Abgar
Abgar In Christian legend, a king of Edessa who corresponded with Jesus. Jesus left no written records, but Christian legend has supplied them in the form of a correspondence with Abgar. In one letter Abgar asks āJesus the good Saviorā to come to heal him because āit is reported that you cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, do both cleanse lepers, and cast out unclean spirits and devils.ā Abgarās letter is answered by Jesus saying he must āfulfill all the endsā of his mission but will send after his Ascension to heaven one of his disciples āwho will cureā the kingās disease.
These unhistorical letters are reproduced in Eusebiusā Ecclesiastical History, written in the fourth century. In a later addition to the letters there is one in which Jesus sends a portrait of himself on a cloth used to wipe his face. Upon touching the portrait, Abgar is cured of his illness. As fantastic as the letters are, some clergymen, both Catholic and Protestant, have defended them as genuine. Up to the middle of the 19th century it was common in some English homes to have the letters framed with a portrait of Christ.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow– Copyright Ā© 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante
