Ch. 36, At Caesarea-Philippi

“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition

At Caesarea-Philippi

Jesus wanted to meet with his family before he and the apostles left for Caesarea-Philippi. David Zebedee sent messengers to arrange with Jude, Jesus’ brother, for the entire family—Mary and all of his sisters and brothers—to meet Jesus at his boatshop in Capernaum on Sunday, August 7^th. They all agree and Jesus with Peter and Andrew went to keep the appointment.

That same day a group of Pharisees who knew that Jesus was staying in Philip’s lands on the other side of the lake, went to Mary’s house and tried to pressure her into telling them where he was at. Mary became upset, and when the Pharisees saw how nervous everyone else in the family was they correctly assumed that Jesus was coming for a visit. They sent a messenger for reinforcements and the rest of them hid in the house to wait for Jesus. Both Jude and Ruth tried to sneak out and let Jesus know what was happening, but were unsuccessful. Because of this they decided not to try and meet with Jesus. Early that afternoon one of David’s messengers caught up with Jesus and told him the situation, and through no fault of either Jesus or his family they were not able to get together.

The Temple Tax Collector

Jesus, Peter, and Andrew were by the lake near Zebedee’s boatshop when a tax collector for the temple arrived. Taking Peter aside he said “Does your Master not pay the temple tax?”

Peter was about to get angry at the suggestion that Jesus should be expected to support his sworn enemies religion, but seeing the look on the tax-collector’s face he realized it was a trap. They wanted to catch Jesus in the act of refusing to pay the normal half shekel to support the temple in Jerusalem. So Peter replied “Why of course the Master pays the temple tax. You wait here by the gate, and I will be back soon with the money.”

Peter had spoken without thinking. Judas had their money and he was across the lake. Neither Peter, his brother, nor Jesus had any money and knowing that the Pharisees were looking for them, they could not go to Bethsaida to get any. When Peter told Jesus about the tax-collector and that he had promised to pay him, Jesus said “If you have promised then you should pay. But how will you keep your promise? Will you become a fisherman again so that you can honor your word? Regardless Peter, under the circumstances it is good that we pay the tax. Let us not give these men a reason to get mad at us. We will wait here while you take the boat and fish, and after you have sold them at that market down yonder pay the tax-collector for all three of us.”

One of David’s secret messengers who was standing close by heard this conversation. He signaled to another secret messenger who was fishing on the shore to rush over. Just as Peter was ready to cast off, these two messengers showed up at his boat with several large baskets of fish and helped him carry them to the fish market on shore. Between what he was paid for the fish and what one of the messengers donated, there was enough money to pay the temple tax and the publican took the payment without charging them a late-penalty knowing they had been out of Galilee.

It is not strange that you have a record of Peter catching a fish with a shekel in its mouth. In those days there were many stories about finding treasures in the mouths of fish; tales of near miracles like that were normal. And it just so happened that as Peter left Jesus and Andrew to go fishing, Jesus, half in humor said “It is strange that the sons of the king must pay a tax: usually it is the stranger who is taxed for the upkeep of the court. But it benefits us to not upset the authorities. Go on! Maybe you will catch the fish with the shekel in its mouth.” With Jesus having said this, and then Peter showing up so quickly with the temple tax, it is not surprising that the man who wrote Matthew’s gospel turned the episode into a miracle.

Jesus, Peter, and Andrew waited by the seashore until nearly sundown. Messengers told them that Mary’s house was still being watched, so when it grew dark the three slowly rowed back toward the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

At Bethsaida-Julias

On Monday, August 8^th while Jesus and the twelve apostles were camped in Magadan Park near Bethsaida-Julias, the evangelists, the women’s corps, and more than one hundred believers came over from Capernaum for a conference. Many of the Pharisees also came, and by this time some of the Sadducees had joined with the Pharisees to trap Jesus. Before going into the conference with the believers, which was closed to everyone else, Jesus held a public meeting. The Pharisees heckled him and tried to upset the gathering with their leader saying “Teacher, we want you to give us a sign that you are authorized to teach, and then when we see it everyone will know that you have been sent by God.”

