Ch. 19, The Ordination of the Twelve
“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition
The Ordination of the Twelve
Just before noon on Sunday, January 12, A.D. 27 Jesus formally presented the apostles to God ordaining them as public preachers of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. The twelve were anticipating Jesus’ call, so they were either fishing close to shore or mending their nets and attending to other busy work. Jesus first yelled over to Peter and Andrew who had their nets in the water to finish up and come back to shore. Next he waived to John and James who were helping their father, Zebedee, in his boat. Two by two Jesus brought the apostles together. When all twelve had gathered around him on the shore he led them to the highlands just north of Capernaum for their formal initiation. The apostles, even Peter, were for once silent as they reflected on what was happening: they had been waiting for this moment for some time.
Jesus’ First Instructions
They sat before beginning the formal ceremony, and Jesus said “My brethren, I have brought you apart here to present you to the Father as ambassadors of the kingdom. Some of you heard me speak of this kingdom in the synagogue when you were first called, and each of you has learned more about it since you have been with me working about the Sea of Galilee. Now I have something more to tell you concerning this kingdom.’
“The new kingdom that my Father is about to set up in the hearts of his Earth children is to be an everlasting dominion. There will be no end of my Father’s rule in the hearts of those who desire to do his divine will. I declare to you that my Father is not the God of Jew or gentile. Many will come from the East and from the West to sit down with us in the Father’s kingdom, while many of the children of Abraham will refuse to enter this new brotherhood of the rule of the Father’s spirit in the hearts of humanity.’
“The power of this kingdom does not consist of the might of riches or the strength of armies, but rather in the glory of the divine spirit that will come to rule the hearts and teach the minds of the reborn citizens of this heavenly kingdom: the sons of God. This is the brotherhood of love where righteousness reigns and whose battle cry will be: ‘Peace on Earth and good will to all people.’ This kingdom that you are soon to go forth announcing is the hope of all the Earth, the desire of the good people of all ages, and the fulfillment of the wise promises of all the prophets.’
“But for you and for all others who would follow you into this kingdom there is set a severe test. Faith alone will pass you through its portals, but you must bring forth the fruits of my Father’s spirit if you would continue to ascend in the progressive life of the divine fellowship. It is the truth when I say to you that not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven.’
“Your message to the world will be: ‘Look first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and in finding these all other things essential to eternal survival will be secured therewith.’ And now I make it plain to you that my Father’s kingdom will not come with unseemly demonstration or an outward show of power. You are not to announce the kingdom saying ‘it is here’ or ‘it is there,’ for this kingdom that you preach is God in you.’
“Whosoever would become great in my Father’s kingdom will become a minister to all; whomsoever would be first among you, let them become the servers of their brethren. But when you are once truly received as citizens in the heavenly kingdom, you are no longer servants but sons—sons of the living God. And so will this kingdom progress in the world until it breaks down every barrier, and brings all people to know my Father and believe in the saving truth that I have come to declare. Even now is the kingdom at hand, and some of you will not die until you have seen the reign of God come in majestic power.’
“This that your eyes now behold, this small beginning of twelve commonplace men, will grow and multiply until eventually the whole Earth will be filled with the praise of my Father. It will not be so much by the words you speak as by the lives you live that people will know you have been with me and have learned of the realities of the kingdom. While I would lay no grievous burdens on your minds, I am about to put on your souls the solemn responsibility of representing me in the world when I soon leave you, because I now represent my Father in this life that I am living in the flesh.” When Jesus finished speaking, he stood up.
The Ordination
Jesus told the twelve apostles to kneel in a circle around him. Starting with Judas Iscariot and ending with Andrew, he placed his hand on each of their heads and blessed them. Then Jesus held out his hands and prayed out loud “My Father, I now bring to you these men, my messengers. From among our children on Earth I have chosen these twelve to go forth to represent me as I came forth to represent you. Love them and be with them as you have loved and been with me. And now my Father give these men wisdom as I place all the affairs of the coming kingdom in their hands, and I would if it is your will, stay on Earth a time to help them in their labors for the kingdom. Again my Father, I thank you for these men and I commit them to your keeping while I go on to finish the work you have given me to do.”
After Jesus finished praying the apostles remained with heads bowed, not daring to look at their master. Eventually, one by one they got up and embraced Jesus, not one of them saying a word. Silence shrouded Jesus and the twelve, and a mighty gathering of celestial beings watched the creator of their universe putting the divine brotherhood of humanity under the direction of human minds.
The Ordination Sermon
Jesus said “Now that you are ambassadors of my Father’s kingdom you have become a class of people separate and distinct from all other people on Earth. You are not now like people among humanity, but like the enlightened citizens of another and heavenly country among the ignorant creatures of this dark world. It is not enough that you live as you were before this hour, but from now on you must live as those who have tasted the glories of a better life and have been sent back to Earth as ambassadors of the sovereign of that new and better world. Of the teacher more is expected than of the pupil; of the master more is exacted than of the servant; of the citizens of the heavenly kingdom more is required than of the citizens of the earthly rule. Some of the things that I am about to say to you may seem hard but you have elected to represent me in the world even as I now represent the Father, and as my agents on Earth you will be obligated to abide by those teachings and practices that are reflective of my ideals of mortal living on the worlds of space and that I exemplify in my Earth life revealing the Father who is in heaven.’
