The Urantia Book
PAPER 167
THE VISIT TO PHILADELPHIA
167:0.1 THROUGHOUT this period of the Perean
ministry, when mention is made of Jesus and the apostles visiting
the various localities where the seventy were at work, it should
be recalled that, as a rule, only ten were with him since it was
the practice to leave at least two of the apostles at Pella to
instruct the multitude. As Jesus prepared to go on to
Philadelphia, Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew, returned to the
Pella encampment to teach the crowds there assembled. When the
Master left the camp at Pella to visit about Perea, it was not
uncommon for from three to five hundred of the campers to follow
him. When he arrived at Philadelphia, he was accompanied by over
six hundred followers.
167:0.2 No miracles had attended the recent
preaching tour through the Decapolis, and, excepting the cleansing
of the ten lepers, thus far there had been no miracles on this
Perean mission. This was a period when the gospel was proclaimed
with power, without miracles, and most of the time without the
personal presence of Jesus or even of his apostles.
167:0.3 Jesus and the ten apostles arrived at
Philadelphia on Wednesday, February 22, and spent Thursday and
Friday resting from their recent travels and labors. That Friday
night James spoke in the synagogue, and a general council was
called for the following evening. They were much rejoiced over the
progress of the gospel at Philadelphia and among the near-by
villages. The messengers of David also brought word of the further
advancement of the kingdom throughout Palestine, as well as good
news from Alexandria and Damascus.
1. BREAKFAST WITH THE PHARISEES
167:1.1 There lived in Philadelphia a very
wealthy and influential Pharisee who had accepted the teachings of
Abner, and who invited Jesus to his house Sabbath morning for
breakfast. It was known that Jesus was expected in Philadelphia at
this time; so a large number of visitors, among them many
Pharisees, had come over from Jerusalem and from elsewhere.
Accordingly, about forty of these leading men and a few lawyers
were bidden to this breakfast, which had been arranged in honor of
the Master.
167:1.2 As Jesus lingered by the door, speaking
with Abner, and after the host had seated himself, there came into
the room one of the leading Pharisees of Jerusalem, a member of
the Sanhedrin, and as was his habit, he made straight for the seat
of honor at the left of the host. But since this place had been
reserved for the Master and that on the right for Abner, the host
beckoned the Jerusalem Pharisee to sit four seats to the left, and
this dignitary was much offended because he did not receive the
seat of honor.
167:1.3 Soon they were all seated and enjoying
the visiting among themselves since the majority of those present
were disciples of Jesus or else were friendly to the gospel. Only
his enemies took notice of the fact that he did not observe the
ceremonial washing of his hands before he sat down to eat. Abner
washed his hands at the beginning of the meal but not during the
serving.
167:1.4 Near the end of the meal there came in
from the street a man long afflicted with a chronic disease and
now in a dropsical condition. This man was a believer, having
recently been baptized by Abner's associates. He made no request
of Jesus for healing, but the Master knew full well that this
afflicted man came to this breakfast hoping thereby to escape the
crowds which thronged him and thus be more likely to engage his
attention. This man knew that few miracles were then being
performed; however, he had reasoned in his heart that his sorry
plight might possibly appeal to the Master's compassion. And he
was not mistaken, for, when he entered the room, both Jesus and
the self-righteous Pharisee from Jerusalem took notice of him. The
Pharisee was not slow to voice his resentment that such a one
should be permitted to enter the room. But Jesus looked upon the
sick man and smiled so benignly that he drew near and sat down
upon the floor. As the meal was ending, the Master looked over his
fellow guests and then, after glancing significantly at the man
with dropsy, said: "My friends, teachers in Israel and learned
lawyers, I would like to ask you a question: Is it lawful to heal
the sick and afflicted on the Sabbath day, or not?" But those who
were there present knew Jesus too well; they held their peace;
they answered not his question.
167:1.5 Then went Jesus over to where the sick
man sat and, taking him by the hand, said: "Arise and go your way.
