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The Ashtaroth Incident
At the time of this incident the apostles and the evangelists were touring the towns and villages of the Decapolis, an area to the east of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee. They went about in small groups and sometimes alone. Jesus was at a town named Gamala, from which the apostle John had gone on the previous day to teach at the village of Ashtaroth.
Arriving in Ashtaroth, John was surprised to discover a stranger preaching to the local inhabitants in the village square. Curious, John stopped to listen and became annoyed and upset when he heard this stranger not only claim to be teaching in Jesus' name but also to have the power to cast out devils.
Effectively, to cast out devils meant to heal the sick and afflicted, for all such ills were, in those days, attributed to the work of devils.
John Zebedee, and his brother James, had already earned for themselves the title of the "sons of thunder." This was because of a previous occasion when Samaritan villagers did not treat Jesus and his disciples with the deference that the brothers thought was their due. The Zebedee brothers thereupon requested Jesus to call down fire from the heavens to destroy the "disrespectful Samaritans."
True to form, John took offence and proceeded to chastise the stranger who, "had never been with us, neither does he follow after us." John presumed that the stranger had no authority to do such things and took it upon himself to impose a ban. However, it was John who had to eat humble pie, for he could do nothing when the stranger completely ignored him.
John did the only thing he could--he retreated to Gamala, taking his case to Jesus whose response is tremendously important for all of his subsequent followers. Jesus said:
"Forbid him not. Do you not perceive that this gospel of the kingdom shall presently be proclaimed in all the world? How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction? Rejoice that already our teaching has begun to manifest itself beyond the bounds of our personal influence. Do you not see, John, that those who profess to do great works in my name must eventually support our cause? They certainly will not be quick to speak evil of me. My son, in matters of this sort it would be better for you to reckon that he who is not against us is for us. In the generations to come many who are not wholly worthy will do many strange things in my name, but I will not forbid them. I tell you that, even when a cup of cold water is given to a thirsty soul, the Father's messengers shall ever make record of such a service of love." (1764)
The first two articles in this issue discuss the difference between Jesus' religion, a religion of the spirit, and religions of authority, the religions of men. Religion of the spirit is entirely spiritual. It is between two individual beings, one of them human, the other divine, the indwelling spirit of God.
Religion of the spirit may be revelatory and authoritative to the individual who receives it. But there, its divine authority ceases, for there is no possible way it can be transferred to others without involving human beings other than the initial recipient.
"Nothing which human nature has touched can be regarded as infallible. Through the mind of man divine truth may indeed shine forth, but always of relative purity and partial divinity. The creature may crave infallibility, but only the Creators possess it." (1768)
Jesus' religion, the religion of the spirit, is quite unique on Urantia. It is a contract between each of us, individually, and our God. There is no other religion of the spirit presently on this planet, and there can be no other until Jesus returns, for its authority devolves upon the authoritative party being of Creator status.
Thus the moment any mortal being presumes to themselves any kind of authority in matters of religion, the status of that religion degrades to authoritarian in the worldly sense. It is totally without divine status or sanction. The authority of God is non-transferable.
The religions of men may, of course, make their own rules and regulations for membership, but that always casts them in the mold of authoritarian religion, a religion of man.
The incident at Ashtaroth is important. Like John, there are always pretenders around who, given the slightest opportunity, will seek power and authority. That is the nature of the beast--to be bestial in nature--for that is the origin of this lust for power that afflicts us.
Later, John grew out of his earlier tendencies, eventually becoming the best loved of all the apostles--and earning the title, "the apostle of love."
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