GRM 77.5
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
«How much trouble we had because of the Baptist! But he is our great man! He is really great! Even when he was born there was a miracle. Elizabeth was as old as a withered thistle but she became as fruitful as an apple in Adar, and that was the first miracle. Then a cousin of hers came and She was a holy woman, and She served her and loosened the priest’s tongue. Her name was Mary. I remember Her, although we saw Her very rarely. How it happened I don’t know. They say that to make Elizabeth happy, She made Zacharias put his mute mouth against Her pregnant bosom or that She put Her fingers into his mouth. I don’t know. It is a fact that, after nine months’ silence, Zacharias spoke praising the Lord and saying that there was a Messiah. He did not explain more. But my wife was there on that day and she assured me that Zacharias, praising the Lord, said that his son would precede Him. Now I say: it is not what people believe. John is the Messiah and he goes before the Lord, as Abraham went before God. That’s what it is… Am I not right?»
«You are right with regards to the spirit of the Baptist, who always proceeds before God. But you are not right with regards to the Messiah».
«Well, the woman who said that She was the Mother of the Son of God — Samuel said so — was it not true that She was? Is She still living?»
«Yes, She was. The Messiah was born, preceded by him who raised his voice in the desert, as the Prophet[1] said.»
«You are the first to say so. John, the last time that Jowehel took him a sheepskin, which he did every year at the beginning of winter, although he was questioned about the Messiah, did not say: “The Messiah is here”. When he will say so…»
«Man, I was a disciple of John and I heard him say: “Here is the Lamb of God” pointing to…» says John.
«No, no. He is the Lamb. A true Lamb who grew up by himself, almost without the need of a father and mother. As soon as he became a son of the Law, he lived isolated in the mountain caves overlooking the desert, and he grew up there conversing with God. Elizabeth and Zacharias died, and he did not come. God only was his father and mother. There is no holy man greater than he is. You can ask everyone in Hebron. Samuel used to say so, but the people in Bethlehem must have been right. John is the holy man of God.»
«If someone said to you: “I am the Messiah”, what would you say?» asks Jesus.
«I would call him a “blasphemer” and I would drive him away, throwing stones at him.»
«And if he performed a miracle to prove that he was the Messiah?»
«I would say that he was “possessed”. The Messiah will come when John reveals himself in his true nature. The very hatred of Herod is the proof. Cunning as he is, he knows that John is the Messiah.»
«He was not born in Bethlehem.»
«But when he is freed, after announcing by himself his impending oncoming, he will reveal himself in Bethlehem. Also Bethlehem is waiting for that. Whilst… Oh! Go, if you have plenty of guts, and talk to the Bethlehemites of another Messiah… and you will see…»
«Have you a synagogue?»
«Yes, about two hundred steps straight ahead. You cannot go wrong. Near it there is the sarcophagus with the violated remains.»
«Goodbye, may God enlighten you.»
Detail
A woodcutter from Hebron talks with Jesus, John, Judas and the shepherd Elijah. He declares: