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Locations - Jerusalem

Theme: Jewish religion, castes, rites and festivals at the time of Christ · Page 2 of 3

Reading comfort

Aa

GRM 67

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is alone. He meets two men who are quarrelling and trying to stab each other. Christ intervenes again, warning them to stop; then, when they don't listen, he works a miracle and the blades break.

As soldiers from Rome arrive, Jesus gives a brief sermon for the men of Israel, and then also for the pagans present, enjoining them to love, and also pointing out that it is not through violence that one is victorious, but through holiness. Anger is a sin that can cut us off from God's blessing; yet the Lord's children must be kind to one another and love one another.

Having finished his speech, he is asked if he is the Messiah, and Jesus does not deny it. He is asked again if he performs miracles, and he doesn't deny it either, even performing them when the sick are presented to him. The crowd rejoices and Jesus blesses.

Then Judas arrives, inquiring about what has happened. He asks if he's going to stay in Jerusalem, but Jesus tells him he's going to travel to Judea, promising to go to Keroth. Finally, they both speak of John the Baptist, whom Herod has arrested. If Jesus is Goodness, the Forerunner is Penitence. The vision ends there.

GRM 67.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

67.1 I see Jesus walking along a shady road all alone. It looks like a fresh little valley, rich in waters. I call it a little valley because it is embanked between two risings of the ground and a rivulet flows in its centre.

The place is deserted in the early morning hour. The sun has just risen, a beautiful, clear summer day, and with the exception of the warbling of the birds in the trees and the plaintive cooing of wild doves nesting in the crevices of the barren hill, no other sound is heard. The trees are mostly olive-trees, particularly on the hill on the left-hand side, whereas the other hill is more barren with low lentisk, thorny acacia and agave bushes, etc. Even the rivulet, with very little water lying in the centre of the riverbed, does not seem to make any noise, and flows gently reflecting in its depth the green of the surrounding hills, and therefore looks dark emerald.

Jesus crosses a primeval little bridge: the trunk of a tree, half planed, thrown across the torrent, without a parapet or any protection, and goes on His way on the other bank.

I can now see walls and gates and also some merchants with vegetables and foodstuffs crowding near the gates, still closed, waiting to go into town. Donkeys are busy braying and brawling; also their owners scuffle in robust style. Insults and blows with cudgels are aimed at and given not only to the donkeys’ backs, but also to human heads.

Detail

Near the Pisces Gate.

GRM 69

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus leaves the Temple with Judas. Judas wants to go with him, but Jesus tells him that he needs to pray with the Father. He affirms that the spirit must always take precedence over the flesh, and that the flesh must almost be killed in favor of supernatural life. Judas then asks how we can be unconcerned about the flesh, and evokes the commandment "Thou shalt not kill". Jesus replies that we must eat with continence, without poisoning ourselves or overeating, as this flatters the taste. He then returned to the subject of suicide, and spoke about it at length. Christ declares that he who commits suicide sins through pride. Judas points out that people commit suicide out of despair, but Jesus says that despair is nothing other than pride: for we believe that we have no help anywhere, not even from God, who is a Father and can reach out to us. Judas points out that all those who committed suicide in Scripture before his coming sinned, but the Master declares that they will have been able to receive God's Mercy, even if it is never permitted to do violence, to oneself or to others. After the coming of the Word, on the other hand, the sin of suicide will always be severely condemned by God's Justice if the sinner commits suicide, declaring that he is forever separated from God and cannot receive God's forgiveness. Since life is a gift from God, we must love it, and use it to gain eternity.

Judas understands Christ's thought, but finds it hard to apply. They talk about Christ's temptation, then Jesus talks about angels (pure spirits) and man, king of creation, whom Jesus has come to rehabilitate.

About to leave Jesus, Judas asks him if he can't take him somewhere other than the olive grove, to make him "better considered". But while Jesus thanks him for his consideration, he likes to stay in this humble environment. He will come for all, for the little ones as well as for the great, but will remain above all where humility is to be found. Finally, the two men part shortly afterwards.

GRM 72

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus, John, Simon the Zealot and Judas are together. The Master asks them to accompany him to Judea, unless it would be very painful for them, especially Simon. But Simon says he has a new vigor since the Lord's miracle, and that the scales of hate have fallen from his heart. He even claims that this miracle of the heart is greater than the physical miracle, and grumbling, Judas asks why Jesus doesn't act this way with everyone. John then steps in and says that the Master is already changing them: at least he has been since the Messiah called him to follow him. The Beloved is then embarrassed to have spoken in front of the Master, but James' brother didn't want Judas to sadden the Master. Then Jesus speaks up and says that there will come a time when they will receive strength, grace and wisdom from the Lord, and judge justly. He even says that he will send them out and that they will be able to perform miracles... Judas rejoices at this thought, John less so, for they will no longer be with Jesus. Simon the Zealot nevertheless points out to them that if Christ acts in this way, it's because he'll know what he's doing and that they should trust him, remaining humble even when they perform miracles. Judas declares that if he wants to perform miracles, it's to see the Master triumph... And Simon speaks to him skilfully about the human thoughts that corrupt the image of Christ announced in Scripture: he takes the example of the Zealots, who wanted a human Kingdom and were punished by God and Rome. In his punishment, however, Simon knew the Son of God and recognized him at the right moment.

