Is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas Correct in Describing Jesus’ Childhood as Being Devious and Mischievous?

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was like as a child? While the gospels of Mark and John are completely silent on Jesus’ childhood, Matthew and Luke are the only two who give a description of Jesus as a baby. In Luke chapter 2, we have the only description of Jesus as a young boy (Luke 2:41-52). This of course is the famous story of when 12-year-old Jesus and his parents go to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and on their way home, Mary and Joseph realize Jesus is not with them. When they return to Jerusalem, they find Jesus in the temple asking the doctors and religious leaders questions, while at the same time, teaching them things concerning the kingdom of God. Luke records their reactions by saying “And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers” (Luke 2:47) and then adds, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Vs. 52).

And that’s it. That’s all we have in the entire Bible that gives us a direct look into Jesus’ childhood. One question can arise because of this. Why the gap between Jesus’ birth and the age of 12? Is it because there really isn’t much to discuss because Jesus had a normal childhood like everyone else? Or, as some propose, were the disciples deliberately hiding the facts that, as a child, Jesus was, not only and child miracle worker, but one who was devious and mischievous? But is the latter view mere speculation, or do these sceptics have some source to go by?

Well, this is where the so-called Infancy Gospel of Thomas comes in. This “gospel” is an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus.

“The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus … The first known quotation of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is from Irenaeus of Lyon around AD 180, who calls it spurious and apocryphal. Scholars generally agree on a date in the mid-to-late-2nd century AD … The author of the gospel is unknown. In the earliest Syriac manuscripts, no author is indicated at all, indicating either a truncated introduction, an author who wished to remain anonymous, or a compilation of existing stories by an editor. In later manuscripts dating from the Middle Ages, the Gospel opens with a prologue where ‘Thomas the Israelite’ introduces himself, but with no further explanation. It is possible that this was meant to hint that the author was Judas Thomas, better known as Thomas the Apostle, thought by some Christians to be a brother of Jesus and thus familiar with young Jesus’ activities … This infancy story ends with Jesus in the temple at age 12 quoting parts of the gospel of Luke.” (Wikipedia)

Although we can be highly skeptical on the authenticity of this manuscript, and whether or not it is an accurate portrait of Jesus’ childhood, we will give it a look over and see what it says. In doing this, I will assume (pretend?) that it’s an authentic account of Jesus’ childhood and see if I can interpret the things written in it in the same way I do difficult passages in Scripture, while at the same time I will attempt to debunk anything I find.

Although there are many manuscripts of this Gospel, which widely differ from each other, the online version I will be using is The Infancy Gospel of Thomas by Mark M. Mattison, which “has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose.” We will also not go in numerical order of chapters but will start with the positive stories first. To begin, we will skip Chapter One, the “Prologue”, because, as we’ve already read from Wikipedia above, it is simply introducing the so-called author (Thomas) which was deceptively added in later manuscripts.

Positive Stories

Chapter 2: Jesus Makes Sparrows

(1) The child Jesus was five years old. After it rained, he was playing at the ford of a flowing stream. And stirring up the dirty waters, he gathered them into pools, and he made them clean and excellent, ordering them by word alone – and not ordering them by a deed.

(2) Then, having taken soft clay from the mud, he formed twelve sparrows from it. But it was the Sabbath when he did these things, and many children were with him.

(3) But a certain Jew saw the child Jesus with the other children doing these things. He went to Joseph his father and slandered the child Jesus, saying that “he made clay on the Sabbath, which isn’t permissible, and formed twelve sparrows.”

(4) And Joseph went and rebuked him (Jesus), saying, “Why are you doing these things on the Sabbath?”

But Jesus clapped his hands, ordering the birds with a shout in front of all, and said, “Go, take flight like living beings!” And the sparrows, taking flight, went away squawking.

(5) And having seen this, the Pharisee was amazed, and he reported it to all his friends.

Although this story seemingly suggests that Jesus, at the age of five, is being disobedient by breaking the Sabbath, I am including it in the positive side because we know from Scripture that Jesus, as an adult, was often falsely accused of breaking the Sabbath. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why the religious leaders of the day wanted to kill Him:

“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)

By breaking the Sabbath, we are to understand that Jesus was only breaking the man-made requirements that the religious leaders had added to the Sabbath commandment over the years. Just as He was not lying about being the literal Son of God, He wasn’t breaking the Sabbath according to Scripture, but the Sabbath according to Jewish tradition. In the section entitled “Shabbat” in the Jewish Mishna (written in 200 A.D.) is a list of the 39 forbidden works (called The 39 Melachot, or The 39 Melachos of Shabbos) added to the Sabbath commandment. These requirements, quoted from Herbert Dandby’s translation of the Mishna (London, 1933), page 106, are listed below:

“The main classes of work are forty save one: sowing, ploughing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, cleansing crops, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, washing or beating or dyeing it, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, tying, loosening, sewing two stitches, tearing in order to sew two stitches, hunting a gazelle, slaughtering or flaying or salting it or curing its skin, scraping it or cutting it up, writing two letters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, pulling down, putting out a fire, lighting a fire, striking with a hammer, and taking out aught from one domain into another.”

