The Urantia Book
PAPER 153
THE CRISIS AT CAPERNAUM
153:0.1 ON FRIDAY evening, the day of their
arrival at Bethsaida, and on Sabbath morning, the apostles noticed
that Jesus was seriously occupied with some momentous problem;
they were cognizant that the Master was giving unusual thought to
some important matter. He ate no breakfast and but little at
noontide. All of Sabbath morning and the evening before, the
twelve and their associates were gathered together in small groups
about the house, in the garden, and along the seashore. There was
a tension of uncertainty and a suspense of apprehension resting
upon all of them. Jesus had said little to them since they left
Jerusalem.
153:0.2 Not in months had they seen the Master
so preoccupied and uncommunicative. Even Simon Peter was
depressed, if not downcast. Andrew was at a loss to know what to
do for his dejected associates. Nathaniel said they were in the
midst of the "lull before the storm." Thomas expressed the opinion
that "something out of the ordinary is about to happen." Philip
advised David Zebedee to "forget about plans for feeding and
lodging the multitude until we know what the Master is thinking
about." Matthew was putting forth renewed efforts to replenish the
treasury. James and John talked over the forthcoming sermon in the
synagogue and speculated much as to its probable nature and scope.
Simon Zelotes expressed the belief, in reality a hope, that "the
Father in heaven may be about to intervene in some unexpected
manner for the vindication and support of his Son," while Judas
Iscariot dared to indulge the thought that possibly Jesus was
oppressed with regrets that "he did not have the courage and
daring to permit the five thousand to proclaim him king of the
Jews."
153:0.3 It was from among such a group of
depressed and disconsolate followers that Jesus went forth on this
beautiful Sabbath afternoon to preach his epoch-making sermon in
the Capernaum synagogue. The only word of cheerful greeting or
well-wishing from any of his immediate followers came from one of
the unsuspecting Alpheus twins, who, as Jesus left the house on
his way to the synagogue, saluted him cheerily and said: "We pray
the Father will help you, and that we may have bigger multitudes
than ever."
1. THE SETTING OF THE STAGE
153:1.1 A distinguished congregation greeted
Jesus at three o'clock on this exquisite Sabbath afternoon in the
new Capernaum synagogue. Jairus presided and handed Jesus the
Scriptures to read. The day before, fifty-three Pharisees and
Sadducees had arrived from Jerusalem; more than thirty of the
leaders and rulers of the neighboring synagogues were also
present. These Jewish religious leaders were acting directly under
orders from the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, and they constituted the
orthodox vanguard which had come to inaugurate open warfare on
Jesus and his disciples. Sitting by the side of these Jewish
leaders, in the synagogue seats of honor, were the official
observers of Herod Antipas, who had been directed to ascertain the
truth concerning the disturbing reports that an attempt had been
made by the populace to proclaim Jesus the king of the Jews, over
in the domains of his brother Philip.
153:1.2 Jesus comprehended that he faced the
immediate declaration of avowed and open warfare by his increasing
enemies, and he elected boldly to assume the offensive. At the
feeding of the five thousand he had challenged their ideas of the
material Messiah; now he chose again openly to attack their
concept of the Jewish deliverer. This crisis, which began with the
feeding of the five thousand, and which terminated with this
Sabbath afternoon sermon, was the outward turning of the tide of
popular fame and acclaim. Henceforth, the work of the kingdom was
to be increasingly concerned with the more important task of
winning lasting spiritual converts for the truly religious
brotherhood of mankind. This sermon marks the crisis in the
transition from the period of discussion, controversy, and
decision to that of open warfare and final acceptance or final
rejection.
153:1.3 The Master well knew that many of his
followers were slowly but surely preparing their minds finally to
reject him. He likewise knew that many of his disciples were
slowly but certainly passing through that training of mind and
that discipline of soul which would enable them to triumph over
doubt and courageously to assert their full-fledged faith in the
gospel of the kingdom. Jesus fully understood how men prepare
themselves for the decisions of a crisis and the performance of
sudden deeds of courageous choosing by the slow process of the
reiterated choosing between the recurring situations of good and
evil. He subjected his chosen messengers to repeated rehearsals in
disappointment and provided them with frequent and testing
opportunities for choosing between the right and the wrong way of
meeting spiritual trials. He knew he could depend on his
followers, when they met the final test, to make their vital
decisions in accordance with prior and habitual mental attitudes
and spirit reactions.
