The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in the region of Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 189 -
The healed skipper proves the divinity of the Lord.
Then the healed skipper, who came from Cyprus, said: "It is true that I am a gentile from birth, but I know Moses and the prophets as well as you do.
2
Is it not stated with the prophet Isaiah: 'A voice of the preacher calls out in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord, make even a road on the fields for our God'? And further it is stated: 'The Lord will pasture His flock as a Shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arms and carry them to His chest, and lead the ewes.'
3
We live indeed in Joppe, but we well heard from the mouth of the 2 disciples about all the things that happened near Jerusalem.
4
The voice of the preacher in the desert was John the Baptist, who made even a road on the fields of your blindness, but by the envy of the temple servants whom Herod succeeded to have on his side, he came into prison, and soon after that he was beheaded.
5
That preacher in the desert recognized the Lord in that Savior of Nazareth, and his testimony opened up the eyes of many. Then why did the Pharisees stay blind and hard of heart, since they also have Moses and the prophets?
6
When the prophet says: 'The Lord will pasture His flock (namely us men) like a Shepherd' - and this happens now undoubtedly before our eyes - then is this Shepherd, whose personal arrival on this Earth was faithfully and clearly announced by all the prophets, starting with Moses, and exactly for this time, not one and the same Lord and God who gave the commandments to Moses on the Sinai?
7
If we gather now in faith as lambs around Him, and He leads us with all the love of His divine heart, like a good shepherd does with the ewes - which can be all too distinctly and clearly seen by His teaching and His deeds - are we then, even if we are more like gentiles than Jews, believing in another, strange God, except only in the One in whom we should believe according to the commandment of Moses? And are we doing wrong if we thank Him for the mercy that He gave us, and give only the honor to Him?
8
Truly it is not very honorable to you if we as former gentiles recognize in full truth sooner the light that came to you than you who are, according to your Scripture, a chosen people for that light."
9
On these words of the fisherman, the skippers did not say anything anymore, for they saw that the fisherman was more skilled in the Scripture than they were, and they did not want to start a dispute with him. But at the same time they thought among themselves and said that the skipper could finally be right, and thereby some of them became more believing than they were before. Soon after that, they loosened their ships and sailed back to Tiberius with the promise that they would fetch the 40 healed inhabitants of Joppe in a couple of days, if they wanted.
10
But these (the healed ones) said: "We thank you now for your good will, but we will take another way home."
11
Then the skippers finally sailed off.