The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 82 -
Raphael as a pilot rescues embattled Greeks.
Cyrenius strained his eyes in vain; he could not perceive any part of a ship. It was just as bad for Mark; but other very sharp-sighted people noticed the ships like three little flies moving across the sea and said, "Lord! With a favorable wind it will take them a good two hours to get to this shore!"
2
I say, "Just you don't worry about that; My sailor will have the ship on shore at the right time!"
3
The thirty young Pharisees ask, "Where and who is the person for whom such a thing is possible?"
4
I say, "You know the young mentor (educator) of Cyrenius" adopted son; that is he!"
5
The thirty ask fearfully, "Where then is a ship ready for him?"
6
Raphael now says, "I have no need of one!" and disappears in this moment. Everyone is shocked, believing that the youth has jumped into the water and that he will now aim for the ships in the water as fast as a fish. For many did not yet know that Raphael was actually an angel and therefore a quite pure spirit; many considered him to be Josoe"s mentor, while he was only a mentor of Jarah"s. But since he was spending more time here with Josoe than with Jarah, he was thought of by many here as the young mentor of Josoe.
7
But before the inquirers looked around, Raphael was already at the shoreline with the three quite large ships and was standing on board the ship in which the pious Greek was, full of amazement and terror, with his even more pious daughter; for in the first place the incomprehensible swift landing on a for him unknown coast seemed to him like a dream, and in the second place he didn't know what he should make of the young sailor and could not account for this wonderful event; for the transformation happened too fast and surprised him too much.
8
The sailors were also standing like columns by their oars and didn't dare put their oars into the water again. After a short while of deepest amazement and wonder the Greek asked the youth in deepest respect, saying, "Who are you, powerful being? Who called you to bring us so quickly to a good shore and for which reasons?"
9
Raphael says, "Don't ask instead look at the sun which will now soon lose its light for a few moments! If you were at sea, the ship"s boy"s evil superstition would have thrown you and your daughter over board and then divided the treasure that you brought along with you; but our great, divine Master saw such things in advance and thus sent me to your swiftest rescue. You are now in the most complete safety, but nonetheless unpleasant things will yet happen to you, and therefore I must remain in the ship with you during the dark catastrophe, otherwise you would still have to face much hardship with the rough ship"s boys."
10
The Greek now looks round at the sun and notices to his and his daughter"s terror that there is only a very narrow edge left of the sun, rises from his seat and thunders a curse up to the evil dragon that is now threatening to totally consume the sun.
11
It was the pious custom of some heathens from Asia Minor to send up a pile of the worst curses to the terrible dragon on the occasion of a solar eclipse, so that he would be afraid and spit out the consumed sun again and then it would shine out again. But the old man was not yet finished with his pious curses when the sun was completely hidden by the moon.
12
Then a sudden wild howling went up among the ship"s boys, but also among the Roman soldiers on the shore, and the ship"s boys, almost rioting through fear, fell upon the Greek and wanted to throw him into the sea along with his daughter and with Raphael; for they blamed the three for the most terrible scourging by the gods, and wanted to pacify them in this way. But Raphael lifted all the ship"s boys out of the ships and set them on the land; but he threw the worst one into the sea who as a good swimmer had work to do to reach the land, very exhausted, quite far from the ships.