6 - Jesus as Healer: Apocryphal Writings

Summary

sThe Gospel of John concludes with the observation that Jesus did many things not recorded in the gospel and that, if they were, probably “the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (21:25). The New Testament gospels represent only a small selection of the many gospels and other writings produced by early Christians subsequent, in most cases, to the composition of the New Testament writings. These later works are called non-canonical (because they were not included in the New Testament canon) or apocryphal, which means “secret” or “hidden” but came to be used to designate writings excluded from the Bible. They demonstrate that the portraits of Jesus as healer in the New Testament are part of a larger early Christian picture of Jesus as healer, as a few examples will show.

Recapitulations

Some of the apocryphal writings add little to the New Testament picture of Jesus as healer. They recapitulate, with some differences, what is found in the New Testament. For example, the very fragmentary gospel (some two papyrus leaves) known as the Egerton Papyrus and dated to the early second century CE offers another version of the Synoptic account of a healing of a leper (Mark l:40-45//Matt. 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16). A leper approaches Jesus, tells him he has become infected by eating with lepers in an inn, and asks to be cleansed; Jesus heals him and tells him to show himself to the priests. While there is some evidence that the papyrus records early tradition, this passage shows ignorance of the Holy Land in the first-century. Lepers did not stay in inns; they were kept at a distance because they were considered “unclean” (see Num. 12:15; 2 Kings 7:3-4). Moreover, a cleansed leper went to a priest, not to “the priests,” to obtain certification of the cleansing.

“the priests,” to obtain certification of the cleansing. The Epistle of the Apostles, a second-century CE writing that purports to be a letter from the eleven remaining apostles, mentions several of Jesus’ healing miracles and gives shortened versions of the healing of the Gadarene/Gerasene demoniac and of the hemorrhaging woman. In the Acts of Pilate (likely dateable as early as the second century CE) the same woman emerges from the anonymity of the New Testament account, and we learn her name is Bernice or Veronica [Acts of Pilate 7).