So the Jerusalem establishment sends a prostitute to tempt Jesus. Of course she is converted.
Now the reason I am putting this extract here is for you to read(its quite lengthy but be patient) and tell me: which of the wisest philosopher can manage to give the reply that Jesus gave to this prostitute. You tell me which preacher(even the very best) can manage to give the spiritual reply that jesus gave to this harlot. His reply is full of very deep spiritual insights. For those who think the book is made up, tell me which human being(even those theologians with 5 degrees) can manage to reply the way jesus replied. If you read carefully, you will discover that in the entire episode Judas is very uncomfortable because he is also part of the scheme.
[SIZE=5]530. Jesus and the Prostitute Sent to Tempt Him.[/SIZE]
They listen. No noise is heard. Ā« It was the wind, perhaps, Master. There are dry
leaves in the kitchen gardenā¦Ā»
Ā« No. It was footstepsā¦Ā»
Ā« A night animal. I cannot hear anything.Ā»
Ā« Neither can I, neither can Iā¦Ā»
Jesus is listening. He seems to hear. He then looks up and gazes at Judas of
Kerioth, who is also listening very carefully. More than anybody else. He gazes
at him so intently that Judas asks: Ā« Why are You looking at me thus, Master?Ā»
But there is no reply because a hand knocks at the door. Of the fourteen faces lit
up by the lamp, only Jesusā remains as it was. The others change colour.
Ā« Open, open the door, Judas of Kerioth!Ā»
Ā« No, I am not opening! It may be wicked people who have deliberately come at
night. Do not let it be me who may hurt You!Ā»
Ā« Simon of Jonas, open it, please.Ā»
Ā« Less than never! On the contrary, I am going to push the table against the
door!Ā» says Peter and he is about to do so.
Ā« Open, John, and be not afraid.Ā»
Ā« Oh! if You really want to let people in, I am going into the old manās room. I
donāt want to see anything Ā» says the Iscariot covering with four strides the
distance between him and the door of the old manās room, into which he
disappears.
John, standing near the door, with his hand already on the key, casts a frightened
glance at Jesus and murmurs: Ā« Lord!..Ā»
Ā« Open and be not afraid.Ā»
Ā« Of course. After all we are thirteen strong men. It cannot be an army! With
four blows and a few screams ā Eliza, make sure you scream if necessary ā we
will put them to flight. We are not in a desert!Ā» says James of Zebedee and he
takes off his mantle and rolls up the sleeves of his tunic or vest, ready for action.
Peter imitates him.
4 John, still hesitant, opens the door, he looks out. He does not see anything. He
shouts: Ā« Who is disturbing?Ā»
A woman replies in a subdued, suffering voice: Ā« A woman. I want the Master.Ā»
Ā« This is no time to come to peopleās houses. If you are sick, why are you about
at this time? If you are a leper, why do you venture to come into a village? If
you are grieved, come back tomorrow. Go away and mind your own business Ā»
says Peter who is standing behind John.
Ā« Oh! for pityās sake! I am all alone in the road. I am cold and hungry. I am a
poor wretch. Call the Master for me. He is mercifulā¦Ā»
The apostles look at Jesus perplexedly. Jesus is very severe and silent. They
close the door.
Ā« What shall we do, Master? Shall we give her at least a little bread. There is no
room for her. To go to peopleās houses with an unknown womanā¦Ā» asks Philip.
Ā« Wait. I will go and see Ā» says Bartholomew and he gets hold of the lamp to
see.
Ā« You need not go. The woman is neither cold nor hungry, and she knows very
well where to go. She is not afraid of the night. But she is a poor wretch,
although she is neither sick nor a leper. She is a prostitute and has come to tempt
Me. I am telling you that, so that you may be aware that I know, that you may be
convinced that I know. And I also tell you that she has not come owing to a
whim of her own; but she has come because she is paid to come.Ā» Jesus has
spoken in a loud voice, so that He could be heard in the adjoining room, where
is Judas.
