Pharisees

31.4 «Nazareth? But you must stay here. The Messiah must grow up in Bethlehem. It is David’s town. The Most High, through Caesar’s will, brought Him to the town in David’s land, the holy land of Judaea. Why take Him to Nazareth? You know in what opinion the Jews hold the Nazarenes. This Child is to be in future years the Saviour of His people. The capital town must not scorn its King because He comes from a despised land. You know as well as I do how captious the Sanhedrin is and how disdainful its three main castes are… And then, here, near me, I will be able to help you somehow, and put everything I have, not so much in the way of material things, but of moral gifts, at the service of this New-Born Baby. And when He is old enough to understand, I will be very happy to be His teacher, as I will be for my own son, so that later, when He is grown up, He will bless me. We must consider that He is destined for great things and, consequently, He must be in a position to present Himself to the world with all the necessary means to win His game. He will certainly possess Wisdom. But also the simple fact that He was educated by a priest, will make Him more accepted by the difficult Pharisees and Scribes and will render His mission easier.»

• Locations - Bethlehem of Judea
• Pharisees
• Sanhedrin
• Scribes

(...) Come, then, and see what there is in the House of God. You will see how even priests do not refuse to come to a compromise between the spirit and the flesh. After all, they are men and not angels. Work a spiritual miracle. I will take You up to the pinnacle of the Temple and You will undergo a transfiguration and become most handsome. You will then call the cohorts of angels and will tell them to form a footrest for Your feet with their interlaced wings, and to let You down, thus, into the main yard. So that people may see You, and remember that God exists. One must show oneself now and again, because man’s memory is so weak, especially with regard to spiritual matters. You can imagine how happy the angels will be in forming a protection for Your feet and a ladder for You to descend!»

«It is said: “You must not put the Lord your God to the test”.»

«You understand that Your apparition would not change anything and the Temple would continue to be a market full of corruption. Your divine wisdom is aware that the hearts of the ministers of the Temple are nests of vipers that tear and are torn to pieces for the sake of prevailing.

• Jerusalem Temple (spiritual state - teachings - various episodes)
• Pharisees
• Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God

53.5 Priests, rabbis and Pharisees rush to the spot. Jesus is still in the middle of the yard, on His way back from the chase. The lash is still in His hands.

«Who are You? How dare You do that, upsetting the prescribed ceremonies? From which school are You? We do not know You, neither do we know where You come from.»

«I am He Who is Mighty. I can do anything. Destroy this true Temple and I will raise it to give praise to God. I am not upsetting the holiness of the House of God or of the ceremonies, but you are perturbing it, allowing His House to become the centre of usurers and merchants. My school is the school of God. The same school that the whole of Israel had when the Eternal God spoke to Moses. You do not know Me? You will know Me. You do not know where I come from? You will learn.»

• Jesus Christ's reproaches to the Pharisees
• Pharisees

«I cannot bear the fact that they do not love You!»

«Oh! Peter! You will see much greater indifference! You will have many surprises, Peter! People that the so called “holy” world scorns as being money-changers, who instead will set an example in the world, an example which will not be followed by those who despise them. Heathens who will be My most faithful ones. Prostitutes who will become pure by strong will power and penance. Sinners who amend their way of living…»

«Listen: that a sinner amends his way… it may well be. But a prostitute and a money-changer!…»

«You do not believe it?»

«I do not.»

«You are mistaken, Simon.»

• Fishermen
• Paganism and pagans
• Pharisees
• Publicans and prostitutes go before you into the Kingdom of God

64.1 I see the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. And I can see the boats beached by the fishermen; on the foreshore, leaning against the boats, are Peter and Andrew, intent on mending the nets, which their assistants bring them still dripping, having rinsed them in the lake to remove entangled rubbish. About ten yards away, John and James, bent over their boat, are busy at tidying it up, and they are helped by an assistant and by a man about fifty or fifty-five years old, who I think is Zebedee, because the assistant calls him «master» and also because he is very like James.

Peter and Andrew, with their backs to the boat, are working silently knotting the threads of the nets and fixing corks to them. Now and again they exchange a few words about their work, which, as far as I understand, has not been profitable.

Peter is sorry about it, not because of the loss of profit or the unprofitable work, but he says: «I am sorry, because… what shall we do to feed these poor people? We receive only occasional offerings and I am not going to touch the ten pieces of silver and the seven drachmas we collected during the last four days. Only the Master can tell me to whom and how that money is to be given. And He will not be back here until Sabbath! If we had had a good haul!… I would have cooked the small fish for the poor… and if anyone at home grumbled, I would not have cared. Healthy people can find food for themselves. But sick people!…»

«Above all that paralytic!… They have already travelled so much to bring him here…» says Andrew.

(...) [Jesus returns to his disciples, and the Master delivers a sermon in the home of one of his apostles.]

People crowd into the big room at the back of the house, which is used as a store for nets, ropes, baskets, oars, sails, and provisions. Peter must have put it at Jesus’ disposal, because everything has been piled up in one corner to make room. The lake cannot be seen from here. Only its gently lapping waves can be heard. Instead one can see the low greenish wall of the kitchen garden, with the old vine and the leafy fig-tree. There are people even on the road, as they pass from the room into the kitchen garden and hence onto the road.

