Bernhard Pick

“ Art thou John, who said that my Kingdom would speedily be uprooted, and that another King, Jesus, was going to reign instead of me? And John answered and said to him: Thou also shalt reign for many years given to thee by God, and after thee very many others; and when the times of the things upon earth have been fulfilled, out of heaven shall come a King, eternal, true, Judge of living and dead, to whom every nation and tribe shall confess, through whom every earthly power and dominion shall be brought to nothing, and every mouth speaking strange things shall be shut. ”

“ And the apostle seized with joy, said, "I give thanks to thee, Lord Jesus, that thou hast revealed thy truth in these men. For thou alone art the God of truth and not another; and thou art he who knowest all things that are unknown to many; thou, O Lord, art he who in all things showest mercy and compassion to men. For men, through the error that is in them, have overlooked thee, but thou hast not overlooked them. ”

“ Well for thee, O cross, which hast put on the Lord, hast gathered in the robber, hast called the apostle to repentance, and hast not deemed us unworthy to be received by thee! But why do I speak yet so long and allow not the cross to embrace me, in order to be raised to life in the cross, when I, through the cross, have gone from life to death, which is the lot of all? Come then, servants of my joy and beadles of Aegeates, and fulfill the wish of both of us and bind the lamb to the cross of suffering, the man to the demiurge, the soul to the Saviour! ”

“ Tell me, therefore, who thy God is, and on whose power thou reliest and in which thou gloriest? For if it is a power and are of sorcery, tell it and teach it, and I set thee free." Says Judas to him, "Thou art the son of King Misdai, who is a temporal king. I am, however, the servant of Jesus Christ, the eternal King. Thou art at liberty to tell thy father that he spare those whom thou wishest in this temporal life, in which men remain not, though thou and thy father give it to them. ”

“ What have we to do with thee, apostle of the Most High? What have we to do with thee, servant of Jesus Christ? What have we to do with thee, counselor of the Holy Son of God? Why wilt thou destroy us before our time? [38] Why wilt thou take our power? For until the present hour we had hope and time left us. What have we to do with thee? Thou art powerful in thine own, and we in our own. Why wilt thou use tyranny against us, since thou teachest others not to use violence? [39] Why dost thou covet that which is not thine own like one who is not satisfied with what he has? ”

“ God, hidden from the inhabitants of India; God, who hast shown thy glory through thy apostle Thomas; God, of whom we heard and in whom we believe; God, to whom we have come to be saved; God, who out of kindness and compassion didst come down to our weakness; God, who didst seek us when we did not know thee; God, who dwellest in the heights and art not hidden from the depths, take from us the madness of Charis." Upon hearing this, Charis said to Mygdonia, "Justly thou callest me bad and ugly and mad! ”

“ What now, men of Ephesus? I ventured now to come down to this idol's temple, to convince you that you are wholly without God and dead through human reasonings. Behold, here I stand. You all assert that Artemis is powerful. Pray to her, that I alone die! Or if you cannot accomplish this, I alone will call upon my God to kill you all on account of your unbelief."
40. Since they already knew him and had seen how the dead woke up, they cried aloud, "Deal not thus with us and kill us, we beseech thee, John; we know, indeed that thou canst do it." ”

“ Upon hearing this, Tertia went hastily to the house of Sifôr to see the new apostle which had come into the land. When she entered, Judas said to her, "What hast thou come to see? A stranger and poor and despised and beggar, who has neither riches nor possession? But one possession I have which neither a king nor a prince can take away, which is neither destroyed nor does it cease, which is Jesus, the redeemer of mankind, the Son of the living God, who gave life to all which believe on him and take their refuge to him, and who is known by the number of his servants." ”

“ For thine ever intenser sighing and unceasing weeping has given me a sign for my already approaching end, that I have not spoken my words in vain to thee."
12. And Stratocles answered him, " Think not, most blessed Andrew, that I suffer under any other affliction, but for thee! For the words which come out of thy mouth are like a stream of fire, emptying itself in me, and each seizes me and truly influences me. My soul is in that which is heard, and in anticipation of an approaching affliction it is chastised. Thou findest thy death, and I well know, a beautiful one. ”

