I am here, Jesus.

I was glad to see you reading the book about my life and ministry by Emerson Fosdick, who has a considerable amount of Divine Love in his soul despite some of the usual false beliefs, but he certainly in his heart does not believe in the triune God nor in the virgin birth but realizes that these are innovations of the later writers in their attempts to build up a place for the Holy Spirit and make me a part of the godhead, and also to make this "godhead" of mine more authoritative by use of a virgin birth -- a type of birth attributed to various gods in pagan religions, especially the Greek religion.

And this is primarily the

reason for the later writings seeking to eliminate any mention of Joseph, my father, as the Doctor* was very appropriately able to perceive with his spiritual intuition, and to talk about my father only where absolutely necessary.

My father was not a peasant or man of the people, but a person with a considerable spiritual training inasmuch as he held a very fine position socially as a descendant of some of the great kings of Israel, especially David and Solomon, and he also had a certain amount of money accruing to him through his trade, and he expected me to fulfill the old prophecies and become king of the Jews, a king born of Bethlehem.

My father was very eager for me to become king of the Jewish nation, as you may well imagine, and he provided me with all the funds necessary for me to learn the Scriptures, which I did with great thoroughness because of my great desire to know what had been written about God and what things God had done for our people; and my learning dealt mainly with the prophets, as I understood more and more as time went on that I would have to be a prophet to the people and not a great military leader, such as my ancestor, the king David.

And this is an understanding of my mission which my father was unable to perceive, and he thought of me as a prophet only as John the Baptist was -- one who would appeal to the people to repent of their sins and be purified of them and also to turn my attention to the sins of the rulers to remind them of Jehovah, who would cause them great punishment if they persisted in their iniquities, but my father was not able to understand that such a prophet was only for those to whom the Divine Love was not given or directed. And I realized that this Divine Love of the Heavenly Father, which was the means of rebestowing immortality upon mankind, was my real mission, which my father was unable to comprehend because of his Jewish training.

He was somewhat of a liberal and was a Pharisee at heart, with all the ideas and beliefs of Hebrew legalisms and customs and ceremonies so dear to the hearts of the Pharisees; and it was this religious and national outlook which soon caused a divergence between him and me, as I persisted in my beliefs and later conviction that I had received the gift of the Divine Love of the Heavenly Father and that it was my most high and holy mission to bring the glad tidings of this rebestowal to all mankind.

My mother loved me very much and was fearful of my mission, in that I might bring down upon me both the opposition of the Pharisees as well as the Roman legions, and for this reason she went with me to watch over me and see that no harm would come to me. And at one time she came to me with some of my brothers and sisters to urge me to give up my mission, to come back to Nazareth and lead a quiet life with marriage and family of my own, and to forget that I should be king of the Jews either in a spiritual sense or a purely material one; and this episode is mentioned in the New Testament, but in a way and in a context that is very difficult to follow as a part of the circumstances attending my mission.

My father came to Jerusalem with me on my last fatal mission that ended in my crucifixion, and it was he who received permission from the authorities to take my body and put it in a cave, for my father loved me very much in spite of his inability to understand my mission, but he was afraid of the Jews as well as the Romans, and he sought to conceal his name and identity from the Jews, and sought to remove all trace of his connection with me because of this fear. And after my death, he was confused as to my mission, fearful of personal safety and bewildered at the turn of events, not to say terribly disappointed at my being king of the Jews only in the sign of the cross, which so called me in several languages. It would have been impossible for him to remain in Palestine under those conditions, being pointed out as the father of the crucified Jesus and afraid of the consequences, both political as well as spiritual that my crucifixion gave rise to, and he hastened first of all to Emmaus under a concealed name and, after returning to Jerusalem, finally left the country.

My mother, of course, stayed with John, who took my place as her son and his love and affection for her were a great source of consolation to her, even though she knew I had risen from the dead in a materialized body.

This, then, is the tragic story brought about by my mission, which meant a great personal tragedy in the lives of my dearest and closest, but it was a mission imposed upon me, or shall I say, which I imposed upon myself because I had to be true to myself and faithful to the Father; and in losing my life, not merely physically, but in the ties of my family, I gained it again in the spirit world, where my family, including every member, are often with me and fully comprehend my mission as the Messiah and know my love for them.

I have never written these facts about my life to anyone and I want you to know that I have exposed to you a wonderful confidence and I have now shown you my great love for you in bringing before you these personal tragedies of my mission, but I love you with the wonderful love which the Father has bestowed upon me, and I know that you are seeking for, and have already to a certain extent, this same love in your soul.

I shall stop now, but before I close I want you to refrain from showing this message from me to anyone but the Doctor, and it is never to be printed until you have consulted me first as to whether it is appropriate. So I will say good night and may the Heavenly Father Bless you and the Doctor with all His Blessings and love, and I will come again and write to you.

Your friend and elder brother who loves you as such,

Jesus of the Bible and the Master.

___________________________________
* Dr. Leslie R. Stone.
[Ed. Note: This message was released by Jesus of Nazareth on Nov.14, 1979, to be used in the Age of Progress and Science (a quarterly booklet) published by the Rev. John Paul Gibson, D.D., to help further these Truths of the Father. It was printed in the Spring 1980 issue, now out of print.]