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 242 -
The Archangel Raphael's miracle with the stone.
Says Jarah: "Yes, my esteemed friends, I could continue to testify the rarest things to you for a thousand years continuously, about the Saviour from Nazareth, if the time has come for being permitted to tell everything one has seen and experienced; but for supreme wisdom's sake He forbade it, whence I must not tell everything that I know about Him, but only the little that He gave me the permission to do.
2
But before that I said to you among other things that sun, moon and all the stars also have to obey the good Saviour from Nazareth, whilst even the angels of heaven obey Him. And I noticed that some of you shook your heads derisively, trying to as-it-were say therewith: dear child, your imagination is taking you a little too far; for the pure angels of heaven obey only God, and no one else in all of infinity! Yet I say unto you that things nevertheless are here as I harmlessly indicated it to you.
3
I would have given you the convincing proof earlier, had you not smiled and shaken your head rejectingly; but now I shall hit your doubt over the head, and you shall not lightly take me for a little fool in love, who as customary in the world makes a fly into an elephant as concerns the object of her heart. Oh, this may unmistakably be the case with many worldly maiden of the big world; but of such, not the smallest trace shall be found with me, - of which I shall deliver the most vital and obvious proof.
4
Look there at the youth who, as second on my right, is conversing with the son of esteemed Cyrenius; - who do you take this youth for?"
5
Say those asked: "Well then - for a human with flesh and blood like ourselves!"
6
Says Jarah, with a faint smile and shaking her head: "Wrong - by the high of the sky, my dear friends! Behold, this is a purest archangel of God, whom the renown Saviour from Nazareth has given me out of the numberless angels for my own benefit and guidance, tuition and leading for an extended period! If however you cannot believe this on my word, then come over here and convince yourselves with all your senses; for he shall be at your service for a few moments!"
7
Says the former speaker: "Indeed, of this I have to convince myself with hands and feet, otherwise the wise maiden's testimony goes way over my head!"
8
With these words, the young Pharisee rises and goes respectfully over to Jarah, saying: "Now, how are you going to substantiate it?"
9
Says Jarah: "Go over to the youth, whose name is Raphael, and he himself shall substantiate it!"
10
The young Pharisee steps over to Raphael, who rises and fixes the young Pharisee with his eyes, saying: "Why do you doubt what my disciple has told you? Here, grasp my hand and tell me what you feel!"
11
The Pharisee does so, and says with astonishment: "Him, peculiar, I don't actually feel anything, except my own, tightly closed hand, where there would be no room for a fly, let alone your whole hand! In short, I'm reaching through you and realize that verily, you are not flesh and blood like us!"
12
Say Raphael: "Pick up a stone lying at your feet, and hand it to me!"
13
The young one lifts a stone, weighing close on thirty pounds, saying however: "If my hand goes through yours then this stone also falls through your hand, as through air, for the stone weights at least thirty pounds, and if it falls on my feet it shall crush them!"
14
Says Raphael: "Should this happen, then I shall heal them in a moment . Hence put the stone into my hands untroubled!"
15
The young Pharisee puts the stone in Raphael's hands.
16
On holding the heavy stone in his hands and tossing it about like a ball of feathers, to the astonishment of the young Pharisee, the latter says: "Hearken, dearest spirit or whatever it would not be too good to pick a fight with you, for one is bound to be the loser! But from where do you get such power?"
17
Says Raphael: "Behold, this is nothing yet; I shall crush this pebble stone into powder in front of your eyes!" Here Raphael crushes the stone to visible dust, leaving a heap of the finest white dust on the table in front of him.
18
On seeing this second effort, the young Pharisee bent over in astonishment, and his colleagues also rushed to get a closer look.
19
Says the angel: "For someone who has the power, it is not as hard to crush a stone as it is to press the dust back into its former compactness and shape, because every man can grind up a stone, even if not by hand, but with a very hard iron hammer. But the later pressing together of the stone dust shall hardly ever be possible to man, - especially into its previous form. But that you may see that this also is possible to me, pay attention and see if you can emulate me!"
20
Raphael pushed the stone dust on the table together, and same instantly assumed its former shape and wight, on the table in front of the angel.
21
The young Pharisee and his colleagues' eyes dilate in astonishment, and he is speechless.
22
But the angel says to him: "Behold, this all is nothing yet! Pay attention now, I shall completely annihilate this stone instantly into nothing, just through my will." - Whereupon the angel says to the stone: "Dissolve thyself into relevant ether, and rarefy into finest ether!" - Upon these commanding words, the stone in one moment became invisible, and no man saw anything of it. - The angel asks the young Pharisee: "Now, how do you like that, my friend? Could you copy that?"
23
Says the young Pharisee: "Hearken, you dear angelic spirit or whatever, this is unheard of! I now for my part believe that you are an angel of God. Only one thing I don't understand, - namely: how, with all that, one might say almighty power, you can still be subordinate to a person of this Earth! Because this maiden also said such about the Saviour of Nazareth, and now I have to believe it, whether I want to or not.
24
Is there upon Earth in all seriousness a means by which one can subordinate you? How did yonder person come to that? We do indeed have examples in the Scripture where angels served men in response to God's command; but the way you now find yourself among mortal men, Scripture has no precedent! No, no friends, here things are not going on in a normal way! You can indeed be an angel of the Lord, but equally someone quite different, where one says: 'Jehovah be with us!' - It now is night and indeed midnight, when the 'Jehovah-be-with-us' likes to join up with mankind. You are of course much too beautiful, gentle, good and wise for such 'Jehovah-be-with-us'; but one can never place much store by that!? If however you should have honour of being somewhat of a 'Jehovah-help-us', then we don't think much of an acquittance with the amazing 'Saviour' from Nazareth, because this test with the stone has now got me thinking rather strangely, - 'Jehovah-be-with-us'!. It is not said for nothing that Satan can also assume the light-form of heaven wherever it suits him! And if you were to be somewhat of a 'Jehovah-be-with-us' then we would prefer to fly rather than walk away from here, because things could get scary for us here."
25
After these words, all are about to take to their heels, but Cyrenius stops them from doing so, signifying them back to their places. They sat down again indeed, but seemingly as if on needles.