Notes for this theme

The Pentateuch

Page 3 of 7

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GRM 73.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«(...) Could it not be true that the shepherds and the sorcerers spoke the truth, revealed to them by God? Why do you carry on believing they were liars?»
«Because the years of the prophecy were not complete. We thought about it afterwards… after our eyes had been opened by the blood that reddened basins and rivulets.»
«And could the Most High not have advanced the coming of the Saviour, out of an excess of love for His people? On what did the sorcerers found their statement? You told Me they came from the East…»
«On their calculations concerning a new star.»
«Is it not written[2]: “A star from Jacob takes the leadership, a sceptre arises from Israel”? Is Jacob not the great Patriarch and did he not stop in the land of Bethlehem as dear to him as his eyes, because his beloved Rachel died there? And did the mouth of a Prophet not say: “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots”? Jesse, David’s father, was born here. Is the shoot on the stock, cut at its roots by tyrannical usurpation, is it not the “Virgin” Who will give birth to Her Son, conceived not by deed of man, otherwise She would not be a virgin, but by divine will, whereby He will be the “Emmanuel” because: Son of God, He will be God and bring God among the people of God, as His name proclaims? And will He not be announced, as the prophecy says, to the people walking in darkness, that is to the pagans, “by a great light”? And the star the Magi saw, could it not be the star of Jacob, the great light of the two prophecies of Balaam and Isaiah? And the very massacre ordered by Herod, does it not come within the prophecies? “A voice is heard in Ramah… It is Rachel weeping for her children”. It was written that tears should ooze from Rachel’s bones in her sepulchre at Ephrathah when, through the Saviour, the reward would come to the holy people. Tears which were to turn into celestial laughter, just as the rainbow is formed by the last drops of the storm, but it says: “Here, the sky is clear again”»
«You are a learned man. Are You a rabbi?»
«Yes, I am.»
«And I perceived it. There is light and truth in Your words. But… Oh! too many wounds are still bleeding in this land of Bethlehem because of the true or false Messiah… I would never advise Him to come here. The land would reject Him as it rejects a stepson who caused the death of the true children. In any case… if it was Him… He died with the other slaughtered children.»

Annotation

Book of Genesis 35, 15-20

Gen 35:15-20

And Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him "Bethel". They broke camp and left Bethel. They still had some distance to go to reach Ephrathah, when Rachel gave birth. And her labor was painful. During this difficult birth, the midwife said to her: "Don't be afraid! You still have a son!" With her last breath, as she was dying, Rachel called him Ben-Oni (i.e.: Son-of-the-mourning); but his father called him Benjamin (i.e.: Son-of-the-right). Rachel died and was buried on the road to Ephrathah, i.e. Bethlehem. Jacob erected a stele over her grave. Today, this is still the stele at Rachel's grave.

Book of Numbers 24, 15-17

Num 24, 15-17: Balaam again spoke these enigmatic words: "The oracle of Balaam, son of Beor, the oracle of the man with penetrating eyes, the oracle of the one who hears the words of God, who possesses the knowledge of the Most High. He sees what the Mighty One makes him see, he falls into ecstasy, and his eyes are opened. I see this hero - but not for now - I see him - but not up close: A star rises from Jacob, a scepter rises from Israel. It breaks the flanks of Moab, it decimates all the sons of Seth.

First Book of Samuel 17, 12

1 Sam 17:12: David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse and who had eight sons. Now, in Saul's time, this man was an old man advanced in years.

Book of Isaiah

Is 7, 14 : Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin is with child, and will bear a son, and will call his name Immanuel (i.e.: God-with-us).

Is 9, 1 : The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light shine, and a light has shone on the inhabitants of the land of darkness.

Is 11, 1 : A branch will come forth from the stock of Jesse, father of David, a shoot will spring from his roots.

Book of Jeremiah 31, 15 :

Jr 31, 15 : Thus says the Lord: A cry goes up in Ramah, a lament and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her sons; she refuses to be comforted, for her sons are no more.

