50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael

 50. Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 15th October 1944. [… ] Later on (at 9:30) I had to describe this. John knocks at the door of the house where Jesus is a guest. A woman comes to the door and when she sees who it is, she calls Jesus. They greet each other with a salutation of peace. Then Jesus says: « You have come early, John. » « I have come to tell You that Peter asks You to pass by Bethsaida. He has 50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 156 spoken to many people about You… We did not go out fishing last night. We prayed as well as we could, and we gave up profit… because the Sabbath was not yet over. And this morning, we went through the streets speaking about You. There are many people who would like to hear You… Will You come, Master? » « I will, although I must go to Nazareth before going to Jerusalem. » « Peter will take You from Bethsaida to Tiberias in his boat. It will be even quicker for You. » « Let us go, then. » Jesus takes His mantle and haversack. But John relieves Him of the latter. And they set out, after saying goodbye to the landlady. The vision shows them coming out of the village and starting their journey to Bethsaida. But I do not hear what they are saying, in fact the vision is interrupted and it is resumed only when they are entering Bethsaida. I realize that it is that town because I see Peter, Andrew and James, with their wives, awaiting Jesus at the entrance to the village. « Peace be with you. Here I am. » « We thank You, Master, also on behalf of those who are waiting for You. It is not the Sabbath today, but will You speak Your words to those waiting to hear You? » « Yes, Peter, I will. In your house. » Peter is overjoyed: « Come, then. This is my wife and this is John's mother and these are their friends. But there are other people waiting for You: relations and friends of ours. » « Tell them that I will speak to them this evening, before I leave. » I forgot to mention that they left Capernaum at sunset and arrived at Bethsaida the following morning. « Master… please: stay one night at my house. The road to Jerusalem is a long one, even if I will shorten it for You, taking You to Tiberias by boat. My house is poor, but honest and friendly. Stay with us tonight. » Jesus looks at Peter and at all the rest who are waiting. He looks at them inquisitively. He then smiles and says: « Yes, I will stay. » It is a greater joy for Peter. People look out from their doors and exchange knowing glances with one another. A man calls James by his name and speaks to him in a low voice, pointing to Jesus. James nods in assent and the man goes and speaks to other people standing at a crossroads. They go into Peter's house. There is a large smoky kitchen. In a corner, there are nets, ropes, fishing baskets. In the middle there is a long, low fireplace, but there is no fire. Through two opposite doors, one can see the street on one side, and the kitchen garden with a fig-tree and vines on the other side. Beyond the street the rippling on the sky-blue lake can be seen, and beyond the kitchen garden there is the dark, low wall of another house. « I offer You what I have, Master, and as best as I know how to… » « You could not offer any more or any better, because you are making your offering with love. » They give Jesus some water to refresh Himself and then some bread and olives. Jesus takes a few mouthfuls only to please them, then He thanks them, and eats no more. Some children look in inquisitively from the kitchen garden and the street. I do not know whether they are Peter's children. I only know that he frowns at the intruders to keep them out. Jesus smiles and says: « Leave them alone. » « Master, do You want to rest? My room is here and Andrew's is over there. Take Your choice. We will not make any noise while You are resting. » « Have you got a terrace? » « Yes, and the vine, although it is still almost bare, gives a little shade. » « Then take Me up there. I prefer to rest there. I will think and pray. » « As You wish. Come. » A little staircase rises from the kitchen garden up to the roof, which is a terrace surrounded by a low wall. Also there, there are nets and ropes. But how much bright light, and what a beautiful view of the blue lake! Jesus sits on a stool, leaning His back against the little wall. Peter bustles with a 50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 157 sail, which he spreads over and on the side of the vine to make a shield against the sun. There is a breeze and silence. Jesus is visibly happy. « I am going, Master. » « Go. Go with John and tell people that I will be speaking here at sunset. » Jesus remains alone and prays for a long time. With the exception of two pairs of doves that come and go from their nests, and the twittering of sparrows, there is no noise or living being near Jesus praying. The hours pass peacefully and quietly. Then Jesus stands up, He walks round the terrace, looks at the lake, smiles at some children playing in the street and they smile back at Him, He looks along the street, towards the little square about one hundred yards away from Peter's house. He goes downstairs. He looks into the kitchen: « Woman, I am going for a walk on the shore. » He goes out and walks to the beach, near the children. He asks them: « What are you doing? » « We wanted to play at war. But he does not want to, and we are playing at fishing. » The boy who does not want to play at war, is a frail little fellow with a most bright face. Perhaps he is aware that, as frail as he is, he would get a beating in making « war » and so he pleads for peace. But Jesus takes the opportunity to speak to the children: « He is right. War is a punishment of God to chastise men, and it is a sign that man is no longer a true son of God. When the Most High created the world, He made all things: the sun, the sea, the stars, the rivers, the plants, the animals, but He did not make arms. He created man and gave him eyes that he might cast loving glances, and a mouth to utter