Ch. 15, Baptism and the Forty Days
“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition
Baptism and the Forty Days
John had primed the people for the coming of a messiah and they were anxiously waiting for their savior when Jesus began his public work. But John and Jesus were distinct in in how they approached the people. Where John was eager and earnest, Jesus was calm and happy: he was almost never in a hurry. Jesus comforted the people and was an example for them, while John was seldom comforting or an example for them to follow. John preached the kingdom of heaven, but he did not embody it: joining with God is a joyful loving experience that shines forth from the people who do God’s will, yet John hardly displayed the happiness that results from entering the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said John was the most illustrious of the prophets of the old order, but he also said that those who entered the kingdom of heaven through the great light of the new way were themselves nobler than John. John’s message was based in fear—"Repent! Flee from the wrath to come.” When Jesus began to preach he also said to repent, but that admonition was always followed by the gospel of the joy and liberty of the new kingdom.
Concepts of the Expected Messiah
In general the Jews saw their national history starting with Abraham and ending sometime in the future when the Messiah would come and start the kingdom of God on Earth. In the era of John and Jesus the idea of the Messiah had evolved into him being the perfected Israelite—one who was a priest, prophet, and king all in one. The Jews believed that like Moses who had delivered their fathers from Egyptian bondage using miracles, the Messiah would end the Roman domination with even more majestic displays of power and marvels of racial triumph. The rabbis had almost five hundred passages from the scriptures that even though contradictory all prophesized this coming messiah.
The problem was that the Jews were looking for their own salvation, not the world’s: they believed they were God’s chosen people and they wanted to restore their national glory over all other nations. These were not spiritual concepts based on the kingdom of heaven, but rather earthly human desires stemming from people’s egos and pride—the Jews had lost the essential understanding of the coming messiah’s personality. There was no way Jesus could satisfy their expectations for the Messiah because they were all materialistic in nature. Their minds were not prepared to see Jesus starting a new era of mercy and salvation to all nations.
None of the Jewish ideas of the coming messiah described him as being a union between his two natures, the human and divine. He was either divine or a perfected superhuman, but not both combined into one personality. This was because it was not until Jesus—our Creator Son made flesh among us—that this fact was first shown to humanity.
Jesus’ Baptism
When Jesus submitted himself to John for baptism it was not to repent or to be cleansed of sin. He was simply fitting in with the rest of the devout Jews who were mostly getting baptized as a just-in-case measure, as in just in case they were wrong and had sinned without knowing it. The Jews believed that a person’s sins could curse the nation and that they could be passed on to their children. So when John started to tell people to repent before the wrath of God, they took it seriously and were baptized even if they did not think that they had done anything wrong.
When Jesus submitted himself for baptism he had mastered the mortal goal of perfecting identification with his Thought Adjuster, the spirit of God living in his mind. He was then in all ways a perfected mortal of the evolutionary worlds of time and space. Normally this is when the mature personality fuses with the divine Adjuster to become the new eternal soul. But with Jesus the moment that John put his hand on Jesus to baptize him, Jesus’ Thought Adjuster left his soul and went to Divinington just to return a few moments later as a Personalized Adjuster and the chief of his kind throughout the entire local universe of Nebadon. Jesus’ Adjuster returning to his soul was the spirit apparition that Jesus, John, Jude, and James saw above his head when he was baptized and that said “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
After Jesus’ Personalized Adjuster had spoken all was silent. Then Jesus, looking up to the nearby Adjuster prayed “My Father who reigns in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come! Your will be done on Earth, even as it is in heaven.” When Jesus prayed the heavens opened and the Son of Man saw the Personalized Adjuster’s vision of him as a Son of God like he was before he came to Earth and like he would be after he leaves. Of the four of them in the water only Jesus saw this heavenly sight.
