The Urantia Book
PAPER 143
GOING THROUGH SAMARIA
143:0.1 AT THE end of June, A.D. 27, because of
the increasing opposition of the Jewish religious rulers, Jesus
and the twelve departed from Jerusalem, after sending their tents
and meager personal effects to be stored at the home of Lazarus at
Bethany. Going north into Samaria, they tarried over the Sabbath
at Bethel. Here they preached for several days to the people who
came from Gophna and Ephraim. A group of citizens from Arimathea
and Thamna came over to invite Jesus to visit their villages. The
Master and his apostles spent more than two weeks teaching the
Jews and Samaritans of this region, many of whom came from as far
as Antipatris to hear the good news of the kingdom.
143:0.2 The people of southern Samaria heard
Jesus gladly, and the apostles, with the exception of Judas
Iscariot, succeeded in overcoming much of their prejudice against
the Samaritans. It was very difficult for Judas to love these
Samaritans. The last week of July Jesus and his associates made
ready to depart for the new Greek cities of Phasaelis and
Archelais near the Jordan.
1. PREACHING AT ARCHELAIS
143:1.1 The first half of the month of August
the apostolic party made its headquarters at the Greek cities of
Archelais and Phasaelis, where they had their first experience
preaching to well-nigh exclusive gatherings of gentiles -- Greeks,
Romans, and Syrians -- for few Jews dwelt in these two Greek
towns. In contacting with these Roman citizens, the apostles
encountered new difficulties in the proclamation of the message of
the coming kingdom, and they met with new objections to the
teachings of Jesus. At one of the many evening conferences with
his apostles, Jesus listened attentively to these objections to
the gospel of the kingdom as the twelve repeated their experiences
with the subjects of their personal labors.
143:1.2 A question asked by Philip was typical
of their difficulties. Said Philip: "Master, these Greeks and
Romans make light of our message, saying that such teachings are
fit for only weaklings and slaves. They assert that the religion
of the heathen is superior to our teaching because it inspires to
the acquirement of a strong, robust, and aggressive character.
They affirm that we would convert all men into enfeebled specimens
of passive nonresisters who would soon perish from the face of the
earth. They like you, Master, and freely admit that your teaching
is heavenly and ideal, but they will not take us seriously. They
assert that your religion is not for this world; that men cannot
live as you teach. And now, Master, what shall we say to these
gentiles?"
143:1.3 After Jesus had heard similar objections
to the gospel of the kingdom presented by Thomas, Nathaniel, Simon
Zelotes, and Matthew, he said to the twelve:
143:1.4 "I have come into this world to do the
will of my Father and to reveal his loving character to all
mankind. That, my brethren, is my mission. And this one thing I
will do, regardless of the misunderstanding of my teachings by
Jews or gentiles of this day or of another generation. But you
should not overlook the fact that even divine love has its severe
disciplines. A father's love for his son oftentimes impels the
father to restrain the unwise acts of his thoughtless offspring.
The child does not always comprehend the wise and loving motives
of the father's restraining discipline. But I declare to you that
my Father in Paradise does rule a universe of universes by the
compelling power of his love. Love is the greatest of all spirit
realities. Truth is a liberating revelation, but love is the
supreme relationship. And no matter what blunders your fellow men
make in their world management of today, in an age to come the
gospel which I declare to you will rule this very world. The
ultimate goal of human progress is the reverent recognition of the
fatherhood of God and the loving materialization of the
brotherhood of man.
143:1.5 "But who told you that my gospel was
intended only for slaves and weaklings? Do you, my chosen
apostles, resemble weaklings? Did John look like a weakling? Do
you observe that I am enslaved by fear? True, the poor and
oppressed of this generation have the gospel preached to them. The
religions of this world have neglected the poor, but my Father is
no respecter of persons. Besides, the poor of this day are the
first to heed the call to repentance and acceptance of sonship.
The gospel of the kingdom is to be preached to all men -- Jew and
gentile, Greek and Roman, rich and poor, free and bond -- and
equally to young and old, male and female.
