Jesus – the first trip to India E-Book

Horst Gunkel

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 539

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Who was Jesus really? The Bible doesn't tell us about his first 30 years. What influenced him? What made him this fascinating, inspiring man who still inspires countless people today? In this book, we learn more about the different spiritual traditions that Jesus encountered between the ages of 12 and 30, particularly Buddhism and Jainism, but also Hinduism and Zoroastrianism. All of these carefully researched and plausible influences are described in an exciting narrative modeled on the classic coming-of-age novel, designed to serve the spiritual and human development of readers.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

A foreword

Anna, the grandmother of Jesus

Maria is pregnant

The birth of Jesus

The boy Jesus

The young man

With the Essēners

Antioch

With the caravan on the Silk Road

The Arsacid Empire and Zarathustra

Bactria

Across the Hindu Kush

Gandhāra

With the Jains

Rainy season

Jesus makes a decision

The guru of the Nazarene

Amar Jadoo - the really tough one

Death and resurrection

Is there such a thing -

With the Brahmins

With the followers of Buddha

Devamitta penetrates the Dharma

Bodhgaya and the white cloud

The last few months in India

With the Paganists

In the land of the Zoroastrians

Explanation of terms

List of names

Also available from the same author

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A foreword

necessary to understand the book

This volume is the first part of a trilogy. It describes the time before Jesus appeared as a preacher in Palestine.

This book could also be described as a historical novel of development. The figure of Jesus of Nazareth - like each and every one of us - continued to develop over the course of his life. It therefore makes no sense to read later chapters first. I strongly recommend keeping to the order of the sections and following Jesus as he developed during the first thirty years of his life, which this volume describes.

He comes from different cultures with different languages, which is why different, but typical, terms and names are used in these cultures. These terms in bold italics are explained in a glossary at the end of the book. I recommend looking them up there at least the first time you come across them, because the terms are not always what we might expect them to be. We probably forget the meaning of one or the other term when reading, which is why these terms are printed in bold italics every time they appear.

However, there are also terms that are printed in italics but not in bold. These are names that do not appear in the glossary, for example the name Jesus. There is also a list of people at the end of the book.

There are also occasional footnotes. These serve to explain a term or a fact that is only of interest at this point. These can be references to a source or a biblical quotation, for example. I therefore recommend that you also read the footnotes, as they help you to understand the text. All Bible quotations are made according to the Luther Bible 2017.

This volume is not an exact description of the life of Jesus; unfortunately, the sources we have are too thin for that. However, I have endeavored to check the plausibility of all the sources available to me and to use only those accounts that I consider plausible. The aim was not primarily to write an entertaining story, but to make the ideas and new interpretations that Jesus brought to the Abrahamic religions understandable. This is something that the texts of the New Testament unfortunately do not achieve. Therefore, this biography can certainly be seen as a historical novel of development.

Naturally, I have made a few misinterpretations or historical inaccuracies, although I have made every effort to avoid them. I apologize for these errors.

I would be delighted if the dear readers would not only find my book an interesting read, but also some food for thought that will help their spiritual and human development.

A second volume describes the time from Jesus' 30th year until his death in the year 96. From the age of 34, this second volume is a hypothetical utopia in which he realizes his idea of a "kingdom of God on earth" in a place in Kashmir.

Vacha, 24.09.2024

Horst Gunkel

Anna, the grandmother of Jesus

Yes, it was difficult for a woman to remain childless. After all, children were life insurance for the time when you could no longer provide for your own livelihood. Of course, this was especially true for women. They did not earn a living, but ran the household - a very arduous task in those days - and brought up the children. If the husband died, what would happen to his wife if she had no children?

This was especially true for Anna, as her husband Joachim was considerably older than her and would probably die before her. But what would happen to Anna then? Would she be able to marry again when she was no longer of childbearing age and therefore had no chance of raising those who would look after her in her old age?

She didn't make too much of it at first. She was just 15 years old when she was promised by her parents to Joachim, a widower whose first marriage had remained childless and who now had the chance to have children with his much younger wife Anna. Like so many girls, Anna had slipped into this marriage without giving it too much thought. Yes, she was happy, even though Joachim was so much older. After all, he was a good-natured man, not the sort of swashbuckler or rough guy who beat up his wife when he was drunk. Besides, back then you were considered a real grown-up if you were married.

Joachim was not only a nice guy, but also a tender lover, so she enjoyed the nights with him. But then there was the matter of washing clothes by the stream. Like every Wednesday, she was there, washing the laundry and laying it out to bleach. Of course, there were lots of other women there too.

"Well, you're still as slim as a crop after almost a year of marriage! Surely your Joachim is already too old for a night-time encounter?" asked Esther, a neighbor.

"No," Anna brusquely dismissed this question, "everything is fine - and extremely pleasant."

"Pleasant perhaps, but is it effective? After all, you don't just do it for fun, but also to have children who can support you in old age and keep you alive. Has it never occurred to you that it might have been Joachim's fault that his first marriage was childless?"

That hit Anna like a blow. No, she had never thought about it before. But now that the thought was out in the world, it didn't seem so illogical. That day, Anna's carefree life came to an end. She was still very young, but the shadow of the thought of poverty in old age would not leave her. On her second wedding anniversary, she broached the subject for the first time. "It's so nice with you, Joachim. It's almost like I always dreamed it would be. It's just a shame we don't have any children yet." Joachim said nothing - nothing dismissive either. So she plucked up a little more courage: "Strangely enough, your first wife didn't have any children either. That's strange, isn't it?"

