Adapted from the Urantia Book original paper here
The afternoon after Jesus gave his sermon on the kingdom of God, he met with his six apostles and laid out his plan for beginning his ministry. They were going to start right where they were at, with the cities around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had decided that he wasn’t going to include any of his close relatives as apostles, so James and Jude, who had been part of Jesus’ inner circle with the other six, weren’t invited to this meeting. The two brothers were offended by being excluded from the group. This event, along with what appeared to Jesus’ family as a coolness around his mother since the thing happened with the wine at Cana, started a separation between Jesus and his family that would continue throughout his time on Earth. Their feelings of personal slight and their lack of understanding got so bad that they almost rejected him, and they didn’t resolve their doubts about Jesus until after his death and resurrection. Mary was probably the worst of the bunch in this regard, and she was always wavering between faith and despair. The only family member that held true to Jesus throughout his entire life was little Ruth, who never once waivered in her loyalty to her brother-father. If a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, he is not without understanding appreciation save in his own family.
Final Instructions
The next day was Sunday, June 23, A.D. 26. Jesus called his six apostles together and gave them their final instructions before beginning the Father’s work. He told them that they were to work in pairs as they went out and taught the joys of the kingdom of God. They were not allowed to baptize anyone, and Jesus strongly suggested that they didn’t preach in public. He said later, yes, they would speak to the masses, but to start with Jesus wanted them to gain the experience of dealing with people one-on-one. This first time out teaching was supposed to be entirely personal. This was a bit of a disappointment for the crew, but they could see his point and they didn’t let it bother them.
Ending his instructions to the apostles, Jesus told them that he wanted to ordain six more men as apostles to carry on the kingdom’s work after he left them. He gave each of the original six the right to select one man out of the people they were to meet on their mission. At this point, John spoke up and asked Jesus if these new guys were going to be equal in status to the original six, hinting that they shouldn’t be because he and the others had been with Jesus since the start. Jesus said that yes, everyone was going to be equal as his apostles, and that they, the original six, were going to teach the new guys what they needed to know to catch up, just like he, Jesus, had taught them. Then before leaving the meeting Jesus told James and John to go to Kheresa, Andrew and Peter to go to Capernaum, and Philip and Nathaniel to go to Tarichea. They all agreed to meet at Zebedee’s house in two weeks.
After Jesus took off, the apostles hung around and talked about his instructions to bring six more men into their group, and not only that, but as equals. Finally, Andrew’s argument won everyone over by reminding them that the Master was entrusting them to pick these six new men, and as such, he was showing a lot of confidence in his original six apostles. Still, they were all a bit depressed as they took off on their first two-week mission: they were timid and scared, and this really wasn’t what they thought they’d be doing. Jesus, meanwhile, headed over to Nazareth to visit his family: he really did all he could to keep their love and faith in him. John, who was still stuck in prison, was also on Jesus’ mind. He really wanted to use his powers to get John out, but again he decided to wait on his Father’s will.
Choosing the Six
The apostles returned wiser men from their first couple of weeks talking one-on-one with the people. They now better understood that true religion was completely a personal experience with God. And, they sensed the common people’s need to hear words of spiritual joy and religious comfort. Once they had gathered around Jesus, Andrew took charge and let each of them present their experiences and submit their nominations for the six new apostles that would join them. Jesus, in turn, had the six vote on each of the people that had been nominated, and in this way each new person was formally accepted by all of the original apostles. He then told them that in the morning they’d leave to call each of these nominees to service.
The six chosen men were:
Matthew Levi, the customs collector of Capernaum, who had his office just to the east of the city near the borders of Batanea. He was selected by Andrew.
Thomas Didymus, a fisherman of Tarichea who had been a carpenter and stone mason in Gadara. He was selected by Philip.
James Alpheus, who was a fisherman and farmer from Kheresa. He was selected by James Zebedee.
Judas Alpheus, the twin brother of James Alpheus, who was also a fisherman. He was selected by John Zebedee.
Simon Zelotes, who was a high officer in the Jewish patriotic group the Zealots, a position which he gave up to join Jesus’ apostles. Before joining the Zealots, Simon had been a merchant. He was selected by Peter.
Judas Iscariot, who was an only son of wealthy Jewish parents who lived in Jericho. When he joined John the Baptist, his parents, who were Sadducees, disowned him. Judas was looking for a job when Jesus’ apostles found him, and it was mostly because of his accounting experience that Nathaniel invited him to join the group. Judas Iscariot was the only Judean of the twelve apostles.
The Call of Matthew and Simon
The next day they all first went to Matthew’s office. He was the tax man, the customs collector. When Jesus and the six arrived, Matthew had already balanced his books and gotten everything in order to hand his job over to his brother. Andrew and Jesus went up to Matthew, and Jesus, looking into Matthew’s eyes said, “Follow me.” Then they all went to Matthew’s house for lunch, where Matthew asked Jesus if he could hold a dinner party that night at his house in Jesus’ honor, to which Jesus agreed.
Next, they all went to call on Simon the Zealot, Peter’s nomination for an apostle. When Jesus met Simon, all he said was, “Follow me.” Then they all went back to Matthew’s house and talked over religion and politics until it was time for dinner.