143:1.6 "Because my Father is a God of love and
delights in the practice of mercy, do not imbibe the idea that the
service of the kingdom is to be one of monotonous ease. The
Paradise ascent is the supreme adventure of all time, the rugged
achievement of eternity. The service of the kingdom on earth will
call for all the courageous manhood that you and your coworkers
can muster. Many of you will be put to death for your loyalty to
the gospel of this kingdom. It is easy to die in the line of
physical battle when your courage is strengthened by the presence
of your fighting comrades, but it requires a higher and more
profound form of human courage and devotion calmly and all alone
to lay down your life for the love of a truth enshrined in your
mortal heart.
143:1.7 "Today, the unbelievers may taunt you
with preaching a gospel of nonresistance and with living lives of
nonviolence, but you are the first volunteers of a long line of
sincere believers in the gospel of this kingdom who will astonish
all mankind by their heroic devotion to these teachings. No armies
of the world have ever displayed more courage and bravery than
will be portrayed by you and your loyal successors who shall go
forth to all the world proclaiming the good news -- the fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of men. The courage of the flesh is the
lowest form of bravery. Mind bravery is a higher type of human
courage, but the highest and supreme is uncompromising loyalty to
the enlightened convictions of profound spiritual realities. And
such courage constitutes the heroism of the God-knowing man. And
you are all God-knowing men; you are in very truth the personal
associates of the Son of Man."
143:1.8 This was not all that Jesus said on that
occasion, but it is the introduction of his address, and he went
on at great length in amplification and in illustration of this
pronouncement. This was one of the most impassioned addresses
which Jesus ever delivered to the twelve. Seldom did the Master
speak to his apostles with evident strong feeling, but this was
one of those few occasions when he spoke with manifest
earnestness, accompanied by marked emotion.
143:1.9 The result upon the public preaching and
personal ministry of the apostles was immediate; from that very
day their message took on a new note of courageous dominance. The
twelve continued to acquire the spirit of positive aggression in
the new gospel of the kingdom. From this day forward they did not
occupy themselves so much with the preaching of the negative
virtues and the passive injunctions of their Master's many-sided
teaching.
2. LESSON ON SELF-MASTERY
143:2.1 The Master was a perfected specimen of
human self-control. When he was reviled, he reviled not; when he
suffered, he uttered no threats against his tormentors; when he
was denounced by his enemies, he simply committed himself to the
righteous judgment of the Father in heaven.
143:2.2 At one of the evening conferences,
Andrew asked Jesus: "Master, are we to practice self-denial as
John taught us, or are we to strive for the self-control of your
teaching? Wherein does your teaching differ from that of John?"
Jesus answered: "John indeed taught you the way of righteousness
in accordance with the light and laws of his fathers, and that was
the religion of self-examination and self-denial. But I come with
a new message of self-forgetfulness and self-control. I show to
you the way of life as revealed to me by my Father in heaven.
143:2.3 "Verily, verily, I say to you, he who
rules his own self is greater than he who captures a city.
Self-mastery is the measure of man's moral nature and the
indicator of his spiritual development. In the old order you
fasted and prayed; as the new creature of the rebirth of the
spirit, you are taught to believe and rejoice. In the Father's
kingdom you are to become new creatures; old things are to pass
away; behold I show you how all things are to become new. And by
your love for one another you are to convince the world that you
have passed from bondage to liberty, from death into life
everlasting.
143:2.4 "By the old way you seek to suppress,
obey, and conform to the rules of living; by the new way you are
first transformed by the Spirit of Truth and thereby
strengthened in your inner soul by the constant spiritual renewing
of your mind, and so are you endowed with the power of the certain
and joyous performance of the gracious, acceptable, and perfect
will of God. Forget not -- it is your personal faith in the
exceedingly great and precious promises of God that ensures your
becoming partakers of the divine nature. Thus by your faith and
the spirit's transformation, you become in reality the temples of
God, and his spirit actually dwells within you. If, then, the
spirit dwells within you, you are no longer bondslaves of the
flesh but free and liberated sons of the spirit. The new law of
the spirit endows you with the liberty of self-mastery in place of
the old law of the fear of self-bondage and the slavery of
self-denial.
