Text - The Second Preaching Tour, pt. 2

Son of Man: Urantia, Chapter 28.2

Hostility of the Religious Leaders

While the common people were excited about Jesus’s teachings, the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were becoming increasingly alarmed and antagonistic toward him by the day. The Pharisees were dogmatic and systematic. Jesus was the opposite; he taught as the occasion demanded. Rather than using the law to make his point, Jesus brought his message forth in parables.

And an important point to remember: when Jesus used a parable to get his message across, it was to bring light to only one part of the story he was using. A lot of wrong ideas have come up from people trying to turn the whole fable into a teaching.

The Pharisees and Sanhedrin in Jerusalem were in chaos about young Abraham converting to the gospel, and the three spies who not only deserted, but who were baptized by Peter and then went out with the other evangelists on Jesus’ second trip through Galilee. Day-by-day the Jewish leaders were becoming more and more blinded by fear and prejudice. And this continued rejection of the truths of the kingdom worked to harden their hearts as time went on. When men decide to shut-off the quiet voice of their spirit within, there is little that anyone can do to change their minds.

Back when Jesus had first spoken to the evangelists at Bethsaida, he ended his address saying, “Remember that men are individuals. Their personalities and reactions to the gospel will vary; in body and mind, emotionally, men react individually.  The only thing men have in common, the only uniform thing about men, is the divine spirit in each of them. Though each of these divine spirits is a unique entity with various degrees of personal experience, they all respond the same way to spiritual requests. It is only through appealing to this divine spirit that mankind will ever attain unity and brotherhood.”

But many of the Jewish leaders had closed themselves off any spiritual appeal of the gospel, and from this point on they increasingly plotted for Jesus’ death.

Preaching Tour Progress

During this tour through Galilee, Jesus did little public teaching. He did, though, hold a lot of evening classes in most of the cities where he, James, and John would end up for the night. It was at one of these sessions that a young evangelist asked Jesus about anger.

Among other things, Jesus said, “Anger shows the degree to which the spiritual nature in a person has failed to gain control over their combined physical and intellectual natures: It indicates a lack of tolerance for one’s brothers, and a lack of self-respect and self-control.

Anger hurts a person’s health, destroys their mind, and gets in the way of the divine spirit guiding their soul.

Have you read in the Scriptures that ‘wrath kills the foolish man,’ and that man ‘tears himself in his anger’? That ‘he who is slow of wrath is of great understanding,’ while ‘he who is hasty of temper exalts folly’?

You all know that a soft answer turns away anger, while hard words stir it up.

‘Discretion defers anger,’ while ‘he who has no control over his own self is like a defenseless city without walls.’ ‘Wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous.’ ‘Angry men stir up strife, while the furious multiply their transgressions.’ ‘Don’t be hasty in spirit, for anger rests in the hearts of fools.’”

Before Jesus was done, he said, “Let your hearts be so filled with love that your spirit guide has an easy time helping you to resist those outbursts of animal anger that don’t fit with the status of divine sonship.”

In this same meeting, Jesus talked about having a well-balanced character. He knew man needed to devote himself to mastering some craft, but he deplored overspecialization and becoming too narrow-minded in one’s lifestyle.

He reminded people that any virtue, taken to extremes, can become a vice.

Jesus preached moderation, and taught the people to be consistent when adjusting to life’s problems.

He pointed out that too much sympathy can result in serious emotional instability, and that too much enthusiasm can lead to fanaticism. He told the people about a former acquaintance whose imagination had led him off into visionary and impractical things.

But at the same time, Jesus them against becoming dull, mediocre, or over conservative.

Jesus then went on to talk about the dangers of faith and courage, and how they can sometimes lead men to assumptions and reckless behavior. But he also showed how caution, when taken too far, leads to failure and cowardice.

Jesus urged people to be original, but not to end up being an oddball. He pleaded to the people to show sympathy, without over-romanticizing about it, and to be devote without being self-righteous

Jesus taught people to worship God without fear or superstition.