This is the mindset that Jesus was rejecting and disobeying by making clay on the Sabbath. In fact, as an adult, Jesus does this very same thing when He “spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam … He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing” (John 9:6-7). The religious leaders (known as the Pharisees) become furious at Jesus because “it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes” (Vs. 14), so some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not of God, because He keepeth not the Sabbath day” (Vs. 16).

Not only did Jesus break their requirement of forbidding the making of clay on the Sabbath, but the act of healing was also forbidden. Here’s what we read in the book of Matthew concerning healing on the Sabbath:

“And when He was departed thence, He went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days? that they might accuse Him. And He said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Then saith He to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Matthew 12:9-14)

Okay, so with that out of the way, we see in the story in question that the five-year-old Jesus wasn’t doing anything devious or mischievous in God’s eyes. (For more info on how “the Sabbath of the Lord” differs from “The Jewish Sabbath” even though they fall on the same day of the week, see my article entitled, Does God Hate the Feast Days?

Some assume that the reason why Jesus made the birds fly away was to “get rid of the evidence.” This may be true, but I personally see nothing here that would confirm that (at least not in this edition). However, this incident understandably triggered some negativity towards Jesus. In one of the other manuscripts of this story, found in the Arabic Infancy Gospel, the parents of the children who witnessed this told them not to play with Jesus anymore “because he is a wizard.”

Chapter 9: Jesus Raises Zeno

(1) And again, after many days, Jesus was playing with other children on a certain roof of an upstairs room. But one of the children fell and died. And the other children saw this and went into their houses. And they left Jesus alone.

(2) And the parents of the child who had died came and accused Jesus, saying, “You pushed down our child!” But Jesus said, “I didn’t push him down.”

(3) And they were raging and shouting. Jesus came down from the roof and stood beside the body and cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Zeno, Zeno” – because this was his name – “Rise and say whether I pushed you down.” And he rose and said, “No, sir.” And they saw and were amazed. And again Jesus said to him, “Fall asleep!” And the parents of the child praised God and worshipped the child Jesus.

It is at this point that we must skip several chapters. We will go back to those chapters when we discuss the negative side. Admittedly, this was a toss-up between placing this story in the positive section or the negative. It could be seen as negative due to the fact that the people were quick to accuse Jesus. This is because of what we read in the negative stories. It also seems negative in the sense that, after raising Zeno back to life, Jesus tells him to fall asleep again. On the other hand, it’s positive because, by Zeno’s testimony, Jesus is acquitted from the accusations. Also, the footnote to this portion says, “In the later Greek recensions, Jesus doesn’t instruct Zeno to ‘fall asleep’ again.” Therefore, Zeno remains alive after his resurrection. The footnote also reveals, “The word for ‘sir’ (kyrios) could also mean ‘Lord’ or ‘Master.’ Other translations choose ‘Lord.’” So, the resurrected Zeno may have referred to the 5–6-year-old Jesus as Lord or Master. This is important as we continue.

Chapter 10: Jesus Heals a Woodcutter

(1) Again, a certain young man was splitting wood into equal parts. And he split the bottom of his foot, bled out, and died.

(2) A commotion arose, and Jesus ran there. Forcing his way through the crowd, he seized the stricken foot, and immediately it was healed. And he said to the young man, “Go, split your wood.”

(3) And the crowds saw and were amazed and said, “For he saved many souls from death, and he will continue to save all the days of his life.”

As you can see, this is the Jesus we all know and love. In the next chapter (Ch. 11), we see Jesus at the age of seven, so in this chapter Jesus still must be between five and six. Take note that the people said, “For he saved many souls from death, and he will continue to save all the days of his life.” This not only points to His adulthood years as recorded in Scripture, but also to what we will read in the previous chapters we have skipped over. Therefore, there are some positive conclusions that the people come to even after experiencing all the negatives in those chapters.

Chapter 11: Jesus Carries Water in his Cloak

(1) And the child Jesus was about seven years old, and his mother Mary sent him to fill up water. But there was a great crowd at the water cistern, and the pitcher was struck and broke.

(2) But Jesus spread out the cloak he was wearing, filled it with water, and carried it to his mother. And Mary saw what sign Jesus had done. She kissed him, saying, “Lord, my God, bless our child,” because they were afraid lest someone bewitch him.