Matthew Levi’s family had been businessmen and tax collectors for a long time. They, and a lot of their friends that had been invited to the dinner that night, were what the Pharisees called publicans and sinners. Back in those days, when someone held a dinner for an important guest it wasn’t a private affair like it is today. The custom then was that other people could hang around the table and listen in on the conversations that took place, even if they weren’t eating or formally invited. Because of this, most of the Pharisees in Capernaum showed up at this somewhat unusual event to watch the festivities and to listen to Jesus talk.
As the evening wore on, all of the guests were having a good time and everyone became pretty carefree and lighthearted about everything, including Jesus. When the Pharisees saw Jesus and everyone else having so much fun, they started to turn against Jesus in their hearts. Eventually, one of the more upset Pharisees got Peter aside and chastised him about Jesus saying, “How dare you to teach that this man is righteous when he eats with publicans and sinners and thus lends his presence to such scenes of careless pleasure making.”
Peter, of course, went and told Jesus what the Pharisee had said, and at the end of the evening just before Jesus gave his blessing on everyone at the party, he said,
“In coming here tonight to welcome Matthew and Simon to our fellowship, I’m glad to witness your lightheartedness and social good cheer, but you should rejoice even more because many of you will find entrance into the coming kingdom of the spirit, wherein you will more abundantly enjoy the good things of the kingdom of heaven. And to you who stand about criticizing me in your hearts because I have come here to have fun with these friends, let me say that I have come to proclaim joy to the socially downtrodden and spiritual liberty to the moral captives. Do I have to remind you that it’s not healthy people who need a doctor, but rather those who are sick? I haven’t come to call the righteous, but rather the sinners.”
It was a pretty strange night for everyone who was in attendance. This was because in the Jewish world back then, people who were considered holy or spiritual or righteous Jews didn’t hang-out with normal folk, and especially not with people the priests considered irreligious and pleasure-seeking publicans and sinners. When everyone left Matthew’s house that night, all they could talk about was Jesus and how friendly he was.
The Call of the Twins
The next morning all nine of our crew got in a boat and went to Kheresa to call the next two apostles to service. These two brothers, James and Judas, were twins and the sons of Alpheus. They had been nominated by James and John Zebedee. They were also fishermen, and they were waiting for them on the bank when Jesus and the eight apostles came to shore. James introduced the twins to Jesus, who just nodded to them and said, “Follow me.”
Later that afternoon, Jesus talked to the apostles about how to handle events like had happened at the dinner party at Matthew’s house the prior evening. Ending his talk Jesus said,
“All men are my brothers. My Father in heaven does not despise any creature of our making. The kingdom of heaven is open to all men and women. No man may close the door of mercy in the face of any hungry soul who may seek to gain an entrance thereto. We will sit at meat with all who desire to hear of the kingdom. As our Father in heaven looks down upon men, they are all alike. Therefore, don’t refuse to break bread with Pharisee or sinner, Sadducee or publican, Roman or Jew, rich or poor, free or bond. The door of the kingdom is wide open for all who desire to know the truth and to find God.”
After dinner that night – they were staying at the twin’s house – Jesus gave them their first lesson on the origin, nature, and destiny of unclean spirits. But they all missed the importance of what he was telling them. While the apostles found it easy to love and admire Jesus, they had a hard time understanding him.
The Call of Thomas and Judas
In the morning, Jesus and the ten apostles took a boat to Tarichea. The two new men, Thomas the fisherman and Judas the wanderer, met them all at the boat-landing. From there, Thomas led them to his home nearby. When they got to Thomas’ house, Philip presented Thomas to Jesus as his nominee for apostleship. Jesus looked Thomas in the eye and said, “Thomas, you lack faith; nevertheless, I receive you. Follow me.” Nathaniel then brought Judas Iscariot to Jesus as hischoice for the last apostle. Jesus looked at Judas and said, “Judas, we are all of one flesh, and as I receive you into our midst, I pray that you will always be loyal to your Galilean brethren. Follow me.”
After the group got cleaned up and had a bite to eat, Jesus gathered them together for another talk about the work ahead and the nature of the Holy Spirit. Again, the apostles didn’t get what he was trying to tell them. One of them would get one part of his message and another one something else, but none of them could put aside their lifelong beliefs about the coming Messiah. They couldn’t grasp the idea that Jesus had come to announce a new gospel of salvation and to establish a new way of finding God:
they didn’t realize that it was Jesus himself who was the new revelation of the Father in heaven.
The next day, Jesus left the apostles to themselves so they could all get to know one another. After dinner, he taught them about angels and their role in the kingdom. Then they made plans to return to Capernaum in the morning, where Zebedee and his wife, Salome, had moved out of their home so that Jesus and the twelve could stay there. That Saturday they spent a quiet day in the house going over how they were to announce the coming kingdom of God. In his instructions to them all, Jesus emphasized that they were not to get into any arguments with the authorities, telling them that, “If the civil rulers are to be challenged, leave that task to me. See that you make no denunciations of Caesar or his servants.”
Later that night, Judas Iscariot took Jesus aside and asked him why he wasn’t doing anything to get John out of prison. It’s not known exactly what Jesus said, but Judas wasn’t completely satisfied with Jesus’ attitude or his answer.
Okay, folks, that’s it for Son of Man: Urantia, Chapter 17, part 1, Training the Kingdom’s Messengers.
Next week we continue with Chapter 17, part 2, Training the Kingdom’s Messengers.
Have a fantastic week out there, everybody.
Bob