Introduction: why were apocrypha written?
In the Middle Ages, when profession was most often passed on by inheritance, it determined a person’s social status much more strongly than in other eras; Some activities were considered especially pleasing to God, while others, on the contrary, were sinful and despicable. It is not surprising that while telling about the Savior, the Bible talks about the crafts that Christ and his relatives were engaged in. Everyone knows that Joseph, the husband of Mary and the adoptive father of Christ, was a carpenter. But where did the medieval images come from, where Christ himself works on wood or acts as a dyer? What kind of strange professions are these for a godman? Why is Jesus also depicted doing household chores?
And where did the illustrations come from in which the young Christ tames dragons, rides in the sun's rays, as if down a hill, and goes to school, where he fights with the neighboring boys and teachers?
In order to understand all this, we will have to dive into the history of Christian apocrypha
, that is, texts not included in the official biblical canon.
The New Testament was the foundation on which the biography of Christ was built, but it did not speak at all about many things (for example, about his childhood) or spoke too briefly. The gaps left in Scripture were filled with numerous apocrypha. They played the same role as sequels and prequels in modern cinema, and narrated what happened before or after the events that could be read about in the canonical Gospels. Some of the apocryphal traditions that contradicted the “official” version of events or were filled with fantastic details were viewed with disapproval by the Church and outright prohibited their dissemination. However, other apocrypha - say, those about the life of the Holy Family - were very popular. Many subjects of Christian iconography (for example, the Descent of Christ into Hell) and even church holidays (like the Assumption of the Virgin Mary) arose under the influence of apocryphal legends, for which it is difficult to find support in the New Testament.
The first apocrypha were recorded in Asia Minor and Syria, where Christian preaching was especially active. They were needed, among other things, to confirm the idea, which was not obvious to all believers at the turn of the 1st–2nd centuries, that Jesus was God himself, and not just Christ (that is, the “messiah”).
Since the Greco-Roman world was accustomed to the deification of heroes and emperors, thanks to the apocrypha, in which Jesus already in infancy performs a huge number of exploits, the Savior quickly began to be perceived as God.
Jews who did not believe the stories of the early Christians tried to ridicule their theology, calling Jesus a parody of Perseus, who was also born of a virgin (Zeus penetrated Danae in the form of gold coins without violating her virginity), or pointing out his low descent from Mary , who was supposedly a spinner. As we see, to this day the Mother of God is often depicted spinning - Christians probably borrowed this attribute of hers from their ideological opponents.
The attention of first-century believers was focused on the preaching, death and resurrection of Jesus, not on his childhood. However, in the Gospel of Luke there is - the only one in the entire Bible - a story about the adolescence of Christ, in which he remains alone in Jerusalem and talks with teachers in the Temple. It was to him that all the apocrypha about the childhood of the Savior appealed, showing their continuity in relation to the canonical text. In the second century, the childhood apocrypha was required to satisfy the need of believers for a more complete picture of the life of their messiah; Moreover, many newly-made Christians were yesterday's pagans, accustomed to stories of miracles. “Prequels” were required not only for them, but also in order to explain to opponents of Christianity what happened to Jesus during those seventeen years about which the canonical gospels are silent.
So one of the most popular apocryphal stories was the story of Jesus’ childhood and youth.
In the II–VI centuries. the so-called “Gospel of the Savior’s childhood” appears. In them, they tried to portray Christ as looking like an ordinary child: he helped his parents around the house, went to school, and even became an apprentice to a craftsman.
However, this everyday life, of course, was filled with miracles that Jesus, a true man and a true God, tirelessly performed. Some of these apocrypha were translated into Russian back in Soviet times by antiquarian Irina Sventsitskaya (“Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew”, etc.), as well as by her colleague Alexander Skogorev (“Arabic Gospel of the Savior’s Childhood”).
Many legends from the apocrypha were written down by Gnostics, so the word “apocrypha” itself became associated with their faith. Gnostic
creeds, that is, those that arose in parallel with the Christian and in the same environment, were criticized by Christian theologians as heretical, and then were completely eradicated - however, their retellings of apocryphal stories remained in popular rumor and were recorded from memory.
The Gnostic apocrypha that has reached us tells unique stories about the childhood of Jesus that have not been preserved anywhere else. For example, in the story of the life of Christ by the Gnostic Justin (2nd century), it is mentioned that at the age of twelve he was a shepherd and looked after a flock of sheep. This story probably arose from the common designation of Jesus as the “good shepherd.” Indeed, in the Gospel, he, instructing the entire “flock” on the good path, all people without exception, including sinners - “lost sheep”, said about himself: “I am the good shepherd […] I also have other sheep that are not of this fold , and I must bring them also: and they will hear My voice, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd” (John 10: 13-16). Justin interprets these words not as an allegory, but literally, and the young Jesus becomes a shepherd.
In a Gnostic text of the 3rd–4th centuries. The Pistis Sophia mentions that the young Savior helped his father put up supports in the vineyard. This episode from the life of Christ could also be an interpretation of an allegory from the canonical Gospel. Following the words with which the Son of God addressed the disciples, holding out the cup to them (“drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament” - Matt. 26:27), the Church correlated the Eucharistic wine with the blood of Christ. That is why his establishment of vineyards symbolized his work to save humanity.
The Christian apocrypha drew its plots not only from the above-mentioned texts, but also from folklore stories, the traditions of preachers, and sometimes they were constructed by copyists of biblical texts who tried to facilitate their understanding. That is why the Church eventually began to consider most apocrypha to be distortions of the truth. Among them were stories with such incredible titles as “The Book of the Giant Og, Who Fought with Dragons after the Flood” or “The Book of the Daughters of Adam.” However, those that survived censorship could be included in medieval books along with the official gospels - so today we have rich visual material illustrating the apocrypha about the childhood of Christ.
One of the first such apocrypha about the young Jesus was the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, created in the mid-2nd century by the author of another popular text, James's Story of the Birth of Mary.
In the latter, for example, it was said that Jesus had half-brothers, the sons of Joseph, and after the immaculate conception, Joseph and Mary were tested with bitter water (it exposed liars - if you lie and drink it, God would show the liar marks on his face and a tumor on his thigh ).
