Notes for this theme

Jesus' entourage

Page 42 of 153

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GRM 73.7-8

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Man, I tell you, do not hate. Do not wish evil things. Do not be anxious to do evil things. There is no fault here. But even if there was, forgive. Forgive in the name of God. Tell the other people of Bethlehem as well. When your hearts are free from hatred, the Messiah will come; you will know Him then, because He is alive. He already existed when the massacre took place. I am telling you. It was Satan’s fault, not the fault of the shepherds and of the sorcerers that the massacre took place. The Messiah was born here for you, He came to bring the Light to the land of His fathers. The Son of a Virgin Mother of the line of David, in the ruins of the house of David, He granted a stream of Graces to the world, and a new life to mankind…»
«Go away! Get out of here! You are a follower of that false Messiah, Who could but be false, because He brought misfortune to us here in Bethlehem. You are defending Him, so…»
«Be silent, man. I am a Judaean and I have influential friends. I could make you feel sorry for your insult» bursts out Judas, getting hold of the peasant’s garments, and shaking him in a fit of violent anger.
«No, No, out of here! I don’t want trouble with the people of Bethlehem or with Rome or Herod. Go away, you cursed ones, if you don’t want me to leave my mark on you… Out!»
«Let us go, Judas. Do not react. Let us leave him in his hatred. God will not enter where there is bitter hatred. Let us go.»
«Yes, we will go. But you will pay for it.»
«No, Judas, do not say that. They are blind… We shall meet so many on My way.»
73.8 They go out following Simon and John, who are already outside, speaking to the woman, round the corner of the stable.
«Forgive my husband, Lord. I did not think I was going to cause so much trouble… Here, take these. You will eat them tomorrow morning. They are newly laid. I have nothing else… Forgive us. Where will You sleep?» (She gives Him some eggs).
«Do not worry. I know where to go. Go and peace be with you for your kindness. Goodbye.»
They walk a short distance, without speaking, then Judas bursts out: «But You… Why not make him worship You? Why did You not crush that filthy swearer down in the mud? Down on the ground! Crushed because he showed no respect for You, the Messiah… Oh! That is what I would have done! Samaritans should be reduced to ashes by means of a miracle! It is the only thing that will shake them.»
«Oh! How many times will I hear that said! But if I should reduce to ashes for every sin against Me!… No, Judas. I have come to create, not to destroy.»
«Yes! And in the meantime they are destroying You.»
Jesus does not reply.

Detail

Jesus talks to a man from Bethlehem who is very hostile to the Bethlehem shepherds and the Messiah.

Keywords

Judas de Kérioth (apostle)

GRM 73.8-9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Simon asks: «Where are we going now, Master?»
«Come with Me, I know a place.»
«But if You have never been here after You left, how can You know?» asks Judas, still angry.
«I know. It is not a beautiful place. But I have been there before. It is not in Bethlehem… it is a little outside… Let us turn this way.»
Jesus is in front, followed by Simon, then Judas and John is last…
73.9 In the silence, broken only by the rustling of their sandals on the small grains of gravel of the path, someone sobbing can be heard.
«Who is crying?» asks Jesus turning around.
And Judas: «It’s John. He has been frightened.»
«No, I was not frightened. I had already laid my hand on the knife under my belt… Then I remembered the words You keep repeating: “Do not kill, forgive”.»
«Why are you crying, then?» asks Judas.
«Because I suffer seeing that the world does not love Jesus. They do not know Him, and they do not want to know Him. Oh! It is such a pain! As if someone tore my heart with burning thorns. As if I had seen someone treading on my mother or spitting upon my father’s face… Even worse… As if I had seen Roman horses eating in the Holy Ark and resting in the Holy of Holies.»
«Do not cry, My dear John. You shall say it for this present time and for endless times in future: “He was the Light and He came to enlighten darkness; but darkness did not know Him. He came to the world that had been made for Him, but the world did not know Him. He came to His own town, to His domain, but His own people did not accept Him”. Oh! Do not cry like that!»
«That does not happen in Galilee!» says John sighing.
«Well, not even in Judaea» says Judas. «Jerusalem is the capital and three days ago it sang hosannas to You, Messiah! You cannot judge from this place of coarse peasants, shepherds and market gardeners. Also the Galileans, mind you, are not all good. After all, where did Judas, the false Messiah, come from? They said…»
«That is enough, Judas. There is no use in getting angry. I am calm. Be calm, too.»

