Matthias of Jabesh-Gilead
This inhabitant of Upper Gilead welcomes Jesus rejected by the inhabitants of Jabesh. After Jesus' passage, everything will prosper.
"«I was a leper from my thirty-seventh to my fifty-first year of age. Then I became cured. But in the village I found that my wife and relatives had died and my house had been plundered. In any case I was the “leper”… So I came here. And I built my home here, by myself [...]»
«And I became poor and was left alone. But this is a grace of God, to become a man again and to have a roof and bread. Job was my model in misfortune.[1] I hope to deserve the blessing of God, as he did, not in wealth, but in grace.»
Disciple of the Baptist and evangelized by passing shepherds, he then becomes a disciple of Jesus. He is one of the first disciples who came to weep at the (empty) tomb of Jesus.
Character and Appearance
Old and solitary.
Apostolic Journey
Disciple and witness of the Resurrection. Jesus appears to him and says:
"«[...¸] you will have a part in My celestial Kingdom.»
«But I am losing You now, Lord!»
«In every pilgrim see Me; in every beggar, Me; in every sick person, Me; in everyone needing bread, water and clothes, Me. I am in whoever suffers, and what is done to those who suffer, is done to Me.»"[3]
His Name
Mattathias - Matthias - Matthew: come from the Hebrew "mattityah" gift of the Eternal One.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
Notes and references
- ↑ Job 1:1-22 ; Job 42:10-17.
- ↑ GRM 359.5.
- ↑ GRM 632.17.