Ā« And who would do that? And why?Ā» says the Iscariot appearing once again in
the kitchen. Ā« Certainly not the Pharisees, or the scribes, or the priests, if she is a
prostitute. Neither do I think that the Herodians are soā¦ resentful as to take all
the trouble toā¦ I do not know myself why.Ā»
Ā« I will tell you why. To be able to say that I am a sinner, one who has relations
with public sinners. And you know as well as I do that it is so. And I also tell
you that I do not curse her or those who sent her. I am still and always Mercy.
And I am going to her. If you wish to come with Me, come. I am going to her
because she really is a poor wretch. When she says that she is, she thinks that
she is telling a lie, because she is young, beautiful and well paid, she is healthy
and pleased with her ill-famed life. But she is wretched. It is the only truth
among all her lies. Go ahead of Me and be present at our conversation.Ā»
Ā« No, I donāt want to be present. Why should I?Ā»
Ā« To bear witness to those who will ask you.Ā»
Ā« And who do You think is going to ask me? There is no question to be asked
among us, and the othersā¦ I cannot see anybody.Ā»
Ā« Be obedient. Go ahead.Ā»
Ā« No. I donāt want to obey You, and You cannot compel me to approach a
prostitute.Ā»
Ā« Hey! What are you? The High Priest? I will come, Master, and without any
fear of getting infected Ā» says Peter.
Ā« No. I will go by Myself. Open the door.Ā»
5 Jesus goes out into the kitchen garden. In the dark moonless night it is not
possible to see anything.
The kitchen door is opened again, and Peter comes out with a lamp. Ā« Take this
at least, Master, if You really do not want me Ā» he says in a loud voice. And
then in a subdued voice: Ā« Bear in mind that we are behind the door. In case of
need, callā¦Ā»
Ā« Yes. Go. And do not quarrel with one another.Ā»
Jesus takes the lamp and lifts it up to see. Behind the big trunk of the walnut-tree
there is a human figure. Jesus takes two steps towards it, saying: Ā« Follow Me.Ā»
And He goes and sits down on the stone bench placed against the house, on the
eastern side.
The woman comes forward, she is covered with a veil and is stooped. Jesus lays
the lamp on the stone, close to Himself. Ā« Speak.Ā» His order is so austere and so
severe, and He is so Divine, that the woman instead of coming forward and
speaking, steps back and stoops even more, remaining silent.
Ā« Speak up, I tell you. You wanted Me. I have come. Speak Ā» He says with a
shade of kindness in His voice.
Silence. Ā« Then I will speak. I ask you: why do you hate Me so much as to serve
those who want My ruin and wish it in every way, and seek all possible causes
for it? Tell Me. What wrong have I done you, o wretched woman? What harm
have you received from the Man Who has not even derided you in His heart for
the ill-famed life you are leading? What? Have you been corrupted by the Man
Who not even in His heart has wished to have you, that you hate Him more than
you hate those who prostituted you and despise you every time they come to
you? Answer Me! What has Jesus of Nazareth done to you, Jesus the Son of
man, Whom you hardly know by sight, having met Him in the street in town,
Jesus who does not know your face and takes no heed of your favours and seeks
only the foul defaced image of your soul, to become acquainted with it and cure
it? So speak up!
6 Do you not know who I am? Yes, you know Me partly. Nay, you know as
much as two parts. You know that I am young and that you like My person.
Your unrestrained animalism told you that. And your tongue of a drunken
woman told those who received the confession of your sensuality and have
turned it into a weapon to injure Me. You know that I am Jesus of Nazareth, the
Christ. You have been told who I am by those who exploiting your sensuality
paid you to come here to tempt Me. They said to you: āHe says that He is the
Christ. The crowds say that He is the Holy One, the Messiah. He is nothing but
an impostor. We need the proof that He is a miserable man. Give us that proof,
and we will cover you with goldā. And as you, with a remainder of justice, the
last particle of the treasure of justice that God had put into your body with your
soul, and that you shattered and scattered, did not want to hurt Me, as you loved
Me, your way, they said to you: āWe shall do Him no harm. On the contrary!
