As mentioned once before, we were not right at the mountain’s highest summit, but farther down on the first slopes, for the sake of the larger and more comfortable space, since many people had followed Me from the city. This was also because there were many old and already very weak people among them who would scarcely have reached the summit in the considerable heat of the day. Nevertheless, we were quite high up, and the procession therefore moved somewhat slowly, since in the twilight some people with weak eyesight could not make out the path very well.
But when, with such cautious steps, we had come all the way down from the mountain into the plain, a man covered in severe leprosy lay beside the path. This man immediately rose and came to Me, saying in a plaintive voice, ‘Oh Lord, if You were willing, You could surely make me clean!’ But I immediately stretched out My hand over him and said, ‘Thus I will that you be clean!’ And in an instant the sick man was clean of his leprosy; all the swellings, scabs, and scales suddenly disappeared. But this was a very severe leprosy that no physician could heal, so all the people were exceedingly astonished at seeing how suddenly this man became clean of his leprosy.
The cleansed man now wanted to begin praising Me very loudly, but I sternly warned him and said, ‘I tell you to say nothing of it for the present to anyone except the high priest alone. Go to him; he is walking behind us with My disciples. When he has recognized you as cleansed, then go into your house, take from there the offering Moses prescribed, and sacrifice it upon the altar!’
The cleansed man immediately did what I had commanded him. The high priest too was astonished beyond measure and said, ‘If a physician had told me, “Look, I shall make this man well,” I would have laughed heartily and said, “You fool! Go to the Euphrates and try to empty it by drawing out its water! When you draw one bucket from it, it will send hundreds of thousands to take its place. Yet it will be easier for you to lay the Euphrates dry than to make this man well, whose flesh has already almost entirely passed into decay!” And this man, whom we have now recognized as the Messiah, succeeded with a single word! Truly, that is enough for us! He is wholly Christ! We need no further testimonies now.
‘Truly, whoever asks me for a coat today, I shall immediately give him not only the cloak as well, but my entire stock of clothing! Truly, at that price I now give everything away down to my shirt, and I see that His teaching is purely divine! Yes, He Himself is now bodily among us as Jehovah! What more do we want now? All night long I shall act as a herald and proclaim His presence in every street and lane!’
After these words he runs to Me, near the well, falls down before Me, and says, ‘Lord, stand still just a little so that I can worship You, for You are not only Christ, a Son of God, but are among us as God Himself, veiled in flesh!’
I say, ‘Friend, let all that be. I have shown you how you are to pray; therefore pray in silence, and that is enough. Do not do too much today and, because of that, easily too little tomorrow! A proper measure must always be observed in everything. If you add the cloak to the coat, that is enough to make the poor man your full friend forever. But if, when he asks you only for a coat, you gave him your entire stock of clothing as well, he would become embarrassed and think to himself that you either meant to shame him by it or were out of your mind yourself! And look, then no good would be done by it!
‘But if someone asks you for a piece of silver and you give him two, even three, you will make the borrower’s heart joyful and your own blessed. But if you immediately gave a thousand to someone who came to borrow one piece of silver, he would be frightened and think to himself, “What does this mean? I asked him for only one piece of silver, and he wants to give me all his possessions! Does he think I am insatiable, does he want to shame me, or has he actually become a fool?” And look, such a person will thereby be no gain either for your heart or, equally, for his own! Therefore only a proper, full measure in everything, and that is enough.’
The high priest is fully satisfied with this instruction too and says to himself, ‘Yes, yes, He is right in all things! To act exactly as He said is entirely right; anything less or more is either bad or foolish. For if I gave everything away today and tomorrow someone perhaps even needier came to my door, what could I give him then? How hard and heavy my heart would feel, for I could no longer help the still poorer person.
‘The Lord is entirely right in all things and knows how to prescribe the best measure everywhere. To Him alone, therefore, all honor, all praise and glory, and the fullest worship from every heart!’