153:1.4 This crisis in Jesus' earth life began
with the feeding of the five thousand and ended with this sermon
in the synagogue; the crisis in the lives of the apostles began
with this sermon in the synagogue and continued for a whole year,
ending only with the Master's trial and crucifixion.
153:1.5 As they sat there in the synagogue that
afternoon before Jesus began to speak, there was just one great
mystery, just one supreme question, in the minds of all. Both his
friends and his foes pondered just one thought, and that was: "Why
did he himself so deliberately and effectively turn back the tide
of popular enthusiasm?" And it was immediately before and
immediately after this sermon that the doubts and disappointments
of his disgruntled adherents grew into unconscious opposition and
eventually turned into actual hatred. It was after this sermon in
the synagogue that Judas Iscariot entertained his first conscious
thought of deserting. But he did, for the time being, effectively
master all such inclinations.
153:1.6 Everyone was in a state of perplexity.
Jesus had left them dumfounded and confounded. He had recently
engaged in the greatest demonstration of supernatural power to
characterize his whole career. The feeding of the five thousand
was the one event of his earth life which made the greatest appeal
to the Jewish concept of the expected Messiah. But this
extraordinary advantage was immediately and unexplainedly offset
by his prompt and unequivocal refusal to be made king.
153:1.7
On Friday evening, and again on Sabbath morning, the Jerusalem
leaders had labored long and earnestly with Jairus to prevent
Jesus' speaking in the synagogue, but it was of no avail. Jairus'
only reply to all this pleading was: "I have granted this request,
and I will not violate my word."
2. THE EPOCHAL SERMON
153:2.1 Jesus introduced this sermon by reading
from the law as found in Deuteronomy: "But it shall come to pass,
if this people will not hearken to the voice of God, that the
curses of transgression shall surely overtake them. The Lord shall
cause you to be smitten by your enemies; you shall be removed into
all the kingdoms of the earth. And the Lord shall bring you and
the king you have set up over you into the hands of a strange
nation. You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword
among all nations. Your sons and your daughters shall go into
captivity. The strangers among you shall rise high in authority
while you are brought very low. And these things shall be upon you
and your seed forever because you would not hearken to the word of
the Lord. Therefore shall you serve your enemies who shall come
against you. You shall endure hunger and thirst and wear this
alien yoke of iron. The Lord shall bring against you a nation from
afar, from the end of the earth, a nation whose tongue you shall
not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, a nation which
will have little regard for you. And they shall besiege you in all
your towns until the high fortified walls wherein you have trusted
come down; and all the land shall fall into their hands. And it
shall come to pass that you will be driven to eat the fruit of
your own bodies, the flesh of your sons and daughters, during this
time of siege, because of the straitness wherewith your enemies
shall press you."
153:2.2 And when Jesus had finished this
reading, he turned to the Prophets and read from Jeremiah: "`If
you will not hearken to the words of my servants the prophets whom
I have sent you, then will I make this house like Shiloh, and I
will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.' And
the priests and the teachers heard Jeremiah speak these words in
the house of the Lord. And it came to pass that, when Jeremiah had
made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to
speak to all the people, the priests and teachers laid hold of
him, saying, `You shall surely die.' And all the people crowded
around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. And when the princes of
Judah heard these things, they sat in judgment on Jeremiah. Then
spoke the priests and the teachers to the princes and to all the
people, saying: `This man is worthy to die, for he has prophesied
against our city, and you have heard him with your own ears.' Then
spoke Jeremiah to all the princes and to all the people: `The Lord
sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all
the words which you have heard. Now, therefore, amend your ways
and reform your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God
that you may escape the evil which has been pronounced against
you. As for me, behold I am in your hands. Do with me as seems
good and right in your eyes. But know you for certain that, if you
put me to death, you shall bring innocent blood upon yourselves
and upon this people, for of a truth the Lord has sent me to speak
all these words in your ears.'
153:2.3 "The priests and teachers of that day
sought to kill Jeremiah, but the judges would not consent, albeit,
for his words of warning, they did let him down by cords in a
filthy dungeon until he sank in mire up to his armpits. That is
what this people did to the Prophet Jeremiah when he obeyed the
Lord's command to warn his brethren of their impending political
downfall. Today, I desire to ask you: What will the chief priests
and religious leaders of this people do with the man who dares to
warn them of the day of their spiritual doom? Will you also seek
to put to death the teacher who dares to proclaim the word of the
Lord, and who fears not to point out wherein you refuse to walk in
the way of light which leads to the entrance to the kingdom of
heaven?
