Urantia Book 10. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua ben Joseph, Christ Michael, Sovereign God of the Universe of Nebadon. By Jesus’ 19th year, he and Mary were getting along much better. She thought of him less as a son and more like a father to her children. Also, I suppose she had given up trying to control him. Jesus won his mother over to positive methods of child-training–the injunction to do good in place of the older Jewish method of forbidding to do evil. He would later use the positive injunction to do good in his teaching career. As a result of Jesus’ positive methods, little or no punishment was ever required to secure the children’s prompt obedience. The exception was bad-boy Jude, and his punishment was meted out by the older children and agreed to by Jude himself. Regarding rules, Jesus had a casual elasticity which endeared him to the children. James and Simon tried to follow Jesus and not fight with other boys; they used persuasion and non-resistance, and were fairly successful at it. But Joseph and Jude defended themselves while giving lip-service to non-violence at home. “But non-resistance was not a rule of the family; no penalty was attached to the violation of personal teachings” (127.4.5).******************************* “James was a well-balanced and even-tempered youth, but not as spiritually inclined as Jesus. Joseph was a plodder, and not up to the intellectual level of the other children. Simon was a well-meaning boy but too much of a dreamer. Jude was a firebrand. He had the highest ideals, but he was unstable in temperament…Miriam was a well-balanced and level-headed daughter with a keen appreciation of things noble and spiritual. Martha was slow in thought and action but a very dependable and efficient child. Baby Ruth was the sunshine of the home…she just about worshiped her big brother and father…Miriam was the belle of the family, if not of the city” (127.4.7-8).***** This year Jude started school, and it was necessary for Jesus to sell his harp to defray expenses. He was comforted by the thought that the tax collector couldn’t confiscate it. Jesus was very attractive to the young women of Nazareth. Although his family was poor, that in no way affected his social standing. Since Jesus was an intellectual and religious leader, as well as being physically attractive, it’s no wonder that Rebecca, the eldest daughter of Ezra, a wealthy merchant, should find herself finding herself falling in love with him. She confided this to Miriam, who told her mother, Mary. Mary was intensely aroused by this news. Was she about to lose the head of the house? Would troubles never cease? What next would happen? And then she thought of his career–wasn’t he a child of promise? Mary and Miriam decided to stop this threat before Jesus heard about it. They went to Rebecca and told her it was impossible for her to marry Jesus because they believed he was the Messiah. This only excited Rebecca more; she was determined to take care of Jesus as he fulfilled whatever role he was destined for. Rebecca’s father offered to support the family of Jesus if he married Rebecca. Mary still wouldn’t give her consent. Rebecca went straight to Jesus. Rebecca’s father and then Rebecca put the marriage proposal before Jesus, and he listened politely. Jesus said to Rebecca that her proposal would cheer and comfort him all his life, but—there’s always a but—“He made it clear that his first and paramount duty was the rearing of his father’s family; that he could not consider marriage until that was accomplished; and then he added: If I am a son of destiny, I must not assume obligations of life-long duration until such time as my destiny shall be made manifest” (127.5.5). Rebecca was heartbroken, and when Jesus began his career of revealing his heavenly Father, she was in the corp of those women who traveled with him and took care of the needs of everybody. She stood at the foot of the cross with Mary.******************* The year that Jesus turned 20 (AD 14) he was well on his way to mastering the skills he would need to preach his themes. “He very nearly mastered the technique of utilizing the energy of the spiritual drive to turn the mechanism of material achievement. He slowly learned how to live the heavenly life while continuing with an earthly existence…he continued to experience life in mortal flesh, a full, representative, replete life on Urantia. He left this world ripe in the experience which his creatures pass through during the short and strenuous years of their first life, the life in the flesh. And all this human experience is an eternal possession of the Universe Sovereign. He is our understanding brother, sympathetic friend, experienced sovereign and merciful father” (127.6.12-13). We must pause here and discuss the identity of Jesus. Jesus’ real name is Michael. He is one of 700,000 Creator Sons produced by the Universal Father and the mother side of the Eternal Son. Each local universe is ruled by a Creator Son and they are named Michael. The Trinity on Paradise Isle is composed of the Universal Father, the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit. Each Creator Son has a Mother Spirit, a Consort donated by the Infinite Spirit, who works with him to create everything that’s in the universe. She is also called the Holy Spirit and the Divine Minister. And she is the source of life. As for Jesus, he was also called Christ Michael because Christ means anointed. Also, Jesus is the Word in John 1. Going along with the Genesis account, the Word created the world. It is actually Jesus/Creator Son in Genesis who is creating everything. In his 21st year Jesus figured out that he was a Creator Son of the Paradise Father. He did not hesitate to say publicly that he was the Son of God. He declared that “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He made no protest later when people called him Lord of Glory, Ruler of the Universe, Lord God of all Creation, Holy One of Israel, Lord of all and God with us.” During Jesus’ 21st year he took Joseph to Passover in Jerusalem. Joseph tried to pull information from Jesus about his future plans, asking many leading questions, but Jesus would only say, “My hour has not yet come..” (128.1.15).