562. The Man of Jabneel.

 562. The Man of Jabneel. 7th February 1947 1 Several days must have gone by. I am saying so because I see that the corn, which in the last visions was hardly a span high, after the last downpour and the lovely sunshine that followed it, is already tall and is about to give ear. Cereals, still tender in their calami, are waved by a light breeze, that plays with the new leaves of the early fruit trees, which after blossoming or while the petals flutter about and fall, have already opened their light-emerald tender shiny little leaves, as beautiful as everything that is pure and new. The vines, still bare and knotty, blossom later, but on the twisted vineshoots, which interlace with one another from trunk to trunk, the buds have already burst the dark bark that contained them, and, although still closed in it, they display the silver-grey down that is the nest for future new vine-leaves and tendrils, and the woody twisted festoon-like branches seem to be softened by a fresh gracefulness. The sun, which is already warm, has begun its action by colouring everything and distilling vegetable essences, and while with brighter hues it paints what only a few days ago looked paler, it warms and thus extracts various types of scents from clods of earth, from flowery meadows, from fields of cereals, from vegetable gardens and orchards, from woods, from walls, from the very clothes hanging to dry, blending them harmoniously into a smell that will last throughout summer until it changes into the strong reek of must in the vats where the squashed grapes become wine. There is a loud chorus of birds singing among trees, and an eager bleating of rams among herds. And the singing of men along slopes. And the cheerful voices of children. And the smiles of women It is springtime. Nature is in love. And man gets pleasure from the love of nature, which will make him wealthier shortly, and he takes delight in his own love, which becomes livelier in such serene revival, and his wife seems more loving to him, while he appears to be a greater protector to his wife, and their children dear to both of them, as at present they are their joy and their care, and in future, when they are old, they will be the joy and protection of their declining age. Jesus passes along the fields that rise or slope downwards following the inclination of the mountain. He is alone. He is wearing a linen garment, as He gave His last woollen one to Samuel, and a rather bright-blue mantle thrown over one shoulder, softly enveloped round His body and held by His arm across His chest. The strip covering His arm flutters gently in the light breeze and as He is bare-headed, His hair shines in the sunshine. He goes by and where there are children He bends to caress their little innocent heads and to listen to their little secrets, admiring what they hasten to show Him as if they were treasures. 2 A little girl, who is so small that she still stumbles when running and gets entangled in the little skirt that is too long for her as she probably inherited it from a brother born before her, arrives near Jesus with a smile that makes her eyes shine and displays her tiny incisors between her pink lips. She is carrying a bunch of daisies, a big bunch held with both hands, as many as her tender tiny hands can hold, and she holds up her trophy saying: «Take it! It's Yours. To mummy later. A kiss, here!» and with her little hands, now free, as Jesus has taken the little bunch thanking her with words of admiration, she touches her lips and she stands on her bare feet, with her head bent backwards, almost losing her balance, in the vain effort to stretch her tiny person up to the face of Jesus, Who laughs picking her up in His arms and taking her, nestled up there like a little bird on a tall tree, towards a group of women who are steeping new pieces of cloth in the clear water of a stream, to lay them out in the sunshine later, to bleach them. The women, bent over the water, stand up greeting and one of them says smiling: «Tamar has been giving trouble to You... But she has been picking flowers here since dawn in the secret hope of seeing You pass by. She would not give me one as she wanted to give them to You first.» «They are dearer to Me than the treasures of kings. Because they are as innocent as children and have been given to Me by one who is as innocent as a flower.» He kisses the little girl putting her down, and He greets her saying: «May the grace of the Lord come to you.» He greets the women and goes on His way greeting the peasants or shepherds who wave to Him from fields or meadows. 562. The Man of Jabneel. 92 3 He seems to be going down to the lower part of the country, towards Jericho. But He comes back and takes another path that climbs once again towards the mountains to the north of Ephraim. The crops here are even more beautiful, as the soil is in a more favourable position and sheltered from northern winds. The path runs between two fields and in one of them there are fruit trees planted almost at regular intervals, and the buds of the early fruits are already like pearls on the branches. A road descending from north to south crosses the path. It must be a rather important road because at the crossroads there is one of the milestones used by the Romans, with: «Neapolis» engraved on its northern side, in the large lapidary letters of the Latins, and strong like them, and under it, in much smaller letters just scratched on the stone: «Shechem»; on the western side: «Shiloh-Jerusalem»; and on the southern one: «Jericho». There is no name on the eastern side. But one could say that if there is no name of any town, there is the name of a human misfortune. Because on the ground, between the milestone and the ditch along the road, dug to drain rain-water, as in all the roads looked after by the Romans, there is a man, benumbed, a bundle of rags and bones, probably dead. Jesus bends over him when He sees him among the weeds that springtime downpours have made luxuriant in the ditch and He touches him asking: «Man? What is the matter with you?» A moan is the answer. But the tangle moves, unrolls and an emaciated face, as white as death, appears and two tired, suffering languid eyes look full of astonishment at Him Who is bent over his misery. He tries to sit up pressing his emaciated hands against the ground, but he is so weak that he would not succeed without Jesus' help. Jesus helps him and props him with his back against the milestone. And He asks him: «What is the matter with you? Are you ill?» «Yes.» A very faint «yes». «But why did you set out all alone, in this state? Have you not got anybody?» The man nods assent, but he is too weak to reply. 4 Jesus looks around. There is nobody in the fields. The place is really deserted. To the north, almost at the top of a hill, there is a small group of houses; to the west, among the green vegetation of the slope that rises with more hillocks where fields are replaced by meadows and woods, there are some herdsmen among a flock of restless goats. Jesus looks at the man again and asks him: «If I supported you, do you think you would be able to come to that village?» The man shakes his head and two tears stream down his cheeks that are so withered that they seem wrinkled by age, whereas his raven beard proves that he is still young. He gathers his strength to say: «They drove me away... Fear of leprosy... I am not... And I am dying... of hunger.» He pants out of weakness. He puts a finger into his mouth and pulls out a greenish pulp, saying: «Look... I have been chewing corn... but it is still green grass.» «I am going to that shepherd. I will bring you some warm milk. I shall not be long.» And He almost runs where the flock is, about two hundred metres above the road. He arrives at the shepherd, He speaks to him and shows him where the man is. The shepherd turns round to look, he seems undecided whether he should comply with Jesus' request. He then makes up his mind. He detaches from his belt the wooden bowl that he carries like all shepherds, he milks a goat and gives the full bowl to Jesus, Who goes down the slope cautiously, followed by a boy who was with the shepherd. He is now once again near the starving man. He kneels beside him, He passes one arm round his back to support him and takes the bowl, in which the milk is still covered with foam, close to his lips. He makes him take small sips. He then lays the bowl on the ground saying: «That is enough now. If you take it all at once, it will hurt you. Let your stomach recover some strength with the milk I gave you.» The man does not protest. He closes his eyes and is silent, while the boy looks at him with much surprise. After some time Jesus offers him the cup again for a longer drink and He goes on thus, at shorter and shorter intervals, until there is no milk left. He hands the bowl back to the boy and dismisses him. 5 The man recovers slowly. With gestures that are still shaky he tries to tidy himself somehow. He smiles with gratitude looking at Jesus Who has sat down on the grass beside him. He apologises saying: «I make You lose Your time.» «Do not worry! The time spent in loving one's brothers is never lost. When you feel better we shall speak.» «I am feeling better. My body is warming up and my eyes... I thought I was going to die here... My poor children! I had lost all hope... And up to that moment I had hoped so much!... If You had not come, I would have died... just like that... along the road...» «It would have been very sad. That is true. But the Most High looked at His son and assisted him. Have a little rest now.» The man obeys for some time. Then he opens his eyes again and he says: «I feel a new man. Oh! I wish I could go to Ephraim!» «Why? Have you got anyone there waiting for you? Do you come from Ephraim?» «No, I come from the country of Jabneel, near the Great Sea. But I went to Galilee, 562. The Man of Jabneel. 93 along the shores, as far as Caesarea. Then I went to Nazareth. Because I have a disease here (he touches his stomach). A disease that no one can cure and it does not let me work the land. And I am a widower. With five children... A man from our place, because I was born at Gaza, of a Philistine father and of a Syro-Phoenician mother, a man of our place was a follower of the Galilean Rabbi and he came to us with another man, and spoke to us of the Rabbi. I heard him, too. And when I was taken ill I said: I am a Syrian and a Philistine, loathsome to Israel. But Ermasteus used to say that the Rabbi of Galilee is as good as He is powerful. And I believe it. And I am going to Him.” And as soon as the weather improved I left the children to the mother of my wife, I took my few savings, because many had been spent for my disease, and I came looking for the Rabbi. But money does not last long when one travels. Particularly when one cannot eat all kinds of food... and one has to stop at inns when pains prevent one from travelling. At Sephoris I sold my donkey because I had no more money left for myself and to give what was due to the Rabbi. I thought that once I was cured, I would be able to eat everything on the road and thus go back home quickly. And working there in my fields and in those of other people I hoped I would make up for what I had lost... But the Rabbi is neither at Nazareth nor at Capernaum. His Mother told me. She said: “He is in Judaea. Look for Him at the house of Joseph of Sephoris at Bezetha or at Gethsemane. They will be able to tell you where He is.” I came back, on foot. I was getting worse and worse... and my money was diminishing. At Jerusalem, where I had been told to go, I found the people but not the Rabbi. They said to me: “Oh! They drove Him away a long time ago. He is cursed by the Sanhedrin. He ran away but we do not know where.” I... felt as if I were dying... just like today. Nay, more than today. I inquired of hundreds and hundreds of people in town and in the country. No one knew. Some wept with me. Many struck me. Then one day, when I began to beg outside the enclosure of the Temple, I heard two Pharisees say: “Now that we know that Jesus of Nazareth is at Ephraim…” I lost no time, and weak as I was I came here, begging for some bread, and I was more and more in rags and sick looking. And as I was not familiar with the road, I took the wrong one... Today