It wasn’t Jesus’ teachings that impressed the people so much, but rather how he lived those admonitions to such a high degree. In a life of stress and storm, he never wavered. His enemies continually set traps for him, but they never caught him. The wise and educated tried to trip him, but he never stumbled. The Jews tried to fool him in debates, but his answers were always dignified, enlightening, and in the end, final. When Jesus’ talks were interrupted with a bunch of questions, his answers were always conclusive. Jesus was never dishonorable with his enemies, but they for sure didn’t hesitate to use every unfair tactic they could against him.

It’s true that many people have to focus their time on earning their livelihoods, but it’s also desirable for them to learn about how others live. Truly educated people are not satisfied being ignorant of the lives of their brothers and sisters around the world.

The Lesson Regarding Contentment

During one of Jesus’ evening classes with Simon Zelotes’ group of evangelists, Simon asked, “Master, why are some people so much more happy and content than others? Is contentment a matter of religious experience?”

Among other things, Jesus said,

“Simon, some people are naturally more happy than others. A whole bunch depends on the man’s willingness to be led by the Father’s spirit living in him.

Have you read in the scriptures the words of the wise man, ‘The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching through all the inner parts’? And also that such spirit-led mortals say, ‘The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.’ ‘A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked men,’ for ‘a good man is satisfied from inside himself.’ ‘A merry heart makes a cheerful person and is a continual feast. Better is a little with the reverence of the Lord, than having great treasures and trouble they bring. Better to eat a dinner of herbs with loving friends, than a fattened ox with hateful people. Better is a little with righteousness, than a lot of money with low morals.’ ‘A merry heart is like good medicine.’ ‘Better is having a handful with composure, than having riches, sadness, and a bad attitude.’

“A lot of man’s sadness comes from not achieving his ambitions and wounding his pride. Although men have a duty to themselves to make the best of their lives on Earth, once they’ve put forth the effort to do so they need to cheerfully accept the outcome and make the best of what they have. Too many of man’s problems originate in the fear in his heart. ‘The wicked flee when no man pursues.’ ‘The wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest and its waters cast up mire and dirt; there is no peace, says God, for the wicked.’

“So don’t look for false peace in fleeting fun and joy, but rather seek the assurance of divine sonship that brings composure, contentment, and the supreme pleasures of the spirit.

Jesus didn’t look at this world as a “vale of tears,” but rather as the birth world of eternal and immortal spirits ascending to Paradise, a “vale of soul making.”

The “Fear of the Lord”

At Gamala, during the evening talk, Philip asked Jesus, “Master, why is it that the scriptures instruct us to ‘fear the Lord,’ while you want us look to the Father in heaven without fear? How are we to harmonize these teachings?”

And Jesus said, “My children, I am not surprised that you ask these things. In the beginning it was only through fear that man could learn reverence. But I’ve come to reveal the Father’s love so that you will be drawn to worship of the Eternal through my recognition of, and reciprocation of, the Father’s perfect love. I’m delivering you from the bondage of forcing yourselves, because of your fear, to serve an angry and jealous Father-God.

“The ‘fear of the Lord’ has meant different things over the ages, beginning with fear, then moving through anguish and dread, and coming to awe and reverence. And now from reverence, I would lead you still higher, through recognition, realization, and appreciation, to love. When man only sees the works of God, he’s led to fear the Supreme; but when man experiences the personality of the living God, he is increasingly led to love such a perfect, universal, and eternal Father. And it is for this purpose, changing man’s relationship to God, that I have come to Earth.

“Children don’t fear their father to receive his gifts. Instead, since they’ve already received his love, they in turn love him for his graciousness. The goodness of God leads to service and repentance; the mercy of God leads to salvation, and the love of God leads to intelligent freehearted worship.

“Your ancestors feared God because he was mighty and mysterious. You will adore him because he is magnificent, merciful, and truthful. The power of God creates fear in the heart of man, but his nobility and righteousness commands our reverence, love, and worship. A dutiful and loving son does not fear or dread even a mighty and noble father. I have come into the world to put love in the place of fear, joy in the place of sorrow, confidence in the place of dread, loving service and sincere worship in the place of slavish bondage and meaningless ceremonies. Yet it is still true, that for those who sit in darkness, ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.’ But when the light has more fully come, the sons of God are led to praise the Infinite for what he is, rather than to fear him for what he does.

