The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 214 -
The greatest miracle of the Lord: His Word.
After we finished the meal and rose from the table, the innkeeper asked a disciple if I ever had performed such a miracle before.
2
The disciple said: "In the same manner, often thousands of people were suddenly nourished in the open air. Also, the Lord has several times, when we had no wine but only water - and not of the purest kind - changed it into the best of wine by His will before us and many others. In like manner He also, by His word and by His teaching, made our old, spoiled and troubled water of faith alive, as the best of wine. Truly, the Lord has done in hardly 2 1/2 years extremely many great miracles - so many that they hardly can be counted anymore or be described in books. However, the greatest miracle that remains for eternity is His Word. Whoever will conform himself to it, will have eternal life in him.
3
The signs that the Lord is doing now, are however only a witness to us for the fact that He is the Lord. In the future however, it will no longer be the signs that were done by Him that will witness for His godly glory, but His teaching in the heart of the people who will live and act accordingly, because this will bring about the most blissful sign of the true and clear life that is aware of itself, and that is more than if the Lord would perform now in our presence ever so great signs of wonder, about which we and our successors will certainly be able to tell the later descendants, but which they only will believe half from us or probably often totally not believe at all. And so the signs that are done now have only little influence to increase the faith of later generations, but the teaching that is delivered to them will do that, which is in itself the most clear and most undoubted truth.
4
Friend, the fact that we are here is certain, true and for sure, and no one of us is doubting the fact that the Lord has done now great signs before our eyes, but in about 100 years, all this will belong to the kingdom of worldly history, and this - just like all the other things which belong to that kingdom - will mostly be doubted and will not be believed by many.
5
But the easy truth, that 2 times 2 makes 4, will unshakably stand until the end of all times, and so also the teaching from the godly mouth of the Lord according to which every human being should know God, believe in Him only and love Him above all and his fellowman as himself. That is a truth of life that can never be disputed, because without that truth, firstly no common society of people could exist which only here on Earth is timely and material of nature, and secondly because without that truth and the practice of it, no soul could receive the eternal life from God. For the love is the eternal spirit of life and thus life itself, in it and for it.
6
Then when men will be devoid of any love among each other and regarding God, then out of that will also follow the mathematic truth that they will also be devoid of the inner and actually only true life of the soul. Therefore, in the future, be only concerned about the teaching that the Lord has revealed to us, and its very lightening spirit of truth, and act accordingly to have eternal life, for signs can give neither you nor anyone else eternal life.
7
The fact that the Lord is in Himself eternally almighty and possesses the highest wisdom is not only shown to us by the signs of wonder that were done now, but this is also witnessed at all times and for the eyes of all people by the great creation which continuously calls out aloud to all thinking men: 'Behind these numberless many and wise, great works there must be hidden an extremely wise and almighty, eternal Foreman.' But although man will hear His call and will begin to search the Foreman in one way or another - and he will do well by that - he will still feel by that his own powerlessness and weakness, which he cannot change into a godly power.
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But if you will live now and act according to the teaching of the Lord that has been revealed to us, your powerlessness and weakness will be changed in you by the power of the godly love into a might and power of your own, and that will certainly be more blissful for you than when you would continue to be a witness of still many more thousands of signs but would still remain in your old powerlessness and weakness. Look, this is my well-founded opinion."
9
I said to the disciple who had spoken like that: "Nathaniel, to you I do not have to say anymore: 'How long will I still have to suffer you before you come to understand My Kingdom', because you have already received the right understanding, and therefore I say to your words now: 'amen', and confirm everything that you have said as a full, pure truth, for this is how it is and how it will remain forever.
10
Whoever will seek Me in My works and signs, will have a very heavy and difficult task, and he will easily weaken under its great load and burden, but whoever will seek Me in and through love, will soon and easily find Me in himself as the power of all life. And when he has found Me, he has found everything, namely the eternal life and its power, might and wisdom. This is what you all should remember well and also proclaim to the other people.
11
But let us go outside now and look a little around us to see what is happening here and there."