I came from there, from that village. For two days I had sucked nothing but wild fennels, and I had chewed chicory and green corn. They thought I was a leper because of my pallor and they drove me away pelting me with stones. I was only asking for a piece of bread and to show me the road to Ephraim... I fell here... But I would like to go to Ephraim. I am so close to my goal! Is it possible that I should not reach it? 6 I believe in the Rabbi. I am not an Israelite. But neither was Ermasteus, and He loved him just the same. Is it possible that the God of Israel may treat me with a heavy hand to revenge Himself for the sins of those who procreated me?» «The true God is the Father of men. He is just, but good. He rewards those who have faith and does not make innocents pay for sins not committed by them. But why did you say that when you heard that the residence of the Rabbi was unknown, you felt as if you were dying more than you were today?» «Eh! because I said: “I have lost Him even before finding Him''.» «Ah! because of your health!» «No. Not only for that. But because Ermasteus said certain things about Him that I thought that if I became acquainted with Him, I would no longer be corrupt.» «So, do you believe that He is the Messiah?» «I do believe it. I do not know exactly what the Messiah is, but I believe that the Rabbi of Nazareth is the Son of God.» Jesus' smile is bright when He asks: «And are you sure that if He is such, He will hear you, although you are not circumcised?» «I am certain because Ermasteus said so. He said: “He is the Saviour of all men. As far as He is concerned there are no Hebrews or idolaters. But only creatures to be saved because the Lord God has sent Him for that.” Many laughed. I believed. If I can say to Him: “Jesus, have mercy on me”, He will hear me. Oh! if You come from Ephraim, take me to Him. Perhaps You are one of His disciples...» Jesus smiles more and more and He suggests: «Try and ask Me to cure you...» 7 «You are good, man. There is so much peace near You. Yes, You are as good as... the Rabbi Himself, and He has certainly granted You the power to work miracles, because to be as good as You are, You can but be one of His disciples. I have found all those, who told me they were such, to be good. But do not be offended if I say to You that You may be able to cure bodies, but not souls. And I would like also my soul to be cured, as it happened to Ermasteus. To become a just man... And only the Rabbi can do that. I am a sinner besides being diseased. I do not want to be cured in my body and then die one day also with my soul. I want to live. Ermasteus said that the Rabbi is the Life of the soul and that the soul that believes in Him lives for good in the Kingdom of God. Take me to the Rabbi. Be good! Why are You smiling? Probably because You think that I am bold in wanting to be cured without being able to give an offering? But once I am cured I shall be able to cultivate the land once again. I have beautiful fruit. Let the Rabbi come when the fruit ripens and I will pay Him with hospitality as long as He wishes.» «Who told you that the Rabbi wants money? Ermasteus?» «No. On the contrary he used to say that the Rabbi takes pity on the poor and He assists them first. But that is the custom with all doctors and... and with everybody, in short.» «But not with Him. I can assure you. And I tell you that if you can urge your faith to ask for the miracle here, and to believe it possible, you will have it.» «Is what You say true?... Are You sure? Of course, if You are one of His disciples you 562. The Man of Jabneel. 94 cannot lie or be wrong. And although I am sorry not to see the Rabbi..., I want to obey You... Perhaps, persecuted as He is... He does not want to be seen... He trusts no one any longer. You are right. But we shall not be the ones who will ruin Him. It will be the true Hebrews... But, well. I say here (he kneels down with difficulty): “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!”» «And let it be done to you as your faith deserves» says Jesus making His gesture of authority over diseases. The man seems to be dazzled as if he were struck by a sudden light. The man realises – I do not know whether through a flash of his intellect or through a physical sensation or through both at the same time – who is the Man Who is before him, and he utters such a shrill cry that the herdsman, who had come down towards the road probably to see, quickens his pace. The man is on the ground with his face in the grass. And the herdsman pointing at him with his crook asks: «Is he dead? More than milk is required when a man is done for!» and he shakes his head. The man hears and stands up, strong and healthy. He shouts: «Dead? I am cured! I am a new man. He has done this to me. I am no longer languishing with hunger or suffering from any disease. I feel as I did the day I got married! Oh! blessed Jesus! How did I not recognise You before?! Your pity should have told me Your name! The peace I experienced near You! It was silly of me. Forgive Your poor servant!» And he throws himself on the ground once again, worshipping. The herdsman leaves his goats and goes towards the little village running and jumping. 8 Jesus sits down near the cured man and says: «You were speaking to Me of Ermasteus, as if he were dead. So you know how he died. I want only one thing of you. That you come to Ephraim with Me and mention how he died to a man who is with Me. Then I will send you to Jericho, to a woman disciple of Mine, so that she may help you on your return trip.» «If You wish so, I will go. But, now that I am healthy, I am no longer afraid of dying on the road. Even grass can nourish me and it is not shameful to beg because I did not spend everything I had on orgies, but for an honest purpose.» «That is what I want. You will tell her that you have seen Me and that I am waiting for her here. She can come now. No one will annoy her. Will you be able to tell her that?» «Yes, I will. Ah! Why do they hate You, when You are so good?» «Because many men are possessed by demons. Let us go.» Jesus sets out towards Ephraim and the man follows Him without faltering. Only his remarkable leanness is the sign of his past disease and privations. In the meantime many people are coming down from the little village shouting and gesticulating. They call Jesus. They tell Him to stop. Jesus does not listen to them, on the contrary He quickens His pace. And they follow Him... 9 There He is once again near Ephraim. The peasants who are getting ready to go home, as the sun is beginning to set, greet Him and look at the man who is with Him. Judas of Kerioth appears suddenly from a lane. He starts with surprise seeing the Master. But Jesus does not show any surprise. He only addresses the man saying: «This is one of My disciples. Tell him about Ermasteus.» «Eh! it is soon said. He was untiring in preaching the Christ, also after he decided to part from his companion to stay with us. He said that we are in greater need than anybody else to know You, Rabbi, and that he wanted to make You known to his fatherland, and that he would go back to You after he had announced Your name publicly in all the smallest villages. He lived like a penitent. If some pitiful people gave him some bread he blessed them in Your name. If they threw stones at him, he would withdraw blessing them just the same, and he fed on wild fruit or on sea mollusks that he picked off reefs or he dug in the sand. Many said that he was “mad”. But nobody really hated him. At most they drove him away as if he were a man of ill omen. One day they found him dead along a road, not far from my place, on the road that takes one into Judaea, almost at the border. It has never been found out of what he died. But the rumour is that he was killed by somebody who did not want the Messiah to be preached. He had a large wound on his head. They said that he had been trampled by a horse. But I do not believe that. He still smiled stretched out on the dust of the road. Yes. He really seemed to be smiling at the last stars of the clearest night in the month of Elul and at the rising sun in the morning. Some market-gardeners found him at daybreak, while they were going to town with their vegetables, and they told me when they came to collect my cucumbers. I rushed there to see him. He was resting in great peace.» «Have you heard?» Jesus asks Judas. «Yes, I have. But did You not tell him that he would serve You and have a long life?» «I did not say exactly that. The time that has gone by has obscured your mind. Has he not served Me evangelizing in places of mission, and has he not got a long life? Which life is longer than that conquered by those who die in the service of God? Long and glorious.» Judas has that sly laugh that annoys me so much, but he does not reply. 10 In the meantime those from the little village have joined many people from Ephraim and they are speaking to them pointing at Jesus. 562. The Man of Jabneel. 95 Jesus says to Judas: «Take the man home and finish restoring him. He will leave after the Sabbath that is just beginning.» Judas obeys and Jesus remains all alone and He walks slowly bending to watch some stalks of corn, on which slight indications of ears are beginning to appear. Some men from Ephraim ask Him: «This corn is beautiful, isn't it?» «Beautiful. But the same as that of other regions.» «Of course, Master. It's all corn! It must be the same.» «Do you think so? Then corn is better than men. Because if it is skillfully sown it yields the same fruit here as in Judaea or Galilee or, we can say, in the plains along the Great Sea. Men, instead, do not yield the same fruit. And also the soil is better than men. Because when a seed is entrusted to it, it is good to the seed without making any difference whether the seed is from Samaria or Judaea.» «It is so. But why do You say that corn and soil are better than men?» «Why?... Not long ago a man begged for a piece of bread, out of pity, at the gate of a village. And he was driven away because the people of that place thought he was a Judaean. He was expelled as people threw stones at him and crying him a “leper”, which he thought referred to his thinness, but was intended for his origin. And that man almost died of starvation along the road. Thus the people of that village, the people that sent you to question Me and would like to come to the house where I live, to see the man who was cured miraculously, are worse than corn and clods of earth. Because they were not able, although they had been well taught by Me for a long time, to bear the same fruit as was yielded by that man, who is neither a Judaean nor a Samaritan and had never seen or heard Me, but had accepted the words of one of My disciples and believed in Me without knowing Me. And because they are worse than the clods of earth, as they rejected the man because he was of a different seed. They would now like to come to satisfy their hunger for curiosity, whilst they were not able to satisfy the hunger of a languishing man. Tell them that the Master will not satisfy such vain curiosity. And you all had better learn the great law of love, without which you will never be able to be My followers. It is not your love for Me that by itself will save your souls. But it is the love for My doctrine. And My doctrine teaches brotherly love without distinction of race and census. So let those hard-hearted people who have grieved My Heart go away, and let them repent if they want Me to love them. Because, bear this in your minds, if I am good, I am also just; if I make no distinctions and I love you as I love those of Galilee and Judaea, that must not make you so stupidly proud as to think that you are the favourite people or authorise you to do wrong without being afraid of being reproached by Me. I praise and reproach, according to justice, My relatives and apostles as well as any other person, and there is love in My reproach. And I do so because I want justice in the hearts of people so that one day I may reward those who have practised it. You may go and inform the others so that the lesson may bear fruit in everybody.» Jesus envelops himself in His mantle and strides towards Ephraim, leaving His interlocutors who go away rather dejectedly to repeat the Master's words to the people of the unmerciful village.

