The Great Gospel of John
Volume 6
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and the Priests of the Temple (John 5)
- Chapter 21 -
A wine miracle. The work in the vineyard of the Lord.
I said: "Do you want to be entertained by My miracles?! But behold, I am not like some magician who performs his false signs and miracles so that the blind and foolish people of the world are amazed and entertained by it, but instead I perform My signs only according to the will of Him who sent Me into this world as a man in flesh and blood and now also lives in Me; and if I perform a sign, then it must serve as a deep inner, spiritual instruction of the soul and at the same time be of all kind of good use to the people! But the sign that you desire, indeed with no impure intentions, has no real purpose here, no use and no benefit, and thus it is better if I do not perform it; for even without it you can all imagine already that all things are possible for God."
2
The same Greek Jew said: "Lord, You must forgive us the great blindness we still have, only as a consequence of which we could dare to ask You for another sign! Oh Lord, forgive us our cheeky audacity!"
3
I said: "No, no, My friends! Your request was quite natural; for He who can banish something into complete material nothingness must also be able to do the opposite! That is how you thought and also argued exactly, and that was indeed good and right! It would only not have been correct if you had thought one way and spoken in another. But you could not know, of course, that demanding a sign so quickly after the other one that had been performed was not quite in order, but only I alone could know! And so you have not committed any mistake at all with your desire, but nor have I, in that I did not immediately fulfill your desire. But since you have all now departed from your desire in your hearts and nonetheless believe even without a sign that I can also perform a opposite-sign, I will then perform such right now! Look and see whether you still have wine in your jugs!"
4
They looked, and behold, the jugs were empty.
5
Then the speaker said: "Lord, they are all empty!"
6
And I said: "Well, they shall all immediately be full!"
7
And behold, all the jugs were filled to the brim with the best wine!
8
Then the Greek Jews were amazed and said: "Just look at the miraculous power of the Lord! Hardly has He spoken the word and already the jugs stand full of the most superb-smelling wine! Oh, we would also like to become full of Your light and Your mercy through Your living words! Oh Lord, have patience with our great weaknesses!"
9
I said: "I can not and may not do the same with people as with these wine jugs; for that alone rests upon your striving and your own free will. But you all shall have no lack of My help. As much as you can do yourselves according to the measure of your strength, that you should do yourselves; whatever is beyond that will then be My business. For truly I say unto you all: Whatever you ask the Father in My name and according to My order which is well-known to you, that will be given to you in the measure of how it can bring benefit to your souls. But now drink, for it has already become evening!"
10
The Greek Jews now raised the jugs, gave thanks and said: "To a general blossoming of the great happiness that we found yesterday, for all Jews and all the people of the earth! May Your Word, Your teaching and Your mercy penetrate them all just as our bowels and limbs are penetrated and animated by this most superbly spiritual and sweetest, freely and newly created wine! Lord, Your will be done!"
11
Everyone said Amen to this, and I rose from My seat and said: "That was a good and true wish; therefore let us all drink from this gift of God for the certain thriving of this desire, and I also say My Amen to this! Indeed it will still take much effort and work; for the vineyard of God is large and still has few vines. Thus we must dig and plant new noble vines without rest or respite, so that the vineyard will be full of noble and fruitful vines, then the great harvest will give us a thousand times greater reward for our effort and work!
12
Truly we will have very much adversity of all sorts to overcome with this work, we will still be greatly persecuted, despised and ridiculed by great and small; but since we indeed know what we have and what we give, we will also easily bear the blind evil of the world with all patience, humility and meekness. For the Father wants it to be so, that His own should be first humiliated to the utmost in this world before they are raised to the eternal glory that no-one will ever be able to take away from them.
13
Even this fleshly body of Mine will not be excepted from this, as I have already told and shown to My disciples in advance. But despite all this we will certainly reach the great goal and conquer all judgment, death and hell. And once the victory has been achieved, then the long barred gates of heaven will be opened to the new children of God for eternity and the victory will remain for ever.
14
Indeed the opponents will also grow in all shapes and forms, and weeds will also flourish among the wheat, and in the vineyard the wild vines will set in and grow, but always only until a certain time; but then they will be cut out and thrown into the fire of judgment where there will be much howling and gnashing of teeth."
15
Then some asked: "Lord, what did You want to say with this?"
16
But I said: "As Moses' pure teaching was contaminated in time through the greed of man and through their worldly senses, so it will be with this purest teaching of Mine. They, the people of the world, will build temples again and will use them to gain money and other earthly goods and will thereby not respect the striving for My kingdom. They will go about prouder than the greatest princes and kings of the earth, clothed in gold and precious stones. Behold, those will be the weeds among the wheat and the wild vines in My vineyard!"