Acts of John preface–31

The Acts of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.

… remembering what had been commanded by his father concerning them, he set about expelling them all from the city of the Romans. But some of the Jews took courage and gave Domitian a petition in which this was written: "O Domitian, Caesar, king of the whole world, all of us who are Jews entreat you, and as suppliants we lie before your power, that you will not drive us away from your divine and benevolent presence; for we are obedient to you, doing no wrong in customs and laws and practices and ways of life, but of one mind with the Romans. But there is a new and strange nation, neither obedient to our customs nor in agreement with the religious observances of the Jews: uncircumcised, inhuman, lawless, overturning whole households, proclaiming a man as God; they all gather into an assembly under a strange name, that of Christians. These set God aside, paying no heed to the law given by him, and proclaim as Son of God a man born of ourselves named Jesus, whose parents and brothers and whole family are descended from the Hebrews; whom, because of his great blasphemy and lawless babbling, we handed over to the cross.

And they join to the first lie another, blasphemous one: for this man, who was fixed to the cross and buried, they glorify as risen from … [Other recension: … they reported to the emperor as follows:]

[Other recension: "To the Emperor Caesar …, victor, bearer of trophies: Be it known to you that a certain man named John, a Jew by race, of the religion of the Galileans, having come to Asia, and even to your subject city of the Ephesians, has utterly unsettled it and turned it away from its ancestral religion, drawing all after him, so that a strange name and another nation has arisen; and unless you make haste and quench him quickly, he will destroy both the nation and the country."] … the dead; and besides this they falsely claim that he was taken up in clouds into the heavens." At all this the king, seized with anger, ordered the senate by decree to put to death without restraint all who confessed themselves to be Christians. So those who were found at the very time of his anger, gathering the fruit of endurance and fighting the hard-fought contest against the works of the devil, received the refreshment of incorruption. And the teaching of John was spread abroad in Rome, even to the ears of Domitian: that there was a certain

Hebrew in Ephesus named John, who was spreading reports about the empire of the Romans, saying that it would soon be uprooted, and that the kingdom of the Romans had been handed over to another. [5] Domitian, troubled at what was said, sent a centurion with soldiers to seize John and bring him. And when they came to Ephesus they enquired where John lived. And coming to his gate they found him standing before the doors, and thinking him the doorkeeper they asked him where John lived. And he answered and said: "I am he." But they, despising his modest, humble and poor appearance, rebuked him with threats, saying: "Tell us the truth." And when he again confessed that he was the one they sought, and the neighbours too [Other recension: And the emperor Hadrian, hearing this, sent swift soldiers to summon the apostle to him. And the soldiers hastened and reached Ephesus. And when they asked, "Where," he says, "is John the Galilean?", they were shown our cell. And coming near they found the Theologian and say to him: "Are you John the Galilean?" And he says: "Yes, I am." And seeing the virtue of the man, his humility and quietness, and also the comeliness of his face, they honoured the man the more; and with respect they say to him: "The king of the Romans calls you; come, travel with us." And the Theologian, receiving this message,] bore witness, they told him to come out at once with them to the emperor at Rome. And when he asked them to take provisions, he turned back, took a few dates, and came out at once.

And the soldiers, taking public carriages, travelled quickly, seating him in the middle. When they came to the first stage, it being the hour of breakfast, they begged him to be of good cheer and take bread and eat with them. And John said: "In soul I rejoice, but for the present I do not wish to take food." And they drove on and were carried along swiftly. And when evening came they put up at an inn, and as it was by then the hour for supper, the centurion and the soldiers, being very kind, begged John to partake of what was set before them. But he said that he was tired and needed sleep more than any food. And as he did this every day, all the soldiers were astonished, and were afraid that John might die and involve them in danger; but the Holy Spirit showed him to them more cheerful. And on the seventh day, it being the Lord's day, he said to them: "Now it is time for me too to take food." And having washed his hands and face [Other recension: he quickly rose, took his cloak, and tied in it about two handfuls of dates; and going out he says to them: "Come, let us go." At once the soldiers took John, letting me also follow, and travelled with haste. And having completed a journey of seven days, John partook of no food. And the soldiers, seeing him continue without food, were distressed, fearing that from his long fasting he might lose his strength and his life and bring upon them a most pitiable death from the emperor; and they entreated him, rolling at his feet, to take food. And the Theologian, wishing to put them at ease, took some of the dates which he had tied in his cloak and ate them before them. So the soldiers …] and having prayed, he brought out the linen cloth, took one of the dates, and ate it in the sight of all.

