Jesus Meets Judas Iscariot and Thomas and
Cures Simon the Zealot.
26th October 1944.
Jesus is together with His six disciples. Neither the other day nor today have I
seen Judas Thaddeus, who said he wanted to come to Jerusalem with Jesus.
It must still be Passover time, because there is always a lot of people in town. It
is evening and many people are hurrying home. Jesus also goes towards the
house where He is a guest. It is not the house of the last Supper, which is in
town, although not far from its walls. This house, instead, is a real country
house, amongst thick olive-trees.
From the rustic open space in front of the house, one can see the olive-trees
down the terraces of the hill, right down to a little torrent, with very little water,
which flows away along the valley formed by two hills: on the top of one there
is the Temple, on the other hill there are only olive-trees. Jesus is at the first
slopes of the latter hill, which rises smoothly, completely covered with peaceful
trees.
« John, there are two men awaiting your friend » says an elderly man, who must
be the farmer or the owner of the olive-grove. I would say that John knows him.
« Where are they? Who are they? »
« I don't know. One is certainly a Judaean. The other… I don't know. I didn't ask
him. »
« Where are they? »
« In the kitchen, waiting, and… and… yes… there is another man who is all
covered with sores. I made him stay over there, because I am afraid he may be a
leper. He says he wants to see the Prophet Who spoke in the Temple. »
Jesus, Who up to this moment has been silent, says: « Let us go to him first. Tell
the others to come if they so wish. I will speak to them there, in the olive-grove.
» And He makes for the place indicated by the man.
54.Jesus Meets Judas Iscariot and Thomas and Cures Simon the Zealot. 169
« And what about us? What shall we do? » asks Peter.
« Come, if you want. »
A man, muffled up, is leaning against the rustic wall supporting a terrace, the
nearest to the boundary of the property. He must have climbed up there along a
path coasting the torrent. When he sees Jesus approaching him, he shouts: « Go
back. Back! Have mercy on me! » And he uncovers his trunk dropping his tunic
to the ground. If his face is covered with scabs his trunk is one big sore. Some of
the sores have already become deep wounds, some are like burns, some are
whitish and glossy, as if there was a thin white pane of glass on them.
« Are you a leper? What do you want of Me? »
« Don't curse me! Don't stone me. I have been told that the other evening You
revealed Yourself as the Voice of God and the Bearer of Grace. I was also told
that You gave assurance that by raising Your Sign, You will cure all diseases.
Please raise it on me. I have come from the sepulchers… over there… I crept
like a snake amongst the bushes near the torrent to arrive here without being
seen. I waited until evening before leaving because at dusk it is more difficult to
see who I am. I dared… I found this man, the man of the house, he is good. He
did not kill me. He only said: “Wait over there, near the little wall.” Have mercy
on me » and as Jesus is going near him, all by Himself, because the six disciples
and the landlord, as well as the two strangers, are far away and are evidently
disgusted, he adds: « Don't come nearer. Don't! I am infected! » But Jesus
proceeds. He looks at him so mercifully, that the man starts crying and kneels
down almost touching the ground with his face, moaning: « Your Sign! Your
Sign! »
« It will be raised when it is time. But now I say to you: Stand up. Be healed. I
want it. And be the sign in this town that must recognize Me. Rise, I say. And do
not sin, out of gratitude to God! » The man rises slowly. He seems to emerge
from the long flowery grass as from a shroud… and is healed. He looks at
himself in the last dim light of the day. He is healed. He shouts: « I am clean!
Oh! What shall I do for You now? »
« You must comply with the Law. Go to the priest. Be good in future. Go. »
The man is on the point of throwing himself at Jesus' feet, but he remembers he
is still impure, according to the Law, and he restrains himself. But he kisses his
own hand, and throws a kiss to Jesus and weeps. He weeps out of joy.
The others are dumbfounded. Jesus turns away from the healed man and rouses
them smiling. « My friends, it was only a leprosy of the flesh. But you will see
leprosy fall from hearts. Is it you that wanted Me? » He asks the two strangers. «
Here I am. Who are you? »
« We heard You the other evening… in the Temple. We looked for You in town.
