© 1999 Ann Bendall
© 1999 The Brotherhood of Man Library
“Blind and unforeseen accidents do not occur in the cosmos” (UB 48:7.9) and “material accidents, commonplace occurrences of a physical nature, are not arbitrarily interfered with by celestial personalities. Under ordinary circumstances only midway creatures can intervene in material conditions to safeguard the persons of men and women of destiny, and even in special situations these beings can so act only in obedience to the specific mandates of their superiors.” (UB 123:4.7)
And so it appears that no intervention was approved, or desired, when Joseph sustained injuries on the construction site which led to his death when Jesus was only 14. And we are advised that,
“Thus were permitted those occurrences of the natural order of events on Urantia which would force this young man of destiny so early to assume these heavy but highly educational and disciplinary responsibilities attendant upon becoming the head of a human family, of becoming father to his own brothers and sisters, of supporting and protecting his mother, of functioning as guardian of his father’s home, the only home he was to know on this world.” (UB 126:2.2)
And so, shortly after Jesus had arrived at an awareness of his life purpose as being to reveal the nature of God to the world, he lost his father, the parent whose company he had so recently preferred to that of his mother (UB 126:0.2), and was confronted with shouldering the responsibility of an earthly family consisting of seven brothers and sisters, and an unborn child.
There were a number of apparent advantages in Joseph dying at this time, namely:
What would have been Jesus’ future had Joseph lived? Although a speculative question, in the vein of “what if,” it appears that there could have been a few major problems for Jesus fulfilling the mandate of his bestowal mission.
It had already been decided that he was to go to Jerusalem to study under the rabbis the following year. Hence, with Joseph’s death, “at least one problem and anticipated difficulty in his life had been tragically solved—he would not now be expected to go to Jerusalem to study under the rabbis. It remained always true that Jesus ‘sat at no man’s feet.’ He was ever willing to learn from even the humblest of little children, but he never derived authority to teach truth from human sources.” (UB 126:2.3)
At the age of 13 when he first attended the Passover at Jerusalem “everywhere Jesus went throughout the temple courts, he was shocked and sickened by the spirit of irreverence which he observed. He deemed the conduct of the temple throngs to be inconsistent with their presence in ‘his Father’s house.’ But he received the shock of his young life when his father escorted him into the court of the gentiles with its noisy jargon, loud talking and cursing, mingled indiscriminately with the bleating of sheep and the babble of noises which betrayed the presence of the money-changers and the vendors of sacrificial animals and sundry other commercial commodities.” (UB 125:1.1).
At the age of 13, “under the surging of intense emotion,” he stated, “I will return to cleanse yonder temple and deliver my people from this bondage.” (UB 125:6.9). And so built up a righteous indignation which led to his driving the money lenders from the temple, thus challenging the Sanhedrin in a manner which led to the unanimous decision to exterminate him.
It is highly likely that, had he been forced to attend the school at Jerusalem that this righteous indignation would have blossomed into action within a short period of time, for, at the age of 13 he was posing such questions to the scribes and teachers as, “If God is a father who loves his children, why all this slaughter of animals to gain divine favor—has the teaching of Moses been misunderstood? . . . Since the temple is dedicated to the worship of the Father in heaven, is it consistent to permit the presence of those engaged in secular barter and trade?” (UB 125:5.5-6)
Furthermore, “His training as a man of the realm had to be completed before he could enter upon his career of teaching and preaching as the perfected God-man of the divine and posthuman phases of his Urantia bestowal.” (UB 129:1.15) And it was not considered that he had reached this stage until he began his public career. It was obviously the desire of God that Jesus receive an intense training in “how man lived and wrought out his existence on Urantia,” which appears in excess of the requirements of his bestowal mandate. (UB 129:3.7)
When he returned from his trip around the Mediterranean basin the only trade he had not come in contact with was that of mining and, later in his public career, he corrected this deficit whilst he and the apostles were in Iron. (UB 146:4.2)
Again, it is postulated that, had he been required to attend the Jerusalem schools that his indignation against the religious leaders would have developed to the point of placing his life at threat. One thing Jesus never failed to respond to was the genuine question as to who he was. (UB 184:3.14;UB 185:3.4)
Next, his bestowal mandate forbade him becoming involved in politics, and he was forced to use his need to care for his family as an excuse in not joining a nationalistic cause because, “he could not intimate that he was more than a man; he could not disclose his idea of the mission which awaited his attainment of a riper manhood.” (UB 127:2.7).
Similarly with Rebecca’s proposal he used his family responsibilities as an excuse but added, “if I am a son of destiny, I must not assume obligations of lifelong duration until such time as my destiny shall be made manifest.” (UB 127:5.5)
However, from Joseph’s perspective, in dying prematurely, what did he gain or lose?
We are advised that by Jesus’ 12th year, “Joseph entertained a growing belief in the spiritual nature of Jesus’ mission. And but for other and more important reasons it does seem unfortunate that he could not have lived to see the fulfillment of his concept of Jesus’ bestowal on earth.” (UB 124:4.6)
However, “The larger part of Joseph’s family became believers in the teachings of Jesus, but very few of Mary’s people ever believed in him until after he departed from this world. Joseph leaned more toward the spiritual concept of the expected Messiah, but Mary and her family, especially her father, held to the idea of the Messiah as a temporal deliverer and political ruler.” (UB 122:5.10)
Joseph is described as being, “subject to periods of mild spiritual discouragement,” when Jesus was a child but, “These temperamental manifestations were greatly improved just before his untimely death and after the economic conditions of his family had been enhanced by his advancement from the rank of carpenter to the role of a prosperous contractor.” (UB 122:5.1)
No light can be shed on the question of what Joseph gained or lost as a result of his untimely death. However, he died loving his son, being convinced of his spiritual mission, and had overcome his own spiritual discouragement.
Further information about parental influences on Jesus informs us:
And so: “Jesus naturally loved his people; he loved his family, and this natural affection had been tremendously augmented by his extraordinary devotion to them. The more fully we bestow ourselves upon our fellows, the more we come to love them; and since Jesus had given himself so fully to his family, he loved them with a great and fervent affection.” (UB 129:0.2)
The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grief and fears.
Francis Bacon