The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Golan
- Chapter 80 -
The aftermath of the storm and the earthquake.
When we were on the mentioned hill, we saw in the east, at a distance of a few hours walking, in several places smoke coming out from the ground, and here and there a flame was flaring up, but only for a few moments and it did not last as the smoke.
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We watched this natural scene for a while.
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When we were as if satiated from the view, the captain came to Me and said: "O Lord and Master, look, the nature spirits are still not resting, and as I experienced already many times, those smoke and fire phenomena after a storm as we experienced tonight, will often last for several days, and even more often for a few weeks. And by that, one can now and then clearly feel the Earth's vibrations which will not exactly make the weak human mind cheerful. Why actually do these consequences of a great storm have to last that long?"
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I said: "Friend, in Pella, where you are actually residing, you have a rather big fish pond that you let construct for a lot of money. If you want to breed good and healthy fish in that pond, you have to drag the mud out of it from time to time. To do this, you have to empty it completely. When the main drainage of the pond is opened, the water will first flow out of the pond with great force through the opened drainage. But gradually it will flow out less strongly, and at the end you can see the water only dripping out, and then you can start to clean the pond. Yes, why did you actually not install a kind of draining system that when you open it, all the water of the pond can flow out in one moment?
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Look, friend, everything in the world happens within a certain order that depends on time without which nothing can happen, and if here and there something will not happen within the right order of time, it will proportionally always result in some interference.
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You shortsighted people are taking care of a certain order in your actions and work to be sure to reach a goal that you have set, and you say that fast and clumsy work is good for nothing. Would God, the eternal Foreman of His great works, be perhaps less wise and intelligent than you people? So let everything happen as it happens, then is will be all right."
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The captain was satisfied with that, and he thanked Me for this lesson.
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Also the 2 neighbors of our innkeeper heard these words of Mine with great attention, and they said to the innkeeper: "It seems that this Galilean is much wiser than our captain. Although we did not really understand what is was all about, but it is very clear to us that for the captain - who certainly very well knows the one, only true God - this annoying phenomenon lasted too long. But this Galilean showed him with a brilliant example the order that God always follows in all His actions, and why. And look, the captain thanked the wise Galilean very much for this lesson.
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But what can this Galilean be more? For although our captain is a very good and righteous man, he does not easily say 'Lord and Master' to someone, and certainly not to a Jew. Then why does he give Him so much honor?"
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The innkeeper said: "Although you do not understand this now but the time will probably soon come when you will understand it."
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Those words made the 2 neighbors of the innkeeper even more curious as to who and what I actually was. But they did not dare to ask the captain and certainly not Me about this.
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Now a rather hard wind from the east came blowing in our direction, and it did not take long before we had to bear the strongly smelling smoke of sulfur and pitch. And the captain, his daughter and his subordinates, as well as a few of My disciples, for who that smoke was unpleasant, asked Me to command the wind to blow the malicious smoke of sulfur and pitch into another direction where there were no people, or if we otherwise could retreat to the inn in order to avoid suffocation.
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I said: "Just look behind you at the city, then you will see a crowd of curious people thronging up because they want to see and listen what we our doing here. And in front are the pagan priests and also the 2 rabbis and a few Jews who halted us at our arrival. Those are more unpleasant to Me than the smoke of sulfur and pitch that blows from the east.
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This is exactly why I let this wind come up in order to get rid of those troublesome hearers and listeners. Look how they already begin to return to the city because they are afraid that the matter will become worse. Most of them will return to their houses, and then we will have a greater freedom for our actions."
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However, there were a few inhabitants of the city around the hill who went out of the city with us, and the captain wanted one of his subordinates to sharply indicate to them that they also had to return to the city.
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But I said to the captain: "These are better souls. They should stay here as witnesses for the others."
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Also the captain agreed on that, and those who stood around the hill stayed.
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The 2 neighbors of our innkeeper were more and more surprised and said to him: "Just listen friend, this is a very remarkable Man. In a certain way, He commanded that maliciously smelling smoke from the east to float this way in order to drive away those guests who were massively thronging up to us, and when the captain wanted to send away the people who were lying down around the hill, and who are, as we know, poor but real honest souls, that Man did not want to know about it. And the captain who is otherwise never that complying obeyed Him on His word.
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He also knows the character of the people from afar, He keeps the good ones, and in a miraculous manner He drives away those of whom we also know that they are not good people, who, apart from themselves, have never shown any good deed to anyone.
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Truly, a remarkable Man that Galilean. He must know God much better and closer than our captain who is otherwise very wise. Well then, we surely are very curious as to what will come next."
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The innkeeper said: "Think about what that Man told you in the city outside of the inn. Then you soon will come to know better and more clearly the point where you are now."