561. False Disciples Arrive in Shechem. At Ephraim Jesus Restores the Tongue to the Dumb Slave of Claudia Procula.

 561. False Disciples Arrive in Shechem. At Ephraim Jesus Restores the Tongue to the Dumb Slave of Claudia Procula. 7th February 1947. 1 The main square in Shechem. A characteristic trait of spring-time is given to it by the new foliage of the trees that surround it in a double row along the square-shaped walls of the houses, forming a kind of gallery. The sun plays among the tender leaves of plane-trees projecting an embroidery of light and shadows on the ground. The basin in the centre of the square is a silver plate in the sunshine. People in groups are discussing their business here and there. Some people, who are apparently strangers, as everybody is asking who they are, come into the square, they look round and approach the first group they meet. They exchange greetings to everybody's amazement. But when they say: «We are disciples of the Master of Nazareth» all mistrust ends and some go to inform the other groups, while those who remain say: «Did He send you?» «He did, on a very secret mission. The Rabbi is in great danger. No one loves Him any more in Israel and He, Who is so kind, asks you at least to remain faithful to Him.» «But that is what we want! What are we to do? What does He want of us?» «Oh! He wants nothing but love. Because He relies too much in the protection of God. And with what is said in Israel! But you are not aware that He is being accused of satanism and insurrection. Do you know what that means? Reprisals of the Romans against everybody. And we who are already so miserable will be struck even harder! And we shall be condemned by the holy ones of our Temple. It is certain that the Romans... 2 Also for your own sake you ought to take action, and persuade Him to defend Himself and defend Him, and make it almost, nay, make it definitely impossible for Him to be caught and thus be harmful, having no intention of being so. Persuade Him to withdraw to the Gerizim. Where He is now, He is still too exposed and He does not appease the anger of the Sanhedrin or the suspicions of the Romans. The Gerizim is certainly entitled to the right of sanctuary! There is no sense in telling Him. If we told Him He 561.False Disciples Arrive in Shechem. At Ephraim Jesus Restores the Tongue to the Dumb Slave of Claudia Procula. 89 would say that we are anathema because we advise Him to be cowardly. But it is not so. It is love. It is prudence on our part. We are not allowed to speak. But you can! He loves you. He has already preferred your region to the others. So organise yourselves to accept Him. Because you will at least find out for certain whether He loves you or not. If He should refuse your assistance, it would mean that He does not love you, and then it would be better if He went elsewhere. Because, believe us – we are telling you this with sorrow – His presence is a danger for those who give Him hospitality. But you are, of course, the best of His admirers and you do not worry about dangers. However, if you risk reprisals of the Romans, it is fair that you should do so for an exchange of love. We advise you for everybody' sake.» «You are right. And we will do as you say. We shall go to Him...» «Oh! be careful! He must not become aware that it was our suggestion!» «Don't worry! Don't be afraid! We know what to do. Of course! We will let people see that the despised Samaritans are worth a hundred, a thousand Judaeans and Galileans to defend the Christ. Come. Come to our houses, you messengers of the Lord. It will be the same as if He came to us! Samaria has been waiting for such a long time to be loved by God's servants!» They go away keeping in the middle of their group those whom I do not think I am mistaken in calling emissaries of the Sanhedrin, and they say: «We realise that He loves us because this is the second group of disciples that He has sent to us in a few days. And we did the right thing in being kind to the first one. It is right to be so kind to Him because of the little children of that dead woman of our town! He knows us by now...» And they go away looking happy. -------------- 3 All the people of Ephraim pour into the streets to see the unusual event of a procession of Roman wagons passing through the town. There are many wagons and covered litters, flanked with slaves and preceded and followed by legionaries. The people make gestures of mutual understanding and whisper. When the procession arrives at the crossroad for Bethel and Ramah it separates into two parts. A wagon and a litter stop with an escort of armed men, while the rest go on. The curtains of the litter are drawn for a moment and a lady's white hand studded with gems beckons the head of the slaves to go near it. The man obeys without speaking. He listens. He approaches a group of curious women and asks: «Where is the Rabbi of Nazareth?» «He lives in that house. But at this time of the day He is usually at the stream. There is a little island there, near those willow-trees, over there, where that poplar is. He stays there praying all day long.» The man goes back and reports. The litter sets out again. The wagon remains where it was. The soldiers follow the litter as far as the banks of the stream and bar the way. Only the litter proceeds along the stream as far as the islet, which in the process of the season has become well-wooded: a huge impenetrable tuft of greenery surmounted by the trunk and the silvery foliage of the poplar. At an order the bearers with tucked up garments enter the water and the litter crosses to the other side of the little water course. Claudia Procula comes out of it with a freedwoman, and Claudia beckons a dark slave escorting the litter to follow her. The others go back to the bank of the stream. 4 Claudia, followed by the two people, proceeds into the islet, towards the poplar standing out in the centre. The tall grass stifles the noise of steps. She thus arrives where Jesus is absorbed in thought, sitting at the foot of the tree. She calls Him advancing by herself while with an authoritative gesture she makes her two faithful attendants stop where they are. Jesus looks up and He stands up at once as soon as He sees the woman. He greets her holding Himself upright against the trunk of the poplar. He does not appear to be astonished, or annoyed or irritated at the intrusion. After greeting Him, Claudia enters into the subject promptly: «Master. Some people have come to me, or rather to Pontius... I do not make long speeches. But as I admire You, I say to You what I would have said to Socrates, if I had lived in his days, or to any other virtuous man unjustly persecuted: “I cannot do very much, but I will do what I can.” And in the meantime I will write where it is possible for me to do so, to have You protected... and to make You powerful. So many undeserving people live on thrones or in high positions...» «Domina, I have not asked honours and protection of you. May the true God reward you for your thought. But give your honours and protection to those who long for them. I do not crave after them.» «Ah! There You are! That is what I wanted! So You really are the Just Man I foresaw! And the others, Your worthless slanderers! They came to us and...» «You need not tell Me, domina. I know.» «Do You also know that they say that because of Your sins You have lost all power and consequently You live here as an outcast?» «I know that, too. And I know that it was easier for you to believe the latter rumour than the former. Because your heathen mind can descry the human power or the human meanness of a man, but it cannot yet understand what is the power of the spirit. You are... disappointed by your gods who in your religion appear to be quarrelling continuously and to have such a failing power, subject to easy interdictions because of their reciprocal contrasts. And you think that the true God is the same. But it is not so. 561.False Disciples Arrive in Shechem. At Ephraim Jesus Restores the Tongue to the Dumb Slave of Claudia Procula. 90 As I was the first time you saw Me cure a leper, such I am now. And such I shall be when I appear to be completely destroyed. 5 That is your dumb slave, is it not?» «Yes, Master.» «Tell him to come forward.» Claudia utters a cry and the man moves forward and prostrates himself on the ground between Jesus and his mistress. His poor heart of a savage does not know whom he should venerate more. He is afraid that to venerate the Christ more than his mistress may cause him to be punished. But even so, after casting a suppliant glance at Claudia, he repeats the gesture he made at Caesarea: he takes Jesus' bare foot in his big dark hands and stooping with his face on the ground he lays the foot on his head. «Domina, listen. According to you, is it easier for a man to conquer a kingdom by himself, or to make grow again a part that no longer exists of a human body?» «To conquer a kingdom, Master. Fortune favours the brave. But no one, that is, only You can make a dead man revive and give eyes to the blind.» «Why?» «Because... Because God can do everything.» «So according to you I am God?» «Yes... or, at least God is with You.» «Can God be with a wicked person? I am talking of the true God, not of your idols that are the frenzy of those who seek what they perceive to exist without knowing what it is, and they imagine phantoms to satisfy their souls.» «No... I would not say so. Even our priests lose their power as soon as they fall into sin.» «Which power?» «Well... the power to read the signs of the sky and the responses of victims, the flights and singing of birds. You know... Augurs, haruspices...» «I know. So? Look. Raise your head and open your mouth, man, whom a cruel human power deprived of a gift of God. And by the will of the true, only God, the Creator of perfect bodies, have what man took away from you.» He has put His white finger into the open mouth of the dumb man. The freedwoman, who is very curious, cannot remain where she is, and she comes forward to see. Claudia has bowed to watch. Jesus removes His finger shouting: «Speak, and make use of the reborn part to praise the true God.» And, all of a sudden, like the blast of a trumpet, of an instrument so far mute, a guttural but clear cry replies: «Jesus!» and the negro falls to the ground weeping for joy and he licks, he really licks Jesus bare feet, just as a grateful dog would do. «Have I lost My power, domina? Give this reply to those who throw out such innuendos. And you... stand up and be good thinking how much I have loved you. I have had you in My heart since that day at Caesarea. And with you all those like you, who are regarded as goods, considered inferior even to brutes, whereas you are men, equal to Caesar, by conception and probably better because of the good will of your hearts... 6 You may withdraw, domina... There is nothing else to be said.» «Yes. There is something. There is the fact that I doubted... that I, with grief, almost believed what they said about You. And I was not the only one. Forgive us all, except Valeria, who has never changed her mind, nay, nay her mind is more determined than ever. And there is my gift to be accepted: this man. He could no longer serve me now that he can speak, and my money.» «No, neither.» «So, are You not forgiving me?» «I forgive also those of My people, who are twice guilty of not knowing Me for what I am. And should I not forgive all of you, deprived as you are of all divine knowledge? Here. I said that I would not accept your money or the man. I will now accept both and with the money I will free the man. I give your money back to you because I am buying the man. And I am buying him to make him free, so that he may go back to his country to say that on the Earth there is the Man Who loves all men, and the more He sees their unhappiness the more He loves them. Keep your purse.» «No, Master, it is Yours. The man is free just the same. He is mine. I have given him to You. You are freeing him. No money is needed for that.» «Well... Have you a name?» He asks the man. «We used to call him Callisto scoffingly. But when he was caught...» «It does not matter. Keep that name, and make it real by becoming very handsome in your spirit (1). Go. Be happy because God has saved you.» Go! The negro does not tire of kissing and saying: «Jesus! Jesus!» and he lays Jesus' foot once again on his head saying: «You. My only Master.» «I. Your true Father. Domina, you will take upon yourself to let him go back to his country. Use the money for that and give him the rest. Goodbye, domina. And never listen to the voices of darkness. Be just. And strive to know Me. Goodbye, Callisto. Goodbye, woman.» 561.False Disciples Arrive in Shechem. At Ephraim Jesus Restores the Tongue to the Dumb Slave of Claudia Procula. 91 And Jesus puts an end to the conversation by jumping across the stream to the side opposite to the one where the litter is and He disappears among the bushes, the willows and the reed thickets. 7 Claudia calls the litter bearers and enters the litter again with a pensive countenance. But if she is silent, the freedwoman and the free slave talk as much as ten people and even the legionaries forget their rigid discipline in the presence of the wonder of a reborn tongue. Claudia is too absorbed in thought to order them to be silent. Reclined in the litter, one elbow resting on pillows, her head supported by her hand, she does not hear anything. She is engrossed in thought. She does not even notice that the freedwoman is not with her but is chattering like a magpie, with the litter bearers while Callisto is speaking to the legionaries who, if they keep lined up, do not keep silent. They are too excited to do so! Going back the same way, they arrive at the Bethel and Ramah crossroads; the litter leaves Ephraim to join the rest of the procession. ---------------- (1) Callisto is in fact a Greek word meaning «very beautiful, very handsome»