153:2.4 "What is it you seek as evidence of my
mission on earth? We have left you undisturbed in your positions
of influence and power while we preached glad tidings to the poor
and the outcast. We have made no hostile attack upon that which
you hold in reverence but have rather proclaimed new liberty for
man's fear-ridden soul. I came into the world to reveal my Father
and to establish on earth the spiritual brotherhood of the sons of
God, the kingdom of heaven. And notwithstanding that I have so
many times reminded you that my kingdom is not of this world,
still has my Father granted you many manifestations of material
wonders in addition to more evidential spiritual transformations
and regenerations.
153:2.5 "What new sign is it that you seek at my
hands? I declare that you already have sufficient evidence to
enable you to make your decision. Verily, verily, I say to many
who sit before me this day, you are confronted with the necessity
of choosing which way you will go; and I say to you, as Joshua
said to your forefathers, `choose you this day whom you will
serve.' Today, many of you stand at the parting of the ways.
153:2.6 "Some of you, when you could not find me
after the feasting of the multitude on the other side, hired the
Tiberias fishing fleet, which a week before had taken shelter near
by during a storm, to go in pursuit of me, and what for? Not for
truth and righteousness or that you might the better know how to
serve and minister to your fellow men! No, but rather that you
might have more bread for which you had not labored. It was not to
fill your souls with the word of life, but only that you might
fill the belly with the bread of ease. And long have you been
taught that the Messiah, when he should come, would work those
wonders which would make life pleasant and easy for all the chosen
people. It is not strange, then, that you who have been thus
taught should long for the loaves and the fishes. But I declare to
you that such is not the mission of the Son of Man. I have come to
proclaim spiritual liberty, teach eternal truth, and foster living
faith.
153:2.7 "My brethren, hanker not after the meat
which perishes but rather seek for the spiritual food that
nourishes even to eternal life; and this is the bread of life
which the Son gives to all who will take it and eat, for the
Father has given the Son this life without measure. And when you
asked me, `What must we do to perform the works of God?' I plainly
told you: `This is the work of God, that you believe him whom he
has sent.'"
153:2.8 And then said Jesus, pointing up to the
device of a pot of manna which decorated the lintel of this new
synagogue, and which was embellished with grape clusters: "You
have thought that your forefathers in the wilderness ate manna --
the bread of heaven -- but I say to you that this was the bread of
earth. While Moses did not give your fathers bread from heaven, my
Father now stands ready to give you the true bread of life. The
bread of heaven is that which comes down from God and gives
eternal life to the men of the world. And when you say to me, Give
us this living bread, I will answer: I am this bread of life. He
who comes to me shall not hunger, while he who believes me shall
never thirst. You have seen me, lived with me, and beheld my
works, yet you believe not that I came forth from the Father. But
to those who do believe -- fear not. All those led of the Father
shall come to me, and he who comes to me shall in nowise be cast
out.
153:2.9 "And now let me declare to you, once and
for all time, that I have come down upon the earth, not to do my
own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the final
will of Him who sent me, that of all those he has given me I
should not lose one. And this is the will of the Father: That
every one who beholds the Son and who believes him shall have
eternal life. Only yesterday did I feed you with bread for your
bodies; today I offer you the bread of life for your hungry souls.
Will you now take the bread of the spirit as you then so willingly
ate the bread of this world?"
153:2.10 As Jesus paused for a moment to look
over the congregation, one of the teachers from Jerusalem (a
member of the Sanhedrin) rose up and asked: "Do I understand you
to say that you are the bread which comes down from heaven, and
that the manna which Moses gave to our fathers in the wilderness
did not?" And Jesus answered the Pharisee, "You understood
aright." Then said the Pharisee: "But are you not Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph, the carpenter? Are not your father
and mother, as well as your brothers and sisters, well known to
many of us? How then is it that you appear here in God's house and
declare that you have come down from heaven?"
153:2.11
By this time there was much murmuring in the synagogue, and such a
tumult was threatened that Jesus stood up and said: "Let us be
patient; the truth never suffers from honest examination. I am all
that you say but more. The Father and I are one; the Son does only
that which the Father teaches him, while all those who are given
to the Son by the Father, the Son will receive to himself. You
have read where it is written in the Prophets, `You shall all be
taught by God,' and that `Those whom the Father teaches will hear
also his Son.' Every one who yields to the teaching of the
Father's indwelling spirit will eventually come to me. Not that
any man has seen the Father, but the Father's spirit does live
within man. And the Son who came down from heaven, he has surely
seen the Father. And those who truly believe this Son already have
eternal life.