143:2.5 "Many times, when you have done evil,
you have thought to charge up your acts to the influence of the
evil one when in reality you have but been led astray by your own
natural tendencies. Did not the Prophet Jeremiah long ago tell you
that the human heart is deceitful above all things and sometimes
even desperately wicked? How easy for you to become self-deceived
and thereby fall into foolish fears, divers lusts, enslaving
pleasures, malice, envy, and even vengeful hatred!
143:2.6 "Salvation is by the regeneration of the
spirit and not by the self-righteous deeds of the flesh. You are
justified by faith and fellowshipped by grace, not by fear and the
self-denial of the flesh, albeit the Father's children who have
been born of the spirit are ever and always masters of the
self and all that pertains to the desires of the flesh. When you
know that you are saved by faith, you have real peace with God.
And all who follow in the way of this heavenly peace are destined
to be sanctified to the eternal service of the ever-advancing sons
of the eternal God. Henceforth, it is not a duty but rather your
exalted privilege to cleanse yourselves from all evils of mind and
body while you seek for perfection in the love of God.
143:2.7 "Your sonship is grounded in faith, and
you are to remain unmoved by fear. Your joy is born of trust in
the divine word, and you shall not therefore be led to doubt the
reality of the Father's love and mercy. It is the very goodness of
God that leads men into true and genuine repentance. Your secret
of the mastery of self is bound up with your faith in the
indwelling spirit, which ever works by love. Even this saving
faith you have not of yourselves; it also is the gift of God. And
if you are the children of this living faith, you are no longer
the bondslaves of self but rather the triumphant masters of
yourselves, the liberated sons of God.
143:2.8 "If, then, my children, you are born of
the spirit, you are forever delivered from the self-conscious
bondage of a life of self-denial and watchcare over the desires of
the flesh, and you are translated into the joyous kingdom of the
spirit, whence you spontaneously show forth the fruits of the
spirit in your daily lives; and the fruits of the spirit are the
essence of the highest type of enjoyable and ennobling
self-control, even the heights of terrestrial mortal attainment --
true self-mastery."
3. DIVERSION AND RELAXATION
143:3.1 About this time a state of great nervous
and emotional tension developed among the apostles and their
immediate disciple associates. They had hardly become accustomed
to living and working together. They were experiencing increasing
difficulties in maintaining harmonious relations with John's
disciples. The contact with the gentiles and the Samaritans was a
great trial to these Jews. And besides all this, the recent
utterances of Jesus had augmented their disturbed state of mind.
Andrew was almost beside himself; he did not know what next to do,
and so he went to the Master with his problems and perplexities.
When Jesus had listened to the apostolic chief relate his
troubles, he said: "Andrew, you cannot talk men out of their
perplexities when they reach such a stage of involvement, and when
so many persons with strong feelings are concerned. I cannot do
what you ask of me -- I will not participate in these personal
social difficulties -- but I will join you in the enjoyment of a
three-day period of rest and relaxation. Go to your brethren and
announce that all of you are to go with me up on Mount Sartaba,
where I desire to rest for a day or two.
143:3.2 "Now you should go to each of your
eleven brethren and talk with him privately, saying: `The Master
desires that we go apart with him for a season to rest and relax.
Since we all have recently experienced much vexation of spirit and
stress of mind, I suggest that no mention be made of our trials
and troubles while on this holiday. Can I depend upon you to
co-operate with me in this matter?' In this way privately and
personally approach each of your brethren." And Andrew did as the
Master had instructed him.
143:3.3 This was a marvelous occasion in the
experience of each of them; they never forgot the day going up the
mountain. Throughout the entire trip hardly a word was said about
their troubles. Upon reaching the top of the mountain, Jesus
seated them about him while he said: "My brethren, you must all
learn the value of rest and the efficacy of relaxation. You must
realize that the best method of solving some entangled problems is
to forsake them for a time. Then when you go back fresh from your
rest or worship, you are able to attack your troubles with a
clearer head and a steadier hand, not to mention a more resolute
heart. Again, many times your problem is found to have shrunk in
size and proportions while you have been resting your mind and
body."