“I send you forth to announce joy to those in the bondage of fear and liberty to the spiritual captives; heal the sick in accordance with the will of my Father in heaven. When you find my children in distress, speak encouragingly to them saying ‘Happy are the poor in spirit, the humble, for theirs are the treasures of the kingdom of heaven. Happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’ And even so speak to my children these further words of spiritual comfort and promise, ‘Happy are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Happy are they who weep, for they will receive the spirit of rejoicing. Happy are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when people will revile you and persecute you and falsely say all manner of evil against you. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for magnificent is your reward in heaven.’
“My brethren, as I send you forth you are the salt of the Earth, salt with a saving flavor. But if this salt has lost its flavor with what will it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under people’s feet.’
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do people light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and be led to glorify your Father who is in heaven.’
“I am sending you out into the world to represent me and to act as ambassadors of my Father’s kingdom; as you go forth to announce the glad tidings put your trust in the Father whose messengers you are. Do not forcibly resist injustice; put not your trust in the arm of the flesh. If your neighbor smites you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Be willing to suffer injustice rather than going to law among yourselves. In kindness and with mercy minister to all who are in distress and in need.’
“I say to you love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And whatsoever you believe that I would do to people, you also do to them.’
“Your Father in heaven makes the sun to shine on the evil as well as the good; likewise, he sends rain on the just and the unjust. You are the sons of God; even more you are now the ambassadors of my Father’s kingdom. Be merciful even as God is merciful, and in the eternal future of the kingdom you will be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.’
“You are commissioned to save people, not to judge them. At the end of your Earth life you will all expect mercy: therefore, do I require of you during your mortal life that you show mercy to all of your brethren in the flesh. Do not make the mistake of trying to pluck a splinter out of your brother’s eye when there is a beam in your own eye. Having first cast the beam out of your own eye you can the better see to pull the splinter out of your brother’s eye.’
“Discern the truth clearly; live the righteous life fearlessly and so will you be my apostles and my Father’s ambassadors. You have heard it said ‘If the blind lead the blind they both will fall into the pit.’ If you would guide others into the kingdom you must yourselves walk in the clear light of living truth. In all the business of the kingdom I exhort you to show wisdom and judgment. Do not present what is holy to dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine lest they trample your gems under foot and turn to rend you.’
“I warn you against false prophets who will come to you in sheep’s clothing while on the inside they are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people gather figs from thistles or grapes from thorns? Every good tree brings forth good fruit, but the corrupt tree bears evil fruit. A good tree cannot yield evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is soon hewn down and cast into the fire. In gaining an entrance into the kingdom of heaven it is the motive that counts: my Father looks into people’s hearts and judges by their inner longings and their sincere intentions.’
“In the momentous day of the kingdom judgment many will say to me, ‘Did we not prophesy in your name and by your name do many wonderful works?’ But I will be compelled to say to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me you who are false teachers.’ But the people who hear this charge and sincerely execute their commission to represent me before people even as I have represented my Father will find entrance into my service and into the kingdom of God.”
Never before had the apostles heard Jesus speak as the one holding supreme authority. At sunset they went down the mountain in silence.
You Are the Salt of the Earth
The so-called Sermon on the Mount was not the gospel of Jesus: it was Jesus’ personal set of rules for the apostles preaching the gospel and representing him in the world just like Jesus was so perfectly representing his Father.
“You are the salt of the Earth, salt with a saving savor. But if this salt has lost its savor wherewith will it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under people’s feet.” In Jesus’ era salt was precious and even used for money at times: it is the root word for salary. Salt not only flavors food, it is also a preservative; it makes other things more tasty and thus it serves by being spent.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do people light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and be led to glorify your Father who is in heaven.” While light dispels darkness it can also be so blinding that it can confuse and frustrate people. We are told to let our light shine in a way that guides people into a new and godly path of better living, but we are not supposed to use our light to attract attention to ourselves. At times we can use our work and other activities to diffuse and reflect this light into the world so as not to overwhelm people.
A strong character does not come from not doing wrong but rather from actually doing right. Unselfishness is the badge of human nobility. The highest levels of self-realization are attained by service and worship. The happy and effective person is not motivated by the fear of doing something wrong, but by the love of doing something right.
“By their fruits you will know them.” Our personalities are pretty much set; what changes is our morality: our character. The primary mistake of today’s religions is that they are focused on the negative side of life—telling people what not to do, but the tree that does not bear fruit gets cut down and used for firewood. We cannot help people grow in character just by telling them what not to do. Fear, shame, and guilt are not good motivations for living or for following God. Religion is of value only when it demonstrates the fatherhood of God and improves the brotherhood of humanity.
Living well requires a combination of cosmic insight and adjusting one’s reactions to their social and economic situation. While inherited urges cannot be changed our response to them can, and this effort of aligning our emotions with our beliefs in God is how we grow in character and develop a unified and integrated personality. Without a worthy goal life becomes unhappy and aimless. Jesus’ instructions to the twelve when he ordained them is the master philosophy of life. Jesus urged his followers to actually live their faith. He warned them not to depend on following established rules or simply saying that they believed in something—they were to get up, go out, and actually do something that enhanced the kingdom of God.
Our education should be about learning how to better integrate our divine side with our naturally inherited mortal urges. While a nice home can add to our happiness, our well-being stems from growing in character. Our goal is to be a complete person perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect, and this is attainable because in the end our goal is our guide—Universal Father.
