71. Jesus with Judas Iscariot Meets Simon Zealot and John. 6th January 1945. I see Jesus with Judas Iscariot walking up and down near one of the gates of the Temple enclosure. « Are You sure he will come? » asks Judas. « I am certain. He was leaving Bethany at dawn and at Gethsemane he was to meet My first disciple… » There is a pause, then Jesus stops and stares at Judas. He is standing in front of him. He studies him. He then places a hand on his shoulder and asks: « Why, Judas, do you not tell Me your thoughts? » « Which thoughts? I have no special thought, Master, at the present moment. I ask You even too many questions. You certainly cannot complain of my muteness. » 71. Jesus with Judas Iscariot Meets Simon Zealot and John. 217 « You ask Me many questions and You give Me many details on the town and its inhabitants. But you do not unburden yourself to Me. What do you think it matters to Me, what you tell Me about the wealth of people and the members of this or that family? I am not an idler who has come here to while away the time. You know why I have come. And you may well realize that I am concerned with being the Master of My disciples, as the most important thing. I therefore want sincerity and trust from them. Was your father fond of you, Judas? » « He was very fond of me. He was proud of me. When I went back home from school, and even later, when I went back to Kerioth from Jerusalem, he wanted me to tell him everything. He took an interest in everything I did and he would rejoice if they were good things, he would comfort me if they were not so good, if sometimes, You know, we all make mistakes – if I had made a mistake and had been blamed for it, he would show me the fairness of the reproach I had received, or the injustice of my action. But he did it so gently… he seemed an older brother. He always ended by saying: “I am saying this because I want my Judas to be just. I want to be blessed through my son.” My father… » Jesus, Who has been carefully studying His disciple all the time, truly moved at the evocation of his father, says: « Now, Judas, be sure of what I am going to tell you. Nothing will make your father so happy, as your being a faithful disciple. Your father, who brought you up as you said, must have been a just man and his soul will rejoice, where he is awaiting the light, seeing that you are My disciple. But in order to be such, you must say to yourself: “I have found my lost father, the father who was like an older brother to me, I have found him in my Jesus, and I will tell Him everything, as I used to tell my beloved father, over whose death I am still mourning, that I may receive from Him guidance, blessings or a kind reproach.” May God grant it, and above all may you behave so that Jesus will always say to you: “You are good. I bless you.” » « Oh! yes, Jesus! If You love me so much, I will strive to be good, as You want and my father wanted me to be. And my mother will no longer have an aching pain in her heart. She used to say: “You have no guide now, my son, and you still need one so much.” When she knows that I have You! » « I will love you as no other man could possibly love you, I will love you so much, I do love you. Do not disappoint Me. » « No, Master, I will not. I was full of conflicts. Envy, jealousy, eagerness to excel, sensuality, everything clashed in me against the voice of my conscience. Even quite recently, see? You caused me to suffer. That is: no, not You. It was my wicked nature… I thought I was Your first disciple… and, now You have just told me that You already have one. » « You saw him yourself. Do you not remember that at Passover I was in the Temple with many Galileans? » « I thought they were friends… I thought I was the first one to be chosen for such destiny, and that I was therefore the dearest. » « There are no distinctions in My heart between the first and the last. If the first one should err and the last one were a holy man, then there would be a distinction in the eyes of God. But I will love just the same: I will love the holy living man with a blissful love, and the sinner with a suffering love. But here is John coming with Simon. John, My first disciple, Simon, the one of whom I spoke to you two days ago. You have already seen Simon and John. One was ill…» « Ah! The leper! I remember. Is he already Your disciple? » « Since the following day. » « And why did I have to wait so long? » « Judas?! » « You are right. Forgive me. » John has seen the Master, and he points Him out to Simon. They make haste. John and the Master kiss each other. Simon, instead, throws himself at Jesus' feet and kisses them, exclaiming: « Glory to my Savior! Bless Your servant that his actions may be holy in the eyes of God and that I may glorify Him and bless Him for giving You to me. » Jesus places His hand on Simon's head: « Yes, I bless you to thank you for your work. Get up, Simon. This is John, and this is Simon: here is My last disciple. He also wants to follow the Truth. He is therefore a brother for you all. » They greet each other: the two Judaeans inquisitively, John heartily. « Are you tired, Simon? » asks Jesus. « No, Master. With my health I have recovered a vitality I never felt before. » 71. Jesus with Judas Iscariot Meets Simon Zealot and John. 218 « And I know you make good use of it. I have spoken to many people and they all told Me that you have already instructed them about the Messiah. » Simon smiles happily. « Also last night I spoke of You to one who is an honest Israelite. I hope You will meet him one day. I would like to take You to him. » « That is quite possible. » Judas joins in the conversation: « Master, You promised to come with me, in Judaea. » « And I will. Simon will continue to teach the people on My coming. The time is short, My dear friends, and the people are so many. I will now go with Simon. You two will come and meet Me this evening on the road to the Mount of Olives and we will give money to the poor. Go now. » When Jesus is alone with Simon, He asks him: « Is that person in Bethany a true Israelite? » « He is a true Israelite. His ideas are the prevailing ones, but he is really longing for the Messiah. And when I said to him: “He is now among us”, he replied at once: “I am blessed because I am living this hour.” » « We shall go to him one day and take our blessing to his house. Have you seen the new disciple? » « I have. He is young and seems intelligent. » « Yes, he is. Since you are a Judaean, You will bear more with him than the others will, because of his ideas. » « Is that a desire, or an order? » « A kind order. You have suffered and You can be more indulgent. Sorrow teaches many things. » « If You give me an order, I will be totally indulgent to him. » « Yes. Be so. Perhaps Peter, and he may not be the only one, will be somewhat upset seeing how I take care and worry about this disciple. But one day, they will understand… The more one is deformed, the more assistance one needs. The others… oh! the others form properly, also by themselves, by simple contact. I do not want to do everything by Myself. I want the will of man and the help of other people to form a man. I ask you to help Me… and I am grateful for the help. » « Master do You think he will be disappointing You? » « No. But he is young and was brought up in Jerusalem. » « Oh! near You he will amend all the vices of that town… I am sure. I was already old and hardened by bitter hatred, and yet I have changed completely after seeing You… » Jesus whispers: « So be it! » Then in a loud voice: « Let us go to the Temple. I will evangelize the people. » And the vision ends.
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