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GRM 177.1 · Volume 3
Jesus enters Capernaum coming from the country. Only the Twelve are with Him, or rather, only eleven apostles, as John is not there.
We learn from Peter, in Bethsaida, that Jesus sent him "ahead" with Isaac to lead Mary to the Baptist(EMV 180.7).
GRM 178.1 · Volumen 3
I see Jesus heading towards the lake with eleven apostles, as John is still absent. Many people press around Him: among them there are many who were on the Mount, mainly men, who have reached Him at Capernaum to hear His words once again. They would like to detain Him. But He says: «I belong to everybody. And there are many who are entitled to have Me. I will come back. You will join Me. But let Me go now.» He has difficulty in walking through the crowd who throng the little narrow street. The apostles push with their shoulders to make room for Him. But it is like pushing a spongy substance that immediately springs back again. They get angry, too, but to no avail.
GRM 179.2 · Volume 3
The boats of the apostles, after crossing the short stretch of the lake between Capernaum and Bethsaida, land in the latter town.
In this chapter, the Eleven are present. John has gone to find John the Baptist at Hennon with the Virgin.
GRM 179.7-8.9 · Volume 3
He then turns towards Peter and says: «Go up the river as far as you can and stop on the other side.» (...)
The rubbing of the boat on the pebbly river-bed causes the conversation to be interrupted to allow them to go ashore. The low hills of Bethsaida, which almost reach down to the lake, have come to an end here, instead a plain rich in crops extends from the shore, on the other side of Bethsaida, northwards.
«Are we going to Merom?» asks Peter.
«No, let us take this path among the fields.»
The lovely and well kept fields show ears of corn still tender but well formed, all of the same height; and, while lightly undulating in the cool northern breeze, they look like another small lake, the sails of which are the trees growing here and there full of whistling birds.
«These fields are not like the ones of the parable» remarks Jesus’ cousin James.
«Not really! The birds have not devastated them, there are no stone, no bramble. The corn is beautiful! In a month’s time it will be golden… and in two it will be ready for the sickle and the granary» says Judas of Kerioth.
«Master… I remind You of what You said in my house. You spoke so well. But I am beginning to have ideas in my head that are as confused as those ruffled clouds up there…» says Peter.
«This evening I will explain it to you. 179.8 Now we are in sight of Korazim.» And Jesus stares at the new disciple saying: «Much is given to those who give. And possessions do not deprive the gift of its merits. Take Me to the sepulchre of your family and to your mother’s house.»
The young man kneels down kissing Jesus’ hand and weeping.
«Get up. Let us go. My spirit has perceived your weeping. I want to fortify you in your heroism through My love.»
«Isaac the Elder had told me how good You were. Isaac, You know? You cured his daughter. He was my apostle. But I see that Your Kindness is much greater than I was told.»
«We shall call also on the Elder to thank him for giving Me a disciple.»
They reach Korazim and Isaac’s house is the first one they find.
(...) They stop first near the sepulchre and pray. After, through still semi-bare vineyards, they go to Elias’ house.
(...) They go on the road which takes them back to the river, and from there to Bethsaida.
Jesus has just finished preaching in Bethsaida. He is on the lake, with the young disciple who didn't go to his father's funeral, and speaks to Simon of Jonah.
"Go up as high as you can and moor the boat on the other side. The first known Roman bridge on this stretch of the Jordan is in fact located 11/12 km further north(Jacob's Daughters Bridge). This bridge was destroyed in 1918.
The low hills of Bethsaida, which dip their noses into the lake, are no longer visible here, but a plain with rich harvests stretches along this bank opposite Bethsaida to the north. Correct: The plain northwest of Bethsaida is some 500m wide and 1 or 2 km long, then rises steadily to the west.
"Are we going to Merom ? We're taking this path through the fields." Merom is some 17km away, to the northwest, a 4-hour walk... Chorazeïn is barely 4km away, heading due west in a straight line from Bethsaida. Whenever possible, Jesus naturally takes the shortest route.
The fields, beautiful and well-tended, show their ears of corn, still tender but already formed. Consistent: 15 days later, Maria Valtorta remarked that they were "well formed"(EMV 190.1).
