The Three Days in the Temple
Conversations of the twelve year old Jesus
- Chapter 7 -
The answer of the Boy Jesus to the speech of the High priest. Of the mission of the son of Zachariah, and of the miraculous power of the carpenter's son.
SAID the Judge to Me: "Well then, you gracious boy, what do you say to this speech of the High priest which surely has much truth in it?"
2
I said: "What else should I say to it than: Either he is right, and the prophet is a liar and therefore is not right, or the wrong falls back upon the High priest, and the prophet is not right, or the wrong falls back upon the High priest, and the prophet is right in spite of him! But both of them cannot possibly be right, for the High priest declares the exact contrary of what the prophet has foretold about the coming of the Messiah!
3
If the prophet says: 'See a virgin - but no wife - is with child and will have a son whom she will call Emanuel (i.e. 'God with us')', how is it then that the High priest declares that the Messiah shall only come down to men, from heaven to earth, under tremendous signs in the firmament, and with the greatest heavenly pomp and glory like an almighty warrior, and as one who has already been made king over all the peoples of the earth! If this were so, what benefit would it be for weak men who, full of terror in expectation of things to come, would pine away; at least more than half of them would do!
4
In this case I should rather maintain that such an advent of the Messiah would be very inopportune for the lords of the temple, and they, in the end, would prefer the arrival of the Messiah in that modest, unassuming way even as the prophet Isaiah described.
5
Now the High priest meant that the somewhat strange story of the son of Zachariah - who was throttled by priestly hands between the great altar of sacrifice and the Most Holy Place - is completely done with, and that no one thinks any more about it.
6
But I say that it is anything but done with as these lords believe, and very soon the time will come when the very same John shall break in among them like a mighty flash, and will summon them to a very great tribunal: his words will then be sharper for you than the fiery sharpest arrows.
7
And like the story of the above mentioned John, even thus, and even as a still worse judgment, will that marvelous Boy of Nazareth come upon you, and will show you His full divine majesty, but surely not to your uplifting but to your fall!"
8
Here the High priest looked with very angry eyes and said: "How do you know that, you foolish minded boy? Who has been confusing your brain with such things? And who are you then that you boldly tell us such things as these?"
9
I said: "I am who I am, and you have the register whence I came; why then do you still ask who and whence I am? Moreover I have already told you that I have come from Galilee and even also from Nazareth, and therefore know exceedingly well the Boy spoken of and am by no means so stupid as not to distinguish the works of a magician -even if from India -from those of the marvelous boy!
10
Just let one of you make twelve sparrows of clay and then put life into them merely through a word, so that they then fly about and look for their food and continue to have life like the rest!
11
Which of you is able to give back life instantaneously, through His word only, to a boy killed by a fall and quite shattered and restore him completely to bodily health?
12
Which of you can command the lightning that it should go hither and thither and slay a hyena that had robbed a mother of her child and had carried it off into the forest?
13
Which of you can, like that Boy, command a great storm of wind by night to be still, on an occasion wherein several towns and places were menaced with great danger through a numerous horde of robber murderers, who at night time approached Capernaum in a big ship nearly two hundred men strong and armed to the teeth?
14
The Boy of whom we are speaking, and who happened at the same time to be staying with his father in Capernaum, thus rescued the whole place! For at His word one of the most frightful sea storms sprang up, drove the boat with the sped of an arrow far away from the shore into the high sea, where the whole boat was destroyed by the force of the mighty waves, and infallibly sank with all the two hundred robber murderers.
15
These and many such deeds has that Boy already done, ever on behalf of afflicted mankind, and never has any one known Him to have asked any kind of reward from anybody. But that you may know that these are no fictions of Mine, you may call upon the whole of Nazareth and Capernaum as witnesses of their complete truth.
16
But if things are so, is that Child merely some book-taught sorcerer, or does He accomplish all that only through some divine power dwelling within Him? Or will you explain to Me how and with what means the Boy, according to your knowledge and wisdom, brings such things about?
17
You have answered My preliminary question badly; we shall now see what answer you will give to this capital question, and then we can easily come back to the preliminary question and make that into a capital question! But speak quickly, for the day is drawing in, and then we shall surely have to look for an evening meal!"