Jesus was almost thirty-one and a half years old when he was baptized. While Luke says that Jesus was baptized in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, which would be A.D. 29 since Augustus died in A.D. 14, it should be recalled that Tiberius was co-emperor with Augustus for two and a half years before Augustus died having had coins struck in his honor in October, A.D. 11. The fifteenth year of his actual rule was therefore this very year of A.D. 26, that of Jesus’ baptism. This was also the year that Pontius Pilate began his rule as governor of Judea.
The Forty Days
When Jesus defeated the Urantia pretender Caligastia, the former prince of our world, he became the Planetary Prince of Urantia. This was why Jesus went into the hills for forty days—to decide how he was going to announce this new kingdom of God. Jesus did not go into seclusion to fast or punish himself for some sin, and his life’s message has forever destroyed those ideas about pleasing God. Jesus now remembered everything about his former existence as our creator before being incarnated on Earth as Joshua ben Joseph, and he needed time to think and meditate with his Father away from people.
After Jesus was in the hills and as he was looking for shelter he encountered his universe chief executive, Gabriel, the Bright and Morning Star of Nebadon. This was their first meeting since Michael had left Salvington and gone to Edentia before incarnating on Earth. Gabriel, the highest authority of the local and superuniverse, under the orders of Immanuel and on the authority of the Uversa Ancients of Days, told Jesus that his mission on Earth—at least the part where he had ended the Lucifer rebellion and earned his right to rule—was almost over. Jesus had been assured of this from the Paradise Deities in the vision he saw when he was baptized.
While talking with Gabriel, the Constellation Father of Edentia appeared to them and said “The records are completed. The sovereignty of Michael number 611,121 over his universe of Nebadon rests in completion at the right hand of the Universal Father. I bring to you the bestowal release of Immanuel, your sponsor-brother for the Urantia incarnation. You are at liberty now or at any subsequent time and in the manner of your own choosing to terminate your incarnation bestowal, ascend to the right hand of your Father, receive your sovereignty, and assume your well-earned unconditional rulership of all Nebadon. I also testify to the completion of the records of the superuniverse, by authorization of the Ancients of Days, having to do with the termination of all sin-rebellion in your universe and endowing you with full and unlimited authority to deal with any and all such possible upheavals in the future. Technically, your work on Urantia and in the flesh of the mortal creature is finished. Your course from now on is a matter of your own choosing.” When the Most High Father of Edentia had left, Jesus talked with Gabriel about the welfare of the universe. He sent greetings to Immanuel, and assured him that he would always keep in mind the counsel Immanuel had given him before he incarnated on Earth.
Plans for Public Work
Out in the hills Jesus planned the mission ahead of him. While his bestowal was taking place on Earth, his mission was for all of the inhabited worlds in Nebadon. First, Jesus decided to wait until John had finished his work or was thrown in prison. Next, Jesus reviewed the instructions that Immanuel had given him before his incarnation, especially the advice about interacting with people and not leaving any permanent writings on the planet: from then on Jesus only wrote in the sand, and the next time he was in Nazareth he destroyed all of the writings he had left hanging on the walls in his house and workshop. Jesus also thought much about Immanuel’s advice for his social, economic, and political attitude toward the world.
During these forty days Jesus lived in an ancient rock cavern near a village sometimes called Beit Adis. He got his water from a small spring close by. Jesus was not fasting during this forty days: the longest he went without food was the first two days when he was so deep in thought that he forgot about eating. These forty days in the mountain wilderness were not a time of immense temptation, but rather when the Master made his momentous decisions—those plans that would best serve this world while also helping all of the other rebellion-isolated spheres in Satania.
Gabriel reminded Jesus that there were two ways he could approach the world if he continued his mission. The first was his own way: doing the most pleasant and profitable things for the immediate needs of this world. The second was his father’s way: exemplifying the ideal human life as visualized by the Paradise Deities. Jesus was torn between two opposing courses: on the one hand he had a strong desire for the world to believe in him and accept his new spiritual kingdom. On the other hand he wanted his father’s approval—doing his mission for the other worlds also in need and in the process continuing to reveal the Father’s divine loving character. But it was also suggested to Jesus that it would make his Paradise brother Immanuel happy if Jesus finished his mission like he had begun it, always subject to the Father’s will. Jesus vowed to do this and he was true to his resolve up the bitter end.