560. What People Say at Nazareth.

560. What People Say at Nazareth. 6th February 1947. 1 «And I tell you that you are all foolish if you believe such things. More foolish and ignorant than wethers that do not even know the rules of instinct, mutilated as they are. Some men are going around towns saying anathema of the Master, while others bring orders that, by the living God, cannot be given by Him! You do not know Him. I do. And I cannot believe that He has changed so much! Let them go about! Are you saying that they are His disciples? And who has ever seen them with Him? Are you saying that some rabbis and Pharisees have mentioned His sins? And who has seen His sins? Have you ever heard Him speak about anything obscene? Have you ever seen Him commit sin? So? And can you believe that God would let Him work such great deeds, if He were a sinner? You are foolish, I tell you, foolish slow-witted and ignorant like country bumpkins who for the first time see a mountbank at a market and believe what he says. That's what you are like. Consider whether those who are wise and open-minded allow themselves to be seduced by the words of false disciples, who are the true enemies of the Innocent, of our Jesus, Whom you do not deserve to have as a son of our town! Consider whether Johanna of Chuza, I mean the wife of Herod's superintendent, Johanna, the princess, leaves Mary! Consider whether... Am I doing the right thing in telling you? Of course! I am doing the right thing because I am not speaking just for the sake of speaking, but to convince you all. Last month, did you see that beautiful wagon that came to our village and stopped outside Mary's house? Do you remember? The one whose tilt was as beautiful as a house? Well, do you know who was in it and who came out of it to prostrate himself at Mary's feet? Lazarus of Theophilus, Lazarus of Bethany, do you understand that? The son of the chief magistrate of Syria, of the noble Theophilus, the husband of Eucheria of the tribe of Judah and of the family of David! Jesus' great friend. The richest and most learned man in Israel, both with regard to our history and to that of the whole world. The friend of the Romans. The benefactor of the poor. And above all the man who was raised from the dead after being in his sepulchre for four days. Did he leave Jesus to believe the Sanhedrin? You say that he did so because Jesus raised him from the dead? No. No, because he knows who is the Christ, Who is Jesus. And do you know what he came to tell Mary? To tell Her to be ready because he will take Her back to Judaea. See? As if he, Lazarus, were Mary's servant! I know because I was there when he came in and greeted Her prostrating himself on the floor, on the poor bricks in the little room, dressed as he was like Solomon, a man accustomed to carpets, he was there, on the floor, kissing the hem of Our Lady's dress saying: “Hail, Mary, Mother of my Lord. I, Your servant, the last of Your servants, have come to speak to You of Him and to place myself at Your disposal.” See? I was so moved... that when he greeted me as well calling me: “brother in the Lord”, I was not able to speak one word. But Lazarus understood, because he is intelligent. And he slept in Joseph's bed and sent his servants ahead to Sephoris to wait for him. Because he was going to his estates at Antioch. And he told the women to be ready, because at the end of this month he will come and pick them up to spare them the fatigue of the journey. And Johanna will join the caravan with her wagon to take the women disciples of Capernaum and Bethsaida. And does all that mean nothing to you?» 2 At last good Alphaeus of Sarah can take breath amid the group standing in the middle of the square. And Aser and Ishmael and also Jesus' two cousins, Simon and Joseph – Simon more openly, Joseph more reticently – help him by approving what he said. Joseph says: «Jesus is not an illegitimate son. If He needs to notify anything, He has relatives here who are willing to become His ambassadors. And He has faithful and powerful disciples, like Lazarus. Lazarus has not mentioned what the others say.» «And we are His disciples as well. Before we were ass-drivers and as stupid as our asses. But now we are His disciples and we also are capable of saying: “Do this or do that”» says Ishmael. «But the sentence hanging at the door of the synagogue was brought by a messenger of the Sanhedrin and it bears the stamp of the Temple» some say objecting. «That is true. So? Since all over Israel we have the reputation of being able to judge the Sanhedrin for what it really is, and we are consequently despised as rogues, are we going to believe that the Temple is wise only with regard to this? So do we no longer know what scribes, Pharisees and chiefs of Priests are?» replies Alphaeus. «That is true. Aphaeus is right. I have decided to go down to Jerusalem and hear from 560. What People Say at Nazareth. 88 true friends what is the situation. And I am going tomorrow» says Joseph of Alphaeus. «And will you stay there?» «No, I will come back. And I will go back again for Passover. I cannot be away from home for a long time. It is a difficult task I am undertaking, but it is my duty to do so. I am the head of the family and I am responsible for Jesus being in Judaea. I insisted that He should go there... Man errs in judging. I thought that it was a good thing for Him. Instead... May God forgive me! But I must at least follow the consequences of my advice at close quarters, in order to comfort my Brother» says Joseph of Alphaeus in his slow haughty way of speaking. «That is not what you used to say. But you have been allured as well by the friendship of the mighty ones. Your eyes are clouded by vanity» says a Nazarene. «The friendship of mighty people does not allure me, Eliakim. But my Brother's behaviour convinces me. If I made a mistake and I now mend my ways, I prove to be a just man. Because to err is human, but to be stubborn is beastlike.» 3 «And do you think that Lazarus will really come? Oh! we want to see him! A man that comes back from death, what is he like? He must be dazed, somehow... frightened. What does he say of his stay among the dead?» many ask Alphaeus of Sarah. «He is just like you and me. Cheerful, lively, tranquil. He does not speak of the other world, as if he did not remember. But he remembers his agony.» «Why did you not tell us that he was here?» «Of course! To let you invade the house! I withdrew myself. Some delicacy is necessary, isn't it?» «But when he comes back will it not be possible for us to see him? Let us know. You will certainly be the caretaker of Mary's house, as usual.» «Certainly! It's a grace to be near Her. But I will not inform anybody. You will have to do it yourselves. A wagon is easily seen, and Nazareth is not Antioch or Jerusalem so that such a large wagon may pass by unnoticed. Mount guard... and help yourselves. But that is something vain. Ensure at least that His town may not have the reputation of being foolish by believing the words of our Jesus' enemies. Don't believe them! Don't believe those who say that He is Satan or those who provoke you to rise in His name. You would repent one day. Then if the rest of Galilee fall into the trap and believe what is not true, so much the worse for them. Goodbye. I am going because it is getting dark...» And he goes away happily, having defended Jesus. The others remain to discuss. But although they are divided into two fields and the more numerous is unfortunately the one of those who swallow everything, the proposal of Jesus' few friends prevails in the end, and they decide not to become excited and accept false charges or invitations to rise until the other towns in Galilee do so, as «at present they are more cunning than Nazareth and laugh in the false ambassadors' faces» says Aser, the disciple.  

559. The Saphorim Samuel.

 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 5th February 1947. 1 Jesus is alone. He is still in the grotto. A fire is lit to give light and warmth, and a strong smell of resins and leafy branches spreads in the cavern amid crackling and sparks. Jesus has withdrawn to the end, in a recess where dry branches have been thrown and He is meditating. The flames waver now and again, they abate and brighten up successively because of gusts of wind blowing through the woods and howling upon entering the cavern that resounds like a bugle-horn. It is not a steady wind. It drops, then it rises like long sea waves. When it whistles louder, ashes and dry leaves are blown towards the narrow rocky corridor through which Jesus has come into the larger part of the grotto, and the flames bend lapping the floor on that side, then, when the gush of the wind drops, they rise again, still sparkling, and they resume shining straight upwards. Jesus pays no attention to them. He is meditating. The sound of the wind is 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 82 joined by the fall of rain that patters, at first lightly then heavily, on the leafy boughs of the underwood. A real downpour soon changes the paths on the slopes into little roaring torrents. The noise of the water is now the prevailing one as the wind has slowly dropped. The very faint light of the stormy twilight, and that of the fire, which is reddish but does no longer blaze, for want of fuel, scarcely light up the cavern and the corners are in darkness. Jesus, dressed in dark robes as He is, can no longer be seen; only when He lifts His head, which is bent on His raised knees, it is possible to see a faint gleam against the dark wall. 2 Outside the grotto, on the path there is the noise of steps and of anxious words, as if they were uttered by someone who is tired and weary. Then in the empty space at the entrance, a dark shadow is outlined dripping water on all sides. The man, because it is a man with a heavy dark beard, utters an «oh!» of relief and throws his drenched headgear on the floor, he shakes his mantle and says to himself: «H'm! Samuel, you can give it a good shaking! It seems to have dropped into a fulling-mill! And my sandals? Boats! Boats sunk in a river! I am drenched to the skin! Look how my hair is dripping! I look like a broken roof gutter leaking through a thousand holes. It's a good start! Is perhaps Beelzebub on His side defending Him? H'm! It's a beautiful stake... but...» He sits on a stone near the fire, in which, as the flame is dead, there are reddish embers forming the strange designs that are the last life of burnt out wood, and he tries to rekindle it by blowing on it. He takes off his sandals and tries to dry his muddy feet with the drier parts of the edge of his mantle. But it is the same as if he were drying himself with water. His effort serves only to remove the mud from his feet and put it on the mantle. He continues to speak to himself: «Cursed be they, He and everybody! And I lost also my bag. Of course! It's a good job I have not lost my life... “It's the safest road” they said. Certainly! But they don't take it! If I had not seen this fire! Who will have lit it? Some poor wretch like me. But where will he be now? There is a hole over there... Perhaps another grotto... They won't be highwaymen, will they? But... what a fool I am! What can they take off me if I have not got even a farthing? But it does not matter. This fire is worth more than a treasure. I wish I had some more branches to rekindle it! I would take my clothes off and dry them. Ho! I say! This is all I have until I go back!...» «If you want more branches, My friend, there are some here» says Jesus without moving from His place. 3 The man, whose back was turned towards Jesus, starts at the sudden voice and jumps to his feet turning round. He looks frightened. «Who are you?» he asks, opening his eyes wide trying to see. «A wayfarer like you. I lit the fire and I am glad it served to guide you.» Jesus approaches him with a bundle of sticks in His arms and He throws them near the fire saying: «Rekindle the flame before everything is covered with ash. I have neither flint nor tinder-box because the man from whom I borrowed them went away after sunset.» Jesus speaks in a friendly way, but He does not come forward so that the fire may illuminate Him. On the contrary, He goes back to His corner and remains well enveloped in His mantle. The man, in the meantime, bends to blow hard on some leaves he has thrown on the fire and he remains thus, busy, until the flame rises. He laughs throwing thicker and thicker branches that rekindle the fire. Jesus, sitting in His place, watches Him. «I should now take my clothes off and let them dry. I prefer to be nude rather than be wet. But I cannot even do that. A slope slid down and I found myself under a fall of earth and water. Ah! I am settled now! Look! I have torn my tunic. Cursed journey! I wish I had infringed the Sabbath! I didn't! I stopped until sunset. Later... And what shall I do now? To save myself I let my bag go and now it will be down at the bottom of the valley or it will be entangled in some bush I wonder where...» «Here is My tunic. It is dry and warm. My mantle is enough for Me. Take it. I am in good health. Be not afraid.» «And You are good. A good friend. How can I thank You?» «By loving Me as if I were your brother.» «By loving You as is You were my brother! But You do not know who I am. And if I were wicked, would you wish to have my love?» «I would, to make you good.» The man, who is young, about the same age as Jesus, lowers his head, meditating. He is holding Jesus' garment in his hands, but he cannot see it. He is pensive. And he automatically slips it on over his bare skin because he has stripped himself completely, also of his vest. Jesus, Who had gone back to His corner asks him: «When did you have some food?» «At the sixth hour. I was to have a meal when I arrived in the village, down in the valley. But I lost my way, my bag and my money.» «I have still some remnants of food here. I was to eat them tomorrow. Take them. Fasting is no burden to Me.» «But... if You have to walk, You will need some strength...» «Oh! I am not going far. Only as far as Ephraim...» «Ephraim?! Are You a Samaritan?» «Does that irritate you? I am not a Samaritan.» 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 83 «In fact... Your accent is Galilean. 