You have not asked to be healed, but I know the desire of your
heart and the faith of your soul." Before the man left the room,
Jesus returned to his seat and, addressing those at the table,
said: "Such works my Father does, not to tempt you into the
kingdom, but to reveal himself to those who are already in the
kingdom. You can perceive that it would be like the Father to do
just such things because which one of you, having a favorite
animal that fell in the well on the Sabbath day, would not go
right out and draw him up?" And since no one would answer him, and
inasmuch as his host evidently approved of what was going on,
Jesus stood up and spoke to all present: "My brethren, when you
are bidden to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat,
lest, perchance, a more honored man than you has been invited, and
the host will have to come to you and request that you give your
place to this other and honored guest. In this event, with shame
you will be required to take a lower place at the table. When you
are bidden to a feast, it would be the part of wisdom, on arriving
at the festive table, to seek for the lowest place and take your
seat therein, so that, when the host looks over the guests, he may
say to you: `My friend, why sit in the seat of the least? come up
higher'; and thus will such a one have glory in the presence of
his fellow guests. Forget not, every one who exalts himself shall
be humbled, while he who truly humbles himself shall be exalted.
Therefore, when you entertain at dinner or give a supper, invite
not always your friends, your brethren, your kinsmen, or your rich
neighbors that they in return may bid you to their feasts, and
thus will you be recompensed. When you give a banquet, sometimes
bid the poor, the maimed, and the blind. In this way you shall be
blessed in your heart, for you well know that the lame and the
halt cannot repay you for your loving ministry."
2. PARABLE OF THE GREAT SUPPER
167:2.1 As Jesus finished speaking at the
breakfast table of the Pharisee, one of the lawyers present,
desiring to relieve the silence, thoughtlessly said: "Blessed is
he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" -- that being a
common saying of those days. And then Jesus spoke a parable, which
even his friendly host was compelled to take to heart. He said:
167:2.2 "A certain ruler gave a great supper,
and having bidden many guests, he dispatched his servants at
suppertime to say to those who were invited, `Come, for everything
is now ready.' And they all with one accord began to make excuses.
The first said, `I have just bought a farm, and I must needs to go
prove it; I pray you have me excused.' Another said, `I have
bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to receive them; I pray
you have me excused.' And another said, `I have just married a
wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servants went back and
reported this to their master. When the master of the house heard
this, he was very angry, and turning to his servants, he said: `I
have made ready this marriage feast; the fatlings are killed, and
all is in readiness for my guests, but they have spurned my
invitation; they have gone every man after his lands and his
merchandise, and they even show disrespect to my servants who bid
them come to my feast. Go out quickly, therefore, into the streets
and lanes of the city, out into the highways and the byways, and
bring hither the poor and the outcast, the blind and the lame,
that the marriage feast may have guests.' And the servants did as
their lord commanded, and even then there was room for more
guests. Then said the lord to his servants: `Go now out into the
roads and the countryside and constrain those who are there to
come in that my house may be filled. I declare that none of those
who were first bidden shall taste of my supper.' And the servants
did as their master commanded, and the house was filled."
167:2.3 And when they heard these words, they
departed; every man went to his own place. At least one of the
sneering Pharisees present that morning comprehended the meaning
of this parable, for he was baptized that day and made public
confession of his faith in the gospel of the kingdom. Abner
preached on this parable that night at the general council of
believers.
167:2.4 The next day all of the apostles engaged
in the philosophic exercise of endeavoring to interpret the
meaning of this parable of the great supper. Though Jesus listened
with interest to all of these differing interpretations, he
steadfastly refused to offer them further help in understanding
the parable. He would only say, "Let every man find out the
meaning for himself and in his own soul."
3. THE WOMAN WITH THE SPIRIT OF INFIRMITY
167:3.1 Abner had arranged for the Master to
teach in the synagogue on this Sabbath day, the first time Jesus
had appeared in a synagogue since they had all been closed to his
teachings by order of the Sanhedrin. At the conclusion of the
service Jesus looked down before him upon an elderly woman who
wore a downcast expression, and who was much bent in form. This
woman had long been fear-ridden, and all joy had passed out of her
life. As Jesus stepped down from the pulpit, he went over to her
and, touching her bowed-over form on the shoulder, said: "Woman,
if you would only believe, you could be wholly loosed from your
spirit of infirmity." And this woman, who had been bowed down and
bound up by the depressions of fear for more than eighteen years,
believed the words of the Master and by faith straightened up
immediately. When this woman saw that she had been made straight,
she lifted up her voice and glorified God.
