Did Jesus have a midwife at His birth?
Manger scenes depicting the night that Jesus was born always have Mary and Joseph along with shepherds. Sometimes there are 3 Wise Men and angels. During the course of my life, Many may have assumed as I did that Joseph and Mary were alone during the birth of Christ until Newsweek reported that a tomb has been found that belongs to the midwife who assisted Mary.
Believers in Christ walk by faith but there is nothing wrong with examining historical evidence as there are many details of the past that are not addressed in scripture. The Bible does not name the woman who cost John the Baptist his head but history and the Jewish historian Josephus record her name as Salome and say she died the same way as John as she was decapitated by ice when she fell through frozen water. The midwife who allegedly assisted Mary is said to have had the same name.
Was Salome real or an urban legend
This Salome is mentioned in the gospel of James according to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and is said to have helped the unnamed midwife deliver the Christ Child. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has released images from archaeological work that gives new insights into the 2,000-year-old-cave, which is believed to be the burial place of the woman who assisted in the birth of Jesus.
'According to Newsweek "The Protoevangelium of James, the second-century work is one of several early Christian writings known as the apocryphal gospels, which do not appear in the Bible and is one of the "infancy gospels"—writings that provide details about the early life of Jesus".
Salome is said to be from Bethlehem and the Newsweek article shares some of the legends associated with her. One claims she arrived too late to assist with the birth and that her hands burst into flame when she tried to validate that Mary was a virgin. We may never know with certainty if Salome was at the birth of Christ or if Joseph indeed found a midwife to assist on the first Christmas but archeologists did discover a tomb which is located about 22 miles southwest of Bethlehem in the Tel Lachish national park.
The cave with the tomb will be open to the public
This tomb was first discovered in 1982 by grave robbers and excavated later in the 1980s. Newsweek reports: " The cave was first identified as the burial site of Salome by local Christians in the Byzantine era and eventually became a site of pilgrimage. It contains dozens of inscriptions written in Greek, Syriac, and Arabic, some of which are dedicated to Salome".
The cave where the tomb lies is said to have belonged to a wealthy Jewish family and is now being prepared for public access. The bottom line for true believers during Christmas is their faith that the Virgin Birth led to an empty tomb and a second-coming of Christ draweth nigh.
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