Beautiful wheat! Within a month, it will already be blond... and within two months, it will be ready to be mowed and stored. Correct: Harvest takes place at the end of April, beginning of May (according to Jean-François Lavère's chronology, we're at the end of February and the beginning of March). In 2 months' time, it's the episode of the stolen ears of corn on the Sabbath(EMV 217.3).
We've now arrived at Chorazeïn. That's right: coming from the north of Bethsaida, it's only at the last moment, after rounding the hill, that we can see Chorazeïn, located on the southern slope.
- Master... I remind you of what you said at my house. You spoke so well! But I'm starting to get clouds in my head as confused as they are up there. Jesus advised the apostles to ask him about his Word, so that he could explain it to them, in EMV 179.3.
When they arrive in Chorazeïn, Isaac's house is the first they see. This is Isaac the Adult, an old man from Chorazeïn whose daughter Jesus has healed.
They retrace their steps to the river, and from there to Bethsaida. Consistent: in the next chapter we discover that they spend the evening in Bethsaida. It only takes them 2h30 / 3h00 to make this round trip in the afternoon.
GRM 180.2-4 · Volume 3
« I was rich and powerful. If God had not decided to preserve me for a purpose of His, I would have surrendered myself to despair and perished when I was persecuted and a leper. I would have acted harshly against myself… Instead a new wealth, which I had never possessed before, descended upon my desolation: the wealth of a conviction: “God exists”. First… God… Yes, I believed, I was a faithful Israelite. But mine was a faith of formalism. And I thought that the reward of my faith was always inferior to my virtue. I took the liberty of debating with God because I felt that I was still something on the earth. Simon Peter is right. I, too, was building a tower of Babel[1] by praising myself and satisfying my ego. When everything collapsed around me and I was like a worm crushed by the weight of all this human futility, then I no longer debated with God, but with myself, with my stupid self and I ended up by demolishing it. And as I did so, by making room for what I think is the God immanent in our earthly beings, I gained a new strength and wealth: the certainty that I was not alone and that God was watching over man defeated by men and by evil.»
«According to you, what is God, “the God immanent in our earthly beings” as you said? What do you mean? I do not understand you and I think it is a heresy. God is the One we know through the Law and the Prophets. There is no other God» says rather sternly Judas of Kerioth.
«If John was here he would tell you better than I can. But I will tell you as best I can. God is the One we know through the Law and the Prophets. That is true. But in what do we know Him? And how?»
Judas of Alphaeus exclaims: «Little and badly. The Prophets, who described Him for us, knew Him. The idea we have is a muddled one, as we can just see through a mound of explanations piled up by sects…»
«Sects? What do you mean? We have no sects. We are the children of the Law. We all are» the angry aggressive Iscariot says.
«The children of the laws. Not of the Law. There is a slight difference. Plural, not singular. In actual fact, we are the children of what we created, no longer of what God gave us» retorts Thaddeus.
«The laws derive from the Law» says the Iscariot.
«Also diseases originate in our bodies, but that does not mean that they are good» replies Thaddeus.
«But let me hear what this immanent God of Simon Zealot is.» The Iscariot, who cannot argue against the remark of Judas of Alphaeus, endeavours to take the discussion back to where it started.
180.3
Simon Zealot says: «Our senses need a term to catch an idea. Each of us, I am referring to us believers, believes, by the virtue of faith, in the Most High Lord and Creator, Eternal God, Who is in Heaven. But every being needs more than such bare, pure, incorporeal faith, which is fit and sufficient for the angels who see and love God spiritually, as they share with Him a spiritual nature and can see God. We have to create a “picture” of God for ourselves, which picture is made with the essential features that we ascribe to God, to give a name to His infinite absolute perfection. The more a soul concentrates, the more it succeeds in achieving an exact knowledge of God. That is what I say: the immanent God. I am not a philosopher. Perhaps I have applied the word wrongly. In short, I think that the immanent God is to feel, to perceive God in our spirits, to feel and perceive Him no longer as an abstract idea, but as a real presence, bestowing strength and a new peace upon us.»
