Adapted from the Urantia Book original paper here
Honest Nathaniel
Nathaniel was the last of the original six apostles chosen by Jesus himself. When he and Philip met Jesus and the others on the road to Cana, he was twenty-five years old, making him the second youngest of the apostles after John Zebedee. He was also the youngest of his family of seven siblings, who by this time had all died or married. Nathaniel was single and was the only one of the kids still living with his parents, who were old and weak and relied on his support. Nathaniel and Philip had entered a couple of business ventures in the past, and he was thinking about becoming a merchant to make his living. Nathaniel was the best educated of the apostles except for Judas Iscariot.
It was the other apostles who gave Nathaniel his nickname that meant, more or less, that he was a sincere honest man that wouldn’t trick you when doing business. This was his greatest virtue. His greatest weakness was his extreme pride in anything personal, like his family, city, nation, or reputation. Pride, like many traits, is only commendable to a certain point after which it becomes prejudice. This caused Nathaniel to be quick in prejudging people according to his personal opinions. For example, even before meeting Jesus his first question to Philip was if anything good can come out of Nazareth. But, with that said, Nathaniel wasn’t stubborn and could change his mind, like he did with Jesus as soon as he looked into his face.
Nathaniel was the odd genius of the apostles: he was at once a dreamer and philosopher, but with a practical side. He could swing from being serious and intellectual one moment, to telling jokes and stories the next. When really at the top of his game, Nathaniel was the best storyteller of the bunch, and Jesus enjoyed his talks with him whether serious or not. Over time Nathaniel gave importance to Jesus, his mission, and the kingdom of heaven even if he never took himself seriously. The trait that Nathaniel most admired about Jesus was his tolerance – his generous sympathy and broadmindedness.
With the exception of Judas Iscariot, Nathaniel was loved and respected by the other apostles. They all got along well. Judas’ problem related to Nathaniel’s attitude that we just covered, he didn’t think he was taking his job seriously enough. At one point, Judas even went so far as to go to Jesus secretly and complain about Nathaniel. After listening to Judas, Jesus scolded him a bit, saying,
“Judas, be careful and watch your steps; don’t overmagnify your office. Who of us is competent to judge his brother? It’s not the Father’s will that his children should only do the serious things of life. Let me repeat: I have come that my family in the flesh may have more abundant joy, life, and happiness. Go and do the work that’s been entrusted to you, and do it well, but leave Nathaniel, your brother, to make his account for God.”
Judas had a lot of pride; he didn’t take it well being put down by Jesus. This memory and those of many other events continued to taint Judas’ heart right up until the end.
There were a lot of times when Jesus was away on the mountain doing his thing with Peter, James, and John that issues between the other apostles would become heated or confused to the point that even Andrew wasn’t sure how to relieve the tension. It was times like this when Nathaniel would come up with a flash of good humor or a bit of appropriate philosophy to bring everything back to balance.
Nathaniel’s job was to take care of everyone’s families. This meant he couldn’t attend all of the conferences between Jesus and the apostles because whenever something happened or someone got sick, he’d immediately have to leave, go to that home, and take care of any problems the family had. Nathaniel did his duties well, and all of the others rested securely knowing that their families were safe in his hands.
After Pentecost and the death of his father, Bartholomew, Nathaniel took off for Mesopotamia and India baptizing believers and spreading the good news of the kingdom of heaven along the way. He wasn’t part of organizing the religion that arose after Jesus was killed, and none of the others ever knew what happened to their poet, humorist, and philosopher. But Nathaniel was a great man in the kingdom and did a lot to spread Jesus’ teachings before he died in India.
Matthew Levi
Matthew, chosen by Andrew, was the seventh apostle. He came from a family of taxmen, called publicans back then, but was himself a customs collector in Capernaum, where he lived. Matthew was thirty-one years old, married, and had four children when he joined the group. Jesus never gave Matthew a nickname, but before long the others started calling him the money-getter, or something to that extent.