Although such stories sometimes even found their way onto church frescoes in the Middle Ages, most of the stories in this apocrypha, created to combat opponents of Christianity in the 2nd century, in particular critics of the Immaculate Conception, were later unacceptable to Catholic theology. Jerome of Stridon, a translator of the Bible into Latin, argued against the authenticity of these works in the 4th–5th centuries, but they were quite common in the East.
What is generally known about the life of Christ before the age of 30?
Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev and presenter Vladimir Nosov answer questions from radio listeners.
Father Oleg: - We congratulate you all on the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. This holiday has special significance in Rus'. Many temples are dedicated to this event; a huge number of ancient icons and images have been preserved. But, probably, every Orthodox Christian knows the words: “At the Dormition you did not forsake the world.” The Dormition of the Mother of God is the guarantee of Her approach to us. While a person lives in the flesh, in the body, there are a number of restrictions. But when a person leaves this world and enters the world of Divine glory, then his potential, the potential of his love, can be revealed to a greater extent. Moreover, there were people who, living in the flesh, acted in a similar way. Thus, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Although I am absent in flesh, I am present among you in spirit.”
-Why is the soul of the Virgin Mary depicted as a baby?
O.O: -This is an ancient tradition. It goes back to Old Testament exegesis. For example, in the book of Genesis, chapter 23. This text, according to ancient tradition, is called “The Life of Sarah.” Chapter 23 begins with these words: “Sarina’s life was 127 years. These are the summers of Sarina’s life.” But this is in the Synodal translation. And literally from the Hebrew it will turn out - Sarina’s life was 100 years 20 years 7 years. And the question immediately arises, why such clarifications? And the exegetes offered such an explanation. At a hundred years old, she looked like a 20-year-old. And at the age of 20, she had the purity of soul of a 7-year-old girl. And similar clarifications exist regarding Abraham, Isaac and other righteous people, whose deaths are reported and carry some information.
Therefore, it has been customary since the times of Old Testament exegesis to emphasize the infantile purity in a person who died at the age of more than 100 years. They took the last smallest number, and it indicated the inner state of his spirit. As Christ said: “If you are not like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” And, most likely, the ancient compilers of the lists preserved these legends. In general, the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament is very close and serious. The scientists themselves write that they cannot distinguish whether the traditions are of Jewish origin or Christian? Because the umbilical cord between the Church and the synagogue was torn for a long time. And before the veil in the temple was torn in two - Israel, Judah - it was the church of God, and now we have become the Church of God. But much of what we have is taken from there. For example, in a temple there is a seven-branched candlestick, a catapetasma, an altar. Even antiphonal singing has its roots in the practice when the Levites lined up on the steps of the temple. They couldn't sing all together, there were a lot of them. They would knock each other down. And they sang along the steps. One stage, then another, then united. And the singing seemed to move. The psalms of David were sung like this. Antiphonal singing is alternating, which is why we have two choirs. Just the tradition from the Levites.
Plus, Christ said that we must be like children, pure in soul.
The Orthodox tradition is very ancient. For example, the baby Uar died in infancy, but appeared to his mother as a perfect young man accepted into the army of Christ. We can think about each question from different angles.
-Do you know how many years of earthly life the Mother of God was?
O.O: — There are no exact data. There are different sources. Some are 50-something years old, others are 60-something years old. When I was preparing a program for Soyuz, I looked and did not find such a clear position. But in general we can say: 50-60 years of Her life on earth.
-What is generally known about the life of Christ before the age of 30?
O.O: -Up to 30 years old, let's say. The first Evangelist was a female. It was the Virgin Mary Herself. We can deduce this from the Gospel of Luke 2.51. Where it is said: “And He, Christ, went with them, with His parents. And he came to Nazareth and was in subjection to them. And His Mother kept all these words in Her heart.” This clarification means that She kept the Gospel of childhood in Her heart. And then, She could convey it to the apostles. None of the apostles witnessed Christ's childhood. According to tradition, we attribute the Gospel of Luke to the Apostle Paul. Luke was only an employee. Paul did not see Christ at all, only a vision on the way from Jerusalem to Damascus; he has been a Christian for 2-3 generations. Matthew, of course, saw Christ, but in a certain period, starting from the Baptism of John and before the Ascension. So is John. But the Virgin Mary saw Christ all His life. She knew the day of conception - the Annunciation, the day of His birth - Christmas. The event that they went to Jerusalem and stayed there. All this was preserved in Her heart. And if we talk about where Christ was - Luke 2:52: “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, in favor with God and man.” It is not clear here that He was leaving somewhere.
Strictly speaking, the life of Jesus Christ until the age of 30 is not so important for us. Because according to God’s law, He enters public service at the age of 30. People from 30 years old to 50-60 could serve God. All this was regulated. Of course, any testimony about Jesus is precious to us. For example, if we take the apocryphal Gospels, they describe many miracles that He performed as an Infant. And in the canonical Gospel of John, where it is said about Cana of Galilee, it directly says that this was the first miracle that Christ performed. Thus, apocryphal texts often conflict with canonical ones. And nowhere is it said that He went to India or somewhere else. Why learn from men if He Himself was God and Man? Divine and human in one hypostasis. And theologians, of course, paid attention to these words - he prospered in wisdom, age and love. This relates to human nature. And according to God, He is unchangeable. Christ is always the same forever. Therefore, we can say that Christ was always absolutely self-sufficient. He didn’t have to look for some mahatmas and meet someone in the jungle.
-How to maintain spiritual grace after confession?
O.O: — The question is a little wrong. I'll explain. Confession cleanses your inner world to receive the Holy Gifts - the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must try to confess right before Communion. So that, having been cleansed, you accept Christ into yourself. Remember the parable about how one house was cleaned, the evil ones were driven out, but no one moved in there. Then even worse people gathered and even more got in there. Therefore, it is correct to ask the question: how to preserve the grace that we receive in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, which we approach through the Sacrament of Confession. Such a connection exists. Unfortunately, we have very few books that advise how to maintain the state that a person experiences at Communion. And in fact, this is not even a state - it is the presence of Christ. That which conveys deification to a person, if you carefully read the prayers that we read before and after Communion. And we have a lot of books on how to prepare for Communion, but almost none on how to maintain this state. And to be honest, this is as pressing a question for me as it is for you. But I know that in Rus' it was customary on the day of Communion for a person not to eat food until the evening. Out of reverence for the Sacrament. I'm not saying everyone should do this.