143:3.4 The next day Jesus assigned to each of
the twelve a topic for discussion. The whole day was devoted to
reminiscences and to talking over matters not related to their
religious work. They were momentarily shocked when Jesus even
neglected to give thanks -- verbally -- when he broke bread for
their noontide lunch. This was the first time they had ever
observed him to neglect such formalities.
143:3.5 When they went up the mountain, Andrew's
head was full of problems. John was inordinately perplexed in his
heart. James was grievously troubled in his soul. Matthew was hard
pressed for funds inasmuch as they had been sojourning among the
gentiles. Peter was overwrought and had recently been more
temperamental than usual. Judas was suffering from a periodic
attack of sensitiveness and selfishness. Simon was unusually upset
in his efforts to reconcile his patriotism with the love of the
brotherhood of man. Philip was more and more nonplused by the way
things were going. Nathaniel had been less humorous since they had
come in contact with the gentile populations, and Thomas was in
the midst of a severe season of depression. Only the twins were
normal and unperturbed. All of them were exceedingly perplexed
about how to get along peaceably with John's disciples.
143:3.6 The third day when they started down the
mountain and back to their camp, a great change had come over
them. They had made the important discovery that many human
perplexities are in reality nonexistent, that many pressing
troubles are the creations of exaggerated fear and the offspring
of augmented apprehension. They had learned that all such
perplexities are best handled by being forsaken; by going off they
had left such problems to solve themselves.
143:3.7 Their return from this holiday marked
the beginning of a period of greatly improved relations with the
followers of John. Many of the twelve really gave way to mirth
when they noted the changed state of everybody's mind and observed
the freedom from nervous irritability which had come to them as a
result of their three days' vacation from the routine duties of
life. There is always danger that monotony of human contact will
greatly multiply perplexities and magnify difficulties.
143:3.8 Not many of the gentiles in the two
Greek cities of Archelais and Phasaelis believed in the gospel,
but the twelve apostles gained a valuable experience in this their
first extensive work with exclusively gentile populations. On a
Monday morning, about the middle of the month, Jesus said to
Andrew: "We go into Samaria." And they set out at once for the
city of Sychar, near Jacob's well.
4. THE JEWS AND THE SAMARITANS
143:4.1 For more than six hundred years the Jews
of Judea, and later on those of Galilee also, had been at enmity
with the Samaritans. This ill feeling between the Jews and the
Samaritans came about in this way: About seven hundred years B.C.,
Sargon, king of Assyria, in subduing a revolt in central
Palestine, carried away and into captivity over twenty-five
thousand Jews of the northern kingdom of Israel and installed in
their place an almost equal number of the descendants of the
Cuthites, Sepharvites, and the Hamathites. Later on, Ashurbanipal
sent still other colonies to dwell in Samaria.
143:4.2 The religious enmity between the Jews
and the Samaritans dated from the return of the former from the
Babylonian captivity, when the Samaritans worked to prevent the
rebuilding of Jerusalem. Later they offended the Jews by extending
friendly assistance to the armies of Alexander. In return for
their friendship Alexander gave the Samaritans permission to build
a temple on Mount Gerizim, where they worshiped Yahweh and their
tribal gods and offered sacrifices much after the order of the
temple services at Jerusalem. At least they continued this worship
up to the time of the Maccabees, when John Hyrcanus destroyed
their temple on Mount Gerizim. The Apostle Philip, in his labors
for the Samaritans after the death of Jesus, held many meetings on
the site of this old Samaritan temple.
143:4.3 The antagonisms between the Jews and the
Samaritans were time-honored and historic; increasingly since the
days of Alexander they had had no dealings with each other. The
twelve apostles were not averse to preaching in the Greek and
other gentile cities of the Decapolis and Syria, but it was a
severe test of their loyalty to the Master when he said, "Let us
go into Samaria." But in the year and more they had been with
Jesus, they had developed a form of personal loyalty which
transcended even their faith in his teachings and their prejudices
against the Samaritans.
5. THE WOMAN OF SYCHAR
143:5.1 When the Master and the twelve arrived
at Jacob's well, Jesus, being weary from the journey, tarried by
the well while Philip took the apostles with him to assist in
bringing food and tents from Sychar, for they were disposed to
stay in this vicinity for a while. Peter and the Zebedee sons
would have remained with Jesus, but he requested that they go with
their brethren, saying: "Have no fear for me; these Samaritans
will be friendly; only our brethren, the Jews, seek to harm us."
