We know about Jesus as a baby, and as a man. But what kind of child was he?

December 26, 2025 – 9:16 AM

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But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes

is a line from one of my least favorite Christmas carols. Apart from being generally saccharine, Away in a Manger depicts baby Jesus as something truly exceptional – a baby that does not cry.

Most of us know the basics of the story of Jesus’ birth. According to the ancient sources, he was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph, Jews living in Israel in the first century CE. Traditional scenes depict him surrounded by animals, angels, shepherds and “magi” – possibly astrologers – from the east, who visited during the first year or two of his life. Then, most of these ancient sources go quiet, and Jesus does not appear again until he is an adult with a message and a ministry.

But what about his childhood? Do we know anything about Jesus as a child? Yes. And, no.

In the whole Bible there are only a handful of verses that speak about Jesus as a child. Matthew’s gospel includes one story about Jesus’ childhood. Matthew says that Jesus’ family fled to Egypt to escape a decree of King Herod to kill all Jewish baby boys under aged two. Joan Taylor, author of Boy Jesus: Growing up Judean in Turbulent Times, argues this is historically plausible, given the political upheaval of Jesus’ time.

Similarly, historian

Robert Myles

told me:

The impacts of such events created economic pressures, as well as displacement, for many.

For ancient authors, this would have been so banal as to not be worth mentioning.

Only in Luke’s gospel do we get a story about Jesus’ as a child. Luke describes that “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom” (Luke 2:40) and tells one story to illustrate the point.

This lack of information about his childhood in the Bible did not, however, stop early Christians speculating about Jesus’ early life.

Heinrich Hoffman’s 1884 painting depicts the biblical story of 12-year-old Jesus in the temple.

Wikicommons

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, dating to the second century CE, is a speculative story about Jesus’ life as a five to 12-year-old. In this text the child Jesus is, quite frankly, a brat. He uses his powers to make living sparrows out of clay, he rearranges water with his words, and he curses other children and adults to death. A lot of them. (Most are miraculously saved later.) When the parents complain to his father Joseph about these things, Jesus curses them and they go blind.

Such stories about Jesus’ childhood should not be considered history in any modern sense. They are a type of legend, told in the manner of ancient biography (bios), where a story about the childhood of a noteworthy adult might be narrated to point out the natural genius of the person.

Ancient biographies tended to be episodic and designed to highlight exceptional character or ability, although they did not often focus on childhood.

The intriguing question is why would early Christians think this is a good way to depict Jesus? It is quite a distance from the later “little Lord Jesus” who does not cry when he “lays down his sweet head”.

The Christian claim that Jesus was sinless has often been conflated with the idea of Jesus as perfect and possessing all knowledge. But what makes a perfect child? One who never cries? Who never has to learn anything? Such assumptions need to be interrogated.

Later Christian creeds – a kind of summary of core beliefs – such as the Nicene Creed, combat notions of superhero Jesus by emphasising his full humanity. While we might be curious about the kind of childhood Jesus had or the kind of child he was, it is Jesus as a fully human prophet, healer, teacher, and martyr who Christians consider the full revelation of God in the flesh.

Robyn J. Whitaker

The Conversation

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