Matthew was moderately wealthy, the only one of the apostles to be so. He was a good businessman, and mixed well with the more well-to-do people of the area: he was naturally gifted with the ability to make friends and to get along well with a many different types of people. Because of these traits, Andrew put Matthew in charge of their finances; in a way, he became more or less the spokesperson for the apostles when it came to raising money from the wealthier citizens. He was a good judge of human nature, and did well at what today we call marketing or advertising. Matthew was intense, sincere, and continually grew in his belief in Jesus and the certainty of the kingdom of heaven, even though his duties finding money meant he wasn’t in on all of best of Jesus’ talks to the others.
Matthew’s strong point was his complete devotion to the cause. He was intensely loyal to Jesus and devoted to his job of keeping the treasury filled. He was overwhelmed and grateful for the fact that he, a taxman, had been accepted by Jesus and the apostles. But that said, it still took the other apostles a little time to get use to idea of having a publican in their group. This was especially the case with Simon Zelotes and Judas Iscariot. Matthew, though, stuck it out despite his past and in time all of the apostles became proud of him and his efforts for the kingdom.
Matthew’s weakness was being shortsighted and materialistic, although these traits lessened a bit as time progressed. What Matthew most admired about Jesus was his forgiveness, and he kept constantly lodged in his mind the fact that faith was the only thing needed to enter the kingdom of God. For Matthew, and this was how he told it to the others, he was now in the business of finding God.
Matthew was one of the apostles who took a lot of notes on Jesus’ lessons, and these were the basis of Isador’s later account that became known as the Gospel according to Matthew. Over the ages, Matthew’s life as a businessman and tax collector has led thousands upon thousands of other politicians and public officials into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew’s presence among the twelve kept the doors of the kingdom wide open to masses of outcast and downhearted souls who thought they had long since lost any saving grace, and Jesus never turned even one away.
While Matthew freely took donations from Jesus’ disciples and others who would come to hear Jesus speak, he never went out in public asking for money. Most of that stuff he did more or less in secrecy, and he got most of the money from the small group of wealthier believers in the kingdom. Over time, Matthew also used all of his own savings for the apostles, but they never knew about this because he didn’t tell them. He was worried they would think his money was tainted. So instead, he’d donate his money in someone else’s name. And, there were times when instead of going out and asking for money he’d decide to stay and listen to Jesus’ teachings, knowing he had to make it up out of his pocket. Matthew never did let the apostles know that it was his money that was keeping them fed most of the time. He kept quiet even though he knew that he was more or less on probation with all of them at the start of the mission, and he really wanted them to know all that he was doing for the cause. And of course, his heart burned to let Jesus know about all of this, little realizing that Jesus was already fully aware of Matthew’s efforts and generosity.
When the persecutions began and everyone had to flee from Jerusalem, Matthew headed north preaching the gospel and baptizing believers in Syria, Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithynia, and Thrace. None of the other apostles ever knew what became of him. In Thrace, at Lysimachia, a group of unbelieving Jews conspired with the Romans to kill Matthew, and he died sure in his faith in God that he’d learned from Jesus’ recent life on Earth.
Thomas Didymus
Chosen by Philip, Thomas was the eighth apostle. He was twenty-nine years old, married, and had four children. In the past he’d been a carpenter and stone mason, but when he joined the apostles he was fishing out of Tarichea, a small village on the west bank of the Jordan where it flows out of the Sea of Galilee. While Thomas wasn’t well educated, he was the leading citizen of his town. Coming from excellent parents who lived at Tiberias, Thomas had the one truly keen and analytical mind of the twelve. This was his greatest strength. He was the real scientist of the apostles: logical and skeptical. But while we’ve known him as, “doubting Thomas,” the apostles hardly saw him as a trifling skeptic with his courageous loyalty.
Thomas’ homelife as a kid wasn’t great. His parents weren’t really happy being married, and this affected Thomas’ adult life. In other words, he tended to be a bit disagreeable and quarrelsome. As a matter of fact, even his wife was glad to see him join the apostles; happy that her pessimistic husband would be away from the house most of the time. Thomas was also really suspicious, and this was his greatest weakness. In the beginning, Thomas got Peter so upset he went to his brother, Andrew, and complained that Thomas was mean, ugly, and always suspicious. But as the apostles got to know Thomas better, they liked him more. He proved himself to be superbly honest, sincere, and unflinchingly loyal and courageous. Still, he had grown up a real pessimist and he found fault in almost everything. By the time Thomas became an apostle, he had pretty much lost faith in mankind and his superb mind had become cursed with suspicion. But once he met Jesus, his disposition began to transform for the better, even though he never fully overcame his mistrust throughout his life on Earth.
