Jesus Drives the Merchants out of the Temple

Jesus Drives the Merchants out of the Temple.

 

     I see Jesus entering the enclosure of the Temple with Peter, Andrew, John, James, Philip and Bartholomew.  There is a very large crowd both inside and outside the enclosure.  Pilgrims are arriving in flocks from every part of the town.

     From the top of the hill on which the Temple is built, one can see the narrow twisted streets of the town, swarming with people.  One gets the impression that a self-moving, many-colored ribbon has been laid between the white houses.  The town looks like a rare toy indeed, a toy made of gaily-colored ribbons between two white threads, all converging on the point where the domes of the House of the Lord are shining.

     Inside it is a real market.  The concentration of a holy place has been destroyed.  Some run, some call, some contract for lambs, shouting and cursing because of the extortionate prices, some drive the poor bleating animals into their enclosures (rough partitions made of ropes and pegs, at the entrance of which stand the merchants or owners, awaiting buyers).  Blows with cudgels, bleatings, curses, shouts, insults to the boys who are not prompt in gathering together or selecting the animals, abuses to the purchasers who haggle over prices or who go away, graver insults to those who wisely brought their own lambs.

     Near the benches of the money-changers, there is more bawling.  It is obvious that either always, or at Passover time, the Temple functioned as a stock exchange or black market.  There was no fixed rate of exhange.  There must have been a legal rate, but the money-changers imposed a different one, making whatever profit they fancied, for exchanging the money.  And I can assure you they were not joking in their usury transactions!... The poorer the people were and the farther they came from, the more they were fleeced: old people more than young people, those coming from beyond Palestine more than the old folk.

     Some poor old men looked over and over again at the money they had saved in a whole year, I wonder with how much hard work, they took it out and put it back into their purses dozens and dozens of times, going from one money-changer to another and at times ending up by going back to the first one, who avenged himself for their original desertion by increasing the premium for the exchange.  And the big coins passed from the hands of the sighing owners into the clutches of the usurers and were changed into smaller coins.  Then a further tragedy would take place with vendors over the choice and payment of their lambs, and the poor old men, particularly if they were half blind, were fobbed off with the most wretched little lambs.

     I see an old couple, man and wife, come back pushing a poor little lamb which must have been found faulty by the sacrificers.  They cried and begged the vendor, who, far from being moved, replied with nasty words and rude manners.

     "Considering what you want to spend, Galileans, the lamb I gave you is even too good.  Go away!  Or if you want a better one, you must pay five more coins."

     "In the name of God!  We are poor and old!  Are you going to prevent us from celebrating this Passover which may be our last one?  Are you not satisfied with what you wanted for a poor little lamb?"

     "Go away, you filthy lot.  Joseph the Elder is now coming here.  I enjoy his favor.  God be with you, Joseph!  Come and make your choice!"

     The man whose name is Joseph the Elder, that is Joseph of Arimathea, enters the enclosure and picks a magnificent lamb.  He passes by, stately and proud, magnificently dressed, without even looking at the poor old people weeping at the gate, that is the enclosure entrance.  He almost bumps into them when he goes out with the fat, bleating lamb.

     But Jesus also is now nearby.  He also has made His purchase, and Peter, who probably bargained for Him, is pulling a fairly good lamb.

     Peter would like to go at once where they offer the sacrifices.  But Jesus turns to the right, towards the dismayed, weeping, undecided old couple, who are knocked about by the crowds and insulted by the vendor.

     Jesus, Who is so tall that the heads of the poor old souls reach only up to His heart, lays one hand on the shoulder of the woman and askes her: "Why are you crying, woman?"

     The little old woman turns round and she sees the young, tall, stately man, wearing a beautiful new white tunic and a snow white mantle.  She must think He is a doctor because of His garments and His aspect and is greatly surprised, because doctors and priests pay no attention to the poor, neither do they protect them from the stinginess of merchants.  She explains to Jesus the reason for their tears.

     Jesus addresses the lamb vendor: 

 "Change this lamb for these believers. It is not worthy of the altar, neither is it fair that you should take advantage of two old poor people, only because they are weak and unprotected."

     "And who are You?"

 

     "A just man."

  "By Your way of speaking and Your companions', I know You are a Galilean.  Can there be a just man in Galilee?"

 

     "Do what I told you and be a just man yourself."

     "Listen! Listen to the Galilean who is defending His equals.  And He wants to teach us of the Temple!"  