And it was almost six o'clock on this summer's evening when Jesus
sat down by the well to await the return of the apostles.
143:5.2 The water of Jacob's well was less
mineral than that from the wells of Sychar and was therefore much
valued for drinking purposes. Jesus was thirsty, but there was no
way of getting water from the well. When, therefore, a woman of
Sychar came up with her water pitcher and prepared to draw from
the well, Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." This woman of
Samaria knew Jesus was a Jew by his appearance and dress, and she
surmised that he was a Galilean Jew from his accent. Her name was
Nalda and she was a comely creature. She was much surprised to
have a Jewish man thus speak to her at the well and ask for water,
for it was not deemed proper in those days for a self-respecting
man to speak to a woman in public, much less for a Jew to converse
with a Samaritan. Therefore Nalda asked Jesus, "How is it that
you, being a Jew, ask for a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?" Jesus
answered: "I have indeed asked you for a drink, but if you could
only understand, you would ask me for a draught of the living
water." Then said Nalda: "But, Sir, you have nothing to draw with,
and the well is deep; whence, then, have you this living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well, and
who drank thereof himself and his sons and his cattle also?"
143:5.3 Jesus replied: "Everyone who drinks of
this water will thirst again, but whosoever drinks of the water of
the living spirit shall never thirst. And this living water shall
become in him a well of refreshment springing up even to eternal
life." Nalda then said: "Give me this water that I thirst not
neither come all the way hither to draw. Besides, anything which a
Samaritan woman could receive from such a commendable Jew would be
a pleasure."
143:5.4 Nalda did not know how to take Jesus'
willingness to talk with her. She beheld in the Master's face the
countenance of an upright and holy man, but she mistook
friendliness for commonplace familiarity, and she misinterpreted
his figure of speech as a form of making advances to her. And
being a woman of lax morals, she was minded openly to become
flirtatious, when Jesus, looking straight into her eyes, with a
commanding voice said, "Woman, go get your husband and bring him
hither." This command brought Nalda to her senses. She saw that
she had misjudged the Master's kindness; she perceived that she
had misconstrued his manner of speech. She was frightened; she
began to realize that she stood in the presence of an unusual
person, and groping about in her mind for a suitable reply, in
great confusion, she said, "But, Sir, I cannot call my husband,
for I have no husband." Then said Jesus: "You have spoken the
truth, for, while you may have once had a husband, he with whom
you are now living is not your husband. Better it would be if you
would cease to trifle with my words and seek for the living water
which I have this day offered you."
143:5.5 By this time Nalda was sobered, and her
better self was awakened. She was not an immoral woman wholly by
choice. She had been ruthlessly and unjustly cast aside by her
husband and in dire straits had consented to live with a certain
Greek as his wife, but without marriage. Nalda now felt greatly
ashamed that she had so unthinkingly spoken to Jesus, and she most
penitently addressed the Master, saying: "My Lord, I repent of my
manner of speaking to you, for I perceive that you are a holy man
or maybe a prophet." And she was just about to seek direct and
personal help from the Master when she did what so many have done
before and since -- dodged the issue of personal salvation by
turning to the discussion of theology and philosophy. She quickly
turned the conversation from her own needs to a theological
controversy. Pointing over to Mount Gerizim, she continued: "Our
fathers worshiped on this mountain, and yet you would say
that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship; which,
then, is the right place to worship God?"
143:5.6 Jesus perceived the attempt of the
woman's soul to avoid direct and searching contact with its Maker,
but he also saw that there was present in her soul a desire to
know the better way of life. After all, there was in Nalda's heart
a true thirst for the living water; therefore he dealt patiently
with her, saying: "Woman, let me say to you that the day is soon
coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you
worship the Father. But now you worship that which you know not, a
mixture of the religion of many pagan gods and gentile
philosophies. The Jews at least know whom they worship; they have
removed all confusion by concentrating their worship upon one God,
Yahweh. But you should believe me when I say that the hour will
soon come -- even now is -- when all sincere worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for it is just such
worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and they who worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Your salvation comes
not from knowing how others should worship or where but by
receiving into your own heart this living water which I am
offering you even now."
