The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

Jesus near Caesarea Philippi

- Chapter 52 -

Suetal's and Ribar's dialogue about testing Raphael's ability to perform miracles.

After a short while Ribar says again, "I would like to at least experience from a disciple everything that he has learnt at the side of the miraculous savior!"

I say, "Oh, that can happen very easily! It is true that it is already time for the midday meal, and the innkeeper will soon be ready with it; but there"s just enough time for a little disciple"s test, and a disciple shall come here and show you, as a strict examiner, everything that he can do already! Do you want this?"

Ribar says, "Certainly, for without a test a judgment cannot be made about anyone!"

Here I call Raphael, who is basically and strictly also one of My disciples, even if he is a spirit now clothed in light material. Hardly is he called, and Raphael is standing in lightning quickness before Ribar and says, "What sort of a test are you demanding from a disciple of the Lord?" Ribar thinks about this question and tries to think up something which would be completely impossible for a person, something that no man could possibly do.

I say to this, "Well, I think that the affair has somewhat taken your sharpness to task!?"

Ribar says, "Oh, you just leave things alone! "FESTINA LENTE"[haste makes waste] say the Romans! HOSTIS CUM PATIENTIA NOSTRA VICTUS[victory comes with patience]! I will give the disciple a difficult task which will test his mettle!

Then Ribar bends down to the earth, lifts a stone from the ground which is several pounds in weight and says to Raphael, smiling, "Dear disciple of the divine Master, who is supposed to perform things that could only be possible to God alone! If you have learnt something all-powerful from him, then make this stone into good, sweet bread!"

Raphael says, "Test whether the stone is still a stone!"

Ribar tests this and says, "Yes, of course!"

Raphael says, "Try it again now!"

Ribar tries it again, breaks the stone apart and realizes that the stone has really become bread. Such a miracle in his hands takes him aback quite violently, yes, he was visibly seized by a significant fear and now didn't know what he should say to this.

But Raphael says to him, "Try it too; for the eye is easier to deceive than the tongue! Give it to your friends to try as well, so that we have witnesses of this transformation to say that it is true!"

Ribar tastes the miracle bread, somewhat carefully at first; but since the taste pleases him, he bites deeply into one half and gives the other half to his companions to taste. Everyone finds the bread tremendously tasty, sweet and full of an inviting smell.

But I then ask Ribar, "Well, dear friend, let Me hear your judgment; what do you say to this deed carried out by a disciple?"

Ribar says to Suetal, "Brother, you speak now, you are somewhat cleverer than I! This goes too far over my level of understanding!"

Suetal says, "There are very many such people as you in the world who like to be insolent in the beginning; but if something then happens which reaches far above their understanding, they stand there like a wife caught having an affair! What else can be said now except for this: Mathael was right in every syllable with which he certainly bore the truest witness of the great Master!

If his disciples are capable of performing such things, what must the divine Master then be capable of doing?!"

Ribar says, "That is all true, and none of us can deny it; but in the temple one also says and teaches as a decided truth that certain special magicians are supposed to be able to perform extremely rare things through the power of Beelzebub which is at their disposal. Even the Romans say: IN DOCTRINA ALIENA CAUTI, FELICES[happy he who is careful with a foreign teaching] and SAPIENTIA NON INCIPIT CUM ODIO DEORUM[Wisdom does not start with hating the gods]!

Suetal says, "Stop your stupid Latin sayings and you can stay away from me eternally with your donkeyish Beelzebub! Didn't you hear the divinely wise Mathael speaking earlier and weren't you easily able to see that the teaching of the great Master leads every person to God through the truth, love and deed? Well, in addition the great Master is supposed to serve his listeners with all lies and all deception? The blind donkey that you always were, was that bread a lie or was it true bread?

If Beelzebub had done it for you, which he would never be able to, you would now have a stone in your stomach instead of the best bread; but because it is real bread as if coming from heaven, you now feel, as I feel, the truly divine taste of the best effect in your whole body, as I do in mine!

Where in the whole Scriptures have you ever read that Satan ever succeeded in performing a miracle like this one? Look at the miracles of Beelzebub in the temple! What are they? Nothing but a despicable and well-known deception in order to rob the men who are as blind as you of their gold and silver and then to use it for other harmful purposes!

You see, those are the miracles of Satan and as such are extremely easy to recognize!

But here there is no possible deception, but alone the easily recognizable all-powerful will of Jehovah! How then can you still ask whether such a thing would not also be possible through Satan"s power?! Where then has Satan ever been able to prove that he has any true power?"

Ribar says, very moved, "Well, didn't he win on Sinai when he fought with Michael for three days over the body of Moses?"

Suetal says, "Yes, he won the dirt of Moses! A beautiful victory! What else do you know?"

Ribar says, "Well, is the temptation of Adam and Eve nothing?"

Suetal says, "Can one call it a miracle like this one?! If a voluptuous maid shows you all her fleshly appeal and invites you with very lustful eyes, is it then a miracle if you sink into her beautiful white arms out of sheer carnal lust? Such miracles like Adam and Eve"s unfortunately happen only too often nowadays, but they always belong to the lowest and crudest nature, and there is really no trace of a miracle there, except a miracle from the very beginnings of creation! Do you know of another such miracle of Satan?"

Ribar says, "It is difficult to talk to you! But what are the familiar miracles of the images of Babel and Nineveh? Were they not performed by Satan?"

Suetal says, "For blind donkeys like you, yes, but not for seeing people, for they knew that the stomach of the famous idol of Babel which had been made glowing white with fire in the night could very easily consume in its very natural glow the sacrifices thrown through the wide throat into its belly. You can perform such miracles every day with the help of a good fire and you don't need any Satan in the least! I myself will bring you a number of all sorts of miracles of Satan by means of the concession of some bought servants, without needing Satan"s help at all; for the evil and profit-seeking will of Satan in any bad person is more than enough for this.

Satan can never do anything - except to destroy some flesh which anyway has no value, and he can then take his extremely foul payment; but he can never perform a miracle for the soul and spirit because his very being is the densest judged matter! Yes, through Satan you can become even more material than you already are, but you will never become spiritual for even a moment through him! And now speak on, if any other miracles of Satan occur to you!"

Ribar says, quite crushed, "If everything is like that, then I certainly don't know of any more miracles of Satan and I want to recognize this purest miracle which the young and very physical disciple of the great Master has performed. But you could have spoken more naturally with me and I would still have understood you!"

Suetal says, "You are probably right, but you already know that I always become incensed when a person, particularly one of some education, comes with the old fairy-tale about Beelzebub as if the people of the world are not Beelzebub"s already! But particularly at such a purely divine occasion! Truly, each time I could jump out of my own skin in anger!"

Ribar says, "Well, well, everything is alright again! IN MEDIO BEATI say the Romans, never too heated and never too tepid, is the core of wisdom and all intelligence. The truth is understood in the end, brother, even without a donkey and dirt!"

Suetal says, "Yes, certainly; but in justified eagerness one has difficulty weighing up the words with which one corrects someone else when he begins to show very foolish thoughts! But now that you are beginning to see the truth somewhat clearer, you will not easily get to hear similar expressions from me again!"

At this I say, "Well, are you alright?"

Both say, "Quite completely!"

Footnotes

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