Here again we see Jesus as a seven-year-old boy acting kindly as He helps His mother. However, take note of the negative hint found in that last sentence where Mary asked God to bless Jesus “because they were afraid lest someone bewitch him.” When we read the negative chapters, you’ll see why. 

Chapter 12: Miracle of the Harvest

(1) And at the time of the sowing, Joseph sowed seeds, and the child Jesus sowed one measure of wheat.

(2) And his father reaped a hundred great measures. And he gave graciously to the poor and the orphans. But Joseph took from Jesus’ seeds.

Chapter 13: Miracle of the Bed

(1) Now he (Jesus) was about eight years old. And his father, being a carpenter who made ploughs and yokes, took a bed from a certain rich man so that he might make it very great and suitable. And one of the beams, called the (…), was shorter; it didn’t have the (right) length. Joseph was grieved, and didn’t know what to do. The child came to his father and said, “Set down the two boards and line them up on your end.”

(2) And Joseph did just as he said to him. And the child Jesus stood at the other end and seized the short board and stretched it. And he made it equal with the other board.  And he said to his father, “Don’t grieve, but make whatever you want to.” And Joseph embraced and kissed him, saying, “Blessed am I, that God gave this child to me.”

Here we see Jesus at eight years old, and again, being a good Son helping His father with an act of a miracle. The following three chapters will not need any commentary. 

Chapter 16: Jesus Heals James’ Snakebite

(1) And James [Jesus’ brother] went into the grove to tie up sticks so that they might make bread. And Jesus went with him. And as they were gathering the sticks, a terrible snake bit James on his hand.

(2) And he was sprawled out and dying. And the child Jesus ran to James and blew on the bite, and immediately the bite was healed. And the beast was destroyed, and James was saved.

Chapter 17: Jesus Heals a Baby

(1) And after these things, in Joseph’s neighborhood a certain baby was sick and died. And his mother wept very much. But Jesus heard that there was great grief and commotion, and he ran quickly. And he found the child dead, touched his chest, and said, “I say to you, baby, don’t die, but live, and be with your mother.” And he (the baby) looked up immediately and laughed. And he (Jesus) said to the mother, “Take your child, give him milk, and remember me.” 

(2) And the crowd standing there was amazed, and said, “The truth is, this child is a god or an angel, because his every word becomes a deed!” And Jesus went away again and played with the children.

Chapter 18: Jesus Heals a Builder

(1) And after some time, a building was being constructed. There was a great commotion, and Jesus got up and went there. And seeing a man lying dead, he (Jesus) seized his (the man’s) hand and said, “I tell you, man, rise and do your work.” And he (the man) immediately rose and worshipped him.

(2) And the crowd saw and was amazed and said, “This child is from heaven, for he saved many souls from death, and he will continue to save all the days of his life.”

The footnote to this story says, “[Tony] Burke proposes that a line of text describing the worker falling has been accidentally omitted. Cf. Burke, op. cit., p. 384, n.1. Other manuscripts describe ‘a certain builder’ falling and dying. Cf. Burke, op. cit., pp. 444, 445.”

The 19^th and final chapter in this edition is the story of when Jesus was twelve and found in the temple listening and teaching the leaders as Luke mentions in his gospel. 

Chapter 19: Jesus in the Temple

(1) And when Jesus was twelve years old, his parents went, according to custom, to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. But during their return, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents didn’t know.

(2) And assuming him to be in the traveling company, they went a day’s journey and searched for him among their known relatives. And not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem and searched for him. And after three days, they found him in the temple sitting in the middle of the teachers, and listening to them and questioning them. And those hearing him were surprised how he questioned the elders and explained the main points of the law and the riddles and the parables of the prophets.

(3) And his mother said to him, “Child, what have you done to us? Look, we’ve been searching for you in pain and grieving.” And Jesus said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it’s necessary for me to be in the place of my Father?”

(4) And the scribes and the Pharisees said to Mary, “You’re the mother of this child?” She said, “I am.” And they said to her, “Blessed are you that the Lord God has blessed the fruit of your womb, because we’ve never seen such wisdom of praise and glory of virtue.”

(5) And Jesus stood up and followed his mother from there, and was obedient to his parents. And she treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and maturity and grace before God and humans. To whom be the [glory].

So, that’s the end of the positive stories. Let’s move on to those negative ones to learn what has led many to believe that Jesus was a devious and mischievous child. The first one is from chapter three and is a continuation of chapter two after Jesus made the birds out of clay.

Negative Stories

Chapter 3: Jesus Curses Annas’ Son

(1) And the son of Annas the high priest said to him (Jesus), “Why are you doing such a thing on the Sabbath?” And having taken a willow twig, he destroyed the pools and drained the water which Jesus had gathered, and he dried up their gatherings.