Fatherly and Brotherly Love
From the Sermon on the Mount to the discourse of the Last Supper, Jesus taught his followers to act with fatherly love rather than brotherly love: there is a huge difference between the two. Acting with brotherly love means to love your neighbor as you love yourself, and that is enough for us to live up to the so-called golden rule. But fatherly love is another step higher—it means taking ourselves out of the equation and loving people the same as Jesus loves us.
Jesus loves humanity two ways because he lived on Earth as a dual personality: he was in all ways both human and divine. Since Jesus is our creator, a Son of God and our actual universe Father, he loves us as a father. But Jesus was also the Son of Man and in all ways a man among humanity; he loved us as his brothers.
Jesus knew that we could not, we cannot, act with perfect brotherly love in this life. That is impossible and he did not expect us to do so. But Jesus did expect that we do our best to try and be like God—to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. This means we are to try and look at our fellow confused mortals like God looks at all of us, and in the process learn to love our brothers as God loves us. This was a new level of conduct for humanity, and in his talks with the apostles Jesus worked to help them understand how to integrate the idea into the social environment of their day.
Jesus introduced this concept of loving people as God loves us by first discussing four ways of faith before moving on to the limitations of brotherly love compared to fatherly love. He first spoke about those who were pure in heart, poor in spirit, endured meekness, and hungered after righteousness. These people could rise to levels of divine selflessness that allow them to try and act with fatherly love; that even as mourners they would have the strength to show mercy, promote peace, endure persecutions, and throughout all of these trying situations love even those who are not so lovely with a fatherly love. A father’s love and affection can attain levels of devotion immeasurably higher than any brother’s love.
The beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount were not based on law, duty, or ethics that bring forth fear and anger weakening people’s character and destroying their happiness, but rather on faith and love bringing them happiness and strengthening their characters.
Happy are the poor in spirit—the humble. To a child happiness has to do with satisfying immediate pleasure. An adult is willing to deny something now to have something more later. In Jesus’ times and since, happiness has been linked too much to money and wealth. In the story of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple, the one felt rich in spirit—egotistical; the other felt poor in spirit—humble. One was self-sufficient; the other was teachable and truth-seeking. The poor in spirit seek for goals of spiritual wealth—for God, and these people looking for the truth do not have to wait to get their rewards sometime in the distant future: they are rewarded now; they find the kingdom of heaven in their own hearts and they experience that happiness right then.
Happy are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Only those who feel poor in spirit will ever have the desire to grow in character. Only humble people look for God and crave spiritual power. But it is dangerous to knowingly go on a spiritual fast hoping to increase one’s appetite for finding God. Going without food becomes dangerous after four or five days, and then a person can lose all desire for food. Prolonged fasting, either physical or spiritual, tends to destroy hunger. Jesus did not teach us to be happy by not doing certain things. People can never hunger for something negative, something not to do. Being righteous, in other words living a just, moral, and decent life is not a duty it is our goal; it is where we find our ultimate pleasure and happiness.
While these first two beatitudes are difficult for a child to grasp, they should not be for mature adults.
Happy are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth. Genuine meekness has no relationship to fear. It is us co-operating with God: it is us saying to God, “Your will be done.” Meekness requires patience, tolerance, self-control, and the unshakable faith that we are in a lawful and friendly universe. Through meekness we master all temptation to rebel against divine leading. Jesus was the ideal meek man of Urantia and he inherited a vast universe.
Happy are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Spiritual purity lacks revenge and suspicion. In discussing purity, Jesus was referring more to the faith that people should have in one another than to human sexuality: that faith that a parent has in their child and that lets a person love another the same way a father would. A father’s love does not pamper, it does not condone evil, and it is never mocking, skeptical, or sarcastic. Fatherly love has one purpose—looking for the best in a person and that is the attitude of a true parent.
To know God by faith means a person has acquired true spiritual insight. This level of spirituality makes it easier for the spirit of God in our mind to guide us, and this in turn increases our degree of God-consciousness. When you know the Father you are assured of divine sonship and the more you can love your fellows not only as brothers but also like a true father would love them. This is easy to teach to even a child. Children are naturally trustful and parents should see to it that they do not lose that simple faith. In dealing with children avoid all deception and suspicion. Be wise when you help them to choose their heroes and select their livelihood.
Jesus then instructed his apostles in the main reason for all human struggle—achieving divine perfection. Always he urged them, “Be you perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” He did not tell the twelve to love their neighbors as they loved themselves. That would have been a worthy achievement and shown that they had reached the level of brotherly love. Instead, he told the apostles to love people like he had loved them—to love other people like a father as well as a brother. To illustrate what he meant, Jesus pointed out four supreme examples of fatherly love.
Happy are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Our so-called common sense or the best of logic would never suggest that happiness can come from mourning. But Jesus was not speaking about outward or grandiose mourning. He was referring to tenderheartedness. It is a big mistake to teach boys and young men that it is unmanly to show emotions, suffering, or tenderness. Sympathy is a worthy attribute for both men and women. It is not necessary to be calloused to be a man: that is the wrong way to create courageous men. The world’s most exalted men have not been afraid to mourn. Moses the mourner was a more exalted man than either Samson or Goliath. Moses was a superb leader, but he was also a man of meekness. Being sensitive and responsive to human need creates lasting and genuine happiness. It also safeguards the soul from the harmful effects of hate, anger, and suspicion.