4 Who are You? Why do You not uncover Your face? Have You to hide Yourself because You are guilty? I will not denounce You.» «I am a wayfarer. I have already told you. My Name would mean nothing to you, or it would mean too much. In any case, what is a name? When I give you a garment for your frozen body, some food to appease your hunger, and above all My pity for your heart, do you need to know My Name to feel the comfort of dry clothes, of food and love? But if you wish to give Me a name, call Me “Pity”. There is nothing disgraceful compelling Me to hide Myself. But not because of that you would give up denouncing Me. Because in your heart there is a bad thought. And bad thoughts yield fruits of evil deeds.» The man starts and approaches Jesus. But only Jesus' eyes can be seen and they are almost veiled by His lowered eyelids. «Take the food, My friend. There is nothing else to be done.» The man goes back to the fire and begins to eat slowly, without speaking. He is pensive. Jesus is all curled up in His little corner. The man refreshes himself slowly. The warmth of the flames, the bread and roasted meat given to him by Jesus, make him happy. He stands up, he stretches himself, he lays the cord, which he used as a belt, from a rock splinter to a rusty hook, goodness knows who fixed it there and how long ago, and hangs his tunic, mantle, headgear to dry on it, he shakes his sandals and puts them near the fire, which he tends generously. Jesus seems to be dozing. The man also sits down and is pensive. He then turns round to look at the Unknown Man. He asks: «Are You sleeping?» Jesus replies: «No. I am thinking and praying.» «For whom?» «For all the unhappy people. Of every kind. And they are so many!» «Are You a penitent?» «I am a penitent. The Earth is in great need of repentance so that the weak living on it may be given strength to reject Satan.» «You are right. You speak like a rabbi. I am a good judge because I am a saphorim. I am a disciple of rabbi Jonathan ben Uziel. His dearest disciple. And now, if the Most High helps me, I shall become even dearer to him. My name will be exalted all over Israel.» Jesus does not reply. 5 The other man, after a few moments, stands up and sits near Jesus. With one hand he smooths his hair that is almost dry and tidies his beard saying: «Listen. You said that You are going to Ephraim. Are You going there just by chance, or do You live there?» «I live in Ephraim.» «But You are not a Samaritan, so You said!» «I repeat it. I am not a Samaritan.» «And who can live there if not... Listen: they say that the cursed outlawed Rabbi of Nazareth has taken shelter at Ephraim. Is it true?» «It is true. Jesus, the Christ of the Lord, is there.» «He is not the Christ of the Lord! He is a liar! He is a blasphemer! He is a demon! He is the cause of all our troubles. And no avenger of all the people rises to overthrow Him!» he exclaims with fanatic hatred. «Has He perhaps done any harm to you, since you speak of Him with so much hatred in your voice?» «Not to me. I saw Him just once at the feast of the Tabernacles, and in such a tumult, that I would find it difficult to recognise Him. Because, while it is true that I am a disciple of the great rabbi Jonathan ben Uziel, I have been at the Temple definitively only for a short time. Previously... I was not able for many reasons, and only when the rabbi was at home I used to sit at his feet to drink in justice and doctrine. But You... You asked me whether I hate Him, and I perceived a hidden reproach in Your words. Are You perhaps a follower of the Nazarene?» «No, I am not. But hatred is condemned by anybody who is just.» «Hatred is holy when it is against an enemy of God and of the Fatherland. The Nazarene Rabbi is such. And it is holy to fight Him and hate Him.» «To fight the man or the idea that He represents and the doctrine that He proclaims?» «Everything! Everything! You cannot fight one thing if you spare the other. In man there is his doctrine and his idea. You either overthrow everything, or it serves no purpose. When you embrace an idea, you embrace the man who represents it and his doctrine at the same time. I know because I experience that with my master. His ideas are mine. His wishes are my law.» «In fact a good disciples behaves thus. But one must be able to tell whether the master is good, and follow only a good master. Because it is not lawful to lose one's soul for the love of a man.» «Jonathan ben Uziel is good.» 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 84 «No. He is not.» «What are You saying? And are You telling me? While we are here all alone and I could kill You to avenge my master? I am strong, You know?» «I am not afraid. I am not afraid of violence. And I am not afraid as I know also that if you strike Me, I will not react.» 6 «Ah! I see! You are a disciple of the Rabbi, an “apostle”. That is how He calls His most faithful disciples. And You are going to join Him. Perhaps the man who was with You was another one like You. And You are waiting for someone like You.» «Yes, I am waiting for someone.» «For the Rabbi, perhaps?» «There is no need for Me to wait for him. He does not need My word to be cured of His disease. His soul is not diseased, neither is His body. I am waiting for a poor soul that is poisoned and raving. To cure it.» «You are an apostle! We know in fact that He sends them to evangelize as He is afraid to go Himself, since He was condemned by the Sanhedrin. That is why You follow His doctrine! It is His doctrine not to react against those who offend.» «It is His doctrine because He teaches love, forgiveness, justice, meekness. He loves both enemies and friends. Because He sees everything in God.» «Oh! If He should meet me, if, as I hope, I will meet Him, I don't think He will love me! It would be foolish of Him! But I cannot tell You, as You are His apostle. And I regret what I have already told You. You will inform Him.» «There is no need. But I solemnly tell you that He will love you, nay, He loves you, notwithstanding that you are going to Ephraim to ensnare Him and hand Him over to the Sanhedrin, who have promised a large reward to whoever will do that.» «Are You... a prophet or have You the python spirit? Has He transmitted His power to You? So You are cursed as well? And I accepted Your bread, your garment, You have been friendly to me! It is written: “You shall not raise your hand against your benefactor.” You have done that! Because, if You knew that I... Perhaps to prevent me from acting? But if I spare You, because You have given me bread and salt, fire and clothes, and I would sin against justice by harming You, I will not spare Your Rabbi. Because I do not know Him, and He has not done me any good, but He has done me evil.» «Oh! poor wretch! Do you not realise that you are raving? How can one whom you do not know have done evil to you? How can you respect the Sabbath, if you do not respect the precept not to kill?...» «I do not kill.» «Materially, you do not. But there is no difference between him who kills and him who hands the victim over to the killer. You respect the word of a man who says that you must not harm your benefactor, but you do not respect the word of God, and with a snare, for a handful of money, for a little honour, the filthy honour of being able to betray an innocent person, you are getting ready to commit a crime!...» «I am not doing it just for the sake of money and honour. But to do something pleasing to Jehovah and beneficial to our Fatherland. I am repeating the gestures of Jael and Judith.» He is more fanatic than ever. 7 «Sisara and Holofernes were enemies of our Fatherland. They were invaders. They were cruel. But what is the Rabbi of Nazareth? What does He invade? What does he usurp? He is poor and He does not seek riches. He is humble and does not want honours. He is good. To everybody. Thousands of people have been assisted by Him. Why do you all hate Him? Why do you hate Him? It is not lawful to injure your neighbour. You serve the Sanhedrin. But will the Sanhedrin judge you in future life, or will God judge you? And how will He judge you? I do not mean: how will He judge you as killer of the Christ, but I mean: how will He judge you as killer of an innocent. You do not believe that the Rabbi of Nazareth is the Christ, and consequently, because of your belief that He is not, you will not be charged with that crime. God is just and He does not consider guilty an action accomplished without full knowledge. So He will not judge you for killing the Christ, because, as far as you are concerned, Jesus of Nazareth is not the Christ. But He will accuse you of killing an innocent. Because you know that He is innocent. They have poisoned you and by means of words of hatred they have intoxicated you, but not to the extent that you do not understand that He is innocent. His works speak in His favour. Your fear, and your masters are more frightened that their disciples, dreads and sees what does not exist. You are afraid that He may supplant you. Be not afraid. He stretches out His arms towards you saying: “Brothers”! He does not send soldiers against you. He does not curse you. He would only like to save you, both the great ones and their disciples, as He wishes to save the last person in Israel. And He wishes to save you, more than the least person in Israel, more than the child who does not yet know what are hatred and love. Because you are in greater need than ignorant people and children, because you know, and you knowingly sin. Can your conscience of a man, if you clear it of the ideas they have instilled into it, if you cleanse it of the poison that makes you rave, can it tell you that He is guilty? Tell Me. Be sincere. Have you ever seen Him infringe the Law, or advise people to infringe it? Have you ever seen Him being quarrelsome, greedy, lustful, hard-hearted, have you heard Him utter slander? Speak up! Have you seen Him being disrespectful towards the Sanhedrin? He is living like an outlaw, in order to obey the verdict of the Sanhedrin. He could utter a cry and the whole of Palestine would follow Him to march against the few who hate Him. He, instead, advises peace and forgiveness to His disciples. As He gives 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 85 back life to dead people, sight to the blind, motion to the paralysed, hearing to the deaf, freedom to demoniacs, as neither Heaven nor Hell are insensible to His will, He could strike you by His divine lightning and thus get rid of His enemies. He, instead, prays for you and cures your relatives, He cures your hearts, He gives you bread, clothes, fire. 8 Because I am Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, Whom you are looking for to have the price promised to who hands Him over to the Sanhedrin, and the honour of being the liberator of Israel. I am Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. Here I am. Take Me. As Master and as Son of God I free you from the obligation of not raising your hand and I absolve you of the sin of raising it against your benefactor.» Jesus has stood up removing His mantle from His head, and He stretches out His hands as if they were to be caught and tied. But tall as He is – and He seems even more slender as He is left with only His short close-fitting vest on, with His dark mantle hanging from His shoulders, holding Himself upright, His eyes, fixed at the face of His persecutor, in the mobile reflection of the flames that illuminate highlights in His flowing hair and make the large pupils of His eyes shine within the sapphire circles of the irises – so majestic, so frank and fearless, He commands more respect than if He were surrounded by an army of defenders. The man is fascinated... paralysed with astonishment. Only after some time he is able to whisper: «You! You! You!» He does not seem to be able to say anything else. Jesus insists: «So, take Me! Take that useless cord that you put up to hold a dirty torn tunic, and tie My hands. I will follow you as a lamb follows a butcher. And I will not hate you for taking Me to die. I told you. It is the purpose that justifies an action and changes its nature. As far as you are concerned, I am the ruin of Israel and you think that by killing Me you will save Israel. You believe that I am guilty of all crimes and therefore you are serving justice by suppressing a criminal. So you are not more guilty than the executioner who carries out the order he received. Do you wish to sacrifice Me here, on the spot? Over there, at My feet, there is the knife with which I sliced your bread. Take it. From a blade that served for the love for My neighbour, it can be changed into the knife of the sacrificer. My flesh is not harder than the roasted lamb that My friend had left Me to appease My hunger and that I gave you, to satisfy the hunger of My enemy. But you are afraid of the Roman patrols. They arrest the murderers of an innocent. And they do not allow justice to be administered by us. Because we are the subjects and they are the rulers. That is why you dare not kill Me and then go to those who sent you, with the slaughtered Lamb on your shoulders, like goods that make one earn money. Well: leave My corpse here and go and inform your masters. Because you are not a disciple, you are a slave, so much have you renounced the sovereign freedom of thought and will that God Himself leaves to men. And you serve your masters servilely, to the extent of committing a crime. But you are not guilty. You are “poisoned”. You are the poisoned soul that I was waiting for. Come on, then! The night and the place are propitious to crime. I am wrong: to the redemption of Israel! 9 Oh! poor boy! You are speaking prophetic words without being aware of it! My death will really be redemption, and not of Israel only, but of all Mankind. And I have come to be sacrificed. And I am longing to be sacrificed, so that I may be the Saviour. Of everybody. You, the saphorim of learned Jonathan ben Uziel, certainly know Isaiah. Here is the Man of sorrows in front of you. And if I do not seem to be such, if I do not seem to be the man whom also David saw, with My bones laid bare and disjointed, if I am not like the leper seen by Isaiah, it is because you do not see My heart. I am one big sore. Your indifference, your hatred, your hardness and injustice have wounded and broken Me completely. And did I not hide My face, while you were despising Me for what I really am: the Word of God, the Christ? But I am the man accustomed to suffering! And do you not consider Me as a man struck by God? And do I not sacrifice Myself because I want to do so to cure you through My sacrifice? So! Strike Me! Look: I am not afraid and you must not be afraid. I, because I am the Innocent and I do not fear the judgement of God, and also because by offering My neck to your knife, I have God's will fulfilled, anticipating My hour a little for your welfare. Also when I was born I anticipated the time for your sake, to give you peace before the time. But you have turned My anxiety of love into a weapon of denial... Be not afraid! I do not invoke the punishment of Cain on you or the lightning of God. I pray for you. I love you. Nothing else. Am I too tall for your hand of a man? Well, it is true! Man in fact could not strike God if God of His own will did not put Himself into the hands of man. Well, I kneel down before you. The Son of man is before you, at your feet. So, strike Me!» Jesus in fact kneels down, and offers the knife, holding it by the blade, to His persecutor, who withdraws whispering: «No! No!» «Come on! A moment of courage... and you will be more famous than Jael and Judith! Look! I am praying for you. Isaiah says so: “...and He prayed for sinners”. Are you not coming yet? Why are you going away? Ah! perhaps you are afraid you may not see how a God dies. Well, I will come there, near the fire. There is always a fire at sacrifices. It is part of them. Here you are. Now you can see Me well.» He has knelt down near the fire. 10 «Don't look at me! Don't look at me! Oh! where shall I run not to see Your eyes staring at me?» shouts the man. «Whom? Whom do you not wish to see?» «You... and my crime. Really, it is my crime that is in front of me! Where shall I run, where?» The man is terrorised... «On My heart, son! Here, in My arms nightmares and fears disappear. There is peace here. Come! Do come! Make Me happy!» Jesus has stood up and is stretching out His arms. The fire is between them. Jesus shines in the reflection of the flames. The man falls on his knees, covering his face and shouting: «Have mercy on me, God! 