“It is most unfortunate that those who have come to venerate the divine and risen Christ should have overlooked the man—the valiant and courageous hero—Joshua ben Joseph.” 92:7.12 (1013.7)
The most important aspect of the Jesus depicted in The Urantia Book, from that of the Gospels, is his human nature. We have often seen the Divine Jesus who is perfect, immaculate, calm, and all powerful. Nevertheless, his purpose to be born in the flesh, was to go through the trials and tribulations of mortal living. His mission, as is ours, is to break from the bonds of mortal trivialities and rise to our spiritual nature. This was the case for Michael of Nebadon in his earthly experience as Jesus of Nazareth or Joshua ben Joseph.
When we read the full story of the life of Jesus, we can see his human nature. We can read on his struggles from his early life, young adulthood, and even in his preaching mission with his apostles. We learn how he lost his patience with his disciples, how he had issues with his father on the concept of appreciating the human body, and how he had to deal with limited resources when having to feed his family. These are important to us, because we can relate to them. We've all been through similar issues, and have been troubled with how to deal with them. If we learn that even our sovereign had to go through them, regardless of his nature, we can be more compassionate with ourselves and understand that these are normal for a mortal experience.
Part of our mission as UB readers is to share this human side of Jesus with the world. Learn from his own life experiences and let our brothers and sisters know that difficulties are part of living, and that just as Jesus overcame them, we can too overcome them. That they must not be so hard in judging themselves, but rather have compassion for themselves, learn from the struggles and evolve further in their evolution and attainment of the Supreme. We must always remember that God is an understanding father that does not judge our reactions to tribulations; but rather how we can overcome them, and become more Divine after each situation.