The Great Decisions
After three days contemplating with his Personalized Adjuster, the heavens opened to Jesus and he was shown the enormous celestial host that had gathered from across the vast universe to do his will as needed. Surrounding the Earth and waiting to fill Jesus’ least desire were twelve legions of seraphim and representatives from every other of the thousands of orders of universe intelligences. Their beloved creator was in mortal form, and they wanted to help him.
Jesus’ first decision was whether or not to use these mighty spiritual personalities and all the power they possessed. His decided no. He would not use the heavenly help available to him for any reason, unless of course he decided that it was his Father’s will. Jesus put the entire celestial host watching from above under the command of his Personalized Adjuster, and for over four years they stood ready to help their creator if he ever needed them. Next, Jesus decided that while he might at times use his creator powers to help others, he would never use any of his superhuman abilities to meet his own material needs—like to meet his want for food right then because his body was hungry after these first three days on the mountain. Jesus also decided that acting in self-preservation—defending himself—and engaging in the other natural bodily urges of normal men were also things that he would not do. Jesus supported these conclusions with the scripture that said man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God.
While Jesus and his Personalized Adjuster could control space activities—acts bound by material law—Jesus had less control when it came to time activities, the will of God that has already been enacted in the timelessness outside of the bubble we experience as a linear-time event. Jesus had to constantly keep the concept of time, which is a mortal not spiritual construct, in his awareness. This was because even though Jesus had decided not to break the natural material laws of his universe, if his combined man-God mind desired something that would normally take time and he did not control his thoughts then that thing that his mind wanted would be immediately manifested.
Jesus knew the Jews were expecting a messiah who would do even more fantastic miracles than did Moses, and that he could meet those expectations if that was his desire. But that idea saddened him: Jesus decided that he would not break his own natural laws just to send the Jews back to their ignorant beliefs in magic and the degraded practices of the savage medicine men. His intent was to show all worlds—not just ours—a better way to earn the rewards of deeper spiritual satisfaction: living by higher moral values. Jesus demonstrated for us that selfishness and gratifying the senses are not enough to bring happiness to people: that intellectual mastery and spiritual achievement bring more joy than meeting any physical desires.
Next, Jesus had to decide how he would act when faced with danger. He chose to take normal precautions like everyone else to keep himself safe, but without the use of his creator powers. When Jesus made these decisions he was sitting in the shade under a tree that was growing right at the edge of a high cliff. He knew that if he desired he could throw himself off of the cliff and nothing would happen to him—at least if he had not already told the angels watching from above not to help him. Jesus knew that the Jews were expecting just the opposite of everything he was going to do: they wanted a messiah who would use miracles to save himself and live in glory. That is how they would know him. All of his life Jesus had heard the scripture that said no evil or plague would affect the Messiah because the angels in heaven would always be watching over him. And in reality they were, even if they had been ordered to stand down. Jesus knew that this scripture came out of human desire, and that it was not of divine origin. Miracles are not a revelation of the Father: they are cheap parlor tricks messing with the established laws of the universe of universes. Jesus decided he would not use his superhuman powers to convince people of a personal loving God.
While Jesus had decided not to abuse his creator powers to break the established laws that relate to space, in those events based in time—events that were acted out by his Personalized Adjuster—Jesus had no control. Still, when these time-shortening acts of mercy that were attributed to Jesus did happen he almost always told the person who benefited from the healing to tell no one else what had occurred. These time-influenced events often surprised Jesus just as much as everyone else and they are a mystery to the rest of the universe. This is why on the one hand Jesus would refuse to do miracles to satisfy the people or to help himself, yet on the other hand miracles of mercy did at times happen without him actually initiating them.
