Episode:Jesus Goes Public—Preparation and Preaching (Part 4)

From Symmetry of Soul


The presence of Matthew among the twelve was the means of keeping the doors of the kingdom wide open to hosts of downhearted and outcast souls who had regarded themselves as long since without the bounds of religious consolation. Outcast and despairing men and women flocked to hear Jesus, and he never turned one away. It was the Master’s forgiving disposition which Matthew most appreciated.

Listen to the broadcast

Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Honest Nathaniel, Matthew Levi, Thomas Didymus

Opening thought: From Peter Drucker: "One hears a great deal today about 'the end of hierarchy.' This is blatant nonsense. In any institution there has to be a final authority—someone who can make the final decisions and who can expect them to be obeyed."

Summary by Kermit

Commentary after Review

A personal anecdote about the literality of our material human minds served as a point of recognition of the apostle Philip’s continual need to be shown. A significant proportion of mankind today look to sensory “proof” of the reality of the super-material domain populated by concepts and meanings such as faith, goodness, God’s will and the like. Note the tortuous intellectual arguments generated to suggest the wine and bread of the eucharist are actually magically transformed into blood and body of Christ (transubstantiation). The 5th ER stands as a formidable challenge/invitation to transcend the prosaic. However, the extent and depth of the revelation appear to be too remote for the majority of mankind. SoS suggests that the revelation (non-dispensational/emergency) is targeted to a select subset of the population for the purpose of saving the dying embers of the 4th ER (and civilization itself) for future activation by a subsequent revelatory visitation, analogous to Machiventa’s 3rd ER.

Two paths forward for devotees of the revelation appear to be either the promulgation of the 5th ER to and for those who may be receptive with a capacity for recognizing and realizing the revelation of truth. Or from within the revelation itself [195:10.1] attempt to embody the following: “Jesus living again on earth in the experience of spirit-born mortals who effectively reveal the Master to all men.” i.e. the faith of Jesus!

We returned to a discussion of the four experiential divine ideals: preeminence of the individual, family life, national life and representative government, emphasizing that they are all founded upon the existential divine ideal of love, “the personal realization of divine fellowship, which eventuates the desire to do good to other persons. It is the existential downstepped into the experiential, even to material scientific application which when activated in consecrated individuals is the means of producing advanced civilization. Advanced civilization originates with God not man. Thanks to the inexorable progress and presence of the Supreme the potentials for realization are far greater today than in ages past.

139:6 Honest Nathaniel

Many of the background facts about the apostles’ origins, family particulars and careers prior to being called to follow the Master appear elsewhere in the revelation. Their inclusion is this paper give the paper a stand-alone quality.

Nathaniel was referred to by the twelve by terms signifying honesty, and sincerity. He was “without guile”. His notable weakness of character was pride. He was given to harboring personal prejudices. A side discussion ensued concerning the word “pride”. [111:6.9] Tells us pride presents the greatest danger to man’s mortal nature and jeopardy to his spiritual integrity. In which case, SoS is looking for a word substitute for pride to designate the pleasure and satisfaction appropriately experienced resulting from worthwhile attainment or achievement of self, family, nation or the like.

A gifted storyteller and humorist Nathaniel was also described as the odd genius of the twelve, profoundly philosophical at one moment and frivolously funny the next. It was perhaps his comedic bent which caused Judas Iscariot to complain to Jesus that Nathaniel did not take his apostleship seriously, for which Jesus rebuked him. This rebuke and other similar experiences mark signposts in Judas’s apostolic career of accumulated resentments ending in his betrayal of Jesus and fellow apostles. Note how they are chronicled throughout the revelation.

As with the other apostles, Nathaniel’s most admired trait of Jesus (tolerance, broadmindedness, and generous sympathy) reflects his own character shortcomings and needs. Assigned to look after the needs of the families of the twelve, he was often absent from apostolic councils.

Our authors clarify confusion in the gospels explaining Bartholomew was Nathaniel’s father. Further, the simple statement that Nathaniel died in India might be inferred to discredit longstanding narratives of Nathaniel being brutally put to death in India.

139:7 Matthew Levi

Matthew or Levi was known as the money getter, the CFO of the apostolic corps. He was moderately wealthy, a customs collector also known as a publican or tax gatherer, not necessarily an occupation held in high regard by the populace. His presence among the associates of served as the means for leading many businessmen, public officials, and politicians down through the ages to be receptive to the Master’s invitation to follow him.

Levi’s great character strength was his wholehearted devotion to the cause. Further he was a keen judge of human nature and performed admirably as publicist for the group. His major shortcoming was his shortsighted and materialistic view of life. He most admired Jesus for his forgiving disposition.

His financial methods consisted of quiet and personal fund raising from among the more substantial class of believers, and when necessary drawing upon his own funds, anonymously to all but the Master, to keep the treasury replenished. He did not openly solicit funds from the multitudes.

Matthew’s extensive notes on the sayings of Jesus made during his apostolic service became the basis of Isador’s account of the sayings and doings of Jesus, known today as the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew’s version of the gospel put Jesus in a Jewish context and it is a group of certain unbelieving Jews who conspired with Roman soldiers to effect Matthew’s death.

Notes by Brad

  • This author's cat died over the weekend. He recognized a Philip "show me" nature in himself
    • It has no insight, no wisdom. Perforce we serve this master. We live, in part, in that mode.
    • This author had to show it, about 4 or 5 times, the cat wasn't around in the house anymore for it to reprogram/rewire/adjust/whatever.


  • The 5th ER is a highly advanced text, that will do nothing for those only of prosaic mindedness.
    • It contains advanced revelatory material in it.
    • But it also has some basic messages in it, put there to try to avert the emergency of losing view of things like righteousness, and removing God from society.