The Great Gospel of John
Volume 1
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Second day in Sychar
- Chapter 66 -
At Sychar. Healing of the palsied near the village. His joyful thanks with song and leaping. The flight and return of the Roman soldiers.
We nevertheless press on eastwards and soon reach a tiny village, some twenty furlong distance from the castle. The entire community joyfully rushes out to meet us, asking softly what they can do for us. But I say: 'Do you not have sick among you? They affirm it, saying, 'Yes, we have one fully suffering the gout!'
2
Say I: 'Bring him here then, so he may be made whole! Says one of them: 'Lord, this will be hard! This sufferer is so paralytic that he has not been able to leave his bed for nearly three years, and his bed is hard to move, being fastened to the ground. Would you be prepared to go and see him? Say I: 'Since the bed is hard to move, why don't you wrap the sick in a mat and bring him over here!' In response several of them hasten to the house where the gout-stricken is lying, wrapping him in a mat and bringing him to Me in the street and saying: 'Lord, here is the poor sufferer.'
3
But I ask the sick one whether he believes that I can heal him. The sick looks Me over and says, 'Dear friend, you look indeed like you could; you sure seem to be a proper healer! Yes, yes, I believe it!'
4
Say I thereto: 'Now then, get up and walk! Your faith helped you; but beware of a certain sin henceforth, so as not to relapse into gout, which would be more acute the second time than now!'
5
And the sick gets up forthwith, taking up the mat and walking. Noticing only then that he is completely healed, he falls on his knees before Me, thanking and finally saying; 'Lord, in you there is more than human power; praised be God's power in You! Oh, blessed the body that bore You, and over-blessed the breast that fed You!'
6
But I say unto him; 'And blessed they who hear My Words, keeping them in their hearts and living accordingly! Says the sick: 'Lord, where can one hear You speak?
7
Say I: 'You will surely know the high priest Jonael of Sychar, who sacrificed at Gerizim! Behold, he has My Word; go and learn from him!' Says the healed: 'Lord, when is he at home?' Say I: 'He is standing here beside Me; ask him and he will tell you!'
8
Here the healed turns to Jonael, saying: 'Worthy high priest of Jehovah at Gerizim, when could I enter your house?'
9
Says Jonael: 'Your work till now consisted in just lying down, and in the patient bearing of your suffering; hence you would miss nothing at home. Journey with us today and hear; there shall be quite a few more happenings, and tomorrow you shall find out everything!'
10
Says the healed: 'If considered worthy of travelling in such society, then I follow you with much joy! Because, dear friend, when one had to languish away in a hard bed for three years, with often unbearable pain, and now through a divine miracle suddenly be healed from the nasty malady, then one appreciates health! And what joy it is to walk with straight limbs! That's why I should like to do like a David - dance and leap before you, praising the great goodness of the Lord with exceeding jubilation!'
11
Says Jonael: 'Go and do thus, that before our eyes it should fulfill itself as written from the Lord, - "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart". [Is 35:6 - the trans]
12
With this the healed throws off the mat, moves quickly ahead of the company and starts leaping and jubilating, not letting anyone hinder him in his joy. Because after only two or three furlongs, those Roman mercenaries and thugs together with their leaders, who were scattered unto a side-track by the two angels at the castle, are disturbing his joyfulness, asking him what he is doing. But not letting himself be disconcerted and not seeming to regard the commander's question, he says while still hopping and leaping, 'When men get merry, the livestock get sad, because man's happiness brings death to the cattle! Hence make merry, make merry!' Thus the healed carries on. This annoys the commander, and he forbids him such noise.
13
But the healed says, 'Why forbid my joy!; I was bed-ridden for three years with gout! Had you come to me and said 'arise and walk', with me getting well with such pronouncement, as I am now, then I would have divinely worshipped you together with everyone of your holy words from your mouth; but since you are not such, and your power sheer nothing compared to my Lord's, I obey my mighty Lord, and hence once again, make merry, make merry!'
14
Now the commander forbids him such spectacle in earnest, threatening punishment; but at the same moment two of the youths come to the merry one, saying, 'Don't let yourself be hindered in your joy!'
15
Seeing the familiar youths, the commander yells out to his unarmed band, 'Retreat! Look, two more servants of Pluto!'
16
At this command the band take to their heels in a manner not seen before. But the healed now leaps and jubilates the more, yelling after the retreating: 'Make merry, make merry; when men make merry the cattle get sad!' Then he quietens a little, and returning to Jonael, he says, 'Friend, if you don't mind us talking whilst we walk, you could acquaint me with some of this Lord's new Word, Who gave me my health!? Because if I am to make such Word into my law then I have to know it first!'
17
Says Jonael, 'Behold, we are nearing another village, which according to the new Roman constitution is a small town; here the Lord is bound to venture into more! You shall be following us into town anyway; in my house, or that of Irhael, however, you shall find accommodation for as long as it pleases you. There you shall be familiarised with everything. We are not far from town now. This locality we are coming to already belongs to the town, according to the new Roman order; but since it serves mainly as a Roman stronghold, they severed it from Sychar, encircling it with a rampart and elevating it to a place with a name of its own. The area is not big, and with a thousand paces we shall have it behind us. Then we turn left, with hardly seven furlongs remaining to Sychar's buildings; hence have just a little more patience and your wishes shall be met.
18
Says the healed, 'Oh by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! If this area is under Roman occupation then we shall fare badly, since only a few moments ago the Roman centurion had to retreat from us most abysmally!'
19
Says Jonael, 'This we shall leave to the Lord, Who is with us now. He shall work out everything extra well! But I already see a detachment of warriors heading our way with a white flag; this seems a good sign to me!'
20
Says the healed, 'Oh yes, as long as it is not the usual Roman battle ruse!? Because in this the Roman and Greek legions excel.'