«All right. But, to sum up, how did you feel Him? What is the difference between feeling by faith and feeling by immanence?» asks the Iscariot somewhat ironically.
«God is safety, boy. When you perceive Him, as Simon says, by means of that word, which I do not understand literally, but I understand its spirit — and believe me, the trouble is that we understand only literally and we do not understand the spirit of God’s words — it means that you are able to grasp the idea of the terrible majesty, but also of the most sweet paternity of God. It means that, should all the world judge and condemn you unjustly, you would feel that One only, He, the Eternal One, Who is your Father, does not judge you, but absolves and comforts you. It means that if all the world should hate you, you would feel over you a love greater than any this world can offer. It means that if you were isolated in jail or in a desert you would always hear One speak to you and say: “Be holy, that you may be like your Father”. It means that for the true love for this Father and God, Whom at last you perceive as such, you accept, work, take and leave without any human consideration, as you are concerned only to return love for love and to copy God as much as possible in your actions» says Peter.
«You are proud! To copy God! You are not entitled to» declares the Iscariot.
«It is not pride. Love leads to obedience. To copy God seems to me a form of obedience because God said that He made us in His own image and likeness» replies Peter.
«He made us. We must not go higher up.»
«You are a poor wretch, my boy, if that is what you think! You are forgetting that we fell and that God wants to take us back to what we were.»
180.4
Jesus begins to speak: «Even more, Peter, Judas and you all. Even more than that. Adam’s perfection was still susceptible of improvement through love, which would have made him a more precise image of his Creator. Adam without the stain of sin would have been a most shining mirror of God. That is why I say: “Be perfect as your Father Who is in Heaven is perfect”. Like your Father. Therefore like God. Peter is quite right. And so is Simon. I ask you to remember their words and apply them to your souls.»
Peter’s wife almost faints from joy on hearing her husband being praised thus. She weeps behind her veil: she is quiet but happy.
Peter blushes so much that he seems to be having a stroke of apoplexy.
Simon the Zealot speaks. The question of faith is discussed further in 180.3.
GRM 180.7-10 · Volume 3
«Have you understood? Have you any questions to ask? No? In that case we can go and rest and tomorrow we will leave for Capernaum. There is one place to which I must go before starting on My journey to Jerusalem for Passover.»
«Shall we go through Arimathea again?» asks the Iscariot.
«I am not sure. It depends on…»
There is a loud knocking at the door.
«Who can it be at this time?» asks Peter getting up to open the door.
John comes in. He is most upset, covered in dust, and he has obviously been weeping.
«You are here!» they all shout. «What’s the matter?»
Jesus, Who has stood up, says only: «Where is My Mother?»
And John, coming forward and kneeling at the feet of the Master, holding his arms as if he were asking for help, says: «Your Mother is well, but She is weeping as I am, as many others are, and She begs You not to come following the Jordan on our side. That is why She sent me back, because Your cousin John has been captured…» And John weeps while everybody is bewildered.
Jesus turns very pale but does not become excited. He only says:
«Stand up and tell us.»
«I was going down with Your Mother and the other women. Isaac and Timoneus were also with us. We were three women and three men. I was carrying out Your instruction to take Mary to John… Ah! You knew it was their last farewell!… It was to be their last farewell… Because of the storm of a few days ago, we had to stop for a little while. But it was enough to make it impossible for John to see Mary… We arrived at noon and he had been captured at daybreak…»
«Where? How? By whom? In his cave?» they all ask, they all want to know.
«He was betrayed!… They used Your name to betray him!» «How horrible! Who did that?» they all shout.
And John shuddering, whispering in a low voice what not even the air should hear, states: «It was one of his disciples…»
The confusion is at its highest pitch. Some curse, some weep, some are petrified with astonishment.
180.8
John throws his arms around Jesus’ neck and shouts: «I am afraid for You!… for You! The saints have their traitors who sell themselves for gold and for fear of the mighty ones, yearning for reward, obeying Satan. For thousands of things! Oh! Jesus! Jesus! How dreadful! My first master! My John who gave me to You!»
«It is all right! Do not worry! Nothing will happen to Me for the time being.»
