1. Jesus came down from the hills and rejoined John and his followers on Saturday morning, February 23, A.D. 26. One of John’s top disciples, Andrew, confessed his confidence in Jesus. Right then, Jesus welcomed Andrew as the first of his twelve apostles.
2. Andrew told his brother, Simon, that he was an apostle. Simon said, “Ever since this man came to work in Zebedee’s shop, I have believed he was sent by God, but what about John? Are we to forsake him? Is this the right thing to do?” They went to ask John. He said yes.
3. Jesus accepted Simon as his second apostle, telling him that his enthusiasm was commendable, but that it was also dangerous to the work of the kingdom. Jesus urged Simon you to be more thoughtful in his speech, and he changed his name to Peter.
4. James and John, the sons of Zebedee were upset they weren’t chosen first. Jesus told them not to worry, they were already with him in spirit as part of the kingdom. They were to only concern themselves with doing the Father’s will. Jesus now had four apostles.
5. On the road to Galilee, Jesus and the four apostles ran into Philip of Bethsaida and Nathaniel of Cana. Philip realized that Jesus might be the Messiah, and going to him asked, Teacher, shall I go down to John or shall I join my friends who follow you? Jesus said, Follow me.
6. Nathaniel went to Jesus, who said, Behold a genuine Israelite, in whom there is no deceit. Follow me. Nathaniel said to Philip, You are right. He is indeed a master of men. I will also follow, if I am worthy. And Jesus nodded to Nathaniel, again saying, Follow me.
7. At Jesus’ old house, he destroyed anything he had ever written down, like the ten commandments and his own mottos and sayings hanging on the walls. This made a strong impression, though they didn’t understand why he did it, or why in the future he only wrote in sand.
8. Everyone went to Cana for a wedding. People heard that Jesus was going to come, and they were excited. Four times the number of guests who had been invited showed up at the wedding. Everyone expected Jesus to announce he was the king of the Jews with miracles.
9. Jesus told his apostles, “Think not that I have come to this place to work some wonder for the gratification of the curious or for the conviction of those who doubt. Rather are we here to wait upon the will of our Father who is in heaven.”
10. The wine ran out. Mary said Jesus would help. When she asked him, Jesus said, My good woman, what have I to do with that? But I believe your hour has come; cannot you help us, Mary asked? Jesus told her to quit bothering him with these things: they waited on the Father.
11. Mary broke down in tears. Jesus was overcome with compassion. Jesus said he would gladly help if it were a part of the Father’s will. And when he said this, both him and Mary sensed something had happened. Mary was excited, and rushed off to the servants quarters.
12. Six large 20 gal. stone pots of water had turned to wine. Jesus was more surprised than anyone else. His want to help his mother out of compassion, and the fact that it wouldn’t be against his Father’s will, left the celestial helpers no choice but to bring about the wine.
13. What happened at Cana wasn’t a miracle. No natural law was broken, crossed, or modified. The celestial host made wine by the normal process, except independent of time and with the intervention of celestial personalities to bring together the necessary chemicals.
14. Mary and the apostles were ecstatic. Jesus was perplexed. He now knew he had to be better at guarding his mind so sympathy and pity didn’t cause this to happen again. But, regardless of his efforts, many similar events occured before Jesus finished his time with us.
Okay, folks, that’s it for the Highlights of Son of Man: Urantia, Chapter 16, part 1, “Hanging Out in Galilee.”
In this week’s episode we continue with Chapter 16, part 2, “Hanging Out in Galilee.”
Have a fantastic week out there.
Bob