The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 279 -
Jonathan As Fisherman In The Sea Of Galilee
THUS TWO YEARS PASSED, and nothing unusual took place any more in Joseph's house.
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Cyrenius did indeed receive the news of the emigration of Joseph, but still could not visit him there, since at this very time he was overburdened with matters of state from Rome.
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And Cornelius also did not fare much better;
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for just as often as he wanted to absent himself to visit Salome and his friend Joseph, he also had to deal with very important matters of office.
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All this the Lord had already foreordained so the little Child in Nazareth could grow in that much more obscurity.
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Thus the people in Nazareth were in complete ignorance of the nature of the Child.
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Only the already known doctor drew attention far and near as a result of his miraculous cures.
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And it became a regular byword that the sick were told,
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'If Nazareth cannot heal you, then the whole world cannot heal you either!'
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And Salome made a constant effort to serve Joseph's house as the opportunity arose, and the little Child spent much time in the house of Salome.
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When two years had gone by, Jonathan finally followed Joseph from Egypt and came to visit him.
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Joseph was overjoyed at seeing his friend again, and the little Child also danced with joy around His big fisherman.
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When Jonathan had spent about three weeks in Joseph's house all by himself, since all his people in Egypt died in an epidemic of yellow fever,
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he asked Joseph if he could not assist him in finding work in his trade as a fisherman.
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Here the little Child stood up and said to Jonathan,
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'Do you know, dear Jonathan, the people here are mostly wicked and very selfish,
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so there will not be much to do for you here. Now you go to the Sea of Galilee, which is not far from here, where the fishing trade is still open to all.
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There you will soon find a good little spot and will always be able to catch the best fish with little effort.
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Then come often to the market place in Nazareth with these fish, and you will have a good trade!'
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Jonathan promptly followed this advice, and lo, he soon found a widow there who had a little house by the Sea of Galilee.
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This widow took a great liking to Jonathan, took him into her house and soon thereafter gave him her hand.
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Thus Jonathan became an excellent fisherman again in the Sea of Galilee and had the best trade everywhere because of the very reasonable prices of his fish,
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while at the same time he made it a matter of first importance to regale Joseph and Salome every week with a generous quantity of the most select fish.
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And this occurrence was the only memorable one since two years, and nothing else occurred that would have been worth recording.