We shall surrender the man to you, giving you the means to let Him live as a
king beside you. It is sufficient for us to be able to say to ourselves, to be at
peace with our own consciences, that He is simply a man. A proof that we are
right not believing Him to be the Messiahā. That is what they said to you. And
you came. But if I should yield to your allurement, hell would be upon Me.
They are ready to cover Me with filth and to capture Me. And you are their
instrument to do that.
You can see that I am not asking you questions. I am speaking because I know,
without having to ask. But if you know those two things, you do not know the
third one. You do not know who I am, in addition to being a man and Jesus. You
see the man. Other people say to you: āHe is the Nazareneā. But I tell you who I
am. I am the Redeemer. In order to redeem one must be without sin. Look how I
trampled on My possible sensuality as a man. As I am doing with this disgusting
caterpillar that in the darkness was moving from one heap of dirt to another for
its lascivious sensuality. That is how I always trampled on it. That is how I
trample on it even now. And likewise I am willing to tear your disease away
from you and tread on it, freeing you from it to make you holy and healthy.
Because I am the Redeemer. Only that. I took the body of man to save you, to
destroy sin, not to sin. I took it to remove your sins, not to sin with you. I took it
to love you, but with a love that gives its life, its blood, its word, everything, to
take you to Heaven, to Justice, not to love you as a brute. And not even as a
man, because I am more than a man.
7 Do you know exactly who I am? You do not know. You did not even know
the significance of what you were going to accomplish. And I forgive you for
that, without you asking for it. You did not know. But your prostitution? How
could you live in that state? You were not like that. You were good. Oh! poor
wretch! Do you not remember your childhood? Do you not remember the kisses
of your mother? Her words? And the hours of prayer? The words of Wisdom
you heard your father explain in the evening and the leader of the synagogue on
Sabbaths? Who made you dull-witted and who intoxicated you? Do you not
remember? Do you not regret it? Tell Me! Are you really happy? Are you not
replying? I will speak in your stead and I say: no, you are not happy. When you
wake up you find your shame on your pillow giving you the first daily twist of
torture. And the voice of your conscience howls its reproach while you adorn
and perfume yourself to look pleasant. And you smell an infamous scent in the
finest essences. And a nauseating taste in rare dishes. And your jewels are as
heavy as a chain. And they are. And while you laugh and allure, something
moans within you. And you get drunk to overcome the boredom and nausea of
your life. And you hate those whom you say you love for the sake of gain. And
you curse yourself. And your sleep is heavy with nightmares. And the thought of
your mother is a sword in your heart. And the curse of your father gives you no
peace. And then there are the insults of those who meet you, the cruelty of those
who use you, always mercilessly. You are a merchandise. You sold yourself.
One makes use of purchased goods as one likes. One tears them, consumes
them, treads and spits on them. It is the right of the buyer. You cannot rebelā¦
And does that situation make you happy? No. You are in despair. You are in
chains. You are tortured. On the Earth you are a dirty rag on which anybody can
tread. If, in some moments of grief, you seek comfort raising your spirit to God,
you feel the wrath of God upon you, a prostitute, and that Heaven is more closed
to you than it was to Adam. If you are not well, you dread death because you
know what your destiny is. The Abyss is for you.
Oh! miserable woman! And was that not enough? To the chain of your sin
would you like to add also that of being the ruin of the Son of man? Of Him
Who loves you? The Only One Who loves you?
Because He clothed Himself with flesh also for your soul. I could save you, if
you wanted. The Abyss of Merciful Holiness is bending over the abyss of your
abjection and is waiting for your wish to be saved to draw you up from the abyss
of your filth. In your heart you think that it is impossible for God to forgive you.