Joachim pinched his lips together: "That reminds me, Samuel asked me to help him with the sheep today." As soon as he had said it, he disappeared and didn't return until long after dark. Joachim smelled of wine. Anna lay down to sleep. From that day on, they both carried the burden of what they knew but dared not say. It was to stay that way for several years.

Then Anna heard - once again while doing the laundry - about a herbalist who seemed to have magical powers. There was a treatment that really could help all infertile women to get pregnant within a month, provided they had relatively regular periods. That day, Anna broached the vexed subject for the first time in a long time. "You, Joachim, I'm really happy! I've heard something. You're also worried that I can't seem to have children. I've heard that it could be due to a blockage. And now, my dear, the good news: in Sepphoris[1]there is an herbalist who can help all women who have regular periods, and I do! There's a ritual and an herbal decoction that helps. It's not expensive either!"

Joachim thought hard. This could be a scam. But it wasn't expensive. If he denied her this, when it was her heart's desire, it would be clear that it was he who could not father children. After a long internal deliberation, he answered her: "Anna, I think it's a scam. I don't think it will help you, but if you really want it, then go for it."

Anna threw her arms around her husband's neck: "You're so sweet! I'll let you know we're coming."

Now Joachim wondered: "We, why us? I'm not needed for that. It's you who has to carry the children."

Anna was afraid Joachim would back down, but she was able to reassure him without having to lie: "But that's nothing pagan. Of course, the couple have to ask YHWH for support together at the beginning of this ritual, otherwise it can't work. After all, we are God-fearing Jews!" Joachim really couldn't disagree, so he complied, even though he was sure that the ritual wouldn't, or couldn't, be successful! But it would give him a few weeks of peace and quiet to think.

So on the following full moon day, they visited the herb woman in Sepphoris. First, all three of them went to the temple. The herb woman sacrificed a chicken, then she spoke a ritual text, which Anna and Joachim repeated, in which they thanked YHWH for everything and then turned to him with their very special request. Then they went to the herb woman's hut, where the broth was boiled. While the broth bubbled away, the old woman gave a speech. Anna had to drink the broth completely. The next day she would develop a fever that would last for three days. During this time, she would get her period early. Three days after the end of the fever, the two of them would have to resume their marital relations, every day for two weeks, or longer if they wanted. But Anna would become pregnant in these fourteen days, that was certain - at least if it was up to her. The herb woman then cited a series of evidence and referred to well-known figures from the recent past, so that an unbiased observer would have said: "This line of evidence is conclusive!"

Both spouses fervently hoped that what they thought was impossible would come true after all. Anna caught the fever and got her period early, just as the herbalist had predicted. The two of them did everything the herbalist had asked. But when Anna bled again four weeks later, they realized what had already been clear beforehand. They both knew that they now had to have a talk.

As befitted a man, Joachim made a carefully considered suggestion: "I suffer from the fact that we have no children just as much as you do. On the other hand, we have both asked YHWH and tried the thing with the herbs. The herbs thing didn't work. But the night after our visit to the temple, I saw a huge hand with five raised fingers in front of me in a dream. In the background, I saw people sowing and harvesting five times. I think that means five years. The hand I saw, with no face visible, I think was the hand of YHWH. I think that can mean two things, either that we have five children, or that it takes five years to have a child. Anna, I know you're getting impatient, so let's make a promise to each other today to just give each other five years. Five years from today - if we don't have children by then - we must discuss together everything that needs to be done then, taboo-free, but together. I ask you, my beloved Anna, for these five years."

Anna was happy. That was better than her own suggestion. And it came from him! "So be it, Joachim. I will be a good, obedient wife to you and do everything that makes you happy. If I should really only become pregnant after five years, so be it! I even promise to wait seven years before we do what you have announced: discuss everything, without taboos, but together. The conversation will take place seven years from today." Then they both fell into each other's arms and kissed deeply. They had peace and time. But both of them also knew that until then they could look for a solution in peace that was as acceptable as possible for the other side.

And so the years passed, they were good years. Anna was a hardworking and obedient wife to Joachim. Joachim was a loving husband to Anna. Gradually it was no longer a topic of conversation that the two of them had no children, they seemed to have come to terms with it. And so the years passed. More than five years had passed, as Joachim had suggested, but not yet the seven that Anna had granted him when she celebrated her thirtieth birthday. When she opened her eyes on her special day, Joachim looked down at her, then kissed her and said: "I'm ready to have the talk we promised each other. Are you ready too?"

Anna looked puzzled. She hadn't expected that today. She thought for a moment and replied: "You told me about a hand back then, possibly YHWH's hand. Before we went to the herb woman, we went to the temple and asked HIM for his blessing. I think it would only be appropriate if we also went to the temple before this conversation and asked YHWH to hold his hand over us. So let's wait for the Sabbath, pray together in the temple and then do what we have prepared for, my beloved."

She kissed Joachim on the mouth. He looked at her. What a lovely wife he had. He replied: "Yes, my dear, you're right, let's start our important conversation with the blessing of the Almighty."

And so it happened. With the certainty of having God's blessing, they went into the conversation. "What idea do you have, dear Joachim?" Naturally, Anna left it up to him to make the first suggestion.

