The text (apart from the date indications) is taken from Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations: From the Visions of the Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich as Recorded in the Journals of Clemens Brentano. Edited by Carl E. Schmöger. Translated by an American nun. Vol. 2. Retypeset, Rockford, Ill.: TAN, 1986.
1 Nisan 30 AD = Thursday Julian 23 March = vision of Thursday 28 March 1822
The next day Jesus was present at divine service in the Temple with Lazarus, Saturnin, Obed, and other disciples. A ram was sacrificed. The appearance of Jesus in the Temple produced a peculiar excitement among the Jews. The strangest part of it was that each concealed the impression made upon him; no one mentioned to his neighbor the wonderful effect of Jesus’ presence upon him. This was a divine dispensation, in order to allow the Saviour to fulfill His mission. Had they imparted their (p. 109) thoughts to one another, it would have given rise to open anger; but as it was, hatred and rage struggled with gentler emotions in the hearts of many, while others felt within them an almost imperceptible desire to know Jesus better, and took steps to do so through the mediation of others. This was a fast day in memory of the death of Aaron’s children.
2 Nisan 30 AD = Friday Julian 24 March = vision of Friday 29 March 1822
The disciples and many other devout persons were gathered together at Lazarus’s. Jesus taught in a large hall in which was a teacher’s chair. He continued the discourse begun in the house of Simon the Pharisee in which He had spoken of the Three Kings, and He drew the attention of His hearers to other facts of the past. He said: “It is now about eighteen years ago since a little bachir” (by which Jesus must have meant a young scholar) “argued most wonderfully with the Doctors of the Law who, in consequence, were filled with wrath against the Child.” And then He related to them the teachings of the little bachir.
3 Nisan 30 AD = Saturday Julian 25 March = vision of Saturday 30 March 1822
Jesus with Obed, who served in the Temple, and the other disciples of Jerusalem, went again to the Temple for the celebration of the Sabbath. They stood two by two among the young Israelites. Jesus wore a white, woven robe with a girdle, and a white mantle like those used by the Essenians, but there was something very distinguished about Him. His clothing looked remarkably fresh and elegant, probably because He wore it. He chanted and prayed from the parchment rolls in turn with the others. There were some prayer leaders present. The people were again struck at the sight of Jesus. They were astonished, they wondered at Him, though without having said a word to Him. Even among themselves they did not speak openly of Him, but I saw the wonderful impression made on many. There were three instructions or discourses delivered: one on the children of Israel, another on their departure from Egypt, and a third on the (p. 110) Paschal lamb. On one of the altars was a sacrifice of incense. The priest could not be seen, though the fumes and the fire were visible. The fire could be seen through a kind of grating upon which there was something like a Paschal lamb surrounded by rays and ornaments through which sparkled the fire. This altar stood near the Holy of Holies, its horns apparently entering it. I saw Pharisees praying, some of them wearing wrapped around one arm a long, narrow band that had perhaps once been used as a veil.
About two in the afternoon, Jesus went with His companions into an apartment in the court of Israel, where a repast of fruit and rolls had been prepared. The rolls were twisted like cues, or plaited hair. A steward had been engaged to see to everything. All necessaries could be bought or ordered in the precincts of the Temple itself, and strangers had the right to avail themselves of the privilege. The Temple was so large that it seemed like a little city, and in it one could procure everything. During this repast, Jesus gave an instruction. When the men had finished, the women took some refreshment.
I learned on that day what before I had not known; viz., that Lazarus held a position in the Temple, as amongst us a burgomaster may also be a church warden. He went around with a box and took up a collection. Jesus and His followers remained the whole afternoon in the Temple. I did not see Him back in Bethania before about nine o’clock that night. There were innumerable lamps and lights in the Temple on this Sabbath.
Mary and the other holy women had now left Capharnaum to go to Jerusalem. Their route lay toward Nazareth and passed Thabor, from which district other women came to join them, and then off through Samaria. They were preceded by the disciples from Galilee and followed by servants with the baggage. Among the disciples were Peter, Andrew, and their half-brother Jonathan, the sons of (p. 111) Zebedee, the sons of Mary Cleophas, Nathanael Chased, and Nathanael the bridegroom.
4 Nisan 30 AD = Sunday Julian 26 March = vision of Sunday 31 March 1822
On the fourth of Nisan, Jesus spent the whole morning in the Temple with about twenty disciples, after which He taught at Mary Marcus’s and took a luncheon. He afterward returned to Bethania and went with Lazarus to Simon the Pharisee’s. Already many of the lambs brought to the Temple had been rejected by the priests.
