There are quite a number of Grimm tales that star both Jesus and St. Peter as main characters. These stories are non-canonical to the Bible and are written as anecdotal stories to teach people lessons about their place in the world. It seems to me that proper Christians have mixed feelings about stories like this. Some think that they reinforce the faith and others think that it is blasphemous to reduce these characters to the state of a fictional fairy tale. For me, I really don't mind it at all.
In any case, let's get to our story. In "The Old Man Made Young Again," the story begins by explaining that the world exists in a state where the Lord (probably meaning Jesus himself) and Saint Peter roam about the earth. The period this happens oddly seems to hint at a time before the days of Christ. However, it could just as well be during his lifetime. There are a lot of stories that seem to place Earth in a period where Jesus would just come down from Heaven and pop by to say hi. Nothing wrong with that.
Saint Peter notices a beggar man who is extremely old and ill. Peter has pity on this man and asks Jesus if there is anything he can do for him. Jesus, being the miracle worker that he was, takes him to a blacksmith and asks him to fire up the coals. The old man is then tossed into the flames were he seems to be perfectly fine. The man is then taken out and tossed into some water to cool. At that moment, we find that the old man is now a handsome young man. All his woes are ended, and so Saint Peter and Jesus exit the story.
Now, the blacksmith had watched Jesus very carefully and thought he could do the same. He had a very old and ugly mother-in-law that he thought he might be able to help out. When he promises he can do the same for her, she reluctantly agrees. So as he saw with Jesus, he fires up the furnace and promptly threw in his mother-in-law. As you may be expecting, it did not go well. She was screaming at the top of her lungs that she was burning up in terrible pain. Humorously, the only thing the blacksmith has as a comment at this juncture is, "I have not quite the right art."
Finally, he pulls her out of the flames and likewise tosses her into the water to be cooled. She is entirely burned and screaming in miserable pain but still somehow alive. The screaming draws in the blacksmith's wife and daughter-in-law who both happened to be pregnant. The moment they saw the horror that was the burned woman, they immediately go into labor and give birth to... and I am not joking here... apes. The two apes then run off to the forest to then give rise to a race of apes. And so ends the story.
I'll give you a moment to process that surprise ending.
Good? Let's continue.
The most obvious explanation to the story is that "we are not God and cannot do what God does." To some degree, this is not true. For myself, the real problem was the ego of the blacksmith which overrode his good sense. So sure was he that he could copy the actions of Jesus that he was willing to risk the life of his mother-in-law to do so.
Or...
He really... REALLY disliked his mother-in-law. ... With a passion.
The story also acts as a fanciful origin for a race of apes. You are welcome to form your own conclusions here. [Dangerous territory.] Nevertheless, it was a bit of a twist ending and was not really necessary to complete the story.
I do personally believe that human beings have the ability to do God's work. We can do miracles if we want to but not in the same manner as Jesus. He had a particular set of skills that he used, and we all personally have our own. Amazing things happen with humans all the time. We may not be turning water into wine, but we still went to the moon. The mistake made by the blacksmith was trying to be somebody that he was not. He wanted to steal what came naturally to Jesus. He should have stuck with blacksmithing.
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We all have talents, and must use them to the best of our ability. Human beings can do amazing things, even in the midst of a mundane world. It all depends on what we do with what we have.
ReplyDeleteBut you can't and shouldn't do what you are not capable of. That is especially if you are trying to copy someone who has abilities you merely covet.
DeleteI'm going to speculate that the old man was given a second chance at an otherwise wasted life. It could have also been a test of purity that enabled him to pass through the fire and come out new. The sins of a wasted youth can be forgiven only by one man. As for the Blacksmith, his own ego drove him to risk another to test his own "Art" and as a result he only caused pain and suffering. The moral I take from this is that if we are as bold to assume we can perform miracles we should only risk ourselves. The ape part of the story has me lost, perhaps a curse for the actions of the Blacksmith? This is another fascinating Fairy Tale!
ReplyDeleteThis fairy tale is pretty obscure, but the Jesus and Saint Peter combo appeared in a lot of them. Wouldn't that be interesting to randomly meet those people on any given day?
DeleteI liked your speculation on the meaning of the story. The Blacksmith definitely seemed to have an ego problem. If not, then he really had it out for his mother-in-law.