153:2.12 "I am this bread of life. Your fathers
ate manna in the wilderness and are dead. But this bread which
comes down from God, if a man eats thereof, he shall never die in
spirit. I repeat, I am this living bread, and every soul who
attains the realization of this united nature of God and man shall
live forever. And this bread of life which I give to all who will
receive is my own living and combined nature. The Father in the
Son and the Son one with the Father -- that is my life-giving
revelation to the world and my saving gift to all nations."
153:2.13 When Jesus had finished speaking, the
ruler of the synagogue dismissed the congregation, but they would
not depart. They crowded up around Jesus to ask more questions
while others murmured and disputed among themselves. And this
state of affairs continued for more than three hours. It was well
past seven o'clock before the audience finally dispersed.
3. THE AFTER MEETING
153:3.1 Many were the questions asked Jesus
during this after meeting. Some were asked by his perplexed
disciples, but more were asked by caviling unbelievers who sought
only to embarrass and entrap him.
153:3.2 One of the visiting Pharisees, mounting
a lampstand, shouted out this question: "You tell us that you are
the bread of life. How can you give us your flesh to eat or your
blood to drink? What avail is your teaching if it cannot be
carried out?" And Jesus answered this question, saying: "I did not
teach you that my flesh is the bread of life nor that my blood is
the water thereof. But I did say that my life in the flesh is a
bestowal of the bread of heaven. The fact of the Word of God
bestowed in the flesh and the phenomenon of the Son of Man subject
to the will of God, constitute a reality of experience which is
equivalent to the divine sustenance. You cannot eat my flesh nor
can you drink my blood, but you can become one in spirit with me
even as I am one in spirit with the Father. You can be nourished
by the eternal word of God, which is indeed the bread of life, and
which has been bestowed in the likeness of mortal flesh; and you
can be watered in soul by the divine spirit, which is truly the
water of life. The Father has sent me into the world to show how
he desires to indwell and direct all men; and I have so lived this
life in the flesh as to inspire all men likewise ever to seek to
know and do the will of the indwelling heavenly Father."
153:3.3 Then one of the Jerusalem spies who had
been observing Jesus and his apostles, said: "We notice that
neither you nor your apostles wash your hands properly before you
eat bread. You must well know that such a practice as eating with
defiled and unwashed hands is a transgression of the law of the
elders. Neither do you properly wash your drinking cups and eating
vessels. Why is it that you show such disrespect for the
traditions of the fathers and the laws of our elders?" And when
Jesus heard him speak, he answered: "Why is it that you transgress
the commandments of God by the laws of your tradition? The
commandment says, `Honor your father and your mother,' and directs
that you share with them your substance if necessary; but you
enact a law of tradition which permits undutiful children to say
that the money wherewith the parents might have been assisted has
been `given to God.' The law of the elders thus relieves such
crafty children of their responsibility, notwithstanding that the
children subsequently use all such monies for their own comfort.
Why is it that you in this way make void the commandment by your
own tradition? Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, saying:
`This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines
the precepts of men.'
153:3.4 "You can see how it is that you desert
the commandment while you hold fast to the tradition of men.
Altogether willing are you to reject the word of God while you
maintain your own traditions. And in many other ways do you dare
to set up your own teachings above the law and the prophets."
153:3.5 Jesus then directed his remarks to all
present. He said: "But hearken to me all of you. It is not that
which enters into the mouth that spiritually defiles the man, but
rather that which proceeds out of the mouth and from the heart."
But even the apostles failed fully to grasp the meaning of his
words, for Simon Peter also asked him: "Lest some of your hearers
be unnecessarily offended, would you explain to us the meaning of
these words?" And then said Jesus to Peter: "Are you also hard of
understanding? Know you not that every plant which my heavenly
Father has not planted shall be rooted up? Turn now your attention
to those who would know the truth. You cannot compel men to love
the truth. Many of these teachers are blind guides. And you know
that, if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the pit.