5 Nisan 30 AD = Monday Julian 27 March = vision of Monday 1 April 1822
Jesus was again in the Temple and in the afternoon taught at Joseph of Arimathea’s not far from the home of John Marcus, and near a stonecutter’s yard. It was a retired quarter of the city and little frequented by Pharisees. At this period no one feared to be seen in company with Jesus, for hatred against Him had not yet been manifested.
6 Nisan 30 AD = Tuesday Julian 28 March = vision of Tuesday 2 April 1822
Jesus continued to show Himself still more freely and boldly throughout Jerusalem and in the Temple. He went in with Obed even to the place between the altar of sacrifice and the Temple, where an instruction was being delivered to the priests relative to the Pasch and its ceremonies. The disciples remained back in the court of Israel. The Pharisees were greatly annoyed at seeing Him present at that instruction. Jesus also addressed the people on the streets.
The crowds flowing into Jerusalem kept continually increasing, especially workmen, day laborers, servants, and dealers in the necessaries of life. Around the city and on the open places, crowds of huts and tents had been erected for the accommodation of the multitudes flocking for the Pasch. Many lambs and other cattle had been brought into the city, from the former of which selections had already begun. Numbers of heathens also came to Jerusalem for the feast.
7 Nisan 30 AD = Wednesday Julian 29 March = vision of Wednesday 3 April 1822
Jesus taught and cured openly in Bethania, even sick strangers were brought to Him. Some relatives of Zachary from the country of Hebron came to invite Him to (p. 112) thither.
He went up again to the Temple. When the priests left after the services, on the place where He was standing among His disciples, Jesus taught them and other good people upon the nearness of the Kingdom of God, the Paschal solemnity, the approaching fulfillment of all the Prophecies and symbols, yes, even of the Paschal lamb itself. His words were earnest and severe, and several priests who were still going here and there in the Temple, were troubled at His discourse and secretly annoyed. Jesus then went back to Bethania, and that night, accompanied by some of the disciples, left with the envoys for Hebron, about four hours to the south.
Preparations for the feast were actively going on in the Temple, and many changes were being made in the interior. Halls and corridors were opened, stands and partitions were removed. The altar could now be approached from many sides, and everything presented quite a different appearance.
8 Nisan 30 AD = Thursday Julian 30 March = vision of Thursday 4 April 1822
Jesus, with the disciples and Zachary’s relatives, proceeded to Hebron by the route running between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was at most a journey of five hours. Passing through Juttah, Jesus entered the neighboring city, Hebron, where He taught and quietly cured many sick.
9 Nisan 30 AD = Friday Julian 31 March = vision of Friday 5 April 1822
He returned to Bethania for the Sabbath. His way led high over mountains, whose exposure to the sun made it very hot. The disciples that had come from John to Jesus in Bethania, now went back to the former.
10 Nisan 30 AD = Saturday Julian 1 April = vision of Saturday 6 April 1822
Jesus went to the Temple on the Sabbath and with Obed penetrated into the court containing the teacher’s chair, from which later on He also taught. Priests and Levites were sitting on the circular seats around the chair, from which a discourse on the Paschal festival was being delivered. The entrance of Jesus threw the assembly into consternation, especially when He started objec- (p. 113) tions and asked questions to which not one of them could answer. Among other things, He told them that the time was approaching when the symbolical Paschal lamb would give place to the reality, then would the Temple and its services come to an end. The language of Jesus was figurative, and yet so clear that my thoughts instantly reverted to the words of the Pange lingua, “et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui.” When they questioned Him as to how He knew that, He answered that His Father had told Him, but He did not say who that Father was.
The Pharisees were highly displeased, though at the same time full of astonishment. They did not venture to contradict Him. Access to that part of the Temple was not permitted to all, but Jesus had entered in quality of Prophet. In His last year He even taught therein.
After the Sabbath, Jesus went to Bethania. I had not as yet seen Him conversing with Mary the Silent. Her end, I think, was near, for she appeared greatly changed. She was lying on the ground on a gray carpet, supported in the arms of her maids, and she was in a kind of swoon. She appeared to me to have drawn nearer to this world of ours, as if she had ever been absent in spirit, but now she appeared to have been brought back again to life. She was now to know that this Jesus here in Bethania, who lived in her own time and in her own vicinity, was He who had to suffer so cruelly. She was still alive in order to experience through compassion, in her own person, the sufferings of Jesus, after which she was soon to die.
