The Latin Infancy Gospels
There's a Gospel called "The Latin Infancy Gospels" that doesn't appear in our Bible. Scholars believe it was composed somewhere around the mid-seventh century and they aren't sure WHO wrote it or WHERE they wrote it from.
It's called The "Latin" Infancy Gospels because scholars seem to think it's a partial re-working of 2 other Gospels that also aren't found in our Bibles ...
ONE - The Latin version of the "Proto-Gospel of James" written in the late second-century.
And.
TWO - the "Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew" in the mid-seventh century.
Much like those other 2 Gospels, this Gospel contains stories of Jesus and Mary and Joseph that are clearly more legendary than they are historical. Some of the events in the story closely resemble the events from Matthew and Luke's birth story while others seem to be completely out of this world.
Fake.
Clearly not historical.
Fabricated.
BUT.
Like we’ve said before on the blog and podcast, who cares ... right? Perhaps the point of all of these Jesus stories along with the birth narratives that we share and recite at Christmas time isn't to relay historical information to us, but to inspire us and deepen our own wonderings about the life of Christ so that we may be enlivened to live our lives just as the stories tell us that he lived his.
... to do even "greater things" than he did, as John's Gospel says.
This can be mind-bending, I know. Especially when for your entire life you were told that these stories are historical, that they are "true" in the sense that they really happened, that we dare not question their historical accuracy.
And so.
If you're not there yet, I understand. Even if you never get there, I understand. If you want to get close, though, try reading THIS book by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan.
Wherever you are, though, this story I came across this morning is super interesting and so I wanted to share it with you. The writer of The Latin Infancy Gospels says that after Mary gave birth the midwife came out of the cave (that was lit solely by Mary's presence!) and reported to Joseph's son (Symeon) what had transpired with the birth of Jesus ...
"In that hour", she said, "all became quiet with deep silence and awe. For even the winds stopped and gave no breeze, and not a single leaf on the trees was stirred nor sound of waters heard; rivers did not flow, nor did the sea wave, and all the gushing waters grew silent; no human voice made a sound, and there was great silence. For indeed, from that hour on even the heavenly firmament had ceased its rapid course and the measures of hours all but passed away. All things had become silent in a great awe and stupefied, while we were attending on the coming of the Highness, the end of the ages."
I like this.
When Jesus was born, this legend says, the world became still.
No wind.
No rushing waters.
No talking.
No rain.
The birth of Jesus ushered in the birth of something NEW, something GOOD - GOOD NEWS. And with that new thing also came silence and peace and stillness.
I like this because it rings true in my own life.
(Sometimes, anyways.)
Does it do the same for you?
Sure - sometimes when new things and new seasons enter our lives, that entrance is marked by violent storms and tears and pain ... some new things end up being good, but their arrival is marked by things and feelings and events that are anything but good.
Death.
Divorce.
Bankruptcy.
Broken relationships.
The changes that these things ULTIMATELY bring (months or years down the road) can be GOOD even when their arrival is filled with pain, turmoil, and anxiety.
BUT.
There are also changes that come and bring with them much different immediate feelings. Right? Because sometimes change is birthed into our lives and almost immediately all of the worry and fear and anxiety subsides, it just goes away and you are left with a deep, internal knowing that all is as it should be.
The winds of fear stop.
The rushing waters of worry subside.
The voices of the critics melt away.
The rain of anxiety gives way to sunlight.
... And you are left with that feeling that, "change is here ... and it is good."
My hope for you this Christmas season is that whatever changes that 2022 brings your way, my hope is that those changes still the winds of fear in your life, still the waters of worry, melt away the voices of the critics, and that the clouds and rain give way to sunlight and peace and the courage to step forward as the light of the Divine lights the path ahead.
May the birth of new things resemble the birth of Jesus in the legendary story of The Latin Infancy Gospels.
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READ MORE ABOUT THE LATIN INFANCY GOSPELS HERE