"Dear Anna, it seems clear to me that it is I who cannot beget children. This seems to be YHWH's will, his will be done in heaven as well as on earth. We both, you and I, you probably longer than me, because you are much younger and need children to look after you in your old age. But you can only have them from a man who is capable of procreating. I, on the other hand, don't want to lose you to anyone else. So we need a man whose sperm you can conceive and who will then disappear from your life, a man with whom you have no emotional attachment. It has to be a man that you don't choose, but I do, so that no jealousy arises in me. A man I can rely on to do it for me and not to tie you to him. He has to leave, not be with the child and, above all, no one must find out. Because if it came out, you'd be stoned to death like adulteresses are. I would be forced to disown and reject you, otherwise I would be shunned by everyone. Dear Anna, that is my suggestion. I also know a man whom I trust and who meets all the criteria."

Anna's thoughts had gone in a similar direction, but she had been terrified to say so. She was all the more relieved when she heard it from him, from her beloved and sensitive husband. Then she said: "My suggestion would have been slightly different, but yours is even better. Still, there will be talk if I unexpectedly get pregnant after all. On the Sabbath, when we were in the temple, I felt as if an angel was giving me courage. What do you think if I tell people that I had an angelic apparition? The angel would have told me that I would become pregnant during the year?"

"That's an excellent idea, my dear! That's how we'll do it. I'll discuss everything with my confidant, the father of our child, and you tell him about your angelic apparition!"

And they did as they had planned. Joachim went away with the donkey for a few days to prepare everything, and Anna never tired of talking about her apparition everywhere over the next few days. She did not forget to go to the temple and ask for a blessing for her project.

When Joachim returned from his short trip, he was greeted by neighbors: "You won't believe what your wife is saying!"

"I don't care at all, father, you won't believe what happened to me. Just a day's journey from here, an angel appeared to me in the night and told me that I was going to be a father in my old age!"

Of course, the news of the "double angel miracle" also spread in the neighboring villages, although there were strong doubts that the two could actually have children. Some time later, shortly before Anna had her fertile days, the two of them set off with a donkey and some luggage, supposedly to visit a distant uncle of Joachim's. In reality, however, they went to a remote village. In reality, however, they were going to a remote area where a lonely shepherd was tending his sheep . There were only two huts there, the shepherd's and a second one where Joachim and Anna stayed for a few days. At dusk, Joachim gave his wife a kiss, then she got up and went to the other hut for an hour. It was something that fortunately nobody found out about. The plan had succeeded.

Months later, it gradually became clear in the village: the angel had announced the truth, Anna was gradually getting a little belly. Nine months after the "double angelic miracle", Anna gave birth to a daughter. The rabbi in the temple also announced that a miracle had taken place: "The prophecy in Anna's name has been fulfilled!" This was particularly significant to everyone's ears, because in Hebrew Anna means: "YHWH has had mercy."

The parents gave the baby the name Mary. At the time, they did not yet know that perhaps the most famous woman in world history had appeared.

Maria grew up, but her social father died at an early age (nothing was known about her biological father, as Anna and Joachim had planned). After some time, Anna remarried a man named Cleophas and probably had more children with him, although this is not recorded.

Maria is pregnant

We are taking a long leap, because hardly anything is known about Mary's childhood. She is Anna's daughter. Naturally, she thinks Joachim is her father. She hardly knew this father, because he died when she was still a small child. After Anna married Cleophas, her life was quite unspectacular for some time. But then ...

Maria had just turned thirteen when she turned up at home completely upset. Cleophas was not there at the time. Maria threw herself into her mother's arms and cried like a castle dog. It was clear that something must have completely shaken her. Her mother tried to calm her down.

The child is going through puberty, she said to herself, which can give rise to great emotions and abysses of disappointment. She said to her daughter: "My dear child, whatever it is, you can confide in me. I am not only your mother, but also your best friend." Perhaps she really would have confided in her mother about what had happened if her stepfather hadn't just walked in at that moment. He said somewhat insensitively: "Well, what's going on here? Our Maria isn't having her first heartbreak, is she?"

Maria tore herself away from her mother and yelled at Cleophas in a way that was extremely inappropriate for children towards their parents: "You don't understand anything, you don't understand anything!" She ran away. When she hadn't reappeared after a few hours, Anna began to look for her daughter. After this search didn't help her at first, she thought about it. She had an idea. The day before, a cat had given birth to kittens in the small barn by the side of the road. This could be Maria's place of refuge. She actually found the baby there and took her daughter into her arms. Tears were still streaming down Maria's face. They sat together for a long time. It is not known whether she told her mother at this point or later what had happened. And everything that happened in the days and weeks that followed.

However, over the next few weeks, both Maria and her mother realized that what they had feared had actually happened: Maria was pregnant.[2]

How the pregnancy occurred is unknown. The only thing that seems fairly certain is that it was not the Holy Spirit who impregnated the girl. Of the various possibilities, these seem the most plausible to me:

Maria met up with a boy for the first few caresses, then things got out of hand and he raped her.

It could also have been a gang that took control of the young girl and raped her.

It is known that Mary often went to the temple, and she was possibly also abused by a priest.

These are certainly just speculations, albeit the ones that seem the most plausible to me.

