The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6

Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching

At the Sea of Galilee (John 6)

- Chapter 97 -

The Lord cures the sick in a little fishing village.

Thereupon we got up from the table, since it was already the fourth hour in the afternoon and I instructed Andrew and Nathanael to give the necessary lessons to the priests and went outside with the other disciples and people of the house.

Then also the Zeus-priest followed us, after saying to the other four: "Pay good attention to what the two men will tell you; I will follow the Master and see and listen what he will do and speak."

And as such he followed us when we were strolling along the Euphrates, on its right shore - where the town was located - where there were a lot of rare and salutary herbs. We walked for an hour down stream and came to a little fishing village whose inhabitants lived mainly from fish; for the earth was rocky and sandy and only here and there grown over with sparse grass and other herbs, hardly enough food for a few goats, and thus was not suited for agriculture.

When we arrived here, immediately a large crowd of people met up with us and greeted the very familiar tax collector Jored, but also asked for forbearance and patience, since they still owed him part of their fishing lease shilling.

But the tax collector remitted the same to them completely and added to it: "I not only remit the lease shilling for you but in future also release you from all further interest payments; only the imperial tax groschen you yourself have to pay from now on as full and free owners of this little town and fishery, and this you will be able to do by the selling of fish collectively. - Are you content with that?"

Out of overwhelming gratitude men and women fall on their faces and praised loudly the goodness of Jored. But Jored asked them to get up from the ground and to not make such a fuzz for such a little charity.

When they got up from the ground, he presented to them his son who was awakened from death and told them how it happened. Then the whole crowd pushed over to Me where I together with the doctor was standing close to the water, and started to praise Me overly, because I have awakened Jored's son from death, thus prompting Jored to show them such great benefaction, what he otherwise, although always being a good and fair man, would not have done.

Thereupon they asked Me in their plain simplicity who I was that I was able to perform such unheard of works.

But I calmed them down and said to them: "Who and what I am, you will find out soon enough. But for the time being you can learn from My mouth, that I am an only true world saviour for all people and not only have the power to heal only the body of people by My will and My word, but also free the souls of people from their long straying and can give them the everlasting life. If you have any sick people in town, bring them here and I will heal them all!"

Here the poor people already thanked Me in advance and said: "O you dear world saviour, we have many sick people and even we are not that healthy then it appears; but our sick are mainly suffering from such illnesses that there is not much left of them that can be healed!"

Said I: "Just go and bring them all here and for the first time in your life you should learn about the power and glory of God which He has given to man!"

Hereupon these people rushed to their scanty dwellings and brought about twenty sick people; among them were lame-, cripple-, gout-ridden-, blind- and deaf people, lepers and even one person without arms. This person was otherwise quite healthy and strong; but since he lost both arms when still a child due to the negligence of his wardress, as a armless person he could not perform any work, except what he most painstakingly could achieve with his feet.

When all the sick were lying down on a scarce peace of lawn, I went to them and said: "Do you all want to be cured from your illnesses and do you believe that I can heal you?"

Then one gout-ridden old man said: "Good, dear world saviour, if it was possible for you to awaken the son of Jored from death, we also believe that you can cure us too! But that we all who are suffering want to become fresh and healthy again, goes without saying. If you, o good, dear world saviour, want to heal us, then show us your love and mercy! We however cannot give you anything for it; for you can see our great poverty. We already have called on all gods but they did not wanted to listen to us because we perhaps could not bring them a sufficient sacrifice. But if you can heal us, you are more and better than all gods of heaven!"

Here the present Zeus-priest's eyes widened and he said to the doctor: "If he can do this, he is not human any more but truly a God! But I'm most curios about the armless person! If he can give him back both arms, he undeniably is a God and we must worship him!"

Here I raised My eyes up and said loudly: "Father, I thank You, that You listened to Me once more! I know quite well that You always listens to Me; but I say and do it, that also these heathens can recognize You, believe in You and Me and always praise Your name!"

Hereupon I turned to the sick and said: "Get up and walk!"

Then all got up; since all were healed in that very moment.

Only the armless did not yet have his arms back and therefore came to Me and said: "O you good world saviour, since it was possible for you, to heal all these sick just by your wonderful, almighty will, it should also be possible for you, to give me two working hands, so that I through all kind of work can earn my bread! O, do not let me move away from this place, so that also I with the fullest heart can join the others in their thanks cheering!"

Said I: "Why did you started to doubt the moment when I healed the others? See, they all believed and were healed; would you not have doubted, you already would be in possession of your hands!"

Said the armless: "O good world saviour, do not regard this as bad from me, since I now fully believe that you can help me!"

Here the Zeus-priest secretly made the remark to the doctor behind My back: "I immediately knew that the healing of this armless would be a problem! Since it is something completely different to heal people by a magical word and wills power when they still have all their limbs, even if severely crippled, than to newly create and give back a person his missing limbs!"

Said the doctor: "I do not share your opinion; since who can turn three colossal rock statues in one moment into nothing and can cover the lake with firm earth up to a great depth, can also give such a person back his arms if he wants to!"

Upon these words of the doctor the Zeus-priest said nothing; but Jored came to Me and said: "Lord, if it is Your will, give also this person back his hands, and I will give him work and he will be quite well provided for!"

Said I to Jored: "Just be calm, I will give him his hands; but for the sake of the Zeus-priest I still must hesitate, since he is of the opinion that I can't do it, and thus I first want to exchange a few words with him."

Hereupon I turned around and said to the priest: "Listen, you witless person, how do you judge the divine wisdom, strength and power?! Who placed the first human on earth without fathering and a mothers womb and has given to him who was not before, all his limbs in the most possible perfection? See, it was Him who now works in Me, as you could convince yourself through all the signs which I already have effectuated here! Can't you see that a normal person cannot do this what I effectuate here, but only the spirit of God, which is in Me and is one with My will?! To be a priest, and not recognizing with the first glance, how such deeds, which only I effectuate, are possible, is in all seriousness not really praiseworthy for a Zeus-priest who visited all kinds of schools and have studied Plato, Socrates and others! Tell Me, do you seriously think that I cannot give back the arms to the armless!?"

Said the priest: "This, my really almighty friend, was not actually my intention, although it occurred to me that you can only heal those limbs of ill people which are still there, but not those which were lost through an evil coincidence! Since I thought by myself: As a person deeply initiated in all invisible forces of nature, you can easily work with the raw and dead matter which has its related elements in the air and in the water and they apparently must obey you; but the long lost arms of a person is something completely different, since its basic materials must certainly be very far removed from the first primordial elements and cannot that easily be collected from the air and the water. But it will most probably not be the case and for you the one will be possible just like the other! Before I have expressed my doubtful opinion to the doctor, but with a few words he convinced me of the opposite of my opinion and therefore I believe that you can give the armless back his arms, even if you would not give him back his arms because of whatever reason."

Said I: "Ah, this is now a completely different language and I do not have any reason, not to give this person back his arms; therefore I want that he should have them in this very moment!"

When I hardly had spoken this, the armless had both his strong arms and also could use them as if he never was without them.

This caused such a sensation with all present, that they started to scream: "This is not a person but a true God! We want to build him a temple and bring him the purest and best and most valuable sacrifices!"

But I calmed them down and explained to them, just like the day before to Jored, the life power of man in unison with the power of the spirit through faith and through the highest love for God, who was, is and will be forever. These simple people believed and understood this quite easily and soon.

Footnotes

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