2024/12/09

173. The Little Scroll

Before the San Damiano Crucifix, St Francis received the truths. One was to realise Jesus' words from the Gospel of John, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (Jn 14:6), and to read the Synoptic Gospels and other New Testament books from the perspective of John the Evangelist (cf. blog№ 169). The second was to store the worldview of Jesus Christ as his tacit knowledge in his memory by reading and listening to the Book of Revelation. After reading the Book of Revelation, Francis must have docilely practised what was written in it (cf. Rev 1:3). That helps him receive revelations directly from the New Testament. That is because the Book of Revelation is interwoven with the revelations and prophecies conveyed by the New Testament (see diagram below Prophetic Composition of the Book of Revelation). Therefore, Francis respected the priesthood and was erudite about the Scriptures, with his mind always on the Eucharist, the "life". In addition, the image of Jesus, the Eucharist, depicted in the Crucifix, and the people depicted separated to his right and left - the Church's vocation - must have been stuck in his mind (cf. blog № 166). 

The following is an example of reading the New Testament from the perspective of John the Evangelist. Picking up the words of Jesus on the cross just before he breathed his last breath from each Gospel and putting them in chronological order, a coherent narrative emerges. This narrative connects the scene of the institution of the Eucharist at Jesus' last table in the three Synoptic Gospels with what happened by the cross in the Gospel of John, which does not describe that scene, and testifies to the whereabouts of the Eucharist and priesthood, the coming of the Kingdom of God and the conclusion of the New Covenant, and the birth of Jesus' Church. 

At the time of his end on the cross, Jesus was waiting for the Father to draw the parties to the new covenant, for no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws him. He cried out in supplication. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34). This cry has become the prayer: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" (Lk 23:46). 

Finally, the people drawn by the Father gathered by the cross. They were the mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Clopas, Mary of Magdala, and John the Apostle. At this time, Jesus united the Apostle with his mother, Mary, who had received his priesthood with Jesus, the Son of God (cf. blog № 167), in a parent-son bond. That was a guarantee that the Apostles were united with the priesthood in an unbreakable bond to fulfil the words of the previous evening when Jesus had commanded them to "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). The Apostle received the priesthood as it says: "And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn 19:27). 

This fact is in line with what is written in the Book of Revelation: "But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time" (Rev 12:14). The "woman" refers to the priesthood. The "Eagle" refers to the Gospel of John. The "wilderness" is the memory of the Apostles, bound in an unbreakable bond to the mother of Jesus. Thus, the priesthood, hidden in the memory of the Apostles, was to escape the "human information" ("the serpent") and be nourished until a suitable time. 

"After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished" (Jn 19:28), received the vinegar, saying, "I thirst". That means that Jesus, who had said, "I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Lk 22:18), announced that the "kingdom of God" has come. He then said, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30) and "yielded up his spirit" (Mt 27:50; Mk 15:37; Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30). The blood and water that then flowed from Jesus' side fell on those whom the Father had drawn, testifying to the conclusion of the "new covenant in my blood" (Lk 22:20) and at the same time giving birth to Jesus' "Church" (cf. Jn 19:34-35). 

Thus, the truths of the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, which Francis received from the San Damiano Crucifix, manifest that the Word is alive in the New Testament. He received from the hand of the Lamb the little scroll depicted at the upper end of the Crucifix and ate it, just as John, the author of Revelation, did (cf. Rev 10:10). 

To be continued.

Maria K. M.