Of course, Anna and Maria did everything in their power to prevent Maria's pregnancy from becoming public knowledge, as pregnant girls were threatened with death by stoning. "One thing is important above all," Anna had impressed upon her daughter, "that no one - really no one! - finds out about your pregnancy. In the meantime, I'm looking for a way out. I already have an idea."

Anna knew from her experience what a problem it could be if you didn't have children. She also knew what it was like when men or women lost their partners and had no children. She looked for a possible partner in Nazareth and soon had someone in mind. The negotiations had to be conducted quietly, of course, because no one was allowed to find out about Mary's pregnancy.

Anna was able to convince the carpenter Josef that this was his chance. Joseph was now about 40 years old and a widower; his wife had died of childbed fever. So Anna and Joseph came to an agreement: he would announce his betrothal to Mary. He would marry her and thus prevent Mary's stoning. He would raise a brat, but no one would know except Mary, Anna and himself. The special advantage for him was that he would not only have a new wife, but also one so young that it was practically impossible for a man of his age under normal circumstances.

When Anna told her daughter about the agreement, she was overjoyed. Not because she was getting a much older man, of course, but because her life had been saved. That evening, Maria went to her mother once again and hugged her in gratitude: "Mother, I am so happy and glad about what you have done for me. And you know: I think this is going to be a very special child."

"Definitely," she said to her daughter, thinking: "Every child is very special if we help them to develop to their highest potential.

The child really became something very special!

The birth of Jesus

The Christmas story is well known. However, it is a myth. It simply did not take place. Of course Jesus was born, but he was born naturally. The story of the virgin birth[3] is a nice myth that only very few people believe in today. A possible alternative was presented in the last chapter.

But the birth myth[4] of the journey of the heavily pregnant Mary on a donkey to Bethlehem because of a census is also a myth[5]. The reason for this journey is said to have been a census ("estimate") on the orders of Emperor Augustus. This census did not take place. The Gospel of Luke was written between 60 and 85 AD, the evangelist did not know Jesus and was not one of his disciples. He therefore based his account on what he had heard and perhaps also on his own interpretations. Initially, most of Jesus' followers came from the Jewish people. For them, what was written in the Tanakh (in principle identical to the Old Testament) was regarded as the word of God. The appearance of the Messiah is announced there, albeit in the "City of David", i.e. Bethlehem. However, Jesus[6] came from Nazareth. So a pretext was needed to move his birth to Bethlehem. One possible reason for this could be a census. Such a census probably took place under Quirinius, the Roman governor in Syria, who was governor from 12 to 6 BC, but not at the time of Jesus. Of course, there was no obligation to return to his birthplace, why would there be? This scene does not appear in the other three evangelists. Luke is considered the most poetic of the four evangelists. The story of the child in the manger is indeed a touching story, a beautiful myth.

Of course, this has nothing to do with the date[7] Christmas, December 25. Rather, Christmas was set on December 25 because this was the highest holiday in the Roman Empire: "Sol invictus", the day of the "unconquered sun", i.e. the Roman solstice celebration. Christians first celebrated Christmas in 361, when Christianity was just about to become the state religion in Rome. 50 years earlier, in 313, Emperor Constantine had ended the official persecution of Christians with the Edict of Toleration of Milan, and in 380 the two Roman emperors (Valentinian II of Western Rome and Theodosius I of Eastern Rome) signed the decree that made Christianity the state religion. And so the pagan holiday "Sol invictus" was simply reinterpreted as the birth of Jesus, which made sense. After all, Christians referred to Jesus as the "light of the world". He was the one who had conquered death through the resurrection, so the celebration of the rebirth of the sun in the annual cycle was very fitting.

The fact that there was neither a comet nor a constellation of stars that could possibly be confused with one at the alleged time of Jesus' birth fits the picture all too well.

There is another myth surrounding the birth of Jesus, namely that of the infanticide in Bethlehem, which King Herod is said to have ordered in order to kill Jesus because he allegedly believed him to be a pretender to the throne of David.[8] Matthew is the only evangelist to tell this story. It is obviously not correct. For one thing, it assumes that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which, as we have shown, is not correct. Furthermore, King Herod died in March 4 B.C. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote Antiquitates Iudaicae (Jewish Antiquities), a fundamental historical work on Judaism, in 94 A.D., also makes no mention of infanticide.

The myth of the "infanticide of Bethlehem" was probably based on a story from the Old Testament. At that time, the Egyptian Pharaoh had all the children of the Jews killed[9], in order to weaken the enslaved Jewish people demographically. Moses is said to have escaped infanticide at that time.[10] This infanticide is also questionable, as it is only documented in the Old Testament. The author of the "five books of Moses" is said to have been Moses himself.

Modern biblical scholarship assumes that the five books of Moses are a collection of writings by different authors.

The boy Jesus

Nothing certain is known about Jesus' childhood. What we do know is what the four evangelists of the New Testament report and what is written in apocryphal writings. I will first take a few reports[11] from the Infancy Gospel according to Thomas.

Jesus was probably just five years old when he was playing with some boys in a former clay pit. The boys were making various figures out of the clay to represent different birds. Then the son of the high priest Annas came along the road and rebuked the boys, saying that it was the Sabbath and therefore not permitted to do handicrafts. While the other boys looked embarrassed, Jesus went on the offensive: "You fool, the prohibition refers to work and not to children's games. You should be ashamed of yourselves for snapping at my friends like that!" Annas was indignant and set about trampling down the clay figures. According to Thomas, Jesus clapped his hands and shouted: "Fly away!"