The man laughs and jeers, imitating the Galilean accent, which is more musical and softer that the Judean, at least I think so.

     Many people go near them and other merchants and money-changers take their companion's part against Jesus.

     Amongst the people present there are two or three ironical rabbis.  One of them asks: "Are You a doctor?",  in such a way that even Job would lose his temper.

     "Yes, I am."

     "What do You teach?"

     "This I teach:  to make the House of God a house of prayer and not a usury or a market place.  That is what I teach."

     Jesus is formidable.  He looks like the archangel posted on the threshold of Eden.  He has no flashing sword in His hand but the beams from His eyes strike the impious mockers like lightning.  Jesus has nothing in His hands.  All He has is His wrath.  And full of wrath, He walks fast and solemn between the benches, He scatters the coins which had been sorted out so meticulously according to their values, He turns over the benches and tables, and everything falls on the ground with great noise, in the bustle of rebounding metals and beaten wood, angry cries, shrieks of terror and shouts of approval.  He then snatches from the hands of the stable-boys some ropes with which they were holding oxen, sheep and lambs, and He makes a very hard lash, in which the slip-knots are real scourges:  He lifts it, swings it and strikes mercilessly with it.  Yes, I can assure you:  mercilessly.

     The unforseen storm hits heads and backs.  The believers move to one side admiring the scene;  the guilty ones, chased as far as the external wall, take to their heels, leaving their money on the ground and abondoning in a great confusion of legs, horns and wings, their animals, some of which run and fly away.  The bellows, bleatings, and fluttering of turtle doves and pigeons, added to the burst of laughter and shouting of the believers at the escaping usurers, overcome even the plaintive chorus of lambs, slaughtered in another yard.

     Priests, rabbis, and Pharisees rush to the spot.  Jesus is still in the middle of the yard, on His way back from the chase.  The lash is still in His hands.  

     "Who are You?  How dare You do that, upsetting the prescribed ceremonies?  From which school are You?  We do not know You, neither do we know where You come from."        

    

"I am He who is Mighty.  I can do anything.  Destroy this true Temple and I will raise it to give praise to God.  I am not upsetting the holiness of the House of God or of the ceremonies, but you are perturbing it, allowing His House to become the center of usurers and merchants.  My school is the school of God.  The same school as the whole of Israel had when the Eternal God spoke to Moses.  You do not know Me?  You will know Me.  You do not know where I come from?  You will learn."      And turning towards the people, without noticing the priests any longer, tall in His white tunic, with His arms stretched out like an orator at the most important part of his speach, He says:   "Listen, Israel!  In Deuteronomy it is said:   "You are to appoint judges and scribes at all the gates... and they must administer an impartial judgement to the people.  You must be impartial; you must take no bribes, for a bribe blinds wise men's eyes and jeopardizes the cause of the just.  Strict justice must be your ideal, so that you may live in rightful possession of the land that Yahweh your God is giving you."      "Listen, Israel.  In Deuteronomy it is said:  "The priests and scribes and the whole of the tribe of Levi shall have no share or inheritance with Israel, because they must live on the foods offered to Yahweh and on His dues;  they shall have no inheritance among their brothers, because Yahweh will be their inheritance."      Listen, Israel.  In Deuteronomy it is said:  "You must not lend on interest to your brother, whether the lack be of money or food or anything else.  You may demand interest on a loan of a foreigner;  you will lend without interest to your brother whatever he needs.."      The Lord said that.       But now you see that in Israel judgements are administered without justice for the poor. They are not inclined to justice, but they are partial with the rich, and to be poor, to be of the common people means to be oppressed.  How can the people say:  "Our judges are just"  when they see that only the mighty ones are respected and satisfied, whereas the poor have no one who will listen to them?   How can the people respect the Lord, when they see that the Lord is not respected by those who should respect Him more than everyone else?  Does he who infringes the Lord's commandment respect Him?  Why then do the priests in Israel possess property and accept bribes from tax-collectors and sinners, who make offerings to obtain their favors, while they accept gifts to fill their coffers.?      God is the inheritance of His priests.  He, the Father of Israel, is more than a Father to them and provides them with food, as it is just.  But not more than what is just.  He did not promise money and possessions to His servants of the sanctuary.  In eternal life, they will possess Heaven for their justice, as Moses, Elijah, Jacob and Abraham will, but in this world they must have but a linen garment and a diadem of incorruptible gold:  purity and charity, and their bodies must be subject to their souls, which are to be subject to the true God, and their bodies are not to be masters over their souls and against God.      I have been asked on what authority I do this.  And on what authority do they violate God's command and allow in the shade of the sacred walls usury on their brothers of Israel, who have come to obey the divine command?  I have been asked from what school I come from and I replied:  "From God's school."  Yes, Israel,  I have come from and I will take you back to that holy and immutable school.      Who wants to know the Light, the Truth, the Way?  Who wants to hear once again the voice of God speaking to His people, let him come to Me.  You followed Moses through the deserts, Israel.  Follow Me, because I shall lead you through a far worse desert, to the true blessed Land.  At God's command, I will draw you to it, accross an open sea.  I will cure you of all evils lifting up My Sign.      The time of Grace has come.  The prophets expected it and died waiting for it.  The Prophets prophesied it and died in that hope.  The just have dreamt of it and died comforted by that dream.  It is now here.      Come.  "The Lord is about to judge His people and have mercy on His servants",  as He promised through Moses."      The people crowding round Jesus stand open-mouthed listening to Him.  Then they comment on the new Rabbi's words and ask His companions questions.      Jesus goes to another yard, separated from this one only by a porch.  His friends follow Him, and the vision ends. Excerpted from POEM OF THE MAN-GOD, Volume 1, pp. 285-289

