Ch. 38, The Decapolis Tour
“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition
The Decapolis Tour
Jesus and the apostles arrived at Magadan Park Thursday morning, August 18th. There were already almost one hundred disciples and evangelists, including the women’s corps, waiting and ready to immediately begin preaching the gospel across the Decapolis. Jesus told each the apostles to pair up with one of the evangelists, and for the twelve groups to go out and visit the villages in the area. They were told to return to Magadan no later than Friday, September 16th. Jesus told the twenty-four that he would visit them often, and the women’s corps and the other disciples he told to stay there in Magadan Park with him. Throughout this month the twelve groups taught in Dium, Abila, Edrei, Gerasa, Gamala, Hippos, Zaphon, Gadara, Heshbon, Scythopolis, Philadelphia, and many other towns. No miracles or other extraordinary events took place.
The Sermon on Forgiveness
One evening at Hippos Jesus taught the lesson on forgiveness. He said “If a compassionate man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off and gets lost, does he not immediately leave the other ninety-nine to go out and look for the one lost? And if he is a good shepherd, will he not keep looking for the lost sheep until he finds it? And when this man finds his lost animal he picks it up, carries it home, and calls to all of his friends to rejoice with him for finding his sheep that was lost. I am telling you right now that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.’
“Even so it is not the will of my Father in heaven that even one of these little ones should go astray, much less that they should perish. In your religion God receives repentant sinners, but in the gospel of the kingdom God the Father searches for sinners even before they have seriously thought of asking him for forgiveness.”
“The Father in heaven loves his children, and that means you should learn to love one another; the Father in heaven forgives your sins, and that means you should learn to forgive one another. If your brother sins against you, go to him and with tact and patience tell him what he did. And do this just between you and him, alone. If he listens to you, then have you won your brother. But if he does not hear you, if he continues to do what is wrong, bring a mutual friend or two along with you so that everyone else knows you were just and merciful in dealing with your friend. Then if that does not work, tell your side of the story to your whole group of friends and if he still refuses to admit whatever he did wrong then the group has the right to do as they see fit and to cast him out of the kingdom. No, you cannot pretend to judge other people’s souls or to forgive sins or exercise authority that is not yours. But you do have the right and the obligation to maintain order in the kingdom on Earth. While you have no say concerning someone’s divine gift of eternal life, you do have the right to set rules of conduct for the welfare of the brotherhood on Earth and those rules will be recognized as valid in heaven. Whenever two or three of you agree on these things and it is not against the Father’s will, it will be done for you. Whenever two or three believers are gathered together, I am there with them.
Simon Peter, who was in charge of the workers in Hippos, said “Lord, how many times should I let my brother sin against me and still forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus replied “Not only seven times, but even up to seventy-seven times. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who ordered a financial accounting of the people in his court. And when he learned that one of his chief officers owed him ten thousand talents, the king ordered that his property be taken and his children sold off to pay his debt. This man pleaded that hard times had fallen on him, and he fell down on his face and begged for mercy and more time to pay his debt saying ‘Lord have a little more patience with me and I will pay you all I owe.’ And the king was moved with compassion and ordered the man released and his loan completely forgiven.’
“Then this chief officer of the court, after having received mercy and forgiveness from the king went about his business. When he learned that one of his staff owed him a mere one hundred denarii, he grabbed him by the throat and said ‘Pay me all you owe.’
To this the man fell down on to his face before the chief steward and said “Only have patience with me and I will soon be able to pay you.’ But instead, the chief steward showed no mercy and had the man tossed into prison until he could pay his debt. When this man’s friends saw this, they went and told the king. The king called for his chief steward and said ‘You are a wicked and unworthy steward. When you asked for compassion, I freely forgave you your entire debt. Why did you not also show mercy to your fellow steward like I showed mercy to you?”
The king was so angry that he sent his ungrateful chief steward to the jailers until he had paid all that was due. In the same way my heavenly Father will show more abundant mercy to those who freely show mercy to others. How can you come to God asking for consideration for your failings when you accuse your friends of being guilty of those same human frailties? I say to all of you, freely you have received the good things of the kingdom; because of that, freely give to the others on Earth.”