A man, who said he is a relative of Yours, told us You stay here. »
« Why are you looking for Me? »
« To follow You, if You will allow us, because You have words of truth. »
« Follow Me? But do you know where I am going? »
« No, Master, but certainly to glory. »
« Yes. But not to a glory of this world . I am going to a glory which is in Heaven
and is conquered by virtue and sacrifice. Why do you want to follow Me? » He
asks them again.
« To take part in Your glory. »
« According to Heaven? »
« Yes, according to Heaven. »
« Not everybody is able to arrive there. Because Mammon lays more snares for
those yearning for Heaven than for the others. And only he who has strong will
power can resist. Why follow Me, if to follow Me implies a continuous struggle
against the enemy, which is in us, against the hostile world, and against the
Enemy who is Satan? »
« Because that is the desire of our souls, which have been conquered by You.
You are holy and powerful. We want to be Your friends. »
« Friends!!! » Jesus is silent and sighs. Then He stares at the one who has
spoken all the time and who has now removed the mantle-hood from his head,
and is bareheaded. He is Judas of Kerioth. « Who are you? You speak better
than a man of the people. »
« I am Judas, the son of Simon. I come from Kerioth. But I am of the Temple. I
am waiting for and dreaming of the King of the Jews. I heard You speak like a
king. I saw Your kingly gestures. Take me with You. »
« Take you? Now? At once? No. »
« Why not, Master? »
« Because it is better to examine ourselves carefully before venturing on very
steep roads. »
« Do You not believe I am sincere? »
« You have said it. I believe in your impulsiveness. But I do not believe in your
perseverance. Think about it, Judas. I am going away now and I will be back for
Pentecost. If you are in the Temple, you will see Me. Examine yourself. And
who are you? ».
« I am another one who saw You. I would like to be with You. But now I am
frightened. »
« No. Presumption ruins people. Fear may be an impediment, but it is a help
when it originates from humility. Do not be afraid. Think about it, too, and when
I come back… »
« Master, You are so holy! I am afraid of not being worthy. Nothing else.
Because I do not doubt my love… »
« What is your name? »
« Thomas, of Didymus. »
« I will remember your name. Go in peace. »
Jesus dismisses them and He goes into the hospitable house for supper.
The six disciples who are with Him want to know many things. « Why, Master,
why did You treat them differently? Because there was a difference. Both of
them had the same impulsiveness… » asks John.
« My friend, also the same impulsiveness may have a different taste and bring
about a different effect. They both certainly had the same impulsiveness. But
they were not the same in their purposes. And the one who appears less perfect
is, in fact, more perfect, because he has no incentive to human glory. He loves
Me because he loves Me. »
« And so do I. »
« And I, too. », « And I. », « And I. », « And I. », « And I. »
« I know. I know you for what you are. »
« Are we therefore perfect? »
« Oh! No! But, like Thomas, you will become perfect if you persevere in your
desire to love. Perfect?! Oh! My friends! And who is perfect but God? »
« You are! »
« I solemnly tell you that I am not perfect by Myself, if you think I am prophet.
No man is perfect. But I am perfect because He Who is speaking to you is the
Word of the Father: part of God. His thought that becomes Word. I have
Perfection in Myself. And you must believe Me to be such if you believe that I
am the Word of the Father. And yet, see, My friends, I want to be called the Son
of man because I lower Myself taking upon Myself all the miseries of man, to
bear them as My first scaffold, and cancel them, after bearing them, without
suffering from them Myself. What a burden, My friends! But I bear it with joy.
It is a joy for Me to bear it, because, since I am the Son of mankind, I will make
mankind once again the child of God. As it was on the first day. »
Jesus is speaking very gently, sitting at the poor table, gesticulating calmly with
His hands on the table, His head slightly inclined to one side, His face lit up
from below by a small oil lamp on the table. He smiles gently, He Who formerly
was so majestic a Master in His bearing, is now so friendly in His gestures. His
disciples are listening to Him carefully.