Father Richard and the Angel Raphael

A devout priest in Maryland reported that on the feast day of Guadalupe an angel appeared during Mass in front of him and about 200 congregants.

The priest, Father Richard Scott, 41, of St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton, Maryland, 

 started the day asking Our Lady of Guadalupe for confirmation pertaining to a special request he had made.

Originally from Peru, Father Scott, who says he has a special devotion to the angels ("in the Catholic sense, nothing at all New Age") and recites the litany of angels every day, and conducts healing Masses at a church dedicated to the Archangel Raphael, recounts that at about 6:45 a.m. he was praying to the Virgin.

"Blessed Mother, I know you are Our Lady of Guadalupe," he had said. "You know that I love you very much. You are also Queen of Angels. I know I am not worthy, but because of the merits of your Son Jesus and His Divine Mercy, I humbly beseech you to send me St. Raphael to give me a sign that what I have heard in my heart is from your Son."

That night Father Scott celebrated a Mass in honor of the Guadalupe Virgin at 7:30 p.m. He says that he had gone through the day without much further thought as to his request. "I forgot about it," he says, "but God didn't.

"I was saying the prayer of the faithful and I had closed my eyes and I opened them and looked up to see the people that I was praying for and I was indirectly praying for my special intentions and also praying for a man with cancer -- and for our bishops that they always be filled with the Holy Spirit and faithful to the Holy Father -- and just as I was saying that all together, I looked up and in the back of the church, I saw this Hispanic woman who works in the parish preparing the little kids at the time of the offertory, bringing the gifts -- they were going to present roses and carnations to the Blessed Mother 

-- and right next to her I see this young man in his twenties with light brown hair with a big picture, a big painting in a frame, with a radiant face and around his body like an aura. He looked different -- but completely human, nicely dressed, with corduroy pants, a shirt, a sweater, and like a suede jacket.

"He was radiant -- the most penetrating loving eyes. They exuded love, and he had a huge smile, as if he was my best of friends, surprising me. He walked like he was on a mission to fulfill what God wanted him to do. He walked up the aisle reverently but quickly.

"He was in control. Nothing would stop him. He just came down, but he didn't do it in a way that was pompous. He didn't float. He walked like a normal person, but quickly with this big painting on his right side and it was like there was a light, a spotlight on him, like an aura around his body, even though his body was normal, and throughout the whole thing his eyes were in contact with me. 

He gave reverence to the Eucharist and to me as a priest.

"He genuflected near the tabernacle and presented this painting. He laid it against a lectern on the left-hand side. He was not far away from me. He went up two steps and laid it against the lectern and he said to me, 'You have to bless it.' I did say as he was approaching, is there anything I can do to help you. 

I was shocked. Even as he said, 'You must bless this,' his facial expressions never changed.

