The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Der Herr in der Stadt am Nebo
- Chapter 200 -
Proof of Raphael's power.
On this, the supreme judicial city officer said: "Listen, my heavenly, very wise friend, by your explanation it has become now so clear to me that I cannot and will not ask any further questions about it during my whole life, and from your wisdom, which is the same as the wisdom of the Lord, I also can see that you can do everything what the Lord Himself can do. Your help will therefore, if the Lord will allow, be very useful in all my work in His name."
2
On this, I said to the supreme judicial city officer: "Well, My dear friend, how do you like My heavenly servant?"
3
The supreme judicial city officer said: "Lord and Master, he speaks exactly as You Yourself could speak out of him, and from this I recognize very clearly that he must be a high servant of Your endless divine glory and majesty. I also believe without any doubt that by Your wisdom and Your will in him he can accomplish everything what You Yourself can achieve and accomplish, that means seen from my human point of view. And I am completely convinced that Your wisdom and Your will must extend endlessly much deeper and further than even the most enlightened intellect with which all Your angel spirits can see and understand."
4
I said: "My dear friend, it is not your flesh that inspired you but your spirit out of Me from the beyond. So you also, strife to make My will as your own as you made the will of the emperor as your own, then you soon and easily will ever more unite with your spirit out of Me from the beyond, which is My love, wisdom and power, and then you also will be able to work as this angel spirit whose name is Raphael. You have of course not the slightest idea of what he can accomplish, but a few proofs will teach you.
5
Ask him - but something reasonable - to perform a sign before your eyes, in order to make you all realize of what My power and My will are capable of through him. Then he will not hesitate to be of service to you and to you all."
6
Then the supreme judicial city officer said: "O Lord and Master, I suddenly find myself so stupid and dumb among you that I really do not know now what kind of reasonable sign I can ask of him. It would therefore be better if You, o Lord and Master, would be so merciful to tell him what he should do to clarify our concept of his power."
7
On this, I said: "O no, My friend, not so, for My Raphael is filled with everything that I will and wish. And I will withdraw My special will and My power, so that he himself, out of his wealth from Me, which he made as his own, can work and will as he wishes, so that only after that you will be able to see what My Kingdom in all the angels and also in men - being totally free, as if independent out of itself - can accomplish, without it being necessary to lead My numberless angel spirits and also men on this Earth at the leash of My almighty will. So choose freely what seems right to you, then he will immediately execute what you want."
8
Now the supreme judicial city officer kept silent for a moment, rubbed with his one hand over his forehead and scratched with his other a little after his ear, for he still could not well determine what kind of truly reasonable request he should bring forward. He finally remembered what I promised him - still in the house of the innkeeper - that the region of this very poor plain would become green and produce much grass, grain, fruit trees and even vineyards. And he literally pointed this out to Raphael.
9
Raphael tapped him friendly on the shoulder and said: "My dear friend and brother, with this you truly asked something very intelligent from me, and your wish will be satisfied immediately."
10
Then the supreme judicial city officer, who could not turn away his eyes from Raphael's face, said: "No, no, my dear heavenly friend, it does not have to be done immediately. I am already satisfied when it happens gradually with the help of our poor human zeal."
11
On this, Raphael said: "Dear friend and brother, have you never heard that when someone asks something from a person and he gives it immediately, that he gives twice as much and still more compared to when he gives what was asked of him only bit by bit, according to whether he has spare time and opportunity?"
12
The supreme judicial city officer said: "This is of course true, and we Romans have in our civilian law also such statement, but it is not always carried out in such a way."
13
Raphael said: "Dear friend and brother, this is how the citizens of this world used to do because men's will and the power to carry it out are still full of many weaknesses, but for us, citizens of the Heaven of the Lord, this is no more the case, and what we wish and will is already there at the same time, and as perfect as possible. Stand up now and look at this region a little, then you will be completely convinced of the truth of what I just told you."