(2) But having seen what had happened, Jesus said to him, “Your fruit (will have) no root, and your shoot will be withered like a scorched branch in a violent wind!”

(3) And immediately that child withered away.

Wow, I can definitely see why this story causes some negative reactions. It implies that, by cursing this child, Jesus kills him. However, could we look at it in a different way?

First of all, I would suggest reading my article entitled, Did God Kill Children as a Result of Elijah’s Curse? This article discusses similar incidents, namely when Elisha cursed the mocking children, resulting in a she-bear mauling them (2 Kings 2:23-25), and Jesus cursing the fig tree, resulting in it being withered away (Matthew 21:19-20). In the article, I conclude that neither Elisha nor Jesus cursed in the intent to kill but were only acknowledging a curse that was already settled on the ones injured.

For example, in the Garden of Eden, after Adam sinned, God says, “cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life” (Genesis 3:17, King James Version). A superficial reading of this could lead anyone to believe that it was God Himself who cursed the ground, causing it not to produce well in order to teach Adam a lesson. However, the Hebrew actually reads like this, “cursed is the ground because of you.” It was the sin of Adam that affected the ground (the environment), creating the curse, not an arbitrary act of punishment from God (Cf. Isaiah 24:4-6).

Another similarity I see in this story in question is the story of Jesus healing a man’s withered hand, which is a story we have alluded to earlier.

“And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether He would heal Him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. And He saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And He [Jesus] saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy Him.” (Mark 3:1-6)

In this story, we have Jesus healing something that was withered, while in the story in question we see something becomes withered after Jesus’ curse. Both events take place on the Sabbath. Just like the Pharisees had “destruction” on their minds, the child “destroyed the pools and drained the water which Jesus had gathered, and he dried up their gatherings.” In both stories, Jesus is doing good (creating life), while the accusers are harboring what’s not good— destruction. The “curse” Jesus pronounces is not a punitive death decree upon the child, but an acknowledgment (a diagnosis) of the child’s present terminal condition. Jesus proves this by giving the child what He desired, namely destroying the works of the Son of God. In this context, we see that, even at this time, the child had crucified Jesus within him and was left to himself to reap the consequences of what naturally happens when the Spirit of Christ is forced to leave from within the individual. (Again, I highly recommend reading the aforementioned article to see this concept more clearly).

Admittedly, we are dealing with five-year-olds! Is it even possible that a child of such a young age could reap a deadly curse as this from God? I have even read, in some of the other manuscripts claiming to describe Jesus as a child, that Jesus at the age of ONE curses another child causing him to die. In my humble opinion this is totally ridiculous. There is more to this story, as we will see later. For now, let’s move on to our next story.

Chapter 4: Jesus Curses a Careless Child

(1) From there he was going with his father Joseph, and someone running struck his shoulder. And Jesus said to him, “Cursed be you because of your leader!” And immediately he died. And the people who saw that he had died immediately cried out and said, “From where was this child born, that his word becomes deed?”

(2) And when the parents of the dead child saw what had happened, they blamed Joseph his father, saying, “From wherever you have this child, you can’t live with us in this village. If you want to be here, teach him to bless and not to curse, because our child has been taken away from us.”

Soon after the incident of the child withering away, we see Jesus cursing another child who bumps into Him. Again, we can use the same logic in explaining this as in the previous story. Some argue that the child simply bumped into Jesus by accident, but I’m not totally convinced due to Jesus’ response, “Cursed be you because of your leader!” Could “the leader” here be a reference to Satan? This would imply that the child ran into Jesus on purpose. However, does this imply that Jesus took revenge on the child— an evil reaction that we know Jesus would NEVER do (Luke 6:27-36; 1 Peter 2:21-23). This story doesn’t sound like the Jesus who taught, if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other.

Chapter 5: Joseph Confronts Jesus

(1) And Joseph said to Jesus, “Why do you say such things, and they suffer and hate us?” And the child said to Joseph, “Since you know wise words, you’re not ignorant of where they came from; (they were spoken about a five-year-old.) And they won’t be raised, and these will receive their punishment.” And immediately those accusing him became blind.

(2) And Joseph took his (Jesus’) ear and pulled hard.

(3) And Jesus said to him, “It’s enough for you seek and find me, and not, beyond that, to scourge me by having taken on a natural ignorance. You haven’t clearly seen me, why I’m yours. Look! I’ve been subdued before you.”

This next incident is hard to understand in this translation (for me anyway), so I will present an alternate translation by Tony Burke:

(1) And Joseph said to Jesus, “Why do you say such things? They suffer and hate us.” And the boy said to Joseph, “If the words of my Father were not wise, he would not know how to instruct children.” And again he said, “If these were children of the bridal chamber, they would not receive curses. These people shall receive their punishment.” Instantly, the ones accusing him were blinded.

