3. The stories of Jesus’ childhood are disregarded by the Bible
Very little is told in the Bible about the youth of Jesus; that is, Jesus’ life as a boy and young man. The books of the Apocrypha contain more, but they are not accepted as part of the Christian canon. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is one such book, though it was labeled heretical in the third century. It provided the source for several stories of the young Jesus which are included in the Koran. Among them is a story of the young Jesus making sparrows from mud, and upon the clapping of his hands, they came to life and took flight. Another, included within the stories of the birds, has Jesus causing the death of a child who teased him, only to restore him to life after being chastised by his parents, Mary and Joseph.
Appearing in several apocryphal books, Jesus is identified as being seven years of age at the time of the story of the birds (Arabic Infancy Gospel, 36). Several other similar stories occur, including those in which other children, who have tormented the young Jesus (as children of that age will do) are caused to wither and die, only to be restored to life when the child Jesus is corrected by his patient parents. Mary and Joseph are described as being as puzzled by Jesus’ evident miraculous powers as are the parents of other children, and are exhorted to “at least teach him to bless and not to curse”.