You base this thought of yours on the comparison with the world that does not
forgive you for being a prostitute. But God is not the world. God is Goodness.
God is forgiveness. God is Love.
You came to Me, being paid to harm Me. I solemnly tell you that the Creator, in
order to save one of His creatures, can turn into good even what is evil. And if
you want, your coming to Me will be changed into good. Be not ashamed of
your Saviour. Be not ashamed of showing Him your bare heart. Even if you
wish to conceal it, He sees it and weeps over it. He weeps. He loves. Be not
ashamed of repenting. Be as bold in repentance as you were in sin. You are not
the first prostitute to weep at My feet and to be led back to justice by Meā¦ I
have never rejected any person, no matter how guilty the person was. I have
always tried to attract sinners to me and save them. It is My mission. I am not
horrified at the state of a heart. I know Satan and his deeds. I know men and
their weaknesses. I know the condition of woman who pays, and justly, for the
consequences of Eveās sin more severely than man. So I know how to judge and
how to pity. And I tell you that I am more severe with those who make women
fall than with the women who have fallen. In your case, o unhappy woman, I am
more severe with those who sent you than with you who came, not knowing
exactly what you were lending yourself to. I would have preferred you to come
urged by the desire for redemption, like other sisters of yours. But if you
countenance the wish of God, and you turn an evil deed into the headstone of
your new life, I will speak to you the word of peaceā¦Ā»
8 Jesus, Who was severe at the beginning and has become kinder and kinder,
still remaining soā¦ divine as to exclude all weakness of senses and also every
possible error of evaluation of His goodness, is now silent, looking at the
woman, who has been standing all the time, stooping more and more, at about
two metres from Him, and who, in the middle of His speech has taken her hands
to her face pressing her veil against it, two beautiful hands outstanding against
the dark mantle and all adorned with rings. Bracelets are at the wrists of arms
bare up to the elbows.
I could not say whether she is weeping or not. If she is, she is doing it so silently
because I cannot hear any sobs or see any movement. She is so still in her dark
clothes that she looks like a statue. Then all of a sudden she falls on her knees
and curls herself up on the ground and then she really weeps without any
reluctance to show it. Then, lying on the ground dejectedly, she begins to speak:
Ā« It is true! You really are a prophetā¦ Everything is trueā¦ They paid me for
thisā¦ But they told me that it was a wagerā¦ They would have found You in my
houseā¦ But also close to Youā¦Ā»
Ā« Woman, I will only listen to the story of your sinsā¦Ā» says Jesus interrupting
her.
Ā« That is true. I am not entitled to accuse anybody because I am a dung-heap.
Everything is true. I am not happyā¦ I do not enjoy riches, banquets, love
affairsā¦ I blush when I think of my motherā¦ I am afraid of God and of deathā¦ I
hate the men who pay me. Everything You said is true. But do not drive me
away, Lord. No one, after my mother, has ever spoken to me as You did. Nay,
You have spoken to me even more kindly than my mother, who in the last days
was hard to me because of my behaviourā¦ I ran away to Jerusalem not to hear
her any moreā¦ But Youā¦ And yet Your kindness is like snow on the fire
devouring me. My fire is dying down, it is a different fire. It was scorching, but
gave no light or heat. I was as cold as ice and I was in darkness. Oh! how much I
suffered through my own will! How much useless cursed grief I have caused
myself! Lord, through the half-open door I told you that I was an unhappy
woman and to have mercy on me. They were the lies they taught me to tell You
to lure You into the trap. They said to me that, afterwards, my beauty would do
the restā¦ 9 My beauty! My clothes! ā¦Ā»
The woman stands up. Now that she is standing I can see that she is tall. She
tears off her veil and mantle and appears in her true beauty of a brown-haired
woman with a very white complexion. Her eyes, enlarged with bistre, are large
and beautiful and they have the look of amazed innocence, which is odd to be
found in this type of woman. Perhaps they have already been washed by her
tears. The woman tears and treads on the cloth of her mantle, she rends her veil,
she pulls off the precious buckles from both and throws them on the ground,
takes off her rings and bracelets, she flings away the ornaments on her head, she
gets hold of her curly locks full of shiny clasps and tears and ruffles them to
destroy their artificial beauty in a fury of sacrifice that is even frightening. Her
necklace, stretched violently, becomes unstrung and falls to the ground and her
foot shod in ornate sandals treads on the gems crushing them; her precious belt
and a clasp fastening her dress on her breast with artistic style, have the same
fate. And all that takes place while in a low panting voice she repeats: Ā« Away!