(2) But Joseph became angry and took hold of his ear and pulled hard.(3)  And Jesus said to him, “It is enough for you to seek me and to find me. You have acted foolishly.”

At any rate, in this portion of the narrative we sort of see Jesus talking back to His father, Joseph. Jesus is certainly becoming a menace to society. Again, the “curses” could be understood as I’ve previously mentioned and could echo what we see in the time of Lot when the angry mob became blind (Genesis 19:4-11). See my article entitled, Did God Send Angels to Kill the Inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah? for a deeper look.

Chapter 6: First Teacher, Zacchaeus

(1) A teacher named Zacchaeus (was) standing (there), hearing Jesus saying these things to his father Joseph, and he was very amazed.

(2) And he said to Joseph, “Come, give him (to me), brother, so that he may be taught letters, and so that he may know all knowledge, and learn to love those his own age, and honor old age and respect elders, so that he may acquire a yearning for children, teaching them in return.”

(3) But Joseph said to the teacher, “And who can control this child and teach him? Don’t think of him as a small person, brother.” But the teacher said, “Give him to me, brother, and don’t let him concern you.”

(4) And the child Jesus looked at them and said to the teacher this speech: “Being a teacher comes naturally to you, but you’re a stranger to the name with which you’re named, because I’m outside of you and I’m within you on account of the nobility of my birth in the flesh. But you, a lawyer, don’t know the law.” And he said to Joseph, “When you were born, I existed, standing beside you so that as a father you may be taught a teaching by me which no one else knows or can teach. And you will bear the name of salvation.”

(5) And the Jews cried out and said to him, “Oh new and incredible wonder! The child is perhaps five years old, and oh, what words he says! We’ve never known such words. No one – neither a lawyer nor a Pharisee – has spoken like this child.”

(6) The child answered them and said, “Why are you amazed? Or rather, why don’t you believe the things I’ve said to you? The truth is that I, who was created before this world, know accurately when you were born, and your fathers, and their fathers.”

[The footnote says, “An allusion to Wisdom in Proverbs 8:22 … Aasgaard (op. cit., pp. 142, 236) renders this phrase as “I existed before this world was created.”]

(7) And all the people who heard this were speechless, no longer able to talk to him. But he went up to them, skipped around, and said, “I was playing with you because I know you’re small-minded, and amazed with small things.”

(8) Now when they seemed comforted by the child’s encouragement, the teacher said to his father, “Come, bring him into the school. I’ll teach him letters.” And Joseph took his hand and led him into the school. And the teacher flattered him, brought him into the school, and Zacchaeus wrote the alphabet for him and began to teach him, saying the same letter frequently. But the child didn’t answer him. And the teacher became irritated and struck him on the head. And the child became irritated and said to him, “I want to teach you rather than be taught by you, since I know the letters you’re teaching more accurately. To me these things are like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal that don’t bring out the sound, nor the glory, nor the power of understanding.”

(9) When the child’s anger ceased, he said all the letters by himself, from the alpha to the omega, very skillfully. And looking straight at the teacher he said, “If you don’t know the nature of the alpha, how can you teach another the beta? Hypocrite! If you know, first teach me the alpha, and then I will trust you to speak of the beta.” Then he began to teach the teacher about the first element. And he couldn’t say anything to him.

(10) While many listened, he said to the teacher, “Listen, Teacher, and understand the arrangement of the first element. Now, notice how it has sharp lines and a middle stroke, which you see pointing, standing with legs apart, coming together, going out, dragging behind, lifting up, dancing around, <…> [unintelligible], in triple rhythm, two-cornered, of the same form, of the same thickness, of the same family, raised, balanced, isometric, of equal proportions. These are the lines of the alpha.”

Was Jesus being a menace by not following the teacher’s orders, talking back to him, and purposefully putting him to shame? Or was He correcting the teacher’s lack of knowledge with stern, but loving words like He did in His adulthood to the Scribes and Pharisees? Honestly, I believe the author is trying to emphasize the former due to verse 7, which implies that all Jesus had said in verses 1-6 was said sarcastically, which does support the claim that, as a child, this Infancy Gospel describes Jesus as mischievous.

Chapter 7: Zacchaeus’ Lament

(1) When the teacher heard such good familiarity (and) such lines of the first letter Jesus talked about, he was baffled by such teaching and his defense. And the teacher said, “Woe is me! Woe is me! I’ve been baffled and am miserable. I’ve brought shame on myself, taking on this child.

(2) “Take (him) away from me, brother, because I can’t bear his gaze, nor the clarity of his word. This child is simply not of this earth. He can even tame fire! Perhaps this child existed before the creation of the world. What kind of womb bore him? What kind of mother raised him? I don’t know. Woe is me, brother! He stupefies me. My mind can’t follow him. I’ve deceived myself, thrice-unhappy as I am. I thought to gain a disciple, and I’m found having a teacher.

