The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in two additional towns
- Chapter 144 -
The fish miracle.
When he came into the storeroom with his wife and a few of his other children, he found to his great amazement a whole basket of already completely cleaned fishes of the best and noblest kind, and so he ordered his wife and his children, who were very skilled in the kitchen, to prepare these fishes in the best way.
2
But his wife did not know what to think of this miracle.
3
And the innkeeper said: "Do not think about this too much now, because the man of God who was able to make my son healthy again by His word and His will, while all the doctors declared him incurable for already a long time, could also miraculously have put these fishes into our storeroom. Go you all to work now and see to it that it is quickly prepared. You will hear about all the rest later."
4
Then the wife and the children went to work to prepare the fishes, and the innkeeper came in full gratitude back to us.
5
And I said to him: "Now, how about the fishes?"
6
The innkeeper said: "Miraculous Master, everything is completely in order, but I suppose that these fishes did not come from any water of this Earth but were created by You. I can see now that my son, who was healed by You, was fully right when he stated that You are the great promised One. So You are, what Your inner Being is concerned, not the servant of someone who is higher than You, but You are equal to the Highest One, a Lord Yourself who has no equal on this Earth nor in the Heavens.
7
You are, for what concerns Your Spirit, one and the same Being with God. That You walk now among us as a human being, must also be only Your will, because nothing can be impossible to You.
8
It is true that it is written in Moses that no one can see God and live at the same time, but this statement must certainly have another explanation because father Abraham saw and spoke to God and did not lose his life by that, and so also father Jacob and still many others whom we know from the Scripture and they lived. Even Moses saw the back of Jehovah and kept his life, and we see You now and are keeping also our life.
9
I am of the opinion that man can at no time see God in His endless and eternal initial existence and keep his life, for that which is finite can never understand the infinite with any sense organ and can also never measure eternity. Am I as a traditional Jew right in this or not?"
10
I said: "Your opinion is completely correct and true, even though the eternal life was also faithfully and truthfully promised to every person who would act and live according to the commandments of God.
11
Look, as long as man lives on this Earth within time and space, he never can grasp or understand the eternity or infinity of the spirit, not with his reason and certainly not with any other physical sense organ, but when the Spirit of God, which is pure Love, will completely penetrate the purified soul of man and will in this way thoroughly enlighten the actual human being which is the soul, and will be awakened to life with eternal life, then he becomes one with God and will then also penetrate in the endless and eternal depths of God and he will be able to understand them. And this is how it should be understood when it is stated that a perfect human being will, in his spirit, see God from face to face.
12
But we will not talk about this now, for there are already the prepared fishes with which we want to and will strengthen our body."
13
I hardly had said that when the wife of the innkeeper and his other children brought on several platters the really well prepared fishes inside. Then the children put down very skillfully, according to the custom in this place, a little platter of pottery, wooden forks and bony knifes before every guest. Each one of us took a fish, also the innkeeper and his healed son, and so the fishes were quickly eaten and everyone was completely satiated with the warm food.
14
When everyone had eaten as many fishes as he could eat, there were still several left on the big platters, and the innkeeper asked Me if he had to keep these fishes for tomorrow.
15
But I said: "Those who prepared these fishes should also eat them completely, for every worker is also worth of his salary. So call your wife and your other children and let them clear the table, and tell them that they should eat in the kitchen what is left over."
16
The innkeeper did this, and the table was cleared.