11 Nisan 30 AD = Sunday Julian 2 April = vision of Sunday 7 April 1822
On the night of Saturday, Jesus visited her and conversed long with her. Part of the time she sat up on her couch, and part of the time walked around her chamber. She had now the perfect use of her senses. She distinguished between the present and the future, she recognized in Jesus the Saviour and the Paschal Lamb, and she knew that He was to suffer frightfully. All this made (p. 114) her inexpressibly sorrowful. The world appeared to her gloomy and an insupportable weight. But most of all was she grieved at man’s ingratitude, which she foresaw. Jesus spoke long with her of the approach of the Kingdom of God and His own Passion, after which He gave her His blessing and left her. She was soon to die. She was tall and extraordinarily beautiful, white as snow and shining with light. Her hands were like ivory, her fingers long and tapering.
Next morning, Jesus cured openly in Bethania many that had been brought to Him, among them some strangers that had come up for the feast. Some were lame, some were blind. There came to Him also several men connected with the Temple who called Him to account for His actions and conduct. Who, they asked, had authorized Him on the preceding day to take part in the conference held in the Temple? Jesus answered them very gravely, and again spoke of His Father. The Pharisees dared not enter the lists against Him. They felt a certain terror in His presence; they did not know what to make of Him. But next day, Jesus taught again in the Temple. All the Galilean disciples that had been at the marriage feast in Cana had now co me to Jesus. Mary and the holy women were stopping with Mary Marcus. Lazarus bought many of the lambs that had been rejected as not fit for the feast and had them slaughtered and divided among the poor day laborers and other workmen.
12 Nisan 30 AD = Monday Julian 3 April = vision of Monday 8 April 1822
When Jesus, with all His disciples, went to the Temple, He found there, ranged around the court of the suppliants, dealers in green herbs, birds, and all kinds of (p. 115) eatables. In a kindly and friendly manner, He accosted them and bade them retire with their goods to the court of the Gentiles. He admonished them gently of the impropriety of taking up a position where the bleating of the lambs, and the noise of the other cattle would disturb the recollection of the worshippers. With the help of the disciples, He assisted the dealers to remove their tables to the places that He pointed out to them.
On this day, Jesus cured many sick strangers in Jerusalem, chiefly poor, lame working people who dwelt in the neighborhood of the Cenacle on Mount Zion. There was an astonishingly great multitude gathered in Jerusalem. The city was surrounded by a perfect encampment of huts and tents. On the large, open places ran building after building, forming long streets wherein all things could be had in large quantities, such as tents, everything necessary for their erection, and whatever was needed for the eating of the Paschal lamb. There were other stores, also, in which such things could be bought or hired. Crowds of day laborers and poor people from all parts of Israel were busied carrying the above mentioned articles here and there, and putting them up. These people had been at work a long time in Jerusalem, clearing away whatever might block up the streets, clipping the hedges, opening the roads, leveling and measuring off the grounds for encampments, and putting up booths and stalls. In the same way for weeks before, the roads and bad crossing places in the country around were being repaired and made ready for travel. All these preparations referred to the Paschal lamb, just as the Baptist’s preparing of the ways referred to the true Lamb of God.
13 Nisan 30 AD = Tuesday Julian 4 April = vision of Tuesday 9 April 1822
When Jesus again went up to the Temple with His disciples, He admonished the dealers a second time to withdraw. Since all the passages were open on account of the immolation of the Paschal lamb soon to take place, many (p. 116) had again crowded up to the court of the suppliants. Jesus bade them withdraw, and shoved their tables away. He acted with more vehemence than on the last occasion. The disciples opened a way for Him through the crowd. Some of the dealers became furious. With violent gesticulations of head and hands they resisted Him, and then it was that Jesus, stretching out His hand, pushed back one of the tables. They were powerless against Him, the place was soon emptied, and all things carried to the exterior court. Then Jesus addressed to them words of warning. He said that twice He had admonished them to remove their goods, and that if He found them there again, He would treat them still more severely. The most insolent insulted Him with: “What will the Galilean, the Scholar of Nazareth, dare to do? We are not afraid of Him.” These taunts began at the moment of their removal. Many were standing around looking at Jesus in amazement. The devout Jews approved His action and praised Him in His absence. They also cried out: “The Prophet of Nazareth!” The Pharisees, who were ashamed and angry at what had occurred, had for days past privately warned the people to refrain from attaching themselves to the stranger during the feast, not to run after Him, nor even to speak much about Him. But the people had become more and more interested in Jesus, for there were already many among them who had heard His teaching or had been cured by Him.
