The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Abila
- Chapter 66 -
The mayor of Abila.
After that, the captain let the mayor come in, and when he entered our big and beautifully arranged dining hall he asked him at once what he wanted.
2
The mayor, who was a very intelligent man, with great experience and who very well knew the house of the Jews before, from the inside as well as from the outside, said fully amazed: "High ruler, in name of the great and mighty emperor in Rome, the greatest and mightiest city of the whole world, because I heard that you were here, certainly because of urgent official matters, it was not more and not less my sworn holy duty to wait for you and to ask you very submissively if you perhaps would need my services. And so I am standing fully surprised here before you, and I already think in advance that you hardly will need my services, for you were capable to secretly change the fully ruined house of the poor Jews into a true palace without even telling me or asking for my help. Therefore, also this time I will be completely useless to you. But if you nevertheless need my help for something, then even with my life I am at your service."
3
The captain said: "You may stay here now, because this time you still will have to serve me in many ways. But sit down first and drink a cup of the oldest and best wine that comes from ancient times and was found well preserved in clean containers of stone in a cellar that was completely buried."
4
The mayor sat immediately next to the captain, took the cup and tasted the wine first. When he was completely convinced of its quality, he drank the wine from the cup with big gulps and said: "I already tasted many drinks of the best wines that I know but a better than this one never flowed over my lips. O captain, in every respect you are generally known as a great man and a hero without equal who is honored and respected by many because of your actions, but forgive me if I make here a small remark: if this is only your work, then you are more a god than a human being. Because to royally restore that old castle in such a short time while I did not notice it, this can only be possible to gods, but never to human beings, no matter how hard they work and how much insight they may have. For even the best and most skilful construction workers would certainly need more than 10 years of fulltime work for the restoration of such a ruin."
5
The captain said: "Your remark is completely correct. But it does not apply to me. On who, that you will soon come to hear, and only after that you will be of service to me - but drink now."
6
Then the mayor let his cup be filled once more and drank it to the last drop to the honor of the wonderful Restorer of that old castle, who is gifted with true divine power. Then he said: "High ruler, now I would - if you like - convince myself and see if the whole castle that must have had a lot of rooms before, according to its very large space, is in the same good architectural condition as this big dining hall that was previously inhabited by all kinds of vermin."
7
The captain said: "This we certainly can do if it suits the One among us, whom you still do not know."
8
I said: "It suits Him completely, for it is only by great signs that the gentiles - especially the hard stoics like this mayor is one of them - can be converted to the faith in the one, only true God and Lord of Heaven and Earth of eternity, for whom all things are possible and who by His word has created everything out of Himself and gave them their form."