Christ and the Dragon

We don't have very much information about the childhood of Jesus.  Only two of the four Gospels included in the New Testament (Matthew and Luke) have anything to say about the birth and childhood of our Savior.

The rarity of information about the childhood of Jesus in the scriptures led to a hunger of early Christians for more detail about the early life of Jesus.  This hunger was filled by a number of apocryphal writings in the 2nd century and later known as the "Infancy Gospels" – none of which were accepted by the Church as Divinely inspired Scripture, but were nonetheless very popular and considered useful.  The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (allegedly written by Matthew himself) is one of these Infancy Gospels.

In this text the holy families flight into Egypt (Matthew 2: 13 – 18) is elaborated.  Where the Gospel of Matthew is sparse with details, the apocryphal gospel of Pseudo-Matthew fills in some of those gaps, and like the Evangelist linked the events of Christ's life with texts from the Old Testament.

And when Herod saw that he had been made sport of by the magi, his heart swelled with rage, and he sent through all the roads, wishing to seize them and put them to death.  But when he could not find them at all; he sent anew to Bethlehem and all its borders, and slew all the male children whom he found of two years old and under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the magi. 

Now the day before this was done Joseph was warned in his sleep by the angel of the Lord, who said to him, "Take Mary and the child, and go into Egypt by way of the desert. And Joseph went according to the saying of the angel.

And having come to a certain cave, and wishing to rest in it, the blessed Mary dismounted from her beast, and sat down with the child Jesus in her bosom.  And there with Joseph and three boys, and with Mary a girl, going on the journey along with them.  And, lo, suddenly there came forth from the cave many dragons; and when the children saw them, they cried out in great terror. 

Then Jesus went down from the bosom of His mother, and stood on His feet before the dragons; and they adored Jesus, and thereafter retired. Then was fulfilled that which was said by David, the prophet, saying, "Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons; ye dragons and all ye deeps."  (Psalm 148:7)  And the young child Jesus, walking before them, commanded them to hurt no man.

But Mary and Joseph were very much afraid lest the child should be hurt by the dragons. And Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid, and do not consider me to be a little child; for I am and always have been perfect; and all the beasts of the forest must needs be tame before me."           

Merry Christmas, indeed!

           

"Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons; ye dragons and all ye deeps." From the beginning of scripture the promise was made that the dragon, the serpent, the enemy of mankind would bow before the Lord Jesus, and be crushed beneath his feet.  The infant Jesus was the offspring of the woman who would break the power of sin and death and trample upon the serpent.

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Just a reminder.  We have 12 days of bell-ringing left (including today).  The Salvation Army of Fairmont, MN needs to raise $23,000 in our kettles so that we can continue to provide assistance to those residents of Martin County who struggle to make ends meet.  Your contributions are greatly appreciated.  If you'd like to donate to the Salvation Army of  Fairmont / Martin County MN you can use this link.  (You can also use that link to find The Salvation Army unit nearest to you...)  Thank you for thinking of us during this season.