Jesus in India? -- BBC Documentary

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear you a son, and you are to name him Jesus. Matthew 1, 20. His story began 2,000 years ago in the province of Galilee, a remote corner of the Roman Empire.

Since then, across the continents and throughout the centuries, in multitudes of Christian communities. The story of Jesus has been told and retold in hundreds of languages. The narrative of his birth, his teachings, the miracles he performed, and his resurrection. More has been written about Jesus than about any other person in history.

And yet the Bible says almost nothing about most of his life. The time between Jesus' birth and the beginning of his ministry, approximately 30 years later have been called the lost years during all this time there is but one story in the Gospels it describes Jesus as a precocious 12 year old discussing the Hebrew Bible with rabbis in Jerusalem they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed by his understanding and and his answers, Luke 2, 46. Aside from this single account, the New Testament is almost completely silent about Jesus' life until the beginning of his public ministry. What happened during those lost years?

Where was Jesus, and what did he do? Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor. Luke 2, 51. The most we can say about him in his early years is that he walked in silent solidarity with his people, that he was very likely a carpenter, a man who worked with his hands, that he lived a simple life in a peasant village.

But even this is speculation based on the few tantalizing accounts related in the New Testament. Why does the Bible supply so little information? Most of what we know about Jesus comes from the four Gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It seems sort of inconceivable to us, but my feeling is that the evangelists, that's what they are.

They're bearers of the good news. They're not biographers. They're not historians. Their sense of the importance of Jesus is his spiritual message, his redeeming sacrifice, not details about his personal life. that's something that that we as modern people are more interested in according to most scholars the Gospels as presented in the New Testament are not first-hand eyewitness accounts biblical scholars believe they were first compiled from oral traditions as well as other earlier sources and were first written down between 40 and 100 years after the crucifixion of Jesus well the problem with the Gospels in considering this historical Jesus is that you can't be sure what materials are historical and what aren't and this debate has been going on for two two and a half centuries now so it's an extremely difficult problem adding to the mystery surrounding the life of Jesus is the fact that for hundreds of years after his death dozens of other Gospels were also written there were probably close to 50 Gospels that were actually written about Jesus within the first hundred years or so of his death and only four of them actually made it into the Bible many of the Gospels not included in the New Testament called the apocryphal Gospels have survived were many other things written these of course never did find their way into this canon of scripture but do they throw any light on the lost years of Jesus not really and they tell us odd little stories like Jesus killed birds and brought them back to life but these are totally irrelevant there's another story about how a little boy knocks up against him in the street and he strikes him dead now I'm thinking if I were compiling the Gospels I'd leave this material out to the church some 500 years to come to terms with who Jesus was in the various councils of the church that met in those first 500 years issues about Jesus were discussed and discussed and discussed and it took that long not many people are aware of that and the Jesus that we think of today is this Jesus that came into existence during those 500 years the Jesus of faith historical sources beyond the Gospels do survive from the time of Jesus but amazingly these two are mysteriously silent about the life and death which changed the world one of the biggest mysteries about Jesus is why none of his contemporaries wrote about him there were many historians and many writers who lived when Jesus did and knew about events in Palestine when Jesus was living there, yet none of them wrote about Jesus.

There is very little to go on. We can to some extent reconstruct his public life, but even then you will find that scholars greatly disagree. So it's very difficult to recreate Jesus at all. Every scholar seems to come up with his own ideas.

So when you actually then try to project back further than the gospels and try to recreate his hidden life there is absolutely no way to do it unless we go with the milieu of the times and speculate on what was possible for him to have done for centuries people have yearned to know more about the life of jesus in an attempt to fill in the lost years they have studied and searched and wondered did jesus spend the time between the ages of 12 and 30 living quietly in nazareth or is it possible that during this time jesus traveled studied and preached outside of palestine when we return could jesus have journeyed to india and encountered the teachings of buddha more than 2500 years ago in the verdant forests of northern India. An event occurred which, like the birth of Jesus, would transform human history. Seating himself under the outstretched branches of a blossoming tree, the young prince, Siddhartha Gautama, vowed not to rise until he had found the answer to the mysteries of human existence.