«But later? What will happen later? I look at myself, at these… I am afraid of everybody, also of myself. Will one of us be Your traitor?…»
«Are you mad? And do you think that we would not tear him to pieces?» shouts Peter.
And the Iscariot: «Oh! You really are mad! It will never be I! But if I should feel so weak as to eventually become so, I would kill myself. Better than be the murderer of God.»
Jesus frees Himself from John’s grip, shakes Judas violently saying: «Do not swear! Nothing can make you weak, unless you want! And if that should happen, make sure you weep for it, and do not commit another crime in addition to deicide. He becomes weak who cuts off his vital link with God.»
180.9
He then returns to John, who is weeping with his head on the table and he says: «Speak calmly. It grieves Me, too. He was of My blood and was My Precursor.»
«I only saw some of the disciples, who were dismayed and furious with the traitor. The others accompanied John towards his prison to be near him at his death.»
«But he is not dead yet… the last time he managed to escape.» says the Zealot endeavouring to comfort John of whom he is very fond.
«He is not dead yet. But he will die» replies John.
«Yes, he will die. He knows as well as I do. Nothing and no one will save him this time. When? I do not know. I know that he will not come out of Herod’s hand alive.»
«Yes, Herod. Listen. John went to the mountain gorge, between Mount Ebal and Gerizim, where we also passed coming back from Galilee, because the traitor said to him: “The Messiah is dying after being attacked by His enemies. He wants to see you to entrust a secret to you”. And he went with the traitor and some other people. Herod’s armed men were in the shade of the valley and they captured him. The others ran away and gave the news to the disciples who had remained near Hennon. They had just come when I arrived with Your Mother. And the dreadful thing is that he was one from our towns… and that the Pharisees of Capernaum are the leaders of the plot to catch him. They went to John saying that You had been their guest and that You were leaving from there to go to Judaea… he would not have left his refuge but for You…»
180.10
Dead silence follows John’s report. Jesus looks bloodless, His deep blue eyes are dimmed. He is standing with his head bowed, His hand still on John’s shoulder, and His hand is trembling lightly. No one dare speak. Jesus breaks the silence: «We shall go to Judaea following a different route. But I must go to Capernaum tomorrow. As early as possible. Rest now. I am going up to the olive-grove. I need to be alone.» And He goes out without saying anything else.
«He is certainly going to weep» whispers James of Alphaeus.
«Let us follow Him, brother» says Judas Thaddeus.
«No. Let Him weep. But let us go out quietly and keep watch. I fear tricks everywhere» replies the Zealot.
«Yes, let us go. We fishermen to the shore. If anybody comes from the lake we will see him. You go to the olive-grove. He is certainly in the usual place, near the walnut-tree. At dawn we will have the boats ready to go away early. Those snakes! Ehi! I did tell you! Tell me, boy? But… is His Mother really safe?»
«Oh! Yes! The shepherd disciples of John have also gone with Her. Andrew… we will never see our John again!»
«Be quiet! It sounds like the song of the cuckoo… One precedes the other and… and…»
«By the Holy Ark! Be quiet! If you go on talking about misfortunes to the Master, I will start from you, letting your backs feel the weight of my oar!» shouts an enraged Peter. «You…» he then says to those who are to go to the olive-grove: «Get some clubs, some big branches, you will find some in the wood-shed… and spread out, armed with them. The first one to come near Jesus to harm Him, kill him.»
«The disciples! We must be careful with the new ones!» exclaims Philip.
The new disciple feels hurt and asks: «Are you in doubt about me? He chose me and wanted me.»
«Not about you. I mean the scribes and Pharisees and their worshippers. That is where the trouble will come from, believe me.»
They go out, some towards the boats, some towards the olive-trees on the hills, and it all ends.
In the previous chapters, John of Zebedee had to accompany the Virgin to Hennon to see John.
"Your Mother is doing well, but she is in tears like me, like many people, and she begs you not to come along the Jordan on our side." (...) " We will go to Judea by another way." Jesus confirms in EMV 187.3 that he respects his mother's wish, and speaks to Mary about it again in EMV 198.1/2.
