Jesus—Inspiration and Friend

In some perspectives of Jesus’ life I consider him to be a model rather than an inspiration, and this is predominantly in relation to his life experiences.

The Urantia Book states that, “you cannot perceive spiritual truth until you feelingly experience it, and many truths are not felt except in adversity.” (557—Morontia Mota)

In looking at Jesus life I do not believe that any other human being could ever have been subjected to as much adversity during such a short life span as that which he endured. My own life experiences pale into insignificance in comparison, and I know that whatever I may be subjected to, so also was he—and far, far more.

Examples of Jesus’ life experiences include:

To experience poverty and unremitting financial pressure.
To have the reality of financial hardship being reversed as a result of a legitimate claim for a capital sum—only to have the claim dismissed (i.e. the sum legally awarded in compensation for his father’s death being rejected by Herod). As was natural, Jesus had already planned how he would utilize the proceeds. Jesus’ desires were to buy a small tract of land as a more suitable environment for the rearing of his brothers and sisters, and to be able to afford a dog a pet for the children—but he had all of his plans shattered by the action of “that fox.”
To be required to manage the family finances from adolescence until such stage as his brothers reached an age of maturity where he could delegate it to them.
To have his father, perhaps the closest person to him in all his life, go to work and be killed in an accident, and to be deprived of the opportunity of saying goodbye.
To attend to his mother at the birth of her ninth child, with his father having died four months earlier.
To care for a young brother, striving to help him overcome illness, and to have him die in his arms.
To be ostracized and rejected by his peer group and the local community from adolescence onwards.
To be deprived of adolescence due to enforced responsibilities of having to be father to eight brothers and sisters.
To have to sell his one pleasure—his harp, a decision made to prevent it being taken by the tax collector.
To be unappreciated and/or misunderstood by those closest and dearest to him.
To have no understanding friend in whom he could confide.

And these life experiences/adversity led, at the age of twenty, to his being described by his revelators as:

“Jesus is rapidly becoming a man, not a young man, but an adult. He has learned to bear responsibility. He knows how to carry on in the face of disappointment. He bears up bravely when his plans are thwarted and his purposes temporarily defeated. He has learned how to be fair and just, even in the face of injustice. He is learning how to adjust his ideals of spiritual living to the practical demands of earthly existence. He is learning how to plan for a higher and distant goal of idealism while he toils earnestly for the attainment of a nearer and immediate goal of necessity.

“He is steadily acquiring the art of adjusting his aspirations to the commonplace demands of the human occasion. He has very nearly mastered the technique of utilizing the energy of spiritual drive to turn the mechanism of material achievement. He is slowly learning how to live the heavenly life while he continues on with earthly existence. More and more he depends upon the ultimate guidance of his heavenly Father while he assumes the fatherly role of guiding and directing the children of his earth family. He is becoming experienced in the skilful wresting of victory from the very jaws of defeat; he is learning how to transform the difficulties of time into the triumphs of eternity.” (1405)

And throughout the remainder of his life his experiences included:

To be rarely allowed to be human, being forced to be always the one who bore the responsibility of comforting others.
To be rejected and treated with disdain and lack of respect by his family (bar Ruth).
To go before a court of law and experience the travesty of justice.
To be a victim, but perceived as a perpetrator.
To die an ignominious death, in incredible pain, fatigued, alone, with his life goals apparently shattered, and unachieved.
To never have a home or a place of retreat from adulthood until his death.
To know disappointment, tiredness, and frustration.

And yet he lived a life of joy! He never summated his experiences, or viewed himself as being cursed in some way. And, perhaps because of his disposition, and most certainly because of his short life, he was never ill.

In those facets of his life where he had control he was able:

To have the satisfaction of a trade and be permitted to work at his trade in both a professional and perfectionist manner.
To enjoy going fishing, gardening, going for walks, and working with animals.
To have the opportunity to travel, meet lots of people, and enjoy spending time in their company.
To play with children
To have quiet times

“Jesus portrayed the profound surety of the God-knowing mortal when he said: ‘To a God-knowing kingdom believer, what does it matter if all things earthly crash?’ Temporal securities are vulnerable, but spiritual sureties are impregnable. When the flood tides of human adversity, selfishness, cruelty, hate, malice, and jealousy beat about the mortal soul, you may rest in the assurance that there is one inner bastion, the citadel of the spirit, which is absolutely unassailable; at least this is true of every human being who has dedicated the keeping of his soul to the indwelling spirit of the eternal God.” (1096)

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Ann Bendall, Australia