h/t to ZR's Carnival: Gathercole presents Jesus as Herald. That is: not as Christ.
Gathercole uses an Armenian translation of a misattributed homily. Which is all manner of problematic but too-often As Good As We Get. I'm not here to dispute Gathercole's support for its antiquity. I am come to dispute its relevance.
See what I did there? I just announced my intention to deliver a message. I didn't even claim to be an angel. You don't have to be an angel to announce the start of a message. You don't even have to be a herald.
Jesus does not have to be an angel sent from Heaven; although admittedly saint Mark - by starting his mission at the Jordan - rather implies this. But still, "I am come" presupposes that Jesus is not himself the King. Or at least has not yet revealed that He is; a skeptic would argue the Messianic Secret has not been revealed to Jesus yet.
Another skeptic may wonder if the ghost of John the Baptiser be lurking behind these accounts. The Infancy Gospel ascribed to Thomas is lately mused to be about John, but redacted to refer to Jesus.
BACKDATE 11/5
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