Happy are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. Mercy in this sense refers to loving-kindness: it is an active mercy. A loving parent can easily forgive his child as many times as it takes. Unspoiled children are normally kind and sympathetic and when old enough the urge to relieve suffering naturally comes forth.
Happy are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.” Jesus’ followers wanted a military intervention: they were not looking for peacemakers. But when Jesus speaks of peace he is not speaking about pacifism, which is a negative peace. In the face of trials and persecutions he said “My peace I leave with you.” “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is a positive active peace that prevents damaging conflicts. Personal peace integrates one’s personality; social peace prevents fear, greed, and anger, and political peace prevents war and racism. Peacemaking is the cure for distrust.
Children can easily be taught to be peacemakers through team activities and playing together. Like Jesus said at another point in time, “Whosoever will save his life will lose it, but whosoever will lose his life will find it.”
Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when people will revile you and persecute you and will falsely say all manner of evil against you. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for magnificent is your reward in heaven.” Often times persecution follows our finding peace, and progress has always been the final harvest of persecution. But a father’s love delights in returning good for evil and injustice. There is no nobler love than to lay one’s life down for their friends, something that only a father’s love can motivate a person to do. Young people and brave adults never shun danger or difficulty, and children always respond to a challenge and are willing to take a dare. Early on every child should learn to sacrifice.
The Evening of the Ordination
It was a Sunday evening when Jesus and the apostles came out of the highlands north of Capernaum. They went to Zebedee’s house and had a light dinner, and then Jesus took a walk along the beach. The twins built a small fire to give them some light and warmth and the twelve talked over the day’s events. After a while Andrew went out to find Jesus, and when he did said “Master, we cannot understand what you said about the kingdom. We do not feel able to begin this work until you have given us further instruction. I have come to ask you to join us in the garden and help us to understand the meaning of your words.”
After entering the garden and the apostles had gathered around, Jesus said “You find it difficult to receive my message because you would build the new teaching directly on the old, but I declare that you must be reborn. You must start out fresh like little children, and be willing to believe in God and trust my teaching. The new gospel of the kingdom cannot be made to conform to what is. You have wrong ideas of the Son of Man and his mission on Earth. But do not make the mistake of thinking that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets: I have not come to destroy but to fulfill, enlarge and illuminate. I come not to transgress the law, but rather to write these new commandments on the tablets of your hearts.’
“I demand of you a righteousness that will exceed the righteousness of those who seek to obtain the Father’s favor by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. If you would enter the kingdom you must have a righteousness that consists in love, mercy, and truth—the sincere desire to do the will of my Father in heaven.”
Then Simon Peter said “Master, if you have a new commandment we would hear it. Reveal to us the new way.”
Jesus said “You have heard it said by those who teach the law, ‘You will not kill; that whosoever kills will be subject to judgment.’ But I look beyond the act to uncover the motive. I declare to you that everyone who is angry with his brother is in danger of condemnation. He who nurses hatred in his heart and plans vengeance in his mind stands in danger of judgment. You must judge your fellows by their deeds; the Father in heaven judges by their intent.’
“You have heard the teachers of the law say, ‘You will not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that those people who look on others with intent to lust after them have already committed adultery in their hearts. You can only judge people by their acts, but my Father looks into the hearts of his children and in mercy adjudges them in accordance with their intents and real desires.”
Jesus was minded to go on discussing the other commandments when James Zebedee interrupted him saying “Master, what will we teach the people regarding divorce? Will we allow a man to divorce his wife as Moses has directed?”
Jesus replied “I have not come to legislate but to enlighten. I have not come to reform the kingdoms of this world, but rather to establish the kingdom of heaven. It is not the will of the Father that I should yield to the temptation to teach you rules of trade, government, or social behavior that may be good for today but would be unsuitable for the society of another age. I am on Earth solely to comfort the minds, liberate the spirits, and save the souls of people. But I will say this about divorce, that while Moses looked with favor on such things it was not so in the days of Adam and in the Garden.”
After a moment Jesus continued, “You must always recognize the two viewpoints of mortal conduct—the human and the divine: the way of the flesh and the way of the spirit; the estimate of time and the viewpoint of eternity.”
The twelve could not understand all they were taught but they were much helped by this instruction. Then Jesus said “But you will stumble over my teaching because you want to interpret my message literally; you are slow to discern the spirit of my words. Again you must remember that you are my messengers; that you are beholden to live your lives in spirit as I have lived mine. You are my personal representatives, but do not err in expecting all people to live as you do in every particular. You must remember that I have sheep not of this flock to which I am also beholden; that I must provide for them the pattern of doing the will of God while living the life of the mortal nature.”
Nathaniel said “Master, will we give no place to justice? The law of Moses says ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ What will we say?”
Jesus replied “You will return good for evil. My messengers must not strive with people, but be gentle to all. Measure for measure will not be your rule. The rulers of Earth may have such laws, but not so in the kingdom: love will always determine your conduct and mercy your judgements. If these are hard sayings you can even now turn back. If you find the requirements of apostleship too hard you can return to the less rigorous pathway of discipleship.”
Those words startled the apostles, and after a short discussion Peter said “Master, we would go on with you: not one of us would turn back. We are prepared to pay the extra price; we will drink the cup. We would be apostles, not merely disciples.”