As Jesus left the Temple, He passed a cripple in one of the courts. The man cried after Him. Jesus cured him, and he who had been lame going into the Temple joyfully proclaimed Jesus as his benefactor. Upon this, great excitement arose.
John the Baptist did not come to the feast. He was not a Jew under the Law nor was he at all like other men. He was, as it were, a voice clothed with flesh. He had at this time a fresh concourse of aspirants to baptism on ac- (p. 117) count of the multitudes going to Jerusalem.
All was very quiet in Jerusalem that evening. The people were busy in their own homes with cleansing out the leaven and preparing the unleavened bread. All the cooking utensils were covered and hung away. This was done also at Lazarus’s on Mount Sion, where Jesus and His followers were to eat the Paschal lamb. Jesus Himself was present at these preparations, He gave instructions upon them, and all was done by His direction; but the minutiae were not so punctiliously observed as among the other Jews. Jesus explained of what it all was a figure, and how it should be practiced, showing them at the same time what the Pharisees, through want of understanding, had added.
14 Nisan 30 AD = Wednesday Julian 5 April = vision of Wednesday 10 April 1822
Jesus did not appear in the Temple the next day. He remained in Bethania. I thought, as so many vendors had again crowded into the Temple, something would surely have happened to them had He been there. That afternoon the Paschal lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, and that with indescribable order and celerity. Everyone brought his Paschal lamb on his shoulder, and took his place in order, for there was room enough for all. There were three courts around the altar in which they could stand, but the space between it and the Temple was not open to the people. They that did the slaughtering were behind railings, a table with all that was necessary for their work before them; but they were placed so close to one another that the blood of one lamb sprinkled the neighboring butcher. Their clothes were full of blood. The priests were ranged in several rows up to the altar, passing basins from hand to hand some full of blood, others empty. Before disemboweling a lamb, the Israelites pressed and kneaded it in a certain way. Then the butcher standing next in order held the animal, while his neighbor with a light grasp easily tore out the intestines.
(p. 118) The flaying was done very expeditiously. They loosened a little piece of skin and fastened it to a round stick provided for the purpose. Then they hung the lamb around their neck, with both hands twisted the stick around, and the skin rolled up on it. Toward evening the slaughter was over. The evening sky was blood-red.
Lazarus, Obed, and Saturnin slaughtered the three lambs that Jesus and His friends were to eat. The meal was taken at Lazarus’s on Mount Sion. It was a large building with two wings. The oven for roasting was in the dining hall, but it was very different from the hearth in the cenacle. It was higher, like the fireplace in Anna and Mary’s house, also like that at Cana. In the thick, perpendicular wall that formed it, were holes wherein the lamb was fastened. It was stretched out and pinned in place with wooden skewers, just as if crucified. The hall was beautifully ornamented and the table, at which they ate in three groups, was exactly like a horizontal cross. At the upper and shorter end of the cross, upon which were many dishes of bitter herbs, Lazarus sat. The Paschal lambs were placed one on each of the arms of the cruciform table and one toward the middle of the lower beam. Jesus, Peter, Saturnin, and Obed sat as follows: Jesus and Peter opposite each other at the left arm of the table, Obed at the right arm, and Saturnin at the lower beam. Around Jesus stood His relatives and the disciples from Galilee, around Obed and Lazarus those from Jerusalem, while John’s disciples gathered around Saturnin. There were present, in all, over thirty.
The Paschal supper was very different from Jesus’ last Paschal supper, more strictly Judaical. Each here held a staff in his hand, was girded as for a journey, and all ate in haste. Jesus had two staves placed crosswise before Him. They chanted Psalms and, standing, quickly consumed the Paschal lambs. Later on they placed themselves at table in a recumbent position. This supper was (p. 119) different also from that customary among the other Jews at this feast. Jesus explained all to the guests, but omitted the ceremonies that had been added by the Pharisees. He carved the three lambs Himself and served at table, saying that He did it as their servant. They remained together far into the night, singing and praying.
