Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Apocrypha of the New Testament/The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew/Chapter 35

Chapter 35.

There is a road going out of Jericho and leading to the river Jordan, to the place where the children of Israel crossed:&#160; and there the ark of the covenant is said to have rested.&#160; And Jesus was eight years old, and He went out of Jericho, and went towards the Jordan.&#160; And there was beside the road, near the bank of the Jordan, a cave where a lioness was nursing her cubs; and no one was safe to walk that way.&#160; Jesus then, coming from Jericho, and knowing that in that cave the lioness had brought forth her young, went into it in the sight of all.&#160; And when the lions saw Jesus, they ran to meet Him, and adored Him.&#160; And Jesus was sitting in the cavern, and the lion&#8217;s cubs ran hither and thither round His feet, fawning upon Him, and sporting.&#160; And the older lions, with their heads bowed down, stood at a distance, and adored Him, and fawned upon Him with their tails.&#160; Then the people who were standing afar off, not seeing Jesus, said:&#160; Unless he or his parents had committed grievous sins, he would not of his own accord have offered himself up to the lions.&#160; And when the people were thus reflecting within themselves, and were lying under great sorrow, behold, on a sudden, in the sight of the people, Jesus came out of the cave, and the lions went before Him, and the lion&#8217;s cubs played with each other before His feet.&#160; And the parents of Jesus stood afar off, with their heads bowed down, and watched; likewise also the people stood at a distance, on account of the lions; for they did not dare to come close to them.&#160; Then Jesus began to say to the people:&#160; How much better are the beasts than you, seeing that they recognise their Lord, and glorify Him; while you men, who have been made after the image and likeness of God, do not know Him!&#160; Beasts know me, and are tame; men see me, and do not acknowledge me.