THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN
VOLUME 5
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the region of Caesarea Philippi. (cont.) Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 16
- Chapter 217 -
The miraculous transformation of the scenery. Free will and being merged into the will of God.
I say, "Then pay attention, and I will tell you nothing further than this: I will it so! "And now just look, My very dear Epiphan, at this area and tell Me how you like it!"
2
Epiphan along with Aziona and Hiram and all the others present here beat their chests and become quite silent with amazement, and Epiphan observes the now very magnificent area with wide eyes "the mountains covered with forests and the shore area which had an extent of almost a thousand acres [thousand morgen = 0.25 "0.36 hectares] and was covered with nothing but only sparse grass as pasture for a few goats and sheep and now lay there in the most fruitful opulence "and then again at Me with a searching look.
3
Only after a good while of amazement does he (Epiphan) open his mouth again and says, "Yes, in order to be able to perform such a thing in one instant, one must already be more than a god! For a god, as I know from the various religions of the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Jews and even Persians and Indians, takes his time and performs his miracles quite calmly and seems to make use of a number of great means and apparatus. There must be a sun, a moon, several planets, a countless number of other stars. These help him in certain circumstances, places and situations to perform miracles on this Earth, where however apart from a bolt of lightning from the clouds everything happens very prettily slowly.
4
But you have performed something in an instant here that a god, as I know several from the books and scriptures, certainly even with all the industriousness of man would have taken another couple of hundred boring years of time to do. From this I take the undeceiving conclusion that you must obviously be more god than all the other gods about whom I have heard and read very much! Lord and Master of all masters of the Earth! How, how, and once again how is that possible for You? And should that also be possible for the likes of us in time, if one has become completely familiarized with Your new teaching?"
5
I say, "Yes, My dear friend Epiphan, otherwise I would not have said it to you! But how that is possible, however, I have already said to you and even shown it clearly "and I tell you this as well, that My true disciples will do and perform even greater things in time on this Earth than what I have done and performed. But of course it always remains to all My true disciples to recognize and to know that they will only be able to perform all such things if they become fully one in their spirit with My spirit and so at every opportunity seek advice in their spirit with My spirit, whether such a thing is necessary in order to achieve some good purpose. For if someone, even living exactly in My teaching, feels prompted to save his life himself, demanded by some powerful person, to have to perform a sign to confirm his highest mission, I would say to him in the spirit: Do not do it; for it is not My will now! So then the disciple will also want what I want; but if he should nevertheless try to perform a sign, he will not be able to, since My will was not one with his.
6
Only with Me, that is, in constant union with My spirit and will, will you all be able to perform everything, but without it nothing; for I am the Lord and will remain so eternally. And look, that is also part of My teaching! Have you understood Me?"
7
Epiphan says, "Yes indeed, Lord and Master of all masters! But I find there something which according to my judgment does not go so well with the actual fullest freedom of the human spirit. For if for example I can only perform a sign when You also want to perform such a thing, then my will is indeed eternally more dependent, more bound to Yours and thus not free."
8
I say, "Oh, there you are very much mistaken. On the contrary! The more closely a human spirit is united with My Spirit, the freer it is in spirit and will, since I Myself contain the greatest and most unlimited freedom. A man curtails himself in his freedom only insofar as he does not unite with Me. Yet he who is completely at one with Me is capable of doing all that I do, for nowhere outside of Me is there an unlimited might and unlimited power of action.
9
No one who is fully at one with Me is deprived of even one atom of independence. Can you think of a greater and happier advantage to your life than to be together with Me, that is, with My Spirit, almighty and active like I am, and yet at the same time completely independent? - Tell Me now how you like this."
10
Says Epiphan: "Greatest Lord and Master! I know far too little about such a new and unheard-of way of life; therefore, as everybody can easily see, I cannot possibly grasp it clearly or form a definite opinion about it. Yet as far as I can reconcile Your words with my own concept, such a life would certainly be of great advantage. For surely it means the supreme perfection of life to share an almighty Divine Spirit's omnipotence and possess at the same time the fullest independence of life, and all this may well be true because You told me and all of us so.
11
But we will not worry ourselves about the 'how'; for that would be a vain task, since as the newest disciples of Your teaching we are lacking far too much the necessary understanding. In addition we are all now too astonished and too agitated by the too unheard-of great master miracle in order to be able to reach any calm judgment. Therefore, oh Lord and divine Master, let us now rest a little and collect ourselves inwardly, so that we then can give you a better answer in a greatest calm of mind to You, oh Lord and Master, than we have just given You now!"