Detail

jesus has just been chased out of a house in Bethlehem.

Keywords

GRM 73.8.9-11

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Simon asks: «Where are we going now, Master?»
«Come with Me, I know a place.»
«But if You have never been here after You left, how can You know?» asks Judas, still angry.
«I know. It is not a beautiful place. But I have been there before. It is not in Bethlehem… it is a little outside… Let us turn this way.»
Jesus is in front, followed by Simon, then Judas and John is last…
(...) «Judas, come here. I want to speak to you.» Judas goes near Him. «Take this purse. You will do the shopping for tomorrow.»
«And for the time being, where are we going to lodge?»
Jesus smiles, but does not reply.
73.10 It is dark. Everything is white in the moonlight. The nightingales sing amongst the olives-trees. A brook is a silvery resounding ribbon. One can smell the scent of hay of the mown fields: a warm, I would say, carnal smell. Bellows and bleats can be heard. And stars, stars and stars… stars strewn on the heavenly curtain, a canopy of living gems, spread over the hills of Bethlehem.
«But here!… There is nothing but ruins here! Where are You taking us? The town is over there.»
«I know. Come. Follow the rivulet, behind Me. A few more steps and then… then I will offer you the abode of the King of Israel.»
Judas shrugs his shoulders and becomes quiet.
A few more steps, then a heap of ruined houses: the remains of houses… A cave between the clefts of a big wall.
Jesus asks: «Have You any tinder? Light it.»
Simon lights a small lamp which he has taken out of his knapsack and he gives it to Jesus.
«Come in» says the Master lifting the lamp. «Come in. This is the nativity room of the King of Israel.»
«You must be joking, Master! This is a filthy den. Ah! I am not going to stay here! I loathe it: it is damp, cold, stinking, full of scorpions and perhaps also snakes…»
«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»
73.11
Simon is on his knees. John goes straight to the manger and cries, leaning his head against it. Judas is terrified… he is overcome by emotion, and no longer worried about his beautiful mantle, he kneels on the ground, takes the edge of Jesus’ tunic and kisses it and beats his breast saying: «Oh! My good Master, have mercy on the blindness of Your servant! My pride vanishes… I see You as You are. Not the king I was thinking of. But the Eternal Prince, the Father of future centuries, the King of peace. Have mercy, my Lord and my God, have mercy on me!»
«Yes, you have all My mercy! Now we will sleep where the Infant and the Virgin slept, over there where John has taken the place of the adoring Mother, here where Simon looks like My putative father. Or, if you prefer so, I will speak to you of that night…»
«Oh! yes, Master, tell us of Your birth.»
«That it may be a bright pearl shining in our hearts. And we may tell the whole world.»
«And we may venerate Your Virgin Mother, not only as Your Mother, but also as… as the Virgin!»
Judas was the first to speak, then Simon and then John, whose face smiles and cries, near the manger.
«Come and sit on the hay. Listen,…» and Jesus tells them of the night of His birth. «…as the Mother was near Her time to have Her Child, a decree was issued by the imperial delegate Publius Sulpicius Quirinus on instructions from Caesar Augustus, when Sentius Saturninus was governor of Palestine. The decree stated that a census had to be taken of all the people of the empire. Those who were not slaves were to go to their places of origin and register in the official rolls of the empire. Joseph, the spouse of the Mother, was of the line of David and the Mother was also of David’s line. In compliance with the decree, they left Nazareth and came to Bethlehem, the cradle of the royal family. The weather was severe…».
Jesus continues the story and it all ends in this way.

Keywords

GRM 73.9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Judas, come here. I want to speak to you.» Judas goes near Him. «Take this purse. You will do the shopping for tomorrow.»
«And for the time being, where are we going to lodge?»
Jesus smiles, but does not reply.

Keywords

Judas de Kérioth (apostle)

GRM 73.10

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»

Keywords

GRM 74

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Jesus is in Bethlehem with John, Judas and Simon the Zealot. They go into the town itself, as Christ wants to show them where the three kings greeted him. Then Judas shows his practicality and uses trickery to obtain information about Anne of Bethlehem, who had given shelter to the Holy Family. He passes off the apostolic group as Judeans from Jerusalem, and the innkeeper, a man named Hezekiah, tells them about the massacre of the Innocents and the death of Anne. Jesus goes to visit the ruins, then speaks to the people of Bethlehem. But when he speaks of his Mother and the Messiah, they become openly hostile. The crowd becomes agitated and throws stones, but Jesus is unable to appease them or comfort their pain. In a heroic gesture, Judas protects Jesus and the group withdraws. So the Savior doesn't insist, and decides to go and meet the shepherds at the Nativity.

