maria K. M.

 2026/07/06

255. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

"Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God" (Jn 8:46–47). These words of Jesus strongly urge us, as believers today, to re-examine history with complete trust in the Father. So, I realised that I must revisit the conclusions I drew two years ago regarding the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" from a new perspective.

Based on the words of the woman to the serpent in Genesis 3—"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" (Gen 3:2–3)—I concluded that the first two humans had not eaten from "the tree which is in the midst of the garden," that is, the "Tree of Life" and the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."　However, when I properly grasped that the entire book of Genesis is narrated—much like Jesus often did—as a parable, so to speak, concerning God’s plan, I realised that this was not the case. At that time, they simply did not possess the awareness that they were made to be connected to the "Tree of Life" or the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."

Human beings were created in such a way that, as a normal state of affairs, the spontaneity of the human body—which manifests "our image"—is connected, through "human knowledge" and via "the Word (the Tree of Life)," to "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)"—which manifests "our likeness." In this state, human beings are able to work in partnership with the Holy Spirit and manifest the resemblance of God. This is a state in which one's "human knowledge" is already connected to "the Word (the Tree of Life)," and Genesis expressed this state by the word "eat." Thus, the "God" in Chapter 1 became "the Lord God" in Chapter 2, arranging for the Holy Spirit to work within human beings. This was so that the "man," together with the Holy Spirit, might till and keep the Garden of Eden, fully manifesting the resemblance of God. Whilst working in this way, the Holy Spirit trained the "man" and brought him to the point where, "whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name" (Gen 2:19).

Here, the "man" came into contact with all the cattle, the birds of the air and every beast of the field, yet he was not misled by the information manifested in them. This was because he was working in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. Not being misled by information until reaching that point—that is precisely why the Lord God caused the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" to grow alongside the "Tree of Life." The information emitted by all of creation, even the same information, can be perceived as either good or evil depending on the state or circumstances of the person receiving it; it then becomes "human information" and spreads further among people. If we can view this information as the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," we will learn to distinguish information that approaches as another. In the realm of the human spirit, the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil" functions as a warning tower, erected so that our "human knowledge" can distinguish information from created things from itself and avoid absorbing it.

On one occasion, when a man asked, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Lk 18:18), Jesus replied, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone" (18:19). Goodness is always "God alone." "Human information," which can be perceived as either good or evil depending on the recipient, is "the knowledge of good and evi." However, we tend to try to distinguish between good and evil. And we rarely realise that this is itself the result of having absorbed "human information" without distinguishing it from our own "human knowledge." Information is not of God. Whilst it is not a creation of God, it manifests itself through all created things that bear the characteristic of being a reflection of God's hand. This influence becomes a problem only for human beings, who were solely made in resemblance of God.

If one incorporates "human information"—which arises and spreads accidentally amidst interactions between people—into one's own knowledge, that person's "human knowledge" becomes fixated on that information and the various relationships linked to it, and is, so to speak, hijacked. Consequently, his "human knowledge" can no longer connect with "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)" through "the Word (the Tree of Life)." This means losing the resemblance of God that manifests in collaboration with the Holy Spirit. The statement, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Gen 2:17), expresses precisely this. The "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," which serves as a warning tower, does nothing in itself. The problem lies in "human knowledge" connecting with spontaneity and leading to action. This is something we humans must recognise and address on our own initiative. That is why Jesus speaks so clearly:

"Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God" (Jn 8:46–47).

Maria K. M

(Notice)

A new article has been posted on the blog, The Wind of Patmos. It is a translation of an article I submitted to and was published in the Japanese internet magazine, Catholic Ai.

 2026/06/29

254. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Human Information

The Lord God created a realm of spirit within human memory from "the dust from the ground" (Gen 2:7) and arranged for "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)" and "human knowledge" to be connected within that spiritual realm through the "Word (the Tree of Life)." However, the illusions and fictions that arise when our "human knowledge" absorbs "human information" without distinguishing it from itself create a virtual reality. The "human knowledge" of those who remain within this virtual reality loses its connection with the "Word (the Tree of Life)" and can no longer sustain the realm of spirit. Thus, even believers may find their "human knowledge" clinging to the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," getting into it, and ultimately leading to action. The following words of Jesus are applicable to every believer: "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned" (Jn 15:6). 

Jesus' words, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8:12), provoked an exchange with the Pharisees and the Jews (cf. 8:13–30). Subsequently, he said the following to the Jews who had believed in him: "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (8:31–32). The words "continue in my word" refer to a state where, in the realm of the human spirit, "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)" and "human knowledge" are connected through the "Word (the Tree of Life)." It is only when connected in this way that people know the truth, and the truth sets them free. A person experiences true freedom when they collaborate with the Holy Spirit, who brings God's freedom. At that moment, they are drawn into the relational reality of the Triune God, focus on God selflessly, and partake in God's freedom. 

However, the illusions and fictions that arise when our "human knowledge" absorbs "human information" without distinguishing it from itself, and the virtual reality created from this, not only prevent people from partaking in God's grace but ultimately lead to the consequence of being "thrown into the fire and burned." Why does "human knowledge" absorb "human information?" As we discussed last time, animals are also endowed with knowledge appropriate to their nature, but they are designed to spend their lives surrendering themselves to the spontaneity of their reproductive functions. For animals, their interactions and connections with others are focused solely on the preservation of their species. To this end, information is exchanged between individuals of the same species, and the knowledge appropriately bestowed by God develops. 

In the case of humans, as we examined two issues ago, the reproductive function, the seat of spontaneity, likened to the first river, Pison, harbours a strong inclination not only towards producing offspring but also towards generating power, wealth and authority. This inclination seeks love, intimacy and pleasure, and develops into higher-order desires such as the need for recognition and self-actualisation; in the realm of the human spirit, it confronts their "human knowledge," which is connected with "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)" through the "Word (the Tree of Life)." Their "human knowledge," seeking to respond to this situation, is gripped by great confusion and seeks relationships and connections with others—that is, "human information." In the process, their "human knowledge" loses its point of contact with the "Word (the Tree of Life)" and can no longer maintain their realm of spirit. 

The Gospel of John states: "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; but Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man" (Jn 2:23–25). What is in man is "human information." Just as Jesus, who is God, knew very well what was within people, so too must a person—created in resemblance to God and possessing a realm of spirit—know what lies within themselves. Such believers have the potential to accept Jesus, believe in His name, and maintain the state in which they have been granted the authority to become children of God. "Within themselves" can be described as "within their human knowledge." 

The reason I consistently use the term "human knowledge" rather than "human heart" in these reflections is that, as in this instance, the cause of the fact that "Jesus did not trust himself to them" stems from "human information"; therefore, I consider that what corresponds to it is "human knowledge." "Human knowledge," which absorbed "human information," does not heed the words of Jesus. People who had initially believed in Jesus lost their connection with the "Word (the Tree of Life)" because the truth Jesus spoke clashed with their own inclinations. Consequently, they were unable to maintain their realm of spirit and ceased to believe in Jesus. We, as the Church, must engrave the following words of Jesus upon our hearts. 

"Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God" (Jn 8:46–47) 

Maria K. M.