And Andrew, turning round to the Lord, not knowing that it was the Lord, said to Him: Tell me, O man, and show me the skill of thy steering; for I have never seen any man so steering in the sea as I now see thee. For sixteen years have I sailed the sea, and behold this is the seventeenth, and I have not seen such skill; for truly the boat is just as if on land. Show me then, young man, thy skill. Then Jesus answered and said to Andrew: We also have often sailed the sea, and been in danger; but since thou art a disciple of Him called Jesus, the sea has recognised thee that thou art righteous, and has become calm, and has not lifted its waves against the boat. Then Andrew cried out with a loud voice, saying: I thank Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, that I have met a man who glorifies Thy name.
And Jesus answered and said: O Andrew, tell me, thou disciple of Him called Jesus, wherefore the unbelieving Jews did not believe in Him, saying that He was not God, but man. Show me, O disciple of Him called Jesus; for I have heard that He showed His Godhead to His disciples. And Andrew answered and said: Truly, brother, He showed us that He was God. Do not think, then, that He is man. For He made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them. And Jesus answered and said: How then did the Jews not believe Him? Perhaps He did not do miracles before them? Andrew said: Hast thou not heard of the miracles which He did before them? He made the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear; He cleansed lepers, He changed water into wine; and having taken five loaves and two fishes, He made a crowd recline on the grass, and having blessed, He gave them to eat; and those that ate were five thousand men, [2247] and they were filled: and they took up what was over to them twelve baskets of fragments. [2248] And after all these things they did not believe Him.
And Jesus answered and said to Andrew: Perhaps He did these miracles before the people, and not before the chief priests, and because of this they did not believe Him.
And Andrew answered and said: Nay, brother, He did them also before the chief priests, not only openly, but also in secret, and they did not believe Him. Jesus answered and said: What are the miracles which He did in secret? Disclose them to me. And Andrew answered and said: O man, who hast the spirit of inquisitiveness, why dost thou put me to the test? And Jesus answered and said: I do not put thee to the test by saying this, O disciple of Him called Jesus; but my soul rejoices and exults, and not only mine, but also every soul that hears the wonders of Jesus.
And Andrew answered and said: O child, the Lord shall fill thy soul with all joy and all good, as thou hast persuaded me now to relate to thee the miracles which our Lord did in secret.
It came to pass as we, the twelve disciples, were going with our Lord into a temple of the Gentiles, that He might make known to us the ignorance of the devil, that the chief priests, having beheld us following Jesus, said to us, O wretches, why do you walk with him who says, I am the Son of God? Do you mean to say that God has a son? Which of you has ever at any time seen God associating with a woman? Is not this the son of Joseph the carpenter, and his mother is Mary, and his brothers James and Simon? [2249] And when we heard these words, our hearts were turned into weakness. And Jesus, having known that our hearts were giving way, took us into a desert place, and did great miracles before us, and displayed to us all His Godhead. And we spoke to the chief priests, saying, Come ye also, and see; for, behold, He has persuaded us.
And the chief priests having come, went with us; and when we had gone into the temple of the Gentiles, Jesus showed us the heaven, [2250] that we might know whether the things were true or not. And there went in along with us thirty men of the people, and four chief priests. And Jesus, having looked on the right hand and on the left of the temple, saw two sculptured sphinxes, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus having turned to us, said, Behold the sign of the cross; for these are like the cherubim and the seraphim which are in heaven. Then Jesus, having looked to the right, where the sphinx was, said to it, I say unto thee, thou image of that which is in heaven, which the hands of craftsmen have sculptured, be separated from thy place, and come down, and answer and convict the chief priests, and show them whether I am God or man.
And immediately at that very time the sphinx removed from its place, and having assumed a human voice, said, O foolish sons of Israel, not only has the blinding of their own hearts not been enough for them, but they also wish others to be blind like themselves, saying that God is man, who in the beginning fashioned man, and put His breath into all, who gave motion to those things which moved not; He it is who called Abraham, who loved his son Isaac, who brought back his beloved Jacob into his land; He is the Judge of living and dead; He it is who prepareth great benefits for those who obey Him, and prepareth punishment for those who believe Him not. Heed not that I am an idol that can be handled; for I say unto you, that the sacred places of your synagogue are more excellent. [2251] For though we are stones, the priests have given us only the name of a god; and those priests who serve the temple purify themselves, being afraid of the demons: for if they have had intercourse with women, they purify themselves seven days, because of their fear; so that they do not come into the temple because of us, because of the name which they have given us, that we are a god. But you, if you have committed fornication, take up the law of God, and go into the synagogue of God, and purify, and read, and do not reverence the glorious words of God. Because of this, I say unto you, that the holy things purify your synagogues, so that they also become churches of His only begotten Son. The sphinx having said this, ceased speaking.