The conversation dies down, and Jesus reveals that they are going to Bethlehem.

GRM 86

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is at the Gate of Pisces, where he is to meet Judas and the shepherds (Isaac, Levi, Joseph). He meets the soldier Alexander, who invites him to calm the Jews. Jesus makes a short speech to his brothers in the faith. Afterwards, he continues to talk with Alexander: among other things, they discuss the soul. Then Judas and the shepherds arrive. Annalia, who has been healed, also arrives to bless the Savior, and after saying a few words to her, the Lord lets her go. Finally, Judas speaks to her. He is discouraged, so Jesus encourages him and says that defeats are normal in the apostolate, but then everything turns into victory. Finally, he speaks to the Shepherds, and so it ends.

GRM 195.3-4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Peter’s attention is completely diverted by the apparition of the Holy City, which is now near and is visible in all the beauty of hills, olive-groves, houses, and above all of the Temple, a sight which must always have been a source of emotion and pride for Israelites. The warm April sun of Judaea has soon dried up the slabstones of the consular road. Puddles of water have disappeared completely. The apostles are tidying themselves on the side of the road, they let down the tunics which they had pulled up, they wash their muddy feet in a clear stream, they tidy their hair and drape their mantles. Also Jesus does that. I see them all doing it.

195.4

The entrance into Jerusalem must have been an important matter. To present oneself at the walls on these feast-days was like presenting oneself to a sovereign. The Holy City was the «real» queen of Israelites. I realise that this year, because I can notice the crowds and their behaviour on the consular road. The processions of the various families form here, the women in one group, the men in another, the children in either, but all very serious and serene at the same time. Some fold up their old mantles and pull out a new one from their travelling bags, or change sandals. Their gait then becomes solemn, it is already hieratic. In each group there is a soloist who gives the tone, and the hymns, the glorious old hymns of David, are intoned. And people look at one another more lovingly, as if they had been pacified by the sight of the House of the Lord and they look at the Holy House, a huge cube of marble surmounted by golden domes, placed like a pearl in the centre of the imposing enclosure of the Temple.

The apostolic procession is formed as follows: Jesus and Peter in front, with the boy between them; behind them Simon, the Iscariot and John; then Andrew, who has forced John of Endor to stay between him and James of Zebedee; in the fourth row the two cousins of the Lord and Matthew; last Thomas, Philip and Bartholomew. It is Jesus Who intones in His beautiful powerful voice of a light baritone, a mellow voice with refined tenor vibrations, and Judas Iscariot, a pure tenor, answers together with John, with his limpid voice typical of young people, the two baritone voices of Jesus’ cousins and the almost bass voice of Thomas, whose baritone voice is so deep that it can hardly be classifed as such. The others, who are not gifted with such beautiful voices, follow the chorus of the virtuosi singing in low voices. (The psalms are the known ones, called gradual psalms[3]). Little Jabez, the voice of an angel among the strong voices of men, sings very well, probably because he knows Psalm 121 better than the others: «How I rejoiced when they said to me: “We shall go to the house of the Lord”.» His little face, which only a few days ago was so sad, is now bright with joy.

The walls are now close at hand. Here is the Gate of the Fish. And the overcrowded streets.

They go straight to the Temple to say the first prayer. And then peace in the peace of Gethsemane, then supper and rest.

The journey towards Jerusalem is over.

Detail

Peter is distracted by the appearance of the Holy City.

Annotation

The psalms are the well-known psalms, known as graduals. These are Ps 120 to 134, also known as "canticles of ascent", according to the new numbering. Ps 121, quoted below, has become Ps 122.

Additional note from maria-valtorta.org:

THE 15 GRADUALS: are Psalms 119 (Hebrew 120) to 133 (Hebrew 134), also known as CANTIQUES DES MONTÉES. They were sung on the three pilgrimage feasts by pilgrims or priests on the fifteen steps leading up to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Little Yabeç, with his angelic voice amidst the robust voices of men, sings Psalm 121 very well - because he perhaps knows it better than the others: "I rejoiced because it was said to me, 'We will go to the house of the Lord. " Psalm 121 (Hebrew 122): 'How glad I was when it was said to me, "We will go to the house of the Lord!" ...

