But here is John coming with Simon. John, My first disciple, Simon, the one of whom I spoke to you two days ago. You have already seen Simon and John. One was ill…»
«Ah! The leper! I remember. Is he already Your disciple?»
«Since the following day.»
«And why did I have to wait so long?»
«Judas?!»
«You are right. Forgive me.»
John has seen the Master, and he points Him out to Simon. They make haste. John and the Master kiss each other. Simon, instead, throws himself at Jesus’ feet and kisses them, exclaiming: «Glory to my Saviour! Bless Your servant that his actions may be holy in the eyes of God and that I may glorify Him and bless Him for giving You to me.»
Jesus places His hand on Simon’s head: «Yes, I bless you to thank you for your work. Get up, Simon. This is John, and this is Simon: here is My last disciple. He also wants to follow the Truth. He is therefore a brother for you all.»
They greet each other: the two Judaeans inquisitively, John heartily.
«Are you tired, Simon?» asks Jesus.
«No, Master. With my health I have recovered a vitality I never felt before.»
«And I know you make good use of it. I have spoken to many people and they all told Me that you have already instructed them about the Messiah.»
Simon smiles happily. «Also last night I spoke of You to one who is an honest Israelite. I hope You will meet him one day. I would like to take You to him.»
«That is quite possible.»
Judas joins in the conversation: «Master, You promised to come with me, in Judaea.»
«And I will. Simon will continue to teach the people on My coming. The time is short, My dear friends, and the people are so many.
71.4
I will now go with Simon. You two will come and meet Me this evening on the road to the Mount of Olives and we will give money to the poor. Go now.»
When Jesus is alone with Simon, He asks him: «Is that person in Bethany a true Israelite?»
«He is a true Israelite. His ideas are the prevailing ones, but he is really longing for the Messiah. And when I said to him: “He is now among us”, he replied at once: “I am blessed because I am living this hour”.»
«We shall go to him one day and take our blessing to his house. Have you seen the new disciple?»
«I have. He is young and seems intelligent.»
«Yes, he is. Since you are a Judaean, You will bear more with him than the others will, because of his ideas.»
«Is that a desire, or an order?»
«A kind order. You have suffered and You can be more indulgent. Sorrow teaches many things.»
«If You give me an order, I will be totally indulgent to him.»
«Yes. Be so. Perhaps Peter, and he may not be the only one, will be somewhat upset seeing how I take care and worry about this disciple. But one day, they will understand… The more one is deformed, the more assistance one needs. The others… oh! the others form properly, also by themselves, by simple contact. I do not want to do everything by Myself. I want the will of man and the help of other people to form a man. I ask you to help Me… and I am grateful for the help.»
«Master, do You think he will be disappointing You?»
«No. But he is young and was brought up in Jerusalem.»
«Oh! near You he will amend all the vices of that town… I am sure. I was already old and hardened by bitter hatred, and yet I have changed completely after seeing You…»
Jesus whispers: «So be it!» Then in a loud voice: «Let us go to the Temple. I will evangelise the people.»
And the vision ends.