When reading the Bible, we are often faced with many questions of our own. How was this miracle granted? Why did God create the world? What was Jesus childhood like? The apocrypha fills in the gap of when Jesus was born an infant and when he became an adult. As we read in the the Infancy Gospel of Thomas child Jesus is shown to be temperamental and strikes down those who dishonor and displease him. Child Jesus is depicted as not only someone with divine powers and control over their emotions, but just as a child instead. Like many children, child Jesus gets mad when his toys (streams of water leading to his seven pools) are destroyed. Being a child, he does not fully understand the full consequence upon himself and his family when he struck down that child. The setting up of the antagonistic values of the Jewish people is apparent in this reading. It is always child Jesus is enjoying his time, someone ruins his fun or day, they are struck down or cursed, and the neighborhood Jewish community and Jesus has to right his wrongs. I thought that the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was very interesting since it depicts Jesus as a normal child instead of a holy man.
Each time Jesus causes a ruckus, his foster father, Joseph becomes embarrassed and threatened by their neighbors. He seems to play a very weak role in his inability to shield his family from such threats. Mary on the other hand shows awe each time child Jesus displays his powers. I wonder what that says about family structure in the ancient times.
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