But hearken while I tell you the truth concerning those things
which morally defile and spiritually contaminate men. I declare it
is not that which enters the body by the mouth or gains access to
the mind through the eyes and ears, that defiles the man. Man is
only defiled by that evil which may originate within the heart,
and which finds expression in the words and deeds of such unholy
persons. Do you not know it is from the heart that there come
forth evil thoughts, wicked projects of murder, theft, and
adulteries, together with jealousy, pride, anger, revenge,
railings, and false witness? And it is just such things that
defile men, and not that they eat bread with ceremonially unclean
hands."
153:3.6 The Pharisaic commissioners of the
Jerusalem Sanhedrin were now almost convinced that Jesus must be
apprehended on a charge of blasphemy or on one of flouting the
sacred law of the Jews; wherefore their efforts to involve him in
the discussion of, and possible attack upon, some of the
traditions of the elders, or so-called oral laws of the nation. No
matter how scarce water might be, these traditionally enslaved
Jews would never fail to go through with the required ceremonial
washing of the hands before every meal. It was their belief that
"it is better to die than to transgress the commandments of the
elders." The spies asked this question because it had been
reported that Jesus had said, "Salvation is a matter of clean
hearts rather than of clean hands." But such beliefs, when they
once become a part of one's religion, are hard to get away from.
Even many years after this day the Apostle Peter was still held in
the bondage of fear to many of these traditions about things clean
and unclean, only being finally delivered by experiencing an
extraordinary and vivid dream. All of this can the better be
understood when it is recalled that these Jews looked upon eating
with unwashed hands in the same light as commerce with a harlot,
and both were equally punishable by excommunication.
153:3.7 Thus did the Master elect to discuss and
expose the folly of the whole rabbinic system of rules and
regulations which was represented by the oral law -- the
traditions of the elders, all of which were regarded as more
sacred and more binding upon the Jews than even the teachings of
the Scriptures. And Jesus spoke out with less reserve because he
knew the hour had come when he could do nothing more to prevent an
open rupture of relations with these religious leaders.
4. LAST WORDS IN THE SYNAGOGUE
153:4.1 In the midst of the discussions of this
after meeting, one of the Pharisees from Jerusalem brought to
Jesus a distraught youth who was possessed of an unruly and
rebellious spirit. Leading this demented lad up to Jesus, he said:
"What can you do for such affliction as this? Can you cast out
devils?" And when the Master looked upon the youth, he was moved
with compassion and, beckoning for the lad to come to him, took
him by the hand and said: "You know who I am; come out of him; and
I charge one of your loyal fellows to see that you do not return."
And immediately the lad was normal and in his right mind. And this
is the first case where Jesus really cast an "evil spirit" out of
a human being. All of the previous cases were only supposed
possession of the devil; but this was a genuine case of demoniac
possession, even such as sometimes occurred in those days and
right up to the day of Pentecost, when the Master's spirit was
poured out upon all flesh, making it forever impossible for these
few celestial rebels to take such advantage of certain unstable
types of human beings.
153:4.2 When the people marveled, one of the
Pharisees stood up and charged that Jesus could do these things
because he was in league with devils; that he admitted in the
language which he employed in casting out this devil that they
were known to each other; and he went on to state that the
religious teachers and leaders at Jerusalem had decided that Jesus
did all his so-called miracles by the power of Beelzebub, the
prince of devils. Said the Pharisee: "Have nothing to do with this
man; he is in partnership with Satan."
153:4.3 Then said Jesus: "How can Satan cast out
Satan? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand; if a house
be divided against itself, it is soon brought to desolation. Can a
city withstand a siege if it is not united? If Satan casts out
Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom
stand? But you should know that no one can enter into the house of
a strong man and despoil his goods except he first overpower and
bind that strong man. And so, if I by the power of Beelzebub cast
out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore shall
they be your judges. But if I, by the spirit of God, cast out
devils, then has the kingdom of God truly come upon you. If you
were not blinded by prejudice and misled by fear and pride, you
would easily perceive that one who is greater than devils stands
in your midst. You compel me to declare that he who is not with me
is against me, while he who gathers not with me scatters abroad.
Let me utter a solemn warning to you who would presume, with your
eyes open and with premeditated malice, knowingly to ascribe the
works of God to the doings of devils! Verily, verily, I say to
you, all your sins shall be forgiven, even all of your
blasphemies, but whosoever shall blaspheme against God with
deliberation and wicked intention shall never obtain forgiveness.