Jesus said “When it is evening you say it will be fair weather for the heaven is red, and in the morning it will be foul weather for the heaven is red and lowering. When you see a cloud rising in the west you say showers will come; when the wind blows from the south you say scorching heat will come. How is it that you see the face of heaven so well, but you are so completely unable to see the signs of the times? To those who would know the truth a sign has already been given, but to an evil-minded and hypocritical generation there will be none offered.”

At the conference with his followers, they decided that after Jesus and the twelve returned from Caesarea-Philippi they would all come together for a group mission into the villages of the Decapolis. Jesus helped them plan this mission, and as he was ending the meeting said “I am telling you, beware of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Do not be deceived by their strong loyalty to the rules of their religion and their confidence in how much they think they know. Only concern yourself with the spirit of living truth and the power of true religion. It is not fearing a dead religion that will save you, but rather your faith in the living experience of the spiritual realities of the kingdom. Do not allow yourselves to become paralyzed by fear and blinded by prejudice. Do not let reverence for tradition warp your understanding so much that your eyes cannot see, and your ears cannot hear. It is not the purpose of true religion just to bring peace, but instead to ensure progress. And there can be no peace in the heart or progress in the mind unless you fall completely in love with truth—the ideals of eternal realities. The issues of life and death are being set before you: the sinful pleasures of time against the righteous realities of eternity. Even now you should start to find deliverance from the bondage of fear and doubt as you enter the new life of hope and faith. And when feelings of service for others arise in your soul, do not stifle them; when the emotions of love for your neighbor well up in your heart, express those urges intelligently to meet people’s real needs.”

Peter’s Confession

Caesarea-Philippi was the capital of Philip’s lands: he was the Roman Tetrarch, the ruler of that region. The city was nestled in a beautiful charming valley between scenic hills where the Jordan River flowed out of an underground cave. Mount Hermon could be seen to the north, and from the hills south of the city a person had a magnificent view of the upper Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and the twelve apostles left Magadan Park for Caesarea-Philippi early Tuesday morning. Jesus had his experience of trial and triumph on Mount Hermon earlier in his career; now that he was entering the final phase of his mission, he wanted to return with his apostles so they could receive a new vision of their responsibilities and gain new strength for the trying times looming ahead.

As they walked along and about the time that they were passing south of the Waters of Mermom, the apostles began talking about their recent time in Phoenicia, their experiences with the people, and how the people were receiving Jesus. When it came time to break for lunch everyone sat around under the shade of the mulberry trees. Jesus had trained his apostles for many months about the kingdom of heaven, and now it was time to teach them about himself and his relationship to the kingdom. Jesus suddenly confronted his twelve apostles, and for the first time ever he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” This was to be one of the most significant lectures Jesus ever gave the twelve.

Most of the apostles attempted to answer Jesus’ question. He was variously seen as a prophet, or an extraordinary man by everyone who knew him. Even his enemies feared him, and said he received his power from the prince of devils. The apostles said that some of the people in Judea and Samaria, those who had not met Jesus personally, thought that he was the resurrected John the Baptist; Peter told him that people at times compared him to Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

After listening to his apostles, Jesus stood up in front of the twelve who were sitting around him in a semicircle. The apostles were startled as Jesus, with grand emphasis, swept his hand in a gesture that included all of them, and said “But who do you say that I am?”

The atmosphere was tense as they all sat in silence, never taking their eyes of off Jesus. Then Simon Peter jumped up and cried out “You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God.” And the other eleven, all at the same time, jumped to their feet letting Jesus know that Peter had spoken for everyone.

Jesus remained standing and motioned for them to all sit down. When they had, he said “This has been revealed to you by my Father. The hour has come when you should know the truth about me. But for the time being, I order you to tell this to no person. Let us continue on our way.” They arrived at Caesarea-Philippi late that evening and went to the home of a man named Celsus, who was expecting them. The apostles were restless and slept little: they all sensed that a significant event had just occurred in their lives and in the work of the kingdom.

