P1427:1, 130:0.1
The tour of the Roman world consumed most of the twenty-eighth and the entire
twenty-ninth year of Jesus' life on earth. Jesus and the two natives from
India -- Gonod and his son Ganid -- left Jerusalem on a Sunday morning, April
26, A.D. 22. They made their journey according to schedule,
and Jesus said good-bye to the father and son in the city of Charax on the
Persian Gulf on the tenth day of December the following year, A.D.
23.
P1427:2, 130:0.2
From Jerusalem they went to Caesarea by way of Joppa. At Caesarea they took
a boat for Alexandria. From Alexandria they sailed for Lasea in Crete. From
Crete they sailed for Carthage, touching at Cyrene. At Carthage they took
a boat for Naples, stopping at Malta, Syracuse, and Messina. From Naples they
went to Capua, whence they traveled by the Appian Way to Rome.
P1427:3, 130:0.3
After their stay in Rome they went overland to Tarentum, where they set sail
for Athens in Greece, stopping at Nicopolis and Corinth. From Athens they
went to Ephesus by way of Troas. From Ephesus they sailed for Cyprus, putting
in at Rhodes on the way. They spent considerable time visiting and resting
on Cyprus and then sailed for Antioch in Syria. From Antioch they journeyed
south to Sidon and then went over to Damascus. From there they traveled by
caravan to Mesopotamia, passing through
Thapsacus and
Larissa. They spent
some time in Babylon, visited Ur and other places, and then went to Susa.
From Susa they journeyed to Charax, from which place Gonod and Ganid embarked
for India.
P1427:4, 130:0.4
It was while working four months at Damascus that Jesus had picked up the
rudiments of the language spoken by Gonod and Ganid. While there he had labored
much of the time on translations from Greek into one of the languages of India,
being assisted by a native of Gonod's home district.
P1427:5, 130:0.5
On this Mediterranean tour Jesus spent about half of each day teaching Ganid
and acting as interpreter during Gonod's business conferences and social contacts.
The remainder of each day, which was at his disposal, he devoted to making
those close personal contacts with his fellow men, those intimate associations
with the mortals of the realm, which so characterized his activities during
these years that just preceded his public ministry.
P1427:6, 130:0.6
From firsthand observation and actual contact Jesus acquainted himself with
the higher material and intellectual civilization of the Occident and the
Levant; from Gonod and his brilliant son he learned a great deal about the
civilization and culture of India and China, for Gonod, himself a citizen
of India, had made three extensive trips to the empire of the yellow race.
P1427:7, 130:0.7
Ganid, the young man, learned much from Jesus during this long and intimate
association. They developed a great affection for each other, and the lad's
father many times tried to persuade Jesus to return with them to India, but
Jesus always declined, pleading the necessity for returning to his family
in Palestine.