Jesus replied “Then be willing to follow me and take up your responsibilities. Do your good deeds in secret: when you give alms let not the left hand know what the right hand does. When you pray go apart by yourselves and do not use vain repetitions and meaningless phrases. Always remember that the Father knows what you need even before you ask him. Do not fast with a sad expression to be seen by other people. As my chosen apostles now set apart for the service of the kingdom do not lay up for yourselves treasures on Earth, but by your unselfish service lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven for where your treasures are there will also be your hearts.’
“The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is generous your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is selfish the whole body will be filled with darkness. If the light that is in you is turned to darkness, how absolute is that darkness!”
Thomas asked if they should continue having everything in common. Jesus said “Yes my brethren, I want that we live together as one understanding family. You are entrusted with a momentous work and I crave your undivided service. You know that it has been well said that no one can serve two masters. You cannot sincerely worship God and at the same time wholeheartedly serve mammon. Having now enlisted unreservedly in the work of the kingdom do not be anxious about your lives; much less be concerned with what you will eat or what you will drink; neither for your bodies nor what clothing you will wear. Already you have learned that willing hands and earnest hearts will not go hungry. When you prepare to devote all of your energies to the work of the kingdom be assured that the Father will not be unmindful of your needs. Seek first the kingdom of God and when you have found entrance to it all things needful will be added to you. Be not unduly anxious about what happens tomorrow: each day already has enough troubles.”
When Jesus realized that they wanted to stay up all night asking questions, he said “My brethren, you are earthen vessels: it is best for you to go to your rest to be ready for tomorrow’s work.”
But sleep had departed from their eyes and Peter ventured to ask “Can I have just short private talk with you. Not that I want to have secrets from my brothers, but I have a troubled spirit and if by chance I deserve to be reprimanded by my Master I could endure it better alone with you.”
Jesus said “Come with me, Peter,” and led the way into the house. When Peter returned to the others much cheered and immensely encouraged James decided to go in the house to talk with Jesus, and so on through the early hours of the morning the other apostles went in one by one to talk with the Master.
When everyone except the twins, who had fallen asleep, had spoken with Jesus, Andrew went back inside the house and asked Jesus if he should wake them up to also talk with him. And Jesus smiled replying “They do well—do not trouble them.” The night had now passed and another day was dawning.
The Week Following the Ordination
After everyone had eaten a late breakfast Jesus said “Now you must begin your work preaching the glad tidings and instructing believers. Make ready to go to Jerusalem.”
Thomas mustered up his courage and said “I know, Master, that we should now be ready to enter on the work but I fear we are not yet able to accomplish this grand undertaking. Would you consent for us to stay around here for just a few more days before we begin the work of the kingdom?”
When Jesus saw that all of his apostles were scared, he said “It will be as you have asked; we will remain here over the Sabbath day.”
For many weeks small groups of earnest truth seekers along with curious spectators had been coming to Bethsaida to see Jesus. Already word about him had spread over the countryside; inquiring groups had come from cities as far away as Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem. Up until this point Jesus had personally greeted these people and taught them concerning the kingdom, but now Jesus turned this work over to the twelve. Andrew would select one of the apostles and assign him to a group of visitors, and sometimes all twelve of them were so engaged.
For two days they worked, teaching by day and holding private conferences late into the night. On the third day Jesus visited with Zebedee and Salome while he sent his apostles off to fish, take a break, or maybe go and visit their families. On Thursday, they all returned for three more days of teaching. During this week of rehearsing Jesus many times repeated to his apostles the two critical reasons for his postbaptismal mission on Earth: to reveal the Father to humanity, and to lead humanity to become son conscious—to faith realize that they are the children of the Most High.
One week of this varied experience did much to boost the twelves’ confidence: some of them even became over confident. At their last conference the night after the Sabbath, Peter and James went to Jesus and said “We are ready—let us now go forth to take the kingdom.”
To which Jesus replied “May your wisdom equal your zeal, and your courage atone for your ignorance.” Though the apostles failed to comprehend much of his teaching, they did not fail to grasp the significance of the magnificent life Jesus lived with them.
Thursday Afternoon on the Lake
Jesus knew that his apostles did not understand much of what he had taught them. He decided to give some special instruction to John, James, and Peter hoping they could then clarify things for the others. The apostles were still attaching the new spiritual teachings they did grasp directly to their old, literal, and entrenched ideas of the kingdom being the restoration of David’s throne and the re-establishment of Israel as an earthly power. On Thursday afternoon Jesus went out in a boat with John, James, and Peter. They had a four-hour conference covering scores of questions. The following is a reorganized summary of this momentous afternoon as it was told by Simon Peter to his brother Andrew the next morning.
Doing the Father’s will. Jesus taught to trust in the care of the heavenly Father; this was not a blind and passive fatalism. He quoted an old Hebrew proverb, saying “He who will not work will not eat,” and he pointed to his own experience to back up his lesson. Jesus’ instructions about trusting the Father must not be judged by the social or economic conditions of modern times or any other age. His instructions embraced the ideal principle of living near God in all ages and on all worlds.