After a night of profound insight, he arose from his seat as Buddha, the enlightened one. Buddha spent the rest of his life traveling in India and elsewhere sharing the message of his revelation. Could Jesus have been familiar with the teachings of Buddha? Is it possible, as some believe, that he traveled to India during his last years?

Ancient writings do exist from both Persia as well as India. that Jesus did indeed travel to India. But we do not have 100% proof that he was there. The proof, however, does lie in his teachings when compared to sacred Buddhist writings. Some scholars find striking similarities between Jesus and Buddha.

Like Jesus, Buddha is said to have miraculously cured the sick, walked upon water, and fed multitudes with only a few loaves of bread. Where did Jesus gain his knowledge? Nobody knows that. It is simply explained away with miracles.

From where did he get his high standard of ethics? Where did that come from? Why is he so different, and why does he react so totally unlike the people who surround him? these are questions without answers could Jesus have been influenced by the teachings of Buddha and we see similarities the basic fundamental similarities like truth non-violence love thy neighbor service of the poor and downtrodden frugality simplicity in life away from ostentatious these things are similar in Christianity what Jesus taught Buddhism what Buddha taught love thy neighbor there may be words may be different but the essence is the same meaning and the message is the same India lies over 3,000 miles from Palestine how could Jesus have made such a monumental journey it would have been very easy actually for Jesus to travel to India there were a lot of trade routes that existed between the Roman Empire which included Palestine and Asia for example he could have taken the trade route that went from Palestine through northern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan and then down to the west coast of India could Jesus have journeyed farther into the interior of India perhaps even into the vast Himalayan mountains of the far north the The controversial story told by Nicholas Notovitch suggests he may have.

In 1887, Notovitch, a Russian journalist, traveled to Hemas, an isolated Buddhist monastery high in the Himalayan mountains of northern India. In his book, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ, Notovitch claims that there he was shown secret manuscripts which detailed the life of a wandering prophet named Esau. Notovitch was convinced by the manuscript and by the monks he consulted that Isa was in fact Jesus. According to Notovitch, the arcane manuscript he was shown revealed that at age 14, Jesus traveled to India and studied Buddhism.

After many years of study and preaching throughout Asia, Jesus returned to Palestine, carrying Buddhist beliefs with him. While many scholars question the authenticity of Notovitch's account, He was not the only person who reported seeing the mysterious scrolls. In the 1920s, a Hindu priest went up there. He went to the same monastery in Hemis.

He had some of the passages translated, but not all of them, and then he published a book. The translation in the second book very closely paralleled Natovich's translations. Other unconfirmed reports of the existence The existence of the Esau manuscripts at Hemes continued until 1939, but since then their whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery. The legends live on, and they continue to grow as each year, book after book, article after article is published, presenting new and often controversial theories regarding the lost years of Jesus. we return did Jesus travel to England and does the cup from the Last Supper the Holy Grail hold the key which could unlock the secrets of his missing years Glastonbury England set in a landscape tinged with the mystical amid prehistoric sacred springs and dominated by a holy mountain Glastonbury seems a natural place to find traditions about the lost years of Jesus the English poet William Blake has left us a startling image.

And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green? And was the Holy Lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen? William Blake, Milton, a poem in two books, 1804. In Blake's remarkable poem, Jesus is depicted walking the hills and meadows of Glastonbury far from his native land the Glastonbury legend culminates in the year 63 with Joseph of Arimathea a disciple of Jesus founding the first Christian Church in Britain according to this legend it is Joseph of Arimathea who provides the critical link placing Jesus in this land one of the popular traditions in the Eastern Orthodox Church and also in England is that the man known as Joseph of Arimathea was actually Jesus's great-uncle by the time Jesus had reached his early teens it appears that father Joseph had died and that his great-uncle Joseph of Arimathea may have stepped in the Gospels described Joseph of Arimathea as rich and pious.

The Glastonbury legends add that he was also involved in commerce between Palestine and ancient England. England at that time was part of the trade network that existed. England had tin, which was a very valuable commodity. Joseph was involved in the tin trade.

