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 99 -
Jored's poor little fishing village is wonderfully blessed by the Lord.
After the disciples have completed their lessons, all came again to Me and thanked Me with risen hands for the healing and especially for the teaching, through which they, for the first time, came to the realization, what actually a person is and what is his destiny.
2
But I said to them: "My dear people, do accordingly, and only then it will become fully clear to you, that the teaching which you have listened to, does not originate from an ordinary person, but comes truly out of the mouth of God and is in itself the highest and purest truth and carries the life in it!"
3
They all promised it wholeheartedly to strictly observe everything, and they asked for only one thing, namely that I, since it should also be possible for Me, to bless their little village a little, to the extend that regarding their natural existence, they could live a little easier and that they do not have to live so meagre and poverty stricken. If, until now, they had to continuously work for their scantiest food under only the biggest strain, they could spend only too little time on this new and so serious matter of life, which would be very painful for them.
4
Said I: "Now, what is it you want? Would you like to have lush pastures for your goats and sheep, and would you also like to have fruit trees and fruit fields and a copious fisheries and alongside perhaps also better houses and industrial buildings?"
5
Said the chairman: "O, Lord and Master of life and all things, all this would be very good and highly desirable for us, but we are still not worthy of all this! For the time being we are therefore more than fully content with only a little better pasture for our skinny goats and sheep. If now and then we also could be blessed with a rich catch of fish, we would anyhow be the most fortunate people on earth!"
6
Said I: "Listen, with you truly the old proverb applies which says: 'Who doesn't honour the small, is not worth the bigger!' But since you honour the small, you are also worth the bigger. And as such you will receive everything what I have pronounced before!"
7
In the same moment sweet little homes with good industrial buildings were present, the wide sand- and coarse gravel steppe was transformed into most lush pastures and in between the pastures the most fruit-rich wheat-fields could be seen. Around the houses with good fences the noblest fruit-trees of all kinds flaunted, even grapes were not missing and regarding the fishing waters, it was blessed to such an extend, that one already could see from shore schools of the best fish, and the free pastures were full of goats and sheep; but also inside the new fences which passed sweetly around the dwellings, industrial buildings and fruit-trees, the inhabitants observed a large number of poultry as it was custom with the rich Greeks.
8
When the poor inhabitants all of a sudden saw all this at once, they initially did not know whether this was reality or only a beautiful dream. Only after a while they recovered and started a thanks howling.
9
But I calmed them down again and firstly warned them to never be presumptuous about it, since quite easily a flood could take everything away from them again, and secondly that they should not make it known to all the world how they have come to all this, since the world who thereby could come here, could not understand something like this, would laugh about it and would not omit to cause them harm. They should only say that this was a reward of their better life zeal. And thirdly, that among each other they should be full of love and be full of serving zeal, one for another, and that they should lead a pure, virtuous and thereby God pleasing life, and the present blessing will never leave them.
10
They promised Me all this wholeheartedly with tears and cries of joy.
11
Now I again said to them: "Go now into your new homes, take possession of everything what you will find therein!"
12
But they asked Me to mercifully assign these new houses to each one of them, since they could not discern to whom belong the one or other.
13
I then instructed the disciples to do this for these people. And the disciples did this and also this matter was soon brought to good order.
14
Since the residents found quite a lot of food inside their new houses, they wanted to come to Me again to express their repeated thanks to Me loudly; but the disciples told them that they should do this very quietly in their hearts and that I will understand them quite well, for even the most subtle thought of a person most far away would still be known to Me. Therefore they also should take to heart, not to allow any bad thoughts to rise in their hearts, for I would know immediately about it.
15
The inhabitants were content with that and began to look at everything with great joy, what was given to them by this miracle sign.