The Young Jesus

An interesting story about Jesus of Nazareth is from the Apocrypha “The Infancy Gospel of Thomas the Israelite”. It is a short work which was very popular, that survives in versions in thirteen different languages. It concerns the boy, Jesus when he was five years old. He is depicted as a child of power, who lacks the mature judgment to make proper use of that power. In one story he is playing by a stream, shaping sparrows out of mud. When he is chastised by Joseph for doing something not allowed on a Sabbath, he claps his hand and the clay birds come alive and fly away. The dark side of this story is that he also uses his powers to kill children, blind their parents, and generally frighten the residents of his village , including Joseph. The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version ed. Robert J. Miller (1994) Polebridge Press.