This is the Pisces Gate. North of Jerusalem, right next to the Temple.

GRM 196.1.2 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The group has spent most of the Sabbath morning resting their tired bodies and cleaning their clothes which had become dusty and creased during the journey. There is so much inviting water in the spacious cisterns of Gethsemane, full of rain water, and in the foamy Kidron, now in flood, because of the recent downpours, where the water resounds against the stones like a symphony. And the apostles, one after the other, defying the low temperature of the water, plunge into it and then, clad from head to foot in fresh clothes, their hair rather sleeked by the spray of the torrent, they draw water from the cisterns pouring it into large vats in which they have sorted out their clothes according to the colours. (...)

They scatter in the olive-grove, which is so beautiful on this serene April day. The rain of the past days seems to have silvered the olive-trees and sown flowers, so bright are the leaves in the sun and so numerous the little flowers at the foot of each tree. Birds are singing and flying everywhere. The town is lying over there, to the west of an onlooker.

It is not possible to see the crowds thronging inside, but one can see the caravans going towards the Gate of the Fish and to others, with names unknown to me, on this eastern side, and the travellers are swallowed by the town as it if were a hungry mouth.

Annotation

The city stretches out over there, west of Gethsemane. See the sketch drawn by Maria Valtorta.

Maria Valtorta drew the sketch in black pencil, sometimes overlaid with red and blue. Some names were drawn in pen. In the center is the "Temple", with "Tightly packed houses", and, in a semicircle to the left: "Suburbs and sparser houses", all encircled by a double circle whose explanation is at the bottom of the page: "(The red and blue circle indicates the walls)". On these "walls", we read a "door" next to the "north" indication, and another "door" to the southeast. Outside the "walls": "Cedron" and "Gethsemane" to the east, "Houses" twice to the south, "torrent" and "Golgotha" to the west.

We see the caravans heading for the Pisces Gate. North of Jerusalem, next to the Temple.

GRM 199.3-4 · Volume 3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

They remain all together until they are near Jerusalem. Then they part, the Iscariot goes on his own and enters the town probably through the Gate near the Antonia Tower; Thomas, Philip and Nathanael walk for about ten more yards with Jesus and their companions and then enter the town through the suburb of Ophel, together with Mary and the boy.

199.4

«And now, let us go and see those unhappy people!» says Jesus, and turning His back to the town He goes towards a desolate place on the slope of a rocky hill which lies between the two roads from Jericho to Jerusalem, A strange place, similar to a flight of steps after the first slope, up which climbs a path, so that there is a drop of at least three yards from the first terrace to the path, and the same from the second one. It is an arid, dead… extremely sad place.

«Master» shouts Simon the Zealot «I am here. Stop where You are, that I may show You the way…» and the Zealot, who was leaning against a rock to be in the shade, comes forward and leads Jesus up the steps of a path leading towards Gethsemane, but separated from it by the road that from the Mount of Olives goes to Bethany.

«Here we are. I lived among the tombs of Siloam and my friends are here. Some of them. The others are at Ben Hinnom, but cannot come… They would have to cross the road and would be seen.»

«We shall go to them also.»

«Thank You! On their part and mine.»

GRM 201

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Chapter title: Marziam's majority examination.

Date of vision: Tuesday, June 26, 1945.

Calendar: Wednesday, March 29, 28 (16 Nissan 3788)

Places (map): Jerusalem Temple

Cycle: The Second Paschal Journey

Summary: The apostolic group is with the women and Joseph of Arimathea. Near the Temple, they wait for Judas, Thomas and Bartholomew, but only the last two show up. Iscariot is not there. They go to another place to wait for him, but the apostle doesn't show up. Joseph of Arimathea grows impatient and they finally head off to the holy place, where Marziam is about to take her exam. Jesus is unable to accompany her, as this would be a disservice to him. Peter is saddened but understands. Instead, Joseph accompanies Simon and his adopted son. They are greeted by Azrael and Jacob, two rabbis or synagogue leaders who show contempt for Peter and skim over the exam. But Marziam is accepted and the child returns with his father, all happy. Jesus is happy too, but is saddened, like the others, by Judas' defection, and Peter belatedly realizes this. However, the Master reassures him and they go to Joseph of Arimathea. That's when the vision ends.

Chapter contents: 201.1: Entry into the Temple amidst insults from soldiers and crowds. 201.2: We meet up with the apostles, but Judas is absent. 201.3: We look for him in vain, and Peter enters with Marziam, without Jesus. 201.4: Joseph of Arimathea plays up his prestige. First questions. 201.5: Marziam passes the exam and Peter delivers his little speech. 201.6: Joseph of Arimathea invites to a banquet. Peter sacrifices a lamb. 201.7: Judas has been a troublemaker.

Previous edition: Tome 3, chapter 62