(3) “Friends, I ponder my shame, old man that I am, that I’ve been defeated by a child. I should be cast out and die, or flee this village because of this child. I can’t be seen any longer among everyone, especially those who saw that I was defeated by a very small child. But what can I say or tell anyone about the lines of the first element? The truth is that I don’t know, friends, because I understand neither the beginning nor the end!

(4) “Therefore, brother Joseph, lead him away with salvation into your house, because this child is a great thing – whether a god or an angel or whatever else I might say – I don’t know.”

However you view the teachings of young Jesus, this teacher does seem to be convicted. Whether or not he was truly convicted out of love and adoration towards Jesus, or simply scared of Him is up for debate. I refer to this concept in the aforementioned article concerning Elisha’s curse on the mocking boys. I compare it to the time of when Jesus cleansed the temple. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“Through the display of cleansing the temple, Jesus manifested an authority that stayed with the people through the rest of His life. In the same way, Elisha had gained a sense of authority after the mauling of the bears. In the minds of fallen man, kingly authority is manifested through strength and violence, thus it is written: ‘With the pure You (God) will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You (God) will show Yourself shrewd’ (Psalm 18:26). In other words, God permits devious men to perceive Him as devious in order to meet them where they are at. If it were not for this incident, Elisha’s redemptive and healing work would have been halted. However, after this tragic incident, Elisha had no further trouble in his mission. For fifty years he passed through the town of Bethel, and no one ever mocked him or made light of his qualifications as a prophet of God. What a tragedy that (from the fallen standpoint) this was required to gain respect and authority! In one sense it was an authority gained through fear and not love, but such is the cost of meeting fallen man where they are.” (For more info concerning Jesus cleansing the temple, see my article, Didn’t Jesus Show Violence and Anger When He Kicked the Moneychangers Out of the Temple?)

Chapter 8: Jesus’ Response

(1) The child Jesus laughed and said, “Now may the barren bear fruit, the blind see, and the foolish in heart find understanding: that I’m here from above, so that I may deliver those below and call them up, just as the one who sent me to you has ordered me.”

(2) And immediately all who had fallen under his curse were saved. And no one dared to provoke him from then on.

Here we have a plot twist, as everyone who had died, withered away, and became blind were either resurrected or healed from their blindness! So, a negative with a positive twist (passive aggressive?). Again, is the author of these Gospels insinuating that, throughout His childhood, Jesus was “playing” with the people’s emotions as a trickster?  

Chapter 14: Second Teacher

(1) And Joseph saw his (Jesus’) wisdom and understanding. He didn’t want him to be unacquainted with letters, but gave him over to another teacher. And the teacher wrote the alphabet for him (Jesus) and said, “Say alpha.”

(2) And the child said, “First you tell me what the beta is, and I’ll tell you what the alpha is.” And the teacher became irritated and struck him. And Jesus cursed him, and the teacher fell and died.

(3) And the child went into his house to his parents, and Joseph called his (Jesus’) mother and ordered her not to set him (Jesus) free from the house so that those who provoke him may not die.

Now, this story, to me, doesn’t make any sense. Why would Joseph think that Jesus would be “unacquainted with letters” after what happened with the first teacher? In that story, Jesus revealed He was much more acquainted with letters than the teacher. And yes, the cursing resulting in people dying is definitely becoming suspicious. However, the last story we will refer to does have a happy conclusion.

Chapter 15: Third Teacher

(1) And after some days, again another teacher said to his (Jesus’) father Joseph: “Come, brother, give him to me in the school so that with flattery I can teach him letters.” And Joseph said to him, “If you have courage, brother, take him with salvation.” And the teacher took the child by the hand and led him away with much fear and concern. And the child went gladly.

(2) And entering the school, he (Jesus) found a book lying on the lectern. And he took it, but he didn’t read what was written in it, because it wasn’t from God’s law. But he opened his mouth and uttered words so impressive that the teacher seated opposite heard him very gladly and encouraged him so that he might say more. And the crowd standing there was amazed at his holy words.

(3) And Joseph ran quickly to the school, suspecting that this teacher was no longer inexperienced and suffered. But the teacher said to Joseph, “So that you know, brother, I indeed took your child as a disciple, but he’s full of much grace and wisdom. Therefore, brother, lead him away with salvation into your house.”

(4) And he (Jesus) said to the teacher, “Since you spoke correctly and testified correctly, the one struck down will also be saved because of you.” And immediately that teacher also was saved. And taking the child, he (Joseph) led him (Jesus) away into his house.

