Talk About Baby Jesus

Why are people so afraid to personify Jesus the child? We are aware through readings in today’s New Testament that Jesus is the son of God just as well as he is the son of man. We also have a widely accepted notion that Jesus was carried and born to Mary as a BABY. Therefore why is it so difficult to assume Jesus in the form of a child? Much less believable notions exist and are accepted today. In the Infancy Gospel on Thomas, we are introduced to a wise, yet emotionally immature Jesus with extraordinary divine power. But as one can imagine, as wise and knowing as Jesus is, there is still cases of him having to learn to control and master his emotional outbursts, as any adolescent does. At one point the people of the town come and threaten Joseph, saying, “Because you have this boy you cannot live with us in this village. If you wish to be here, teach him to bless and not to curse” (Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Chapter 11). Can you imagine? Learning one day that the boy you threatened to kick out of town would grow to become the savior messiah? However it is the other part of the threat I would like to focus in on; the people wish for Joseph to TEACH Jesus something apparently unfamiliar to him within his vast understanding of all- how to be human.

But why is this concept not accepted? Infancy scriptures of Jesus are accepted among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We see this in art work across the ages. Yet, somehow the text itself was deemed unworthy to become a part of the New Testament as it is known today. Annette Yoshiko Reed illustrates the many times throughout history where scripture has been reviewed, rewritten, and debated as to whether or not that particular piece was worthy or correct enough to be invited into the world of canonization. Different established religious groups of people over time have reviewed scripture, defying the term and limitations of what each believes supports their own ideals of Christianity. However, this is greatly affected by the views and values of each time period. Unfortunately, that also means that as time goes by, less and less scripture survives due to ‘unworthy’ texts being destroyed after each successive meeting. Therefore, at one point, it seems that the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, as well as other Infancy apocrypha floating around, were rejected and never made it into the actual canonized New Testament that we accept today.