This was how Jesus taught the dangers and unfairness of one of us judging someone else. Discipline must be kept and justice must be given, but these are matters for the brotherhood to decide. Jesus gave the authority to enact laws and keep the peace to the group, not to the individual, and even that group authority must not be exercised as someone’s personal authority.
There is always the danger that the verdict of a single person can be warped by prejudice or passion: group judgment is more likely to stop the unfairness of personal bias. Jesus always looked for ways to minimize vengeance, unfairness, and retaliation.
The Strange Preacher
At Gamala after the evening question and answer session with Jesus, John said “Master, yesterday in Ashtaroth there was a man preaching in your name who claimed to be able to cast out devils. This man does not follow us and he has never been with us, so I forbid him from doing this.”
Jesus said “Do not stop him from preaching in my name. Can you see that this gospel will soon be preached in all of the world? How can you think that you are going to be in charge of everyone believing in the gospel? Be happy that your teachings are already starting to spread beyond just your influence.’
“Can you see that those who say they do impressive works in my name must eventually support us? That they will not be quick to say bad things about us? My son, in this kind of situation it would be better for you to figure that he who is not against us, is with us. In future generations there are going to be many people with many failings doing many strange things in my name, and I will not stop them. I am telling you that even when a cup of cold water is given to a thirsty soul, the Father’s messengers will record that loving service.”
John was now more confused than ever. Had he not heard Jesus say that, “He who is not with me is against me?” John did not understand that in this case Jesus was referring to the individual—one’s personal relationship to the gospel—while the other situation related to social relationships, administrative control, and the jurisdiction of one group of believers over the work of others in the world-wide brotherhood.
John recalled this episode many times in his future work. Regardless of Jesus’ comments, the apostles still tended to chastise any others they caught teaching in Jesus’ name. The man John tried to stop preaching continued to do so; his name was Aden, and he came to believe in Jesus after the lunatic near Kheresa had been so confident when telling him that Jesus had cast a demon out of him, the lunatic, and then put it into a herd of pigs and ran them off the face of the cliff. Aden acquired a fair-sized gathering of believers around him before he went into Mesopotamia.
Instruction for Teachers and Believers
When Jesus was visiting Thomas’ group in Edrei, he taught them the principles for guiding and activating those who teach the gospel of the kingdom as summarized here. The apostles were to always respect people’s personalities and never promote righteousness by force—spiritual victory can only come from spiritual power. This refers to physical force as well as using mental superiority and overpowering arguments to coerce people into the kingdom. In essence, Jesus said “You cannot crush another person’s mind with the mere weight of logic or by overcoming them with fancy words. While you cannot eliminate emotion as a factor in your teaching, do not directly appeal to people’s emotions to advance the kingdom. Rather, make your appeals directly to the divine spirit in their mind. Do not use fear, pity, or emotional outbursts to spread the gospel. Instead, exercise self-control and respect your students. Remember what I have told you, ‘See me. I stand at the door and knock, and if a person opens it I will come in.’”
“When bringing people into the kingdom do not lessen or destroy their self-respect. While too much self-respect can destroy humility and end in pride, conceit, and arrogance the loss of self-respect often ends up paralyzing a person’s will. It is the purpose of this gospel to restore self-respect to those who have lost it, and to restrain it in those who have it. Do not make the mistake of only telling people what they are doing wrong; remember to also recognize the praiseworthy things in their lives. Never forget that I will stop at nothing to restore self-respect to those who have lost it, and who want it back.’
“Be careful that you do not wound the self-respect of timid and fearful souls. Do not be sarcastic at the expense of my simple-minded followers; do not be cynical with my fear-ridden children. Idleness destroys self-respect, so urge your followers to stay busy at their jobs and to make every effort to find one if they are unemployed. Never try to frighten people into the kingdom. A loving father does not scare his children into obeying him.’
