The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord on the way to Bethsaida
- Chapter 137 -
The guests recognize the Lord.
When the 3 Jews heard the innkeeper say that, they became very shy and did not know what to answer and whether they should stay or leave.
2
Only after a while, the eldest asked the innkeeper, who was then giving bread and wine to the 3: "What does He look like, so that we can immediately greet Him when He comes?"
3
The innkeeper said: "Just take the bread and wine, and when He will come in, you will have no difficulty to recognize Him. If we gentiles were able to quickly recognize Him, then you as real Jews of old will recognize Him sooner."
4
On this, the 3 took at once bread and wine, and to them they were equally clean and tasted delicious, and they asked the innkeeper from where he obtained that bread and wine, for they well knew that he was not able to serve this kind of food to them before.
5
The innkeeper said: "I just told you that the Messiah richly provided us with everything, also for our body. The One who can make a desert to flourish by His will, will also be capable to provide bread and wine for us poor people who longed for Him for already a long time. You really are eating bread from the Heavens, as well as the wine that is also no fruit of this Earth."
6
When the 3 Jews had also heard that, the eldest said: "Moses did also receive the manna from God for the Israelites, and the rock which he hit with his shepherd's staff gave immediately sweet, clean drinking water, but Moses did not receive such bread or such wine from the hand of Jehovah, and also the desert did in all those 40 years not become green for Israel and their meager flocks. Apparently, here is more than Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Elijah and all the other prophets."
7
While the eldest said these words, I with the 3 disciples entered the inn and said to the 3: "Peace be with you. Do not feel embarrassed because of us, but eat and drink and strengthen yourselves with the wine, for you do not have such bread and such wine in Bethsaida and Gadara."
8
When I said these words to the 3, they immediately stood up from their chairs, bowed deeply before Me and said: "Lord, You are the One for whom everything is possible, and You also are the promised great Messiah, the new great King of the Jews who will establish a Kingdom that no enemy will be able to take away from us anymore until the end of the world. Therefore: hail to You, the great Son of David."
9
I said: "It is true that I am establishing an endless great Kingdom, but not an earthly one but a true everlasting Kingdom of God for the soul and the spirit of man. In that Kingdom, all those who will believe in Me and will live according to My teaching will have eternal life.
10
You understand the Scripture to the letter, but you never understood it to the most inner spirit of the truth if you think that I as the promised One, who came now into this world as the Messiah, the eternal Son of the eternal Father, will establish for the Jews an everlasting kingdom on this Earth, where everything, even the Earth itself, is temporary and perishable. For not only this whole Earth, but also the whole firmament that you can see will perish. Then how could there be established an everlasting kingdom on this Earth for the Jews? Thus strengthen yourselves now, so that you may grasp and understand the inner spirit of the Scripture."
11
After these words of Mine, the 3 looked surprised at each other, and the eldest said: "Hear, this sounds quite different from what they say in the temple in Jerusalem. What should we observe? The Pharisees and the scribes are teaching in the temple, sitting on the chairs of Moses and Aaron around the high priest, and they read and explain the Scripture to the people completely to the letter, but on the authority of their word and their will no desert becomes green and no bare stones are covered with fertile soil.
12
This Master teaches quite differently and shows that we never understood the Scripture according to the spirit, and His statements contradict directly those of the temple, but on His word and His will the desert is flourishing and the stones are covered with the right quantity of fat soil. So it is only in Him that the full truth can be found.
13
Therefore, we want to stay with this Master and turn our backs to the temple for all times. So let us drink to the well being of all those who already did what we only are doing now."
14
On this, the 3 lifted their cup and emptied it to the last drop.