Since such persistent workers of iniquity will never seek nor
receive forgiveness, they are guilty of the sin of eternally
rejecting divine forgiveness.
153:4.4 "Many of you have this day come to the
parting of the ways; you have come to a beginning of the making of
the inevitable choice between the will of the Father and the
self-chosen ways of darkness. And as you now choose, so shall you
eventually be. You must either make the tree good and its fruit
good, or else will the tree become corrupt and its fruit corrupt.
I declare that in my Father's eternal kingdom the tree is known by
its fruits. But some of you who are as vipers, how can you, having
already chosen evil, bring forth good fruits? After all, out of
the abundance of the evil in your hearts your mouths speak."
153:4.5 Then stood up another Pharisee, who
said: "Teacher, we would have you give us a predetermined sign
which we will agree upon as establishing your authority and right
to teach. Will you agree to such an arrangement?" And when Jesus
heard this, he said: "This faithless and sign-seeking generation
seeks a token, but no sign shall be given you other than that
which you already have, and that which you shall see when the Son
of Man departs from among you."
153:4.6 And when he had finished speaking, his
apostles surrounded him and led him from the synagogue. In silence
they journeyed home with him to Bethsaida. They were all amazed
and somewhat terror-stricken by the sudden change in the Master's
teaching tactics. They were wholly unaccustomed to seeing him
perform in such a militant manner.
5. THE SATURDAY EVENING
153:5.1 Time and again had Jesus dashed to
pieces the hopes of his apostles, repeatedly had he crushed their
fondest expectations, but no time of disappointment or season of
sorrow had ever equaled that which now overtook them. And, too,
there was now admixed with their depression a real fear for their
safety. They were all surprisingly startled by the suddenness and
completeness of the desertion of the populace. They were also
somewhat frightened and disconcerted by the unexpected boldness
and assertive determination exhibited by the Pharisees who had
come down from Jerusalem. But most of all they were bewildered by
Jesus' sudden change of tactics. Under ordinary circumstances they
would have welcomed the appearance of this more militant attitude,
but coming as it did, along with so much that was unexpected, it
startled them.
153:5.2 And now, on top of all of these worries,
when they reached home, Jesus refused to eat. For hours he
isolated himself in one of the upper rooms. It was almost midnight
when Joab, the leader of the evangelists, returned and reported
that about one third of his associates had deserted the cause. All
through the evening loyal disciples had come and gone, reporting
that the revulsion of feeling toward the Master was general in
Capernaum. The leaders from Jerusalem were not slow to feed this
feeling of disaffection and in every way possible to seek to
promote the movement away from Jesus and his teachings. During
these trying hours the twelve women were in session over at
Peter's house. They were tremendously upset, but none of them
deserted.
153:5.3 It was a little after midnight when
Jesus came down from the upper chamber and stood among the twelve
and their associates, numbering about thirty in all. He said: "I
recognize that this sifting of the kingdom distresses you, but it
is unavoidable. Still, after all the training you have had, was
there any good reason why you should stumble at my words? Why is
it that you are filled with fear and consternation when you see
the kingdom being divested of these lukewarm multitudes and these
halfhearted disciples? Why do you grieve when the new day is
dawning for the shining forth in new glory of the spiritual
teachings of the kingdom of heaven? If you find it difficult to
endure this test, what, then, will you do when the Son of Man must
return to the Father? When and how will you prepare yourselves for
the time when I ascend to the place whence I came to this world?
153:5.4 "My beloved, you must remember that it
is the spirit that quickens; the flesh and all that pertains
thereto is of little profit. The words which I have spoken to you
are spirit and life. Be of good cheer! I have not deserted you.
Many shall be offended by the plain speaking of these days.
Already you have heard that many of my disciples have turned back;
they walk no more with me. From the beginning I knew that these
halfhearted believers would fall out by the way. Did I not choose
you twelve men and set you apart as ambassadors of the kingdom?
And now at such a time as this would you also desert? Let each of
you look to his own faith, for one of you stands in grave danger."
And when Jesus had finished speaking, Simon Peter said: "Yes,
Lord, we are sad and perplexed, but we will never forsake you. You
have taught us the words of eternal life. We have believed in you
and followed with you all this time. We will not turn back, for we
know that you are sent by God." And as Peter ceased speaking, they
all with one accord nodded their approval of his pledge of
loyalty.
153:5.5 Then said Jesus: "Go to your rest, for
busy times are upon us; active days are just ahead."
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