The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 46 -
Suetal reports about the influence of the miracle worker.
Suetal says, "You are probably quite right! Things will certainly turn out in this way, and I am now beginning to burn with curiosity about getting to know this most famous of all saviors personally. I didn't want to say too much to the good captain before when he asked us about this unusual man; but you can believe me; even all of Samaria and all of Sychar is full of him! In Sychar one considers him directly to be a person through whom the whole fullness of the divine spirit is working! And that, allow me, will hopefully be nothing small!
2
And in the temple! The great priests study day and night how they could rid the world of such a savior. But if such powers are at hand for him and the visible friendship of the first Roman authorities, all templars can sweat themselves into countless drops of blood and they will in the end do less against him than a mosquito against an elephant!
3
It was said He has once been to the temple - sometime in the spring - and cleaned it with ropes and whips of all the money-changers and dove-sellers. And all that happened barely a quarter year after this savior began to be reputed!
4
Oh, in the whole of Judea one tells the strangest things about him! The ordinary people who are hidden in the darkness of the temple believe that he works such things through Beelzebub, whom one names the most supreme devil; the betters consider him to be a great prophet; Greeks and Romans consider him a magician.
5
The Sycharites honor him already as a god, which is also the case among some Greeks and Romans! And I wouldn't like to bet much that these Romans also consider him to be that; for among them the old NON EXSISTIT VIR MAGNUS SINE AFFLATU DIVINO[No great man is without divine whiff] is still believed very strongly, at least it is good that they don't seem to be enemies of great ingenious people and that they constantly support the ingenious with advice and deeds, which also seems to be undeniably the case here.
6
But he should not come to Jerusalem too often and carry out a purification of the temple, if he is not equipped with more than extraordinary human powers! For there he could come into difficulties; he may be a great prophet or magician, but he cannot protect himself for much longer against all the hellish intrigue and incessant persecution plans and in the end he will fall to them as a contemptible sacrifice.
7
In brief, whoever comes against the temple from heaven without lightning, thunder and rain of sulphur, has little or no effect against the temple!"
8
The previous speaker from the mountains near Genezareth says, "The temple will not be able to do much against him! For if they have not accused him and arrested him for the driving out of the temple, it will be difficult to do it a second time; for his will must already be completely filled with a truly divine power! But wherever that is the case, every human power must as good as stop!"
9
Suetal says, "Friend, you don't fully understand! You see, when he purified the temple at Easter from those mentioned, the temple gained at such an opportunity several hundred pounds of pure silver and gold; oh, he could morally clear out the temple every day and the greats of the temple will put no nameable obstacles in his way! But if he just once attacks the temple itself and its unspeakable deceptions, we will see how things go for him! Truly, I would not like to be in his shoes then!
10
How long ago is it now that they quickly put an end to the famous prophet John, who ran his business of baptism and repentance for a time in the Jordan, where even the power of Herod took him into his protection! The temple slid unnoticed behind the terrible mother of the beautiful Herodias and Herod became in the end the murderer of his famous ward. The temple has ten times a hundred thousand means to persecute a person who seems dangerous to it, and very rarely does something go wrong for the temple.
11
The secret machinations of the temple go so far that even the Romans have a certain respect for them; true, much has been betrayed, but what use is all that if one can never get close to these people?!"