“When children are young and unthinking, they must be taught to honor their parents; but when they grow older and become somewhat more appreciative of the benefits of their parents guidance and protection, they are led up, through respect and increasing affection, to that level of experience where they actually love their parents for what they are, more than for what they have done.

The father naturally loves his child, but the child must develop his love for the father from the fear of what the father can do, up through awe, dread, dependence, and reverence, to appreciation and love.

“You have been taught to ‘fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the whole duty of man.’ But I have come to give you a new and higher commandment, which is, to ‘love God and learn to do his will, for that is the highest privilege of the liberated sons of God.’ Your fathers were taught to ‘fear God—the Almighty King.’ I teach you, ‘Love God—the all-merciful Father.’

“In the kingdom of heaven, which I have come to declare, there is no high and mighty king; this kingdom is a divine family. The universally recognized and worshiped head of this far-flung brotherhood of intelligent beings is my Father and your Father. I am his Son, and you are also his sons. Therefore, it is eternally true that you and I are partners in the heavenly estate, and all the more so since we have become friends in the flesh on Earth. Cease, then, to fear God as a king or to serve him as a master. Instead, learn to rever him as the Creator; honor him as the Father of your young spirit; love him as a merciful defender, and ultimately worship him as the loving and all-wise Father.

“From your wrong concepts of the Father, come your false ideas of humility and much of your hypocrisy. Man may be a worm in the dust by nature, but when he becomes indwelt by my Father’s spirit, that man becomes divine in his destiny. The spirit of my Father in a man will return to its divine source and universe origin, and the human soul of the man that has now become the reborn child of that indwelling spirit will ascend with it to the very presence of the eternal Father.

“There is a divine dignity associated with those faith candidates who have received the Father’s gifts in the eternal ascent to the kingdom of heaven, and humility, indeed, becomes these people. But meaningless practices to show false humility are not appropriate ways to appreciate the source of your salvation, or the destiny of your souls. Humility before God is appropriate in the depths of your heart, and humbleness before men is commendable, but outward acts done solely for the attention of others are childish, hypocritical, and unworthy of the enlightened sons of the kingdom.

It is good to be humble before God and self-controlled with men, but let your conduct be of spiritual origin, and don’t deceive yourselves with outward displays of self-righteous superiority. The prophet advised well when he said, ‘Walk humbly with God,’ for, while the Father in heaven is the Infinite and the Eternal, he also dwells in him with a repentant mind and a humble spirit.’

My Father abhors evil, despises pride, and loathes hypocrisy. And it has been to emphasize the value of sincerity and perfect trust in the loving support and faithful guidance of the heavenly Father, that I have so often used the example of a little child’s unconditional love, trust, and acceptance of their human father, to show you those attitudes essential for your entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

The Prophet Jeremiah was correct about many people when he said, ‘You are near God in the mouth, but far from him in your heart.’ And have you read that dreadful warning of the prophet who said, ‘The priests there teach for hire, and the prophets there divine for money. But at the same time, they claim to be righteous and say that the Lord is with them.’ You’ve been well warned against those who ‘speak peace to their neighbors, when mischief is in their hearts,’ and those who ‘flatter with the lips, while the heart is double-dealing.’ Of all the sorrows of a trusting man, none are so terrible as to be ‘wounded in the house of a trusted friend.’”

Returning to Bethsaida

Andrew, after talking with Simon Peter and getting Jesus’ approval, had instructed David at Bethsaida to send out messengers to the various preaching groups telling them to end the tour and return to Bethsaida sometime on Thursday, December 30.

And by supper time on that rainy day, all of the apostles and teaching evangelists had arrived back to the Zebedee home.

The group was put up in people’s homes in Bethsaida and near-by Capernaum, and they all hung-out together over that sabbath. These two to three days they all spent together in Bethsaida were, indeed, exhilarating; even the older teachers learned things from the younger preachers as they all told everyone about their experiences. After that, they were all given two weeks off to go fishing, visit their friends, or go home to be with their families.

Of the 117 evangelists who participated in this second preaching tour of Galilee, only about seventy-five survived the practical experience, and they were all at hand for service at the end of the two weeks’ break.

Jesus, along with Andrew, Peter, James, and John, stayed at Zebedee’s house during these two weeks, and they spent a lot of their time planning the welfare and extension of the kingdom of heaven.

Bob