Excerpt: He Let People Call Him Master

He Let People Call Him MasterJesus’ fame resulted mostly from his reputation as a healer but soon more people came to him for spiritual help, and invariably he taught them the light of life and the way of deliverance. When Jesus was on Earth as a man it was inevitable that some extraordinary things would happen. But you should never approach Jesus through these so-called miracles: instead, learn to approach the miracle through Jesus. This warning comes regardless of the fact that Jesus is the only personified reason for a religion that did perform miracles while on Earth.The most astonishing and revolutionary aspect of Jesus’ message concerned women. During an era when a man was not even supposed to greet his wife in public, Jesus—on his third trip through Galilee—dared to take women along to teach people the gospel. He did this in the face of the Jew’s teaching that it was “better that the words of the law should be burned than delivered to women.” In one generation Jesus lifted women out of the slavish drudgery and disrespectful oblivion that they had been accustomed to over the ages, and it is a shame that the religion that presumed to take Jesus’ name lacked the moral courage to follow his noble example.The people found that Jesus held none of the superstitions common at the time. He had no social grudges or religious prejudice; he was never intolerant of other people’s beliefs. While he followed the fragments of Judaism that were true, he did not hesitate to disregard superstitious man-made traditions designed to enslave people. He dared to teach that accidents, catastrophes, and other dreadful events were not sent from God to punish people. He did away with unthinking devotion to meaningless ceremonies and showed the error in worshiping material things. Jesus boldly declared humanity’s spiritual freedom and he dared to teach people that they are in truth the sons of the living God. Jesus surpassed all previous teachings when he substituted having clean hearts for clean hands as the hallmark of true religion.Jesus put reality in the place of tradition and left no room for pride or hypocrisy. At the same time he did not criticize or disregard the social, economic, political, or religious aspects of his day. He was not a militant: he was a progressive evolutionist. He only did away with something that the people believed when he could replace it with a higher teaching. People followed Jesus because they wanted to: he did not force them to believe. Only three men that Jesus invited to be disciples ever refused him. He had a peculiar way to draw people to him, but he was not dictatorial. Jesus’ confidence was compelling, and no one ever resented him giving orders. His authority was absolute, but no one ever objected to it: he let people call him Master.Jesus was admired by everyone except those people who held deep-seated religious hatreds or who saw him as a threat to their political power. The people were astonished that his teachings were so original and authoritative, and they marveled at his patience when he had to deal with backward and troublesome people. Jesus inspired hope and confidence in all of his followers. The only people who feared Jesus were those who had not met him, and the only people to hate Jesus were those who wanted to cling to the evil in their hearts. Jesus exercised a strong and fascinating influence on both foes and friends. People would follow him for weeks just to be around him, and his devotees loved him beyond what human words can express. This is still true to this day and it will continue to be throughout all ages—the more people get to know Jesus, the more they will love and follow him.Excerpt from Son of Man: Urantia, Chapter 28, The Second Preaching TourSon of Man: Urantia, is a restatement of the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the Urantia revelation and in accordance with its urging to do so for today’s generation.Full episode here: The Second Preaching Tourhttps://robertakezer.substack.com/p/chap-28-the-second-preaching-tourSon of Man: Urantia, Books: (English and Spanish)https://www.lulu.com/search?page=1&sortBy=RELEVANCE&q=son+of+man%3A+urantia&pageSize=10&adult_audience_rating=00Son of Man: Urantia, PDF’s (English and Spanish)https://son-of-man-urantia.sellfy.storeGodspeed, everyone.Bob This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertakezer.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertakezer.substack.com/subscribe