167:3.2 Notwithstanding that this woman's
affliction was wholly mental, her bowed-over form being the result
of her depressed mind, the people thought that Jesus had healed a
real physical disorder. Although the congregation of the synagogue
at Philadelphia was friendly toward the teachings of Jesus, the
chief ruler of the synagogue was an unfriendly Pharisee. And as he
shared the opinion of the congregation that Jesus had healed a
physical disorder, and being indignant because Jesus had presumed
to do such a thing on the Sabbath, he stood up before the
congregation and said: "Are there not six days in which men should
do all their work? In these working days come, therefore, and be
healed, but not on the Sabbath day."
167:3.3 When the unfriendly ruler had thus
spoken, Jesus returned to the speaker's platform and said: "Why
play the part of hypocrites? Does not every one of you, on the
Sabbath, loose his ox from the stall and lead him forth for
watering? If such a service is permissible on the Sabbath day,
should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham who has been bound
down by evil these eighteen years, be loosed from this bondage and
led forth to partake of the waters of liberty and life, even on
this Sabbath day?" And as the woman continued to glorify God, his
critic was put to shame, and the congregation rejoiced with her
that she had been healed.
167:3.4 As a result of his public criticism of
Jesus on this Sabbath the chief ruler of the synagogue was
deposed, and a follower of Jesus was put in his place.
167:3.5 Jesus frequently delivered such victims
of fear from their spirit of infirmity, from their depression of
mind, and from their bondage of fear. But the people thought that
all such afflictions were either physical disorders or possession
of evil spirits.
167:3.6 Jesus taught again in the synagogue on
Sunday, and many were baptized by Abner at noon on that day in the
river which flowed south of the city. On the morrow Jesus and the
ten apostles would have started back to the Pella encampment but
for the arrival of one of David's messengers, who brought an
urgent message to Jesus from his friends at Bethany, near
Jerusalem.
4. THE MESSAGE FROM BETHANY
167:4.1 Very late on Sunday night, February 26,
a runner from Bethany arrived at Philadelphia, bringing a message
from Martha and Mary which said, "Lord, he whom you love is very
sick." This message reached Jesus at the close of the evening
conference and just as he was taking leave of the apostles for the
night. At first Jesus made no reply. There occurred one of those
strange interludes, a time when he appeared to be in communication
with something outside of, and beyond, himself. And then, looking
up, he addressed the messenger in the hearing of the apostles,
saying: "This sickness is really not to the death. Doubt not that
it may be used to glorify God and exalt the Son."
167:4.2 Jesus was very fond of Martha, Mary, and
their brother, Lazarus; he loved them with a fervent affection.
His first and human thought was to go to their assistance at once,
but another idea came into his combined mind. He had almost given
up hope that the Jewish leaders at Jerusalem would ever accept the
kingdom, but he still loved his people, and there now occurred to
him a plan whereby the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem might
have one more chance to accept his teachings; and he decided, his
Father willing, to make this last appeal to Jerusalem the most
profound and stupendous outward working of his entire earth
career. The Jews clung to the idea of a wonder-working deliverer.
And though he refused to stoop to the performance of material
wonders or to the enactment of temporal exhibitions of political
power, he did now ask the Father's consent for the manifestation
of his hitherto unexhibited power over life and death.
167:4.3 The Jews were in the habit of burying
their dead on the day of their demise; this was a necessary
practice in such a warm climate. It often happened that they put
in the tomb one who was merely comatose, so that on the second, or
even the third day, such a one would come forth from the tomb. But
it was the belief of the Jews that, while the spirit or soul might
linger near the body for two or three days, it never tarried after
the third day; that decay was well advanced by the fourth day, and
that no one ever returned from the tomb after the lapse of such a
period. And it was for these reasons that Jesus tarried yet two
full days in Philadelphia before he made ready to start for
Bethany.
167:4.4 Accordingly, early on Wednesday morning
he said to his apostles: "Let us prepare at once to go into Judea
again." And when the apostles heard their Master say this, they
drew off by themselves for a time to take counsel of one another.