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 86 Have mercy on me! Cancel my sin! I wanted to strike Your Christ! Mercy! Ah! there can be no mercy for such a crime! I am damned!» He weeps with his face on the ground, sobbing, and he moans: «Mercy» and he swears: «The cursed ones!»... Jesus walks round the fire and goes towards him, He bends, He touches his head saying: «Do not curse those who led you astray. They obtained the greatest gift for you: that I should speak to you. Thus. And that I should hold you thus in My arms.» He has taken him by his shoulders and has lifted him up, and sitting on the ground He draws him to His heart, and the man leans on His knees shedding tears that are less phrenetic, but so purifying! Jesus caresses his dark hair to calm him. The man at last raises his head and with changed countenance he moans: «Your forgiveness!» Jesus bends and kisses his forehead. 11 The man throws his arms round His neck and with his head resting on Jesus' shoulders he weeps and begins to speak; he would like to tell Him how they had worked on him to make him commit the crime. But Jesus stops him saying: «Be quiet! Be quiet! I am aware of everything. When you came in I knew you, both for what you were and for what you wanted to do. I could have gone away from there and eluded you. I remained to save you. And you are saved. The past is dead. Do not recall it.» «But... are You so confident? And if I should sin again?» «No, you will not sin again. I know. You are cured.» «Yes, I am. But they are so astute. Don't send me back to them.» «And where can you go and not find them?» «With You. To Ephraim. If You can read my heart, You will see that I am not laying a snare for You, but I am only begging You to protect me.» «I know. Come. But I warn you that Judas of Kerioth, who sold himself to the Sanhedrin and is the betrayer of the Christ, is there.» «Divine Mercy! You know also that?!» He is utterly amazed. «I know everything. He thinks that I do not know. But I know everything. And I know also that you are so converted that you will not speak to Judas or to anybody else about this. But bear in mind this: if Judas can betray his Master, what will he be able to do to harm you?» The man is pensive, for a long time. He then says: «It does not matter! If You do not reject me, I am staying with You. At least for some time. Until Passover. Until You join Your disciples. I will join them. Oh! if it is true that You have forgiven me, do not drive me away!» «I will not drive you away. We shall now go over there, on those leaves and wait for daybreak, and at dawn we shall go to Ephraim. We shall say that we met by chance and that you have come to stay with us. It is the truth.» «Yes. It is the truth. At dawn my clothes will be dry and I will give Your garment back to You...» «No. Leave those clothes there. A symbol. The man who divests himself of his past and puts on a new uniform. The mother of Samuel, the ancient one, sang in her joy: “The Lord gives death and life, He brings down to Sheol and draws up.” You died and are reborn. You are coming from the place of the dead to true Life. Leave the clothes that have been affected by the contact with the sepulchres full of filth. And live! Live for your true glory: to serve God with justice and possess Him forever.» They sit in the recess where the leaves are piled up and they soon fall silent, because the man, tired as he is, falls asleep with his head resting on the shoulder of Jesus, Who is still praying. 12 ...It is a beautiful morning in spring, when they arrive at the house of Mary of Jacob, following the path along the torrent, which is becoming clear after the downpour and is singing more loudly with its increased waters, and is shining in the sun between its banks polished by the rain. Peter, who is at the entrance, utters a cry and runs to meet them, hurrying to embrace Jesus, Who is all enveloped in His mantle, and he says: «Oh! my blessed Master! What a sad Sabbath You made me spend! I could not make up my mind to go away without seeing You. I would have been upset the whole week if I had to leave with uncertainty in my heart and without Your farewell!» Jesus kisses him without removing His mantle. Peter is so engaged in contemplating his Master that he does not notice the stranger who is with Him. In the meantime the others have come and Judas of Kerioth utters a cry: «You, Samuel!» «It is I. The Kingdom of God is open to everybody in Israel. I have come to it» the man replies without hesitation. Judas has a strange sly laugh, but he does not say anything. Everybody's attention is focused on the newcomer, and Peter asks: «Who is he?» «A new disciple. We met by chance. That is: God made us meet, and as I accepted him as one sent to Me by My Father, so I tell you to do the same. And as it is a great feast when one comes to take part in the Kingdom of Heaven, lay down your bags and mantles, you who were about to leave, and let us be all together until tomorrow. And 559. The Saphorim Samuel. 87 now let Me go, Simon, because I gave My tunic to him and the morning air is nipping Me while I am standing here.» «Ah! I thought it was! But You will be taken ill, if You do that!» «I did not want... But He insisted» says the man apologetically. «Yes. He was swept away by an overflowing large stream and only his will saved him. So to ensure that nothing should remind him of that painful moment, and to enable him to come to us in a clean state, I made him leave his dirty torn tunic where we met, and I made him put on Mine» says Jesus and He looks at Judas of Kerioth who repeats his strange sly laugh, as he did at the beginning and when Jesus said that a great feast is made when one comes to take part in the Kingdom of Heaven. He then goes quickly into the house to dress Himself. The others approach the newcomer expressing their greetings of peace.

558.The Secret Meeting with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.

 558. The Secret Meeting with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. 23rd January 1947. 1 The road taken by Manaen to lead Jesus to the place where He is expected is really a difficult one. A mountain road, narrow, covered with stones, running through maquis and woods. A very bright moonlight, in the first phase of the moon, can hardly penetrate the tangle of branches and at times it disappears completely, and Manaen makes up for the lack of light with torches that he has prepared and brought with him carrying them baldricwise like weapons under his mantle. He leads the way, Jesus follows him and they proceed in silence in the dead of the night. Two or three times a wild animal running in the wood simulates the noise of steps, which makes Manaen stop suspiciously. But apart from that nothing else disturbs their journey, which is toilsome by itself. «Look, Master. That is Gofenà over there. Now let us go round here. I shall count three hundred steps and we shall be at the grottoes where they have been waiting for us since sunset. Did You find the journey a long one? And yet we have taken short cuts that I think have complied with the legal distance.» Jesus makes a gesture meaning: «We could not do it any other way.» Manaen does not speak any more, intent as he is on counting his steps. They are now in a barren rocky corridor, like an ascending cavern, between the two mountain faces that almost touch each other. One would say that it is a fracture brought about by a cataclysm, so strange it looks. A huge knife-wound in the mountain rock, splitting one third of it from its summit. High above, beyond the sheer mountain faces, beyond the tossing branches of the trees that have grown on the edge of the huge cut, the stars are shining, but the moon gives no light down here, in this abyss. The smoky light of the torch awakes birds of prey, that cheep flapping their wings on the edges of their nests among the fissures. 2 Manaen says: «Here we are!» and he utters a cry similar to the wailing of a big owl, towards a cleft in the rocky slope. Moving from the other end a reddish light comes forth along another rocky corridor, the upper part of which is closed like a lobby. Joseph appears: «The Master?» he asks not 558.The Secret Meeting with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. 78 seeing Jesus Who is a little behind. «I am here, Joseph. Peace to you.» «Peace to You. Come! Come. We lit a fire to see snakes and scorpions and to warm the place. I will show You the way.» He turns round and along the undulations of the path in the bowels of the mountain he leads them towards a place lit up by flames. Near a fire there is Nicodemus who is throwing branches and junipers on it. «Peace to you, too, Nicodemus. Here I am with you. Speak.» «Master, has anybody noticed Your coming?» «Who on earth could, Nicodemus?» «Are Your disciples not with You?» «John and Judas of Simon are with Me. The others are evangelizing from the day after the Sabbath to sunset on Fridays. But I left the house before midday telling them not to wait for Me before dawn on the day after the Sabbath. I am too accustomed by now to being absent for several hours to rouse suspicion in anybody. So you need not worry. We have plenty time to talk without worrying about being caught. The place here... is propitious.» «Yes. Nests of snakes and vultures... and of highwaymen in the good season, when these mountains are full of herds. But nowadays highwaymen prefer other places from which to descend suddenly on folds and caravan tracks. We are sorry that we dragged You so far. But we shall be able to depart from here taking different roads, without attracting anybody's attention. Because, Master, the attention of the Sanhedrin is directed wherever they suspect that You are loved.» «Well, I disagree with Joseph with regard to that. I think that we now see ghosts where there are none. I also think that the situation has calmed very much these last days...» says Nicodemus. «You are wrong, my friend. I tell you. It has calmed down because there is no spur to look for the Master, because now they know where He is. That is why He is being watched, and we are not. And that is why I begged Him not to tell anybody that we were going to meet. So that no one might be ready... for anything» says Joseph. «I don't think that the people of Ephraim...» remarks Manaen. «Neither the people of Ephraim or anybody else from Samaria. For the only purpose of doing the opposite of what we do on the other side...» «No, Joseph, not for that. But because they do not have in their hearts the evil serpent that you have. They are not afraid of being despoiled of any prerogative. They have no sectarian or caste interests to defend. They have nothing but an instinctive need to feel that they are loved and forgiven by Him Whom their ancestors offended and Whom they continue to offend by remaining outside the perfect Religion. Outside because, as they are as proud as you are, neither part can lay aside the hatred dividing them and stretch their hands in the name of the Only Father. Even if they had so much good will, you would demolish it. Because you cannot forgive. You cannot say, trampling on all foolishness: “The past is dead because the Prince of the future Century has risen and He gathers us all under His Sign.” 3 I have in fact come and I gather. But you! Oh! for you, also what I considered worthy of being gathered is always anathema!» «You are severe with us, Master.» «I am just. Can you perhaps say that you do not reproach Me, in your hearts, for some of My deeds? Can you say that you approve of My mercy being the same for Judaeans and Galileans as for Samaritans and Gentiles, nay, even greater for the latter and for big sinners, just because they are in greater need of it? Can you say that you would not expect gestures of violent majesty from Me in order to manifest My supernatural origin, and above all, mind you, and above all, to manifest My mission of Messiah according to your idea of the Messiah? Speak the real truth: apart from the joy of your hearts for the resurrection of your friend, would you not have preferred to such joy that I should have arrived in Bethany as a handsome cruel warrior, as our ancestors were with the Amorites and the Bashanites, and as Joshua was with the people of Ai and of Jericho, or better still: making stones and walls collapse on My enemies with My voice, as Joshua's trumpets did with the walls of Jericho, or drawing huge stones on My enemies from Heaven as it happened on the descent of Beth-horon still in the days of Joshua or, as in more recent times, calling celestial knights galloping through the air, in cloth of gold, troops of lancers fully armed, squadrons of cavalry in order of battle, attacks and charges this way and that, a flourish of shields and armies with helmets brandishing swords and hurling missiles to terrorise My enemies? Yes, that is what you would have preferred because, although you love Me very much, your love is still impure, and it is kindled, in wishing what is not holy, by your thoughts of Israelites, by your old thoughts. What is in Gamaliel as well as in the last man in Israel, what is in the High Priest, in the Tetrarch, in the peasant, in the shepherd, in the nomad, in the man of the Diaspora. The fixed idea of the Messiah conqueror. The nightmare of those who are afraid of being crushed by Him. The hope of those who love the Fatherland with the violence of human love. The eagerness of those who are oppressed under foreign powers, in foreign countries. It is not your fault. The pure concept, as had been given by God with regard to what I am, has been covered, throughout centuries, with layers of useless scum. And only few know how to take the Messianic idea back to its initial purity, and they do so through their own sufferings. And now, as the time is close when the sign, which Gamaliel is expecting, and the whole of Israel with him, is to be given,  and now that the time of My perfect manifestation is drawing closer, Satan is working to deteriorate your love and to adulterate your thoughts. His hour is now coming. I tell you. And, in that hour of darkness, also those who at present can see or are only a little blind, will be completely blind. Only few, very few people will recognise the Messiah in the demolished Man. Only few will recognise Him as the true Messiah, exactly because He will be demolished as the prophets saw Him. For the sake of My friends, I would like them to be able to see Me and know Me, while it is still daytime, so that they may recognise Me and see Me also when I am disfigured and in the darkness of the hour of the world... 