The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First journey of the Lord: Kis - landing place at Sibarah - Nazareth
- Chapter 94 -
The shared life of the Lord's friends at Nazareth.
The smiling Chief had just finished these remarks when a couple of town residents brought a sick who had suffered from raging for many years. Since he was poor his people had not dared to see a doctor to get him help, and they did not try to bring him to Me either because there was a rumour among some that whoever let himself be healed by Myself signed his soul over to Beelzebub. A similar tale was spun about Borus of having learnt such devilish tricks from Myself.
2
On seeing the familiar raging one being brought by his feeble-minded friends, Borus said to them: "Well now, what made you bring this sick one to me? What did he do to you that you now wish to deliver him to the devil?"
3
Say the two: "Lord, we have now been advised differently and hence brought him to you."
4
Says Borus: "And who was it that taught you differently?"
5
Say the two: "Lord, those very ones who held captive to such foolishness for a long time as if deceived."
6
Says Borus with a faint smile: "Sure, sure, but what am I to do about this raging one? Because due to your immense foolishness the evil has hardened up in him, and with your feebleness of faith it shall be hard to help this person."
7
Say the two: "If our faith had been weak we would not have brought the sick out to you!"
8
Says Borus: "Well then, let's see what God's power within man can accomplish!" Hereupon Borus, head uncovered, stepped over to the sick, saying: "In the name of Jesus, the Lord from eternity, I want you to be well, and so be well and walk in liberty!"
9
The same moment the raging one was wholly sound, glorifying God for endowing man with such power.
10
Borus himself praised God loudly, giving presents generously to the healed and his two friends and called for food and drink to be given them from the guest's tables.
11
Thereupon the Chief stepped over to Borus saying: "Verily, this I did not expect out of you! At the Synagogue today I indeed saw that an extraordinary power resides in the name Jesus, before which even the powers of the underworld have the most overawing respect; but that even physical sicknesses have to bow to this name my eyes have witnessed only over here. Verily, there must be more to this Jesus than just an Elijah type prophet for no sick has to my knowledge ever been healed in the latter's name. We shall have much to talk about this name yet, my dear friends!"
12
With these words the Chief moved over to the healed one, asking him whether he now felt fully healed.
13
Replied the healed: "I have never before in my life been as well as I am now - and I am now fifty and that surely means being healed?!"
14
The Chief praised him, handing him a handsome sum.
15
But the healed one pushed it back, saying: "Lord, there are many poorer ones here in Nazareth, give it to them. I am now able to work!"
16
Says the Chief: "That's unselfishness for you! Verily, this I was not expecting from you! Well, I am the Chief at the Synagogue in Nazareth and all of Galilee, and shall settle down here rather than in Capernaum, hence you shall be able to find me if you should find yourself in want."
17
Says the healed: "There are not very many good people, and so one should remember the few good ones and go to them when in need. I thank you for the offer, and I shall avail myself of your help when in need."
18
After these words, the three - the healed and his two guides - rise, thanked Borus and the Chief and departed home in good cheer. Their rented house stood a few hundred paces outside the town, like My own that was known to stand outside Nazareth, but at the opposite exit.
19
Following this happening at Borus' house, prolonged discussion was called forth, and the company breaks up only after midnight. The mother Mary remains at Borus" house for a while, being well looked after and deriving comfort, whilst the domestic affairs are taken over by My two eldest brothers who had stayed at home, and Borus is providing them with everything they had. And so My friends in Nazareth live in the best of harmony during My personal absence and are on about all day with Me and My doctrine and deeds which they had experienced in person.
20
The new Chief however, challenges everything with rising rigour, yet is constantly being persuaded contrariwise, for he too belonged to those who skim over what they had actually experienced the previous day and forgot what they had promised. Thus Chiwar and Roban had their hands full with this otherwise good person whose desire was to always be and act with punctilious righteousness but who nonetheless always floated between conflicting concepts of right and wrong: for he always pondered what was 'real' in the final analysis.
21
And if one demonstrated to him a thousand times that the right thing in actuality consisted in the living in accordance with God's Commandments, then today he would grasp this most fundamentally, but come tomorrow and he finds so many logical refutations that it was often hard for Chiwar to counter all the Chief's protestations. And Chiwar now understood why I had said to him to keep watching the Chief, for he could not be fully trusted for a long time yet.
22
But what engaged the Chief's curiosity most was the power in My name. Even if he was quite often unbearable, Chiwar easily brought him into line with My name. Borus, however, had the greatest influence on him and steadily kept bringing him around for at least a few days, so that he would believe firmly in My name.
23
Herewith is shown in general what the Nazarenes were doing after My departure and so let us pass over to Myself again and what else I was doing and teaching on the evening after I left Nazareth, and where and how I went.