The Talk about the Kingdom

Between what they had witnessed when Jesus was baptized by John and then Jesus turning the water into wine in Cana, the apostles had at times accepted that Jesus was the Messiah; some even thought that he was the expected deliverer. But as soon as those hopes would arise, Jesus would come along with some crushing word or disappointing deed and dash them to pieces. All of them had, for a long time, been struggling with what they had been taught about the expected messiah and their actual experiences living with Jesus.

The apostles met for lunch in Celsus’ garden later that Wednesday morning. The night before Simon Peter and Simon Zelotes had tried to convince the others to accept Jesus not only as the Messiah, but also as the divine son of the living God. These two Simons were in agreement about Jesus and they were intent that everyone else agree with them. Andrew was still the boss but his brother, Simon Peter, was quickly becoming the chosen spokesman for the twelve.

The twelve were all sitting in the garden when Jesus arrived about noon. Dignified and solemn, they stood up as Jesus walked toward them. Flashing his friendly smile, the one he often wore when his apostles were taking themselves too seriously, he relieved their tension and then commanded them with his hands to sit back down: the apostles sensed that Jesus was not comfortable with them getting up every time he came into the room, so that was the last time that they ever did so.

After everyone had eaten and they were talking over their plans for their next mission around the Decapolis, Jesus all of the sudden looked into their faces and said “Now that a full day has passed since you agreed with Simon Peter about who I am, do you still believe that?”

The twelve all stood up, and then Simon Peter stepped forward and said “Yes Master, we do. We believe that you are the Son of the living God.” Peter then sat back down with the others.

Jesus remained standing and said “You are my chosen ambassadors. But I also know that under the circumstances you could not believe that I am the Son of God from just mere human knowledge. This event is a revelation of my Father’s spirit to your souls. And since you are making this confession because the spirit of God inside of you has led you to do so, I can now publicly state that this knowing is the foundation of the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven.’

“On this rock of spiritual reality I will build the living temple of spiritual fellowship in my Father’s kingdom. All the forces of evil and all of the hosts of sin will not win against the Divine Spirit’s human brotherhood. And while my Father’s spirit will always be the mentor and the divine guide of everyone who enters this spiritual fellowship, to you and those who come after you I am now giving the keys of the outward kingdom: the authority over things temporal, and the social and economic aspects of this group in the kingdom.” And again, Jesus told them that for the time being they were to tell no one that he was the Son of God.

Jesus was gaining faith in the loyalty and integrity of his apostles. He realized that a faith that could withstand what they had recently passed through would, without doubt, endure the fiery trials that were just ahead. He knew they would emerge from the apparent dashing of all their hopes into the new light of a new dispensation, and because of that they would be able to go out to enlighten a world sitting in darkness. This faith he held for all of his apostles, except one.

Ever since that day Jesus has continued building that living temple on that same eternal foundation of divine sonship. And those who become the self-conscious sons of God are the human stones that make up this living temple of sonship erected to the love, glory, and wisdom of God the Father. When Jesus finished he told the twelve to go off by themselves into the hills until supper to pray for wisdom, strength, and spiritual guidance.

The New Concept

What was both new and important in Peter’s statement about Jesus was its clear recognition that he was the Son of God: his unquestioned divinity. But the Jews did not teach that the Messiah would be divine: he was to be the anointed or gifted one, but in no way had they ever thought of him being the actual Son of God. In the second statement more emphasis was placed on his combined nature, the extraordinary fact that he was the Son of Man and the Son of God. It was on this noble truth, the coming together of his human and divine natures, that Jesus said he would build the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus had desired to live his life on Earth and complete his bestowal mission as the Son of Man, but his followers were conditioned to think of him as the expected messiah. Knowing that he could never fulfill those expectations Jesus had tried to modify their concept of the Messiah so he could at least meet some of their beliefs, but now he understood that would not work. So he boldly decided on a third plan—to agree that Peter was right, to openly announce his divinity and to tell the twelve apostles that he was a Son of God.