Naturally, the clay birds immediately came to life and took to the air to get to safety. However, Annas did not take this lying down and subsequently destroyed the pools that provided the moisture for the clay pits. This in turn resulted in Jesus cursing him, whereupon the cursed man "withered away" according to the author of this scripture. This was later interpreted to mean that Jesus killed him with the curse.

On the way back from the brook, the boys were still quite upset, another boy ran past Jesus and bumped into him, whereupon Jesus cursed him too. The cursed boy died. When Jesus returned home, Joseph confronted him and made it clear to him that he must not use his supernatural abilities to harm or even kill others.[12] (Mind you, this is only Thomas the Israelite's account; in my opinion, its truthfulness is certainly no greater than that of the four recognized evangelists).

Zacchaeus the teacher had also heard about the boy's special abilities. He decided to impart wisdom to the boy. Jesus sharply rejected his attempts, but the episode did not end fatally for him. In his despair, the rejected boy confessed that Jesus was either "a god or an angel or what can I say - I don't know".

Nevertheless, Joseph's admonition and the appearance of Zacchaeus do not appear to have been without effect, as the author of this apocryphal text now has Jesus announce that he will work to "make the blind see and the foolish understand". Now Jesus worked a miracle and the injured were revived, according to Thomas the Israelite.

According to the Infancy Gospel according to Thomas, what had been reported up to that point led to all the damage done being repaired, and no one "dared to make him angry from then on".

When Jesus was about seven years old, the children were playing on the flat roofs of Nazareth when the boy Zenon fell from the roof and was left for dead. Other children accused Jesus of having pushed Zenon off the roof. He was then confronted by the boy's parents. He called Zenon as his witness by shouting to him: "Wake up." He did indeed wake up and confessed that he had fallen off the roof through his own carelessness.

When Jesus was eight years old, Joseph decided to send him to the school[13] because of his wisdom, but this proved fatal. His new teacher was not just put to shame like the first one, but died as a result of a curse from Jesus. (This is, however, a contradiction to Thomas' earlier statement that no one dared to "make him angry"). Jesus was now grounded.

A few days later, however, a third teacher offered to take Jesus back to school. He recognized Jesus' superiority and allowed himself to be taught by him. This teacher thus demonstrated special wisdom, as this led to Jesus also reviving the cursed teacher and thus - according to Thomas - proving "grace and wisdom".

So much for what Thomas the Israelite tells us in the Infancy Gospel. This gospel should be treated with at least the same skepticism as the four canonical ones. I have only retold it here because it can fill a good ten-year gap in the biography of Jesus, ten years for which I have no better source and do not want to put forward my own hypothesis.

The young man

The evangelists tell us little about Jesus' childhood and youth. Only the evangelist Luke reports that Mary and Joseph took the boy Jesus with them to Jerusalem every year for the Passover14 (the Jewish festival corresponds roughly to our Easter). This is a considerable journey of around 140 kilometers (one-way distance), which at the time had to be covered in around four to six days. A special event is said to have taken place when Jesus was twelve years old.15

Jesus found the rabbis' lectures interesting, but they were not enough for his critical mind. He questioned, contradicted and argued. Some things seemed extremely questionable to him. The God who appeared in the Tanakh seemed to be irascible. This was something Jesus knew from his childhood and thought he had overcome by now. How could it be that God did not have his temper under control? A good God had to be one of love and compassion. He had to be equanimous and not have any negative emotions.

Some of the rabbis forbade this criticism and wanted to chase the boy out of the temple for rebelliousness. But there were also others who found Jesus' questions absolutely justified. Three rabbis in particular were impressed by the young Jesus, an older one (I'll call him Primus here) and two younger scribes (I'll call them Sekundus and Tertius). The disputation between Jesus and the three rabbis lasted several days.16 It could have gone something like this:

Jesus: "I am enthusiastic about the power of YHWH. But sometimes I ask myself: 'Can a benevolent God act like this?' Take the case of the Flood, for example. YHWH is said to have wiped out all people through this huge flood, except for Noah's family. Were all the others fundamentally evil that they had to be punished with death? Even small children?"

Primus: "I can well understand you, Jesus, I too have all too often had doubts about what is written in the Tanakh. Even as a young man, I asked very similar questions. I experienced similar rejection as you. This was during my training as a rabbi. One day, one of my instructors, an old rabbi who had always listened to me with understanding, took me into a secret room under the temple. There were many scrolls there. He took out four of them and read them to me. It was always the same passage from the Tanakh. I knew the first version, it was a passage that is also recited at Passover. But each of the other three versions was different. One was still similar, the second was much more detailed and the third was not only shorter, it also seemed contradictory to the others. According to the ancient language, it had to be the oldest of the three writings. I was puzzled and asked my instructor: "So which one is true?" He smiled and told me that only YHWH knew. But I should simply ask my heart: how would a just and loving God have acted? Since then, I know that I must always be careful when someone says: 'But it is written ...'"

Sekundus added: "I too am a rabbi, and I too often have doubts. My uncle, whom I hold in high esteem and visited two years ago, belongs to a sect. They call themselves Essēners, pious people who lead a life pleasing to God. They reject all forms of violence. They don't even eat animals because they say that they too are YHWH's creatures, that they want to live and not die. I was very impressed by the piety and frugality of these people. I wondered if I shouldn't go to them. Maybe it would be better. But I have to admit that I am a weak person and would rather live as a respected rabbi than in poverty like them. Admittedly, I also love the wine they don't drink because they say it clouds the mind."