James assumed the direction of the conference, and they all agreed
that it was only folly to allow Jesus to go again into Judea, and
they came back as one man and so informed him. Said James:
"Master, you were in Jerusalem a few weeks back, and the leaders
sought your death, while the people were minded to stone you. At
that time you gave these men their chance to receive the truth,
and we will not permit you to go again into Judea."
167:4.5 Then said Jesus: "But do you not
understand that there are twelve hours of the day in which work
may safely be done? If a man walks in the day, he does not stumble
inasmuch as he has light. If a man walks in the night, he is
liable to stumble since he is without light. As long as my day
lasts, I fear not to enter Judea. I would do one more mighty work
for these Jews; I would give them one more chance to believe, even
on their own terms -- conditions of outward glory and the visible
manifestation of the power of the Father and the love of the Son.
Besides, do you not realize that our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep, and I would go to awake him out of this sleep!"
167:4.6 Then said one of the apostles: "Master,
if Lazarus has fallen asleep, then will he the more surely
recover." It was the custom of the Jews at that time to speak of
death as a form of sleep, but as the apostles did not understand
that Jesus meant that Lazarus had departed from this world, he now
said plainly: "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes, even
if the others are not thereby saved, that I was not there, to the
end that you shall now have new cause to believe in me; and by
that which you will witness, you should all be strengthened in
preparation for that day when I shall take leave of you and go to
the Father."
167:4.7 When they could not persuade him to
refrain from going into Judea, and when some of the apostles were
loath even to accompany him, Thomas addressed his fellows, saying:
"We have told the Master our fears, but he is determined to go to
Bethany. I am satisfied it means the end; they will surely kill
him, but if that is the Master's choice, then let us acquit
ourselves like men of courage; let us go also that we may die with
him." And it was ever so; in matters requiring deliberate and
sustained courage, Thomas was always the mainstay of the twelve
apostles.
5. ON THE WAY TO BETHANY
167:5.1 On the way to Judea Jesus was followed
by a company of almost fifty of his friends and enemies. At their
noon lunchtime, on Wednesday, he talked to his apostles and this
group of followers on the "Terms of Salvation," and at the end of
this lesson told the parable of the Pharisee and the publican (a
tax collector). Said Jesus: "You see, then, that the Father gives
salvation to the children of men, and this salvation is a free
gift to all who have the faith to receive sonship in the divine
family. There is nothing man can do to earn this salvation. Works
of self-righteousness cannot buy the favor of God, and much
praying in public will not atone for lack of living faith in the
heart. Men you may deceive by your outward service, but God looks
into your souls. What I am telling you is well illustrated by two
men who went into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the
other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself: `O
God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners,
unlearned, unjust, adulterers, or even like this publican. I fast
twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the publican,
standing afar off, would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven
but smote his breast, saying, `God be merciful to me a sinner.' I
tell you that the publican went home with God's approval rather
than the Pharisee, for every one who exalts himself shall be
humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
167:5.2 That night, in Jericho, the unfriendly
Pharisees sought to entrap the Master by inducing him to discuss
marriage and divorce, as did their fellows one time in Galilee,
but Jesus artfully avoided their efforts to bring him into
conflict with their laws concerning divorce. As the publican and
the Pharisee illustrated good and bad religion, their divorce
practices served to contrast the better marriage laws of the
Jewish code with the disgraceful laxity of the Pharisaic
interpretations of these Mosaic divorce statutes. The Pharisee
judged himself by the lowest standard; the publican squared
himself by the highest ideal. Devotion, to the Pharisee, was a
means of inducing self-righteous inactivity and the assurance of
false spiritual security; devotion, to the publican, was a means
of stirring up his soul to the realization of the need for
repentance, confession, and the acceptance, by faith, of merciful
forgiveness. The Pharisee sought justice; the publican sought
mercy. The law of the universe is: Ask and you shall receive; seek
and you shall find.
167:5.3 Though Jesus refused to be drawn into a
controversy with the Pharisees concerning divorce, he did proclaim
a positive teaching of the highest ideals regarding marriage. He
exalted marriage as the most ideal and highest of all human
relationships. Likewise, he intimated strong disapproval of the
lax and unfair divorce practices of the Jerusalem Jews, who at
that time permitted a man to divorce his wife for the most
trifling of reasons, such as being a poor cook, a faulty
housekeeper, or for no better reason than that he had become
enamoured of a better-looking woman.