We arrived at the sixth hour, and he had been captured at the crowing of the cock... Gallicinium, "the crowing of the cock", corresponded to the last watch: from 3am to 6am.
"By one of his disciples..." This fact, which doesn't seem to be mentioned in any tradition, indicates that The Forerunner was also betrayed by one of his own.
I will never betray. But if I felt weak enough to do so, I'd kill myself. It's better than being God's murderer. This is the germ of the idea of suicide, which Judas will put into practice after his betrayal (EMV 605.1/13).
Yes, he will die. He knows it, as I know it. In fact, Jesus had not hidden this from John himself, when he visited him (EMV 148.2). The Baptist's death is announced in EMV 270.7.
He went to the same gorge we passed through on our way back to Galilee. It was during the encounter with the Samaritan woman Fotinai in EMV 143.4.
The Pharisees of Capernaum who are at the head of the plot to capture him. This plot was probably organized by Joachim and Elijah of Capernaum (see EMV 182.1).
He would not have left his refuge for anyone but you ... Enon (or Hennon), on the border of Decapolis and Samaria, was outside Herod's jurisdiction. John was safe there.
GRM 181.3 · Volume 3
The crowds slowly disperse. The eight apostles, Elias, his brother and mother, old Isaac, whose soul rejoices seeing his Saviour, stay in the kitchen garden.
GRM 181.6-7 · Volume 3
Why does the Master, Who sees the imperfection of a disciple, not cast him away at once, even if He is not prepared to submit to the thought: “He will be My murderer”? That is what you are asking yourselves. Because it is useless to do so. If He did so he would not avoid having him as an enemy, a double and more dangerous enemy, because of his anger and his sorrow at being found out or at being found out or at being driven away. Yes, because of his sorrow. Because sometimes a bad disciple does not realise that he is such. The demon’s action is so subtle that he is not aware of it. He becomes wicked without even suspecting that he is subject to such action. And because of his anger, He is enraged at being known for what he is, when he is aware of Satan’s work and of his followers: the men who tempt weak people in their weak points, to remove from the world a saint who offends them, wicked as they are, when compared with his goodness. The saint then prays and trusts in God. “Let what You allow be done” he says. He adds only the clause: “providing it serves Your purpose”. The saint knows that the time will come when the wicked darnel will be rejected from the harvest. By God Himself Who does not allow more than what is useful to the triumph of His loving will.»
181.7
«If You maintain that Satan and his followers are always to be blamed… it seems to me that the responsibility of the disciple diminishes» says Matthew.
«Do not believe that. If there is Good there is also Evil and man is gifted with discernment and freedom.»
«You say that God does not allow more than what is useful to the triumph of His loving will. Therefore such an error is useful too, if He allows it, and it serves the triumph of the divine will» says the Iscariot.
«And you infer, as Matthew does, that that justifies the disciple’s crime. God created the lion without ferocity and the snake without poison, now one is ferocious and the other poisonous. That is why God separated them from man. Ponder over that and draw conclusions.
GRM 182.2 · Volume 3
They are alone once again: the Master with His apostles and they walk along the cool country, along a road which Jesus has taken much to Peter’s surprise, as he wanted to take a different one. «We are going away from the lake…»
«We will still arrive in time for what I have to do.»
The apostles become silent and go towards a little village, a handful of houses, spread out in the country.
They walk in the cool countryside, on a road that Jesus has taken, to the astonishment of Peter, who wanted to take another. Jesus avoids Capernaum by going further inland.
"This takes us away from the lake..." he says. "We'll get there just in time for what I have to do. For several days Jesus has been preparing his coming to Magdala... "The Father (God) gave me two names of people...": see EMV 176.1.
GRM 183.1 · Volume 3
The entire apostolic college is around Jesus. Sitting on the grass, in the cool shade of a thicket, near a stream, they are all eating bread and cheese and drinking the cool clear water of the stream. Their dusty sandals imply that they have walked a long way and perhaps the disciples wish but to rest on the long fresh grass.
But the Tireless Walker is not of the same mind. As soon as he deems that the hottest hour is over, He gets up, goes onto the road and looks… He then turns around and says: «Let us go.» Nothing else.