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Jesus as Sage. Jesus was not primarily a teacher of either correct beliefs or right morals. Rather, he was a teacher of a way or path--specifically a way of transformation. His teaching involved a radical departure from the Torah wisdom that lay at the core of the first century Jewish social world.
The sayings of Jesus include many pithy one-liners, proverbs, parables, and observations from nature which, when taken together, provide an invitation to see things differently. Deep within all of us is a picture of what reality is really like--a picture that shapes how we live. We are the products of modern western culture with its essentially one-dimensional understanding of reality which, unless transformed by some convincing experience, simply adds on even our religious beliefs--if we have any.
The pervasive sense of meaninglessness of our times is to a large extent, the result of how we see reality. Jesus saw reality very differently both from us and from most of his own contemporaries. In common with his contemporaries, he saw reality as ultimately Spirit, not ultimately material. What distinguished him from both his contemporaries, and from us, was his vivid sense that reality, God, was ultimately gracious and compassionate. And God's grace and compassion was extended to all, even to sinners, and not only to practicing Jews. (TUB 2:4.2; 142:7.17; etc)
Examples from The Urantia Book are: "God is inherently kind, naturally compassionate, and everlastingly merciful. And never is it necessary that any influence be brought to bear upon the Father to call forth his loving-kindness. The creature's need is wholly sufficient to insure the full flow of the Father's tender mercies and his saving grace. Since God knows all about his children, it is easy for him to forgive. The better man understands his neighbor, the easier it will be to forgive him, even to love him." and:
"How long will it be before you discern that this kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and that my Father is also a spiritual being? Do you not understand that I am teaching you as spiritual children in the spirit family of heaven, of which the fatherhead is an infinite and eternal spirit? Will you not allow me to use the earth family as an illustration of divine relationships without so literally applying my teaching to material affairs? In your minds cannot you separate the spiritual realities of the kingdom from the material, social, economic, and political problems of the age?"
God as gracious and compassionate
Though Jesus did not use the word "grace," the picture of God's ultimate character as gracious emerges everywhere in his teaching.
Poetic imagery from nature made the point. "Look at the birds of the air," Jesus said, "They sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns--and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" And again, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. The toil not, neither do they spin; yet I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these." (TUB 165:5.3)
With words such as these, Jesus invited his hearers to see in nature a glimpse of the divine nature. The image of God as gracious also emerges in Jesus' parables. In that of the prodigal, a son goes to a far away land and squanders his father's resources. Having become a desperate outcast, he returns and unexpectedly finds his father overjoyed to greet his return. Clearly, the father is an image for God--loving the prodigal from afar, welcoming him, not judging him upon his return but rejoicing with him--in short, gracious. (TUB 169:1) The same picture is painted with the vineyard owner who paid all of his workers a full day's wages even though many had only worked a small part of the day. And when those who worked for a full day complained, the owner asked, "Do you begrudge my generosity?" (TUB 163:3.5-7) As an image of God, the meaning is clear--God is like that.
This image of God's graciousness is implicit in one of the most striking features of Jesus' ministry, the meals which he shared with "sinners" and "outcasts." No practicing Jew would dare do such a thing as to do so would automatically defile him. It must surely have been an extraordinary experience for an outcast to be invited to share a meal with one who was rumored to be a prophet. Implicit in the action is an understanding of God as gracious and compassionate, embracing even the outcasts. (TUB 138:3; 169: Intro)
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