Did Christ visit India ?
Gurmukh Singh Sandhu

JESUS CHRIST was the founder of Christianity, a religion now adopted by more than one-third of the world population in the 20th century, and whose coming had long been prophesied by Isaiah, Zechariah and other Old Testament prophets. The origin of Christianity is in Palestine (West Asia).

Jesus was born in 4 B.C. in a stable in Bethlehem of Judea, near Jerusalem, because there was no room for his parents in the inn. The nativity of Jesus occurred in a B.C. year because of a calendrical error made in the early medieval period. Jesus was the son of Mary (Mariam, Jewish name), daughter of Anne and Joachim, the only child of her parents, who was born after many years of childlessness. She was educated in the temple."At the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431, Mary received the greatest title ever given to her — Theotoks, Mother of God." She is also described as "bearer of God" and as the Mother of Mercy. May is the month in which Catholic Christianity commemorates the mother of Jesus. Jeseph, his father, was a descendant of King David (King of undivided Israel, Circa, 1020-980 B.C.), who was a descendant of Abraham, son of Torah. The couple had seven children (sons and daughters). Jesus was the first born child of his parents. He never married. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is both ‘Son of God’ and ‘Son of Man’, fully human and fully divine and without sin. He is called "Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" by his contemporaries (Matthew 21:11), and is described in the New Testament as" the power of God and the wisdom of God" in person.

Jesus was found as a twelve-year-old boy discussing theological topics with the priests in the temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:46). In the Gospels, the main source about his life, he is not mentioned again before the age of 30. The Gospels do not report anything of the years in between. Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba says that during that time Jesus went to India, learnt the ancient teachings, practised meditation and gradually reached enlightenment.

Jesus returned to his land. Before he began his mission, Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan for baptism. At the age of 30, he was baptised by John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan river.

As soon as Jesus came out of the water, he heard the voice of God from heaven saying : "This is my beloved son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3: 16: 17). After his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness. He walked through the land for about three years preaching the word of God, the love of God and the Kingdom of God, e.g. the Kingdom of the meek and humble in the universal brotherhood of men as sons of one Divine Father. He chose and appointed 12 disciples for preaching missions. He commanded them: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

Noel Q. King writes: "The delightful story that the Indian King of Taxila, one Gondophernes, sent to Judaea for an architect, deserves repetition. The messenger met a wandering preacher, Jesus, who told him to take his companion, Thomas. Thomas came to Taxila and spent the Punjab’s building money on the poor." A.L. Basham also writes that "the Indian King Gondophernes sent to Syria for a skilful architect to build him a new city, and the envoy returned with St. Thomas, who told the King a city is not made with hands, and converted him and many members of his court. St. Thomas afterwards preached in other parts of India, and died a martyr’s death."

The greatest Commandment of Jesus: "Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12.30). Jesus enjoined the believers to eschew all enmity. He said: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the sons of your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5: 44-45).

Jesus Christ suffered under the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. He was crucified under Roman laws for sedition on the eve of Passover at Golgotha on Friday, April 7. Traditionally, the first prayer of Jesus on the Cross was "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are do." (Luke 23.34). He was raised from the dead on Sunday by the power of God. This is the resurrection.

After the crucifixion and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, thousands of Christians were executed for their faith. Only one of the disciples (Apostles) out of 12 died a natural death; all the others except Judas were martyred for preaching their faith. Asia Minor, North Africa, and Europe were converted to the faith of Christianity and so, eventually, was the new world.

Christians believe in one god, the Father, the Almighty; One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. According to their belief, God reveals himself in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not three Gods but one God in three persons, one in three and three in one. This is ‘Holy Trinity.’

The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Five great Christian missionaries lost their lives while preaching the word of God, the Kingdom of God. Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death outside Jerusalem by a mob of angry Jews for preaching that Christianity was the goal of Hebrew history and accusing the Jews of rebelling against God. He was martyred in about 35 A.D. Apostle James (the brother of John), the first of the 12 disciples, was beheaded in 44 A.D under the orders of King Herod Agrippa. Saint Simon Peter, the Rock, who was the leader and spokesman of the 12 disciples of Jesus of Nazareth,was martyred in Rome and buried there in the year 64 or 65 A.D. Saint Paul (Saul- his Hebrew name), a Jew of Diaspora (not a Palestinian)), who undertook three missionary journeys from 47 to 53 A.D. to preach the word of God, the faith of Jesus Christ in Asia Minor, died a martyr’s death in Rome between 64-67 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Nero (54-68 A.D.) Saint Thomas, who went to India for preaching Christianity during the reign of Indian King Gondphernes and, thereafter, suffered martyrdom on the Great Mount while kneeling on a stone for prayer on July 3, 72 A.D. at Mylapore in the vicinity of Madras (Tamil Nadu).

With the issue of the edict of Milan by the Emperor Constantine in 313 A.D., the persecutions ceased. Christianity was now officially tolerated and before long became the state religion. Christianity has become the largest of the world’s religions. Its largest groups are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Protestant churches. In addition to these churches, there are several independent churches of Eastern Christianity as well as numerous sects throughout the world. The Christians now comprise the third largest religious community in India.