4 But tell Me now what you wanted to tell Me. Time passes quickly and it will soon be dawn. I am saying this for your sake, because I am not afraid of any dangerous encounter.» «Well. We wanted to tell You that someone must have said where You are and that someone is certainly not I or Nicodemus, or Manaen, or Lazarus, or his sisters, or Nike. To whom else have You spoken of the place You chose for Your shelter?» «To nobody, Joseph.» «Are You sure?» «Most definitely.» «And did You tell Your disciples not to mention it?» «Before departing I did not speak to them of the place. When we arrived in Ephraim I told them to go and evangelize and to act in My stead. And I am sure of their obedience.» «And... Are You alone in Ephraim?» «No. I am with John and Judas of Simon. I have already told you. He, Judas, as I can read his thoughts, cannot have done any harm to Me, through his heedlessness, because he never left the town, and in these days no pilgrims from other places pass through it.» «Then... it is really Beelzebub that has spoken. Because at the Sanhedrin they know that You are there.» «So? What are their reactions to My behaviour?» «Several, Master. And very different. Some say that it is logical. Since they banned You from the holy places, You had no option but to take shelter in Samaria. Others instead maintain that this proves what You are: a Samaritan in Your soul, even more than by race, and that that is enough to condemn You. And they all exult at having been successful in reducing You to silence and at being able to point You out to the crowds as a friend of the Samaritans. They are saying: “We have already won the battle. The rest will be child's play.” But we beg You, do not allow that to happen.» «It will not happen. Let them speak. Those who love Me will not be upset by appearances. Allow the wind to drop completely. It is a wind of the earth. Then the wind of Heaven will blow, the velarium will open and the glory of God will appear. 5 Have you anything else to tell Me?» «No, nothing concerning You. Be on the alert, be careful, do not leave the place where You are now. And we will keep You informed...» «No. It is not necessary. Stay where you are. I shall soon have the women disciples with Me and, yes, tell Eliza and Nike to join the other women disciples, if they so wish. Tell the two sisters as well. As My place is now known, those who are not afraid of the Sanhedrin can now come for our reciprocal comfort.» «The two sisters cannot come until Lazarus comes back. He left with much pomp, and everybody in Jerusalem knew that he was going to his remote estates, but it is not known when he will come back. But his servant has already come back from Nazareth and he said – and we must tell You also this – he said that Your Mother will be here with the other women disciples before the end of this moon. She is well and so is Mary of Alphaeus. The servant saw them. But they are delaying a little because Johanna wants to come with them, but she cannot until the end of this moon. And then... well, if You will allow us, we would like to help You... as faithful friends even if... imperfect as You say.» «No. The disciples who go around evangelizing, every Friday evening bring what is necessary for them and for us who remain in Ephraim. Nothing else is required. A workman lives on his wages. That is fair. The rest would be superfluous. Give it to some poor wretch. That is what I told also those in Ephraim and My apostles. My instructions are that when they come back they must not have one farthing left over and that on their way they must give away all the offerings, keeping for us only what is necessary for our very frugal food for one week.» «Why, Master?» «To teach them detachment from riches and the superiority of the spirit over the worries of the morrow. And for that and for other good reasons of Mine as a Master, I ask you not to insist.» «As You wish. But we are sorry that we cannot help You.» «The day will come when you will do that... 6 Is that not the first light of dawn?» He says looking eastwards, that is to the side opposite to the one He came, and pointing at a timid gleam that becomes visible on remote backgrounds. «It is. We must part. I am going back to Gofenà where I left my horse, and Nicodemus will go down on this other side towards Beeroth, and from there to Ramah, when the 558.The Secret Meeting with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. 80 Sabbath is over.» «And what about you, Manaen?» «Oh! Without hiding myself I will go along the main roads towards Jericho, where Herod is now. My horse is in the house of some poor people who for a mite do not loathe anything, not even a Samaritan, as they believe me to be. But I am staying with You just now. In my bag I have food for two.» «Well, let us say goodbye. We shall meet again at Passover.» «No! You are not going to put Yourself to that test!» say Joseph and Nicodemus. «Don't do that, Master!» «You are really bad friends, because you are advising Me to commit sin and to be cowardly. Would you then be able to love Me, considering what I had done? Tell Me. Be sincere. Where should I go and worship the Lord at the Passover of the Unleavened Bread? Perhaps on Mount Gerizim? Or should I not appear before the Lord in the Temple in Jerusalem, as every male must do at the three great yearly festivities? Do you not remember that they are already accusing Me of not respecting the Sabbath, although – and Manaen can witness this – even today, to satisfy your request, I departed in the evening from a place that conciliated your desire with the sabbatic law?» «We also stopped at Gofenà for that reason... We will offer a sacrifice to expiate an involuntary transgression brought about by a motive that could not be derogated from. But You, Master!... They will see You at once...» «Even if they should not see Me, I will try to make them see Me.» «You want to ruin Yourself! It is the same as if You committed suicide...» «No. Your minds are enveloped in darkness. It is not the same as if I wanted to kill Myself, it is only obedience to the voice of My Father Who says to Me: “Go. It is Your hour.” I have always endeavoured to reconcile the Law with necessities, also on the day that I had to flee from Bethany and take refuge at Ephraim because it was not My hour to be caught. The Lamb of Salvation can only be sacrificed at the Passover of the Unleavened Bread. And if I behaved thus for the Law, do you want Me to do otherwise with regard to the order of My Father? Go, you may go! Do not grieve thus. And why did I come, if it was not that I should be proclaimed the King of all peoples? Because that is the meaning of “Messiah”, is it not? Yes, that is what it means. And “Redeemer” also means that. The only trouble is that the meaning of these two words does not correspond to what you fancy. 7 But I bless you, imploring a celestial ray to descend upon you with My blessing. Because I love you and you love Me. Because I would like your justice to be entirely bright. Because you are not wicked, but you, too, are “Old Israel”, and you do not have the heroic will to despoil yourselves of the past and become new. Goodbye, Joseph. Be just. Just like him who was My guardian for so many years and who was capable of every renovation to serve the Lord his God. If he were here, among us, oh! how he would teach you to serve the Lord perfectly, to be just, just, just. But it is right that he should already be in Abraham's bosom!... In order not to see the injustice of Israel. Holy servant of God!... A new Abraham, with a broken heart, but with perfect will, he would not have advised Me to be cowardly, but he would have spoken the words that he used to utter when anything painful weighed heavily on us: “Let us raise our spirits. We shall meet the yes of God and we shall forget that it is men who grieve us. And let us do whatever is burdensome, as if the Most High presented it to us. In this way we shall sanctify also the least things, and God will love us.” Oh! He would have said so also to comfort Me to suffer the deepest sorrows... He would have comforted us... Oh! My Mother!...» Jesus releases Joseph whom He had clasped in His arms and He lowers His head remaining silent, undoubtedly contemplating His imminent martyrdom and that of His poor Mother... He then raises His head and embraces Nicodemus saying: «The first time you came to Me as a secret disciple, I told you that to enter the Kingdom of God and to have the Kingdom of God in you it is necessary for your spirits to be born again and for you to love the Light more than the world loves it. Today, and this is perhaps the last time we shall meet secretly, I repeat the same words to you. Be born again in your spirit, Nicodemus, to be able to love the Light, which I am, and I may dwell in you as King and Saviour. Go now. And God be with you.» 8 The two members of the Sanhedrin go away in the opposite direction to the one in which Jesus came. When the noise of their steps has faded away, Manaean, who had gone to the entrance of the grotto to see them go away, comes back and with an expressive countenance he says: «And for once they will be the ones who infringe the Sabbatic law! And they will have no peace until they settle their debt with the Eternal Father by sacrificing an animal! Would it not be better for them to sacrifice their tranquillity by declaring themselves “Your disciples” openly? Would that not be more pleasing to the Most High?» «It would certainly be. But do not judge them. They are doughs that rise slowly. But at the right moment, when many, who think they are better than they are, collapse, they will rise against the whole world.» «Are You referring to me, Lord? Please take my life, but do not let me deny You.» «You will not deny Me. But there are constituents in you, different from theirs, and they will help you to be faithful.» «Yes, I am... the Herodian. That is: I was the Herodian. Because as I turned my back on the Council, so I turned my back on the party, when I saw it was vile and unfair towards You just like the others. To be a Herodian!... To the other castes it means being little 558.The Secret Meeting with Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. 81 less than a heathen. I do not mean that we are saints. That is true. For an impure purpose we committed impurity. I am speaking as if I were still the Herodian I was before being Your disciple. According to human opinion, therefore, we are twice impure, because we are the allies of the Romans, and because we did it for our own profit. But tell me, Master, as You always speak the truth and never refrain from it for fear of losing a friend. Between us who have entered into an alliance with Rome to... have fleeting personal triumphs and the Pharisees, the Chief Priests, the scribes, the Sadducees, who enter into an alliance with Satan to crush You, which are more impure? I, see? Now that I have realised that the party of the Herodians is siding with Your enemies, I left it. I am not telling You to be praised by You, but to tell You what I think. And they, I mean the Pharisees and priests, the scribes and Sadducees, are convinced of getting a profit out of this sudden alliance of the Herodians with them! The wretches! They do not know that the Herodians do it to gain more merits, and thus greater protection from the Romans, and later... once the cause and the reason joining them are defined and finished, they will demolish those with whom they now form an alliance. And they trifle with each other like that. Everything is based on deceit. And that disgusts me so much that I have made myself completely independent. You... You are a great frightening ghost. For everybody! And You are also the pretence for the foul game of the various parties' interests. The religious motive? The sacred indignation for the “blasphemer”, as they call You? It's nothing but lies! The only motive is neither the defence of Religion, nor the sacred zeal for the Most High, but their greedy, insatiable interests. They make me sick like filthy things. And I would like... Yes, I would like the few who are not corrupt to be more daring. Ah! A double life is troublesome to me now! I would like to follow You alone. But I can serve You better thus than if I followed You. It's a burden to me... But You say that it will soon be... What... 9 But will You really be sacrificed as the Lamb? But is it not figurative language? The life of Israel is woven with symbols and figures...» «And you would like it to be so for Me... But Mine is not a figure.» «Is it not? Are You really sure? I could... Many of us could repeat ancient gestures and have You anointed Messiah, and defend You. One word would suffice and the defenders of the holy wise Pontiff would rise in thousands and thousands. I do not mean an earthly king, as I now know that Your Kingdom is entirely spiritual. But as we shall never again be humanly free and strong, let at least Your holiness support and heal corrupt Israel. No one, as You are aware, loves the present priesthood and those supporting it. Do You want that, Lord? Tell me, and I will do it.» «You have already gone a long way with your thought, Manaen. But you are still as far from your goal as the Earth is from the sun. I will be Priest, and forever, immortal Pontiff in an organism that I will enliven to the end of time. But I shall not be anointed with the oil of delight, neither shall I be proclaimed and defended by the gestures of violence brought about by a handful of believers to throw our Fatherland into a wild schism and make it more enslaved than it ever was. And do you think that the hand of a man can anoint the Christ? I solemnly tell you that it cannot. The true Authority that will anoint Me Pontiff and Messiah is that of Him Who sent Me. No other person, who is not God, could anoint God as King of kings and Lord of lords, forever.» «So, nothing!? There is nothing we can do!? How grieved I am!» «Everything, by loving Me. It is everything. By loving not the person whose name is Jesus, but what Jesus is. By loving Me with your humanity and your spirit, as I love you with Spirit and Humanity, in order to be with Me beyond Humanity. Look how beautiful is, dawn. The quiet light of the stars did not shine in here. But the triumphant light of the sun does. The same will happen in the hearts of those who succeed in loving Me with justice. Come outside, in the silence of the mountain, clear of the hoarse human voices of interests. Look over there at those eagles, how with wide flights they soar away in search of prey. Can we see that prey? No, we cannot, but they can. Because the eyes of an eagle are more powerful than ours and from above where they rove, they can see a wide horizon and can choose. I do the same. I see what you cannot see, and from above where it hovers, My spirit can choose My sweet preys. Not to tear them to pieces as vultures and eagles do, but to take them with Me. We shall be so happy there, in the Kingdom of My Father, we who loved each other!...» And Jesus, Who while speaking has gone outside to sit in the sun at the entrance of the grotto, embraces Manaen, who was beside Him, and He smiles silently at I do not know which vision...