Jesus had been clear about the differences between apostleship and discipleship. He did not preach against prudence and forethought, but rather against worry and anxiety. He taught the alert and active submission to God’s will. In answer to many of their questions about frugality and thriftiness, Jesus simply called attention to his life as carpenter, boat-maker, and fisherman along with his careful organization of the twelve. He tried to make it clear that the world is not an enemy and that life circumstances are a divine dispensation working along with the children of God.
The apostles had difficulty understanding Jesus’ personal practice of nonresistance. He absolutely refused to defend himself, and it appeared to the apostles that he would be pleased if they would follow the same policy. He taught them to not resist evil, or to combat injury or injustice. But Jesus did not teach passive tolerance of wrongdoing. He made it plain this afternoon that he approved of society punishing criminals, and that civil governments must sometimes employ force when executing justice or maintaining the social order.
Jesus never ceased to warn his disciples against the evil practice of retaliation; he gave no allowance for revenge. He deplored holding grudges. He banned the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He disapproved of private and personal revenge, giving these matters over to civil government on the one hand and to God’s judgement on the other. Jesus made it clear to the three apostles that his teachings applied to the individual, not the state. He summarized his instructions up to that time as first, love your enemies: remember the moral claims of human brotherhood; second, the pointlessness of evil: a wrong is not corrected by vengeance. Do not make the mistake of fighting evil with its own weapons, and third, have faith: confidence in the eventual triumph of divine justice and eternal goodness.
Political attitude. Jesus cautioned his apostles to be discreet concerning the strained relations between the Jewish people and the Roman government; he forbid them from participating in these difficulties in any way. He was always careful to avoid the political traps of his enemies, saying “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” Jesus refused to have his attention diverted from his mission of establishing a new way of salvation; he would not permit himself to be concerned about anything else. In his personal life he obeyed all civil laws and regulations; in all of his public sermons he ignored the civic, social, and economic realms. He told the three apostles that he was only concerned with the principles of humanity’s inner and personal spiritual life.
Jesus was not a political reformer: he did not come to reorganize the world and even if he had done this it would have only applied to that day and generation. Regardless, he did show humanity the best way to live, and no generation is exempt from having to learn how to adapt Jesus’ life to its own problems. But never make the mistake of identifying Jesus’ teachings with any political or economic theory, or with any social or industrial system.
Social attitude. The Jewish rabbis had long debated the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus came presenting the idea of active and spontaneous kindness, a love of other people so genuine that it expanded the neighborhood to include the whole world and thereby making all people one’s neighbors. But still, Jesus was interested only in the individual and not the masses. Jesus was not a sociologist, but he did work to break down all forms of selfish isolation. He taught pure sympathy and pure compassion. Michael of Nebadon is a mercy dominated Son, and compassion is his nature.
Jesus did not say that people should never invite their friends over for dinner, but he did say that his followers should help feed the poor and the unfortunate. Jesus had a firm sense of justice, but it was always tempered with mercy. He did not teach his apostles that they had to give money to social parasites or professional beggars. The nearest he came to making a sociological pronouncement was to say “Judge not, so that you will not be judged.”
Jesus was clear that indiscriminate kindness can be blamed for many social problems. The next day Jesus was firm when he told Judas that none of their money was to be given out as alms, except on his request or on the joint petition of two of the apostles. In matters like this Jesus always said “Be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves.” In all situations Jesus taught patience, tolerance, and forgiveness.
The family was at the center of Jesus’ philosophy of life—here and hereafter. He based his teachings about God on the family, while he sought to correct the Jewish tendency to over honor their ancestors. He placed family life as the highest human duty, but he also made it plain that family must not interfere with religious obligations. Jesus pointed out that the family is a temporal institution; that it does not survive death. Jesus did not hesitate to give up his family when it ran counter to the Father’s will. He taught the new and larger brotherhood of humanity: the sons of God. In Jesus’ time divorce was lax in Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire, and while Jesus repeatedly refused to lay down laws regarding divorce and marriage many of his early followers had strong opinions on the subjects and they did not hesitate to say that they heard them from Jesus. All of the New Testament writers held to these more stringent and advanced ideas about divorce, except John Mark.
Economic attitude. Jesus lived, worked, and traded in the world as he found it. He was not an economic reformer, though at times he called attention to the injustice of the unequal distribution of wealth. But then again, he did not offer any suggestions on how to fix the situation. Jesus emphasized to the three that while his apostles were not to hold property, he was not preaching against wealth and property—just its unfair and unequal distribution. Jesus recognized the need for social justice and industrial fairness, but he offered no rules for attaining them.
Jesus never taught his followers to avoid earthly possessions: that rule was only for his twelve apostles. Luke, the physician, was a strong believer in social equality and he did much to interpret Jesus’ teachings in harmony with his personal beliefs. But Jesus never personally directed his followers to adopt a communal mode of life and he made no pronouncement of any sort regarding such matters.
Jesus frequently warned his listeners against envy and wanting what other people have, telling them that people’s happiness does not consist in the abundance of their material possessions. Many times he said “What will it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their own soul?” Jesus did not attack the possession of property, but he did insist that it is essential for eternal survival that spiritual values come first. In his later lessons Jesus tried to correct many of our wrong ideas through the parables he told during his public ministry. Jesus never intended to give us economic theories: he knew that each age has to find its own remedies for its own troubles. If Jesus were on Earth today the majority of good men and women would be hugely disappointed for the simple reason that he would not take sides in current social, political, or economic disputes. Instead, he would remain grandly aloof while teaching you how to perfect your inner spiritual life so you are more competent in dealing with your human life.