That's how he became so wealthy and how he became so influential. In some early latin versions of the gospels joseph of arimathea is described as a decurion a title given by rome to mining officials if jesus was the nephew of joseph of arimathea might he have journeyed with his uncle to england the legends that you find in england are that jesus traveled with joseph of arimathea along the southern coast of england through cornwall that's where all the tin mines were and what you find in many of the tin mining towns of england are these ancient traditions that jesus had stopped there with his uncle the people who lived here at the time of jesus were the druids and they may have been particularly receptive to the teachings of jesus for their religion bore certain uncanny resemblances to christianity at the time that jesus lived the dominant religion of england was the druidism the druids they had beliefs about a future messiah and in fact according to one historian they actually used the word yesu to label that messiah and they had some ideas about the body and soul and other concepts that reflected later on in christianity as christianity spread throughout england the druids discarded their pagan beliefs and converted did the druids recognize the fulfillment of their messiah prophecy and the story of jesus intriguing as the story of joseph of arimathea and jesus journey to england is joseph remains a questionable character to many biblical scholars joseph of arimathea who seems to appear in all four gospels what can we say about him i would raise the issue of whether he was even historical the gospels are peopled with characters who seem to emerge out of other materials and are not necessarily historical at all for instance we have no information about any place called arimathaea if the very existence of joseph of arimathaea is in doubt why do the legends persist the problem in people's minds is confusing literature with history the gospels are literature these traditions are literature history is made of much tougher stuff than that the controversy endures however for there is another tantalizing legend associated with joseph of arimathea and glastonbury it is the story of the holy grail the sacred cup from which jesus drank at the last supper then he took a cup and after giving thanks he gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew 26-27 According to the Bible, after the crucifixion, the body of Jesus was given to Joseph of Arimathea for burial. The legend of Glastonbury relates that Joseph then made a final journey to England to spread the gospel. With him, he carried the cup from the Last Supper. The legend relates that Joseph buried the cup somewhere in Glastonbury.

There is another aspect of the Joseph of Arimathea story. That is the cup. This becomes very important symbolism in Palestine in the first century. In fact, in Jewish revolutionary coins, the cup is the symbol of the first revolt against Rome.

Could the Jewish revolutionary image of the cup possibly be a clue to an incredible chapter in the missing years of Jesus? When we return, did Jesus spend his lost years in the wilderness with a fanatically religious apocalyptic sect? The Dead Sea, 15 miles east of Jerusalem at 1,300 feet below sea level, the lowest point on earth. Here, 2,000 years ago, in the forbidding landscape of the Judean wilderness, John the Baptist, a zealous prophet, spread a new message of salvation to the Jews of Palestine.

John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Mark 1, 4. John's message of redemption spread through Israel like wildfire.

Multitudes journeyed to hear him preach and to be baptized by him. One of these was Jesus. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove upon him.

All of the sources coalesce around the point that Jesus appeared among the followers of John the Baptist. I think that is the only credible information that you're going to find as far as the early years of Jesus in the Gospels. What was the genesis of the unique concept of baptism? Part of the answer may come from a mysterious sect of ultra-religious Jews who lived in the wilderness surrounding the Dead Sea at a site called Qumran they were called the Essenes many scholars have theorized that John the Baptist and Jesus may have at one time been members of their community he wasn't part of the establishment he wasn't part of the temple aristocracy he probably had some contact with the Essene movement at Qumran perhaps through John the Baptist it was at Qumran in 1947 that Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest known fragments of the Hebrew Bible, were discovered.

Found among these holy scriptures were documents which described the Essene community which lived at Qumran. Scholars believe the Essenes practiced a type of baptism. The apparent connections between Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Essene community have fueled controversy among biblical scholars. Could Jesus and John the Baptist have been influenced by the Essenes?

Could Jesus have lived with the Essenes during his lost years? Scholars have detected other surprising parallels between Jesus and the Essenes. The Essenes were distinguished by their love for each other, their simplicity of life, and their strict adherence to the laws of the Hebrew Bible. They called themselves the children of light there were many similarities between jesus and how he lived and also how the essenes lived they wore very simple clothing they kept all of their goods in common and then had someone essentially distribute the goods according to need they did not believe in acquiring material wealth and these were all aspects of jesus's ministry that we know of today but there was also a dark and fatalistic side to the doctrines of the Essenes.

