The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 38 -
In The Lowliness Of The World
IN THIS happy frame of mind Cyrenius said to Joseph, 'Hear me again, oh great man! If I were now emperor in Rome, I would abdicate the throne and the emperor's crown to you.
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And if the emperor Augustus knew about this Child as I do not he would do the same! For while he takes great stock in the fact that he is the mightiest emperor on the earth, so do I also know how highly he places all things divine far above himself.
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If you wish, I will write the emperor and guarantee you in advance that he will bring you to Rome amid the greatest honor and will build to the Child, as an unequivocal Son of the most high God, the greatest and most glorious temple
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and will exalt Him therein to the skies, and will himself lie in the dust before the Lord whom the elements and all the gods must obey!
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And that such is the case with the Child I have now convinced myself for the second time, since not even Jupiter is able to protect himself from Him and no metal can withstand His power!
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As I said, if you wish, I will send messengers to Rome still today. Truly, that would cause an incomparable sensation in the great imperial city and would surely humble the proud hierarchy of priests to some extent, who are anyhow at a loss as to how they might further deceive and betray mankind most effectively.'
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Hereupon Joseph answered Cyrenius: 'Dear, good friend! Do you really suppose that Rome's veneration means anything to Him whom the sun, the moon and the stars and all the elements of the earth must obey?
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Had He so willed that all the world should honor Him like an idol, He would have come down to the earth in all of His infinite eternal divine majesty before the eyes of all the world! But thereby all the world would also have been condemned to its judgment.
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Instead He has chosen the lowliness of the world so He might bless the world, as it is written in the book of the prophets; so leave well enough alone as concerns the message to Rome!
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'Now if you want to see Rome destroyed then do as you please - for this One is come for the fall of the world of the high and mighty and for the redemption of the lowly - a consolation to the sorrowful and for the resurrection of those who are held in death.
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This I firmly believe in my heart. But I have revealed this my faith only to you, otherwise no one shall hear it spoken of by me.
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So keep these words as a sacred trust in your heart until that time when a new sun of life will rise for you, and you will be well off.'
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These words went like arrows into the heart of Cyrenius and completely changed his attitude to the extent that he would immediately have given up all his authority and assumed a lowly station in life.
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But Joseph said to him, 'Friend, friend, remain what you are - for power in the hands of men of your kind is a blessing of God for the people! You see, you are what you are neither from yourself nor from Rome, but only from God! Therefore remain what you are.' - Here Cyrenius praised the unknown God, then sat down at the table in a happy frame of mind and ate and drank with Joseph and Mary.