loving words, and ears to listen to such words, and hands to give help and to caress, and feet to run fast to assist our neighbors in need, and a heart capable of loving. He gave man intelligence, speech, affections and taste. But He did not give man hatred. Why? Because man, a creature of God, was to be love as God is Love. If man had remained a creature of God, he would have persevered in love, and the human family would have not known either war or death. » « But he does not want to make war, because he always loses. » (I had guessed right.) Jesus smiles and says: « We must not reprove what is harmful to us simply because it is harmful to us. We must reprove a thing when it is harmful to everybody. If a person says: “I do not want that because I would lose”, that person is selfish. Instead, the good child of God says: “Brothers, I know I would win, but I say to you: don't let us do that because you would suffer a loss”. Oh! That fellow has understood the main precept! Who can tell Me which is the main precept? » The eleven mouths say all together: « “You shall love your God with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” » « Oh! You are clever children. Do you all go to school? » « Yes, we do. » « Who is the most clever? » « Him. » It is the frail little fellow who does not want war. « What is your name? » « Joel. » « A great name! He says: “… let the weakling say: 'I am strong.' ” But strong in what? In the Law of the true God, to be amongst those whom in the Valley of Decision He will judge to be His saints. But the judgement is already near. Not in the Valley of Decision, but on the mountain of Redemption. There, the sun and the moon will grow dark with horror, the stars will tremble and shed tears of mercy, and the children of Light will be judged and separated from the children of Darkness. And the whole of Israel will know that its God has come. Happy those who will have recognized Him. Honey, milk and fresh water will descend into their hearts and thorns will become eternal roses. Which of you wants to be amongst those who will be judged saints of God? » « I! I! I! » « Will you love the Messiah, then? » « Yes! Yes! You! You! It's You we love. We know who You are! Simon and James have told us, and our mothers have told us. Take us with You! » « Yes, I will take you if you are good. No more bad words, no more arrogance, quarrels, no answering back to your parents. Prayer, study, work, obedience. 50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 158 And I will love you and come with you. » The children are all round Jesus. They look like a gaily-colored corolla around a long, deep-blue pistil. An elderly man goes near the group, inquisitively. Jesus turns round to caress a child who is pulling His mantle and sees him. He stares at him, intensely. The man blushes and greets Him, but does not say anything else. « Come! Follow Me! » « Yes, Master. » Jesus blesses the children and walking beside Philip, (He calls him by his name) He goes back home. They sit in the little kitchen garden. « Do you want to be My disciple? » « Yes, I do… but I dare not hope for so much. » « I have called you. » « Then I am Your disciple. Here I am. » « Did you know about Me? » « Andrew spoke to me about You. He said to me: “The One you were pining after has come.” Because Andrew knew that I yearned for the Messiah. » « Your expectation has not been disappointed. He is in front of You. » « My Master and my God! » « You are a well-intentioned Israelite. That is why I am manifesting Myself to you. Another friend of yours is waiting, he is a sincere Israelite, too. Go and say to him: “We have found Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph of the House of David, Him of Whom Moses and the Prophets have spoken.” Go. » Jesus remains alone until Philip comes back with Nathanael-Bartholomew. « Here is a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Peace be with you, Nathanael. » « How do You know me? » « Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig-tree. » « Master, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel! » « Because I said I saw you, while you were meditating under the fig-tree, you believe? You will see greater things than that. I solemnly tell you that Heaven is open and because of your faith you will see angels descending and ascending above the Son of man: that is above Me, Who am speaking to you. » « Master! I am not worthy of such a favor! » « Believe in Me and you will be worthy of Heaven. Will you believe? » « I will, Master. » The vision is interrupted… it starts again on the terrace full of people; other people are in Peter's kitchen garden. Jesus starts speaking. « Peace to men of good will. Peace and blessings to their homes, their women, their children. May the grace and the light of God reign in your homes and in the hearts dwelling in them. You have wished to hear Me. The Word is speaking. It speaks with joy to the honest, with sorrow to the dishonest, with delight to the holy and the pure, with mercy to sinners. It does not deny Itself. It has come to spread out like a river that flows to irrigate lands needing water, refreshing them and fertilising them at the same time with humus. You want to know what is required to become disciples of the Word of God, of the Messiah, Word of the Father, Who has come to gather Israel together, that it may hear once again the words of the holy and immutable Decalogue and may be sanctified by them and thus be purified for the hour of Redemption and of the Kingdom, as far as man can be purified by himself. Now, I say to the deaf, the blind, the dumb, the lepers, the paralytic, the dead: “Rise, you are healed, rise, walk, may the rivers of light, of words, of sounds be opened for you, that you may see and hear Me and speak of Me”. But rather than to your bodies, I am speaking to your souls. Men of good will, come to Me without any fear. If your souls are injured, I will cure them; if they are ill, I will heal them; if they are dead, I will raise them. All I want is your good will. Is what I ask for difficult? No. It is