Then, in my childhood in Orekhovo-Zuevo, I remember that our grandmother gave us children the order to take care of ourselves so that for three days (I don’t know why she said so strictly) not to spit. And I remember that we looked after ourselves and each other. Although drinking it assumes that after this the particles will no longer jump out of your mouth. But that’s not the point, the point is that there was fear of God. And now liberal theology inculcates the perception of God as Santa Claus, who should love everyone and give gifts. Liberal theology knows what to say when all is well. For example, the azure beach in Nice - and when there is a terrorist attack there, it no longer knows what to say. But real theology takes into account all the realities of life. And the fact that the fear of God was brought up in relation to Holy Communion is very important. Some did not eat food, others did not spit, others avoided empty talk. And by the way, the punishment was not the way a child is punished now - oh well, there won’t be a TV, you’ll go to church. You will atone for your sins. In my family it was: if you behave badly, you won’t go to church. And everyone walked, and I cried among the toys, and there was no need for a TV. Right. Because the temple is joy, it is a meeting with God. We also had special clothes for going to church.
-What about sleep after Communion?
O.O: — In fact, what is important here is the attitude, and not the folklore that surrounds it.
Let's all go back to the Virgin Mary. I have prepared an interesting text. Saint Ambrose of Milan, ancient Christian author. Speaking about the life of our Lady on earth, this is how she describes the spiritual qualities of the Mother of God, something that many of us lack. She is a Virgo not only in flesh, but also in spirit. With a humble heart, unhurried in speech. Her words are full of Divine wisdom. She is almost always reading the Holy Scriptures and is tireless in her work. She is chaste in conversations, speaking with people as before God. She never offended anyone, wishing everyone well. No one, even a wretched one, not disdaining anyone, not laughing at anyone. And all that I saw was covered with His love. A word that did not bring grace never left her lips. In all her affairs She showed the image of the highest virginity. Her outward appearance was a reflection of the inner perfection of grace and gentleness.
We find the same description in Epiphanius and Nicephorus, ancient authors who give us precisely a description of Her appearance. - In any case, She constantly spoke very little, only about the necessary and good. Her words were sweet to the ear. She treated everyone with respect. I had a corresponding conversation with each one. Without laughing, without being indignant. Moreover, without getting angry. Her height was average, her complexion was the color of a grain of wheat, her hair was light brown and somewhat golden. The pure descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were fair-haired. The look is quick and insightful. The eyes were the color of a Pancake week fruit. The eyebrows are slightly inclined and dark. The nose is average. The lips are like the color of a rose and sweet-tongued. The face is not quite round. The arms and fingers are oblong, as is the face. There was no pride in Her. Simplicity in everything, without the slightest pretense. She was always alien to any pretense, while at the same time showing an example of the highest humility. Her clothes were simple, without any artificial decoration. The covering of Her head that has survived to this day speaks about this. In a word, in everything She showed the Divine grace that penetrated Her. This is what all authors say.
- Just in time for behavior after Communion. The words of St. Ambrose indicate that the Mother of God practiced reading Scripture. This is the best option after Communion. It is not for nothing that Bible talks take place after the Liturgy.
O.O: -I think this makes sense to keep people in churches.
It’s so good to stay after the service to study the Gospel or have conversations with the priest. In the book of Proverbs there are these words: Let not the springs of this well run over the streets of this city. The missionary’s task at the parish is: the more people he stops leaving the church, the better. By the way, our communities abroad live like this. There I watched when they were driving to church on Sunday and loading the car. They loaded it with soccer balls, a cauldron for pilaf, diapers and everything necessary. I ask: after church, are we going to go somewhere to the country? They say: no, we spend the whole day in the temple. It had its own program for children and teenagers. All this was combined with spiritual conversations. And the person very lively and joyfully goes to church for the whole Sunday.
-Why do you call the Apostle Paul an apostle of the second generation?
O.O: — The first generation includes the apostles who were with Christ. Including even Judas Iscariot.
The second generation of apostles are those who appeared after the Ascension of Christ. He could miraculously appear to them. Another miracle of conversion was that they became apostles of the faith. And the third generation is their students, their secretaries. That's how it is. When we say: the apostles of the first generation - this is understandable, 12 apostles. Even the one who betrayed Him. About the apostles of the second generation they usually say: from among the 70. But this is very conditional. And the Apostle Paul and Luke are included in this number.
By the way, it is not clearly written anywhere that Mark was directly called by Christ. But he is considered an apostle of the church, and we do not dispute this. There were different stages of development. Of course, the Apostle Paul is very dear to our hearts. I really like how John Chrysostom calls it the Harp of the Holy Spirit. And indeed, he was such a person. But there were also difficult relationships between the apostles. And precisely between the apostles of the first and second generation. This is evidenced by the New Testament texts, in which we observe misunderstandings on certain issues.
-How did the life of the Mother of God turn out after the Ascension of Christ?
O.o.: — When Jesus Christ dies on the cross, He adopts John the Theologian to Her. With the look, with the words He speaks. Although some exegetes believe that in the person of John the Theologian He adopted all Christians to the Virgin Mary. Because John the Theologian was as a representative. The rest all ran away. And tradition teaches that the Mother of God lived with him after this, and Scripture confirms this.
