Jesus was 30 years old and started His ministry. For 18 years we couldn’t hear anything about Jesus. In wanting to find out I came across a documentary stating that Jesus went to India for school. Could this be true?
I firmly believe that all we need to know about Jesus Christ is in the Bible, the Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:15…NKJV). We should not investigate the works of mere men to learn about Jesus Christ, for men will undoubtedly lead us astray. In John 5:39 Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of that day for not learning of Him in the Scriptures, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they WHICH TESTIFY OF ME.” Dear friend, it is only through the Scriptures, which testify of Christ, that we can be taught about Christ and find salvation and eternal life through faith in Him. Those who say Jesus travelled to India to sit under the teachings of so-called Gurus, have been deceived because they too are “ignorant of the Scriptures.” In your question you say, “For 18 years we couldn’t hear anything about Jesus.” But that simply isn’t true and I hope to show you Scriptures where we will learn that Jesus “learned everything He needed to know from His heavenly Father.”
Let’s begin by considering Jesus at the age of 12. Perhaps we know the story well how Jesus and His parents travelled “to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41). On the way home (to Nazareth) Joseph and Mary discovered Jesus was not with them so they travelled back to Jerusalem and “they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking their questions. And ALL WHO HEARD HIM WERE ASTONISHED AT HIS UNDERSTANDING AND ANSWERS” (verses 46-47). Here we learn that Jesus was asking the teachers of God’s Word questions, but we also learn that they asked Him questions and were amazed at “His understanding and answers!” Where did Jesus get this knowledge? Did He travel to some faraway land (like India) to gain knowledge from some “human Gurus?” No, He did not need to seek “the wisdom of men” when He could “sit at His heavenly Father’s feet and learn from Him.” How do we know He gained wisdom and knowledge from His Father?” Let’s read Isaiah 50:4 for the answer: “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning. He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.” Is this not marvelous? The prophet Isaiah was inspired to prophesy about the life of Jesus, and we learn here that EVERY MORNING His Father would wake Him up and He listened to His Father’s Word that taught Him what to say and what to do. You may be thinking, “How do you know these words refer to Jesus?” I know they do because of verses 5-6, “The Lord GOD has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn way. I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.” Anyone familiar with the gospel accounts of Jesus’ arrest and how He was beaten by Roman soldiers, know that He was indeed SCOURGED and SPIT UPON (see Matthew 27:26-31). As Jesus “sat at His Father’s feet to hear His Word” He learned that His path led to the cross and He was not rebellious; He obeyed His Father’s Word and “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). If we turn again to the account in Luke chapter 2, we hear what Jesus told His parents, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business” (verse 49). Again, Jesus had LEARNED HIS FATHER’S WILL and in the temple that day He was going “about His Father’s business.”
Now let’s turn to Luke 4:16 where we see Jesus beginning His public ministry at the age of 30: “So He came to Nazareth WHERE HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP. AND AS HIS CUSTOM WAS, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.” This verse sheds so much light on the question for today, for we learn here that Jesus did NOT travel outside of the land of Israel (except when He was a young child and his parents took Him to Egypt…see Matthew 2:13-21). Instead, He was “brought up in a small town named Nazareth.” We also learn that He had a WEEKLY CUSTOM of going to the local synagogue where He would stand up and read the Scriptures. Where did He learn the Scriptures? We saw in Isaiah 50:4 that He learned them from His heavenly Father EVERY MORNING! This, dear friend, was the SCHOOL that Jesus attended; HE HAD A CLASS EVERY MORNING at His Father’s feet. (DO) (600.5)