Bible, tradition and sacred texts - Old and New Testaments
Page 203 of 222
Reading comfort
GRM 217.4 · Volume 3
The Gospel as revealed to me
Quotation
He turns to His disciples: «Come. Let us go and look for a place where to lie down among the sands that are now near. The stars will keep us company and dew will refresh us. God, Who sent manna to Israel, will provide nourishment also for us, His poor faithful servants.» And Jesus leaves the rancorous group and goes away with His disciples, while night is falling with its first violet shadows…
They find at last a hedge of Indian figs, on the top leaves of which, bristling with thorns, is some fruit which is beginning to ripen. Anything is good when one is hungry. And stinging themselves, they pick the ripest ones and proceed thus until the fields become sandy dunes. The noise of the sea can be heard in the distance.
«Let us rest here. The sand is soft and warm. Tomorrow we will go to Ashkelon» says Jesus and tired as they are, they all lie down at the foot of a high dune.
Detail
Objection raised: Pricklypears are an anachronism. See the annotation.
Context: Jesus is leaving after being accosted by a hostile group of Pharisees.
Annotation
They finally come across a hedge of prickly pear cacti, at the tops of which—bristling with thorns—figs are beginning to ripen. This detail is intriguing: the prickly pear cactus is said to have been imported from Mexico by Christopher Columbus. Is this a glaring anachronism or a rare piece of knowledge on Maria Valtorta’s part? See the commentary and a video on the subject.
A beautiful sea town is about two miles away, stretched along the coast above a semilunar rocky barrier beyond which sands have been carried by storms and blown by winds. And the rocks of the barrier, now that the water recedes at low tide, appear here as well, compelling thus the apostles to walk on the dry sand in order not to cut their bare feet on the sharp rocks.
«Where is the entrance to the town, my Lord? I can only see a very solid wall from here. It is not possible to enter by sea. The town is in the inner most spot of the gulf» says Philip.
«Come. I know where the entrance is.»
«Have You already been here?»
«Once, when I was a child, but I would not remember. But I know where to go.»
«How strange! I have noticed that many a time… You never take the wrong road. Sometimes we make You go wrong. One would think that You have already been to the places we go to» remarks James of Zebedee.