Jesus was impressed by these statements and wanted to know more: "Could it be that there are many different views of God and no one really knows which is the right one? Are there perhaps other sects that reject luxury and lead a free and frugal life like the birds of the air, who don't work and yet get their fill and are perhaps closer to God than we are?"

Tertius: "I've heard about a sect in Egypt. They are not Jews, but they are very pious. They worship an enlightened man who is said to have lived hundreds of years ago. They cure diseases of the body and soul in four steps according to a peculiar but logical method. They first find out what the problem is, which is still quite normal. But instead of applying the known remedies, they look for the causes. Now they don't fight the illness with the usual methods, but the cause. Finally, they make a precise plan on how to combat the cause."

Sekundus: "Yes, I've also heard about them with the Essēners. This sect is called the Therapists. The plan they come up with to combat the cause of suffering is called therapy. Some renowned Greek doctors are said to have adopted this method."

Jesus was excited about the many new things. He said: "Truly I tell you, I will seek out these Essēners and perhaps also the Therapists. There are more things between heaven and earth than our school wisdom teaches us - and than are written in the Tanakh."

After three days, Joseph and Mary found their son again in the temple and took him back to Nazareth. There he worked for a few more months - as he had done before - as his father's assistant and learned the carpenter's trade.17

At the age of twelve, Jesus had now reached the age at which his parents were looking for a possible bride and arranging the first invitations. They probably began their deliberations during the journey or now in the months when he was learning the trade from his father. For Jesus, however, who had just become passionate about spiritual matters, this was more of a threat. He had to act now before he was forced into family life.

14  And his parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. (Luke 2:41)

15  And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast. And when the days were over and they went home again, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and his parents did not know it. But they thought he was among his companions, so they traveled a day's journey to look for him among his relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalemand looked for him. (Luke 2:42-45)

16  And it came to pass after three days, that they found him sitting in the temple in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who listened to him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "My child, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I have sought you with pain. And he said to them: Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be with those who belong to my father? And they did not understand the word which he said to them. (Luke 2:46-50)

With this wording, Lukewants to make it clear that Jesusdoes not consider Joseph to be his father, but God. It is doubtful whether the twelve-year-old also saw it that way.

17  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:51-52)

With the Essēners

In the Bible, we find no reference to what happened between Jesus' twelfth and thirtieth year. There is no written evidence of what happened during this time. Although there are claims that there are sources in the Vatican and also in the Potala of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, this cannot be regarded as proven. I have tried to reconstruct the time between Jesus' twelfth and thirtieth year on the basis of a few scattered references. This is therefore a "hypothetical biography" and should be treated with caution. However, I also see the entire Bible - both the Old and the New Testament - as a "hypothetical explanation of the world and history" and should therefore be treated with (at least) the same degree of caution. In other words: I maintain that the truth content of this book is no less than that of the Bible.

After Jesus' stay of several days with the scribes in the Jerusalem temple described in the Gospel of Luke18 , he worked for a short time in Joseph's carpentry business. He had firmly resolved to visit the Essēners. Afterwards, he might also want to visit the Therapists, depending on what became apparent during his time with the Essēners.

Jesus was already familiar with traveling from his visit to the Passover feast in Jerusalem. He did not know exactly where these Essēnians lived, but Sekundus had told him that he had traveled three days' walk from Jerusalem to visit his uncle. So he decided to go to Jerusalem first, a route he already knew. There he could visit Sekundus and ask him to explain the rest of the way. He wasn't too worried about his food. He could feed on fruit along the way. He also passed places where people were always interested to hear what was happening elsewhere. The people were hospitable, a piece of bread was always left for him and sometimes he was even invited to share porridge or soup with them.

The reunion with Sekundus in Jerusalem was a pure joy. The young rabbi was proud to have given this promising, intelligent young man a good tip for his further spiritual development. He gave him precise directions to En Gedi, an oasis not far from the Dead Sea where the Essēners lived. There he was to ask for Nicodemus, the uncle of Sekundus, whom Nicodemus had once visited.

So Jesus set off the following day. On the afternoon of the third day, he reached En Gedi and asked for Nicodemus.

"Oh, Nicodemus are you looking for? Do you have a health problem? Why are you looking for our great healer?" was the answer. It turned out that Nicodemus of all people was the best healer in this particularly knowledgeable community.

"What a pleasure to have such a clever young man visiting!" Nicodemus, who had an excellent knowledge of human nature, greeted Jesus. "Let me guess: Sekundus sent you because you have a particularly critical mind and difficulties with what is written in the Tanakh. Then you've come to the right place." Naturally, Jesus was delighted with the warm welcome.

On the first day, he received an introduction to the ritual ablutions, which seemed to be very important to this sect, and the members wore only white clothing. Both seemed excessive to Jesus, but he had come here to learn and not to criticize.

He found the fact that there was no money much better. "You can't serve two masters, mammon and God," Nicodemus told him. How true that is, Jesus said to himself, I will remember that and pass it on in due course.19 But it was not just the relationship to money, but to all possessions that impressed the young Jesus: there was practically no private property. On joining the community, all property (hon) was transferred to the group, which was administered by one of the "brothers", as they called themselves. This administrator was elected by the group. Wherever Essēners lived, they formed such "brotherhoods". The ceded property included not only all material assets, including livestock, but also koah and da'at.