Keywords

GRM 74.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

Jesus, with arms crossed, looks at all the happy little creatures and smiles.
«Are You already ready, Master?» asks Simon, from behind Him.
«Yes, I am. Are the others still sleeping?»
«Yes, they are.»
«They are young… I washed Myself in that stream… The water is so cold that it clears the mind…»
«I’ll go and wash now.»
While Simon, wearing only a short tunic, is washing himself and then puts on his clothes, Judas and John come out. «Hail, Master, are we late?»
«No. It is only daybreak. But now be quick and let us go.»
The two get washed and put on their tunics and mantles.
Jesus, before setting off, picks some little flowers which have grown between the crevices of two stones, and puts them into a small wooden box, in which there are already other items, which I cannot see very well. He explains: «I will take them to My Mother. She will love them…» (...)

Keywords

GRM 74.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Translation in progress

Keywords

GRM 74.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

74.2 «Let us go.»
«Where, Master?»
«To Bethlehem.»
«Again? I do not think the situation is a favourable one for us…»
«It does not matter. Let us go. I want to show you where the Magi came and where I was.»
«In that case, listen. Excuse me, will You, Master? But let me do the talking. Let us do one thing. In Bethlehem and at the hotel, let me speak and ask questions. You Galileans are not very much liked in Judaea, and much less here than anywhere else. Or better still, let us do this: your clothes show that You and John are Galileans. It’s too easy. And then… your hair! Why do you persist in wearing it so long? Simon and I will change mantles with you. Simon, give yours to John, I’ll give mine to the Master. That’s it! See? You already look a little more like Judaeans. Now take this.» And he takes off the cloth covering his head: a yellow, brown, red, green striped length of material, like his mantle, held in position by a yellow cord, he places it on Jesus’ head, adjusting it along His cheeks to hide His fair hair. John puts on the very dark green one of Simon: «Oh! That’s better now. I have a practical sense.»
«Yes, Judas, you have a practical sense. That is true. Watch, however, that it does not exceed the other sense.»
«Which one, Master?»
«The spiritual sense.»
«No! No! But in certain cases it pays to be more of a politician than an ambassador. And listen… be good a little longer… it is for Your own good… Do not contradict me if I should say something,… something… which is not true.»
«What do you mean? Why tell lies? I am the Truth and I want no lies in Me or around Me.»
«Oh! I will only tell half lies. I will say that we are all coming back from remote places, from Egypt for instance, and that we are seeking news of dear friends. I will say that we are Judaeans coming back from exile. After all, there is some truth in everything, and I will be speaking, and… one lie more, one lie less…»
«But Judas! Why deceive?»
«Never mind, Master! The world lives on deceit. And at times deceit is a necessity. Well: to make You happy, I will only say that we are coming from far and that we are Judaeans. Which is true for three out of four of us. And you, John, please do not speak at all. You would give yourself away.»
«I will be quiet.»
«Then… if everything works out all right… we shall say the rest. But I do not believe it… I am shrewd, I grasp things at once.»
«I see that, Judas. But I would prefer you to be simple.»
«It does not help much. In Your group, I will be the one in charge of difficult missions. Let me carry on.»
Jesus is reluctant. But He gives in.

Detail

Judas points out to Jesus that he won't really be telling the truth to the people of Bethlehem about what happened at the time of the Massacre of the Innocents. But Jesus doesn't want lies around and within him.

Keywords

GRM 74.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Do not contradict me if I should say something,… something… which is not true.»
«What do you mean? Why tell lies? I am the Truth and I want no lies in Me or around Me.»
«Oh! I will only tell half lies. I will say that we are all coming back from remote places, from Egypt for instance, and that we are seeking news of dear friends. I will say that we are Judaeans coming back from exile. After all, there is some truth in everything, and I will be speaking, and… one lie more, one lie less…»
«But Judas! Why deceive?»
«Never mind, Master! The world lives on deceit. And at times deceit is a necessity. Well: to make You happy, I will only say that we are coming from far and that we are Judaeans. Which is true for three out of four of us. And you, John, please do not speak at all. You would give yourself away.»
«I will be quiet.»

Detail

Judas wants to know more about the massacre of the Innocents and Anne, since Jesus wants to go there. So he asks Christ to let him tell half lies and asks John to keep quiet.