The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James

Biographical Gospel of the Lord

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- Chapter 286 -

The Wages Of A False Witness

WHEN JOSEPH RETURNED to work in the village on the following day with his four sons and with the little Jesus,

there came a village judge and accused him, saying,

'Listen, you carpenter! It is not seemly that you always take your little Boy along with you;

for to begin with He has a poisonous exhalation, and in the second place the children whom He touches soon become sick,

or they soon die or become deaf and blind!'

When Joseph heard such lies, he laid the axe aside and demanded of the judge,

'Bring the witnesses here who suffered such harm through my most innocent Boy Jesus,

and I will go with them into the temple and there settle the matter with them before the high priest of God!'

Now this judge was bribed by the father of the shriveled boy

and therefore sought a means to put Joseph's Boy under as much suspicion as possible.

At these words of Joseph the judge went away and in a short time gathered together a great number of greatly afflicted children from the village and led them over to Joseph.

And when he arrived there he accused him again, saying, 'Just look here now! We can thank your poisonous Child for all this!

See, these children have visited your Child a number of times and have played with Him,

and behold, these are the happy results therefrom! So stay away from our village and at the same time keep your Pest at home.'

When Joseph heard this from the judge he was stirred up, took the little Jesus aside, seemingly appealed to His conscience and said,

'Why then do You perpetrate such things? See, these suffer greatly therefrom and hate and persecute us for it!'

But the little Jesus countered Joseph and answered: 'The words which you now have spoken are not from Me, but from you;

for you have now spoken the words of the judge who is a liar - and not My words which are eternally true!

But I will be silent against you and will not give you a reprimand for your assumed speech;

but because of his accusation let this bribed judge receive his just punishment!'

And the judge immediately became stone blind. At this all who were with the judge were greatly shocked.

Several of them became wholly confused and cried,

'Let us flee from here in all haste! For each word from the mouth of this Boy is an accomplished fact!'

Now when Joseph saw that the judge was blind and was certain to cause him a lot of trouble for that,

he became upset over the little Jesus himself, took Him lightly by the lobe of the ear and pulled Him in order to chastize Him before men.

Here the little Jesus became aroused and said to Joseph quite earnestly,

'Let it be enough to you that they seek and still do not find what they seek!

But you did not act wisely this time. - Do you not know that I am yours?

Why then do you want to grieve Me, when I am yours? Oh do not grieve Me any more henceforth, since I am yours!'

At this Joseph quickly realized his mistake, took the little Jesus and pressed Him to his heart. - And all those standing about soon dispersed in their very great fear of the Boy.

Footnotes