The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 252 -
James Tells Of God's Wonders In All Things
WHILE THIS was going on, Joseph's sons took care of the livestock, milked the cows and the she-goats and this time obtained an unusually large quantity of the richest milk.
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When they were finished with this, two of them went on an acre of fully ripened wheat and cut several sheaves and rubbed them until they soon had a heaping basket full of the purest wheat from the cut sheaves.
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Then the two other brothers promptly took the basket with the pure wheat, put it into two handgrinders which Joseph had made himself, and in a short time ground up the grain.
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And through the Lord's blessing they won twice as much flour as had just been grain in the basket.
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Now all this work was completed in three hours. And when the flour stood in two baskets in the sun,
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Joseph came outside and asked the sons from whence they had won this beautiful flour.
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And when the sons told him how they had won this flour, he looked over the rubbed-out sheaves and asked,
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'How is that possible? I see only ten sheaves! Should these really have filled these two large baskets full of flour?'
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And the sons answered, 'Yes, father, so it is! By the grace of God we have won this flour in a truly short time from the ten sheaves,
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and the blessing of God was on the sheaves and on our work - hence this rich gain!'
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Thereupon Joseph gave thanks in utmost humility, went back into the house and told everyone in the house about it.
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And all went outside and looked at the flour, and each declared,
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'That is impossible, altogether impossible by natural means 1'
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Here James in response to an inward prompting picked up a kernel of wheat lying on the ground and said:
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'You are all surprised that so much flour came forth from the sheaves.
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Now where has any one of us ever been this surprised when he sowed a kernel into the ground and soon saw an hundredfold ear arise out of the one kernel?
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And still the first everyday wonder is greater than this double increase in flour, since it multiplies a single kernel an hundredfold!
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If the ten rich sheaves had given only one basket full of flour, no one would have been surprised at it, although one basket is as much of a wondrous gift of God as two baskets are.
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Thus also no one is surprised at an hundredfold ear, because he is already used to this wonder.
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'Now I ask if it is really right to consider God wonderful only there, where He lets something unusual take place, when actually the ordered, usual occurrence is of much greater significance, since it at all times bears constant witness of this same infinite goodness, omnipotence, love and wisdom of God?'
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These words of James caused a great sensation. Everyone therefore praised the Lord for having given such wisdom to man. And the sons took the flour and began to prepare a good midday meal.