“ But to thee, demon, and thy son, which follows thee—I say—for now I have been sent for your sakes—but why make many words about your nature and origin, which you know yourselves and are nevertheless impudent? Judas Thomas, the apostle of Jesus the Messiah, who has been sent hither out of much love and kindness, commands you, Go out in the presence of all the people here and tell me of what family you are! ”

“ Lord, the Lord of each soul, which dwelleth in a body; Lord, Father of the souls which hope in thee and wait for thy mercy, who redeemeth thy men from error, and freest from servitude and corruption those who are subject to thee and take refuge with thee, come to the fold of Xenophon, anoint them with holy oil, heal their wounds and keep them from the grievous wolves. ”

“ And a priest, one of the hearers, came to John, seeing the partridge running before him, and said within himself, fretfully, "Such a great and old man rejoices over a partridge running in the sand!" But John perceived his thoughts and said to him, "It were better if thou, too, my son, would look at a partridge running in the sand, and would not contaminate thyself with disgraceful and impure acts. He who expects the repentance and conversion of all has brought thee hither for that cause. For I have no need of a partridge running in the sand. The partridge is thy soul." ”

“ We glorify the name of the Son called through thee. We glorify thy resurrection manifested to us through thee. We glorify thy way; we glorify thy seed, the word, the grace, the faith, the salt, the unspeakable pearl, the treasure, the plow, the net, the greatness, the diadem, him called Son of man for our sakes, who has given us the truth, the rest, the knowledge, the power, the commandment, the trust, the hope, the love, the freedom, and the place of refuge in thee. For thou alone, O Lord, art the root of immortality and the fountain of incorruption, and the seat of the ages ”

“ And the people rose up from the ground and made haste to destroy also the remainder of the temple, crying, "We know that the God of John is the only one, and henceforth we worship him, since we have obtained mercy from him." And as they came down, many of the people touched John, saying, "Help us, John, help us who die useless! Thou seest our intention; thou seest how the multitude following thee cleaves to the hope in thy God. We saw the way, which we have gone astray, when we lost it. We saw that our gods are erected in vain. ”

“ And the apostle began to say, "Jesus Christ, whose knowledge is despised in this country; Jesus Christ, of whom nothing has been heard in this country; Jesus, who receivest all apostles in every country and every city, and by whom all worthy of thee are glorified; Jesus, who has taken thee a form and becamest like a man and didst appear to all of us in order not to separate us from thy love; Lord, thou art he who hast given himself for us and has bought us with a price by his blood, as a precious possession. ”

“ I have riches and honor, and all know that none has such a family as mine. But thou art my riches and honor, thou art family and kindred. And behold, he separates thee from me."
117. When Charis had said this, Mygdonia said to him, "He whom I love is better than thee and thy possession. For thy possession, being earthly, returns to earth. But he whom I love is heavenly and shall bring me also into heaven. Thy riches shall pass away, and thy beauty shall be destroyed, so likewise thy garments and thy many works. And thou remainest alone with thy trespasses. ”

“ Look upon us, O Lord, because we have left those related to us by ties of kindred, in order that we may be united in relationship to thee. Look upon us, O Lord, who have left our fathers and mothers and providers, that we behold thy father, and be satisfied with his divine nourishment. Look upon us, O Lord because for thy sake we left our bodily wives and our earthly fruit, in order that we may share in that true and lasting communion and bring forth true fruits, whose nature is from above, which no one can take from us, in which we abide and they abide with us. ”

“ What is thy judgment, O proconsul? Thou hast judged wickedly; thy awards are impious. In what has the man clone wrong; what evil has he done? The city has been put in an uproar. Thou grievest us all; do not betray Csesar's city. Grant willingly to the Achaians the just man; do not put to death the God-fearing man; destroy not the godly! Four days he has been hanging and is alive. Having eaten nothing he has filled us all. Take down the man from the cross, (p. 29) and we shall all seek after wisdom. Release the man, and to all Achaia will mercy be shown. ”

