The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 135 -
The rabbi's attempt to resuscitate the dead body of old Lazarus.
1
(Mathael:) "When my father heard such from me, he turned immediately to the already somewhat impatient little rabbi and said: 'Friend, as I have observed this case, it would be a pity to waste even one drop of the strongest life balm; since his soul floats already man size high above the already practically dead body. Therefore you can begin to sing your sorrow psalter, and as a priest tell the people that no earthly help is able to do anything!'
2
At this explanation the rabbi made a somewhat angry face and asked the father how he was able to notice this. The father was never a man of too much politeness and said with dry words to the little rabbi: 'How and from where I can see and know this, is none of your business; just do your part and I know exactly and quite well what I have to do!'
3
In this moment the soul was completely separated from the body and a few very serenely and wise looking spirits received it among them, gave it like from the whitest bissus a marvellous pleated garment and one of them took the light column, bent it around the loins of the now free soul, and it became a belt with a brightness of the sun. At the same time a mighty spirit put a equally bright shining hat on the head of the free soul and said: 'Brother, be for ever decorated with the light of wisdom of God shining out of you!'
4
With that all the high spirits present together with the now free soul, immediately left the house, what I also straight away reported to my father, and the father said to the rabbi: 'Now, since the soul of the old man has entirely separated from the body, you can go to the nearly blind weeping relatives and announce the complete death of the old man?!'
5
Said the little rabbi: 'O, why not! Now I will give him a stimulating drop on his tongue, and we will soon see, if his soul - provided and assuming the existence of a special soul in a person - already left his body! According to my well proven opinion, no person has a soul which reaches beyond the life of the blood and the nerves with a special spiritual life. Man, once he is dead, he is completely dead like a rock or a dry piece of wood, and to all what I can call holy, I swear to you, that then nothing stays alive in man. However, there exist arcana (secret remedies) in nature, which can awaken life anew in an already dead body; and that I will do now and will prove to you as a stiff Jew, that the soul has not left the body yet and also that it is not able to leave the body, since there never resided a real soul therein!'
6
Here the rabbi pulled a golden little flask out of the pocket , showed it to my father and said: 'There friend, see here! In here is the soul of a person who is already dead!'
7
Said my father with a smile: 'Just go ahead! My entire, large property which you might know about, belongs to you if the dead person is moving for only a short while after receiving your drops; since your arcanum is familiar to me. I also have it, and with false dead people it served me well; but with false dead people the soul is still very much in the body. Therefore this arcanum is very useful with dead people where no Hippocratic symptoms are showing; but once the most well developed Hippocrates is showing on the face of a dead person, the soul has left, and you can give the dead ten-thousand of these little bottles, and still the body will not move, but be completely dead and lying there without feeling like a rock or a dry piece of wood. But now keep on going with your real Persian Farren herb oil, and as I have told you in front of many witnesses: my property is completely yours from the moment when this dead person, where already very slightly the smell of putrefaction starts to develop, only makes a single move upon your drops!'
8
The little rabbi is somewhat concerned about this quite vigorous remark from my father, but, nonetheless, goes to the dead person, opens his mouth and dispenses him ten drops instead of the usual one, two at the most three drops on the already completely dry tongue. He closes the mouth again and waits now with great attention for the dead to move only a little bit. However, after one full hour and another hour, it already started to dawn, the dead did not show any signs of any movement.
9
My father now asks the little rabbi if he still was of the opinion that the dead will start to move because of the real Persian Farren herb oil and perhaps even start to speak.
10
Says the little man: 'Lets wait for another hour, lets wait until the sun comes up, and the dead surely will start to move; he also will speak!'
11
Says my father, again smiling: 'Keep going, I will not intervene; to the contrary I gladly would sacrifice my property for the recovery of this old, to me well known, God devoted, honourable person! And should you lose against me, I do not ask anything from you, except that you believe in the true, forever living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and in the fullest immortality of the human soul!'
12
Says the rabbi: 'Yes, friend, this I will do; but I know it in advance, that you will loose this trade! Because secretly I belong to the reasonable sect of the Sadducees and want to curse my temple clerics right into the large sandy desert of Africa! But if you really should win me over, I will be glad to serve the temple again with everything I have!'
13
Everything was quiet now and all waited with great anticipation for the moment of the revitalization of the old Lazarus."