Written by Thomas and thought to have been originally connected with the Gospel
of Mary, Thomas’ Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ is an account of the
miracles and supernatural actions that occurred during the infancy of Jesus
Christ. The Greek original can be found in the notes of Cotelerius and is
located in the French King’s Library, No. 2279. An account of the miracles and
supernatural phenomena recorded in Thomas’ Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ
are listed below.
Jesus Clears The Waters
When the child Jesus was five years of age and there had been a shower of rain
that was now over, Jesus was playing with other Hebrew boys by a running stream,
and the waters ran over the banks and stood in little lakes;
But the water instantly became clear and useful again; they readily obeyed him
after he touched them only by his word.
Jesus Makes The Clay Sparrows Come To Life
Then he took from the bank of the stream some soft clay and formed out of it
twelve sparrows; and there were other boys playing with him.
But a certain Jew seeing the things which he was doing, namely, his forming clay
into the figures of sparrows on the Sabbath day, went presently away and told
his father Joseph,
Behold, your boy is playing by the river side, and has taken clay and formed it
into twelve sparrows, and profanes the Sabbath.
Then Joseph came to the place where he was, and when he saw him, called to him,
and said, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?
Then Jesus clapping together the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and
said to them: Go, fly away; and while you live rmember me.
So the sparrows fled away, making a noise.
Anna’s Son is Withered
Besides this, the son of Anna the scribe was standing there with Joseph, and
took a bough of a willow tree and scattered the waters which Jesus had gathered
2 But the boy Jesus, seeing what he had done, became angry and said
to him, You fool, what harm did the lake do to you, that you should scatter the
3 Behold, now you shall wither as a tree and not bring forth either
leaves, or branches, or fruit.
And immediately he became withered all over.
Jesus Heals The Withered Boy
Then Jesus went away home. But the parents of the boy who was withered,
lamenting the misfortune of his youth, took and carried him to Joseph, accusing
him, and said, Why do you keep a son who is guilty of such actions?
Then Jesus at the request of all who were present healed him, leaving only some
small member to continue withered, so they might take warning.
A Boy Falls Dead
2:7 Another time Jesus went into the street and a boy running by rushed into his
8 At which Jesus became angry and said to him, You will go no
9 And he instantly fell down dead:
Accusers Struck Blind
2:11 Then the parents of the dead boy went to Joseph and complained, saying, You
are not fit to live with us in our city, having such a boy as that:
teach him that he bless and not curse, or else depart with him, for he kills our
13 [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] Then Joseph
calling the boy Jesus by himself, instructed him saying, Why do you such things
to injure the people so that they hate us and persecute us?
14 But Jesus
replied, I know that what you say is not of yourself, but for your sake I will
15 But they who have said these things to you will suffer
16 And immediately they who had accused him became
Jesus Teaches His Teachers
3:1 A certain schoolmaster named Zaccheus, standing in a certain place, heard
Jesus speaking these things to his father.
2 And he was much surprised that
being a child, he should speak such things; and after a few days he came to
Joseph and said,
3 You have a wise and sensible child; send him to me so he may
learn to read.
4 When he sat down to teach the letters to Jesus, he began with
the first letter Aleph;
5 But Jesus pronounced the second letter Mpeth (Beth),
Cghimel (Gimel), and said over all the letters to him to the end.
Then opening a book, he taught his master the prophets; but he was embarrassed
and at a loss to conceive how he came to know the letters.
And he arose and went home, wonderfully surprised at so strange a thing.