The house of John the Evangelist in Jerusalem was located in Zion. Where is the tomb of King David. Near. Some argue that this is generally one room. The first floor is the synagogue, the tomb of King David, the second is the house of John the Evangelist. Zion Upper Room. This is possible because we know: the three apostles - John the Theologian, the Apostle Paul and Archdeacon Stephen were students, in Hebrew, the most prestigious yeshiva in Jerusalem, they studied at the feet of Gamaliel, as the Apostle Paul writes. That is, they were part of the Jewish elite. Like the best students of the academy of that time. And then it was accepted that they could really live next to some holy places. Even at the Jerusalem Temple there were some premises for living. Joseph, who served in this temple, describes it. Describes precisely the premises where the priests lived with their families. And we know from legend that the Virgin Mary lived for some time at the temple. So, She began to live with John the Theologian. He took care of her as Her son. She leaves Jerusalem with him when he goes on some apostolic journey. And he returns. We see from the life of Her Dormition that She had two assistants, maids who helped Her. I think this was more due to the fact that the house of John the Evangelist was visited by a huge number of people, and there it was necessary to take care of them: feed them, help restore order. So, it is told about the Virgin Mary that when She lived in Jerusalem, she always went to the Mount of Olives, because this is the place from which Christ ascended to heaven. And the angels of God told the apostles that Christ would come just as you saw Him ascending into heaven. And it is possible that the first Christians believed that He would return to this mountain. And She looked at the sky and prayed, this was Her favorite place.
And one day, when She was on the Mount of Olives, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her, She already knew him (Annunciation), and he greeted Her with a branch of paradise in his hands. He hands her over as a guarantee that She will be in heaven. And he informs Her that She must prepare to leave this world and go to Her Son. And the Virgin Mary returns to the house and reports this news to John the Theologian. He informs the Patriarch of the Jerusalem Church, then the head of the entire Church, Patriarch James, the Brother of the Lord. And soon everyone learned that the Virgin Mary, who was the center of their spiritual life, such a visible, tangible testimony, would leave this world. This was a big shock for them. The Virgin Mary was very sad that there were no apostles in Jerusalem except James and John. She wanted to say goodbye to them. The disciples of Her Son were probably perceived by Her as Her spiritual children. And the Virgin-Elder, from whose heart the Gospel comes, was a source of grace-filled instructions. We know that She led a very modest lifestyle. Among the clothes She had were clothes for death, and besides this, two more women's shirts. And She gives these shirts to Her assistants. And suddenly noise from the street filled the whole house, the believers came out and saw the apostles flying in the clouds. Miraculously, the Lord led them to this house. And the apostles themselves were surprised; they did not know why the Lord had gathered them. They haven't seen each other for a long time. And John the Theologian comes out and says: Our Mother is leaving this world, and the apostles are surrounding Her bed. If we look at the icon of the Assumption, we see 12 apostles. This means that the Apostle Paul also fell at Her feet. In ancient times, a version was expressed that after the death of Judas, which God foresaw, there was no need to choose another. But we also accept the Apostle Matthew, whom they chose.
A fragrance emanated from the Virgin Mary all the time. They even named the flowers that fragrant in Her presence. There was a serious problem; Christians did not know how to bury Her. She bequeathed to bury her in Gethsemane, and it was necessary to bring Her to the burial place. If they bury Her, then the Jews will no longer go there. But until She was buried, they could do whatever they wanted. Militant Jews who hated Jesus Christ began to flock into groups to find out the place where the apostles would go. And they went and performed the ritual, it is known, it is written. Every Jew knows the ritual of transferring the body. They took turns singing psalms. And the Lord lowered the cloud of fog. So thick, like milk. And you could hear singing that people were walking, but you couldn’t see where they were walking. There are a lot of streets there! And it was difficult to find. And the enemies even felt the scent - that’s how they wanted to find it. And what happened happened. God allowed one fanatical Jewish priest, about whom it is reported in the life that he was physically very strong, to see how the body of the Mother of God was carried. And he rushed, hung with various amulets, so strong and powerful, with a roar, screaming and squealing. He rushes onto the bed of the Virgin Mary to turn it over. But the Archangel of God Michael appears, who cuts off his hands, and they hang on the bed. And this man, this religious man, as Christ says: “Some, by killing you, will think that they are serving God.” He sees the Archangel Michael, this is most likely the first vision in his life. He understands that this is a miracle and that he has committed a crime. Jews have a very developed concept of “measure for measure.” There is no punishment without guilt. And the apostles tell him: ask for forgiveness. And this priest - his name was Afoniy - was the first person on the planet who began to pray, turning to the Virgin Mary. Because then no one had prayed to Her yet. And the apostles say to him: put your hands on it. He applied it and they grew together. And he joins this procession, it is again covered with fog, a shining cloud. And they come to the place of Her burial. It takes place in the cave where Her body was laid. We read special prayers. And the entrance was blocked with a huge stone. But, as always, the Apostle Thomas was late. She has already been buried. He demands to be shown Her, he must say goodbye to Her. He loves her. They all loved the Virgin Mary. She was the real Heart of the Church. For example, as Acts 1:14 says: “They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with certain women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers.” That's when the Holy Spirit will descend upon us richly - when we have unanimity with each other.
And they open the entrance to the cave, roll away this huge stone, I think it really was huge, because they were afraid that there would be people who wanted to commit sacrilege. Even from a Jewish point of view. Why? Because they didn’t climb into the cemetery. That's why Christians gathered in cemeteries. Even the Romans could arrest a Christian anywhere, but not in a cemetery, this was not accepted. And so, when they entered the cave, they saw no one there. It was filled with fragrance. They go out into the street in a crowd - and there is a bright light from heaven, an overshadowing cloud, and they see the Virgin Mary in the air. And now the whole Church exclaims: Most Holy Theotokos, save us! Well, the words may have been different. But since then, prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary will become a common Christian practice. Ancient prayers are preserved mainly in Latin. One of the most famous is Ave Maria. This is familiar to us: “Virgin Mother of God, Rejoice.” This is the first part. And the second part: Santa Maria, pray for me both now and on the day of death. That is, Christians wanted to trust in the Virgin Mary not only in this life, but also in the future. Because the image of Her departure from this world changes the entire format of death. Death ceases to be something terrible. It turns into the Assumption. And in Greek policies, cemeteries began to be called by a word that can be translated into Russian as a bedroom, a tomb. We pray for the Christian death of the Mother of God, who revealed to us the image of the Dormition. So that She would help us in the next world.
-The high priests, who so carefully observed the life of Christ, did they really not know that He was born in Bethlehem, and not in Nazareth?
