After the resurrection, according to Christian belief, Jesus appeared to his disciples and followers multiple times over a period of 40 days. These appearances were to prove his resurrection and to instruct his followers. After spending 40 days with his disciples, Jesus ascended into heaven in their presence. This event is known as the Ascension and is celebrated by Christians as a significant moment when Jesus returned to the presence of God the Father. However this is not the end of Jesus’s journey on Earth.
We find a very interesting narration from Imam Ja'far Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) where he says,
Ibn Abi Yaafor narrates that he entered upon Imam Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace) who said, “O Ibn Abi Yaafor, did you read the Qur’an?” so I said, “Yes, this recitation.” So he said, “It is this one that I asked you about and none other than it.” So I said, “Yes, may I be your ransom, why?” He said, “Because Moses (PBUH) spoke to his people a speech and they could not handle it so they rebelled against him in Egypt and they fought him, and he fought them, and he killed them. And Jesus (PBUH) spoke to his people a speech and they did not handle it and they rebelled against him in Tikrit and so they fought him, and he fought them, and he killed them. And it is the saying of God Almighty, ‘Then a group of the Children of Israel believed while another disbelieved. We then supported the believers against their enemies, so they prevailed.’ And the first Qaim from us, the Ahlul-Bayt, will speak to you a speech that you will not handle and you will go out against him in Rumaila Al-Daskara (Iraq) and you will fight him, and he will fight you, and then he will kill you, and this will be the last time someone rebels, then O Ibn Abi Yaafor, God will gather the first ones and the last ones and then he will bring forth Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) in the people of his time…”
- Bihar Al-Anwar, Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p. 375
The narration says, “And Jesus (PBUH) spoke to his people a speech and they did not handle it and they rebelled against him in Tikrit” and Tikrit is in Iraq. However we all know that Jesus was speaking and preaching to his people in Galilee and Judea and according to the Bible, he was last seen by his close disciples near Jerusalem, so when and how was Jesus in Iraq?
We have already explained in another article that there have been many occasions in the Bible and in Gnostic texts in which Jesus appears to the disciples. And according to The Secret Book of James, Jesus (PBUH) had returned to take his disciples with him to the place he went five hundred and fifty days, about one year and a half after the Crucifixion.
“In this encounter, Jesus calls them unfortunates and sinners, amongst many other things and he (PBUH) finally leaves his disciples and sends them on their ways.
The disciples afterwards all separate from one another and travel to the four corners of the Earth preaching the Gospels. Simon Peter preached in Rome, Andrew preached to the Asiatic nations and Greece, James remained in Jerusalem, John and Philip went to Greece, Thomas and Bartholomew went to India, Matthew to Ethiopia and James to Egypt, Simon the Zealot to Persia, and Jude to Syria. Judas Iscariot died by way of suicide. Those are the twelve disciples.
However, one prominent disciple seemingly goes missing from history, Mary Magdalene. Where did she go?”
- The Goal of the Wise, Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace ), Door 31 (The Lost Years of Jesus Christ), p. 398
The later life of Mary Magdalene is shrouded in mystery with different traditions offering various accounts. One common narrative particularly in eastern Christianity is that Mary Magdalene retired to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary and died there. In Western Christianity there is another claim that Mary along with several other followers of Jesus was set adrift in a boat and landed in Provence in present-day France where she spent the rest of her life preaching the gospel. However Neither of these traditions can be conclusively proven.
We mentioned in a previous article that Mary Magdalene was the closest to Jesus and was his wife. And Jesus did not send her out like he sent the twelve disciples. So where did she go? And what did Jesus do after he met the disciples.
We find in Ecclesiastical History (The History of the Church), Eusebius of Caesarea, a Syrian king by the name of Abgar wrote a letter to Jesus and it is as follows:
"During Jesus’ life, a Syrian king by the name of Abgar wrote a letter to Jesus and it is as follows:
“Abgar, ruler of Edessa, to Jesus the good physician who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports of you and of your cures as performed by you without medicines or herbs. For it is said that you make the blind to see and the lame to walk, that you cleanse lepers and cast out impure spirits and demons, and that you heal those afflicted with lingering disease, and raise the dead. And having heard all these things concerning you, I have concluded that one of two things must be true: either you are God, and having come down from heaven you do these things, or else you, who does these things, are the son of God. I have therefore written to you to ask you if you would take the trouble to come to me and heal all the ill which I suffer. For I have heard that the Jews are murmuring against you and are plotting to injure you. But I have a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both.”Jesus (PBUH) responded back with a letter to Abgar which stated:
Blessed are you who hast believed in me without having seen me. For it is written concerning me, that they who have seen me will not believe in me, and that they who have not seen me will believe and be saved. But in regard to what you have written me, that I should come to you, it is necessary for me to fulfil all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken up I will send to you one of my disciples, that he may heal your disease and give life to you and yours. King Abgar V was from Edessa, also known as Osroene. Most of the population and rulers of Edessa during that time were of Arab origin. This was the beginning of the Arabs accepting Jesus where the Jews rejected him.”