For three years Jesus had told people that he was the Son of Man, while at the same time the apostles had increasingly insisted that he was the expected messiah. He now revealed to them that he was the Son of God, and on that idea of the combined nature of the Son of Man and the Son of God he intended to build the kingdom of heaven. He had decided to stop trying to convince people that he was not the Messiah: instead, he told them what he is, and ignored their other ideas.

The Next Afternoon

Jesus and the apostles stayed at Celsus’ house for another day waiting for Zebedee’s messengers to arrive with money. After Jesus had lost his popularity, their income fell off and by the time they reached Caesarea-Philippi they were broke. Matthew did not want to leave Jesus and the others without money, but he did not have any of his own left to donate like he had done so many times in the past. But David Zebedee had thought ahead and told his messengers to collect donations as they made their way through Judea, Samaria, and Galilee and then send the funds to Jesus and the apostles. By evening his runners arrived with enough money to sustain everyone until they left on their mission through the Decapolis. Matthew, who was selling his last piece of property in Capernaum, expected to have his money by that time and he had arranged for it to be secretly given to Judas.

None of the apostles understood Jesus’ divinity. They did not realize that this was the beginning of a new phase in his mission. Jesus was now entering the period when the teacher-healer was becoming the new idea of the Messiah, the Son of God. From this point on a new theme arose in Jesus’ message: his one ideal of living was revealing the Father, and his one idea in teaching was to personify for the universe the supreme wisdom that can only be understood by living it. Jesus came so that we all could have life, and have it more abundantly.

Jesus now entered the fourth and last stage of his life as a mortal. The first stage was his childhood, the years when he was only dimly conscious of his origin, nature, and destiny as a human being. The second stage was his growing self-consciousness as he became a man, and when he came to more clearly understand his divine nature and human mission. This second stage ended with the experience of, and the revelations associated with, his baptism. The third stage of Jesus’ earth experience went from the baptism, through the years of his ministry as healer and teacher, and up to this historic point at Caesarea-Philippi where Peter states Jesus is the Son of God. This third period of his life took in the times when his apostles and his immediate followers knew him as the Son of Man, and thought of him as the Messiah.

The fourth and last period of Jesus’ earth career began here at Caesarea-Philippi and continued on until the crucifixion. This stage of his work took in his last year on Earth when he acknowledged his divinity. During the fourth period while most of his followers still thought of him as the Messiah, Jesus became known to the apostles as the Son of God. Peter’s statement marked the beginning of the twelve realizing, at least hazily, that Jesus was on Earth for an entire universe.

Jesus demonstrated through his life what he taught in his religion: the growth of the spiritual nature through living progress. Jesus did not emphasize as did his later followers the never ending struggle between the soul and the body. Instead, he taught that the spirit could easily win over both and that it was effective in reconciling this intellectual-instinctual warfare. A new meaning became attached to all of Jesus’ teaching from this point forward. Before Caesarea-Philippi he presented the gospel as its master teacher: after Caesarea-Philippi he was not only a teacher, but also the divine representative of the eternal Father who is the sum total of this spiritual kingdom. And Jesus was required to do all of this as human being, the Son of Man.

Jesus had been sincere in trying to lead his followers into the spiritual kingdom as a teacher and then as a teacher-healer, but they would not have it so. He knew full well that his mission on Earth could not possibly meet the expectations that the Jewish people had for the Messiah: the prophets in ancient times had described a messiah that he could never be. Jesus tried to establish the Father’s kingdom as the Son of Man, but his followers would not go forward in the adventure. On seeing this Jesus then elected to meet his believers part way, and in so doing he prepared himself to openly assume the role of the bestowed Son of God.