Cursed things. Away! You and who gave them to me. Away, my beauty! Away,
my hair. Away, my complexion as white as jasmine!Ā»
With a swift movement she gets hold of a sharp stone that she sees on the
ground and she strikes her face and mouth till they bleed and she scratches
herself with her painted nails. Blood falls in drops from her wounds, her features
are swollen with blowsā¦ until her fury dies down and panting, exhausted,
disfigured, unkempt, with clothes torn and stained with blood and earth, she
throws herself on the ground at Jesusā feet, moaning: Ā« And now You can
forgive me, if You see my heart, because there is nothing of my past, nothing
ofā¦ You have won, Lord, against Your enemies and against my fleshā¦ Forgive
my sinsā¦Ā»
Ā« I had already forgiven you when I came to meet you. Stand up and sin no
more.Ā»
Ā« Tell me what I must do, so that I may do it.Ā»
Ā« Go away from the places of your sins, from those who know who you are.
Your motherā¦Ā»
Ā« Oh! my Lord! She will not receive me any more. She hates me as my father
died because of me, cursing me.Ā»
Ā« If God Who is God receives you, and He receives you because He is a Father,
can your mother not receive you, as she gave birth to you and is a woman like
you? Go to her with all humility. Weep at her feet as you are weeping at Mine.
Make a full confession to her as you did to Me. Tell her your sufferings. Implore
her mercy. Your mother has been waiting for this moment for years. She is
waiting for it that she may die in peace. Bear her words of loving reproach as
you bore Mine. I was a stranger to you, and yet you listened to Me. She is your
mother. It is therefore twice as much your duty to listen to her respectfully.Ā»
Ā« You are the Messiah. You are more than my mother.Ā»
Ā« Now you say that. But when you came to tempt Me you did not know that I
was the Messiah, and yet you have listened to My words.Ā»
Ā« You were so different from menā¦ soā¦ You are holy, o Jesus of Nazareth!Ā»
Ā« Your mother is holy as a mother and as a creature. Through her prayers you
have found mercy with God. A mother is always holy! And God wants her to be
honoured.Ā»
Ā« I have dishonoured her. The whole village knows that.Ā»
Ā« That is another reason why you should go to her and say: āMother, forgive
meā. And it is another reason for consecrating your life to her to repay her for
the pains she suffered because of you.Ā»
Ā« I will do thatā¦ 10 Butā¦ Lord, do not send me back to Jerusalem. They are
waiting for meā¦ and I do not know whether I will be able to resist their threatsā¦
Let me stay here until dawn, and thenā¦Ā»
Ā« Wait a moment.Ā»
Jesus stands up, He goes to the kitchen door, He knocks, and has the door
opened. He says: Ā« Eliza, come out.Ā»
Eliza obeys. Jesus takes her towards the woman who seeing another woman,
who is also elderly, come towards her, makes a gesture as if she were ashamed,
and she tries to cover her face and immodest dress with what remains of her torn
mantle and veil.
