The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord in Galilee
- Chapter 65 -
The Lord makes Himself known to the innkeeper.
When the innkeeper saw that, he was startled, and he did not know what to say.
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But I said: "Friend, how is your weak faith now?"
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Then the innkeeper, being still completely amazed, said: "O Friend, what concerns my faith in Your word, You can make me believe now whatever You want, and I will believe You. Truly, You must be a very mighty prophet, even greater than Moses and Elijah. Maybe You already have done great signs in many places to raise up again the shattered faith in the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to awaken anew the ancient fear for God into the heart of men. But I live here completely isolated from everyone between the mountains, and I do not hear much of what there is and what is going on in the wide big world, and also the travelers who pass by now and then on this old road are only seldom interrupting their trip to stay in my place because of the formerly mentioned reasons, and so a lot of wonderful things might already have happened in the world of which nothing has still come to our ears. What are You actually doing at the head of these companions of Yours. What is Your actual purpose? For I have the impression that You are not only traveling around in the world to provide waterless regions with water."
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I said: "You could be right in that, but I am surprised that you who are a Galilean yourself seem not to have heard anything about Me until now. Several years ago you often came in Nazareth, in which city I have worked as a carpenter for a long time with the old Joseph whom is well known to you. And there you have heard all kinds of things about Me. Do you not remember all that?"
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Now the innkeeper, being astonished , said: "You - are You that carpenters' son about whom the Nazarenes have told all kinds of tales and fables and whom they declared to be a half insane strange person? Yes, yes, about that carpenter I have heard so many things several years ago, but most of it was only about His childhood, because as a matured young Man and later as a Man He seemed to have kept only very little of His child capabilities. He spoke very little and He also did not perform any more signs, and then they also did not care much about Him anymore.
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So, You are the youngest son of the old Joseph of whom he had high expectations, but in whom he himself finally began to doubt because You became almost completely mute and performed hardly any more signs. Ah, now a lot of things become clear to me, which I formerly would have never believed. But now I gladly would first like to hear from Your mouth what the purpose of Your roundtrip is, and only now I very much would like that you all would stay with me tonight."
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I said: "Look, soon, when I will have returned from where I came, My disciples will be send out into the whole world and in My name they will proclaim to the people what they have learned from Me, and then the purpose of the roundtrip that I am making now will be made known.
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Whoever will believe in Me and My word and will act according to it, from his loins streams of living water will flow out, and he will thirst no more, for he will have the eternal life in the truth and in the spirit of all love from God in himself.
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It is easy to command a rock to let natural water flow out of it, but because the people have become in their mind and heart now much harder than this rock from which the water is streaming out at My word, it is much more difficult to bring the people to the point to let the water of life stream out of their loins - the water which is the eternal truth in God and which comes now to the people in the word.
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When it also will come to you in the word, then believe it and act accordingly, then you will become a spring in God's Kingdom, with which many who thirst for the truth for the eternal life of their soul, will be able to refresh themselves. By that I have explained to you the purpose of My roundtrip.
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You also desired that I would stay in your house for the night that draws near quickly. However, that wish I cannot grant now, because look, the day will still last 1 hour, and I must work as long as the day lasts. Before sunset there is still today an important work that is waiting for Me, and that is why I must immediately travel on with My disciples. But remember what I have told you now, because the time will come soon that you, together with your whole family, will appreciate it more than all the treasures of the world."
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Then I gave a sign to the disciples to break up and to continue our trip, and we prepared ourselves and moved on immediately.
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The innkeeper escorted us a couple of hundred paces, thanked Me for the miraculous good deed that I had done for him and he asked Me to return to him as soon as possible and to stay longer with him than this time.
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And I said to him: "Friend, as you see Me now, you will not see me again, but when you will be instructed by My disciples about Me and My will and will believe in My name, I will come to you in spirit and also stay with and in you. You still cannot understand this now, but when it will happen you also will understand it."
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After these words, the innkeeper said good-bye and being in deep thoughts he returned home. We quietly continued our way over a free mountain ridge and looked in all directions at the very scenic environment.
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When the innkeeper came home soon, his whole personnel, about 40 people altogether, were looking with great amazement and astonishment at the rock out of which now the water was streaming out abundantly, and they asked the innkeeper who I actually was and how I could accomplish to let such pure and so much water stream out of the rock.
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Although the innkeeper told them everything he had seen and heard, his people did not understand anything about it.
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Except a very simple shepherd who brought a flock of sheep home and who drenched them immediately at the fresh spring, said: "You guess, ask and search for all kinds of things, and the truth is so obvious here. Someone who can do something only through his word, which no human being can do, must be filled with God's Spirit, for only God can accomplish something like that. And since God has given our house a more than great mercy with this, we should now also thank Him first and praise His most glorious name, and tomorrow we should go immediately to work down there, where the plain has already a very broad deepening of itself, and make a pond in which the water that streams from here can come together and where it will be easier for us to drench our flocks than here where the water streams too fast from the rock to the valley."
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They all praised the shepherd because of his good idea and his advice, and some helpers took immediately pickaxes, shovels and axes, and in 1 hour time they achieved to make the water flow down to the formerly mentioned valley where it had to gather, and within a couple of days the whole valley, which consisted only of bare stones, was changed into a real lake about which later many travelers were extremely surprised because in former times they mainly avoided this region because there was lack of water in the summer.
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Soon many travelers came along that old road, and the innkeeper became soon so rich that instead of the former little inn that was hardly noticed, he built a large one, and he had always many guests. Many traveled also to that place because of the story of the miracle that was quickly spreading around, and they stayed then several days in that inn.
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The innkeeper became later also an important spreader of My gospel after he had been well instructed by My disciples.
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This is an addition of what is memorable to mention.
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And so we will return back to us.