The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 62 -
Joseph Discourses On The Brother-Eye
WHEN EVENING CAME Cyrenius said to Joseph, 'My friend, my godly brother, how very sorry I am that I cannot spend the night here with you.
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And how sorry I am that I must set tomorrow aside for the business of state until the afternoon.
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But around the third hour of the afternoon I shall return to you with Maronius, and you can then give him the higher initiation after my lesser initiation.
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It means a great deal to me to see this in other matters so well-informed man saved by means of your God's holy school of life, which I hold to be the only true and living one!'
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Joseph responded: 'Yes, eminent friend, that is just and fair. For nothing pleases the Lord more, than that we act with love toward our enemies and are concerned for their timely and eternal welfare!
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Let us look upon every sinner as an errant brother, and God will then look upon us as His errant children,
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but otherwise only as creatures of ill will who always come under His judgments and suffer death like the ephemerids.
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'Behold, that is why the Lord has given us human beings two eyes and only one mouth for speaking, so we should with the one eye look upon men only as men, but with the other as brothers.
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If men then err before us, we should open our brother-eye and close the eye reserved for men.
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But if our brothers err before us, we then should close our brother-eye and direct the eye reserved for men upon ourselves and thereafter look upon ourselves as errant men in regard to our errant brothers.
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With our one mouth we should all confess one Lord, one God, and one Father, and He will acknowledge us all as His children!
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For God also has two eyes and one mouth. With the one eye He sees His creatures - and with the other His children.
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If we regard each other with the brother-eye, then the Father looks upon us with the Father-eye -
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but if we regard each other only with the eye reserved for men, then God looks upon us only with the eye of the Creator, while His also only one mouth declares His love to His children, but judgment to His creatures!
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Thus it is only fitting and proper that we should concern ourselves for our brother Maronius.'
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Here Joseph blessed Cyrenius and Maronius, who then went into the city with their aides while Joseph looked after his household.