And we said to the chief priests, Now it is fitting that you should believe, because even the stones have convicted you. And the Jews answered and said, By magic these stones speak, and do not you think that it is a god? For if you have tested what has been said by the stone, you have ascertained its deception. For where did he find Abraham, or how did he see him? For Abraham died many years before he was born, and how does he know him?
And Jesus, having again turned to the image, said to it, Because these believe not that I have spoken with Abraham, go away into the land of the Canaanites, and go away to the double [2252] cave in the field of Mamre, where the body of Abraham is, and cry outside of the tomb, saying, Abraham, Abraham, whose body is in the tomb, and whose soul is in paradise, thus speaks He who fashioned man, who made thee from the beginning his friend, Rise up, thou and thy son Isaac, and the son of thy son Jacob, and come to the temples of the Jebusites, that we may convict the chief priests, in order that they may know that I am acquainted with thee, and thou with me. And when the sphinx heard these words, immediately she walked about in the presence of us all, and set out for the land of the Canaanites to the field of Mamre, and cried outside of the tomb, as God had commanded her. And straightway the twelve patriarchs [2253] came forth alive out of the tomb, and answered and said to her, To which of us hast thou been sent? And the sphinx answered and said, I have been sent to the three patriarchs for testimony; but do ye go in, and rest until the time of the resurrection. And having heard, they went into the tomb and fell asleep. And the three patriarchs set out along with the sphinx to Jesus, and convicted the chief priests. And Jesus said to them, Go away to your places; and they went away. And He said also to the image, Go up to thy place; and straightway she went up and stood in her place. And He did also many other miracles, and they did not believe Him; which miracles, if I shall recount, thou wilt not be able to bear. And Jesus answered and said to him: I can bear it; for I prudently listen to profitable words.
And when the boat was about to come near the land, Jesus bent down His head upon one of His angels, and was quiet. And Andrew ceased speaking; and he also, reclining his head upon one of his disciples, fell asleep. And Jesus said to His angels: Spread your hands under him, and carry Andrew and his disciples, and go and put them outside of the city of the man-eaters; and having laid them on the ground, return to me. And the angels did as Jesus commanded them, and the angels returned to Jesus: and He went up into the heavens with His angels.
And when it was morning, Andrew, having awakened and looked up, found himself sitting on the ground; and having looked, [2254] he saw his disciples sleeping on the ground: and he wakened them, and said to them: Rise up, my children, and know the great dispensation that has happened to us, and learn that the Lord was with us in the boat, and we knew Him not; for He transformed Himself as if He were a pilot in the boat, and humbled Himself, and appeared to us as a man, putting us to the test. And Andrew, recovering himself, said: Lord, I recognised Thy excellent words, but Thou didst not manifest Thyself to me, and because of this I did not know Thee. And his disciples answered and said to him: Father Andrew, do not think that we knew when thou wast speaking with Him in the boat, for we were weighed down by a most heavy sleep; and eagles came down out of the heavens, and lifted up our souls, and took them away into the paradise in heaven, and we saw great wonders. For we beheld our Lord Jesus sitting on a throne of glory, and all the angels round about Him. We beheld also Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the saints; and David praised Him with a song upon his harp. And we beheld there you the twelve apostles standing by in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, and outside of you twelve angels round about you, and each angel standing behind each of you, and they were like you in appearance. And we heard the Lord saying to the angels, Listen to the apostles in all things whatsoever they shall ask you. These are the things which we have seen, father Andrew, until thou didst awake us; and angels, who appeared like eagles, brought our souls into our bodies.
Then Andrew, having heard, rejoiced with great joy that his disciples had been deemed worthy to behold these wonderful things. And Andrew looked up into heaven, and said: Appear to me, Lord Jesus Christ; for I know that Thou art not far from Thy servants. Pardon me, Lord, for what I have done; for I have beheld Thee as a man in the boat, and I have conversed with Thee as with a man. Now therefore, Lord, manifest Thyself to me in this place.
And when Andrew had said this, Jesus appeared to him in the likeness of a most beautiful little child. And Jesus answered and said: Hail, our Andrew! And Andrew, having beheld Him, worshipped Him, saying: Pardon me, Lord Jesus Christ, for I saw Thee like a man on the sea, and conversed with Thee. What is there, then, wherein I have sinned, my Lord Jesus, that Thou didst not manifest Thyself to me on the sea? And Jesus answered and said to Andrew: Thou hast not sinned, but I did this to thee because thou saidst, I shall not be able to go to the city of the man-eaters in three days; and I have showed thee that I am able to do all things, and to appear to every one as I wish. Now therefore rise up, go into the city to Matthias, and bring him forth out of the prison, and all the strangers that are with him. For, behold, I show thee, Andrew, what thou must suffer before going into this city. They will heap upon thee tortures and insults, and scatter thy flesh in the ways and the streets, and thy blood shall flow to the ground, but they are not able to put thee to death; but endure, just as thou sawest me beaten, insulted, and crucified: for there are those who are destined to believe in this city. And having said this, the Saviour went into the heavens.