Episode:Jesus Goes Public—Precursor and Prelude (Part 14)

From Symmetry of Soul


To James, Jude, and his apostles, Jesus said: "My kingdom is not to come with noise and glamor, but rather must it come through the great change which my Father will have wrought in your hearts and in the hearts of those who shall be called to join you in the councils of the kingdom. But do not entertain false hope; the world will stumble at my words. Be patient, be gentle. Be ever obedient to the Father’s will."

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Brothers James and Jude, Tarrying in Galilee, Training Begins

Opening thought: The Gods are my caretakers; I shall not stray; Side by side they lead me in the beautiful paths and glorious refreshing of life everlasting...Though I descend into the depths of darkness and death itself, I shall not doubt you nor fear you, For I know that in the fullness of time and the glory of your name You will raise me up to sit with you on the battlements on high. [48:6]

Closing thought: Don’t let this weigh too heavily upon you. Peace be upon you.

Note: Justin Armstrong filled in for Kermit Anderson this week, who was away.

Summary by Justin

Commentary

We read in [136:0.1] “There was a great contrast between John and Jesus. John was an eager and earnest worker, but Jesus was a calm and happy laborer; only a few times in his entire life was he ever in a hurry.”

However, [171:7.5] states “Jesus was never in a hurry.”

How do we reconcile these two apparently contrasting statements? We are studying a revelation of Truth, not a description of the pedantic facts of time. In truth, Jesus was never in a hurry in the context of his inner life. Regarding our inner life, it is helpful to reflect on the following passage from [196:3.10]: “The human mind does not create real values; human experience does not yield universe insight. Concerning insight, the recognition of moral values and the discernment of spiritual meanings, all that the human mind can do is to discover, recognize, interpret, and choose.”

We often struggle to recognize the distinction between the inner life and the outer life. There is a danger in potentially spiritualizing a bottom-up phenomenon and just like Jesus the man we must constantly be on guard concerning this false spiritualization. Our inner life should be fixed on a God-centered universe in contrast to a self-centered universe. When striving to apply the inner life to a temporal outer life phenomenon, focus primarily on a cosmic totality attitude.

137:5 Back in Capernaum

After the unusual occurrence at the wedding at Cana, Jesus and the six apostles departed very early the next morning for Capernaum without taking leave of anyone. Jesus was focused on a cosmic totality attitude regarding the significance of the coming kingdom yet his family and friends were distressed by this sudden departure.

We couldn’t help but find amusement at how the midwayers placed James and John in front of Andrew and Peter in the text, after their initial envious concerns of not being chosen as the first two apostles.

That evening there was held one of the most important conferences of all Jesus’ earthly career and after significant reflection Jesus recognized that his message of the kingdom must be synthesized with John’s prediction of the long-expected Messiah. Jesus was moving to plan B concerning the fifth great decision by facing facts and adjusting them to ideals. In humbling himself to the evolutionary system Jesus requested that his apostles tarry hereabouts for a season while they await the completion of John’s preaching.

137:6 The Events of a Sabbath Day

Jesus made his first public appearance following his baptism at the Capernaum synagogue on Sabbath, March 2, A.D. 26. We noted how the midwayers specified the significance of this event by including the date and year as well as the fact that both James and Jude were present.

The overflowing crowd was expecting some extraordinary manifestation of supernatural power but they were destined to disappointment. When we spiritualize the upper domain of mind in the inner life with preconceived opinions, settled ideas, and long-standing prejudices we are setting a false and rigid destination in our mind’s eye.

Jesus stood up and read from the Prophet Isaiah. Why do our authors specify how Jesus selectively read only the first half of chapter 66? We suggested that the overflowing crowd went to their homes wondering what was the meaning of all this, primarily because they were shocked that the Master did not read the second half of this chapter and proclaim himself to be the wielder of flames and fire. The crowd was obviously familiar with the prophecy concerning the Hebrew Messiah and how he would establish a kingdom over the earth.

That afternoon, Jesus spoke to the six apostles along with James and Jude and they understood more concerning the coming kingdom. These details provided by our authors allow us some perspective on the Epistles of James and Jude which were eventually canonized in the 66 books of the Bible.

Jesus instructed the apostles to take up their regular duties until the hour of the kingdom comes. He also reminded them to be ever obedient to the Father’s will. Both love and righteousness are essential concerning the call of the kingdom. Love is the desire to do good to others but there is no channel for that love or desire to flow through in the unrighteous individual.

We discussed the complexity of recognizing the genuine meaning of the word friend and how it relates to the sixth level of meaning “god-knowingness”. Please listen to the broadcast for further details.

While standing by the water’s edge Jesus prayed “My Father, I thank you for these little ones who, in spite of their doubts, even now believe. And for their sakes have I set myself apart to do your will. And now may they learn to be one, even as we are one.” Concerning this reference to belief, remember that the third epochal revelation teaches us that faith for salvation involves both believing in God’s promises and following his instructions. A belief predicated on righteousness allows for two unique personalities to become one by being in conformity with the whole.

137:7 Four Months of Training

For four months Jesus held over one hundred sessions with the six associates and his brother James. Jude was seldom able to attend these sessions due to sickness in his family. This is one potential explanation of why Jude’s epistle in the Bible is short in comparison to the epistle of James.

While getting used to the idea of living with this God-man the seven believers found it really easy to be “friends with God.” Peter struggled with this period of waiting, but his brother Andrew was tremendously impressed with the human naturalness of Jesus. He never grew weary of contemplating how one who could live so near God could be so friendly and considerate of men.

Notes by Brad

  • Stay on guard... stay on God.
  • This author reports that, while Jesus took his eye off the ball for just a second, and recovered within an hour, this author took his eye off the ball for one semester (of grad school) and took 8 years down the path of sin and death and is still recovering.
  • Ethos, logos, pathos... how about cosmos as a true rhetorical appeal.


  • [137:5.3] is probably the first instance of Jesus developing a "Plan B," where "Plan A" were the 40 days of policies and procedures he has recently gone through.