Jesus would make all people Godlike and then stand by, with sympathy, while these sons of God solved their own social, political, and economic problems. It was not wealth that Jesus denounced, but rather what wealth does to the majority of the people who have or desire it. This Thursday afternoon was the first time that Jesus told the apostles it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Personal religion. We, like the apostles, can better understand Jesus’ teachings through how he lived his life. Jesus lived a perfect life on Urantia, and his unique teachings can only be understood when that life is looked at from its immediate background. It is his life and not his lessons to the twelve or his sermons to the multitudes where we can best see the Father’s divine character and loving personality.
Jesus did not attack the teachings of the Greek moralists or the Hebrew prophets. He recognized the many good things these lofty teachers taught, but he had come to Earth to teach something additional: how to voluntarily conform a person’s will to God’s will.” Jesus did not want to simply create religious people, men and women who are wholly occupied with religious feelings and actuated only by spiritual impulses. If you could have had but one look at him you would have known that Jesus was a real man of enormous experience in the ways of this world. Jesus’ lessons in this area have been grossly perverted and misrepresented down through the centuries; you also have distorted ideas about Jesus’ humility and meekness. What he aimed for in his life appears to have been a superb self-respect. Jesus only advised people to humble themselves that they may become truly exalted; what he aimed at was true humility toward God. He much valued sincerity—a pure heart. Fidelity was a cardinal virtue in his estimate of character, while courage was the core of his teachings. “Fear not” was his watchword and patient endurance his ideal strength of character. Jesus’ teachings constitute a religion of valor, courage, and heroism. This is why for his personal representatives he chose twelve commonplace men, the majority of whom were virile, rugged, and manly fishermen.
Jesus said little about the social vices of his day; he seldom referred to moral delinquency. He was a positive teacher of true virtue. He studiously avoided the negative method of teaching: he refused to advertise evil. Jesus was not even a moral reformer. He well knew and so taught his apostles that people’s sensual urges are not suppressed by either legal or religious laws. His few denunciations were mostly against pride, cruelty, hypocrisy, and oppression.
Jesus was not even passionate denouncing the Pharisees like John did. He knew many of the scribes and Pharisees were honest at heart and he understood their bondage to religious traditions. Jesus laid immense emphasis on first making the tree good. He impressed on the three that he valued the whole life, not just a certain few special virtues.
The one thing that John gained from this day’s teaching was that the essence of Jesus’ religion was developing a compassionate character and a personality motivated to doing the will of the Father in heaven. Peter got the idea that the gospel they were about to announce was a fresh beginning for the whole human race. He later explained this to Paul who then came up with his idea of Christ as the second Adam. James realized the exciting truth that Jesus wanted his children on Earth to live as though they were already citizens of the completed heavenly kingdom.
Jesus knew that each person was different, and he taught this to his apostles. He constantly told them to not try and mold the believers into some set pattern. He said to allow each soul to develop in its own way, a separate perfecting person before God. In answer to one of Peter’s many questions Jesus said “I want to set people free so they can start out fresh as little children on the new and better life.” Jesus always insisted that true goodness must be unconscious—not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing.
The three apostles were amazed when they realized that Jesus’ religion made no provision for spiritual self-examination. All religions before and after Jesus’ time, even Christianity, carefully provide for conscientious self-examination. But not so with the religion of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ philosophy does not include religious introspection, or the examining of one’s own mental and emotional processes. The carpenter’s son never taught character building: he taught character growth declaring that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Still, Jesus said nothing against using self-analysis to keep one’s ego in check.
The right to enter the kingdom of heaven is conditioned by faith: by personal belief. The cost of remaining in the progressive ascent of the kingdom is the pearl of immense price for which people will sell all they have to possess. Jesus taught a religion for everybody, not only for slaves and weaklings. His religion never became crystallized (at least during his day) into creeds and theological laws; he left not a line of writing behind him. His life and teachings were given to our universe to morally instruct and spiritually guide people of all ages and on all worlds. Even today Jesus’ teachings stand apart from all religions, yet they are the living hope of every one of them.
Jesus did not teach his apostles that religion was humanity’s only earthly pursuit: that was the Jewish idea of serving God. But he did insist that religion was the exclusive business of the twelve. Jesus taught nothing that stopped his believers from pursuing genuine culture: he only countered the tradition-bound teachings of the religious schools in Jerusalem. Jesus was liberal, learned, tolerant, and big-hearted. Self-conscious piety—showing others how religious we are—had no place in how he lived.
Jesus offered no solutions for the nonreligious problems of his own time or for any later age. Jesus wanted to turn spiritual insight into eternal realities and to stimulate true living; he concerned himself exclusively with the permanent and underlying spiritual needs of the human race. Jesus revealed a goodness equal to God. He exalted love—truth, beauty, and goodness—as the divine ideal and the eternal reality. Jesus came to create in humanity a new spirit, a new will: to give us a new capacity for knowing the truth, choosing goodness, and experiencing compassion—the will to be in harmony with God’s will coupled with the eternal urge to become perfect even as the Father in heaven is perfect.
