The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 83 -
Consequences of the solar eclipse.
During this catastrophe the sun broke forth again from behind the moon on the other side, and the old cheerfulness entered the souls of everyone present again; during the total eclipse alone Cyrenius and also Julius remained completely calm beside Me.
2
Even My disciples became somewhat uneasy, and Jarah and Josoe hastily jumped into My ship touching the shore and trembled with fear; but their fear was nonetheless more a consequence of the wild howling of the ship"s boys than of the darkness. For Jarah and Josoe knew very well the reason for the eclipse of the sun, but they were not prepared for the wildest howling and therefore jumped into My ship in great fear and pressed themselves against Me as close as possible. But in the meantime Cyrenius and Julius have delighted in the beautiful constellations of winter which they had never before seen in summer.
3
Gradually it became brighter, and the old cheerful spirits returned to the unsettled souls of the people, and the ship"s boys returned to their three ships and begged the youth for forgiveness for being so hostile to him previously.
4
They also begged the Greeks for forgiveness, and he (the Greek) said, "What someone"s faith tells him to do, he should do, if he finds no wiser counter reason in himself; but your faith should be brighter as a result, and you will then see that the high gods do not demand any human sacrifice from us, in that they themselves have countless means in their hands to take people from this Earth in their hundreds of thousands as they desire."
5
The ship"s boys are satisfied with this lecture on the part of our Greek and swear that at similar events in the future they will be and remain fully mindful of his wise lecture. At this the ship"s boys ask the Greek whether he will now continue his journey or whether he is thinking of staying here.
6
But the Greek says, "Don't you see this powerful youth among us?! He has shown me goodness and saved me from your blind angry faith; I owe him my life and the life of my only, very dearest daughter. He alone is now my commander and whatever he says, I will do; but without his word and his will I am not going to travel an inch further, even in ten years!
7
In addition, a good inner voice says to me that I have found more in this barren place than in all of Jerusalem. Therefore I will remain here. I will now speak with the inn-keeper of this place to see whether I can stay here. If such a thing is possible, I will then immediately leave my beasts of burden here on the shore and then all the treasure that I brought with me, and you can then sail off in your ships again."
8
However, during this conversation I, Cyrenius, Julius, Mark, the old inn-keeper and Jarah and Josoe also come onto the ship in which the Greek was, and Mark speaks to him immediately and says, "Friend! You see that an honest landlord never has a lack of guests. You see, I am the inn-keeper of this place and give accommodation in my little hut and under my tents to all the dear guests that you see here; but for you there is also still room if you want to stay!"
9
The Greek says amiably, "Friend, I just need an area of thirty steps in length and ten in width, and I will immediately have my three good and sumptuous tents set up by the servants I brought with me, and I will then already be provided for; for I bring meals and drinks in great quantities with me and I possess much gold and silver in order to buy some more if what I brought with me should run out. So I also possess feed for my beasts of burden and in this way I am best equipped for everything possible; I have only no place to accommodate all this, and so I will rent it from you for a time. What do you demand for the discussed area from day to day?"
10
Mark says quite amiably, "I know well that you Greeks always keep exact accounts; but it is not usual for us Romans and better Jews. You can remain here as long as you wish, and nothing will be demanded from you except your true and honest friendship; but if you want to do something for some poor person who has lost his way and found himself here, that will be left to your discretion without any bill. Therefore have your things unpacked and make yourselves as comfortable as in your house in your town; for as long as you are here not only the piece of land you demanded but also my entire not so very small premises are at your disposal, and my tables will be laid for you also! Tell me whether you are satisfied with this!"
11
The Greek says, "Yes, friend, when you speak like that, you shame me and I am in great embarrassment if I cannot reward your great, highest selfless friendship in some way, and I hardly dare to make use of your truest generosity!"
12
Mark says, "Friend, your friendship will surely be more valuable than all the great treasures of the Earth which you bring with you, which I do not need since I now possess perhaps even greater things than you; but certainly they are less material than spiritual!"
13
The Greek says, "So you have already had for a long time what I and my daughter here have been vainly seeking in all the corners of the Earth?"
14
Mark says, "What the whole Earth and all the stars and the sun and the moon cannot give you, neither the temple nor any oracle, you will find here in this place. Thus unpack right away, for you are now already in the right place!"
15
The Greek now immediately orders his fourteen servants to get to work.