O.O.: -I don’t think that in the early period they watched Him so closely. Because when people asked them a question, it seemed like they were puzzled by it. And they answered according to the Scriptures that the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem. And Christ is really born in Bethlehem, where He arrives with the Holy Family for the census. But in general, there are moments in the New Testament where Christ prayed on the cross: “God, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” But the Apostle Paul unexpectedly, speaking, says, addressing the Jews: “Your leaders, out of ignorance, condemned Him to death.” Why did he say that? Well, we can say that this is such a missionary technique that he knew that the Jews greatly revered their elders. Their veneration is sometimes akin to man-deification. When they start kissing a person’s clothes, touching his beard, etc.
But Paul still said so. And such texts are found in the New Testament. Indeed, in human terms it is difficult to imagine: believers who read the Law of God, the prophets, and the Psalter all their lives are absolutely convinced that this is the Messiah, and they are fighting with Him. Everything is more complicated. In the understanding of Judaism of that time, a blessed person is a rich person, and a beggar is a person cursed by God. They professed the ideology of enrichment. And this attachment to everything worldly prevented them from building a right relationship with the Messiah. After all, every time they plotted to kill the Lord Jesus was every time He carried out pogroms of their retail outlets near the Jerusalem temple. That is, their business was above all else for them. There's a lot to think about.
God bless and preserve you!
"The Gospel of Thomas": the revival of sparrows and the death of the teacher
Each chapter of The Gospel of Thomas describes one of the miracles performed by the child Jesus. It also discussed in detail his stay with his family in Egypt - an episode only briefly mentioned in the New Testament. Two-year-old Christ and his family lived with a young widow who sheltered them. One day he began throwing salted fish into a basin, which immediately released salt and came to life (researchers believe that this may be a hint at the revival of Egyptian mummies, as well as future miracles of the resurrection of people). The neighbors suspected the holy family of sorcerers, so Joseph, Mary and their child had to move. At the age of three, Jesus was walking through the city and saw a teacher giving a lecture to his disciples. Then he threw grain to the twelve guest sparrows sitting next to him - the birds began to fight for food and eventually fell right on top of the teacher. The teacher grabbed the Savior by the ear, but he told him the meaning of his leprosy - this was a hint of strife among his students; here also a parallel was implied with the future twelve apostles of Christ. For this prank, young Jesus and his family are again driven out of the city, and in the next chapter they move to Nazareth.
In a new place, five-year-old Jesus, playing, built small ponds, and in them he made twelve clay sparrows. The neighbors were outraged by his action - after all, it was Saturday, holy for Jews, on this day nothing could be made. Joseph had already begun to scold his child, but Jesus revived the sparrows, and they began to fly and praise God.
All the Jews were amazed, but one of the boys began to destroy the ponds of Christ. Then he called him “a wicked, ignorant sodomite” and cursed him, so much so that he immediately fell and died. This apocryphal episode was known to Muhammad through the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior and even became part of the Koran: “O Isa, son of Maryam! Remember the mercy I showed you and your mother. I supported you with the Holy Spirit (Jibril), thanks to which you spoke to people in the cradle and as an adult. I taught you the Scripture, wisdom, Taurat (Torah) and Injil (Gospel). By My permission you made statues of birds from clay and blew on them, and by My permission they became birds” (5.110).
The hatred and misunderstanding towards the child Jesus only intensified after this act (forming a parallel to his persecution as an adult). A few days after the miracle with the sparrows, one of the children hit Christ on the street (in other versions, he threw a stone or crashed into him). However, as soon as the boy did this, he immediately fell dead. Then the young man's parents complained to Joseph about Jesus, but instead of resurrecting the murdered boy, Christ blinded his parents for their insolence. Then Joseph grabbed his stepson by the ear, to which Jesus said: “You don’t know who I am, but if you knew, you wouldn’t make me angry.”
Then the parents decide to send Christ to school. The teacher was amazed at the child’s knowledge, but ordered him to first learn the alphabet. Then Jesus began to predict the future of the teacher (sad, and apparently relating to all Jews who would be punished in the future for crucifying the Savior). Afterwards, Joseph nevertheless took his son to study writing with a second teacher. However, here too Christ began to be willful. As soon as the teacher hit him on the head (which was the norm in schools at that time), the godman told him: “I should teach you, not you teach me.” After this, he told him the entire alphabet by heart and discovered the secret meaning of the first letter (alef). The teacher recognized God in Jesus, and he healed all the people around them from all illnesses.
In the next story, Christ, along with other boys, jumped from the roof of a house. A neighbor boy jumped and fell to his death. The boy's parents thought that it was Jesus who pushed him, and in order to refute this, the Son of God forced the child to resurrect and tell him that this was not true.
A similar miracle happened a few days later. A boy, Christ's neighbor, was chopping wood and accidentally cut his leg (in those days this meant death from sepsis). Then the young Savior touched his foot and healed him. The crowd immediately believed that he was God. In the next episode, six-year-old Jesus, at the command of his mother, went to draw water into an earthen jug. However, people crowding around the well accidentally broke the vessel. Then the young Christ took water into his cloak, demonstrating another miracle.
Then the God-man went with Joseph to sow wheat. The harvest from what Christ sowed turned out to be a hundredfold - the family distributed the grain to the poor and orphans.
The following episode describes the profession of carpentry mentioned in the New Testament for Joseph and his son. When Christ was eight years old, he heard that his father was asked to make a bed, but Joseph did not have long enough boards for this. Then Jesus took hold of a piece of wood, pulled, and miraculously lengthened it.
After this, Joseph decides to send Christ to school for the third time. The boy sabotaged his lessons and refused to study. Then the teacher became enraged and hit Jesus on the head - it’s easy to guess that the teacher instantly paid for this offense with his life (however, in the end, the Son of God resurrects all those killed by him in this apocrypha). Joseph was afraid that the townspeople would be outraged by the behavior of his son, and ordered Mary to put him under house arrest. However, his friend, also a teacher, came to Joseph and offered to transfer the boy to home schooling. Christ for the fourth time began to tell his wisdom to the teacher, instead of listening to him, but he did not beat him. On the contrary, he was so amazed by the child’s knowledge that he called many people, and they all admired the schoolboy’s extraordinary sermon.
In the final chapters of The Gospel of Thomas, Jesus heals a man who was bitten by a viper by simply blowing on his wound - and the snake then dies on its own; he also resurrects a seriously ill young man and revives a construction worker who died due to an accident.
