Episode:Jesus Goes Public—Preparation and Preaching (Part 13)
Jesus consecrated his apostles, saying: "Go into all the world and preach the glad tidings of the kingdom. Freely you have received, freely give." While in forewarning, he also said: "Some of you will be put to death, and before you establish the kingdom on earth, you will be hated by many peoples because of this gospel; but fear not; I will be with you, and my spirit shall go before you."
Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, The Day of Consecration, Being Righteous, Beginning the Public Work
Opening thought: What are we up against as religionists in a secular age? "God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? ...Shall we not ourselves have to become Gods, merely to seem worthy of this event? There never was a greater event, and on account of it, all who are born after us belong to a higher history than any history hitherto!" —Nietzsche
Summary by Kermit
Commentary after Review
Prereading discussion centered on Jesus’ strategy of leveraging the apostles’ familiarity with and adherence to the moral code as found in the seven commandments given by the previous epochal revelators, reinforced by Melchizedek, and expanded upon by Moses in the ten commandments to establish and cultivate a genuine inner life. This was all triggered by Jesus’ reference to the importance of avoiding covetousness, a Mosaic teaching not found in the original seven commandments of Dalamatia.
We springboarded from avoiding covetousness to a recognition of covetousness as an unconscious motivating factor sparking misguided efforts to address the unequal distribution of wealth through programs of wealth redistribution. The amelioration of social, economic, and political problems will only uphold and promote lasting civilization when approached from a cosmic, top-down perspective, following the guiding principle of “seek first the kingdom of heaven”.
In practical terms, seeking first the kingdom within begins with a meditative practice of setting aside the focus of attention on outer life issues. Sincere attempts to cultivate the inner life will most assuredly be met with the assistance of the manifold spirit ministries bestowed for such purposes.
140:9 The Day of Consecration
Jesus and the apostles gathered in the place of their ordination a week prior in the same spirit of solemnity and sacredness as they had experienced previously on the day of ordination. We noted Jesus’ judicious use of emotion in directionizing and mobilizing his men for their service as ambassadors of the kingdom. Jesus points to the worldwide scope of their ministry in foreshadowing the Great Commission more typically associated with his ascension, in his charge to go into all the world with the good news of the kingdom. Even before the apostles begin their preaching and teaching, the Master forewarns them of the tribulations awaiting them following his departure. Then Jesus assures them of the Father’s indwelling presence along with his own abiding spirit presence paving the way before them. The Master’s instruction to take the gospel message first to the Jews, then to the gentiles was not recorded in its entirety, the part about going to the gentiles having been omitted from Matthew's gospel.
140:10 The Evening After the Consecration
Jesus spoke at length stressing what the twelve were to be in contrast with what they must do. Salvation by faith was a bewildering notion to the apostles. Being righteous by faith must precede doing righteousness in daily life. This was a foreign thought to the apostles who defined righteousness as doing certain things necessary to attain salvation. Listen to the discussion in the archive delineating the functional association of cosmic morality, divine righteousness, and eternal salvation.
Early followers of Jesus were in the habit of remaking the idealistic principles and spiritual truths of the Master’s teachings into codes of conduct. It was their daily contact with Jesus as the personification of his teaching which enabled his apostles to assimilate that which they failed to gain from his words.
The twelve never did grasp the idea that Jesus was living a life of spiritual inspiration for an entire universe to create a high spiritual and inspirational ideal for the inhabitants on all worlds. In short, Jesus’ bestowal was for truly universal consumption. The 5th ER by contrast is not dispensational and contains many ideas which must be interpreted in consonance with the ideals revealed in Jesus’ bestowal life.
Further teaching this evening included emphasis on the preeminence of the individual in his personal relation to God as the source of morality. Practical political, social, and economic benefits which may accrue from Jesus’ teachings must be viewed as a natural outworking of the inner transformational experience of establishing the kingdom within and not the focus of his teachings.
In Jesus’ answer to John’s question, “what is the kingdom of heaven?” note the parallel of the three essentials of the kingdom of heaven with the three cosmic intuitions of the Holy Spirit.
Paper 141 Beginning the Public Work
Now, after a full year of preparation, Jesus and the twelve are on the threshold of commencing their public work. And here we see the double-edged sword of truth at work in cleaving families. None of Jesus’ family is on hand to wish the company well in their efforts, being kept away by pride, disappointment, misunderstanding, and petty resentment.
141:1 Leaving Galilee
Jesus’ notoriety had spread throughout Galilee and beyond. Mindful to avoid arousing Herod’s notice, Jesus and the twelve headed south into Judea, and besought the large company of believers minded to accompany them to remain behind. Many of those interested in finding out more about Jesus’ teachings had been baptized by John. The apostles worked well with the disciples of John although many of them stumbled at Jesus’ inaction in getting John out of prison. Such was the emphasis of John in emphasizing outer-life doings, while Jesus’ focus was on the inner life and trust in God. The entire coming year A.D. 27 was spent in taking over John’s work in Perea and Judea.
