The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 35 -
The Melting Of The Idols
AND JOSEPH went outside and led his family to the house where Cyrenius lived, and the latter promptly ordered his servants to provide for Joseph's pack animals,
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and led Joseph with Mary and the five sons into his most ornate chamber, in which everything was lavishly decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.
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Now on a table of white, very finely polished marble there stood a mass of statues about a foot in height, exceedingly well formed of Corinthian bronze.
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Here Joseph asked the governor what these statues might represent.
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The governor replied in a friendly manner, 'Good man, see, these are our gods! We must display them and buy them from Rome according to law, even though we do not believe in them.
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I look upon them only as works of art, and in that alone do these images of the gods have some sort of nominal value to me, but otherwise I can only look upon them with the utmost disdain!'
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Joseph thereupon said to Cyrenius, 'But if that is all you believe, then you are a man without God and without religion. Does that not bother your conscience?'
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And Cyrenius replied, 'Not in the least, for if there is no other God than these bronze ones here, then any human being is more of a god than this stupid bronze in which there is no life! Now I do believe that there is some sort of true God who is eternally alive and almighty - therefore I have only disdain for such old nonsense!'
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Now Cyrenius was also a great friend of children and for that reason approached Mary, who was holding the Child in her arms, and asked her whether she were not tired from constantly carrying the Child.
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And Mary said, 'Oh mighty ruler of the land! I am indeed very tired by now, but my great love to this my Child makes me forget all fatigue!'
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Here the governor said to Mary, 'See, I am also a great friend of children, but although I am married, nature or God have not blessed me with posterity, so I am given to not seldom adopting strange children - even those of slaves - as my own.
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Now I do not intend to say therewith that you should also give me yours, for He is indeed your life.
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But I would like to ask you to lay Him upon my arms so I might fondle and caress Him a little!'
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Since Mary found the governor to be of such an affectionate nature, she answered, 'Whoever is like you in his heart may indeed take this, my Baby, on his arms!'
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Here Mary handed the Baby to the governor to be caressed - and when the governor took the Baby on his arms, such a feeling of joy came over him as he had never before experienced.
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And he carried the Baby back and forth in the chamber - and thus also brought Him close to the table bearing the Roman gods.
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But this approach immediately cost all the heathen statues their existence, for they melted like wax on red-hot iron.
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At this Cyrenius was profoundly shocked and he exclaimed: 'What goes on here? The hard bronze has utterly dissolved, and not even a trace of it remains! You wise man from Palestine, do explain that to me! Are you then a magician?'