The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 188 -
The judgment concerning the region of Caesarea Philippi.
I say, "Do you know, My dear Mark, everyone speaks as he understands things, and you are now speaking as you understand things! I tell you: The Lord sweeps rarely; but when he sweeps, he sweeps everything out!
2
Do you know this wide region? Yes, you know it, and you know that it as one of the most fruitful ones will be possessed only by the most arrogant rich Greeks; but the poor Jews must work for the rich Greek dogs with the sweat of their brow for a token payment and they must bring all the fruit to the store houses of the Greeks. They then run a very profitable trade in all the parts of the world, and our Jews must begin winter and catch fish if they want to live!
3
Look, the Jews can always do that and the sea will always remains full of fish!
4
Has a Jew then ever received a piece of bread from a Greek when he was hungry? Oh no, he had to travel across the sea and beg there for a piece of bread from his fellow Jews! There is My Kisjonah and My Ebahl! Ask them, and they will tell you how thousands of poor Jews from this area received their bread for winter alone from them!
5
I have watched this outrageous horseplay for a long time in great patience; but now I have had enough, and I want to castigate these extortionate dogs, devoid of all faithfulness, so that they will be left forever dumbfounded.
6
Look at your garden and your little field; neither water nor hail is doing any damage there; but then just look at the other areas, and you will find such destruction as has never happened anywhere else!
7
With this punishment the Greek extortionate dogs will be driven out of this land. For on the bare stones they will harvest no wheat, no corn, no barley, no maize, no lentils and no beans any longer; therefore they will leave the desert land and move to Europe.
8
Exactly for this reason I mainly allowed almost the whole city to be turned into a heap of ash and rubble; for where man can find no accommodation and no building ground, he soon leaves the empty and void cities and moves on.
9
But for the poor Jews there will be more than enough building ground around the sea, and the city will be rebuilt for the true Jews - but in a purer and better style than what has been the case so far! This is still a very young city, and it has been a city for barely seventy years, since before it there was only a quite insignificant settlement in its place; but from now on it will no longer be called a city, but it will be and shall remain only a fishing village. The splendor of the Greeks must disappear; but the magnificence of heaven shall be revealed here, as such is now happening and progressing. Do you, old Mark, now agree with My housekeeping?"
10
Mark says, "Yes, if that is so, then allow, oh Lord, the lightning to strike ten times harder! That is really the purest truth! Nothing more could be said to these rich Greeks, and there was no talk of loving one's neighbor any longer. Whatever one wanted to have from them had to be paid most richly in silver and gold; but if they bought something from us, one always had to take other items in exchange. Oh, therefore it is now very good, and I have a great joy in this heavy storm! Oh, now it can become at least ten times heavier!"
11
I say, "Don't worry, the appropriate measure will be taken!"
12
Cyrenius says, "You mean therefore that this area should remain quite deserted?"
13
I say, "Not exactly; but the rich Greeks must leave this area; I tell you that this storm will drive away at least a thousand of the wealthiest families in the area; for I have seen this long in advance! But they will still remain Rome's subordinates."
14
Cyrenius says, "Is it not good then for an area or for a whole country if it has very rich inhabitants?"
15
I say, "Oh yes, if they are like My friends Kisjonah and Ebahl; for then they are true fathers of the people for all the poor inhabitants of the land, and every land can be very proud to have very many such fathers of the people.
16
But these rich Greeks are true blood-suckers of the country and think that the poor Jews should be very happy that they can share their meals with the Greeks? pigs in return for their heavy work! For Me those are no longer people, but pure devils full of hardness, and I have no sympathy and no compassion for their miserable, arrogant flesh! They should now follow the storm which will have died down in an hour, only lay their much gold and silver on the bare stones and sow the seeds over it, and we will see whether even a straw will sprout up!
17
And look, in this way I have now destroyed a number of evil flies with one blow; the lying priests must seek other pastures, and now even the usurious Greeks will do the same! Their palaces lie in rubble, and their great fields, gardens and pastures have been fully washed away. If they look around their ground after the storm and convince themselves that every future effort is a vain exertion, they will begin to pack up and mostly head towards Europe; but then I have more than enough means at My disposal to make this area flourish again as much as possible in a short time."
18
But now the storm is on the wane, and although the hail has stopped, the rain is now falling in such sheets from the clouds that the water immediately collects on the flat ground as high as half a man and then flows away with the most terrible bluster, so that even the sea begins to perceive the violent river, which is certainly no little thing. Houses, huts, trees and thousands of other things stream towards the sea. The sea also gets to taste a number of animals, as hens, birds of all sorts which the hail has struck, pigs in a huge number, donkeys, cows, oxen, sheep, goats and hares and deer, and the vast number of fish which this sea hides will perk up much from this, then become very fruitful and multiply, and that will be a good supplement for the poor Jews, who in any case cannot lose anything here because they possessed little or nothing. The few wealthy ones had already become quite hard and unfeeling in their minds like the Greeks, and it does not harm their soul at all that they now have to rely on fish and begging along with the others.
19
When it now began to rain so heavily, everyone got up who had previously sought shelter under the tables, head to Me quite soaked through and could not help being amazed when they saw Me and everyone that had remained outside with Me quite dry, as well as the somewhat eminent places, so that not even a drop of water was hanging on a blade of grass.
20
Hebram asked Me, after he had pushed his way forward to Me, "Lord, how is that possible that this place and you all have remained dry under this unheard-of downpour, while we are as soaked through as if we had fallen into the sea, and we are freezing now as if in winter, but here on this spot it is so pleasantly warm as it was this morning?! Lord, how can that happen then?"
21
I say, "It happens exactly as it should! I can truly give you no other answer to your question! For you should now know and even actively perceive, after everything that you have heard and seen, who and what is here! And if you understood that in your soul, how could you then ask Me such a question?!
22
The morning was very good; but the evening seems to have brought an evening to your soul again! Oh, you frightfully blind humans! You are enlightened for a moment; but the light does not remain, because it was not created by yourself, and in a few moments the night takes the place again of the morning of your soul!"
23
Hebram says, "Lord, what is it then that You wanted to say to me and my twenty-nine brothers?"
24
I say, "Nothing except that you and your brothers are sheer blind fish in muddy water! Tell Me what drove you under the tables and benches in My presence!"
25
The soaked people answer, "Lord, a very natural fear and shyness remaining from our childhood of such enormous storms!
26
In our blind fear we did not think about where and with whom we were; now we see our foolishness very well, and we also see how blind we all were, and how much we failed before Your holiest face. We can do nothing else now except to beg You, oh Lord, with all the truest and most living contrition of our hearts for forgiveness! Lord, forgive us our great foolishness!"
27
I say, "I have forgiven you long ago and I have never opened a book of punishment for anyone for the sake of foolishness; for every fool has only himself to blame if he comes to harm. But another time, since you will not have Me with you as now, think in the correct living belief in My name, and it will protect you better than any weak and fragile board!"
28
The thirty are satisfied with this correction and beg to be allowed to remain on the dry spots.
29
I say, "Well, that goes without saying! Remain and dry off; for the rain will last another good half hour!"
30
The thirty become very happy about this and remain and dry themselves and take great joy in getting dust- dry under the heaviest rain.