The apostles heard much that was new as Jesus spoke to them in the garden, and some of these things sounded strange, even to them. Among other surprises, Jesus said “From now on if people want to join us, they have to assume the obligations of sonship and follow me. And when I am not with you anymore, do not think that the world will treat you any better than it did me. If you love me, prepare to prove this love by your willingness to make the supreme sacrifice.’

“And mark well my words: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. The Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but rather to minister and bestow his life as the gift for everyone. I am telling you that I have come to look for and to save those who are lost.’

“No man in this world right now sees the Father except the Son who came from the Father. But if the Son is lifted up he will draw all people to himself, and everyone who believes this truth of the combined nature of the Son will be given life that is eternal.’

“We cannot yet tell people openly that the Son of Man is the Son of God. But it has been revealed to you; that is why I boldly speak to you about these mysteries. Though I stand before you in this physical presence, I came from God the Father. Before Abraham was, I am. I did come from the Father into this world as you have known me, and I am telling you that I must soon leave and return to my Father’s work.’

“And now can your faith understand these facts in the face of my warning that the Son of Man will not meet your father’s expectations of the Messiah? My kingdom is not of this world. Can you believe the truth about me in the face of the fact that though the foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have nests, I have nowhere to lay my head?’

“Regardless, I am telling you that the Father and I are one. He who has seen me has seen the Father. My Father is working with me in all these things and he will never leave me alone in my mission, just like I will never abandon you when you soon go out across the world to tell people about this gospel.’

“And now I have brought you apart with me and by yourselves for a short while so that you can understand the glory and grasp the grandeur of the life to which I have called you: the faith-adventure of establishing the Father’s kingdom in the hearts of humanity and my living presence with the souls of everyone who believes this gospel.’

The apostles listened to these bold and startling statements in silence. They were stunned, and broke off into small groups to discuss what Jesus had said. They had confessed that he was the Son of God, but they could not grasp the full meaning of what they had been led to do.

Andrew’s Conference

That evening Andrew took it on himself to have a personal conversation with each of the other apostles, and these talks went well with everyone except Judas Iscariot. Andrew had never been as close with Judas as he was with the other apostles, and because of that he had never thought much about the fact that Judas had never opened himself up to him, the head of the apostles. But now Andrew was so worried about Judas that later that night after everyone was fast asleep he went and told Jesus. Jesus said “It is not wrong, Andrew, that you have come to me about this, but there is nothing more that we can do except to continue placing full confidence in this apostle. And say nothing to the others about this conversation with me.”

That was all Andrew could get out of Jesus. There had always been something not quite right between Judas, a Judean, and his Galilean friends. Judas had been shocked by the death of John the Baptist, severely hurt when Jesus scolded him on several occasions, disappointed when Jesus refused to be made king, humiliated when Jesus fled from the Pharisees, irked when Jesus refused to accept the Pharisees’ challenge to show them a sign, bewildered by Jesus’ refusal to resort to miracles, and now more recently depressed by the fact that they had no money. Furthermore, Judas missed the excitement of having all of the people around.

Each of the other apostles was in some way going through these same trials and tribulations. But they loved Jesus. At least they must have loved him more than Judas did, because they went through to the bitter end with him. Being from Judea, Judas took personal offense at Jesus’ recent warning to the apostles to beware of the Pharisees. He thought it was a hidden reference to himself. But Judas’ biggest mistake was that every time Jesus sent his apostles off by themselves to pray, Judas would instead become afraid, tended to doubt Jesus’ mission, and gave into his tendency to harbor feelings of revenge.

And now Jesus was going to take his apostles with him to Mount Hermon where he intended to start the fourth phase of his time on Earth as the Son of God. Some of the apostles were at his baptism in the Jordan and had witnessed his beginning as the Son of Man. Now he wanted some of them to hear him assume the new and public role of a Son of God. So on the morning of Friday, August 12^th Jesus said “Pack some food and water and get ready to head up to that yonder mountain, where Spirit wants me to receive what I need to finish my work on Earth. And I am taking all of you with me so that you can be strengthened for the trying times ahead.”