“You must realize that strong emotional feelings are not the same as the leadings of the divine spirit. Just because you are strongly or strangely impelled to do something or to go somewhere does not necessarily mean that you are following the spirit. Warn your followers about the conflict they must navigate when passing from the life in the flesh to the higher life of the spirit. Those people living fully in either realm—that of the flesh or that of the spirit—have little conflict or confusion. But when moving between those two realms everyone will experience the uncertainty that comes with unfamiliar territory. You cannot escape your responsibilities when entering the kingdom, but remember the yoke of the gospel is easy and the burden of truth is light.’
“The world is filled with hungry souls starving in the presence of the bread of life. People die searching for the very God inside of them; people seek the kingdom’s treasures with weary feet and yearning hearts when all of it is in their immediate reach. Faith is to religion what sails are to a ship: it gives power; it does not slow you down or add to life’s burdens. There is only one struggle for those who enter the kingdom, and that is the good fight of faith. The believer has only one battle, and that is against doubt: unbelief.’
“When you preach the gospel of the kingdom you are simply teaching people how to be friends with God, and this relationship will appeal to and satisfy their ideals and longings. Tell my children that I am not only tender and patient with their feelings and frailties, but that I am also ruthless with sin and intolerant of iniquity. I am indeed meek and humble in the presence of my Father, but I am just as relentless against deliberate sin and rebellion against his will.’
“You will not tell others that I am a man of sorrows. Future generations will also know our radiant joy, buoyant good will, and inspirational good humor. We are announcing good news that is infectious in its power to transform; our religion is throbbing with new life and new meaning. Those who accept this teaching are filled with joy and in their hearts rejoice forever. Increasing happiness is always the experience of everyone who is certain about God.’
“Teach your followers not to rely on false sympathy. You cannot develop strong characters indulging in self-pity; honestly try to avoid wallowing in misery with others. Give sympathy to brave and courageous people, while not giving too much pity to those cowardly souls who only halfheartedly stand up to life’s trials. Do not console those who give up without trying. Do not give sympathy just so you will receive it. Once a person becomes self-conscious of the divine presence inside of them their faith expands their mind, ennobles their soul, reinforces their personality, augments their happiness, deepens their spiritual perception, and enhances their power to love and be loved.’
“Teach your followers that they are not immune to accidents or natural catastrophes. If you dare to believe in me and follow after me, you will most certainly run into trouble. Believing in the gospel does not prevent trouble, but it does ensure that you will not be afraid of it when it comes. I do not promise to get rid of your problems, but I do promise to go through them with you.’
The Talk with Nathaniel
Jesus visited Nathaniel and the disciples in Abila. Nathaniel was upset about some of Jesus’ statements countering the authority of the Hebrew scriptures. After the usual evening session with everyone else, Nathaniel got Jesus aside and said “Master, would you trust me to know the truth about the scriptures? I see that you only teach us the best of the sacred writings. Am I right that you reject the rabbis’ teachings because you have been with God before the times of Abraham and Moses, and your law is the word of God? What is true in the scriptures?”
Jesus replied “Nathaniel, you are right. I do not hold the scriptures in the same regard as the rabbis. I will tell you about this as long as you do not tell the others, because not all of them are ready to hear it. Before Abraham there were no scriptures or Moses’ law. It is only in recent times that the scriptures have been gathered together as a whole. While they contain the best of Jewish philosophy and the desires of their people, they also contain much that does not represent the character and teachings of God the Father. I have to pick and choose from the best of the scriptures to find the truths for my teachings.’
“The scriptures were written by men, some holy and some not so holy. They represent the level of enlightenment of the people when they were written. When it comes to revealing the truth, the later scriptures are more dependable than those at the beginning. And while the scriptures were written by men and they are full of error, they still comprise the best collection of religious and spiritual truth on the world at this time.’
“Many of the scriptures were written by people other than the supposed author, but that in no way detracts from their truths. Even if the story of Jonah and the whale is not true—even if Jonah never lived—the story would still bring forth its truth and be just as precious to those who read it. The scriptures are sacred because they bring forth the acts and thoughts of people who were searching for God, and who in these writings recorded their highest ideas of truth, holiness, and righteousness. The scriptures contain much that is true, very much, but in light of what you have been taught you know that they also contain much that is not correct about the loving God I am showing the world.”
