The Great Gospel of John
Volume 10
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Der Herr in der Stadt am Nebo
- Chapter 177 -
The idol images in the house of the innkeeper.
On these words of Mine, they all began to highly praise Me, even My apostles, and they said: "Now, o Lord, You have spoken very clearly and understandable again about hidden things, and we received a real light about the survival of the soul after the dead of the body and how things are over there. Everything that is and exists in this manner can only be placed into a clear light by You, o Lord, and for this we give You thanks from the deepest of our heart, spoken out loudly and sincerely."
2
On this, I said: "Eat and drink now the things that are still on the table. After that we will go to rest and see what the day of tomorrow will bring us."
3
Then they all ate and drank and talked much with each other about Me. However, I did not eat or drink anything anymore and rested in a way from the tiredness of the day. Close to midnight, also all the others became sleepy, and the supreme judicial city officer, the Pharisees and the Jews went to their houses. I stayed however as usual with My disciples the whole night sitting at the table.
4
When the supreme judicial city officer left, he told the innkeeper that he absolutely should not ask any payment from us, for he himself would pay the bill for everyone.
5
The innkeeper said: "Sir, supreme judicial city officer, you easily can command me on this point, because for what concerns this bill I am the only debtor, and all the guests are my creditors, for if they would charge me what they did for me, then I should have to pay a big amount to them. So do not worry, for at this occasion I am not an innkeeper but a human being and just like you a real friend of all that is good, true and exceptional. We will see each other again tomorrow."
6
Then they said goodbye, and also our innkeeper went to rest, but before he fell asleep, he still talked a lot with his wife and children about the appearance of the past evening.
7
But his wife and children were still real gentiles throughout, and their bedroom was completely filled with Roman and Greek images wherever there was a free space. Some were made of wood, others of stone and again others of metal.
8
The innkeeper said to her: "Listen, good and loyal woman, now that we had the chance to know the real, one and only true God - physically and personally -we will take these idol images in the morning and destroy them all together, for they never were useful to us and in the future they will be even less useful to us.
9
When the innkeeper had said that to his wife, she first did not want to agree, but his oldest son, who was a freethinker, said aloud: "Father, this is what I already wanted to do together with you for a long time, but the belief of the women here is as stubborn as stone, and you cannot talk any sense into them, although they should realize that all those idols are firstly nothing else but dead matter, and secondly they are made so badly and miserably that they are directly an offence against the human artistic sense, because such Diana from Ephesus does not look any different from a dried frog, and that Jupiter could represent anything.
10
I still could bear those figures if they were products of real artists, but these figures, that decorate mother's room, are mostly products of Greek shepherds. Apart from keeping watch over their cattle, they make such figures of wood, loam, soft stone or lead. Then they let them be sanctified by the priests and finally fill them into big crates to give them, in return for a scandalous price, to certain image sellers who sell them further. Then they come into our regions, and our women have in their stupid piety enough money to buy this miserable junk from the businessmen. And the kitchen suffers from it because everything must be put on the table more scarcely and badly, and then the foreign guests have really no reason to thank for a good and abundant service. Therefore, it is better to have more fat and oil on the table for the guests than to have so many foolish and ridiculous idols in the bedroom.
11
In a corner of the guestroom stands a half life-sized Apollo that is already so black and dirty that it must be disgusting for an honest man to look at it. I already noticed it for a long time and tomorrow I will clear up that miserable figure."
12
His mother, halfly shocked about the intention of her son, said: "Yes, yes, just be careful that the priest of Apollo will not see you and then will punish you as profaner."
13
The son said: "I am no more afraid of him at all, because the One who provided us miraculously with wine and fishes and who was also able to suddenly put down 14 fierce lions before the Jews and their priests who wanted to hinder Him to enter the city, and which I saw with my own eyes, will also be able to protect me against the more than stupid Apollo-priest, and this all the more since our supreme judicial city officer is no friend of our gods and their priests.
14
And that priest of ours is also intellectually as stupid as can be and cannot relate about anything else except about old, already more than a thousand times hackneyed fables of the gods. Besides that, he stuffs himself like a wolf and boozes like an ox, especially when he can get wine from somewhere. This is his apollonian wisdom. Should I be afraid and have respect for such person? Truly, then I will be ashamed to be a human being myself, and moreover a Roman."
15
The innkeeper, who was very satisfied about his son, said: "Be calm now. We will see tomorrow about what can be done. We now will leave everything up to Him who is resting today in our house. He will take care of everything."
16
Then it became quiet in the bedroom of the innkeeper till the morning. The innkeeper was one of the first to be awake, and he immediately came to us in the guestroom.