The koah also included one's own physical labor, including its earnings through wage labor. The da'at was practical knowledge and expertise, i.e. the essential basis for earning a living as a scribe, craftsman, doctor or teacher. However, the entire property could only be transferred after a probationary year in which the candidate had to prove himself.20

On the one hand, Jesus found this impressive, but on the other, he realized that he did not want to make a permanent commitment here. It was a very effective, selfless lifestyle, but certainly not the highest spiritual level there was to achieve. He resolved to move on after a year at the latest, i.e. before transferring his labor and expertise, presumably to the Therapists, as he assumed at the time.

"This is all very new to me, but it impresses me," said Jesus, "only one thing surprises me: I hardly see any women."

Nicodemus also explained the rules of the Essēner to the young Jesus here: "As it is written and taught by the Teacher of Righteousness, YHWH created mankind exclusively for monogamy. When a woman dies, the man may not marry another woman. Men are usually married at the age of 20; women may marry from the age of twelve. Sexual intercourse is only permitted for the purpose of procreation, and there are precise rules regarding the time that must elapse after childbirth, menstruation and other matters, so that sexual intercourse is usually only permitted about once or twice a year. As most women don't live past the age of 25 - puerperal fever unfortunately takes most of them early despite our medical efforts - we live sexually abstinent lives most of the time. And that's a good thing, because desire is evil. The crucial thing is: for us, love is not a matter of desire between a man and a woman. We try to love all beings without desire. That is also the reason why we abstain from eating meat."

All of this seemed very impressive to Jesus in part, but also strange in part. Jesus believed that love must be something other than sexual greed. Non-selfish love towards all beings also seemed to him to be the right way, but he also found some things a little excessive. The Essēnians obviously believed literally what was written in the Tanakh and followed how this "teacher of righteousness" interpreted the Tanakh. He asked Nicodemus: "Who is this 'teacher of righteousness' that you follow?"

"The Teacher of Righteousness lived around 150 years ago," Nicodemus instructed him. "He once held the office of High Priest of Jerusalem, but then the Maccabee Jonathan, a military dictator, usurped the office. The teacher of righteousness had to flee to Damascus. He then made contact with all Jewish organizations, as he knew that YHWH first wanted to unite all the scattered parts of Israel in the Holy Land, the land he had given to the Jewish people. Unfortunately, there was some resistance to this, but at least seven groups of exiles returned. He then founded the Essenian Union. The teacher of justice died 120 years ago, but we are preserving his legacy."21

Jesus definitely wanted to stay with this rather rigid community for some time in order to be initiated into their healing arts. But he realized that it was very unlikely that he would join this community for life.

He seemed to have arrived at just the right man, Nicodemus. Jesus already knew how he could show his appreciation.

"Nicodemus, the roof of your hut is shabby, it doesn't protect you properly from the rain or sandstorms. Even the beams are rotten. What do you say I start building you a new roof tomorrow? Because you have to know: I did an apprenticeship as a carpenter."

Nicodemus was delighted: this young man had come because he was looking for something, because he thirsted for spirituality and - Nicodemus was sure - was interested in his knowledge of the art of healing. However, he did not ask what he would get, but offered what he could give: "Just like us Essēners," Nicodemus said happily.

The next morning, Jesus began the preparatory work to replace the roof. First of all, wood had to be found, beams cut and slats made before the actual roof work could begin. So Jesus worked as a carpenter in the morning and went to teach the art of healing in the afternoon.

What he could learn there! Most illnesses, he learned, were not just of a physical nature. Rather, they had their origin equally in the soul. This could have been damaged in childhood or taken over by demons later on. What he learned was therefore only to a lesser extent herbalism, and to a greater extent the diagnosis of psychological causes and the correct way to deal with possession by all kinds of demons.

Jesus stayed with the Essēners for a year. During this time, he learned a lot about recognizing people's mental or spiritual problems in their external behaviour and how to deal with them. Neuroses had to be healed and demons cast out.

But Jesus, who had never intended to spend his entire life in En Gedi or elsewhere with the Essēners, was interested in something else. He wanted to learn about other spiritual centers. So he asked if Nicodemus or any of his "brothers" knew anything about the therapists or the "enlightened one" they worshipped.

"The Therapists," replied Nicodemus, "live towards sunset22 in the land of Egypt, and indeed worship a man whom they call the Awakened One, not the Enlightened One. It is not clear to me what the difference is supposed to be. You have already heard about the four-stage process for healing physical and mental illnesses from Sekundus. Egypt is big, though. I can't tell you where to look there. The best place to know is in Alexandria, but that's about 50 days' walk from here. From there to the Therapists is probably about the same distance again. I know from a man from Antioch, who was once with us and has not been alive for a long time now, that some great king from the Orient23 had the teachings of this Awakened One brought to Antioch by an ambassador. What has become of it now, however, I do not know."

Antioch, as Jesus knew, was the capital of the Roman province of Syria. Syria bordered on Palestine. It, he told himself, must be closer than Alexandria. As far as both the therapists and this embassy in Antioch were concerned, it was doubtful whether he would find them. But if he was actually forced to go further into this kingdom of a great king in the Orient, he would already have covered part of the distance in Antioch, while Alexandria lay in the opposite direction. In addition, he could stop by his parents' house in Nazareth on the way to Syria. It was practically on the way. Jesus' decision was made: His next destination was Antioch.

