Historicity of Certain Characters
The Gospel as Revealed to Me features nearly a thousand identifiable characters, including 736 named characters. The grouping of numerous biographical details scattered throughout the work has allowed for the correction of some apparent inconsistencies that puzzle historians. Among them, the following statements:
Is Jesus really the "Son of David"?
He is of his fleshly descent as the Angel says to Mary. For Mary, from whom he takes his flesh[1], is of royal descent. He is not only so by his connection to Joseph, his adoptive father, with whom he has no blood ties and who is also of royal descent, which explains their marriage. Physically, Jesus takes his features from his mother and his maternal grandfather.
Who is Marie de Cléophas (or Clopas)[2]?
This relative so close to Jesus and Mary, who is found at the foot of the Cross[3], is not the wife of Clopas, but the daughter of this Galilean. She is the wife of Alphaeus, Joseph's elder brother and thus aunt to Jesus and sister-in-law (sister) to the Virgin Mary. In Nazareth, there were indeed several "Marys of Alphaeus" that needed to be distinguished according to the context by other qualifiers. Mary of Alphaeus was the mother of Joseph, Simon, Jude, and James, the cousins (brothers) of Jesus.
Jude - is he the son of James?[4]
He is indeed the brother of James of Alphaeus and not the son of a James about whom nothing else is known and which corresponds to a very recent interpretation. His epistle is very clear on this subject[5].
Is Jesus the cousin of the Baptist?
Jesus is indeed the cousin, albeit distant, of John the Baptist. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, and Elizabeth, the mother of the Baptist, are of the same kinship (aunt and niece). The portraits reconstructed by Lorenzo Ferri from the indications of Maria Valtorta show the similarities.
Why does Jesus go to the Weddings at Cana?
Jesus attends a family wedding at Cana. The groom is related to his cousin Simon, the son of Alphaeus.
Is Elizabeth the cousin of the Virgin Mary?
Elizabeth is indeed the cousin of the Virgin Mary, both of the descent of Aaron (Moses' brother, from the priestly class) like her. Her husband Zechariah, who serves at the Temple, likewise belongs to the priestly class of Abdi[6].
Notes and references
Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.