The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 151 -
Stahar's experience with Indian magicians.
1
(Stahar) "Look, blessed youth proficient in magic! About three years ago some Orientals came to this city, from South-East Asia as they said, where there are supposed to be such high mountains that their peaks almost touch the moon when it moves past. Well, that may be; but the foreigners exaggerate everything in order to attract a lot of attention, and likewise the height of their mountains!
2
Let's leave that; for it is no matter whether their mountains should be several cubits lower! These extremely strange-looking South-East Asians asked me for permission to be allowed to carry out their true miracles before the people for a moderate payment.
3
But I said to them through a translator: Before I had convinced myself in private, as they say, what their miracles consisted of and whether it was advisable to perform them to the blind people, despite the fact that I myself am a great friend of everything extraordinary, I could not give them the permission to produce miracles, no matter how innocent, before all the people!
4
The miracle workers were all the more satisfied with this decision of mine when I assured him of a good fee for their production simply before me and a few reasonable colleagues.
5
They went to the accommodation they had rented in the city and came back after an hour with all sorts of magical items that I had never seen before; there were staffs, rocks, strange-looking metals and large and small variously formed containers, of which none were of a form familiar to me.
6
I asked their leader what he needed them all for, and he said: Actually for nothing; but there must be something familiar near him, otherwise he would not be able to carry out a demanded miracle as well and as safely. He then asked me what I wanted to see or know from him.
7
I said: Good, if I only need to demand, you will not make any great steps with your magic! I asked him whether he could tell me what I was thinking then. I thought about Rome and the name of the emperor. He then laid both his hands on my chest cavity and told me my thoughts. You can easily imagine that that amazed me no less than your deed now!
8
Next I set a jug of water before him and said: Turn this water into wine for me! He went over, made a few hand movements over the jug and over the water and then said: Try it, lord, see how you like the wine! I tasted the water immediately and you see, it was totally wine! With this I actually was even more amazed.
9
Then he took a clay bowl that was completely empty, and poured the rest of the wine into it, supposedly to strengthen himself on the long journey home soon. But when I observed the container afterwards, which otherwise looked very empty, but didn't even find it wet, not to mention something in it; but it truly smelled strongly of wine, and the magician remarked that he preferred to take the wine with him in a dry and spiritual condition in case of spillage.
10
I asked him whether he could now bring back the liquid, drinkable wine, immediately or ever, from out of this smell of wine. He then asked me and my three colleagues whether we wanted to drink. We said yes to this, and he took the visibly empty container, which was visibly smaller than my water jug, and then poured so much wine into my jug that the wine began to overflow!
11
Yes, young, blessed friend, our hairs then began to stand on end; for that went much too far over our horizon of wisdom! I didn't know what I should say to that! We then drank the very good wine very thirstily, and - another miracle - the jug never became perceptibly emptier!
12
When, very enthused by the wine, we marveled more and more, the magician said: But my lords, wine without bread is not good at all! Do you see several rocks here; how would it be if I turned them into bread? I said: Do that! Next he swept his hand over the rocks and then said: Take a knife and slice the bread! I did it and you see, it was bread, good, tasty bread!
13
I then said: But friend, if you are capable of such things, I would then like to know now why you need payment for your exceptional art? The magician said: "Simply for the novelty's sake and to have means to survive in places where one cannot and may not perform miracles.?
14
I was satisfied with this answer, supplied the magicians with two pounds of silver, which he took gratefully, but because of the too great extraordinariness could not give him the permission to display his arts openly before the blind people; for the people had given him an almost divine reverence, particularly the Greeks and several Romans.
15
He said to me that he was capable of a great quantity of all sorts of miracles which were even more notable than what he had already done! But I had truly no particular desire any longer to demand and look at anything more. What had happened had already made my head spin, and I was very glad to see these South-East Asians leaving our city; for they would have made the people quite rebellious.
16
I asked the magician at the end whether he could explain just one of his skills to me for money and good words. He waved this away, not quite dryly, but demanded so much money for it that I began to shudder, and I then left the artist with an easier mind.
17
Look, my very most blessed boy! The magician from South-East Asia was certainly also as little an angel of Jehovah as I am, and had nonetheless performed amazing deeds; why should you therefore be an angel with your very heavenly beautiful body, because you are also capable of performing extraordinary things for my coarse human understanding?!
18
You must give me more purely spiritual proof of your divine angelship, otherwise I cannot accept you as an angel of God, and even if you performed a hundred greater miracles for me than that of the fish that we have just eaten! And I think that no truly sober, reasonable person will be able to raise any objections to my highly reasonable request!"