So after a long time they completed the journey, John fasting in this way. And bringing him to the emperor they said: "Augustus, king, we bring to you John, a god and not a man; for from the hour we arrested him until now he has not tasted bread." Amazed at this, Domitian stretched out his mouth, wishing to greet him with a kiss because of the marvel; but John, bending his head, kissed his breast. And Domitian said: "Why have you done this? Did you not think me worthy to kiss you?" And John said to him: "It is right first to worship the hand of God, and so to kiss the mouth of the king; for it is written in the holy books: 'The heart of the king is in the hand of God.'"

And the king said to him: "Are you John, who said that my kingdom would soon be uprooted, and that another, Jesus, is to reign in my place?" And John answered and said to him: "You too will reign for many years, those given you by God, and after you very many others; and when the times on earth are fulfilled, there will come from heaven a king eternal, true, judge of the living and the dead, to whom every nation and tribe will confess, through whom every earthly authority and rule will be abolished, and every mouth that speaks great things will be stopped. This is the Lord, the mighty one, and king of all breath and flesh, the Word and Son of the living God, who is Jesus Christ."

To this Domitian said to him: "What is the proof of these things? I am not persuaded by words alone; words are the appearance of things unseen. What can you show, earthly or heavenly, by the power of him who is to reign, as you say? He will do it, if he is the Son of God." At once John asked for a deadly poison. And when the king ordered poison to be given, they brought it at once. So John took it and put it in a large cup, filled it with water and mixed it, and crying out with a loud voice said: "In your name, Jesus Christ, Son of God, I drink the cup which you will sweeten; and mix the poison in it with your Holy Spirit, and make it a drink of life and salvation, for healing of soul and body, for digestion, for harmless management, for … [Other recension: … using illusions and magical tricks; but you also preach and worship another god besides the gods who are revered among us. However, I will make trial and learn whether the god whom you preach will help." Then the king, calling a notable magician, a worker of the devil, says to him: "Prepare me a poison such that whoever drinks it dies instantly." Hearing this from the king, the magician went off and did what the king had ordered, and brings it to him; and the king says: "Let it be given to John the Galilean." And the magician filled the cup and hands it to the Theologian. And he, receiving the poison and sealing it, and …] … And as all marvelled at the signs that had happened, and Domitian, seized with fear, was going away to the palace, John said to him: "Domitian, king of the Romans, is it your wish that in your presence and with you as witness I should today become a murderer? What is to happen about the dead man lying here?" And he ordered him to be lifted up and thrown out. But John went up to the corpse and said: "O God, maker of the heavens, Lord and Master of angels, glories and dominions, in the name of Jesus Christ, your

only-begotten Child, give to this man, who died through this occasion, the rebirth of life, and restore his soul to him, so that Domitian may learn that the word of God is far more powerful than poison and is master of life." And taking him by the hand he raised him up alive. And as all glorified God and marvelled at the faith of John, Domitian said to him: "I have published a decree of the senate that all such persons are to be put away without defence; but since I find through you that they are innocent, and that their religion is rather beneficial, I banish you to an island, so that I may not seem myself to annul my own decrees." So he asked that the condemned man be released, and when he had been

[Other recension: … seeing this, the king and all those with him were exceedingly afraid. Then the Theologian says: "Since I have become the cause of this man's death, allow me now to pray and raise him." And standing for an hour and praying, he raised the dead man before the king and all who were with him.]

[Other recension: Then the king and those with him, seeing it, feared the God of heaven; and many believed in God and in the apostle. And the king, seeing that he could find no reasonable cause, says to the apostle: "Since I have received accusations against you, and there are royal ordinances that the accused should not go away unpunished, we order you to be taken away to an island …] … released, John said to him: "Go, give thanks to God, who today has redeemed you from prison and from death."