“Nathaniel, never for one moment believe the parts of the scriptures that say God told your ancestors to go to war and kill all of their enemies: men, women, and children. Those are the words of not very holy men—they are not the word of God. The scriptures have always and always will reflect the moral, spiritual, and intellectual status of the people who wrote them. You can see that the idea of Yahweh grows in glory and beauty as the prophets wrote the records from Samuel to Isaiah. Always remember: the scriptures were written for religious and spiritual guidance; they were not written by historians or philosophers.’
“The most disgraceful thing about all of this is not just the wrong idea that the scriptures are perfect, but the confused way the tradition enslaved scribes and Pharisees interpret them. And now they are going to use both those wrong teachings and their wrong interpretations of those teachings to resist the newer lessons of the gospel. Never forget Nathaniel that my Father does not limit the revelation of truth to any one generation or to any one people: many who have been earnestly searching for the truth have been and will continue to be confused and disheartened by the idea that the scriptures are completely true.’
“Truth is the spirit that is inside of you; it is not the dead words of less developed people of the past. Even if those supposedly holy men in the past lived inspired spirit-filled lives, that does not mean that their words were also spiritually inspired. We are not putting the gospel in writing because later all of you might become divided interpreting my truths differently. For this generation it is best that we live these truths, rather than make a record of them.’
“Mark my words well, Nathaniel. There is nothing that human nature has touched that is infallible. Divine truth may indeed shine forth through people’s minds, but it will always be relatively pure and partially divine. The creature may want to be perfect, but only the Creators are.’
“But the most significant error in teaching the scriptures is the doctrine that they are sealed books of wisdom and mystery that only the nation’s wisest minds dare interpret. The revelations of divine truth are not sealed by God, but only by people’s bigotry, ignorance, and narrow-minded intolerance. The light that the scriptures bring forth is only dimmed by prejudice and darkened by superstition. The false fear that the scriptures are sacred has prevented people from using their common sense to keep religion safe. The fear that the sacred writings of the past actually have authority stops honest souls today from accepting the new light of the gospel, the same light that those same God-knowing people of another generation so intensely longed to see.’
“But the saddest fact is that some of the people teaching that the scriptures are sacred know this to be a lie. They more or less understand that the scriptures are limited, but they keep that knowledge secret because they are moral cowards and intellectually dishonest. Instead, they pervert and distort the scriptures making people slaves to detailed rules for living their daily lives rather than preserving the scriptures as a library of moral wisdom, religious inspiration, and the spiritual teachings of God-knowing people of other generations.’
Nathaniel was shocked, but he understood. Many times he thought about this conversation with Jesus, and he never told anyone what Jesus said until after he was killed. Even then he was afraid to tell the others everything that Jesus had said.
The Positive Nature of Jesus’ Religion
In Philadelphia, Jesus taught James the positive nature of the gospel. After Jesus suggested that some parts of the scriptures contained more truth than others, James interrupted him and said “Would you be good enough Master to tell us how to choose the best scriptures for our personal growth?”
Jesus replied “Yes James. When you read the scriptures look for those eternally true and divinely beautiful teachings like “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord.” “The Lord is my shepherd; I will not want.” “You should love your neighbor as yourself.” “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand saying fear not; I will help you.” “Neither will the nations learn war anymore.”
Jesus used the cream of the Hebrew scriptures to teach his followers, and he included them in the new gospel of the kingdom. Other religions hinted that God was near humanity, but Jesus made the cornerstone of his religion the fact that God cares for people like a father cares for his dependent children. From that doctrine of the fatherhood of God comes our priority to practice the brotherhood of humanity: the entirety—the sum and substance of Jesus’ religion—is worshiping God and serving humanity. Jesus took the best of Judaism and gave it new life in his gospel of the kingdom.
Instead of teaching passive compliance to rules like did the Jews, Jesus taught the spirit of positive action doing the things his religion required. Jesus’ religion is based on doing, not just believing. He did not teach that the spirit of his religion was serving others, but instead that serving others was a natural result of those who have the spirit of true religion.