Jerusalem was so still and solemn during that whole day. The Jews not engaged in the slaughtering of the lambs remained shut up in their houses, which were ornamented with dark green foliage. The immense multitude of people were, after the slaughtering, so busy in the interior of their homes, and all was so still that it produced upon me quite a melancholy impression.
I saw on that day also where all the Paschal lambs for the numerous strangers, of whom many were encamped before the gates, were roasted. Both outside and inside the city, there were built on certain places long, low walls, but so broad that one could walk on them. In these walls were furnace after furnace, and at certain distances lived men who attended to them, and received a small remuneration for their services. At these furnaces, travellers and strangers could, at the different feasts, or at any other time, roast their meat and cook any kind of food. The consuming of the fat of the Paschal lambs went on in the Temple far into the night. After the first watch, the altar was purified, and the doors thrown open at a very early hour the next morning.
15 Nisan 30 AD = Thursday Julian 6 April: = vision of Thursday 11 April 1822
Jesus and His disciples spent the night in prayer and with but little sleep at Lazarus’s on Mount Sion. The disciples from Galilee slept in the wings of the building. At daybreak they went up to the Temple, which was lighted by numerous lamps, and to which the people were already flocking from all parts with their offerings. Jesus took His stand in one of the courts with His disciples, and there taught. A crowd of vendors had again pressed into the court of the suppliants and even into that of the (p. 120) women. They were scarcely two steps from the worshippers. As they still came crowding in, Jesus bade the newcomers to keep back, and those that had already taken their position to withdraw. But they resisted, and called upon the guard nearby for help. The latter, not venturing to act of themselves, reported what was taking place to the Sanhedrim. Jesus, meantime, persisted in His command to the vendors to withdraw. When they boldly refused, He drew from the folds of His robe a cord of twisted reeds or slender willow branches and pushed up the ring that held the ends confined, whereupon one half of it opened out into numerous threads like a discipline. With this He rushed upon the vendors, overthrew their tables, and drove back those that resisted, while the disciples, pressing on right and left, shoved His opponents away. And now came a crowd of priests from the Sanhedrin and summoned Jesus to say who had authorized Him to behave so in that place. Jesus answered that, although the Holy Mystery had been taken away from the Temple, yet it had not ceased to be a sacred place and one to which the prayer of so many just was directed. It was not a place for usury, fraud, and for low and noisy traffic. Jesus having alleged the commands of His Father, they asked Him who was His Father, He answered that He had no time then to explain that point to men and even if He did they would not understand, saying which He turned away from them and continued His chase of the vendors.
Two companies of soldiers now arrived on the spot, but the priests did not dare to take action against Jesus. They themselves were ashamed of having tolerated such an abuse. The crowd gathered around declared Jesus in the right, and the soldiers even lent a hand to remove the vendors’ stands and to clear away the overturned tables and wares. Jesus and the disciples drove the vendors, to the exterior court, but those that were modestly selling (p. 121) doves, little rolls, and other needful refreshments in the recesses of the wall around the inner court, He did not molest. After that He and His followers went to the court of Israel. It may have been between seven and eight in the morning when all this took place.
On the evening of this day, a kind of procession went out along the valley of Cedron, to cut the first fruits of the harvest.
16 Nisan 30 AD = Friday Julian 7 April = vision of Friday 12 April 1822
Jesus on one of the succeeding days cured in the court of the Temple about ten persons, some lame, some mute, and it gave rise to great excitement, for the cured filled the whole place with their acclamations of joy. Again He was summoned to answer for His conduct, which He did in severe words. The people were enthusiastic in His favor. After the divine service, Jesus and the disciples attended the instruction given in a hall of the Temple. The text was from one of the Books of Moses. Jesus offered some objections, for it was a kind of conference in which questions might be raised. He silenced His opponents, and gave an explanation of the disputed points very different from what had before been given.
During all these days Jesus hardly saw His Mother. She was staying with Mary Marcus, passing the livelong day in anxiety, tears, and prayer on account of the excitement roused by the appearance of her Son.
17 Nisan 30 AD = Saturday Julian 8 April = vision of Saturday 13 April 1822
Jesus kept the Sabbath at Lazarus’s, in Bethania, whither He had retired after the tumult occasioned by the cures wrought in the Temple. After the Sabbath, the Pharisees went to the house of Mary Marcus in Jerusalem, thinking to find Jesus there and to take Him into custody. They were, however, disappointed. They did not find Him, but only His Mother and the other holy women whom, as the followers of Jesus, they commanded with harsh words to leave the city. The Mother of Jesus and the other women became greatly troubled at hearing this and in tears hurried to Martha in Bethania. Mary, weeping, entered the (p. 122) room wherein Martha was with her sick sister, Mary the Silent. The latter was again quite rapt in ecstasy. All that she had hitherto seen in spirit, she now beheld about to be fulfilled. She could no longer endure the pain it caused her, and she died in the presence of Mary, Mary Cleophas, Martha, and the other women.