- Ecclesiastical History (The History of the Church), Eusebius of Caesarea
- The Goal of the Wise, Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace ), Door 31 (The Lost Years of Jesus Christ), p. 398
And according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Osroëne, ancient kingdom in north-western Mesopotamia, located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and lying across the modern frontier of Turkey and Syria. Its capital was Edessa (modern Urfa, Tur.). The name of the kingdom appears to have been ultimately derived from a certain Osroes of Orhai, who founded the state about 136 BC. Although Osroes was probably of Iranian origin, the rulers after him were Arabs.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Osroene
And Jesus promised that after his Ascension into heaven a disciple would visit Edessa and heal the king and the name of that disciple is Thaddeus.
“Another Syrian apocryphal text titled The Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle details how Mari was a disciple of Thaddeus, who accompanied him, and was witness to king Abgar’s healing at the hands of Thaddeus. The manuscript details a second king who ruled over Arzen and who suffered from the exact same disease that Abgar did. This time, Mari healed the king of Arzen. After converting Abgar’s kingdom, as well as the kingdom of Arzen into believers, Thaddeus, accompanied by his disciple Mari, carried on eastwards towards Iraq.
- The Goal of the Wise, Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq (From Him is Peace ), Door 31 (The Lost Years of Jesus Christ), p. 401
It states in Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle,
“The blessed Mar Mari left Edessa to begin preaching until he reached the city of Nisibis. After the blessed one converted the city of Nisibis, planted in it the truth of the true faith, overthrew its idols, and shattered its statues, he built in it churches and monasteries and set teachers and a school. From there, he moved to the land of Arzen, with Anasimos the priest who came with him from Edessa, along with Philippus, Malkš, and Add—his disciples—as well as with many other people. He dispatched one of the latter—Philippus by name—to Qardʉ.
When the blessed one reached the city of Arzen, he converted many people through the mighty acts that he was performing. Now the king of Arzen was stricken by the disease called gout. When he heard about the miracles and healings that took place at the hands of the blessed one, with great eagerness he ordered that they should bring the blessed one before him. When Mar Mari came and went into the presence of the king, the latter greatly rejoiced in him, because the blessed one bowed down happily before him. And when the king heard the word of the blessed one, he held him in increasing honor, because of his gentleness, humbleness, and joyful countenance—for Mar Mari was very meek and very kind toward everyone, and in him jealousy and anger had no place whatsoever. The king said to him: “Tell me! What is your religion? For I believe you are a god!” Then the blessed Mar Mari answered and said to the king: “God forbid! I am not God, O my lord the king, but I am a man, servant of the Living God. My religion is Christianity, and I believe in Christ, the Son of God, who descended at the end of times from heaven, and turned the world away from the deception of the demons by which it was seized. I confess this One, O my lord the king, I perform these things in his name, bringing erring people (to God and) to the faith.” The king answered and said to him: “According to your claim, can your Lord, therefore, heal this illness with which I have been stricken for a long time?” The blessed one said to him: “If you believe in him, your requests will be answered.”
Immediately, the king kneeled and bowed down before the blessed one, begging and saying: “My Lord, I believe! Help me!” At this point the blessed one came close and placed his hand on the spot, saying: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified in Jerusalem, get up on your feet!” Concomitant with the word of the blessed one, the king was healed, and was baptized along with the members of his house. When the entire city realized that the king was healed, they too came to the blessed one, and he healed their bruises. He thus converted the whole city, built in it a church, and appointed over it priests and deacons.
From there he left again and came to the land of Beth-Zabdai. There he converted most of the local people, and from there the blessed one left for the land of Beth-Arabaye, where he made many conversions. From there, he went down to the land of Erbil and Athor. Now the king of Erbil was stricken with lepra leonina of Ahazia—leprosy that people abhor and hate very much—and his left hand was paralyzed. When the blessed Mar Mari went into Erbil, he began to sow in it the seed of life.”
- The Acts of Mar Mari the Apostle, Amir Harrak (Translator & Editor)