The apocrypha ends with the story of how the already twelve-year-old Jesus and his parents return to Jerusalem for Easter. On the way back, Joseph and Mary only think that their son is coming with them, but in fact he secretly returns to Jerusalem and preaches in the temple to all the teachers and elders.
In another similar apocrypha, “The Book of Joseph the Carpenter,” created in the 4th–5th centuries in Egypt, the author no longer shows the miracles of the young Christ, as in the “Gospel of the Childhood of Thomas,” and does not attribute them to the Virgin Mary, as in the “Nativity Story of Jacob.” Mary,” but ennobles Joseph—for example, by saying that he was ninety years old at the time of Jesus’ birth, which means he could not be the biological father of the Savior. This book tells in detail about Joseph’s sons from previous marriages—Christ’s half-brothers—and also describes in detail the death of Elder Joseph. This information was extremely valuable for theologians, since it refuted the popular point of view of opponents of Christianity, who reasoned that since Jesus had brothers, the Virgin Mary did not remain a virgin throughout her life.
The meaning of the number 33 in the Bible
Christians pay special attention to the number 33, especially after the death of Jesus Christ at this age and his resurrection as God. The thirty-three-year-old Savior, who shared bread and shelter with ordinary people, deliberately went to death and torture in order to free the laity from the burden of sin.
At 33, he realized the importance and necessity of his mission. This is evidenced by his last prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. At first, as a simple man, Jesus turned to God the Father to help him survive suffering and free himself from pain. Then he calmed down and said that if everything was as the Almighty had planned, He would fulfill His destiny.
There are many references to the number 33 in Scripture:
- Adam and all the people after him had 33 thorns;
- Jacob had 33 sons;
- King David reigned for 33 years;
- in the first three chapters of Genesis 33 times we talk about the God of Gods Elohim;
- The Savior preached for three years and walked with his disciples on earth, during which time He performed 33 miracles.
In the created Almighty world, each number has its own special meaning.
“Arabic Gospel of the Savior’s Childhood”: the rapist serpent and the mad Judas
In the “Arabic Gospel of the Childhood of the Savior,” written in Arabic in the 5th–6th centuries based on ancient legends, Christ appears as an even more incredible organizer of miracles than in the “Gospel of Thomas.” He begins to speak for the first time in the cradle, and then heals the old midwife from paralysis with one touch.
Seeing how powerful the baby is, she preserves the foreskin of Christ after circumcision, placing it in a vessel with oil and giving it to her son, an incense seller, for safekeeping, instructing her never to give the relic to anyone (in the Gospel of John Judas wants to sell this vessel, which here hints at his future betrayal of Christ).
It was not ordinary people who came to worship the divine baby, but magicians from the East, which was previously predicted by Zaradusht himself (Zoroastrian prophet Zarathustra). Mary gave them one of Christ's swaddling clothes, and the fire worshipers, returning to Persia, tried to burn it, but the fabric remained untouched. After the news that King Herod wants to kill Jesus, the family moves to Egypt, where another miracle occurs. As soon as Jesus was brought into the city, the earth shook there, and the local priests began to ask their pagan idol what was the matter, to which he replied: “A secret God came here, but truly He is God. And besides Him, no one is worthy to be revered as God, for He is truly the Son of God,” and then collapsed.
Satan lived in the idol, who also inhabited the son of the chief priest. He was not himself and attacked people, and now this boy chose Joseph and Mary as his target. The Mother of God was drying Jesus' diapers on poles, and the demoniac, jumping up to the holy family, became entangled in them. Their miraculous power immediately began to drive out demons from the young man, and they, turning into snakes and crows, began to jump out of his mouth. When reason returned to the boy, he began to glorify Christ.
After this, the fame of the miraculous baby spread throughout all lands. Passing by one wedding, Maria gave her child to the deaf-mute bride to hold, and she, barely cradling him in her arms, miraculously began to speak and hear. Hiding from Herod's persecution, the family moved all the time, and after living with the healed bride for three days, they moved to a new city.
There lived a virtuous wife who was raped every night by Satan in the form of a snake coiled around her womb. As soon as the wife saw the baby Jesus, she asked Mary to hold him and kiss him. After that, Satan never approached her again.
The next day, the woman saved from the serpent decided to bathe the infant Christ, and with the water remaining after washing him, she washed the leper girl, whose body had already become completely white - and she immediately recovered. Taking this girl as a companion, the holy family healed the son of the wife of the ruler of the city they came to from leprosy. In another city, Jesus cured a cursed man of impotence simply by spending the night in his house. Near another city, the family met three sisters crying over a richly decorated mule standing nearby. Maria was surprised that such honors were given to a beast of burden, and the sisters told her a heartbreaking story: their brother was turned into a mule by witch brides, inflamed with jealousy towards each other. Placing Christ on the back of the animal, Mary asked to make the mule back a man. The mule immediately turned into a young man, and they decided to give him the companion of the holy family, a former leper, as his wife.
The family then went in search of a source of water and discovered a fig tree standing in the desert. Christ showed his family a source, Mary washed his shirt in it, and then saw that a balm appeared in that area from the sweat of the divine baby. Arriving in Bethlehem, Mary again helped a woman whose son was dying: she sprinkled him with the water in which she bathed Jesus, and he was saved. With the same water she healed a neighbor's boy, who was almost blind from an eye disease. Through the miracles of Christ, Mary also saved a child with a fever - a shirt was made for him from her son’s diapers. The mother of this child was envious, and she tried to kill the survivor: she pushed him into a hot oven, threw him into a well.
However, each time he was saved thanks to the intercession of the baby Jesus - the oven instantly cooled down, and the water in the well kept the boy on the surface. The envious woman ended up falling into the well herself, getting tangled in a rope.
Mary saved another local child, dying of illness, by putting him in bed with Jesus and covering him with the clothes of the god-man. Mary healed another woman with leprosy (and another of her acquaintances), again with the help of water. In the same city there lived a young woman who was tormented by Satan in the form of a dragon - he appeared to her and sucked the blood out of her. Mary again gave this girl some of the water in which she had bathed Jesus, as well as his swaddling cloth. Placing the veil on her head, the girl witnessed a miracle - a flame burst out of the rag and burned the dragon.
