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The answer?
Perhaps the answer is on page 1951--"If I go not away, the new teacher cannot come into your hearts. I must be divested of this mortal body and be restored to my place on high before I can send this spirit teacher to live in your souls and lead your spirits into the truth. And when my spirit comes to indwell you, he will illuminate the difference between sin and righteousness and will enable you to judge wisely in your hearts concerning them."
This statement from Jesus appears to imply that his Spirit of Truth would be a more effective teacher of righteousness than Jesus himself. And it is not difficult to see why this could be so. After three years of personal teaching by Jesus, his fundamental message of love, goodness, tolerance, and service would have become overly familiar.
Much of this message was conveyed by parables, all of which the apostles must have heard on multitudinous occasions. Perhaps Jesus realized there was little more that he could personally do to promote this message. And so long as he remained with the apostolic band, he would be the central figure that the crowds sought after--and not because of the message he brought but largely because of their expectation of miracles.
Jesus' bestowal mission required him to "live a life wholeheartedly motivated to do the will of the Paradise Father, thus to reveal God, your Father, in the flesh and especially to the creatures of the flesh." He was to "exhibit in his one short life in the flesh, the transcendent possibilities attainable by a God-knowing human being…and to function so as to show the achievement of God seeking man and finding him, and the phenomenon of man seeking God and finding him." (p.1328)
Jesus may have judged that he had already fulfilled his mission on Urantia--which would be better served if his bestowal was terminated now and the preservation and dissemination of its message was entrusted to his Spirit of Truth and the apostles.
Recalling the statement, "God has decreed the sovereignty of the material and mortal will and that decree is absolute," (71) it appears that both Jesus and the Father were taking an enormous gamble by having Michael's bestowal terminate at this juncture. Jesus realization of this is illustrated by, "The experience of parting with the apostles was a great strain on the human heart of Jesus; this sorrow of love bore down on him and made it more difficult to face such a death as he well knew awaited him. He realized how weak and how ignorant his apostles were, and he dreaded to leave them. (1969)
Their behavior during the period of Jesus' arrest, trial, and crucifixion illustrates the validity of Jesus' doubting. Peter denied him three times during Jesus' trial. Of the eleven remaining apostles only John was present both at the trial and crucifixion. The others all went into hiding and remained hidden even after Jesus' resurrection appearances. And their courage remained in limbo until the events of Pentecost--after they had received Jesus' Spirit of Truth.
That Jesus expected his presence as the Spirit of Truth would be more effective for spreading his gospel message than his presence in the flesh was confirmed by:
"In less than a month after the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, the apostles made more individual spiritual progress than during their almost four years of personal and loving association with the Master."
And further confirmed by his farewell admonition to the apostle Philip: "Permit me as the spirit of the new teacher to lead you forward. In this way will I be able to do much for you which I was not able to accomplish when I sojourned with you as a mortal of the realm. (1960)
Subsequent events also validated Jesus' trust in these men. Furthermore they validated his confidence in the Spirit of Truth, operating in the minds of believers, and functioning to promote the dominance of truth, beauty, goodness, and love in the affairs of men.
Although not the religion that we would expect Jesus to have founded, early Christianity retained and/or conserved much of Jesus' basic teachings. They are still there, present in the gospels, awaiting their rediscovery.
Christianity's major initial failing was that it was virtually a closed Jewish movement. Christianity gained universality only when Paul came along and forced the Christian leadership to open up to the gentiles. However, instead of its primary message of love and service, Paul compromised so that its attraction for the majority of converts hinged upon the concept that Jesus died for our sins. This concept was what catalyzed its wildfire-like spread throughout the Roman Empire.
Christianity remains so encumbered, even today, still awaiting its release. However, guilt and the fear of divine retribution from the God of the Old Testament is so deeply embedded in the human psyche that release from its shackles will likely be a difficult and painful process.
However, the remedy is in our own hands. When enough of us enlist the aid of Jesus' Spirit of Truth, amazing things will come to pass.
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