Keywords

GRM 74.7-9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

«Men of Judah! Men of Bethlehem, listen! Women of the land sacred to Rachel, listen! Listen to One Who descends from David, and has suffered because of persecutions and has become worthy of speaking, and is speaking to you to give you light and comfort. Listen.»
The people stop shouting, quarrelling and buying and they gather together.
«He is a rabbi!»
«He certainly comes from Jerusalem.»
«Who is He?»
«What a handsome man!»
«And what a voice!»
«And His manners!»
«Of course, He is of David’s House!»
«He is one of ours, then!»
«Let’s listen to Him!»
The whole crowd is now gathered near the little staircase which looks like a pulpit.
«Genesis states: “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman: She will crush your head and you will strike at Her heel”. It is also said: “I will multiply your pains in childbearing… and the soil shall yield you brambles and thistles”. That was the sentence against man, woman and the serpent.
I have come from far to revere Rachel’s tomb, and in the evening breeze, in the dew of the night, in the plaintive morning song of the nightingale, I heard ancient Rachel’s sobs being repeated, and they were repeated by the mouths of many mothers of Bethlehem, within their tombs or within their hearts. And I heard Jacob’s sorrow roar in the pain of the widowed husbands, deprived of their wives whom sorrow had killed… I cry with you… But listen, brethren of My land. Bethlehem, the blessed land, the least of the towns in Judah, but the greatest in the eyes of God and of mankind, roused Satan’s hatred because it was the cradle of the Saviour, as Micah says, destined to be the tabernacle on which the Glory of God, the Fire of God, His Incarnate Love was to rest.
“I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman; She will crush your head and you will strike at Her heel”. Which enmity is there greater than the one that aims at a mother’s children, the very heart of a woman? And which heel is there stronger than the Saviour’s Mother’s? The revenge of Satan defeated was therefore a natural one: he did not strike at the heel, but at the hearts of mothers, because of the Mother.
Oh! Pains were multiplied when the children were lost after giving birth to them! Oh! great was the trouble of being a childless father after sowing and toiling for the offspring! And yet, Bethlehem, rejoice! Your pure blood, the blood of the innocents has prepared a blazing purple way for the Messiah…»
74.8 The crowd, which has become more and more turbulent after Jesus mentioned the Saviour and His Mother, is now showing clear signs of agitation.
«Be quiet, Master» says Judas. «And let us go.»
But Jesus does not listen to him. He goes on: «… for the Messiah that the Grace of the God-Father saved from tyrants to preserve Him for His people and its salvation and…»
The shrill voice of a woman shouts: «Five, five I gave birth to, and not one is now in my house. Poor me!» And she yells hysterically.
It is the beginning of the uproar.
Another woman rolls over in the dust, she tears her dress, and shows a breast maimed of its nipple, shouting: «Here, here on this breast they slaughtered my first-born son! The sword cut off his face and my nipple at the same time. Oh! my Ellis!»
«And what about me! What about me? There is my royal palace. Three tombs in one, watched over by the father: my husband and children together. There, there! If there is a Saviour, let Him give me back my children, my husband, let Him save me from despair, from Beelzebub He must save me.»
They all shout: «Our children, our husbands, our fathers! Let Him give them back, if He exists!»
Jesus waves His arms imposing silence. «Brethren of My land: I would like to give you back your children, in their flesh. But I tell you: be good, be resigned, forgive, hope, rejoice in hope and exult in one certainty: you will soon have your children, angels in Heaven, because the Messiah is about to open the gates of Heaven, and if you are just, death will be a new Life and a new Love…»
«Ah! Are You the Messiah? In the name of God, tell us.»
Jesus lowers Him arms, in so sweet and kind a gesture as if He were embracing them all, and He says: «Yes, I am.»
«Go away! Go away! It’s Your fault, then!»
A stone is thrown amid hisses and jeers.
74.9 Judas reacts at once in a most praiseworthy way… Oh! if he had always behaved thus! He jumps in front of Jesus, standing on the low wall of the landing, with his mantle wide open and undaunted he protects Jesus from the stones. His face bleeds and he shouts to John and Simon: «Take Jesus away. Behind those trees. I’ll follow. Go, in the name of Heaven!» And he shouts to the crowd: «Mad dogs! I am of the Temple and I will report you to the Temple and to Rome.»
The crowd is scared for a moment. Then the shower of stones is resumed at once, but fortunately, they are not experts. And Judas, fearless, receives them, and replies with offensive language to the curses of the crowd. Furthermore: he catches a stone thrown at him, and he throws it back on the head of an old man who is shouting like a magpie plucked alive! And as they attempt to climb up his pedestal, he quickly picks up an old branch from the ground, (he has now come off the little wall) and he swings it round on backs, heads and hands mercilessly.
Some soldiers rush to the spot and with their lances they make their way through the crowd: «Who are you? Why this brawl?»
«I am a Judaean and I have been attacked by these plebeians. A rabbi, well known to the priests, was with me. He was speaking to these dogs. But they became wild and attacked us.»
«Who are You?»
«Judas of Kerioth, I was a man of the Temple, now I am a disciple of rabbi Jesus of Galilee. I am a friend of Simon the Pharisee, of Johanan the Sadducee, and of Joseph of Arimathaea, the Counsellor of the Sanhedrin, and finally, of Eleazar ben Anna, the Proconsul’s great friend, and you can check.»
«I will. Where are you going?»
«I am going to Kerioth with my friend, then to Jerusalem.»
«Go. We will protect your back.»
Judas hands some coins to the soldier. It must be illegal… but quite normal, because the soldier takes them swiftly and cautiously, he salutes and smiles. Judas jumps down from his platform, he goes through the uncultivated field, skipping now and again, and he reaches his companions.
«Are you seriously hurt?»
«No, it’s nothing, Master! In any case, it’s for You… But I gave them a licking as well. I must be covered with blood…»
«Yes, on your cheek. There is a rivulet here.»
John moistens a small piece of cloth and wipes Judas’ cheek.
«I am sorry, Judas… But see,… to tell them that we are Judaeans, according to your good practical sense…»
«They are beasts. I believe You are now convinced, Master. And I hope you will not insist…»
«Oh! no! Not because I am afraid. But because it is useless, just now. When they do not want us, we must not curse them, but withdraw praying for the poor, foolish people, who die of starvation and cannot see the Bread. Let us go along this out-of-the-way path, towards the shepherds, if we can find them. I think we will be able to get on to the Hebron road…»
«To have more stones thrown at us,?»
«No. To say to them: “I am here”.»
«What?… They will certainly beat us. They have been suffering for thirty years because of You.»
«We shall see.»
They enter a cool, shady, thick little wood, and I lose sight of them.