Jesus took what worked and left the rest. He did not hesitate to take one half of a scripture, the good part, and discard the other half. His noble command, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he took from the scripture that reads “You will not take vengeance against the children of your people and you will love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus used the positive and rejected the negative. Jesus despised pacifism, or pure nonresistance: he said “When an enemy smites you on one cheek, do not stand there dumb and passive but with a positive attitude turn the other cheek and do the best thing possible to actively lead your brother in error away from his evil path and into the better ways of righteous living.” Jesus required his followers to be positive and aggressive in life. The idea behind turning the other cheek, or whatever act that represents, is that a positive action demands initiative and requires active, vigorous, and courageous expression of a person’s personality.
Jesus did not say to submit one’s self to the abuse of people who were hurting them because they knew they would not fight back: he was telling them to be wise and alert, and to look for a quick positive reaction that overcomes evil with good. Never forget: the truly good is always more powerful than the worse evil. Jesus taught that righteousness came from positive actions, that “Whoever wants to be my disciple, let them disregard themselves and take up the full measure of their daily responsibilities to follow me.” Jesus taught by example: “he went about doing good.” Many of his later parables well portrayed this part of his gospel. Jesus never told his followers to patiently bear their obligations—he told them to go out with energy and enthusiasm and live up to all of the divine privileges and human responsibilities that come with being members in the kingdom of God.
When Jesus told his followers that if someone stole their coat they were to offer them a second,
he did not mean they were to literally give the thief another coat. Instead, he meant they were to do something positive rather than falling back to the old ways of “an eye for an eye.”
Jesus disliked the ideas of both retaliation and passive resistance to injustice. He taught his apostles three ways to contend with and resist evil. First, to return evil for evil: the positive but unrighteous method. Second, to suffer evil without resisting or complaining, the purely negative method. Third, to return good for evil; to assert the will so as to become the master of the situation and to overcome evil with good: the positive and righteous method.
One of the apostles said “Master, what should I do if a stranger forced me to carry his pack for a mile?”
Jesus replied “Do not sit down and cry for relief while you cuss the stranger under your breath. Righteousness does not come from passive attitudes like that. If you can think of nothing more positive or effective to do, you can at least carry the pack a second mile. That will certainly challenge the ungodly and unrighteous stranger.”
The Jews had been told of a God that would forgive sinners who asked for forgiveness. But it was not until Jesus arrived that people heard about a God who took the initiative and actually went out searching for sinners, and who then rejoiced when they were willing to return to the Father’s house.
This positive note extended to Jesus’ prayers, and he converted the golden rule into a positive declaration of human fairness.
In everything that Jesus taught, he avoided distractions. He stayed away from poetic imagery and flowery language. He put big meanings into small words. To illustrate something, Jesus often reversed the current meanings of many terms like salt, leaven, fishing, and little children: using the antithesis he compared the small to the infinite. His illustrations were striking, like “The blind leading the blind.” But Jesus’ greatest strength was his naturalness: he brought the philosophy of religion down from heaven to us on Earth. He showed us the basic needs of the soul with new insight and affection.
The Return to Magadan
The four weeks in the Decapolis were moderately successful. Hundreds of souls were received into the kingdom, and the apostles and evangelists gained valuable experience working without Jesus’ immediate presence. On Friday, September 16th everyone met in Magadan Park as planned. Then on Saturday, more than one hundred of them held talks on how to further extend the kingdom. David’s messengers were present and they reported on what was happening in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and the other districts.
Few of Jesus’ followers fully appreciated David Zebedee and the messengers’ work. Not only did they keep everyone in touch with one another, but during these dark days they also collected donations, not only for Jesus and the apostles but also for the twenty-four families of the apostles and twelve evangelists. About this time Abner moved his operations from Hebron to Bethlehem, which was also the Judean headquarters for David’s messengers: he had an overnight relay service between Jerusalem and Bethsaida, and the messengers would stop by Sychar and Scythopolis before getting into Bethsaida in the morning.
Jesus and the others took a week off to rest before entering their last period working together. This next Perean mission lasted until their arrival in Jerusalem, and the closing scenes of Jesus’ life.