As planned, he first went to Nazareth, where he met his parents again a year later. When he left, he had only talked about going to Jerusalem and to the Essēners, who would be living nearby. His parents had thought he would only be away for a month at most. Of course they had been worried.

"Here you are again at last, my beloved son," said Mary, "have you found what you were looking for?" Joseph also rejoiced too soon: "How good that you are here, the beams are now too heavy for me alone, I could do with a strong young man!" On this occasion, the topic of initiating a marriage may also have come up again.

But Jesus disappointed them: "Dear parents, my search is not over yet, I must go on. I only came by to give you a sign of life from me, so that you don't worry. YHWH is my companion, he protects me. But I have to go on to Antioch, possibly afterwards to the land of a great king in the east. I may well be away for years. But I have resolved to return one day. I now know that the temples are spreading a false image of YHWH. But what could be better than to see YHWH as he is and to proclaim this to the world afterwards, so that his blessing may come upon all the people of Judea24 ?"

So Jesus only stayed at his parents' house for a single night. He refused the money they wanted to give him: "I'll do like the birds. I trust that the Father in heaven will take care of me!" He only accepted the new robe his mother gave him, leaving behind the white robe he had worn at the Essēner. It was too delicate for his next great journey, to Antioch.

18  The evangelists are silent about everything that happened between Jesus' 12th and 30th year. They simply had no idea. Luke only writes about these 18 years: "And Jesus increased in wisdom, age and favor with God and man." (Luke 2:52)

19  No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will cling to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mt 6:24)

20  cf. Stegemann, Hartmut: Die Essener, Qumran, Johannes der Täufer und Jesus, Freiburg: Herder 1993, p. 245 f.

21  according to Stegemann, p. 206 ff.

22 "towards sunset" old term for "in the west"

23  an old name for an area in the east

24  Judeawas the name given to the settlement area of the Jews at that time; from 63 BCE it was part of the larger region of Palestine, which in turn was part of the province of Syria of the Roman Empire.

Antioch

When Jesus had visited Sekundus a year earlier, he was initially somewhat confused. At the time, he had heard from Sekundus that if he wanted to go to the Essenes in En Gedi, he would first have to go to Antioch: "Are you sure, Sekundus, Antioch25 is in Syria?"

But Sekundus was able to clear up the misunderstanding: "Antiochis the name of a district of Jerusalem, which it received 200 years ago as a reference to the cosmopolitan city and the ruling dynasty of the same name in the Seleucid Empire, when the Seleucids under King Antiochus IV Epiphanes expelled the Greeks from Judea and allowed the Sabbath to be observed again, which the Greek rulers had previously forbidden on pain of death. Antioch, however, is the capital of the province of Syria, although it lies at the far end of Syria towards the evening26 in the middle of the sea, which the Romans called Mare nostrum27 ."

So now Jesus was on his way there. He had set off early in the morning, although his mother wept at losing him again after such a short time. Joseph was also visibly disappointed that his former apprentice had already left again.

The young man walked straight all day and reached the southern end of the Sea of Galilee in the evening. He slept outside under a blanket that his mother had given him, which he intended to use as a cloak on cold evenings or in the morning. The next day he walked all day along the Sea of Galilee. In the late afternoon, he refreshed himself with a dip in the lake, then filled a hose with water,28 which he hung around his neck, as he would only rarely come across water points over the next few days.

As on his earlier journeys, he held conversations in villages with people he met who were curious about where he came from and where he was going. He noticed how the pronunciation of the Aramaic he spoke gradually changed. There were different dialects, but traveling on foot and talking to people everywhere made it easy to get to grips with the gradual change in language. However, this communication meant that things progressed more slowly than without these pauses. On the other hand, the conversations sometimes led to him being invited by people to share their humble meal. In this way, it took him ten days to travel from Nazareth to Damascus, his intermediate destination, where he enquired about the route to Antioch.

He didn't stay in Damascus any longer. He had noticed that the bigger the city, the busier the people. In the cities, people were less interested in talking to strangers, as you were constantly meeting unknown people. In smaller towns, people were more approachable. Walking between Damascus and Antioch was just as relaxed as before. Jesus talked to the people in the villages here too and was happy to be exposed to the changes in the Aramaic dialects in this way. In addition to Aramaic, Hebrew was of course also spoken in his home country. Now, however, he was pleased that they had mostly Aramaic at home, so there were no language problems anywhere. He only had a very incomplete command of Greek and Latin, although these were the standard languages in the Roman Empire (Greek, of course, only in the eastern part of the empire).

After three weeks of walking from Damascus, he reached the cosmopolitan city of Antioch, the capital of the province of Syria and one of the major cities alongside Rome, Athens, Alexandria and Carthage. Around 500,000 people lived in Antioch at the time.29

Jesus first went to a synagogue. He introduced himself to the rabbi, told him that he was from Nazareth, had a rabbi from Jerusalem as a friend and had lived with the Essēners for a while. He was looking for people who would follow the teachings of an awakened man from the Orient. There was said to have been an ambassador from him here. Unfortunately, he was met with incomprehension by the rabbi and had to leave without having achieved anything.

Next, he tried his luck at a Roman temple, where they also knew nothing of all this. Jesus