And as they stood there, a servant girl of Domitian, one of those of the bedchamber, was suddenly seized by the unclean demon and lay dead; and it was reported to the king. And the king was moved and begged John to help her. And John said: "It is not for a man to grant this. But since you know how to reign, but do not know from whom you received it, learn who has authority over you and over your kingdom." And he prayed thus: "Lord, God of every kingdom and Master of all creation, give to this girl the breath of life." And having prayed he raised her up. And Domitian, astounded at all the wonders, sent him away to an island, fixing for him a set time.

And immediately John sailed to Patmos, where he was counted worthy to see the revelation of the end. And when Domitian died, Nerva received the kingdom, who recalled all the exiles; and having held the kingdom for a year, he made Trajan successor to the kingdom. While he reigned over the Romans, John returned to Ephesus and strengthened the whole teaching of the church … [Other recension: … called Patmos, for a time." And the Theologian says to him: "Do what you wish."]

And the king sent us to the island, … having spent three years in Patmos … And when the king of the Romans departed this life during the time of John's exile, at once the apostle too, since there was no boat on the island that would set out for the mainland, took hold of a cheap piece of wood, called cork, and having set it on the back of the sea and placed himself on the wood, and having let me too come up on it, he pressed on to cross straight over … of Marcellus held him back with difficulty for one day, resting with him in Miletus. And when they set out at early dawn and had already completed about four miles of the road, a voice came from heaven, all of us hearing it, saying: "John, you are about to give glory to your Lord in Ephesus, which you will come to know, you and all the brothers with you, and some of those there who are to believe through you." So John considered within himself, rejoicing, what it might be that would meet him in Ephesus, saying: "Lord, see, I go according to your will; let what you wish be done."

And as we drew near to the city, Lycomedes, the general of the Ephesians, a man …, met us, and falling at John's feet he besought him, saying: "Is your name John? The God whom you preach has sent you for the benefit of my wife, who has been paralysed now for seven days and lies incurable. But glorify your God by healing her, having compassion on us. For as I was considering what decision to make, someone stood by me and said: 'Lycomedes, cease from the thought that wars against you, for it is a grievous one; do not give yourself over to it. For I, having compassion on my servant Cleopatra, have sent from Miletus a man named John, who will raise her up and restore her to you in health.' Do not delay, then, servant of the God who has revealed you to me, but hasten to the woman who has only breath left." And at once John went from the gate, with the brothers who were with him and with Lycomedes, to his house. And Cleobius said to his young men: "Go to my kinsman Callippus and receive suitable lodging from him, for I am coming there with his son, so that we may find everything in good order."

And Lycomedes, having come with John into the house in which the woman lay, again took hold of his feet, saying: "See, lord, the withered beauty; see the youth; see the renowned flower of my unhappy wife, at which all Ephesus used to marvel. I, wretched man, have been envied; I have been humbled; the eye of my enemies has struck me. I never wronged anyone, though I could have harmed many, foreseeing this very thing and guarding against seeing any evil or misfortune befall her. What use, then, has my caution been to me, Cleopatra? What have I gained by being called pious until today? I suffer worse than an impious man, because I see you, Cleopatra, lying like this. The sun shall not see me going about when you no longer converse with me. I will go before you, Cleopatra, and release myself from life. I will not spare my own safety, though it is still young. I will defend myself before Justice, as one who has rightly turned against her, since I may bring her to judgment as one who judges unjustly. I will take vengeance on her when I come to her as a phantom of life. I will say to her: 'You did violence to my light by snatching away Cleopatra; you made me a corpse by bringing this upon me; you forced me to insult Providence by cutting off my confidence.'" And saying still more, Lycomedes went up to Cleopatra's bed, crying aloud and lamenting. But John drew him away, saying: "Leave off these laments and your unfitting words. It is not right for you, who saw the vision, to disbelieve. For you will receive your wife back. So stand with us, who have come on her account, and pray to the God whom you saw making me known to you through dreams. What is it, then, Lycomedes? Wake up yourself too and open your soul. Cast the deep sleep from you. Beg the Lord, entreat him for your wife, and he will raise her up." But he fell on the floor and lamented with all his soul. [21] So John said with tears: "O new betrayal of a vision! O new temptation prepared for me! O new device of him who devises against me! Did the voice from heaven that came to me on the road contrive this for me? Did it announce to me beforehand these things that were to happen here, handing me over to such a crowd of citizens because of Lycomedes? The man lies without breath, and I know well that they will not let me leave the house alive. Why do you delay, Lord? Why have you shut away from us your good promise? Do not, I beg you, Lord, do not let him who delights in others' ills dance; do not let him who always mocks us leap for joy. But let your holy name and your mercy make haste. Raise up the two corpses that have been made against me."

