Urantia Book 15. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua ben Joseph, Christ Michael, Sovereign God of the Universe of Nebadon. When the boat was ready, the three enjoyed a passage to Alexandria. There were 2 magnificent harbors there, which made the city’s location a crossroad linking Africa, Asia and Europe. Again the UB says that Africa and Asia would have been more fertile ground for Jesus’ message than Europe. Having stepped off the boat, they found themselves standing on a highway 100 feet in width and 5 miles long. While Gonod did business, Jesus and Ganid visited the famous library. This library contained almost a million manuscripts. Some were from India, China and Japan. It held the largest collection of Indian literature in the world. They discussed over and over the religions of the world. Jesus always told Ganid that Yahweh is the God developed from the revelations of Melchizedek and the covenant of Abraham. The Jews occupied the land where Melchizedek taught, and they developed a clearer recognition of the Lord God of Israel as the Universal Father in heaven than any other religion (UB). Jesus and Ganid also spent time in the museum; it was not a collection of rare objects, but a university of fine arts, science and literature. Alexandria was the intellectual center of the Roman world. Professors gave daily lectures. Jesus translated the lectures for Ganid. This city held the largest Jewish synagogue in the world; the seat of government was the Sanhedrin, composed of 70 ruling elders. Philo, the famous religious philosopher in Alexandria, was trying to reconcile Greek philosophy with Jewish theology. That’s like trying to reconcile quantum mechanics with relativity–it probably can’t be done. On the evening before they left Alexandria, Jesus and Ganid had a long visit with a government professor who lectures on the teachings of Plato. Jesus injected no opinions of his own. After the visit ended, Jesus had a heart to heart talk with Ganid about Plato’s doctrines. Jesus tried to lay a more trustworthy foundation for Ganid’s thinking. One point he made was that: “Always must the desire to do the Father’s will be supreme in the soul and dominant over the mind of an ascending son of God.” The remainder of his discourse was complicated, but angels summarize what Jesus says, and the meaning gets lost. Also they have to translate it into English. Sorry. So much for that. Ganid had a question on evil the next morning. Jesus replied that evil is a relativity concept. He also said that “all static, dead concepts are potentially evil. The finite shadow of relative and living truth is continually moving. Static concepts invariably retard science, politics, society and religion. Static concepts… are deficient in wisdom and devoid of truth. But do not the concept of relativity so to mislead you that you fail to recognize the co-ordination of the universe under the guidance of the cosmic mind and its stabilized control by the energy and spirit of the Supreme” (130.4.15).************** In Crete Jesus had his first long talk with Gonod, since they were there just to relax. Gonod was impressed with Jesus’ religion, and never knew there was such a religion in Jerusalem. One day Ganid asked Jesus why he wasn’t a teacher. He replied that everything must await the coming of its time. No amount of impatience would help Ganid to grow up. Jesus said, I am now on the way to Rome, and that is sufficient for today. My tomorrow is wholly in the hands of my Father in heaven (UB). That night an unusual incident took place. As they were walking along, they saw a drunken man beating a girl. Jesus immediately intervened, holding the girl and keeping the man at arms length. The man tried to punch at Jesus, but Jesus’ powerful right arm held the man back. Jesus had a difficult time explaining to Ganid why he didn’t take down the drunken child beater. Later, when they were up in the mountains, Jesus had a long talk with a young man who had anxiety and depression. Jesus approached him twice, and the 2nd time caught the man’s attention. The man asked Jesus how he could recover from a miserable childhood. Jesus gave him a pep-talk, starting with: “My friend, arise! Stand up like a man!…Look, you have a strong body and powerful muscles–your physical equipment is better than the average. Of course, it is just about useless while you sit out here on the mountainside and grieve over your misfortunes, real and fancied…Your strong body has an intelligent mind to direct it. Set your mind at work to solve your problems; teach your intellect to work for you; refuse longer to be dominated by fear like an unthinking animal” (130.6.3).***** I can identify with the young man’s anxiety and depression. Pep talks always made me angry, but then I never had a pep talk from Jesus. When I was a child being abused, I saw Jesus and he had a very sympathetic look on his face. And now he never lectures me about anything. Most people don’t understand depression and they make matters worse when they try to help. Clinical major depression is a medical condition–it’s a chronic illness. So much for that. This man was reborn through Jesus’ ministrations. Jesus said to him:”You have been born again–born of the spirit–and henceforth will your whole life become one of victorious accomplishment. Trouble will invigorate you; disappointment will spur you on; difficulties will challenge you; and obstacles will stimulate you” (130.6.4). Subsequently, this man became the leader of the Christians in Crete and was very close to Titus.*********************** On the trip to Carthage, they stopped at Cyrene. Jesus and Ganid gave first aid to a boy named Rufus, who had been injured by the breakdown of an overloaded cart. They carried him home to his father, Simon, who never dreamed he would be ordered to carry Jesus’ cross by a Roman soldier. It was a small world back then, too.************************************* On the way to Carthage Ganid wanted to know Jesus’ secret for attracting friends. Jesus told him to be interested in people and do things for them. Look for opportunities to do something that you are sure they want done. Also, he quoted an old Jewish proverb–“A man who would have friends must show himself friendly.” At Carthage Jesus had a long talk with a Mithraic priest about immortality, time and eternity. The priest had many questions for Jesus. Jesus said: “Time is the stream of flowing temporal events perceived by creature consciousness. Time is a name given to the succession-arrangement whereby events are recognized and segregated. (Isn’t it unfortunate that none of this was in the Bible?) The universe of space is a time-related phenomenon as it is viewed from any interior position outside the fixed abode of Paradise. The motion of time is only revealed in relation to something which does not move in space as a time phenomenon…human personality is the only physically related reality which can transcend the material sequence of temporal events” (130.7.4). I would like to add that the intellect is just as important to God as the spirit. The Infinite Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, works in the area of mind. When we die, if we survive, we enter upon a long educational process which prepares us for worshiping the Universal Father. After we worship the Father, we serve somewhere in the superuniverse of origin. If you were a physicist in mortal life, you might want to teach or research. There is still much to learn. Jesus was a great philosopher–why didn’t this come out in his preaching?