« Master… why did Your cousin not come, although he knows where You live?
»
« My Peter!… You will be one of My stones, the first one. But not all the stones
can be easily used. Have you seen the marble blocks in the Praetorium building?
With hard labor they have been torn away from the bosom of the mountain side,
and are now part of the Praetorium. Look instead at those stones down there
shining in the moonlight, in the water of the Kidron. They arrived in the river-
bed by themselves, and if anyone wants to take them, they do not put up any
resistance. My cousin is like the first stones I am speaking of… The bosom of
the mountain side: his family, they contend for him with Me. »
« But I want to be exactly like the stones in the torrent. I am quite prepared toleave everything for You: home, wife, fishing, brothers. Everything, Rabboni,
for You. »
« I know, Peter. That is why I love you. Also Judas will come. »
« Who? Judas of Kerioth? I don't care for him. He is a dandy young man, but…
I prefer… I prefer myself… » They all laugh at Peter's witty remark. « There is
nothing to laugh at. I mean that I prefer a sincere Galilean, a rough fisherman,
but without any fraud to… to townsfolk who… I don't know… here: the Master
knows what I mean. »
« Yes, I know. But do not judge. We need one another in this world, the good
are mixed with the wicked, just like flowers in a field. Hemlock grows beside
the salutary mallow. »
« I would like to ask one thing… »
« What, Andrew? »
« John told me about the miracle You worked at Cana… We were hoping so
much that You would work one at Capernaum… and You said that You would
not work any miracles before fulfilling the Law. Why Cana then? And why here
and not in Your own fatherland? »
« To obey the Law is to be united to God and that increases our capabilities. A
miracle is the proof of the union with God, as well as of God's benevolent and
assenting presence. That is why I wanted to perform My duty as an Israelite,
before starting the series of miracles. »
« But You were not bound to fulfill the Law. »
« Why? As the Son of God, I was not. But as a son of the Law, yes, I was. For
the time being, Israel knows Me only as such… and, even later, almost everyone
in Israel will know Me as such, nay, even less. But I do not want to scandalize
Israel and therefore I obey the Law. »
« You are holy. »
« Holiness does not bar obedience. Nay it makes obedience perfect. Besides
everything else, there is a good example to be given. What would you say of a
father, of an elder brother, of a teacher, of a priest who did not give good
examples? »
« And what about Cana? »
« Cana was to make My Mother happy. Cana is the advance due to My Mother.
She anticipates Grace. Here I honor the Holy City, making her, in public, the
starting point of My power as Messiah. But there, at Cana, I paid honor to the
Holy Mother of God, Full of Grace. The world received Me through Her. It is
only fair that My first miracle in the world should be for Her. »
There is a knocking at the door. It is Thomas once again. He goes in and throws
himself at Jesus' feet.
« Master… I cannot wait until You come back. Let me come with You. I am full
of faults, but I have my love, my only real great treasure. It is Yours, it's for
You. Let me come, Master… »
Jesus lays His hand on Thomas' head. « You may stay, Didymus. Follow Me.
Blessed are those who are sincere and persistent in their will. You are all
blessed. You are more than relatives to Me, because you are My children and
My brothers, not according to the blood, that dies, but according to the will of
God and to your spiritual wishes. Now I tell you that I have no closer relative
than those who do the will of My Father, and you do it, because you want what
is good. »
The vision ends thus. It is 4 o'clock p.m. and the shadows of torpor are already
falling upon me: a torpidity which I perceive will be violent, a logical
consequence of yesterday's painful hour… But I was very ill also on October the
24th. So much so, that when the vision was over – I wrote it suffering from a
headache quite as bad as meningitis – I did not have enough strength to add that
at last I saw Jesus dressed as He appears to me when the vision is entirely for
me: wearing a soft tunic of white wool just verging to ivory and a mantle of the
same hue. The garments He was wearing the first time He revealed Himself as
Messiah in Jerusalem.