557.Pilgrims Arrive in Ephraim from the Decapolis.Manaen's Secret Mission.

 557. Pilgrims Arrive in Ephraim from the Decapolis. Manaen's Secret Mission. 22nd January 1947. 1 The news that Jesus is in Ephraim, either because the citizens themselves have boasted about it, or for some other reason unknown to me, must have spread because many people come now looking for Jesus: mostly sick people, some distressed people and also some who wish to see Him. I realise that because I hear the Iscariot say to a group of pilgrims who have come from the Decapolis: «The Master is not here. But John and I are here and it is the same thing. So tell us what you want and we will please you.» «But you will never be able to teach what He teaches» says one protesting. «We are His representatives and are just like Him, man. Always bear that in mind. But if you really want to hear the Master come back before the Sabbath and go away after it. The Master now is a true Master. He no longer speaks in all the streets, in woods or rocky mountains like a stray, and at all hours like a servant. He speaks on the Sabbath here, as befits Him. And He is right, considering what He gained by wearing Himself out with fatigue and love!» «But it is not our fault if the Judaeans...» «Everybody! Everybody! Both Judaeans and non Judaeans! You are all alike and will always be so. He has given you everything. You have given Him nothing. He gives. You do not give; not even the mite that one gives a beggar.» «But we have an offering for Him. Here it is, if you do not believe us.» John who has been silent all the time, but with evident embarrassment, looking at Judas with eyes that implore and reproach, or rather admonish him, can no longer be silent. And when Judas is already stretching out his hand to take the offering, he lays his hand on his companion's arm to hold him back and says to him: «No, Judas. Don't. You know the Master's order» and he addresses the pilgrims saying: «Judas has explained himself badly and you have misunderstood him. That is not what my companion meant. It is only an offering of sincere faith, of loyal love that we, I, my companions, you, everybody must give for what the Master gives us. When we travelled around Palestine, He accepted your offerings because they were necessary for our journeys and because we met with many beggars, or we became acquainted with concealed miseries. Now, here, we need nothing – may Providence be praised for that − and we do not meet with beggars. Keep your offering and give it to distressed people in Jesus' name. That is the desire of our Lord and Master, and the order He gives to those among us who go evangelizing through the various towns. If you have sick people with you or anyone really needs to speak to the Master, tell us. And I will look for Him where He withdraws to pray, as His spirit is eager to collect its thoughts in the Lord.» Judas grumbles something between his teeth but he does not contradict openly. He sits beside the fireplace in which the fire has been lit, as if he wished to take no further interest in the matter. «Actually... we are not in need of anything special. But We heard that He was here and we crossed the river to come and see Him. But if we have done wrong...» «No, brothers. It is not wrong to love Him and look for Him also by going to a lot of trouble and fatigue. And your good will will be rewarded. I will go and tell the Lord that you are here and He will certainly come. And if He should not come I will bring you His blessing.» And John goes out into the kitchen garden to go and look for the Master. «Never mind! I will go» says Judas imperiously and he stands up and runs out. John looks at him go away and does not make any objection. 2 He goes back into the kitchen where the pilgrims are thronged. But almost at once he suggests: «Shall we go and meet the Master?» «But if He did not want...» «Oh! Please do not attach importance to a misunderstanding. You are certainly aware of the reasons why we are here. It is other people who compel the Master to take these measures of restraint, it is not according to His will or His heart. He is always as fond of you all as ever.»  «We know that. On the first days after the ban was announced publicly everybody was looking for Him beyond the Jordan and wherever they thought He might be. At Bethabara, at Bethany, at Pella and at Ramoth-Gilead and also farther away. And we know that the same happened in Judaea and in Galilee. The houses of His friends were closely watched because... if many are His friends and disciples, many are also those who are not such, and who think they serve the Most High by persecuting the Master. Then searches suddenly stopped and the rumor spread that He was here.» «But who told you?» «His disciples.» «My companions? Where?» «No. None of them. They were different, new ones, because we never saw them with the Master or with the old disciples. In fact we were surprised that He should send people unknown to us to tell us where He was, then we thought that He might have done it because the new people were not known to the Judaeans as His disciples.» «I do not know what the Master will say to you. But I think that as from now on you should listen only to the familiar disciples. Be prudent. Everybody in this country knows what happened to the Baptist...» «Do you think that...» «If John, who was hated only by one woman, was captured and killed, what will happen to Jesus, Who is hated both by the Royal Palace and the Temple, as well as by Pharisees, scribes, priests and Herodians? So be on the alert, so that later you may not have to repent... But here He comes. Let us go and meet Him...» ----------------- 3 It is the dead of night. A moonless but starry night. I could not say what time it is as I cannot see the position or the phase of the moon. I can only see that it is a clear night. The whole of Ephraim has disappeared in the black veil of the night. The torrent also is only a noise, nothing else. Its foaming and sparkling have completely disappeared under the green vault of the trees on its banks as they hinder the faint light of the stars. A night bird is moaning somewhere. Then it becomes silent because of the rustling noise of broken branches and reeds, a noise that comes nearer and nearer the house following the torrent and coming from the mountain side. Then a tall strong figure comes up from the bank on to the path that climbs towards the house. It stops for a moment as if it wanted to find its bearings. It grazes the wall groping with its hands. It finds the door. It touches it lightly and goes on. Still groping it turns the corner of the house, and proceeds as far as the little gate of the kitchen garden. It feels it, opens it, pushes it and goes in. It now skims the walls along the kitchen garden. It is perplexed at the kitchen door. It then proceeds as far as the outside staircase, it climbs it gropingly and sits on the last step, a dark shade in the shadow. But over there, to the east, the colour of the night sky – a dark velarium that is recognised for what it is only through the stars studding it – is beginning to change its shade, that is, it takes a hue that the eye can perceive as such: a slate-grey that looks like thick smoky fog and is nothing but the first light of dawn coming forth. And it is the new daily miracle of light slowly coming back. The person that was crouched on the step, a heap covered with a dark mantle, moves, stretches its arms, raises its head drawing its mantle behind it. It is Manaen. Dressed like an ordinary man in a heavy brown tunic and mantle of the same colour. A rough cloth, as workers or pilgrims wear, without ornaments, buckles or belts. An interlaced woollen cord tightens the garment at his waist. He stands up and stretches himself. He looks at the sky, where the advancing light enables the surroundings to be seen. 4 A door downstairs opens squeaking. Manaen leans out without making any noise to see who is coming out of the house. It is Jesus, Who cautiously closes the door again and moves towards the staircase. Manaen withdraws a little and clears his throat to attract the attention of Jesus, Who looks up, stopping half-way up the staircase. «It is I, Master, Manaen. Come quickly because I must speak to You. I have been waiting for You...» whispers Manaen and he bows to greet Jesus. Jesus climbs the last steps: «Peace to you. When did you come? How? Why?» He asks. «I think I set foot here immediately after the cock's crowing. But I was in the bushes, down there at the bottom, at the second watch.» «All night in the open air!» «It could not be done any other way. I had to speak to You by myself. I had to know which way to come, which was the house, without being seen. So I came by day and I hid in the wood up there. I saw life calm down in town. I saw Judas and John go into the house. Nay, John passed very close to me with his load of firewood, but he did not see me because I was well concealed in the thick of the wood. While there was sufficient light to see, I saw an old woman go in and come out of the house, and the fire blaze in the kitchen, and I saw You descend from here in the deepening twilight. Then the house was closed. Then I came here in the light of the new moon and I studied the road. I also entered the kitchen garden. The little gate is more useless than no gate at all. I heard your voices. But I had to speak to You alone. I went away to come back here at the third watch and be here. I know that You usually get up before daybreak to pray. And I was hoping that You would do the same today. I praise the Most High that it is so.» 5 «But why had you to see Me with so much trouble?» 557.Pilgrims Arrive in Ephraim from the Decapolis.Manaen's Secret Mission. 77 «Master, Joseph and Nicodemus want to speak to You and they are thinking of doing it in such a way as to elude everybody's surveillance. They made other attempts, but Beelzebub must be helping Your enemies very much. In each occasion they had to give up coming, because their houses and that of Nike were continuously watched. Actually the woman was to come before me. She is a strong woman and she had set out by herself towards mount Adummim. But they followed her and stopped her at the Bloody slope (1), and in order not to reveal Your abode and to justify the foodstuffs she had on her mount, she said: “I am going up to one of my brothers who is in a grotto in the mountains. If you wish to come, as you teach the doctrine of God, you will accomplish a holy deed, because he is ill and in need of God.” And with her daring she convinced them to go away. But she did not dare to come here any more and she really went to see one who she says lives in a grotto and was entrusted to her by You.» «That is true. But then, how was Nike able to let the others know?» «By going to Bethany. Lazarus is not there. But his sisters are. Mary is there. And is Mary a woman to be frightened of anything? She dressed herself perhaps more sumptuously than Judith did to go to the king, and she went to the Temple publicly with Sarah and Naomi and then to her mansion in Zion. And from there she sent Naomi to Joseph with the necessary information. And while... the Jews cunningly went or sent people to her house to... honour her, and everybody could see her, the mistress of the house, old Naomi wearing modest clothes went to Bezetha to inform the Elder. It was then agreed that I should come, as I am the nomad who does not rouse suspicion if I am seen riding at full gallop from one of Herod's dwelling places to another, to tell You that on Friday night Joseph and Nicodemus, the former coming from Arimathea, the latter from Ramah, will meet before sunset at Gofenà and will wait for You there. I know the place and the road and I will come here in the evening to take You there. You can trust me. But trust me only, Master. Joseph begs You not to let anybody know that we are meeting. In everybody's interest.» «Yours also, Manaen?» «Lord... I am I. But I have no wealth or family interests to protect as Joseph has.» «And that confirms My statement that material riches are always a burden... But you can tell Joseph that no one will be informed of our meeting.» «I can go, then, Master. The sun has risen and Your disciples may get up.» «You may go, and God be with you. I will come with you to show you the spot where we shall meet on Friday night...» They go downstairs without making any noise and they go out of the kitchen garden and descend at once to the banks of the torrent. ------------- (1) A spot on Mount Adummim was called «Bloody slope» because of the crimes committed there by highwaymen.