“ And when they were baptized and had dressed, he put bread on the table, and blessing it, said, "Bread of life, whose eaters shall be imperishable; bread which satisfies hungry souls with its blessedness—thou hast been deemed worthy to receive a gift, that thou becomest to us a forgiveness of sins, and those that eat thee, immortal; we name over thee the name of the mother, the hidden mystery of the hidden dominions and powers, we name over thee the name of Jesus." And he said, "Let the power of the blessing rest upon the bread, that all souls which partake of it be delivered from their sins." ”

“ And John had compassion for Cleopatra, and, perceiving that she became neither restless nor excited, he called upon the full mercy free from presumption, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, thou seest that she collects herself; thou seest that she imposes restraint on herself; thou seest how Cleopatra's soul cries in silence. For she hides within herself the insufferable grief. And I know that she will die yet because of Lycomedes." ”

“ But the wild ass which by the power of God was able to speak said to the apostle, whilst all were silent and looked on what they would do, "Why standest thou idle, apostle of the Most High, who waits that thou beseech him for the greatest knowledge? What dost thou delay? For thy teacher wishes to show his great deeds by thy hands. What standest thou, herald of the hidden One? For thy Master will make known through thee the secret, reserving it for those, whom he deems worthy to hear it. What restest thou, who performs great deeds in the name of the Lord? ”

“ And those that were healed by him said with one accord and one voice, "Glory to thee, Jesus, who in like manner hast given healing to all through thy servant and apostle Thomas! And being in good health, and rejoicing, we pray thee, that we may become members of thy flock and be counted among thy sheep. Receive us, therefore, O Lord, and consider not our trespasses and our former transgressions, which we have done, because we were in ignorance!" ”

“ And Lycomedes said to John, " I beseech and adjure thee by the God in whose name thou hast revived us, abide with us with all thy companions." In like manner did also Cleopatra. And John answered, "To-morrow I will be with you." And they said again to him, " We have no hope in thy God, but would be revived in vain, if thou didst not abide with us." And Cleobius, Aristodemus and Daemonicus, grieved to the very heart, said to John, "Let us abide with them, that they remain unmolested with the Lord!" ”

“ I know thy mystery, that, for whose sake thou hast been stablished. For thou art placed in the world to strengthen the wavering. And thou reachest up to heaven, to proclaim the upper Logos. Thou art spread out to the right and to the left to put to flight the fearful, hostile power and to bring together the dispersed. Thou art fastened in the earth to connect that which is in the earth and under the earth with that which is in heaven. O cross, salvation-instrument of the Most High! ”

“ Why hast thou robbed me and caused loss to me without having profited anything thyself? Why hast thou hurt me without having any benefit? Why hast thou killed me without having life thyself? Why hast thou wronged me without having obtained the right thyself? Why didst thou not suffer me to kill the sorcerer, ere he destroyed my house by his sorcery?" And he quarreled with Charis, and Charis said, "What has happened to thee?" And Misdai said, "He has bewitched Tertia!" And both went to the house of the commander Sifôr. And they found Judas sitting and teaching. ”

“ For all these things are only a support for the body. But rather believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we proclaim,. that your hope may be upon him and you have in him the eternal life, that he may be your companion in this land of wandering, a haven in this troublous sea and an overflowing fountain in this thirsty land and a house full of food in the place of the hungry, and rest for your souls, and also a physician of the bodies. ”

“ Jesus, who didst wreathe this crown by thy twining, who hast inserted these many flowers into the everlasting flower of thy countenance, who hast sown these words into my soul, who art the only fosterer and physician of thy servants, who healest freely, who art benignant and not haughty, alone merciful and kind, alone a Saviour and just; thou who always seest what concerns all, and art all, and everywhere present, comprising all and replenishing all, Christ Jesus God Lord, who with thy gifts and thy compassion protects those that hope in thee ”

“ And Misdai said to the apostle, "Why teachest thou this new doctrine, which gods and men hate and in which there is no profit?" And Judas said, "What bad thing do I teach?" Misdai said, "Thou teachest that it is impossible for men to have life with God unless they keep pure to the God whom thou preachest." Judas said, "Thou speakest true, O king; this I teach indeed. For tell me: art thou not indignant when thy soldiers accompany thee in filthy garments? ”