© 2000 Ken Glasziou
© 2000 The Brotherhood of Man Library
This is a problem that all dedicated readers of the Urantia Papers must face. Many of us received them in circumstances that were highly unusual, sometimes appearing to border on the miraculous. And so we were tempted, as Jesus was tempted, to conclude that we are special, selected, in some way different, maybe even superior to our fellows.
There is nothing new under the sun. So if we seek we shall find. The answers to most, if not all such problems confronting Urantians can be found in the life experiences of Jesus. In this instance, the temptations Jesus underwent during the forty days following on from his baptism offer a fertile arena for investigation.
Among the accounts of this period there is a lengthy paragraph warning us to bear in mind that although Jesus, at this time, had become totally aware of his place in the order things as a Creator Son, effectively God to his own universe, he nevertheless elected to complete his bestowal as a man, and with the mind of a man. (UB 136:8.7)
Jesus now had the capability of fully separating his mind as a man, Jesus of Nazareth, from the mind of Michael, creator of a universe.
The mind of Jesus, we are told, was that of a first century Jew, conditioned by Jewish culture and Jewish aspirations of that time. His mother, Mary, for example, had attempted to mold it to be in accord with Jewish scriptures such as:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; this day I have begotten you. Ask me and I will give you the heathen for an inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” (UB 136:9.7)
Jesus’ “humanity was genuine, natural, wholly derived from the antecedents of, and fostered by, the actual intellectual status and social and economic conditions of that day and generation.” (UB 136:8.7)
Thus it was a purely human Jesus who, on being given a vision of the assembled celestial hosts of Nebadon during the forty days after his baptism, was tempted to make use of these mighty personalities in connection with the program of his public work to come.
In this, the first of six major decisions that followed after his baptism, Jesus elected, “not to utilize a single personality of the vast assemblage” unless it be his Father’s will.
In our task of following Jesus, how does this apply to us? We have an authoritative revelation from celestial beings that reveals virtually all that is important for human beings to know in order to ensure their eternal future. Can we assume it includes the delegation of some kind of celestial authority, or power that we can call to our aid? And might this have the effect of elevating our social status, making us special in some way?
From Jesus’ example in rejecting all proffered celestial aid other than the help of the Father, the answer is very obviously no, and is illustrated in these statements:
“He (Jesus) would return to Galilee and quietly begin the proclamation of the kingdom and trust his Father (the personalized Adjuster—for us our Thought Adjuster) to work out the details of procedure day by day.” (UB 136:9.8)
“By these decisions Jesus set a worthy example for every person on every world throughout a vast universe when he refused to apply material tests to prove spiritual problems, when he refused presumptuously to defy natural laws. And he set an inspiring example of universe loyalty and moral nobility when he refused to grasp temporal power as the prelude to spiritual glory.” (UB 136:9.9)
“If the Son of Man had any doubts about his mission and its nature when he went up in the hills after his baptism, he had none when he came back to his fellows following the forty days of isolation and decisions.” (UB 136:9.10)
Jesus’ second and third decisions involved the violation of natural law, possible to him but not relevant for us. His fourth decision was concerned with attracting attention to himself by using his superhuman powers for what might appear to be the legitimate purpose of ensuring a respectable and respectful following.
Since we believe the Urantia Papers were authored by celestial beings, it becomes relevant to ask whether it would be valid to attempt to attract attention to the message of The Urantia Book on the grounds of the authority of its authors or the claim for its status as the fifth Epochal Revelation. Or is there some other more effective and important way for us to achieve this task?
Jesus answer to his fourth problem was again no. He steadfastly refused to use his superhuman powers for purely selfish or personal purposes. Hence, since Jesus would not use his own superhuman powers to attract attention, it would appear that we are expected to find means other than the book’s reflected glory as our personal contribution to further the work initiated by Jesus.
Jesus’ fifth problem was in deciding what method to employ in the proclamation and establishment of the kingdom. After considering the available alternatives he decided upon leaving it entirely in the hands of his Father to direct his daily comings and goings and what would eventuate. And to his followers he provided this exhortation:
“Do you not understand. . . that you are to represent me in the world and in the proclamation of the kingdom even as I now represent my Father who is in heaven?” (UB 138:7.1)
And surely we are left with absolutely no doubt as to how Jesus represented his Father.
“There was just one motive in Jesus’ post-baptismal life on Urantia and that was a better and truer revelation of his Paradise Father; he was the pioneer of the new and better way to God, the way of faith and love. Ever his exhortation to the apostles was: ‘Go seek for the sinners; find the downhearted and comfort the anxious.’” (UB 138:6.4)
“Proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and portray my revelation of the Father in heaven,” Jesus said, “but do not be misled into bypaths of creating legends and building a cult having to do with beliefs and teachings about my beliefs and teachings.” (UB 138:6.3)
Thus if we simply promote the The Urantia Book and even its teachings, it appears that this is not what Jesus really wants from us. So what is left?
The only possible answer seems to be that we, as individuals, are asked to live personal lives of individual service just as Jesus lived his—in a way that reflects and reveals the actual nature of God, our heavenly Father. Nothing else will do. Perhaps that is why we are informed:
“To ‘follow Jesus’ means to personally share his religious faith and to enter into the spirit of the Master’s life of unselfish service for man. One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for the achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it.” (UB 196:1.3)
If we are still unsure of what there is about the nature of God for us to attempt to reveal in our own lives, in his book, Jesus, a New Vision, Marcus Borg states the God of Jesus was a gracious and compassionate God. Compassion in Hebrew, he says, derives from the plural of “womb,” hence has the connotation of wombishness. Thus Jesus’ God was generous, nurturing, nourishing, life-giving.
Jesus said, “My Father requires all his children to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. You who know these truths must yield the increase of the fruits of the spirit and manifest a growing devotion to the unselfish service of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this service to me.” (UB 176:3.5)
“And the fruits of the divine spirit which are yielded in the lives of spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace.” (UB 193:2.2)
There was a sixth decision:
“On the last day of this memorable isolation, before starting down the mountain to join John and his disciples, the Son of Man made his final decision. And this decision he communicated to the Personalized Adjuster in these words, ‘And in all other matters, as in these now of decision-record, I pledge you I will be subject to the will of my Father.’ And when he had thus spoken, he journeyed down the mountain. And his face shone with the glory of spiritual victory and moral achievement.” (UB 136:10.1)