The Childhood of Jesus
The Gospel of James
Biographical Gospel of the Lord
- Chapter 290 -
The Death And Reawakening Of Zenon
AFTER SOME TIME, the love of the neighboring children and of their parents again drew them over to Joseph -
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chiefly on the days before the Sabbath, or Friday, when very little or no work was done, especially in the afternoon.
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One such day several neighbors came over with their children.
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The girls found the five adopted daughters of Cyrenius to be very delightful company, for they were truly friendly, lovely and industrious, and were well informed in all matters.
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With the boys the charming and lively Jesus counted above everything else;
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for besides teaching them a number of highly ingenious games which greatly entertained them,
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He often told them such moving stories in the form of parables that the little children were all eyes and ears thereat.
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Now this time, since the earth was still moist from a recent thunderstorm, the roof (which was flat and was encompassed with a parapet) was chosen as a place to play.
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For a while matters went quite peacefully, for the little Jesus told several highly entertaining little stories.
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But towards evening matters became more lively on the roof, for the little Jesus had arranged a game of hop-scotch which frequently required some jumping.
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Among the twelve boys present was a certain Zenon, a stormy petrel who always wanted to win the few savings pennies brought along by his playmates away from them by all sorts of dare-devil undertakings.
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Such an undertaking he also put into effect on this occasion, namely that he wagered eleven pennies, and that against the will of the Lord Jesus,
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that he could go around the roof on the parapet three times without losing his balance.
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Should he get around successfully three times, the other eleven children looking on would have to add another eleven pennies to his eleven;
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but if he should lose his balance and fall, he would lose his eleven pennies.
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The other boys accepted the wager, and Zenon promptly hopped on the parapet, immediately became slightly dizzy, lost his balance, fell to the ground, broke his neck and was dead on the spot.
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At this the dead boy's parents, filled with sorrow and anger, ran up to the roof where they seized Jesus and wanted to maltreat him.
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But Jesus tore free of them, ran down to the dead boy and there called loudly,
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'Zenon! Get up and witness for Me to your blind parents whether I have thrown you down and killed you!'
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At this the dead boy promptly arose and declared,
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'O Lord! You have never thrown me down and killed me,
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but my desire for gain and my unseemly haste were responsible for that!
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And when this my sin killed me then You, o Lord, did in fact come to me and restore my life!'
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When the parents of Zenon heard this witness, they immediately fell down before Jesus and worshiped the power of God in the Child Jesus.
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Here Jesus admonished Zenon, 'Let that be a lesson to you and in the future have no part in such games, which tempt death, and remember that I advised you against it!'
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The parents and Zenon wept from sheer gratitude and then went home.
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(Moreover, this was a prophetic intimation of Judas Iscariot, which may easily be discerned.)