THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 155 -
The instruction of the Pharisees through a wine miracle.
The Pharisee says, "When was this Nazarene here and how long did he stay here and has he been here once before?"
2
Behind Cyrenius was old Mark as well and took up the word saying, "This divine man has never before been in this area; he came here only about eight days ago with His handful of disciples and brought nothing but His all-powerful will alone, and His disciples were constantly like lambs around Him.
3
But the first miracle was that He ordered me to fill all my quite many wine-skins with water, which I then had my children do immediately. And behold, hardly were the skins filled and the water, like that which the sea contains, was already transformed into the very tastiest wine! Here, there is still a full beaker of exactly this wonderful wine! Taste it and then give us your judgment!"
4
The Pharisee took the beaker, drained the wine almost to the bottom of the beaker and said, "Truly a better wine has never passed over my tongue! However, is your statement, old warrior, also very reliably true?"
5
Mark says, "Whoever knows me will know that my tongue has never been dirtied by a lie. But whoever still asks, his faith is not a strong one. But in order to bring things a little closer to you and to give your colorful natural condition a shove, I beg you to go down to the sea with this very empty jug and fill it yourself with water, and I stand for it that the prophet who still remains among us simply through His will immediately will transform the water into wine! Or should it occur to you that somehow the jug has already been prepared for this purpose, then take one of your jugs and go down to the sea, scoop up the water there at any place you like, and as soon as it is in the jug it will also become wine, as you have now tasted it in an instant! If I am lying, this new house along with the garden and all my other great treasures shall fully become your possessions!"
6
Here the Pharisee took a golden beaker out of his rucksack and said, "I will see. If the sea water in this should become wine, then this valuable beaker will belong to you!"
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With these words the Pharisee hurried along with his companions out to the sea and scooped up water, and the water in the beaker always became wine."
8
When all the companions had also convinced themselves of this great and most wonderful miracle, they hurried, very highly amazed, back to old Mark and the Pharisee said, "Here, take the beaker; for you have won the bet! Yes, reason truly falls by the wayside with me! What should I now say to it? It cannot be possible with natural things! It is very strange: Not only was the taste, but also the spirit of the wine there to a rich degree, so that we all would almost have become intoxicated! There can truly nothing other be active than the will of the Nazarene, and it serves us as proof that seriously also his other miracles were brought about in the same way!
9
If one has the ever-lasting nature of events on this Earth and has never got to see a miracle in one's whole life before one's face "except for the Persian con artists and those written, which are however always clothed in a great mysticism "so finally even what one now in the end has really and undoubtedly experienced oneself becomes positively unbelievable.
10
But what use is all this if one cannot see the reason for it? Yes, highest ruler, at these events, which without a doubt occur thus, all natural explanations end! For that is truly a miracle! This can just as little ever be naturally explained as the creation of the world from some original nothing for our comprehension and perceptions. The whole creation is therefore nothing other than a fixed will of the divine original power and the original being of all beings."