"There was complete love and tenderness but he was there on a mission. I couldn't walk up to him. I couldn't  move. Something kept me from moving. I couldn't speak. All I could do was observe and receive. Afterwards he turned around, once again genuflected to the Blessed Sacrament, and then he went again somewhat fast down the aisle, turned around, once again looked at me, raised up his arms to heaven, and said with a smile, as if he was exuberantly happy, 'Amen, alleluia!'"

It is an angel story as there have been many angel stories but with this twist: Father Scott actually saw the mysterious stranger disappear. Most who have angel encounters describe a stranger who then was nowhere to be seen, but the Maryland priest actually saw him vanish.

"After saying, 'Amen, alleluia,' he put his arms down and I don't know how the wooden doors opened, but as he was going down the steps, before he got outside -- there is another set of glass doors -- I saw him disappear. He went down five or six steps and disappeared. 

I saw him disappear. He disappeared just before he got to the glass doors. I did not see the glass doors open, and from the altar I can tell when people leave Mass early."

Of course, we leave this all for your discernment. So far we have no reason to doubt it and if true we find it tremendous -- a Christmas gift.

It confirmed something major for the priest, who says that painting was a replica of the famous Michelangelo masterpiece, "The Creation," in which God is touching the finger of Adam. He said there was a man in a car who had been out front through Mass waiting to drive a relative, and the man later testified that he saw no one enter or leave. Those attending Mass were equally shocked at the mysterious visitors actions and way of walking.

Father Scott believes the mysterious stranger was the Archangel Raphael. He says the painting was expensively framed in wood with cardboard protectors on the corners. The priest left the painting in the church for four days, waiting to see if anyone would claim it, which no one did.

 
Excerpted from http://www.spiritdaily.com/Marylandangelarchived.htm

Maria Valtorta Part 1

 

Maria Valtorta was given the divine gift of experiencing our Lord's Passion and Life as if she were with him at that very moment.   Her visual detail and exacting explanation of events brings to life the life of JESUS CHRIST in a most profound way.  I can not encourage you enough to dig deep into this gift from Heaven, which opens up insight into the life of our Savior here on earth.  Not only is there historical data provided, but meaning, flavor, colors, emotions, everything is laid out for the reader.  The relationships between the Apostles, their thoughts, fears and worries are all here as well.  Even something so small as Peter getting out of breath on the climb up the mountain and our lord JESUS CHRIST taking a break so that Peter could catch his breath.   

 The following is a tiny excerpt from the 10,000 page works of Maria Valtorta's writing...

 THE 

 TRANSFIGURATION                           

Which man has never seen, at least once, a clear dawn in the month of March?  If such a man exists, he must be very unhappy, because he is unaware of one of the most beautiful charms of nature awakening in springtime, when she becomes the virgin girl as creation must have been on its first day.

In such graceful charm, which is pure from every point of view, from its fresh dewy herbs, to the little flowers that are opening, like babies who are born, to the first smile of daylight, to the birds that awake flapping their wings and utter their first chirps, which sound like questions and are a prelude to all their singing conversation of the day, to the very smell of the air that during the night has lost all pollution of dust, smoke and smell of human bodies through the lavation of dew and the absence of man, Jesus is proceeding with His apostles and disciples. Simon of Alphaeus is with them, too. 

 They are going southwards, crossing the hills that encircle Nazareth and a torrent, and are walking across a narrow plain between the Nazarene hills and a group of mountains to the east. These mountains are preceded by the semi-truncate cone of the Tabor, the top of which strangely reminds me of the cocked-hat of our carabineers, seen in profile.

They reach it. Jesus stops and says: « Peter, John and James of Zebedee will come up the mountain with Me. The rest will spread out at its foot, going in groups towards the roads that run along it, to preach the Lord.  I want to be back in Nazareth by evening.  So do not go too far away.  Peace be with you. » And addressing the three He had called, He says: « Let us go. »  And He begins to climb without turning back any more and with such a quick pace that Peter finds it difficult to follow Him.

When they rest for a moment, Peter, flushed and perspiring, asks Him panting: « But where are we going?  There are no houses on the mountain.  On the top there is only that old fortress.  Do You want to go and preach there? »

« I would have gone up the other side.  But you can see that I have turned My back to it.  We are not going to the fortress, and those who are in it, will not even see us.  I am going to be united to My Father, and I wanted you to be with Me, because I love you.  Come on, quick! »

« Oh! My Lord!  Could we not go a little slower, instead, and speak of what we heard and saw yesterday, which kept us awake all night to talk about it? »

«  You always go quickly to the appointments with God.  Come on, Simon Peter.  I will let you rest up there. » And He resumes climbing...