One of their documents, known as the War Scroll, has led scholars to believe that the Essenes were fanatically religious. Like John the Baptist and Jesus, they rejected what they saw as the corruption of the Jewish priesthood. The occupation of the Holy Land by the idolatrous Romans was something they were prepared to fight to the death. The Essenes moved their community to the wilderness of Qumran because they believed that a war was rapidly approaching which would pit themselves against their enemies the Essene leader in this conflict would be a messiah described in the war scrolls as the teacher of righteousness so we have a whole group of bathers in the wilderness but in addition these are also revolutionaries and freedom fighters that is the unique quality of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

They combine both Essene asceticism, bathing, wilderness habitation, and purist ideologies, but they also have the militant final apocalyptic war vision of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven to fight the final war against all evil on the earth. That is in the War Scroll. According to certain translations of the scrolls, the teacher of righteousness is portrayed as a messiah some scholars have suggested that Jesus himself may have been the mysterious teacher of righteousness mentioned in the scrolls other scholars however point to apparent contradictions which contain profound implications Jesus could not even if he thought of himself as Messiah in some sense he could not accept the popular understanding of Messiah because it would be antithetical to everything he stood for because the popular understand Messiah would be some kind of warrior hero from the house of David who would come and destroy the enemies of Israel this was the very thing Jesus was opposed to when we return could Jesus have been actively involved in the struggle against the Roman oppressors and could this be a reason for the silence of the Gospels about the lost years of Jesus could there have been another aspect to Jesus in addition to the Prince of Peace and salvation as presented in the New Testament during his last years the very people he preached to were fighting the Romans for their lives perhaps even more importantly they fought for the conception of the one God upon which their religion was founded the situation in Palestine was holy terror it was horrendous and we know this from a variety of sources including the Dead Sea scrolls it was against this backdrop of violent oppression that jesus preached in the gospels jesus is primarily portrayed as one who abhors violence you have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you Matthew 5, 38 But the Gospels also depict a distinctly different image of Jesus.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. Matthew 10, 34 Why does the New Testament present conflicting views of Jesus? Some scholars point to various passages in the Gospels which they believe may contain hidden clues to the real nature of Jesus' mission to the Jews.

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. Suddenly, one of those who was with Jesus put his hand on his sword, drew it, and struck the slave of the high priest. Matthew 26, 50. Now, if you notice in the Gospels, some of Jesus' followers are carrying swords. and when he is asked should we carry a sword he says carry two so some of Jesus followers are clearly sword or knife people one of his associates is called a zealot now we have also at this time a group of people called zealots and Jesus in fact harbored one among his apostles and this was a group that had come into existence sometime before the common era their whole idea was to drive out the Romans.

Now, one of the problems with the Gospels and the historicity of the Gospels is that the authors are intent on rescuing Jesus from the charge for which he was clearly crucified. That is, the Romans did not crucify blasphemers, but crucifixion was the Roman punishment for political subversion. So he certainly was crucified as a revolutionary. But these views are not universal.

Most scholars do not see Jesus as a nationalist. What Jesus called for was a transformation of human life, a new way of seeing, a new way of hearing, a new way of relating to one another, and a call to greater inclusivity that included the poor, the women, children, the marginated, the oppressed. But if Jesus were involved in revolution, this could explain why a gap exists in our knowledge about his life if jesus was one of these quasi-ascetic daily bathing wilderness dwelling vegetarian revolutionaries then obviously the revolutionary aspect could not have been played up in the gospels as we have them because that would have made it impossible to circulate these documents in a roman oriented world all of this may never be resolved may remain ever mysterious for the nearly 2 000 years since the death of jesus countless stories and legends have tried to fill the gap created by the mysterious lost years why i think we're still fascinated by his missing years because we all love a good mystery here we have history's most famous man and all of a sudden he vanishes and he's gone for a long time and then he reappears with a message that changes the entire world so it's natural for us to be very curious as to what he did during that time who he might have met who he might have talked to and what caused him perhaps to embark on his mission perhaps the mystery of the last years of jesus is a sacred chapter one which we are not meant to read every moment every milestone of every personality For 20 years, Biography has left conjecture and innuendo to the other shows.

You know, the ones that come and go. Biography, Monday through Saturday at 8 on the Biography Channel, where everyone has a story.