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Fellowship
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The
Story of Everything
An
abridged edition of The Urantia Book
Paper
133: The Return from Rome
Jesus, Ganid, and Gonod walked across Italy on the great Appian Way. During a discussion about India's caste system, Jesus said, "There are only two groups of mortals in the eyes of God: those who desire to do his will and those who do not."
The trio saw a child being attacked by a bully. Jesus assisted the child by restraining the bully until the boy made his escape. As soon as Jesus released the offender, Ganid began to beat him. Jesus promptly restrained Ganid. Ganid couldn't understand why Jesus didn't let him punish the bully. Jesus explained, "Mercy ministry is always the work of the individual, but justice punishment is the function of the social, governmental, or universe administrative groups." Jesus said that mercy may be lavish, but justice must be precise. They talked about this subject for days.
In Corinth, Jesus and Ganid were approached by two prostitutes. Ganid, assuming that Jesus would be offended, shooed them away rudely. Jesus' response astonished both Ganid and the women: "You mean well, but you should not presume thus to speak to the children of God, even though they chance to be his erring children. Who are we to sit in judgment on these women?" Jesus eventually led the women to the house of his friend Justus, a local merchant. There the women were presented to the merchant's wife, Martha, for nourishment and counsel. Martha did everything for the strangers that Jesus had hoped. The elder woman soon died, but the younger went to work for Justus, eventually joining the first Christian church in Corinth.
Jesus had many other interesting conversations with people in Corinth. He tailored his saving message to each person-the Mithraic leader, an Epicurean, a builder, a Chinese merchant, a British traveler, a condemned criminal. To a miller, he described how to grind truth in the mill of living experience to make it suitable for other people's capacity of receptivity. Jesus advised the mistress of an inn to minister her hospitality as one who entertains the children of the Most High. He told a runaway that there are two things people cannot run away from-God and themselves.
After two months, the party sailed to Athens, where Ganid and Gonod enjoyed a discussion Jesus carried on with a Greek philosopher. Jesus discussed the limits of logic and mathematics as they apply to life. Jesus said that a group of human beings working in harmony creates a force far greater than the sum of the personalities involved. He said that there is unity in the universe, and that the universe is friendly to every child of God.
Later in Cyprus, Ganid asked Jesus to explain how people experience a higher form of self-conscious than animals. Jesus emphasized that self-consciousness is a reality. The attainment of self-consciousness warrants the bestowal of the spirit of the Father in heaven, which is the absolute focal point for the human personality. Humans differ not only in heredity and environmental influences, but also in the degree of unification with the indwelling spirit of God. Unification of mind depends on being wholly dedicated to doing the will of the Father in heaven.
The travelers made their way to Salamis, Antioch, and the ancient city of Ur. In Ur Jesus left his Indian friends, never to see them again in the flesh. Later in life, Ganid heard of the so-called Son of Man who lost his life on a cross in Palestine, but he never knew that this was his beloved tutor.