Further, the “Arab Gospel” tells how one Bethlehem youth named Judas was possessed by demons, and then he bit everyone around him or himself.
One day, Jesus was taken to play with other children, and there he met Judas, who decided to kill the Lord. However, only after wounding Christ’s side did he burst into tears, and the demon in the form of a dog came out of him. This boy was the same Judas who, a few decades later, would betray the Savior.
Then the text reproduces the story about the clay sparrows - with the difference that here the seven-year-old Jesus molds various animals from clay, which he then makes move, and the birds fly, as well as eat and drink.
The same apocrypha describes a very popular story in later adaptations about how Jesus met a dyer named Salem. Running into his shop in the midst of games with other children, Christ took expensive fabrics and threw them into a vat of indigo (the most expensive dye). The enraged dyer began to scold the boy at all costs, but Christ began to pull the fabrics out of the vat, and they were now dyed exactly the colors that the artisan wanted to achieve. This story relates to the Gnostic Gospel of Philip, in which God himself is called the dyer: “As good colors, which are called true, die along with what is painted with them, so also what God has dyed. For his colors are immortal, they become immortal thanks to his colors. So God baptizes those whom he baptizes in water.” In the apocrypha, the young Jesus himself clearly demonstrates the meaning of this parable, changing the colors, that is, human life, with the help of the Christian faith.
The Arab Gospel, unlike other sources, presents Joseph as a not very skilled carpenter, since “wherever he went, the Lord Jesus was always with him. And every time Joseph needed to do something the size of a cubit or three-quarters of a cubit, longer than that or shorter, wider than that or narrower, as soon as the Lord Jesus stretched out his hand to that thing, it became the way Joseph wanted, and his own he didn’t have to work with his hands.”
There is also a separate story about a carpenter's miracle: the king wanted to order a throne from Joseph, and when two years later it was ready, it turned out that the size of the throne was wrong. Joseph was very afraid of the king's anger, but his son simply pulled one side of the throne and straightened it.
In the next episode, the Son of God wanted to play with the neighbor kids, but they ran away from him in fear. Then he asked their mothers where they had gone and pointed to the children under the shed - but the women assured Jesus that they were just kids. Then he turned the hidden children into kids, and their mothers, fearing his power, begged for mercy and called him “the true shepherd.” In the Latin text, this episode, due to a copyist’s mistake, confusing the word “canopy” (in fornice) with “oven” (in fornace), gave rise to an additional version of the legend.
In another scene, Christ gathered all the youths around him and, laying his clothes on the ground, sat on them like a king. The children placed a crown on his head and began to behave like his courtiers. They asked everyone who walked by to honor the king. One day they carried past them a boy who had been bitten by a snake - Christ commanded the poisonous snake to come out of its hole, bow to him and suck the poison back out of the boy. After the snake healed the young man, Jesus told it to die, and so it did. And the cured boy turned out to be one of the Savior’s future disciples, Simon the Canaanite.
Then the text follows stories that are already familiar to us: about the healing of someone stung by a viper; about a boy who fell from a roof and was resurrected by Christ; about water collected in a cloak; about clay sparrows and the punishment of a boy who ruined a dam; the murdered youth who pushed Jesus; punishment of the teacher who dared to hit Christ.
The Arab Gospel ends with a slightly modified story about the stay of the twelve-year-old Savior in the Temple of Jerusalem. There he talks with scientists, explaining to them the law, doctrine, and the structure of celestial bodies, talking in detail about the secrets of medicine and physics.
Of the eighteen episodes of “The Gospel of Thomas,” only eleven are repeated here, and Christ does not resurrect the boys and teacher he killed. There are also five new stories. All these scenes serve as a kind of foreshadowing of the future acts of the Son of God, which are described in the New Testament. Apparently, the "Arabic Gospel" was not rewritten from the "Gospel of Thomas", but was inspired by oral traditions, which made its stories so similar to oriental tales. This text, as we have already seen, influenced even the Koran and was distributed among Christians in Egypt (Copts) and nomadic Arabs. The “Arab Gospel” penetrated into Europe no later than the 13th century, becoming a source of inspiration for artists who illustrated the story of the Savior’s childhood.
Medieval “Childhood of the Savior”: how a palm tree gets to heaven
In the 9th–10th centuries, new, Latin versions of the Gospels of Christ’s childhood appeared, which were then translated into the national languages of Europe. In the medieval “Book of the Birth of the Graceful Mary and the Childhood of the Savior”, in the form of correspondence between Jerome, an opponent of the apocrypha, and the bishops (false, of course), on behalf of the former, it is said that the book was written by the Evangelist Matthew himself in Aramaic, and as if Jerome himself translated this work, to cast aside all doubts about hitherto unknown episodes in the life of the Savior and his mother. Matthew, one of the four authors of the history of the life of Jesus, was as indisputable an authority as Jerome, an expert in the Scriptures and its languages. Since Matthew was not actually the author of this Gospel, scholars began to call the apocrypha the “Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.”
Compared to the late ancient apocrypha, it is even more amazing for the reader - Jesus works miracles in it not from the age of five, as in early sources, but from infancy, even the most powerful people and animals are subordinate to him, the Roman and Egyptian authorities are subject to him, not to mention already about heaven, and fantastic creatures live on earth.
In addition, since the fight against paganism in the 10th century was no longer relevant, the devil himself becomes the main enemy of Christ, and even the boy who destroys the dams of Jesus is called the devil.
“The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew” begins with stories about Mary’s ancestors, her marriage to Joseph (the right to marry was played out by lot - Joseph miraculously flew out a dove from his staff, indicating that he should be with Mary), about doubts Joseph regarding Mary's virginity and subsequent testing in the temple with bitter water.
Christ's first miracle is described in the story of a midwife who doubted Mary's virginity, for which she paid with her own hand (and was later healed by Jesus).
The second miracle of the infant Christ occurs on the way to Egypt - the holy family decides to rest in the shadow of a cave, when it suddenly turns out that this place is inhabited by a great many dragons. Everyone is scared and wants to run, but Jesus gets away from his mother and the dragons begin to bow to him. Leopards and lions come out and also worship the true God, and then even accompany the family, showing the right path.