143:5.7 But Nalda would make one more effort to
avoid the discussion of the embarrassing question of her personal
life on earth and the status of her soul before God. Once more she
resorted to questions of general religion, saying: "Yes, I know,
Sir, that John has preached about the coming of the Converter, he
who will be called the Deliverer, and that, when he shall come, he
will declare to us all things" -- and Jesus, interrupting Nalda,
said with startling assurance, "I who speak to you am he."
143:5.8 This was the first direct, positive, and
undisguised pronouncement of his divine nature and sonship which
Jesus had made on earth; and it was made to a woman, a Samaritan
woman, and a woman of questionable character in the eyes of men up
to this moment, but a woman whom the divine eye beheld as having
been sinned against more than as sinning of her own desire and as
now being a human soul who desired salvation, desired it
sincerely and wholeheartedly, and that was enough.
143:5.9 As Nalda was about to voice her real and
personal longing for better things and a more noble way of living,
just as she was ready to speak the real desire of her heart, the
twelve apostles returned from Sychar, and coming upon this scene
of Jesus' talking so intimately with this woman -- this Samaritan
woman, and alone -- they were more than astonished. They quickly
deposited their supplies and drew aside, no man daring to reprove
him, while Jesus said to Nalda: "Woman, go your way; God has
forgiven you. Henceforth you will live a new life. You have
received the living water, and a new joy will spring up within
your soul, and you shall become a daughter of the Most High." And
the woman, perceiving the disapproval of the apostles, left her
waterpot and fled to the city.
143:5.10 As she entered the city, she proclaimed
to everyone she met: "Go out to Jacob's well and go quickly, for
there you will see a man who told me all I ever did. Can this be
the Converter?" And ere the sun went down, a great crowd had
assembled at Jacob's well to hear Jesus. And the Master talked to
them more about the water of life, the gift of the indwelling
spirit.
143:5.11 The apostles never ceased to be shocked
by Jesus' willingness to talk with women, women of questionable
character, even immoral women. It was very difficult for Jesus to
teach his apostles that women, even so-called immoral women, have
souls which can choose God as their Father, thereby becoming
daughters of God and candidates for life everlasting. Even
nineteen centuries later many show the same unwillingness to grasp
the Master's teachings. Even the Christian religion has been
persistently built up around the fact of the death of Christ
instead of around the truth of his life. The world should be more
concerned with his happy and God-revealing life than with his
tragic and sorrowful death.
143:5.12 Nalda told this entire story to the
Apostle John the next day, but he never revealed it fully to the
other apostles, and Jesus did not speak of it in detail to the
twelve.
143:5.13 Nalda told John that Jesus had told her
"all I ever did." John many times wanted to ask Jesus about this
visit with Nalda, but he never did. Jesus told her only one thing
about herself, but his look into her eyes and the manner of his
dealing with her had so brought all of her checkered life in
panoramic review before her mind in a moment of time that she
associated all of this self-revelation of her past life with the
look and the word of the Master. Jesus never told her she had had
five husbands. She had lived with four different men since her
husband cast her aside, and this, with all her past, came up so
vividly in her mind at the moment when she realized Jesus was a
man of God that she subsequently repeated to John that Jesus had
really told her all about herself.
6. THE SAMARITAN REVIVAL
143:6.1
On the evening that Nalda drew the crowd out from Sychar to see
Jesus, the twelve had just returned with food, and they besought
Jesus to eat with them instead of talking to the people, for they
had been without food all day and were hungry. But Jesus knew that
darkness would soon be upon them; so he persisted in his
determination to talk to the people before he sent them away. When
Andrew sought to persuade him to eat a bite before speaking to the
crowd, Jesus said, "I have meat to eat that you do not know
about." When the apostles heard this, they said among themselves:
"Has any man brought him aught to eat? Can it be that the woman
gave him food as well as drink?" When Jesus heard them talking
among themselves, before he spoke to the people, he turned aside
and said to the twelve: "My meat is to do the will of Him who sent
me and to accomplish His work. You should no longer say it is such
and such a time until the harvest. Behold these people coming out
from a Samaritan city to hear us; I tell you the fields are
already white for the harvest. He who reaps receives wages and
gathers this fruit to eternal life; consequently the sowers and
the reapers rejoice together. For herein is the saying true: `One
sows and another reaps.' I am now sending you to reap that whereon
you have not labored; others have labored, and you are about to
enter into their labor." This he said in reference to the
preaching of John the Baptist.