64.4 Jesus begins to speak. In the front row, there are five… high-ranking people, who have elbowed their way through the crowd taking advantage of the fear they strike into poor people. Their sumptuous garments and their pride announce them as Pharisees and doctors.

(...) 64.5 «Master!» shouts Peter amidst the crowd, «the sick people are here. Two of them can wait until You come out, but this one is crushed amongst the crowd and… he cannot stay here any longer. It is impossible for us to come in. Shall I send him back?»

«No, lower him down through the roof.»

«You are right. We will do that at once.»

I can hear them shuffling on the low roof of the big room, the terrace of which is not built of cement, as the store-room is not really part of the house. The roof is formed with branches covered by chips of stone like slate. I do not know what stone it is. They make an opening through which, by means of ropes, they lower down the little stretcher on which the patient is lying. It is lowered in front of Jesus. The crowds throng closer to see.

«Both you and who brought you have great faith.»

«Oh! Lord! How could we have no faith in You?»

«Well, I say to you: son (he is a very young man) your sins are forgiven.»

The man looks at him, crying… perhaps he is somewhat disappointed because he was hoping to be healed in his body. The Pharisees and doctors whisper something to one another turning up their noses, foreheads and mouths in disdain.

«Why are you muttering, more in your hearts than with your lips? According to you, it is easier to say to the paralytic: “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up, take your little bed and walk away”? You think that only God can forgive sins. But you cannot answer which of these things is greater, because this man, whose whole body is lost to him, has spent a lot of money without being healed. And he can only be healed by God. Now, that you may learn that I can do everything, that you may learn that the Son of man has authority both over bodies and souls, on the earth and in Heaven, I say to him: “Get up. Pick up your bed and walk. Go home and be holy”.»

The man jerks, he shouts, stands up, he throws himself at Jesus’ feet, kisses and caresses them, he cries and laughs, and his relatives and the crowd do likewise. The crowd divides into two to let him pass, as if he were triumphant, and they follow him rejoicing. The five resentful men go away, conceited and as stiff as sticks.

• Bible - Gospel of Luke
• Bible - Gospel of Mark
• Bible - Gospel of Matthew
• Healed paralytic
• Healing and physical miracles
• Miracles of Jesus Christ
• Pharisees

«Here, Master, the official.»

«Peace be with you. I ask to teach Israel, amongst the rabbis of Israel.»

«Are You a rabbi?»

«Yes, I am.»

«Who was Your teacher?»

«The Spirit of God Who speaks to Me in His wisdom and enlightens every word of the Holy Scriptures for Me.»

«Are You greater than Hillel, since You say You know all doctrines, without a teacher? How can one be formed if there is no one forming him?»

«As David was formed, an unknown little shepherd, who became a powerful and wise king by God’s will.»

«Your Name?»

«Jesus of Joseph of Jacob of the House of David, and of Mary of Joachim of the House of David and of Anne of Aaron. Mary, the Virgin married in the Temple by the High Priest, according to the law of Israel, because She was an orphan.»

«Who can prove that?»

«There must still be some Levites here who will remember the event and who were the same age as Zacharias of the class of Abijah, My relative. Ask them, if you doubt My sincerity.»

«I believe You. But who will prove to me that You are capable of teaching?»

«Listen to Me and you will judge for yourself.»

«You are free to do it… But… are You not a Nazarene?»

«I was born at Bethlehem of Judah, at the time of the census decreed by Caesar. Banished by unfair orders, the children of David are now everywhere. But the family is of Judah.»

«You know… the Pharisees… all Judaea… throughout Galilee…»

«I know. But be reassured. I was born at Bethlehem, at Bethlehem Ephrathah, whence My family comes; if now I live in Galilee, it is only to fulfil the given sign…»

The official goes away a few yards, hastening to where they call him.

• Pharisees

«Why give scandal lacking respect for the Law? One must walk in front of the others if one wants to say: “Follow me”. And to lead people on to a holy path, one must walk on the same path. How could I have said, or how could I say: “Be faithful”, if I were without faith?»

«I think that error is the cause of our decay. The rabbis and Pharisees crush the people with their precepts and then… then they behave like the man who desecrated John’s house, making it a place of sin» remarks Simon.

«He is one of Herod’s…»

«Yes, Judas, but the same faults are to be found also in the classes which are said — by themselves of course — to be holy. What do you think about it, Master?» asks Simon.

«I say that only if there is a handful of true yeast and true incense in Israel, the bread will be made and the altar perfumed.»

«What do you mean?»

«I mean that if there is anyone coming to the Truth with a sincere heart, the Truth will spread like the yeast in the mass of flour and like incense all over Israel.»

• Hypocrisy - Duplicity
• Israel's mistake - The Jews' mistake
• Jewish precepts
• Pharisees
• Sciammaï d'Elchi (master of Aglaia and favorite of Herod Antipas)
• Sourdough

• Cruelty
• Pharisees

• Elijah of Capernaum (Pharisee)
• Enemies of Jesus Christ
• Joachim of Capernaum (Sanhedrist and Pharisee)
• Pharisees
• Simon of Capernaum (Pharisee)
• Uriah of Capernaum (Sanhedrist and Pharisee)

• Elijah of Capernaum (Pharisee)
• Lessons and Teachings for the Apostles
• Pharisees