While resting in the desert on the third day of the journey, Mary wanted to taste the fruit from a very long palm tree, since there was nothing to drink, but Elder Joseph could not climb so high. Then Christ made the tree bend down and everyone was able to be satisfied with the fruits. A source of water opens under the roots of the palm tree, and, as if in gratitude for this service, Jesus, with the help of an angel, carries a branch of this palm tree to heaven to plant it there.
Then Christ shortened the family's journey from thirty days to one, and they immediately arrived in Egypt.
When the family entered the local pagan temple, all the idols in it immediately fell to the ground, and the mayor himself came with an army to deal with it. However, instead of attacking Mary and the baby, he bowed to them and recognized Jesus as the true God.
These new episodes are replaced by those already familiar to us from earlier apocrypha: the miracle of clay sparrows and the punishment of the boy who destroyed the dam, here the “son of the devil”; the murder of the “son of perdition”, who ran at Jesus - however, in this version the Savior resurrects him, “taking him by the ear” (and in the illustration he does this completely reluctantly, with a kick); confrontation with teachers; a child falling from a roof and being resurrected; miracle with water in a raincoat; miracle with multiplication of harvest. Then a new story is told about a lioness in a cave, which was tamed by the eight-year-old Christ - he crossed the river, which parted before him, right along with the lions, and entered the city with them, frightening the inhabitants.
Afterwards there are familiar stories again - about helping Joseph with a carpentry order, the murder of a teacher, healing from a snake bite, as well as a variation on the theme of reviving the dead - the resurrection of a person who died from illness with the help of Joseph's handkerchief. The apocrypha ends with the following phrase: “When Jesus slept, day and night the light of God shone upon him”; she emphasizes his supernatural abilities.
Apocrypha options: transformation into pigs and death jumps
In some versions of the three childhood gospels discussed in this article, another story appears, possibly coming from Ethiopian collections of apocryphal tales.
In it, Jesus rides in front of other children in the sun's rays. They, carried away by his fun, try to do the same, but fall, breaking their arms and legs.
The Savior, of course, heals them - however, in some versions of the text the author indicates that Christ foresaw the future, and therefore specifically tempted other children so that they would suffer by breaking their limbs.
In European manuscripts there are numerous versions of the stories listed above, in which they become even more fantastic. For example, in the episode with the hiding children, they climb into the oven, and Jesus asks their parents what is there. In response, they tell him that there are pigs there, and, opening the valve, they are surprised that the guys really turned into pigs. However, Jesus immediately casts a spell on them so that he can finally play with someone.
In another version, a townsman, afraid for his son because of Jesus, locks him in the house, but Christ rescues his playmate by pulling him right through the keyhole.
In an alternative version of the scene with the broken pot at the well, it is deliberately broken by boys who do not like Jesus. In response, the Son of God calmly puts it back together from the fragments and hangs it to dry on a ray of sunlight (a medieval artist misunderstood this word and turned the ray into a wooden beam).
The boys beat their pots to mold them back together, as Christ had just done, but nothing works out for them - then the Savior repairs their pots and also hangs them on the beam.
The story of jumping off the roof also has an alternative - in it, children jump from slides, which also leads to their death.
In many versions of the dyer's apocrypha, Jesus even becomes his apprentice. In this version, seven-year-old Christ was impatient to quickly go home from his hated work, and out of anger he threw all the fabrics into a vat of indigo. The upset dyer began to scold the disobedient student, but Christ, pulling the fabrics back, miraculously changed their colors to the required ones (in some versions, the Virgin Mary, annoyed with the behavior of her son, asks him to do this). The episode with the vat was especially loved by the medieval dyers' workshop, who considered Jesus one of the patron saints of their craft.
In addition, in some medieval illustrations to the early Christian apocrypha about the childhood of the Savior, he helps his parents with homework, washes clothes, lights the fire, or serves it on the table.
The tradition of such images, where the young Jesus is busy with housework, survived until recently. In them, the Holy Family appears as an ideal for every family, and the diligent youth Jesus (who, for example, sweeps the floors) becomes a model of behavior for any child.
In Russia since the end of the 18th century. sometimes they painted instructive icons on the plot of the “Physical Labor of the Holy Family” according to European models: in them Jesus helps his stepfather Joseph work on wood, and the Virgin Mary is engaged in yarn. They were also widespread in the Soviet period during renovationism, a movement that tried to adapt Orthodoxy to new socialist realities.
The hammer with which Christ worked could resemble the hammer of the Soviet coat of arms on such icons, and the icon itself was renamed in the spirit of the slogans of a socialist poster: “The Holy Family is a teacher of labor.”
This image had a didactic function and showed the diligent and obedient youth Jesus as a model of behavior for a Soviet child.
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Surprisingly, the apocrypha has survived to this day not only thanks to memorable stories about the childhood of Christ and illustrations to them, but also because new texts of this kind appeared even in the 20th century. For example, in 1910 in Germany, a publisher claimed to have found an ancient Coptic manuscript about the childhood of Christ, which he himself translated into German. It told on behalf of the Egyptian doctor Benan, allegedly a childhood friend of Jesus, how the Savior was raised by a certain Egyptian astronomer, and also how he was then initiated into the secret art of healing. Ten years later, scientists realized that this was a fake, but today it can also be considered as an original literary monument, showing what an indelible impression the authentic apocrypha about the childhood of Christ made on connoisseurs of ancient literature in the 20th century.
The Age of Christ for Men and Women
Centuries have passed, but the age of Christ has a special significance for men and women of our time. Physiologically, the body reaches maturity, the growth and formation of all organs stops. The aging response has not yet begun, but depending on your lifestyle, it may appear soon. Men and women begin to feel tired, the craving for unbridled fun and celebration disappears.
The 33rd anniversary is a significant event for women and men, when values and care for children and family change, and a measured, calm life comes to the fore.
From a psychological point of view, the time is coming to reassess moral values. A person realizes his purpose in this life and understands what faith means to him, and realizes its meaning for himself. A period of spiritual maturity begins, an understanding of sin and responsibility for its commission is formed.