And as John cried out, the city of the Ephesians ran together to the house of Lycomedes, hearing that he was dead. And John, seeing the great crowd that had come, said to the Lord: "Now is the time of refreshment and of confidence toward you, O Christ; now is the time for us who are weary to have help from you, physician who heals freely. Keep my entrance here from being laughed at. I beg you, Jesus, help so great a multitude to come to you, the Master of all. See the affliction, see those who lie here. Make ready even from those who have come together here holy vessels for your service, when they have seen your gift. For you yourself said, O Christ: 'Ask, and it will be given to you.' We ask you, then, O King, not for gold, not for silver, not for substance, not for possession, nor for any of the perishing things on earth, but for two souls, through whom those present will turn to your way, to your teaching, to your confidence, to your most excellent promise; for when they have learned your power through the raising of those who have died, some of them will be saved. Grant them, then, yourself, hope in you. I will go, then, to Cleopatra, saying: Arise in the name of Jesus Christ."

And going up to her and touching her face he said: "Cleopatra, he says, whom every ruler fears, and every creature, power, abyss and all darkness and unsmiling death, and the height of the heavens and the circles of Hades, and the resurrection of the dead and the sight of the blind, and the whole power of the ruler of the world, and the pride of its prince: Arise, and do not be an occasion for many who wish to disbelieve, nor an affliction to souls that are able to hope and be saved." And Cleopatra at once cried out with her voice: "I arise, master; save your handmaid." And when she had arisen after seven days, the city of the Ephesians was stirred at the strange sight. And Cleopatra asked about her husband Lycomedes; and John said to her: "Cleopatra, if you keep your soul unmoved and unwavering, you will at once have Lycomedes your husband standing here beside you, provided you are not troubled or shaken by what has happened, but believe in my God, who through me will grant him to you alive. Come then with me into your other bedroom, and you will see him dead, but rising by the power of my God."

And Cleopatra, coming with John into her bedroom and seeing Lycomedes dead on her account, lost her voice, and gnashed her teeth and bit her tongue, and closing her eyes shed tears; and quietly she gave heed to the apostle. And John, having compassion on Cleopatra when he saw that she neither raged nor lost her senses, called upon the perfect and unhaughty mercy, and said: "Lord Jesus Christ, you see the pressure, you see the need, you see Cleopatra crying out her soul in silence; for she holds within herself the unbearable frenzy; and I know that for Lycomedes' sake she too will die after him." And she said quietly to John: "That is what I have in mind, master, and nothing else." And the apostle went up to the couch on which Lycomedes lay, and taking Cleopatra's hand said: "Cleopatra, because of the crowd that is present and your relatives who have come in, say with a loud cry to your husband: Arise and glorify the name of God, for he gives back the dead to the dead." And she went up and said to her husband as she had been taught, and at once raised him up. And he rose, fell on the floor and kissed John's feet. But he raised him and says: "Do not kiss my feet, man, but those of God, by whose power you have both arisen."

And Lycomedes said to John: "I beseech you and adjure you, by the God in whose name you raised us, to stay with us, together with all who are with you." And likewise Cleopatra, holding his feet, said the same. And John said to them: "Tomorrow I will be with you." And they said to him again: "There is no hope for us in your God, but we shall have been raised in vain, if you do not stay with us." And Cleobius, with Aristodemus and Damonicus, struck to the soul, said to John: "Let us stay with them, so that they may continue toward the Lord without stumbling." And he stayed there with the brothers.

