Reading Notes: Infancy Gospels Part A

Mary: Virgin in all of the Infancy Gospel accounts. She was overshadowed by the Spirit of the Lord to become pregnant with the son of God who was to be called Jesus. She was revered by some as a saint or holy woman while others remain admant that she engaged in pre-marital sex. She is called a Saint in the First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ and is educated in the Holy of Holies in the Protevangelion of James.

Joseph: Considers privately dismissing Mary before receiving dreams from the Lord instructing him to care for her in both Matthew and the Protevangelion of James. Follows the Lords instructions and takes care of and stands by Mary though she is pregnant with Jesus before their marriage.

Visitors: The wise men in Matthew and the First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, the shepherds in Luke, the midwife and Salome in the Protevangelion of James, the prophetess Anna in Luke, the prophetess Hannah in the First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ all visit Jesus as an infant and are amazed by him and claim his as the Christ either after receiving a message from God or from laying eyes upon him.

Jesus: When mentioned as an infant, he is able to talk and claim to be the son of God in the Protevangelion of James or stays in the Temple after his family departs because it is his fathers house in Luke. He is able to instruct those who are older than him in Luke as well.

The Birth of Jesus (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The Infancy Gospels Unit, Contains sections from Luke, Matthew, the Protevangelion of James, and the First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