Detail

Summary: Jesus has come to the ruins of Anne's house. He decides to speak to the people of Bethlehem, who have lost their children in the massacre of the Innocents.

Annotation

Book of Genesis 3, 14-19

Gn 3, 14-19 : Then the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you will be cursed among all the animals and beasts of the field. You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring: she will bruise your head, and you will bruise her heel."

Then the Lord God said to the woman: "I will multiply the sorrow of your pregnancies; in sorrow you will bear sons. Your desire will lead you to your husband, and he will rule over you."

Finally, he said to the man: "Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and ate the fruit of the tree that I forbade you to eat: curse the ground for your sake! You will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life. Of itself, it will give you thorns and thistles, but you will get your food by tilling the fields. By the sweat of your face you shall earn your bread, until you return to the earth from which you came; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Book of Jeremiah 31, 15

Jer 31:15: Thus says the Lord: A cry goes up in Ramah, a lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her sons; she refuses to be comforted, for her sons are no more.

Micah 5:1

Mi 5, 1 : And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, the smallest of the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me the one who is to rule Israel. Its origins go back to ancient times, to the days of yore.

Keywords

GRM 79.1

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

79.1 Jesus is walking with His disciples on a road along the torrent. The road is not really running along the torrent. The torrent is below; high above, on the side of the mountain, there is a twisting road, as can be normally found in mountain places. John is almost purple, laden like a porter, with a big heavy satchel. Judas is carrying Jesus’ bag and his own. Simon has only his bag and the mantles. Jesus is now wearing his own clothes and sandals. But Judas’ mother must have had His tunic washed, because it is no longer creased.
«How much fruit! How beautiful are those vineyards on those hills!» says John, who is always in good spirits, despite the heat and the fatigue. «Master, is this the river on the banks of which our fathers picked the miraculous grapes?»
«No, it is another one, farther south. But the whole region was blessed with rich fruit.»
«It is not so blessed now, although still beautiful.»
«Too many wars have devastated the country. Israel was made here… but it had to be fecundated by its own blood and by the blood of its enemies.»