The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Jesaira
- Chapter 147 -
The fishermen greet the Lord.
It soon happened as I had predicted. It did not take long before they all came out of their hiding place, and I called them with a loud voice to come to Me.
2
They all recognized My voice immediately and shouted: "That is the great Savior of Nazareth, filled with all the power of Jehovah. Let us go quickly to Him."
3
They came rushing to us and greeted Me with solemn, kind words, which were also united with their heart. And they thanked Me for all the good deeds which they greatly enjoyed, and were still enjoying since My first visit. Then they asked Me to continue to remember them and their children, which I also promised to them, as long as they would faithfully and actively persevere in My teaching.
4
Then they took us to their habitations and let us see its very useful arrangement, as well as their fishing tools, their storerooms for the fishes, and also their flocks, consisting of goats and sheep. They also raised chickens and ducks and gooses. And as they were originally Greeks, they liked the 2 last-named kinds of fowl very much. They also showed us their very big beehives that gave them much good honey, which could easily be sold for much money in Caesarea Philippi. In short, this little people, who were formerly spiritually and physically extremely poor, improved themselves in a time of about 1 1/2 year, in such a way that they were now quite wealthy.
5
One of the inhabitants was a smith who knew how to make all kinds of useful and practical tools from iron and also from other metals. He also offered these tools for sale during the already mentioned opportunity, except for a few spears and lances, which were left with this little people at My first visit. Kisjona bought these weapons for 1 pound of gold, together with still several kinds of other tools, which he could well use for his big business.
6
Kisjona asked the leader of this small community to visit him in Kis where they would talk about and settle a few things with each other for the benefit of this little village. The leader promised to do that, and he also did it soon after he returned from Jesaira, which he came to know now for the first time, because the innkeeper invited him to sail with us to Jesaira. Also our innkeeper bought different kinds of tools here from the smith.
7
When the leader had briefly described to Kisjona, Philopold and the innkeeper what this region looked like before My first arrival and how it flourished suddenly by My word, it was especially the innkeeper who was surprised, to whom this seemed more unusual than to the 2 first mentioned ones who had seen already greater signs of Me.
8
Then the inhabitants wanted to treat us with all kinds of things, but I said to them: "My dear friends, this is not the reason why we came here, and we will soon leave and go back again, for I still have to settle a number of things in Jesaira. However, I have come to you now with My disciples and friends because you faithfully kept My teaching and have become true gems of My will.
9
Since you became that way, it was also time to let you know other people who should learn from you and acquire your true firmness of faith. And since you are also good speakers, you may from now on at certain opportunities speak with other people about Me and My Kingdom on Earth and show them the way of life.
10
He who will live according to My teaching and will act like you, and who does not say and think within himself: 'Look, this time the Lord has spoken again completely like a simple man, and not much of the Kingdom of God can be discovered in this,' will also attain to that to which you have already attained, and he will be able to say, just like you: 'Now I do not live anymore, but the Lord lives in me.'
11
So remain faithful to Me, also in your descendants, then I will stay in you. Do in My name what I have advised you to do now, at a right opportunity that you very easily and soon will recognize. But do not throw My pearls to the pigs of pure worldly people.
12
But tell Me now, leader of this small, but for Me still great community, why you actually hid yourselves in the bushes of that wood when you saw our 3 ships navigating into the bay. Did you then not think about the power that was given to you by Me as a result of your unwavering faith?"
13
The leader said: "O Lord and Master full of God's supreme might and power, look, that was very strange. Already several times since You were here, big and smaller ships have tried to navigate into this bay that is always richly provided with fish and grown with reeds and reed pipes, but no one succeeded to penetrate even a hand's breadth over the borderline of reeds, for with the might of Your living word and will we drove them all directly far back into the lake. But this time Your word and will in our heart did not help us, for the reason that I very well understand now.
14
When we saw these 3 ships, we immediately forbad them in Your name to navigate into this bay, but the ships did not stop, but penetrated unstoppably ever deeper into our bay. Then we all became really afraid, and we could do nothing else except to flee and to hide us in the bushes of the wood and in the big hole, that has an entrance behind the wood which can hardly be noticed and which is so spacious inside that easily many thousands of people can stay there.
15
Nevertheless, we put out a guard who had to tell us who would come to land from the 3 ships, who did not want to obey to the power of Your word and will in us, and what they would do. But the guard announced to us soon that those who had come to land were no Romans or subjects of Herod, but a group of friendly looking people, consisting of Jews and Greeks, and who did not try to force into our houses.
16
After that message we felt lighter in our heart, and we advised the guard to convince himself more closely as to who those men were who had come to land. We received an even better message. Only after that, we dared to come into the light. We then heard Your call, which we know well, and hurried to You, the Father and Lord of all existence and life.
17
Now it became of course clear to us why the 3 ships did not want to obey us, for although Your word and will in us are truly miraculously powerful, they will still eternally not equal Your very own will and resist it. And we certainly thought too little about it this time. We did not consult enough Your Spirit in us, to know if we had to command the ships in Your name or not. If this time, like on other occasions, we had asked for advice, then it also would had been clear to us who were coming on the ships. But because we did not do that, we had to pay for that with our fear and by running away. Is it no so, Lord and Master?"
18
I said: "Yes, it is so, and by this experience you became wiser again. But make yourselves ready now to leave, leader, and sail with us to Jesaira."