INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS CHAPTER 1 - 6

INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS

The stories of Thomas the Israelite, the Philosopher, concerning the works of the Childhood of the Lord.

Whether the Gospel Arabic or this,
The text is far from certain of the kiss.
And yet it is so sweet with joy and hope
I give it approbation and not rope.
The holy Qur’an speaks in the same sigh
Of Jesus who spoke from the cradle’s ply.
The true-hearted soul of medieval church
Loved this dear gospel. But those in the lurch
Of later unbelief have cast aside
The glories of the infant Jesus’ pride.
Beloved, I turn my vision to the days
A little boy lived always to Your praise
And set right every wrong from wood to craze
Of the melamedh come in for the ride.

THOMAS 1

I, Now then Thomas the Israelite
Relates to you a thing that’s right,
To all my Gentile brothers now,
What deeds done in childhood and how
Our Lord Jesus Christ mighty things
Performed when born among the kings
Of our land, here’s the start of things.

They say that Thomas was not the one meant
In other gospels of disciples kent.
And yet the quoting of Irenaeus
Sets the date back so far that in a truss
It may be older than canonicals,
Despite the quoting of the Lucan hulls.
The good Hippolitus too and the queer
Origen quoted Thomas without fear.
Beloved, here at the start of miracles,
And at the dawn of boyish life and tear
I touch the wonder of growing into
Manhood among the saintly and the crew
Of ordinary and suspicious mates,
The drift of humankind with wooden plates.

THOMAS 2

1 This little child Jesus when he
Was five years old playing beside
The ford of a brook, and there he
Gathered the waters there that glide
And formed them into pools and made
Them clean by just a word he laid,
2 And having made soft clay, he moulded
Of it twelve sparrows, wings unfolded.
And it was Sabbath when he did
This, and many another kid
Playing there saw the things he did.
3 And a certain Jew when he saw
What Jesus did, against the law
Playing upon the Sabbath day,
Went and told Joseph right away,
“See, your child playing at the brook
Took clay and formed twelve little birds
And thus defiled the Sabbath day”
4 And Joseph came out there to look
And shouted to him in these words,
“Why do you do on Sabbath day
What is unlawful, tell me, pray?”
But Jesus clapped his hands and cried
Out to the clay sparrows beside
Him saying to them “Go and fly!”
And the sparrows flew away high
Chirping the while. 5 And when the Jews
Saw such to amaze and confuse,
Departed and told their chief men
What they’d seen Jesus do again.

Some also look in envy and complaint
On the mud pies I make on Sabbath day
As I leave gathering of sinner and saint,
And in my lowly hovel lift a lay
Of Psalm and Sura to Your ageless praise,
Yes, some look on to criticize my ways.
Teach me to answer neither look nor shout
With anything but turn and turn about,
And as I whirl to clap my hands that You
Turn and return to accept what I do,
Not for its greatness nor wisdom, but for
The grace and mercy that, Beloved, You bore.
So may I see my lifeless prayers take wing
Made lively by the spirit that You sing.

THOMAS 3

1 But the son of Annas the scribe
Was standing there by evil bribe
With Joseph; and he took a branch
Of willow and started to blanch
The waters which Jesus had brought
Together. 2 And when Jesus saw it,
In anger he spoke to him there,
“Evil, ungodly, foolish share,
What harm did the pools do to you?
See, it shall now come down on you
To be withered up like a tree,
And not bear leaves, or root in fee,
Or ever fruit.” 3 And straightway he
Completely withered up, but then
Jesus went back to Joseph’s den.
But the parents of the lad took
His withered body at a look,
Bewailed his youth and brought him to
Joseph, and accused him and crew
“For you have such a child as this
That does such evil deeds as this.”

I laud the people of an early time
Who calculated that it was no crime
For Jesus to produce a thing or two
In vengeance on the haughty, upper crew.
Today the good must turn the other cheek
At every evil call and wicked shriek.
Today the child must not hit back or she
Will be judged by her mother righteously.
Beloved, I love the Jesus who knew where
To take revenge upon the well-dressed square,
And put him in his place and underwear.
The withering of tree or body of
Another child that straightens up to shove
Is also matter for rejoicing’s share.