Jesus, because he was still both a man and God, at times had human doubts. He knew the Jews would reject him if he did not perform wonders like they expected, and that was fine. But there was a catch—Jesus, knowing that his mind was comprised of both human and divine natures, had to decide if the human side of his being needed to see a miracle for it to be absolutely sure that Jesus was who he thought he was and that he was not just fooling himself. The question was if it would be consistent with his Father’s will if he performed a miracle just for his own benefit, and not others? Jesus decided that no, it would not be right to prove to himself what he did not feel was right to prove to others. Instead, he decided that the presence of and his experience with his Personalized Adjuster was proof enough for him in the partnership of the human with the divine.
Knowing how people conducted their affairs in the world Jesus had to decide whether or not he would use diplomacy, compromise, or worldly wisdom to persuade people about God their Father. Again he decided not to use either and to just rely on God’s will. Caligastia had fallen from grace by trying to circumvent the slow, sure, and natural way of bringing about God’s divine purpose on Earth, and Jesus was not going to do the same by using short-cuts like had Caligastia. The problem in those cases was that if Jesus would have used his creator powers to gain our love, faith, and loyalty instead of winning us over simply by demonstrating our Father’s loving mercy, it would not have been in perfect harmony or oneness with God’s will. In other words, embracing those non-perfect ways of achieving his goal was in reality embracing error—that not perfect—which is also known as evil. Furthermore, and much worse, if Jesus knowingly made a decision to choose error, or evil, he would be committing sin. That he would never do. Jesus resisted these temptations that had brought down Lucifer and the others and in all cases he put loyalty to his Father’s will before any of his earthly needs.
After deciding not to use his creative powers Jesus turned his mind to deciding how he was going to present his message to the people. John had already begun the process and he had to decide if he was going to take over John’s mission, and if so how he was going to best organize his followers. Regardless, the decision to go forth and introduce himself to people as the Son of Man, a mortal, and not as Michael the eternal creator of our universe was firm. By refusing to use miracles to win over people, which would have encouraged them to look for God through miracles, Jesus demonstrated to the universe the commandment “You will worship the Lord your God, and only him will you serve.”
Contemplating these decisions took days, and as they passed Jesus came to sense his future. Choosing his Father’s way was the more difficult of the options, and Jesus realized it was not going to be easy and most likely bitter. Regardless, he held firm. Jesus was going through a process where his human mind, a product of his upbringing and the times in which he lived, was still asking questions and in response he was receiving, accepting, and submitting to the divine guidance returned: he was crossing the final stage of the human becoming divine.
The idea of fighting or waging war was repulsive to Jesus, yet all of his life his mother had taught him the scriptures glorifying his taking of David’s throne, like “The Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son; this day have I begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” In communion with his Personalized Adjuster Jesus decided again—and once and for all—that he would disregard those and any other messianic prophecies related to him or Israel. Instead, Jesus decided that he would appear on Earth as the Prince of Peace to reveal a God of love. Jesus had only one objective, the revelation of God to humanity and thereby establishing the kingdom of the heavenly Father in our hearts. Jesus decided to return to Galilee and quietly begin the announcement of the kingdom, and while doing so he would trust his Father—his Personalized Adjuster in his mind—to work out the day-to-day details. In making these decisions Jesus set the example for us and mortals on the other worlds of time and space that we cannot use material tests to prove spiritual realities or temporal power to gain glory from our Father in Heaven. Jesus was well tested on these choices.
Throughout the remainder of his time on Earth Jesus was constantly confronted with the people’s desires to be fed, see him do miracles, and become their king. Before ending his forty days in the Perean hills Jesus made his final decision. He pledged to his Personalized Adjuster that in all other matters, just like those decisions he had already made, he would be subject to the will of his Father. Jesus then loaded his pack and headed back down the mountain ending his isolation, his face shining with spiritual victory and moral achievement.