Again, I am curious as to why they keep wanting to teach Jesus letters when He has shown time and time again that He knows more than the teachers. However, as you can see, although it ended happily by the second teacher coming back to life, the people were petrified of this child.

Conclusion

Take note that, in the last story we read, Jesus would not read the book “because it wasn’t from God’s law.” This refers to the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures written by Moses; Genesis through Deuteronomy). Even in the story of the first teacher, Jesus says “But you, a lawyer, don’t know the law.”

I am confident that, at an early age, Jesus was well acquainted with the teachings of God’s Law, including the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures (such as the Prophets and Psalms etc.). We read from the Canonical Gospels that Jesus’ understanding of the Law far surpassed the understanding of the religious leaders of the day. He often said, “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you …” At another time, He was confronted by a lawyer who asked, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25), and Jesus answered, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” (Verse 26). In order to understand the Law correctly, it depends on how you read it. Jesus, being the only begotten Son of God, who is “the brightness of His [God’s] glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3), can understand and interpret the Law correctly. This is why Paul says we must allow Jesus to remove the veil causing our misunderstanding of what we read:

“But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament [The Law], because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:14-16)

Even Jesus’ own disciples read the Law incorrectly. One great example of this is when James and John wanted to command fire down from heaven to consume the Samaritans “as Elijah did.” Jesus, however, “rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village” (Luke 9:54-56). By adding, “as Elijah did”, James and John thought (as many do today) they had biblical evidence for their request (2 Kings 1:10-14). In His rebuke, Jesus was teaching them that they misunderstood what they had read and thus developed an incorrect view concerning the character of God.

When we read the Law through the eyes of Jesus, we see that God’s Law is a Law that teaches us to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate and persecute us. Jesus said, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39). The phrase, “Resist not evil” doesn’t mean to do nothing, but means “do not reciprocate in kind” or “in like manner.”

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas seemingly describes Jesus doing the very opposite. When He is persecuted and accused of doing things wrong, He reciprocates by causing harm. Love (the golden rule of God’s Law) does not do this. Paul taught that “Love does no harm to another; therefore love fulfills the requirements of God’s law” (Romans 13:10). Jesus taught that His Father is always, “kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35). He taught us that, if we’ve seen Him, and how He acts towards sinners, we see the Father working in Him (John 14:9).  

The prophet Isaiah, foretelling the acts of Jesus the Messiah 700 years before His birth declared, “He [Jesus] made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9). Jesus, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), NEVER does anything that is violent. This is why it is paramount that we understand the Scriptures correctly.

“The bottom line is that, however we explain violent portraits of God in the OT [Old Testament], and even if we can’t explain them, we must never allow anything we find in the OT to compromise or in any way qualify the revelation of God we have in Christ. Jesus isn’t part of what God is like, the fullness of God’s deity was in Christ (Col. 2:9). And Jesus reveals a God who chooses to die on behalf of enemies rather than to use force against them … Whenever we find portraits of God in the OT that fall below the character of God revealed in Christ — all portraits that have God commanding or engaging in violence — we should see a reflection of the cross in them. That is, we should view these portraits as an example of God humbly stooping to enter the limited and fallen worldview of the authors. They reflect God meeting people where they are, working through the limited and fallen worldviews that they hold, in order to bring humanity to the place where he could reveal what he is really like — which is what he does in Christ.” (Greg Boyd, Would God Kill a Baby To Teach Parents a Lesson? reknew.org, October 9, 2012)

When we read the gospel of John, we find Jesus performed the miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding of Cana. John explicitly says, “This was Jesus' first miracle, and He did it in the village of Cana in Galilee. There Jesus showed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him” (John 2:11, Contemporary English Version). This “first miracle” was soon after His baptism, so He must have been at least thirty years old. If this was His “first miracle”, what does that say concerning the miracle claims of Jesus being well under the age of twelve?

“This miracle of turning water into wine, was the first miracle Christ ever wrought, either in public or private; for as for what miracles he is said to do in his infancy, there is no reason to give credit to them.” (John Gill, Gill's Exposition, John 2:11)

“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, or, more exactly, This did Jesus in Cana of Galilee as the beginning of His signs. The form of the sentence makes it certain that it is the absolutely first and not the first in Cana which is meant.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

In Luke chapter 4, we read that Jesus “Came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read” (Luke 4:16). This again is soon after His baptism, making Him at least thirty years old. We read here that Jesus returns to His hometown Nazareth “where He had been brought up.” Therefore, the people of the city would have known who He was and what He was like as a child. After reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, however, the people are shocked to hear Him say, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears”, claiming that He was the awaited Messiah (Vss. 17-21). They questioned among themselves asking, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” (Vs. 22). They are acting as if they have never witnessed Jesus say anything like this before. They were confused at His claim to the point they became enraged and pushed Him out of the synagogue, leading Him to the edge of a cliff, desiring to throw Him off for committing blasphemy (Vss. 28-29). It doesn’t sound like anyone in this crowd knew of His dark background and how people died and withered away for simply running into Him. Whatever happened to the notion that “no one dared to provoke him from then on” in the story concerning the first teacher?

