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 227 -
The voidness of a power without resistance.
1
(The Lord) "If someone were here of such a giant strength that he could uproot the strongest oaks and cedars with his bare hands, but had no resistance, but instead only mud and water around his trees to be uprooted, would he indeed be capable of uprooting a tree that had stuck its roots firmly into the firm soil a few fathoms deeper? I say: No; for as soon as he tried to rip the tree out of the Earth with his powerful arms, he would sink into the depths of the water and mud and thus not be able to achieve anything with all his great strength.
2
If a giant thus wants to present the great muscular strength of his hands to be effective, his feet must also have a very firm ground as a necessary support, which certainly every one of you will see very clearly. But here I will present another exemplary case which is very possible for Me and even more enlightening for you.
3
Let's assume that here before us there are a few hundred very strong warriors, one hundred on one side and one hundred on the other. As soon as they begin to attack each other, I lift them high into the air with My inner power and let them be scattered by a powerful wind in all areas and directions. The question: How will these begin and continue their fight again without any firm standpoint? Will one be able to move forward even one step in the air even with the most powerful feet or be able to make a very powerful blow with the hand and at the same time keep his upright position?
4
I see that you all are now beginning to consider a little how such a thing could be possible. But it is within My power to show this practically to one of you, and if you only tell Me which of you wants to undertake indeed such a test! Do you, Epiphan, want to convince yourself of the truth of My statement at a man's height over the Earth?"
5
Epiphan says, "Oh yes, Lord and Master; for in Your care nothing evil can possibly happen to me! I am therefore decided."
6
I say, "Well, good, lift yourself a man's height from the face of the Earth into the open air, and then tell the others how you find it!"
7
Epiphan now found himself floating freely in the air, and indeed quite calmly in an upright position, and I now said to him, "Now make several movements, and pretend that you wanted to go somewhere or defend yourself against an enemy, and tell us what you feel and how you like it!"
8
Epiphan tried this, but naturally immediately lost the comfortable, upright position, and the more he worked with his hands and feet, the more he came into all sorts of highly uncomfortable positions. In the end he turned around in the air like a floating leaf, and an only quite gentle breath of air began to push him away, and indeed according to My will towards Aziona's house, against whose walls he found a firm support, changed his uncomfortable position into the comfortable upright one again and then, holding on to the exterior of the wall, sort of pushed himself down to the ground again.
9
When Epiphan had reached the ground again with his feet, he, praising Me, was extraordinarily glad, came quickly to us at the table and said, "Oh Lord, everything that You want "but only no more such desperate tests! I should indeed have told you all from the air what I sensed and felt! Yes, I could have told that in the upright position indeed, which was accompanied by a quite pleasant feeling, how I felt actually quite pleasant and very kindly; but when I began to move according to Your order and had to leave behind all positions because I was not capable of changing them, then it was the end of speech. I would have in any case, if I had not been ashamed, been able to begin a terrified scream of help, but there was no chance of any comprehensible words at all! Seized by a thousand fold dizziness and feeling more powerless than a fly "speak, he who may; for me that was the very greatest impossibility!
10
Lifted from the firm ground into the air just the height of a man, and one is in an instant a being devoid of all strength and power! The lightest breath of air which can hardly move a little leaf on a tree carries you away without any possible resistance, and that mostly in a very uncomfortable position. No, as I said, everything "but only no more tests! But the phrase from Your mouth, oh Lord, has now been confirmed as a shining truth, that namely the greatest power without a firm foothold, which I see as a necessary opposing force, is as good as no power at all. That is now my vivid and truest conviction.
11
Your previous explanation of what Orcus, Tartarus or hell consist of is now more or less clear; but I still cannot do anything with Satan and his assistants, the so-called devils! Since You, oh Lord and Master, have already explained one thing so well in the fullest and fairest truth, explain to us this as well, if it is Your holy will!"