GEJ 1.37

Early in the morning, when the sun was scarcely a span above the horizon, a multitude of priests who lived in Sychar because of its nearness to the holy mountain (Gerizim) came before Irhael’s house, immediately began a great clamor, and shouted, ‘Hosanna upon hosanna! Hail to Him who has come in the name of God’s glory! Tarry, sun, and stand still, moon, until the Lord of all glory strikes and destroys with His mighty right hand all His enemies, who are also our enemies! Spare only the Romans, O Lord, for they are our friends, since they protected us from the Jews, who are no longer children of God but children of Beelzebub and sacrifice to this father of theirs in the temple that Solomon built for You, O Lord. You have done well, O Lord, to come to Your true children, who believed Your promises and awaited You most longingly until this hour. You do indeed come from the Jews, for it is said that salvation comes from the Jews; but we have heard how You were recently in Jerusalem and in the temple, and struck the Jews with cords and overturned their seats! Oh Lord, You did very well in this, and all the heavens should praise You for it with psalms, harps, and trumpets! We always said: when You come, You will not pass by the holy place where Daniel, Your prophet, proclaimed the abomination of the desolation of Jerusalem; and from this place You, O Lord, will proclaim salvation to Your peoples! Praised be Your name, hosanna to You in the highest, and salvation to all children of good will!’

This clamor, partly sensible but partly also very senseless, naturally drew a multitude of people, and most certainly all those who had been with Me at the well the day before and now wanted to see and hear Me again. The noise and the crowd increased from second to second, and everyone in the house had to get up and see what was happening. The disciples rose first and asked Me what sort of uproar this was, and whether it was advisable to remain or perhaps better to flee from it.

But I said, ‘Oh, you fainthearted ones! Just listen to how they are calling hosanna! Where people call hosanna, it is not so very dangerous to stay!’

This reassured the disciples, and I went on to say to them, ‘But now go down and tell them to be quiet and go out onto the mountain, for after the sixth hour—that is, after twelve noon—I shall come out with all of you and proclaim salvation to you and to them from the mountain. They should also take scribes along, who are to record what I shall teach there from the mountain.

‘But you, John, need not write it down, since this teaching of Mine will in any case be recorded several times. There is a scribe here, also a Galilean, named Matthew. He has already recorded quite a few things from My youth, and since he is swift with the stylus, he will surely record everything he hears and sees. Bring him up here; call him by name, and he will follow you immediately. Also tell the leading priests that they may come up, as well as some of the leading men whom you will have seen yesterday at the well. But first call Matthew to Me, for I want him to follow us too.’

The disciples now went down quickly and did as I had commanded them.

But while the disciples were going about their business in the street below, all the other guests, together with Mary, came to Me in the dining hall, greeted Me most warmly, gave thanks, and briefly told Me of wonderful dreams they had had during the night. They asked Me whether one should attach any importance to such dreams.

But I said, ‘Everything the soul beholds in a dream is of its own nature. If the soul is in what is true and good through what I teach you to believe and do, then it also sees what is true in a dream and can make from it something good for its life. But if the soul is in what is false and, from that, in what is evil, then in a dream it will see what is false and form evil from it.

‘But since you are now in what is true according to My teaching, and for that reason have also followed Me, your soul can likewise have beheld only what is true in a dream, from which it can bring forth much good.

‘Whether the soul also grasps what it beholds in a dream is, of course, quite another matter! For just as you do not grasp and comprehend all that you behold in the outer world in which you live by day, so the soul also does not grasp what it beholds in its world.

‘But when the spirit is born again within you, as I proclaimed to Nicodemus in Jerusalem when he came to Me at night, then you will grasp and comprehend everything and see it fully.’ Everyone is satisfied with this and steps back.