THOMAS 4

1 After that he went through the town
Again, and a child charging down
Pushed him against his shoulder, and
Jesus was provoked more to stand
And said to him “You shall not take
The finish of the course you make.”
And straight away he fell down dead.
But certain ones who saw then said
“Where did this young child come from, for
Everything he says becomes war,
And every word becomes a deed?”
The parents of the dead child came
To Joseph and blamed him with speed,
Saying “You have a child for shame
That you cannot live in this town
Unless you teach him not to frown
And curse but to bless, lest he slay
All of our children in a day.

No doubt the Californian way to shoot
The careless driver takes a parting boot
From Thomas’s report in branch and root.
The jostle of the crowd bent on the Lord
Was always in his body like a sword:
He felt the virtue leave him at the touch
Of ailing woman come to seek him much.
So as a child he also felt the hue
Of shoving beyond what other men do.
Beloved, I too would touch the little child
Who’s sent into Your world irreconciled
With what men bear in ordinary rate
Of market competition and the state.
I too look for the death of each such mate.

THOMAS 5

1 Joseph called the young child apart
And chided him: “Why did you start
To do such things, and make this crew
Hate us and persecute us too?”
But Jesus said “I know these words
Are not yours, but are from the herds,
Yet I shall still honour your wishes
And hold my peace and keep my dishes;
But they shall bear their punishment.”
And right away those who had meant
To accuse him were struck down blind.
2 And those who saw it were consigned
To their fear and perplexity,
And said about him in degree,
That every word that he spoke free,
Whether good or bad came to be
A marvel and wonder to see.
And when he saw Jesus did so,
Joseph got up and had a go
At his ear and twisted it sore.
3 The young child was angered the more
And said to him, “It is enough
To seek and not find things are tough,
And surely you know I am yours?
So do not vex me with your stores.”

If Joseph twisted Jesus’ ear today,
Someone would call child services and say
To pick him up for such abuse and pay.
The Christ himself cannot escape the way
That people are scorned on the earthly sway.
I have those who accuse me of the lie,
And those in jealousy come in to spy,
And know that such reaction on the part
Of the dear Christ, though coming from the heart,
Is justified and just. Had You made all
Men like the little Jesus at the call
Of righteousness, then this dark and light ball
Would be a better place to live and eat
The bread and even pie in autumn treat.

THOMAS 6

1 A certain teacher, Zacchaeus
By name, stood there and heard the fuss
In part when Jesus said these things
To his father with marvellings
That being still so young a child
He spoke such matters unbeguiled.
2 And after a few days he came
Near Joseph and addressed his name.
“You have a wise child of great fame.
Come, let me teach the boy to read.
And I’ll teach him with letters’ seed
All knowledge and to be polite
And greet his elders, all in sight
With honour as grandfathers and
As fathers and love those who stand
In his own generation’s band.”
3 He told him all the letters from
Alpha to Omega in sum,
And questioned him not being dumb.
But Jesus looked at Zacchaeus
The teacher and said to him thus,
“You do not know the Alpha by
Its nature, so how can you try
To teach others the Beta’s cry?
You hypocrite, first if you know
The Alpha, then reveal its show,
And then we shall believe you when
You teach the Beta’s specimen.”
Then he began to show the meaning
Of the first letter in its screening
So that the teacher could not say
A word in answer to his way.
4 And in hearing of omnibus
The young child said to Zacchaeus,
“Hear, O teacher, the ordinance
Of the first letter and its dance
And pay attention to its scance:
It has its lines, it has its heart,
It has its parallels apart,
You see it appear and depart,
Raised high with three levels to start,
Balanced and equal in its art.
So are the rules of Alpha’s part.”

I don’t suppose the teacher came to teach
The alphabet of Grecian in his reach,
But alef bet from Scripture and to preach.
And yet three lines and levels show them all,
Both Greek and Syriac and Hebrew’s call,
To be the first of letters in the stall.
I don’t suppose that Jesus in his thrall
Taught Cabbalistic jargon to the man.
Such secrets are not lawful to the span.
Beloved, I get my letters best I can,
And read the Scriptures from Moses in plan
As far as good Muhammad, and I scan
The light of heaven on earth as did that child,
And like that boy I remain just as wild.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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