not. I do not impose on you the hundreds of precepts of the rabbis. I say to you: follow the Decalogue. The Law is one and immutable. Many centuries have gone by since it was given, beautiful, pure, 50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 159 fresh, like a new-born creature, like a rose just opened on its stem. Simple, neat, easy to follow. Throughout centuries faults and trends have complicated it with many minor laws, with burdens and restrictions, with too many painful clauses. I am bringing once again the Law to you as the Most High gave it. But, in your own interest, I ask you to accept it with sincere hearts, like the true Israelites of bygone times. You grumble, more in your hearts than with your lips, that it is the fault of people in the upper classes, rather than of humble people. I know. Deuteronomy states what is to be done, nothing else was necessary. But do not judge those who acted for other people, not for themselves. Do what God commands. And above all, strive and be perfect in the two main precepts. If you love God with all your souls, you will not sin, because sin gives pain to God. Who loves, does not want to give pain. If you love your neighbors, as you love yourselves, you will be respectful children to your parents, faithful husbands to your wives, honest merchants in your trade, without any violence against your enemies, truthful in bearing witness, without envy of wealthy people, without any incentive of lewdness for another man's wife. And as you do not want to do to other people what you do not wish should be done to you, you will not steal, or kill, or slander, or enter someone else's nest like cuckoos. Nay, I say to you: “Carry to perfection your obedience to the two precepts of love: love also your enemies.” How much the Most High will love you, since He loves man so much. Although man became His enemy because of the original sin, and because of his personal sins, He sent man the Redeemer, the Lamb Who is His Son, that is I, Who am speaking to you, the Messiah promised to redeem you from all your sins, if you will learn to love as He does. Love. May your love become a ladder by which, like angels, you will ascend to Heaven, as Jacob saw them, when you hear the Father say to each and everybody: “I will be your protector wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this place; to Heaven, the Eternal Kingdom.” Peace be with you. » The crowd utter words of emotional approval and slowly go away. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip and Bartholomew stay. « Are You leaving tomorrow, Master? » « Tomorrow, at dawn, if you do not mind. » « I am sorry that You are going away. But I do not mind the hour. On the contrary, it suits me. » « Are you going fishing? » « Yes, tonight, when the moon rises. » « You did well, Simon, not fishing last night. The Sabbath was not yet finished. Nehemiah in his reformation wants the Sabbath to be respected in Judah. Even nowadays too many people work on the Sabbath day at presses, carry wood, wine and fruit and buy and sell fish and lambs. You have six days for that. The Sabbath is of the Lord. Only one thing you may do on the Sabbath: you may do good to your neighbor. But all profit must be excluded from such help. Who infringes the Sabbath to make a profit will be punished by God. He makes a profit? He will lose it during the other six days. He makes no profit? He has fatigued his body to no purpose, because he did not grant it the rest that Intelligence prescribed for it, and thus he irritated his soul having worked in vain, and goes to the extent of cursing. The day of the Lord, instead, is to be spent with your hearts united to God in sweet prayer of love. You must be faithful in everything. » « But… scribes and doctors, who are so severe with us… do not work on Sabbath days, they do not even give a piece of bread to their neighbors, to avoid the fatigue of handing it over, but they practise usury also on a Sabbath. As it is not a material work, is it legal to practise usury on a Sabbath? » « No. Never. Neither on a Sabbath nor any other day. Who practises usury is dishonest and cruel. » « The scribes and the Pharisees, then… » « Simon: don't judge. Do not do it. » « But I have eyes to see… » « Is there only evil to be seen, Simon? » « No, Master. » « Well, then, why look at evil deeds? » « You are right, Master. » 50.Jesus at Bethsaida in Peter's House. He Meets Philip and Nathanael. 160 « Well, tomorrow morning at dawn, I will leave with John. » « Master… » « Yes, Simon, what is it? » « Master… are You going to Jerusalem? » « You know I am. » « Also I am going at Passover… and also Andrew and James. » « Well?… Do you mean that you would like to come with Me? And your fishing? And your profit? You told Me that you like to have money, and I will be away for many days. I am going to My Mother's first. And I will go there also on My way back. I will stop there to preach. How will you manage?… » Peter is perplexed, undecided… then he makes up his mind: « think… I will come. I prefer You to money! » « I am coming, too. » « And so am I. » « We are going too, aren't we, Philip? » « Come, then, you will help Me. » « Oh!… » Peter is more than excited at the idea of helping Jesus. « How shall we do that? » « I will tell you. To do good, all you need do, is do what I tell you. Who obeys always does good. We will now pray and then each of us will go and perform his duties. » « What will You do, Master? » « I will continue to pray. I am the Light of the world, but I am also the Son of man. I must, therefore, draw from the Light, to become the Man Who redeems man. Let us pray. » Jesus says a psalm. The one beginning: « Who rests in the help of the Most High, will live in the protection of the God of Heaven. He will say to the Lord: “You are my protector and my shelter. He is my God, I will hope in Him. He rescued me from the snares of fowlers and from harsh words” etc. » I find it in the fourth book. It is the second psalm in book four, I think it is number 90, (if I read the Roman number correctly). The vision ends thus.