Jesus: I Speak to You Again

Chapter 38

The Environment of the Apostles

The apostles were not extraordinary men. They were not exceptionally clever or spiritually advanced. In fact, they were quite ordinary for their time. They had jobs, and they were representative of their generation. They showed no greater interest in spiritual teachings than their contemporaries. Though they were educated by the standards of the day—they could read, write, and express their thoughts clearly—they had not received any specialized training about God, aside from what they learned in synagogue schools. They knew as much about God as their environment allowed them to understand.

This made it difficult for them to fully grasp the teachings I brought to them. They struggled to accept my message in its pure form and integrate it into their lives without being influenced by the rituals and dogmas imposed upon them by their surroundings. Accepting such a radical shift requires a deep and unwavering faith in the Father, born out of a profound experience of His love within one’s heart. Sometimes, when a person truly feels the Father’s love, it ignites such a powerful fire within them that they burn with a desire to share this love with others.

However, if this fire, ignited by the love of God, is carried without wisdom, it can blind and frighten those who have not yet experienced it. When someone encounters something unknown or not yet understood, it often triggers fear and anxiety. People tend to cling to what they know and understand, rather than venture into the unknown, which feels uncertain and obscure.

When the fire of the Father’s love is kindled in someone’s heart, it drives them to act. But if they lack deep understanding and experience of what that love truly means, they can easily distort the message. They may present things in a way that doesn’t align with reality, in hopes of sparking that same fire in others. But the environment they are trying to reach is often even less prepared to receive my good news—the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man—than the apostles were when I first taught them. It took more than three years of continuous teaching and explanation before my apostles began to understand that all are welcome in the heavenly kingdom—not just Jews, but gentiles as well; all, without exception.

When the environment is not ready to receive such a message, and the fire within urges one to act, there is a temptation to simplify the message into something more easily accepted by the people. But a simplified version, a surrogate, will never be the same as the original. This is especially true with spiritual matters, where ideas and teachings cannot be immediately verified with the eyes and hands. Inner vision—the vision of the soul—is necessary, and that vision comes only through sincere, persistent, and resolute effort.

Unfortunately, my apostles did not fully grasp the depth of my good news, and they did not preach it to the world as I had preached it to them. And so, the time has come for me to address you once again—to correct the distortions of my teachings, so that you may finally experience the reality of what I taught. My hope is that, even if people do not know my teachings in their entirety, they will recognize in your lives, in your everyday actions, that you are walking the path of my teachings.