Andrew assigned Thomas to arrange and manage the itinerary, and he performed these duties well. He was a good executive, and an excellent businessman. But Thomas was also handicapped by his many different moods; he’d be one man one day, and another man the next, even if he did improve over time. Jesus really enjoyed his long personal talks with Thomas. By being one of the apostles, Thomas was a great comfort to an all honest doubters, and proof that Jesus loved them despite their doubts. He encouraged many troubled minds to come into the kingdom even though they couldn’t understand all of Jesus’ spiritual and philosophic teachings.
Thomas revered Jesus because of his superbly balanced character and matchless symmetry; the fact that Jesus was so merciful yet so just and fair. Thomas admired that Jesus was firm but never obstinate; calm but never indifferent; helpful and sympathetic but never meddlesome or dictatorial; strong but at the same time gentle; positive but never rough or rude; tender but never vacillating; pure and innocent but at the same time virile, aggressive, and forceful; truly courageous but never rash or foolhardy; humorous and playful, but also free from levity and frivolity, and a lover of nature but free from all tendency to revere nature. Intellectually, Thomas probably appreciated Jesus more than any of the twelve.
In the discussions between the apostles, Thomas was the conservative. He was cautious and focused on safety first. He would debate something as being foolhardy and presumptuous to the bitter end. But if Andrew would put it to a vote and he lost the argument, he was the first to say, “Let’s go!” and fearlessly head out to do whatever had been decided. Time and again he’d argue against Jesus exposing himself to danger, but if Jesus decided to do so anyway, it was always Thomas who rallied the other apostles by saying, “Come on, guys, let’s go and die with him.” Thomas was a good loser, and he didn’t hold grudges.
Thomas was in some respects like Philip, in that he always wanted to be shown. But Thomas’ outward expressions of doubt were analytical, not merely skeptical. As far as personal physical courage was concerned, he was one of the bravest among the twelve.
Thomas had some very bad days; he could be moody and downcast at times. He’d lost his twin sister when he was nine years old, and this sadness added to his temperamental problems later in life. When Thomas would get melancholy, Nathaniel, Peter, and a lot of times one of the Alpheus twins would help bring him out of it. In the beginning, Thomas got permission from Andrew to go off by himself for a day or two, but he quickly learned that when he was down it was best to stick to his work and to stay around his friends. Unfortunately, when he was really down and out, he’d also try to avoid Jesus. But Jesus knew all about this and understood why he was harassed by doubts and occasional times of depression. Regardless, no matter what happened in his emotional life, Thomas kept right on being an apostle, and it was always him who’d be the first to say, “Let’s go!”
Thomas is the great example of a man who has doubts, faces them, and wins. He had a great mind, and he wasn’t a harping critic. He was logical, and became the acid test for Jesus and his fellow apostles. If Jesus and his work hadn’tbeen true, it couldn’t have held Thomas from the start to the finish. He had a keen and sure sense of fact, and no tolerance for b.s.: he would’ve walked at the first sign of fraud. Know this, while today’s scientists may not understand Jesus and his work on Earth, there was a man who lived and worked with Jesus and the others who had the mind of a true scientist—Thomas Didymus—and he believed in Jesus of Nazareth.
Thomas had a hard time during the days of the trial and crucifixion. For a while he despaired, but he rallied his courage, stuck to the apostles, and was with the rest of them to later welcome Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. Thomas gave good advice to the apostles after Pentecost and, when the persecutions scattered the believers he went to Cyprus, Crete, the North African coast, and Sicily baptizing believers and preaching the kingdom of heaven until the Roman’s caught and killed him in Malta. Thomas had just started writing his story of the life and teachings of Jesus a few weeks before he died.
Okay, folks, that’s it for Son of Man: Urantia, Chapter 18, part 3, “The Twelve Apostles.”
Next week we finish up with part 4.
Have a fantastic week out there, everybody.
Bob