Nicodemus, in spite of the open persecution directed against Jesus, visited Him during these days by invitation of Lazarus. I saw Jesus during the night reclining beside him on the ground and instructing him.
18 Nisan 30 AD = Sunday Julian 9 April = vision of Sunday 14 April 1822
Before daybreak both started for Jerusalem, where they went to Lazarus’s on Sion. Here came Joseph of Arimathea also to see Jesus. He conversed with them. They humbled themselves before Him, telling Him that they did indeed discern that He was more than human, and they pledged Him lasting fidelity. Jesus commanded them secrecy, and they begged Him to remember them kindly.
After that all the other disciples who had eaten the Pasch with Him came to Jesus. He gave them His commands and instructions for the near future. Extending to Him their hands, they wept, making use of the narrow scarf they wore around the neck or wound around the head to dry their tears.
12 Iyar 30 AD = Wednesday Julian 3 May = vision of August 1822
From Bethania, where Jesus had for some time remained in concealment, He went to the place of Baptism near Ono. The arrangements were still in good order, owing to the care of its custodians. The disciples gathered around Jesus, and crowds of people came streaming in. As Jesus was teaching before the multitude, part of whom were standing, others sitting on wooden platforms in a circle around Him, a stranger approached mounted on a camel. He was followed by six attendants, who rode on mules. They halted at the tents, some distance from the place of instruction. It was an embassy from King Abgarus, who was sick, and who had sent presents to Jesus with a letter in which he implored Him to come to Edessa to cure him. He had had an eruption that had settled in his feet and rendered him lame. Travellers returning to their homes had told him about Jesus and His miracles, of the testimony of John, and the wrath of the Jews at the last Paschal solemnity, all which had excited in him a great longing to be cured by Jesus.
The young man commissioned to bear the king’s letter to Jesus was an artist, and he had received commands to bring back Jesus’ portrait if He would not come Himself. I saw him vainly trying to reach Jesus. He pressed sometimes here, sometimes there through the crowd, both to hear the instruction and to paint Jesus’ likeness. Then (p. 124) Jesus bade one of the disciples to make room for the man that was going around people unable to push his way to the front, and He pointed out a platform nearby to which he should be conducted. The disciple brought the envoy forward, and placed him and his attendants where they could see and hear. They had with them gifts of woven stuffs, thin plates of gold, and very beautiful lambs.
The envoy, overjoyed at being able at last to see Jesus, at once produced his drawing materials, rested his tablet on his knee, regarded Jesus with great admiration and attention, and set to work. The tablet before him was white as if made of wax. He began by sketching with a pencil the outlines of Jesus’ head and beard. Then it looked as if he spread over his work a layer of wax in which to receive the impression of the sketch. After that he resumed his sketching, touched again and again with his pencil, again took the impression, and so continued, but without ever perfecting his work. As often as he glanced at Jesus, he seemed lost in amazement at the countenance he beheld, and was forced to begin anew. Luke did not paint in exactly this way. He used a brush also. The picture this man was producing appeared to me to be somewhat in relief; one could trace it by the touch.
Jesus continued His discourse a while longer, and then sent the disciple to say to the envoy that he might now approach and deliver his message. The envoy came down from the platform whereon he was sitting, followed by his attendants with the presents and lambs. His doublet was short, almost like those of the Three Kings, and he wore no mantle. The picture at which he had been working was hanging by a strap on his left arm. It was like a shield in the form of a heart. In the right hand he held the king’s letter. Casting himself on his knees before Jesus, he bowed low, as did also his attendants, and said: “Thy slave is the servant of Abgarus, King of Edessa. He is sick. He sends Thee this letter, and prays Thee to accept (p. 125) these gifts from him.” Then the slaves approached with the presents. Jesus replied to the envoy that the good intentions of his master were pleasing to Him, and He commanded the disciples to take the gifts and distribute them among the poorest of the assembled crowd. Then He unfolded the letter and read it. I do not remember all that was in it, but only that the king referred to Jesus’ power to raise the dead, and begged Him to come and cure him. The part of the letter containing the writing was stiff; the envelope pliable, as if of some kind of stuff, either leather or silk. I saw, too, that it was bound by a string.
