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 201 -
Jarah's garden observations.
On hearing this, Jarah stands up like a fully-fledged speaker, saying;"Very well, the little garden is full of blessings from above, and I am eager to share my little child-like application, over jus a few days of course! The little garden has of course yielded little material profit so far - which could not be expected from its brief duration; notwithstanding this however, it has yielded me that much greater spiritual gain!
2
The little garden is for me indeed a book of the profoundest wisdom, and in just a few days I have learnt far more than Solomon in all his wisdom could have revealed to me; and so the answer to My question to Josoe has already emerged vividly in this very garden, being now in my sole possession and given to me by the Lord Himself! For were the full answer not within me, then verily I should never posed such question, in the blind hope that someone else should answer it for my comprehension.
3
Oh, I certainly have the full answer within me, and this applies not only for this time but for as long as there shall be a Word of God, and priesthood expounding same upon this dear mother Earth! And the full answer to the question is this:
4
I had cast diverse, precious and good fruit seeds into the rich little garden's soil. Some sprouted already the next day, and on the second day the shoots were already four fingers high over the soil.
5
A maiden, and especially I myself, is alway curious, and my insatiable curiosity drove me to see, at least with some of the strongly sprouting seeds, what actually in the end becomes of the seed, after sprouting from the earth. I therefore dug some up and looked at them attentively. And behold, as they say in Roman: 'Sappenti pause sufficient' (a little is enough for a wise-man - the ed.) - I found the seed decayed, and the surrounding soil covered with mildew! From this grave the little plant sprouted, whilst there was hardly anything left of the seed, other than a tiny portion of the hard, protective and seemingly imperishable pod cover.
6
Besides this notable phenomenon I unfortunately also noticed that some of the ungarnished seeds were consumed completely by the mildew, and there was nothing whatsoever left from which some fructifying sprout would or could have grown forth; but it did not on the other hand escape my keen eyes how above such completely rotted seeds, tiny and tender plants came forth from the soil that did not in the least have anything in common with the good and precious sprouts. Ahoy, I thought to myself, here you have it! These false sprouts are also bound to be a product of the good seeds cast into the fat soil; but the hungry soil has merely sated itself therewith, not permitting the proper sprout to shoot forth? But what does it gain? In place of the one precious sprout, thirty inferior ones shoot forth, ultimately depriving the soil of perhaps a hundred times more of the fat nutrients than the one good seedling might have done; for everything good and precious is also sufficient unto itself in every way, regardless of what it is.
7
Gold, unlike lead, does not have to be constantly polished in order to shine; it is polished once and then shines for centuries. - A vine grows fruitfully in most inferior ground, but thistles and thorns normally seek the best soil. The good and precious domestic animals rarely are rapacious, whereas a wolf, a hyenas and such-like beast would want to all but eat all day and night. Likewise the more noble and good human is undemanding whilst the evil and sinister worldling is ever satisfied with anything. Give him a hundred thousand pounds of gold, and his most avid desire will soon be to get another such lot, and it shall not concern him if all the other people starve to death from poverty! One meanness constantly engenders another!
8
Behold, the soil of my little garden therefore was partly un-precious and mean, wanting to fatten itself with the precious seeds that I had cast in it. What was the result? Instead of feeding the one previous and modest seedling, it had to feed a hundred rapacious and unprecious ones!
9
And behold, just as the foolish, mean and selfish soil does, so do the people of this Earth who try to create a heaven full of the most blessed enjoyments here already! In the end they have to let go of all their painstakingly acquired supplies, and a hundred others then squander them in the most slovenly fashion. -This now is an introduction to my forthcoming, full answer to my question. Receive this image deep into your feelings, and you shall very nearly find the answer yourselves!" - Here all are pondering, unable sufficiently to marvel at the maiden's immense wisdom.