The Great Gospel of John
Volume 9
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord's journey through Samaria
- Chapter 62 -
The promise and the blessing of the Lord for the inhabitants of the mountain village.
Thus, stay with My teaching, then I also will stay with you in spirit, as I am also staying with all men who believe in Me and live and act according to My teaching, and with those who will, just like you, accept those in all love and kindness and give food and drink to those whom I have sent out to proclaim the gospel to all nations, that means the coming of God's Kingdom on Earth, of what it consists and what its nature is.
2
Because those whom I am sending out now are like the prophets, and the one who will do something good for a prophet in earthly respect, will also receive the reward of a prophet, which consists in the fact that I will be and remain with him in spirit, just as I am and remain with the prophet, and he will not lack any blessings from My part.
3
Until now you troublesomely have cultivated the ground, which is very stony. And your lands, gardens and fields have produced a meager harvest, but you did not grumble and have thanked God also for that which is little. And for you He also has blessed that which is little, and it was sufficient for your need. And by your neighborly love it was also sufficient for the many strangers who came to you while they were hungry, thirsty and often also naked.
4
Since you were faithful in that which is little, your soil - which surface area is truly not small - will from now on lose its very stony nature, and in the future you will receive rich harvests, and you will also need many servants. In short, the spirit that I will awaken in you, will teach you how you should maintain and cultivate your earthly fields and lands in the future.
5
When your soil will be full of blessings, do then not become arrogant, but stay as you are now, then My blessings will also stay with you, naturally and spiritually. This is how it is and how it will stay, as you also will actively stay in My teaching."
6
After these words of Mine, all the inhabitants of the small mountain village who were present, threw themselves on their knees and thanked Me for the mercy that I had given them. The old man and the man who was completely healed could hardly speak because of their tears of gratefulness. But I ordered them to stand up and to cheerfully go to work, which they also did. Only the old man and the one who was healed stayed, and with a happy look they stared at Me and My disciples.
7
The healed one said: "O what must these chosen disciples of Yours be happy, because they are continuously in Your presence, o Lord, and they can be a witness of all Your deeds and teachings."
8
I said: "For this reason, later, when I no longer will be with them as a visible person, and will be there from where I came, they will also have to endure all the more heavy trials of life and all kinds of persecutions on the part of the world, because the world, as it is now, is blind and deaf. They will hate them because of My name, as they are also hating Me, because they have never known Me and will also not know Me, and so they will perish in their sins and cruel deeds.
9
Look, then it will be easier for you in this world, although they will also often investigate about you to know if also you believe in Me and act and live according to My teaching.
10
If they will ask you about it, then do not be scared and do also not think about what you will answer the questioners and tempters. At the moment you will need it, the right answer will surely be put in the mouth, and then not 1 tempter in 1.000 will be able to answer you back. I can also give you that complete assurance."
11
They were both reassured, and I gave the disciples a sign that it was time to travel on.
12
Then the disciples prepared themselves to go, and I joined them, and with the speed of the wind we left the mountain village. Before the inhabitants of the village were able to look back we were already completely out of their sight, and this fast disappearance made some to think that we were ghosts, but the old man and the one who was healed explained to them who I was and that therefore everything was possible to Me.
13
The next year when their stony fields were changing into flourishing agricultural land, their faith became still stronger, and from time to time I appeared visibly among them and strengthened them in their faith and their love, patience and meekness. For when they heard that I was crucified in Jerusalem and died on the cross, some of them became very frightened and began to doubt. Therefore it was necessary to go personally to them and show Myself as Lord and as conqueror of death. At these opportunities I comforted them and explained to them from the Scripture that all this had to happen to Me, so that every soul who believes in Me would pass through the dark gate of death into eternal glory through which I went and where I already had been since eternity. I explained to them that the things which happened were done out of love for men, so that by their faith in Me and My incarnation they would become My true children, being equal to Me in everything, for the sake of their salvation, but also for the judgment over the evil world. After that, these inhabitants of the mountain village that became famous in a few years time, became true heroes in faith and in their actions.