5th August 1944.

Today, I am with my Jesus upon a high mountain.  Peter, James and John are with Jesus. They climb higher up and their eyes rove over open horizons, the details of which are well defined, even in the distance, in the beautiful clear day. The mountain is not part of a range of mountains like the one in Judaea; it rises isolated, with the east in front, with respect to the place where we are, the north to the left, the south to the right, and at the rear, to the west, the summit, which is about one hundred steps higher up. It is very high and the view extends over a very wide range.

 The lake of Gennesaret looks like a strip of sky that has come down to be set in the green of the earth, an oval turquoise enclosed by emeralds of various shades, a mirror that trembles and ripples in a light breeze, and on which boats in full sail glide as nimbly as sea-gulls, lightly bent towards the blue water, exactly with the grace of the flight of a kingfisher skimming the water in search of prey.  Then a vein flows out from the vast turquoise, it is pale blue where the river-bed is wider, and darker where the banks narrow and the water is deeper and in the shade of the trees that grow luxuriantly near the river, nourished by its water.  The Jordan looks like an almost straight stroke of a brush in the greenery of the plain.

Some villages are scattered here and there on both sides of the river.  Some are only a handful of houses, others are somewhat larger, with the airs of little towns.  The main roads are yellowish lines among the green.  But here, on the side of the mountain, the plain is more cultivated and fertile and it is really beautiful.  The various hues of the several growths are a most pleasant sight in the beautiful sunshine of a very clear day.

It must be springtime, perhaps the month of March, if I take into account the latitude of Palestine, because I see the corn, which is already high, although still green, waving like a blue-green sea and I see the crests of the early fruit-trees decorate this little vegetable sea with something like tiny white and rosy clouds, and meadows strewn with the flowers of the high hay, where grazing sheep look like piles of snow spread here and there on the green grass.

Just near the mountain, on the low short hills at its foot, there are two little towns, one to the south and the other to the north.  The very fertile plain extends particularly and more widely to the south.

Jesus, after a short rest in the cool shade of a group of trees, a pause which He certainly granted out of pity for Peter, who clearly has great difficulty in climbing, resumes going up.  He goes almost to the top, where there is a grassy tableland with a semicircle of trees near the side of the mountain.

« You may rest, My friends.  I am going over there to pray. »  And He points to a large stone, a rock that appears on the surface of the mountain and is not near the slope, but it lies internally, towards the summit.

Jesus kneels on the grass and rests His hands and head on the rock, in the posture that He will take also when praying in Gethsemane.  The top of the mountain protects Him from the sun.  The remaining part of the grass-covered clearing is in the bright sun as far as the bordering trees, where the apostles are sitting in the shade.

Peter takes off his sandals, shakes off dust and grit and remains barefooted, with his tired feet on the cool grass, almost lying down, with his head resting on an emerald green tuft, as a pillow.  James does the same, but in order to be comfortable he looks for a tree, against which he leans his mantle and rests his back.  John remains sitting looking at the Master.  But the calm of the place, the fresh breeze, silence and fatigue overcome him also and he droops his head and eyes.  None of them are fast asleep, but they are in the state of summer drowsiness that stuns people.

They are roused by a brilliancy that is so striking that it overwhelms the brightness of the sun and spreads and penetrates even into the shade of bushes and trees where the apostles are.

They open their eyes and are astonished at seeing Jesus transfigured.  He is exactly as I see in the visions of Paradise.  Of course He has no Wounds and there is no banner of the Cross.  But the majesty of His Face and Body is the same, the brightness is also the same and His garment, too, is identical: from deep red it has changed into an immaterial fabric of diamonds and pearls, in which He is clad in Heaven.  His Face shines with an extremely intense sidereal light in which His sapphire eyes are beaming.  He looks taller, as if His glorification had increased His height.  I cannot say whether the brilliancy, which makes even the tableland phosphorescent, emanates entirely from Him, or whether His own is mingled with the brightness that all the light of the Universe and of Heaven has concentrated on Him.  I can only say that it is something indescribable'

Jesus is now standing, I would say that He is raised off the ground, because between Him and the green meadow there is something like a luminous vapour, a space consisting only of a light upon which He seems to be standing. But it is so bright that I may be wrong, and the fact that I no longer see any green grass under Jesus' feet may be due to the bright light that vibrates and waves, as is often seen in bonfires.  It is a snow-white incandescent light. Jesus is looking at the sky and smiling at a vision that enraptures Him.