Ā« Listen, Eliza. I am leaving this house at once. You will tell My disciples to
join Me at Herodās Gate at dawn. All of them, except Judas who must come with
Me. You will take this woman to sleep with you. You can take My bed because
I will not come back to Nob for a long time. Tomorrow, when John gets up, you
and he will take this woman where she tells you. You will give her an ordinary
dress and one of your mantles. And you will help her in everything.Ā»
Ā« All right, Lord. I will do what You wish. I am sorry for Johnā¦Ā»
Ā« I am sorry, too. I wanted to make him happy, but the hatred of men prevents
the Son of man from granting an hour of joy to a just manā¦Ā»
Ā« And afterwards, Lord?Ā»
Ā« Afterwards? You can go back to Bethzur and waitā¦ Goodbye, Eliza. May My
blessing and My peace be with you. Goodbye, woman. I am entrusting you to a
mother and to a just man. But if you think that you have to come back to get
what belongs to youā¦Ā»
Ā« No. I do not want to have anything of the past.Ā»
Ā« My dear woman, you cannot leave everything abandoned. Have you no
servant or relatives?Ā» asks Eliza.
Ā« I have only a maidservantā¦ andā¦Ā»
Ā« You will have to dismiss her, you will have toā¦Ā»
Ā« I beg you to do it, when you come back. Help me to recover completely,
woman.Ā» There is true anguish in her voice.
Ā« Yes, my daughter, I will. Do not be distressed. We will see to everything
tomorrow. Now come upstairs with me Ā» and Eliza takes her by the hand and
leads her upstairs, into one of the two little rooms.
11 She then comes down quickly, and says: Ā« I think that it would be a good
thing if they all saw You without her, Lord. Neither should they know where she
is. These jewelsā¦Ā» She stoops to pick up rings and bracelets, buckles and
hairpins and belt and as many beads of the broken necklace as she can. Ā« What
shall we do with these?Ā» she asks.
Ā« Come with Me. You are right. It is better if they see Me.Ā»
They go into the kitchen. They all look at Jesus inquisitively. Also the old man
has got up, awakened perhaps by a dispute.
Ā« Eliza, give those precious items to Thomas. And tomorrow, Thomas, you will
sell them to some goldsmith. They will be of use for the poor. Yes, they are
jewels of a woman, of that woman. And that is the answer to those who think
that human flesh can tempt the Son of man and deviate Him from His mission.
And it is also an advice to those who hate Me, that every subterfuge to find
faults with which to charge Me is useless. John, Eliza will tell you what you are
to do. I bless youā¦Ā»
Ā« Are You leaving me, Lord?Ā» The old man is grieved.
Ā« I must. Goodbye. Peace be with you.Ā» He addresses the apostles: Ā« Go and
rest. Everybody except Judas, who will come with Me.Ā»
Ā« Where? Itās night-time Ā» objects Judas.
Ā« To pray. It will do you no harm. Or are you afraid of the air of the night, if you
breathe it with Me?Ā»
Judas lowers his head taking his mantle with a bad grace, while Jesus takes His.
Ā« Tomorrow at dawn at Herodās Gate. We shall go to the Temple andā¦Ā»
Ā« No!Ā» The ānoā is unanimous. Judasā is the loudest.
Ā« We shall go to the Temple. Did you not say that you have convinced them to
leave Me in peace?Ā»
Ā« That is true.Ā»
Ā« Then we shall go to the Temple. Come Ā» and He sets off to go out.
Ā« And that is the end of the feast that we had preparedā¦Ā» says Peter with a sigh.
Ā« You should say that it ended before beginning Ā» replies James of Zebedee.
Jesus is already on the threshold of the open door. He turns round and blesses
them, then He disappears into the night.
In the kitchen they have all been struck dumb. Finally Matthew asks Eliza: Ā« But
what happened, after all?Ā»
Ā« I do not know. There was a woman who was weeping. And He said to me
what He said also to you. Who she was, from where and why she came, I do not
knowā¦Ā»
Ā« Well. Let us goā¦Ā» And they all go away, with the exception of Matthew and
Bartholomew who sleep in the house.