When Jesus had read the letter, He turned the other side of the stiff part and, drawing from His robe a coarse pencil out of which He pushed something, He wrote several words in tolerably large characters, and then folded it again. After that He called for some water, bathed His face, pressed the soft stuff in which the letter had been folded to His sacred countenance, and returned it to the envoy. The latter applied it to the picture he had vainly tried to perfect, when behold! The likeness instantly became a facsimile of the original. The artist was filled with delight. He turned the picture, which was hanging by a strap, toward the spectators, cast himself at Jesus’ feet, arose, and took leave immediately. But some of his servants remained behind and followed Jesus who, after this instruction, crossed the Jordan to the second place of Baptism which John had abandoned. There these new followers were baptized.
I saw the envoy on his way home passing a night outside a city near which were long stone buildings like brick kilns. Very early the next morning some of the workmen hurried to the spot, because they had seen there a bright light like a fire. Something remarkable then took place in connection with the picture, and a great crowd of people gathered on the spot. The artist exhibited to them his picture, as well as the cloth with which Jesus had dried His (p. 126) face, and which, too, had received the imprint of His features. Abgarus came some distance through his gardens to meet his envoy. He was indescribably touched at Jesus’ letter and the sight of His picture. He immediately amended his life and dismissed the numerous concubines with whom he had sinned.
I saw again that, after the death of Abgarus’s son, in the reign of a wicked successor, the portrait of Jesus, which had been publicly exposed, was concealed by a pious Bishop. He placed it in a niche, a burning lamp before it, and walled up the aperture. After a long time, the picture was discovered, and then it was found that the stone that concealed it from sight also bore its imprint.
13 Iyar-29 Sivan 30 AD = Thursday Julian 4 May-Monday Julian 19 June = vision of August 1822
Jesus went from Ono with the disciples to the middle place of Baptism, that above Bethabara and opposite Gilgal. There He permitted Andrew, Saturnin, Peter, and James to baptize. Immense crowds were coming and going, rousing in consequence fresh excitement among the Pharisees. They dispatched letters to the Elders of all the synagogues throughout the country, directing them to deliver over Jesus wheresoever He might be found, to take the disciples into custody, to inquire into their teachings, and inflict punishment upon them. But Jesus, accompanied by only a few disciples, left the place of Baptism, and journeyed through Samaria and Galilee on the confines of Tyre. The rest of the disciples separated and returned to their homes. About the same time, Herod ordered his soldiers to bring John to Callirrhoe, where he kept him confined for about six weeks in a vault of his castle. Then he set him free.
While Jesus, with a few of His disciples, was crossing the valley Esdrelon on His way through Samaria, (p. 127) Bartholomew passed. Returning home to Debbaseth from the baptism of John, he fell in with some of the disciples, and Andrew spoke to him enthusiastically of the Lord. Bartholomew listened with delight and reverence, and Andrew, whose joy it was to add intelligent men to the number of the disciples, went forward to Jesus and spoke to Him of Bartholomew, who was desirous of following Him. Just at this moment, Bartholomew passed. Andrew pointed him out to Jesus who, glancing toward Bartholomew, said to Andrew: “I know him; he will follow Me. I see good in him, and I shall call him in time.” Bartholomew dwelt in Debbaseth Dot far from Ptolomais. He was a writer. I saw that he met Thomas soon after, to whom in turn he spoke of Jesus and whom he inclined in His favor.
Jesus had to endure great privations on this hurried journey. Saturnin, or some other one of the disciples, had charge of a basket of bread. Several times I saw Jesus steeping the hard crust in water, in order to be able to eat it.
30 Sivan 30 AD = Tuesday Julian 20 June = vision of Tuesday 25 June 1822
In Tyre He put up at an inn near the gate on the land side of the city. He had come over a high mountain ridge. Tyre was a very large city. To one approaching from a distant height, it looked as if hanging from a mountain and momentarily in danger of being detached. Jesus did not enter the city. He kept along the wall on the land side where there were not so many people. The wall was very thick. In it was built the inn, and on top of it ran a road. Jesus wore a brownish robe and a white woollen mantle. He went here and there, but only to the houses of the poor built in the wall. Saturnin and one other disciple had come with Jesus to Tyre.