So a gathering of a great multitude came together on John's account. And as he was speaking to those present, Lycomedes, who had a friend who was a skilled painter, went running to him and says to him: "You see me hurrying to you myself; come quickly to my house, and paint the man I point out to you, without his knowing it." And the painter, handing his necessary tools and colours to someone, said to Lycomedes: "Point him out to me, and for the rest have no worry." And Lycomedes pointed John out to the painter and, bringing him near, shut him in a room from which the apostle of Christ could be seen. And Lycomedes was with the blessed one, feasting on the faith and the knowledge of our God, and he rejoiced the more because he was going to have him in a portrait.

So the painter on the first day sketched him and went away; and on the next he filled him in with colours, and so delivered the portrait to Lycomedes, who rejoiced. And taking it, he set it up in his own bedroom and hung garlands on it; so that later, when John learned of it, he said to him: "My beloved child, what are you doing, going into your bedroom alone when you come from the bath? Do I not pray with you and the other brethren? Are you hiding something from us?" And saying this, and joking with him, he goes into the bedroom; and he sees the garlanded portrait of an old man, and lamps set beside it and altars before it. And calling him he said: "Lycomedes, what does this portrait mean to you? Is the one painted one of your gods? For I see you are still living like a pagan." And Lycomedes answered him: "My God is he alone who raised me from death with my wife. But if, after that God, we may call our human benefactors gods, it is you, father, who are painted for me in the portrait, whom I crown and love and revere, because you have become a good guide to me."

And John, who had never seen his own face, said to him: "You are joking with me, child. Am I like that in form? By your Lord, how can you persuade me that the portrait is like me?" And Lycomedes brought him a mirror. And seeing himself in the mirror and gazing at the portrait he said: "As the Lord Jesus Christ lives, the portrait is like me; yet not like me, child, but like my fleshly image. For if this painter, who has imitated this face of mine, wishes to paint me in a portrait, he will be at a loss for the colours now given to you, and for boards and space and …, and for the shape of form, and old age and youth, and all things that are seen.

But become for me a good painter, Lycomedes. You have colours which he gives you through me, Jesus, who paints all of us for himself, who knows the shapes and forms and figures and dispositions and types of our souls. And these are the colours with which I tell you to paint: faith in God, knowledge, godly fear, friendship, fellowship, meekness, kindness, brotherly love, purity, sincerity, tranquillity, fearlessness, freedom from grief, sobriety, and the whole band of colours that paints the image of your soul, already raising up your members that were cast down, levelling those that were lifted up, tending your bruises, healing your wounds, arranging your disordered hair, washing your face, training your eyes, cleansing your heart, emptying your belly, and cutting off what is below your belly; and in a word, when the whole blend and mixture of such colours has come together into your soul, it will present it to our Lord Jesus Christ undaunted and smooth and firm of shape. But what you have now done is childish and imperfect: you have painted a dead likeness of the dead."

And having ordered Verus, the brother who served him, to bring the old women from all Ephesus, he made preparations with Cleopatra and Lycomedes for their care. So Verus came, saying to John: "Of the old women here over sixty, I found only four healthy in body; of the rest, some are paralysed and others sick." And John, hearing this, kept silent a long time, and rubbing his face said: "O the slackness of those who live in Ephesus! O the collapse of things, and weakness toward God! O devil, who have so long mocked the faithful in Ephesus! Jesus, who gives me grace and the gift of having confidence in him, says to me now in silence: 'Send for the sick old women and be with them in the theatre, and through me heal them; for there are some of those who come to this spectacle whom I will turn through such healings, if anything profitable may come of it.'"

And when the whole crowd had gathered at Lycomedes' house on John's account, he dismissed them all, saying: "Tomorrow come to the theatre, all who wish to see the power of God." And the crowds came to the theatre on the next day while it was still night, so that the proconsul too heard of it and hastened and took his seat with the crowd. And a certain general, Andronicus, who was the first of the Ephesians at that time, spread it about that John was promising impossible and incredible things: "If he has any such power as I hear," he said, "let him enter the public theatre when it is opened, naked, holding nothing in his hands, nor naming that magical name which I have heard him say."