The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 194 -
The Persians' opinions about the Lord.
But while I was explaining to Cyrenius generosity and greed, the Persians were discussing amongst one another that I could be. Some considered Me to be a prophet; others considered Me to be a wise man who was familiar to all the schools of Egypt, Greece and Jerusalem; a few even thought that I was a Roman prince, know all the circumstances of the great empire and therefore possess a great state wisdom. One had to therefore be very careful before Me; for otherwise the proud Roman Cyrenius, as supreme governor of all Asia, would not act so humbly before Me! But one of the two representatives said, "Let things be as they are; he is in any case a higher person, and we can learn something from him, and that is what we all need the most at this time!"
2
Everyone finally agreed with this and came up to Me on the hill, although it was already beginning to get quite dark.
3
But at the same time old Mark also came over and asked Me about the evening meal and the tables which had been destroyed by the hail and the ground which was still very damp, and what should now be done.
4
But I showed him the Persians and said, "Look, a great and very tasty dish for Me; these must still be consumed by My love before the evening meal! Until then you will find time for a physical meal, in order to prepare it and put the tables in order; for only some of them are broken and these will be repaired at the right time. But soon light the lamps so that the people do not walk in darkness!" At this Mark headed back cheerfully and put everything in motion.
5
The Persians came to Me, however, bowed again to the ground as was their custom, but nevertheless straightened up again afterwards and did not remain lying on their faces.
6
One of the previous two representatives seized the word and said, "Lord, and surely great friend of people who are of a good will, look, here we are! You know our circumstances and the reason which drew us to this area. We see it as a miraculous act from above and say like Job: Lord, to You be everything, heaven and Earth, air and water! You give and take away, when and how You desire; You can give a beggar crown and scepter and bend the king's head down into the dust of nothingness! Therefore it does not pain us; for the man who always carries the almighty God's will in his heart never is sad, except when he has sinned before the face of God. Therefore we are also not sad about our significant loss; for if God's will had not been acting on this seemingly sad occasion, we would now, as is otherwise the case every year, have certainly come to our money without any reduction. But obviously the will of God was in the game, and we gladly sacrifice this bagatelle - and would gladly like to bring greater sacrifices if the Almighty demanded it from us; for He alone is Lord, we are only His slaves who serve and obey Him always.
7
We love and fear God alone and have therefore no fear of people; if the Lord of heaven and Earth has harmed us somehow before the people, He has certainly had the best reason for doing so! For man commits a sin before God only too easily and carelessly which always brings a great prejudice for the soul; but then the Lord comes with the good rod and helps the person back onto the correct path!
8
You, dear Lord and friend, can see from this that we are people who have not forgotten God at all. You may perhaps be a very wise heathen and be very familiar with the powers of nature; but we know only one all-power, and that is only in the Lord God. We will accept no other teaching!
9
If you want to teach us some true wisdom, do not forget that we are unchanging firm adherers to the divine teaching of Moses! Nothing contradictory will be accepted by us, no matter how wise it would sounds and be! For we all would prefer to be fools before the wise world than sinners before God!"
10
I say, "It is just right so, and you are on the best path! But even in Moses, as particularly in the prophets, there are things which might still be quite unclear for you. And I want to elucidate these for you so that you yourselves and your brothers, wives and children realize what period we have now!
11
111 When Elijah lay hidden in a mountain cave, the spirit told him to stay in the cave until Jehovah Himself would pass by. And Elijah drew close to the exit and listened. Suddenly a violent storm passed which made the whole mountain shake. Then Elijah thought it may have been Jehovah Who had passed by. But the spirit answered: 'In the storm Jehovah was not.'
12
Then Elijah listened again, and behold, soon after a powerful fire passed in front of the cave! It burned and crackled so powerfully, and the outer walls glazed before the power of the heat. Then Elijah thought that this was Jehovah! But the spirit spoke again and said: Neither in this fire was Jehovah!
13
Then the great prophet considered: So neither in the storm nor in the all-powerfulness of the fire is Jehovah present in the primal essence of His love!
14
When he was seriously pondering over it, a very gentle and soft rustling went past his cave, and again the spirit spoke, saying: 'Behold, Elijah, in this soft and gentle rustling Jehovah went past and let this be the promised token, namely, that you can now walk freely and leave this cave, hidden in which you had to wait for deliverance.'
15
Then Elijah stepped out of the cave cheerfully into the great open air and the path to his great home stood free of danger and open. (1 Kings 19: 9-15)
16
If you know the Scriptures so well, then explain this strange parable to Me!"