The Day of Consecration
Jesus devoted the next Saturday to his apostles. They all hiked back up to the highlands where he had ordained them, and there after a long and beautiful personal message of encouragement Jesus consecrated the twelve. Gathering the apostles around him on the hillside Jesus them into the hands of his heavenly Father in preparation for the day when he would leave them alone in the world. There were no new lessons this day, just visiting and communion and sharing their most intimate spiritual thoughts.
Jesus recounted much of the ordination sermon that he had given the apostles on this same spot, and then he commissioned each one individually to go forth in the world as his representative. The Master’s consecration charge was “Go into all the world and preach the glad tidings of the kingdom. Liberate spiritual captives, comfort the oppressed, and minister to the afflicted. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Jesus advised them to not take money or extra clothing, saying “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Finally Jesus said “Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. But take heed, for your enemies will bring you up before their councils, while in their synagogues they will criticize you. You will be brought before rulers and governors because you believe this gospel, and your testimony will be a witness for me to them. And when they lead you to judgment, be not anxious about what you will say because the spirit of my Father indwells you and will at such a time speak through you. Some of you will be put to death, and before you establish the kingdom on Earth you will be hated by many people because of this gospel—but fear not; I will be with you and my spirit will go before you into all the world—my Father’s presence will abide with you while you go first to the Jews and then to the gentiles.
The Evening After the Consecration
That evening while teaching inside Zebedee’s house because it had begun to rain, Jesus spoke at length trying to impress on the twelve what they must be, not what they must do. The apostles only understood religions that imposed material acts on believers for them to attain salvation or righteousness. But Jesus reiterated that in the kingdom people must be righteous to do kingdom work. Many times he would repeat, “Be you perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Jesus explained that the salvation he brought to the world could only be obtained by believing: by simple and sincere faith.
Jesus said “John preached a baptism of repentance: sorrow for the old way of living. You are to announce the baptism of fellowship with God. Preach repentance to those who stand in need of such teaching, but to those already seeking sincere entrance to the kingdom open the doors wide and bid them enter into the joyous fellowship of the sons of God.” But it was a difficult task to persuade these Galilean fishermen that in the kingdom being righteous by faith must precede doing righteousness in people’s daily lives.
Another significant handicap in teaching the twelve was their tendency to take highly spiritual and idealistic principles of religious truth and remake them into concrete rules of personal conduct. Jesus would present the beautiful spirit of the soul’s attitude, but they insisted on translating his lessons into rules of personal behavior. Many times when they did remember what Jesus said, they were almost certain to forget what he did not say. They slowly assimilated his teachings because Jesus was all that he taught: what they could not gain from his verbal instruction they gradually got by living with him.
The apostles did not realize that Jesus was intent on living a life of spiritual inspiration for every person of every age on every world of a far-flung universe. Notwithstanding what Jesus had told them from time to time, the apostles did not understand that while his incarnation was happening on this particular world he was also living as an example for all of the other worlds in his vast creation. Jesus did not live on Urantia to set a personal example for just the men and women of this world, but rather to create a high spiritual and inspirational ideal for all mortal beings on all worlds.
Thomas asked “Master, you say that we must become like little children before we can gain entrance to the Father’s kingdom, and yet you have warned us not to be deceived by false prophets or to become guilty of casting our pearls before swine. Now I am honestly puzzled. I cannot understand your teaching.”
Jesus said “How long will I bear with you! Ever you insist on making literal all that I teach. When I asked you to become like little children as the price of entering the kingdom, I referred not to ease of deception, mere willingness to believe, nor to quickness to trust pleasing strangers. What I did desire that you gather from the illustration was the child-father relationship. You are the child, and it is your Father’s kingdom you seek to enter. There is present that natural affection between every normal child and its father that ensures a loving and understanding relationship and that forever precludes all disposition to bargain for the Father’s love and mercy. The gospel you are going forth to preach has to do with a salvation growing out of the faith-realization of this very and eternal child-father relationship.”
The one characteristic of Jesus’ lessons was that the morality of his philosophy originated in the personal relation of the individual to God: this very child-father relationship. Jesus placed emphasis on the individual, not on the race or nation. While at supper Jesus explained to Matthew that the morality of any act is determined by the individual’s motive. Jesus’ morality was always positive. The golden rule as restated by Jesus demands active social contact: the older negative rule could be obeyed in isolation. Jesus stripped morality of all rules and ceremonies and elevated it to majestic levels of spiritual thinking and true righteous living. This new religion of Jesus was not without its practical implications. But whatever social, political, or economic value is found in his teaching is the natural result of this inner experience of the soul as it manifests the fruits of the spirit in personal religious experience.
After Jesus and Matthew had finished speaking, Simon Zelotes asked “But Master, are all people the sons of God?”
Jesus replied “Yes, Simon, all people are the sons of God and that is the good news you are going to announce.” But the apostles could not grasp this doctrine; it was new, strange, and startling. It was because of Jesus’ desire to impress this truth on them that Jesus taught his followers to treat all people as their brothers. In response to a question asked by Andrew, Jesus made it clear that the morality of his teaching was inseparable from the religion he was living. Jesus taught morality not from the nature of humanity, but from the relation of God to humanity.
John asked “Master, what is the kingdom of heaven?”
Jesus replied “The kingdom of heaven consists of three essential elements: first, recognition of the sovereignty of God; second, belief in sonship with God; and third, faith in the supreme human desire to do the will of God: to be like God. And this is the good news of the gospel—that by faith every mortal may have all these essentials needed for salvation.”