- Nobody knows. Many countries claim he travelled and came to thier land, the most likley explanation that has been put forward is that he was just growing up and learning his fathers trade, he'd often sit at the steps of the religious buildings and listen to them debate thier religion. But nobody actually knows and there's no evidence of what he did.
- Another (more fanciful!) answer is the legend that on at least one occasion the Christ child visited the UK (then known as 'Albion' or 'Britannia') with Joseph of Arimathea who was a rich merchant. The story goes that they sailed up to what is now Glastonbury in SW UK (which at that time was surrounded by water, although the marshes are now drained). There is no real substance to this story, although certain features fit. There was a great deal of trade between the UK and Judea as both were parts of the Roman Empire, and the Romans needed lead mined in the Mendip Hills near Glastonbury (remains of their workings can still be seen). Joseph was said to have planted his hawthorn walking stick in Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury which took root and grew. Descendents of this 'Holy Thorn' are still seen in the Glastonbury area, the only other examples of this particular variety of thorn being found in the Holy Land. It is said that after the crucifixion and resurrection Joseph brought the Holy Grail (the cup used at the last supper) back to Glastonbury hiding it in an area of Glastonbury now known as the 'Chalice Gardens'. The story was immortalised in William Blake's poem 'Jerusalem' (see http://www.poetry-online.org/blake_jerusalem.htm). It's all very fanciful and circumstantial, and unlikely to be true... but an interesting story nevertheless. Interesting enough even to enthrall King Arthur to look for the Holy Grail at Glastonbury... but that's another tale (or another fancy?).
- There are many, even more far-fetched stories about his being in India, and even 'buried' in India thanks to supposed evidence called the St Issa scroll. The 'Jesus in India' idea did not spring up until the 1800s during when there were many silly ideas postuated about Christianity amd many cults (like Mormonism and the Watchtower organisation) founded. The only support of the Issa question comes from journalist Nicolas Notovitch, sect leader Levi Dowling and professional sceptic Matilda Ludendorff. None of these were trained historians and none Bible scholars. None are given any creedence by the historical, archaeological or Biblical intelligensia simply because their basis for fanciful musings are so untenable. The St Issa scroll
The facts are simple. The early life of Jesus was never recorded because the gospel writers did not deem this important. After his prologue John, the closest to Jesus of all the apostles, simply records his last three years of ministry - what he knew to be important. mark does the same. Matthew does the same except to record his birth stories solely with the purpose of showing fulfilment of the prophesies foretelling the messiah. Luke records the birth stories, and the story of Jesus in the Temple solely for the purpose of reinforcing Jesus' divinity. If one, even today, was compiling, say, a biography of Adolf Hitler, one would not include any information about his childhood, or his teen years, unless it was relevant to what made him an evil tyrant during World War 2, and any biography would naturally concentrate almost solely on his rise to power and his leadership of Nazi Germany. The Gospels are concerned primarily with the divinity and mission of Christ and therefore concentrate on this period only - after all, this is the period with which followers were interested.
Nevertheless, we can glean some information from the gospels. First, there is absolutely no hint of any suspicion that Jesus left Galilee between the ages of 13 and 30. We know he had brothers and sisters - James, the brother of Jesus became a great Church leader and wrote a great deal (including the letter attributed to him in the New Testament) - again with no hint. Nor a hint from his mother, nor from his disciples, nor from Paul. Nor from any of the other writers of the new testament. Nor from the many writers of the Early Church who either knew Jesus first hand or whose teachers knew him. Secondly, we are told that the crowds in Nazareth had no idea where Jesus had such insight into the Law. If he had been away for most of his life they would have had some idea. After hearing him preach, they all commented 'is this not the carpenter's son?', or, on another occasion 'is this not the carpenter?' suggesting that he was well known to them all long before the start of his mission. Another simple fact is that Jesus was rejected in his home town of Nazareth as he was so well known and many could not understand how the local carpenter should suddenly become as he did. This is hardly the response of people if Jesus was a stranger returned from a time in India. There are countless other pieces of evidence obtainable from the four gospels if one knows them well that pours scorn on any theory that Jesus left that area, even if he could - as travel to and from Jerusalem was not only physically difficult, but it was almost impossible to travel outside the empire because of the regime that they found themselves. Sadly there are those who have commented here who do notknow the life of Jesus well, and, because of their ignorance of these things, jump on any bandwagon either to pin fantastic stories to this man that have no basis in truth, or to discredit the man-God whom billions of Christians have worshipped over the last two millennia. Their ideas are as fanciful (and offensive) as saying Hitler was really a nice guy but misunderstood.
- Many people have wondered this over the years, and the truth is, only Jesus himself could say for sure. In the Bible there is a time gap between those ages; however, many people subscribe to the belief that for those 18 years of his life Jesus was having fellowship time with his father as well as preparing for what he knew he had to do in the future. Remember, no one just all of a sudden decides to live a perfect life and die a horrific death on a cross, that takes about 18 years of preparation.
- The current Christian Bible does not mention this issue. During the medieval period there were numerous semi-Bible books of questionable authenticity that detailed youthful adventures. These include the idea that "Jesus" was a jew named Yeshua Ben Yosef who from age 18 - 30 trained in India. He challenged the gurus old ways of a caste system and was kicked out then came back to perform all those miracles with his new found knowledge from the east.
- The St. Issa Scroll is another text which is believed to support the theory that Jesus was buried in Kashmir following the crucifixion. The scroll, found in a Buddhist monastery in Hemis, records the travels of a Jewish boy to the East, a fact that some historians, such as Nicholas Notorich believe explains the absence of documentation regarding Jesus' life in the Gospels between the ages of 12 and 30. Supporters of this theory who believe that the Kashmir tomb is that in which Jesus is buried, also point to the fact that the parables attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, such as the parable of the Sower, were attributed to Yus Asaph.
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