The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus in the Vicinity of Caesara Philippi (Matthew 16)
- Chapter 176 -
The disciples' testimony to Christ
We are now consume the evening meal, and the hut-owner's family is setting up the best possible resting-facilities for us. But inside the house, he says to his wife and children: "Hearken! This will be without question the promised Messiah. - Hence Jehova Himself incarnate, the eternal, arch primeval sun of the spirit world, Who was preceded by the divine, light filled prophets as the lucent morning cloudlets. Yes, indeed, now I know where I stand; but what is to be done now?! I hardly dare to speak another word with Him, - the eternal most holy, Who is certain to be invisibly served by countless hosts of angels, constantly receiving fresh Commands from Him, conveying them to the stars and all the ends of the world with the speed of thought! And this One, at Whose back and call stand all the eternal heavens and their Edens, is staying in our poor hut to-day!
2
Oh rejoice, but also tremble with joy; for He is tarrying with us this night! Such highest grace the entire Earth itself is not worthy of let alone this our most ignominious hut; and we, full of sin, on top of that!"
3
But whilst the hut owner and his family were busying themselves with preparing quarters for us, I asked the party of the dispatched on reconnaissance, saying: "Who do the people of this area say that I am? (Matt. 16:31)
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And the questioned disciples replied: "Some say in all earnest that You are the risen John Baptised, whilst others hold that You are Elijah, of whom it is written that he shall return before the great Messiah, calling mankind to repentance and to turn back to God. Still others say You are the prophet Jeremiah, also subject to a folk legend that he shall come down from heaven before the Messiah. Some of them are furthermore saying that You could be one or the other of the other prophets (Matt. 16:14); because prior to the great Messiah's coming all the prophets shall precede Him! - These are the more noteworthy sayings about You; - but there are a great many other opinions about You, for which however, after hearing such, we admonished the people and persuaded them of a better opinion of You. But many others think Your are an incognito Greek Zeus."
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Say I: "Good then, you have now reported to Me what you heard; but I now would like to hear from your mouth, for Whom ye yourselves actually take Me. This is not at all an idle question, but a quite serious one; because I notice that on occasion, when our senses judge My doings as seemingly terrestrial, that you then at once judge Me differently in your hearts from occasions when I work a great miraculous deed! Hence tell Me openly for once as to Who you take Me to be, upon sober and mature reflection, fundamentally" (Matt. 16:15)
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Here all the disciples except Simon Judah were taken aback, not knowing what answer to give Me. -Judahs Iscariot said to Thomas: "Now do the talking are you not always so clever and wise! This would be sheer fun for; to give our Master a fitting answer to such peculiar question!"
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Says Thomas: "Speak up yourself, if you are so clever! I take Him for what He Himself has long presented Himself! He never calls Himself other than "Son of Man", and "God is My Father as well as of you all"! If He gives such testimony of Himself, what other witness can we out of ourselves bear Him, of an actual truth? He of course accomplishes deeds which no man has worked since Moses and the other prophets. But if we examine the thing in its proper light then we shall find that it is still the spirit of God that works such through a chosen, pure man! But to God's spirit it shall all be the same as to whether, through a chosen man He moves mountains or destroys them, or whether he allows some small miracle to successfully take place through the ord of a prophet!"
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Says Judas : "You therefore take Him only for a prophet!"
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Says Thomas: "Indeed so, and that as the greatest the Earth ever carried, - which of course is not by virtue of Himself but God's! Because God alone can awaken man to be a prophet, as He did with Samuel when same was still a child; and how He, meaning God, also made the false prophet Bileam's donkey into a true prophet, and through the donkey, Bileam himself. If we grasp this in the right manner and consider His own testimony of Himself as only a Son of God, although sometimes expressing the godly first Person, when working the miraculous power that dwells in Him to an exceptional degree; then in my humble opinion we can give Him no other testimony than that which He gives Himself! He therefore is a foremost Son of God, as we are too, if not to such marked degree."
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Says Judas Iscariot: "What in that case is there to the fact that many take Him for the promised Messiah, and the more learned higher Romans even for the only true and almighty God?!"
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Says Thomas: "These are correct as well; for the power of God dwelling in Him is also the only true Messiah, and Jehovah Himself without further ado."
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With this Judas concurs, and although I heard such, I kept silent .
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But Peter noticed My silence, stood up and said: "Lord, I notice dissension about You even among the brethren! Permit me therefore, for the sate of the brethren to boldly add my own testimony about You!"
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Say I: "Do so! What therefore do you say?"
15
Says Peter, i.e. Simon Judah: "From the deepest conviction of my heart I say and testify before all the world: You are the Christ, Son of the living God!" (Matt. 16:16)
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Say I to Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon, son o Jonas; not your flesh and blood, but My Father Who is in heaven, has revealed this to you! (Matt. 16:17)
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I furthermore say unto you: you are Peter, a rock; upon this rock I will build My congregation (church), and the portals of hell shall not over come it (Matt. 16:18) And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven! Whatever you shall bind upon Earth shall also be bound in heaven, and that which you shall loosen upon Earth shall also be loosen in heaven (Matt. 16:19)
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Said Peter: "Lord, I thank You for such immense grace, for I feel the least worthy, for having been always and still am a gross sinner; but regarding the binding and loosening, I must admit openly that I can't understand it and don't know what to make of it; may it please You to make the thing more plain for me!"
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Say I: "This shall with time become completely clear to you; but I strictly forbid you all, for the time being to tell any man, before time, that I am Jesus, the true Christ" (Matt. 16:20)
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Following these important discussions, Matthew the Scribe asks whether to record all this.
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Say I: "Not the miracle of this place, and you don't need to mention the discussion between Thomas and Judas Iscariot; but perhaps the essentials of what I worked out with Peter. Just write the whole time as I will put the words into your heart, and everything will then be appropriate and correct!" - With this, the scribe was also satisfied and soon afterwards went to rest; but we stayed seated at the table until around midnight, and the people of the house came also and kept us quite comfortable company.