The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
At the Sea of Galilee (John 6)
- Chapter 128 -
The Lord in Samosata.
When we landed, immediately the toll collectors came along and hurriedly demanded their tax.
2
And I said to Peter: "Take a full pound of silver and give it to them on behalf of all of us!"
3
Peter did so and the toll collector said: "Lord, it is ten times too much, you will get a lot of change!"
4
However I said: "Then do good to the poor with it, keep all of it and show us a good inn; since we are going to stay here for today and tomorrow!"
5
Said the toll collector: "You stay with me; because I myself own the best and biggest inn!"
6
Said I: "Good, thus guide us there!"
7
Here we got off and after leaving the vessels they, including the treasuers, immediately sailed arrow fast upstream back home, which surprised the toll collector a lot and this even more so, because also the empty skipperless barge followed the other two by itself.
8
When the toll collector stopped wondering, he led us to his inn. This our Samosata toll collector's house and inn was very similar to the house of Jored in Chotinodora and had very much the same outlay; only the dining room was not that spacious and comfortable and elegantly decorated, - namely the sealing was not that nice to look at because it did not consisted of wooden beams, but was more according to oriental custom covered by a dirty sail cloth. But this didn't matter, since it was still the best hall in the whole of Samosata, and as such we took residence here although one of the robbers drew My attention to the fact that this inn was indeed one of the best in the whole town, but also was one of the most expensive; because for under ten cents nobody will last longer than one day. The landlord was a very money addicted fellow.
9
But I said: "Leave it at that! Tomorrow it will show what will be his invoice!"
10
When we sat around the long table, the innkeeper asked us what we wanted to eat and drink for lunch.
11
I said to him: "Bread and wine you have, and we do not need more, and you also have nothing else prepared; this evening we will supply ourselves."
12
Said the innkeeper very politely: "O my very honoured friend, I indeed have all kind of stock as meat, milk, butter, cheese, eggs, honey and all kinds of garden fruit; there are also good fish in my containers! You only have to command and everything will be prepared in the shortest of time!"
13
Said I: "Leave it at that, we stay with our first request; I only want the best wine, if you have one!"
14
The innkeeper called immediately upon his servants who carried bread and wine in sufficient quantities to the table, and I blessed both and asked all to eat and drink according to their heart's desire.
15
But the ten former robbers said: "Lord, we are not worthy to sit at your table and our clothes are too poor and dirty for you, where you lords are dressed so well!"
16
Said I: "This does not belong here; just do what I want and soon your clothes will improve! A person, when internally in order, is and stays a person even in the poorest of clothes."
17
We now ate and drank quite cheerfully and spoke very little. After we have ate and drank and hence strengthened our limbs, we got up from our seats and I asked the innkeeper about the bill.
18
But he said that this was already paid by the large excess of one pound of silver and for the rest we still could stay for another three days at his inn.
19
"Good", I said, "and now we can move completely unabashed to the outside and explore the town a little."
20
Said the innkeeper: "For sure, - but I will accompany you for your greater protection; because we have here a Roman court and a small Roman occupation and they are not too friendly towards travellers when meeting with them in anyway. However, if I as the main toll collector and also chairperson of the whole town accompany you, we will get through everywhere without problems. So that also I been fully covered in everything, it would be good if you could entrust only me with the truth who and wherefrom you are, and what really brings you here."
21
Said I: "Since you are a honest world soul and in your own way mean well with us, I as the Lord and Master say on behalf of Myself and all of us, and thus listen: I'm a Saviour of all Saviours of the earth and these are My disciples. Mainly we are Galileans. And for the time being you know enough!"
22
Said the innkeeper: "Ah, - so, so, - thus a son of Äskulaps and this your disciples?! Now, very well, very well; already during your arrival I thought something similar! But tell me, with what peculiar ships have you come here?! How possible could they sail so quickly upstream? This is something which I have never seen before! And to whom belongs all the gold and silver which was lying in the boat, in which you, Master, arrived here and all the pearls and gemstones?"
23
Said I: "It belongs to Me indeed, - but I gave it to the poor skippers, because they brought us safely to here. That the boats also could sail upstream, however, is a secret which I cannot yet explain to you, for the simple reason that you would not be able to understand such. But now let us go outside!"
24
With that the innkeeper was content and walked in front of us to show us the way and lead us to those points of the little town which according to his opinion were the worthiest seeing. We also came to the considerable building of the Roman captain who was just busy giving his soldiers orders in the main yard, how they had to keep guard during the night, because he received word that a large Persian caravan was on its way. They had to be stopped and searched for the type of goods and treasures they were carrying, so that the full legal duty fee could be levied.