The apostles are almost afraid and they call Him, as He is transfigured so much that He no longer appears to be their Master. 

« Master, Master » they call in low voices, full of anxiety.

 

He does not hear.

« He is in an ecstasy » says Peter trembling. « I wonder what He sees? »

The three are now standing up. They would like to approach Jesus, but they dare not.

The light increases further because of two lights that descend from the sky and take place at Jesus' sides.  When they settle on the tableland, their veils open and two majestic bright personages appear.  One is more elderly than the other, with a sharp severe countenance, and he has a double-pointed beard.  Two horns of light depart from his forehead and make me understand that he is Moses.  

The other one is emaciated, bearded and hairy, more or less like the Baptist, whom I would say he resembles in height, leanness, structure and severity.  While the light emanating from Moses is white, like that of Jesus, particularly with regard to the beams issuing from their foreheads, the light of Elijah is like the bright flame of the sun.

The two Prophets take a reverential attitude before their God Incarnate and although He speaks to them with familiarity, they do not drop their respectful attitude.  I do not understand even one of the words they speak.

The three apostles fall on their knees trembling and covering their faces with their hands. They would like to look, but they are afraid.  At last Peter says: « Master, listen to me. »  Jesus looks round smiling towards His Peter, who takes heart again and says: « It is wonderful to be here with You, Moses and Elijah.  If You wish, we will make three tents, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah, and we will stay here to serve you...  »

Jesus looks at him again and smiles more warmly.  He looks also at John and James.  A glance that is a loving embrace.  Also Moses and Elijah stare at the three.  Their eyes flash fire.  They must be like rays piercing hearts.

The apostles dare not say anything more.  Frightened as they are, they lapse into silence.  They look as if they were inebriated, like people who are bewildered.  But when a veil, which is neither fog, nor a cloud, nor a ray, envelops the Three glorious personages behind a screen that is even brighter than the one that surrounded them previously, and hides them from the sight of the apostles, a powerful harmonious Voice vibrates filling the air, the three bow down with their faces on the grass.

« This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased.  Listen to Him. »

Peter, on falling flat on his face, exclaims: « Have mercy on me, a sinner!  It is the Glory of God descending!  ». James does not utter a single word. John whispers with a sigh, as if he were about to swoon: « The Lord is speaking! »

Even when there is total silence again, none of them dare raise their heads.  Thus they do not even see that the light has come back to its natural state of daylight and that Jesus is alone and has become the usual Jesus wearing His red mantle.  He walks towards them smiling, touches them and calls them by their names. 

 « Stand up.  It is I.  Be not afraid » He says, because the three dare not raise their faces and are imploring mercy for their sins, fearing that the Lamb of God wants to show them to the Most High.  « Stand up, now. I order you » repeats Jesus authoritatively.  They look up and see Jesus smile.

« Oh! Master, my God! » exclaims Peter.  « How shall we be able to live near You, now that we have seen Your Glory?  How shall we be able to live among men and among ourselves, since we are sinners, and we have heard the Voice of God? »

« You will have to live beside Me and see My glory until the end.  Be worthy of that because the time is close at hand.  Obey My Father and yours.  Let us now go back among men because I came to stay with them and to bring God to them.  Let us go.  Be holy, strong and faithful in remembrance of this hour.  You will take part in My greater glory.  But do not speak now to anybody of what you have seen.  Do not tell your companions either.  When the Son of man has risen from the dead and gone back to the glory of the Father, then you will speak.  Because it will be necessary to believe then, to take part in My Kingdom. »

« But is Elijah not to come to prepare people for Your Kingdom?  So the rabbis say. »

« Elijah has already come to prepare the way for the Lord.  Everything is happening as was revealed.  But those who teach Revelation do not know and do not understand it, neither do they see or recognize the signs of the time or the messengers of God.  Elijah has come back once.  He will come for the second time when the last time is close at hand to prepare the last for God.  He now came to prepare the first for the Christ, and men refused to acknowledge him, they tortured him and put him to death.  They will do the same to the Son of man, because men do not want to acknowledge what is good for them. »

The three lower their heads and become pensive and sad while descending the mountain with Jesus by the same road they came up.