143:6.2 Jesus and the apostles went into Sychar
and preached two days before they established their camp on Mount
Gerizim. And many of the dwellers in Sychar believed the gospel
and made request for baptism, but the apostles of Jesus did not
yet baptize.
143:6.3 The first night of the camp on Mount
Gerizim the apostles expected that Jesus would rebuke them for
their attitude toward the woman at Jacob's well, but he made no
reference to the matter. Instead he gave them that memorable talk
on "The realities which are central in the kingdom of God." In any
religion it is very easy to allow values to become
disproportionate and to permit facts to occupy the place of truth
in one's theology. The fact of the cross became the very center of
subsequent Christianity; but it is not the central truth of the
religion which may be derived from the life and teachings of Jesus
of Nazareth.
143:6.4 The theme of Jesus' teaching on Mount
Gerizim was: That he wants all men to see God as a Father-friend
just as he (Jesus) is a brother-friend. And again and again he
impressed upon them that love is the greatest relationship in the
world -- in the universe -- just as truth is the greatest
pronouncement of the observation of these divine relationships.
143:6.5 Jesus declared himself so fully to the
Samaritans because he could safely do so, and because he knew that
he would not again visit the heart of Samaria to preach the gospel
of the kingdom.
143:6.6 Jesus and the twelve camped on Mount
Gerizim until the end of August. They preached the good news of
the kingdom -- the fatherhood of God -- to the Samaritans in the
cities by day and spent the nights at the camp. The work which
Jesus and the twelve did in these Samaritan cities yielded many
souls for the kingdom and did much to prepare the way for the
marvelous work of Philip in these regions after Jesus' death and
resurrection, subsequent to the dispersion of the apostles to the
ends of the earth by the bitter persecution of believers at
Jerusalem.
7. TEACHINGS ABOUT PRAYER AND WORSHIP
143:7.1 At the evening conferences on Mount
Gerizim, Jesus taught many great truths, and in particular he laid
emphasis on the following:
143:7.2 True religion is the act of an
individual soul in its self-conscious relations with the Creator;
organized religion is man's attempt to socialize the
worship of individual religionists.
143:7.3 Worship -- contemplation of the
spiritual -- must alternate with service, contact with material
reality. Work should alternate with play; religion should be
balanced by humor. Profound philosophy should be relieved by
rhythmic poetry. The strain of living -- the time tension of
personality -- should be relaxed by the restfulness of worship.
The feelings of insecurity arising from the fear of personality
isolation in the universe should be antidoted by the faith
contemplation of the Father and by the attempted realization of
the Supreme.
143:7.4 Prayer is designed to make man less
thinking but more realizing; it is not designed to increase
knowledge but rather to expand insight.
143:7.5 Worship is intended to anticipate the
better life ahead and then to reflect these new spiritual
significances back onto the life which now is. Prayer is
spiritually sustaining, but worship is divinely creative.
143:7.6 Worship is the technique of looking to
the One for the inspiration of service to the many.
Worship is the yardstick which measures the extent of the soul's
detachment from the material universe and its simultaneous and
secure attachment to the spiritual realities of all creation.
143:7.7 Prayer is self-reminding -- sublime
thinking; worship is self-forgetting -- superthinking. Worship is
effortless attention, true and ideal soul rest, a form of restful
spiritual exertion.
143:7.8 Worship is the act of a part identifying
itself with the Whole; the finite with the Infinite; the son with
the Father; time in the act of striking step with eternity.
Worship is the act of the son's personal communion with the divine
Father, the assumption of refreshing, creative, fraternal, and
romantic attitudes by the human soul-spirit.
143:7.9 Although the apostles grasped only a few
of his teachings at the camp, other worlds did, and other
generations on earth will.
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