Likewise, if this Infancy Gospel is correct, and the people of Nazareth would often proclaim, “This child is a god or an angel, because his every word becomes a deed!” or “This child is from heaven, for he saved many souls from death, and he will continue to save all the days of his life”, why, when told that the Messiah was from Nazareth, did Nathaniel say, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). It seems that all of the miracles and supernatural powers of the child Jesus had been totally forgotten. This seems odd to me. 

Therefore, in my humble opinion, this Infancy Gospel is a work of fiction, most likely written by Gnostics. Agreeing that this “Gospel” was written by “Gnostics” who “were complete nutjobs, and very ‘creative’ and ‘innovative’ in their ‘secret knowledge’ which could only be revealed to an initiate”, Paul Clifford writes:

“As for the ‘The Infancy Gospel of Thomas’ it was considered a heretical work, a fiction of the gnostics by the early Church. Hippolytus (2nd/3rd century CE) & Eusebius of Caesarea (4th century CE), our two main sources of early Church history considered it heretical. Gelasius, patriarch of Rome in the 5th century, included it in his list of heretical books that should not be read. The best guess of manuscript analysts is that the work was unknown until sometime in the second half of the 2nd century CE, drew on Luke’s gospel for the story of Jesus in the Temple, and despite the pretext of its opening verse, was written by someone unfamiliar with Judaism, so definitely not written by Thomas, Jesus’ 1st century disciple. The conclusion is that it was a gentile fabrication. It was not cited favourably by anyone in early (or later) mainstream Christianity whose works are extant. It did gain popularity in later medieval times when superstition reigned supreme.” (Paul Clifford, Quora.com)

As mentioned earlier, there are other manuscripts, such as Pseudo Matthew and Arabic Infancy Narrative, which also proclaim to tell the missing stories of Jesus’ childhood. They even share similar stories to the Infancy Gospel of Thomas just told in different settings. One story describes Jesus leading some lions around town and across the Jordan River as the waters part for Him. Another tells of Jesus’ friends who crown Him as king and then drag people in front of Him making them adore the king. Yet another tells of a story where Jesus turns some children into goats who were hiding on Him.

I feel that if the New Testament writers were cunningly trying to hide Jesus’ dark side as a child, then why didn’t they choose some of the positive stories along with the story of Jesus in the temple during Passover at age twelve? Surely, His mother would have told His disciples these stories, that is, if they didn’t already know them since Jesus was so popular as a child. I conclude that the reason why they didn’t is because no such stories existed at the time and were not made up until later.

This Gospel presents Jesus as some sort of Superboy learning how to control his superpowers, and didn’t fully get a solid grasp of these powers until puberty when he finally learned right from wrong. However, the author of the book of Hebrews says, “He [Jesus] learned obedience by the things He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), not by making others suffer.

The New Testament writers describe Jesus’ whole life as a reflection of the one true God who had sent Him (John 17:3-4)— A God who would rather suffer and die for His enemies, than to inflict harm and kill them!

Concerning doctrine, Paul wrote, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). Although I attempted to pull some light and truth from this so-called Gospel, it (as well as the others) still reads as a work of fiction with its foundation in Greek mythology, emphasizing the trickster gods who were considered masterful at performing good and evil. Thus the creator and writer of these stories seemingly projected their misunderstanding of the Scriptures and the character of God onto Jesus and what they viewed Jesus would be like as the Son of God.

“There are a number of distorted and disturbing characterizations of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Jesus is often described as quick tempered, spiteful and disrespectful, almost as if the author was shaping him to resemble other Greek mythological ‘trickster’ gods and pagan ‘child-gods’ from antiquity. Jesus appears to be far more similar to pagan mythological gods than He is to the Christ we know from the canonical Gospels. Some scholars (such as Ron Cameron) believe that the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was designed as a piece of ‘Christian missionary propaganda’, intended to demonstrate the divine nature of Jesus in a manner familiar to the pagans proselytized by the early Christians. These non-believers had their own set of Greco-Roman or Egyptian gods; the Infancy Gospel of Thomas compared Jesus to these gods in a manner designed to impress Hellenistic, Egyptian and pagan sensibilities.” (J. Warner Wallace, Why Shouldn’t We Trust the Non-Canonical Gospels Attributed to Thomas?, coldcasechristianity.com)

For more in-depth articles answering difficult Bible texts about God’s character, I invite you to visit the Questions Concerning God’s Character section on this site. I pray you will be blessed!