© 2005 The Brotherhood of Man Library
| The relative role of miracles, resurrection, and forgiveness of sins in the rapid spread of Christianity | Volume 12 - No. 2 — Index |
From the commencement of his public ministry onwards to his crucifixion, Jesus’ life was lived as a revelation of the nature of God and in accordance with the constraints imposed by the pact with Immanuel spelled out in Urantia Paper 120 (UB 120:1.1).
Among these commitments we find Immanuel counselling: “that you assume, after you are sufficiently self-conscious of your divine identity, the additional task of technically terminating the Lucifer rebellion. . . .” (UB 120:2.2)
And: “Exhibit in your one short life in the flesh, as it has never before been seen in all Nebadon, the transcendent possibilities attainable by a God-knowing human during the short career of mortal existence.” (UB 120:2.8)
This phase of Jesus’ life on Urantia commenced only after his baptism by John. Hence, it is to the social structure of Israel during the period of his post-baptismal public ministry that we must look in order to gain an understanding of what Jesus was seeking to demonstrate as a set of transcendent possibilities attainable by his followers.
The synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, inform us that the two major groups attempting to be models for a practicing Jew population were the Pharisees and the Saducees. Both groups claimed strict adherence to “The Law” as the dominating influence governing their life style. And both groups displayed virtually fanatic adherence to their interpretation of “The Law” as the correct way for a practicing Jew to live his life.
For the Pharisees and Saducees of 2000 years ago, this meant to follow the instructions contained in the “Torah,” the first five books of the Old Testament, ostensibly written by Moses and claimed to be divine instruction from God himself. It included the 613 specific laws contained in those five books which defined almost every aspect of what it meant to be a Jew.
The Torah makes it clear that provided Jews live according to “the Law and the prophets,” their God, Yahweh, will look after them. But if they disobey then Yahweh will unfailingly hand out suitable punishment.
Not only was Yahweh on the side of Moses and his Israelite adherents but he was heavy handed with anyone who opposed God’s plan for them–which included being recipients of “the promised land.” This is illustrated in Deuteronomy 2 in which Moses states:
And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
Apparently this was an unreasonable request as Moses further states:
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand.
Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain–all of which, on modern standards, makes Moses and his Israelites a pitiless mob of murderers of women and children.
Og, the king of Bashan and the kings of the Amorites, their people and possessions suffered a similar fate to Sihon–but that was as nothing compared to the later victories of Joshua who was successor to Moses. Joshua’s record of slaughter and dispossession included Jericho and its people, plus the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites–all under the guiding hand and protection of their God, Yahweh.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Yahweh gave Moses the highly moral ten commandments which included not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to accuse another falsely, not to covet another’s possessions, to respect your parents, and thou shall not kill.
How do we rationalize such commandments with what Moses and his Israelites did to Sihon, Og, and the kings of the Amorites plus all their subjects, or what the Joshua–Yahweh partnership subsequently did to the inhabitants of Canaan and Jericho–even to Yahweh holding back the sun in order to give Joshua time to kill off the rest of Jericho’s inhabitants?
The only way to reconcile these conflicting behaviour patterns appears to be to conclude that Yahweh was God only of the Israelites, a God who rewarded them when they did as he asked, but punished them when they went astray. For the rest of mankind, Yahweh appears to have had absolutely no responsibility or regard.
We see this state of affairs hinted at in Jesus’ day through Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan woman of Sychar, and through the parable of the good Samaritan. With the story of the Samaritan woman (John 4:7-27), when Jesus asks her for a drink, we discover that a Jew and Samaritan would not drink from the same vessel. Later in the same story we find that a practicing Jew would not even speak to a Samaritan woman.
In the parable of the good Samaritan, when asked by a lawyer, “who is my neighbour,” Jesus told a story of a man going from Jerusalem to Jericho being set upon by robbers and left on the road half dead. First a priest, then a lawyer, see the man, apparently dead, and both pass by on the other side of the road, presumably through fear of defilement by the dead. Next comes a Samaritan who takes pity on the man, takes a closer look and finding him still alive, dresses his wounds, and takes him on his donkey to an inn. (Luke 10:25)
Jesus then turns to the lawyer who posed the question and asks, “which of the three acted like a neighbour?” To which the lawyer was forced to answer, “He who showed mercy.”
Again in Matthew 8:5-13, Jesus heals the servant of Roman officer. And in selecting those who would become his apostles, he includes Matthew, a hated tax collector, a servant of Rome, and an outcast from Jewish society.
The Pharisees, in particular were fastidious about observing Torah Law. In seeking a reason to accuse Jesus, they kept watch to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. A man with a paralysed right arm was present in the synagogue. Jesus bade him come forward, then spoke to the Pharisees. “I ask you: what does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save a man’s life or to destroy it? Receiving no answer, he said to the man, ”Stretch out your hand." He did so and his hand became well again. The Pharisees were filled with rage, asking among themselves what they could do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11)
In this and other instances we have seen that the Pharisees put rigid adherence to Torah Law ahead of the real needs of a human being. And because Jesus saw God as caring about what happened to human beings in history, he saw the culture of his Jewish society as something in need of far-reaching transformation, not something simply to be patched or legitimised.
Moses was deemed to have written the five books of the Torah, hence presents as one who gave complete approval for what today would be described as the barbarous acts of Yahweh against Israel’s enemies.
In contrast Jesus presents as one who believed in the power of selfless spiritual love as the cure-all for human problems whether personal, social, national, or international. The fact that Christianity has failed to follow Jesus down this dominantly spiritual path is not because Jesus was mistaken. Rather it is because Christians have failed to understand Jesus’ real teachings, and instead, have placed reliance in the erroneous concept that Jesus came to die as a sacrifice for the sins of the world as his most basic teaching.
Jesus did not come to die for us. He was killed because he threatened the status quo of the reigning Jewish hierarchy.
Some of the sayings of Jesus follow:
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you, and whatsoever you believe I would do to men, do you also unto them. (Luke 6:7; 6:33)
If your neighbor smites you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to go to law among yourselves. In kindness and with mercy minister to all who are in distress and in need. (1571; Luke 6:29)
Judge not that you be not judged.
Jesus said: "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Most High God for he is kind unto the ungrateful and the wicked. (Luke 6:35)
One of the apostles once asked: “Master, what should I do if a stranger forced me to carry his pack for a mile?” Jesus answered: "Do not sit down and sigh for relief while you berate the stranger under your breath. Righteousness comes not from such passive attitudes. If you can think of nothing more effectively positive to do, you can at least carry the pack a second mile. (1770; Matthew 5:41) (Note: Roman soldiers in transit had the right to demand this service.)
Jesus said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ( Luke 4:18)
Jesus spoke to them saying:
Blessed are they who know they are spiritually poor: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the humble: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven.
These sayings are meant to guide our transformation, and not to be converted into some kind of rigid legal system. Selflessness is the guiding principle that points the way to an alternative transformed culture–one which seeks to make the world more compassionate, one where individuals live at the borderland with the world of Spirit, and under the guidance of the Spirit.
| The relative role of miracles, resurrection, and forgiveness of sins in the rapid spread of Christianity | Volume 12 - No. 2 — Index |