167:5.4 The Pharisees had even gone so far as to
teach that divorce of this easy variety was a special dispensation
granted the Jewish people, particularly the Pharisees. And so,
while Jesus refused to make pronouncements dealing with marriage
and divorce, he did most bitterly denounce these shameful
floutings of the marriage relationship and pointed out their
injustice to women and children. He never sanctioned any divorce
practice which gave man any advantage over woman; the Master
countenanced only those teachings which accorded women equality
with men.
167:5.5 Although Jesus did not offer new
mandates governing marriage and divorce, he did urge the Jews to
live up to their own laws and higher teachings. He constantly
appealed to the written Scriptures in his effort to improve their
practices along these social lines. While thus upholding the high
and ideal concepts of marriage, Jesus skillfully avoided clashing
with his questioners about the social practices represented by
either their written laws or their much-cherished divorce
privileges.
167:5.6 It was very difficult for the apostles
to understand the Master's reluctance to make positive
pronouncements relative to scientific, social, economic, and
political problems. They did not fully realize that his earth
mission was exclusively concerned with revelations of spiritual
and religious truths.
167:5.7 After Jesus had talked about marriage
and divorce, later on that evening his apostles privately asked
many additional questions, and his answers to these inquiries
relieved their minds of many misconceptions. At the conclusion of
this conference Jesus said: "Marriage is honorable and is to be
desired by all men. The fact that the Son of Man pursues his earth
mission alone is in no way a reflection on the desirability of
marriage. That I should so work is the Father's will, but this
same Father has directed the creation of male and female, and it
is the divine will that men and women should find their highest
service and consequent joy in the establishment of homes for the
reception and training of children, in the creation of whom these
parents become copartners with the Makers of heaven and earth. And
for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall
cleave to his wife, and they two shall become as one."
167:5.8 And in this way Jesus relieved the minds
of the apostles of many worries about marriage and cleared up many
misunderstandings regarding divorce; at the same time he did much
to exalt their ideals of social union and to augment their respect
for women and children and for the home.
6. BLESSING THE LITTLE CHILDREN
167:6.1 That evening Jesus' message regarding
marriage and the blessedness of children spread all over Jericho,
so that the next morning, long before Jesus and the apostles
prepared to leave, even before breakfast time, scores of mothers
came to where Jesus lodged, bringing their children in their arms
and leading them by their hands, and desired that he bless the
little ones. When the apostles went out to view this assemblage of
mothers with their children, they endeavored to send them away,
but these women refused to depart until the Master laid his hands
on their children and blessed them. And when the apostles loudly
rebuked these mothers, Jesus, hearing the tumult, came out and
indignantly reproved them, saying: "Suffer little children to come
to me; forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Verily, verily, I say to you, whosoever receives not the kingdom
of God as a little child shall hardly enter therein to grow up to
the full stature of spiritual manhood."
167:6.2 And when the Master had spoken to his
apostles, he received all of the children, laying his hands on
them, while he spoke words of courage and hope to their mothers.
167:6.3 Jesus often talked to his apostles about
the celestial mansions and taught that the advancing children of
God must there grow up spiritually as children grow up physically
on this world. And so does the sacred oftentimes appear to be the
common, as on this day these children and their mothers little
realized that the onlooking intelligences of Nebadon beheld the
children of Jericho playing with the Creator of a universe.
167:6.4 Woman's status in Palestine was much
improved by Jesus' teaching; and so it would have been throughout
the world if his followers had not departed so far from that which
he painstakingly taught them.
167:6.5 It was also at Jericho, in connection
with the discussion of the early religious training of children in
habits of divine worship, that Jesus impressed upon his apostles
the great value of beauty as an influence leading to the urge to
worship, especially with children. The Master by precept and
example taught the value of worshiping the Creator in the midst of
the natural surroundings of creation. He preferred to commune with
the heavenly Father amidst the trees and among the lowly creatures
of the natural world. He rejoiced to contemplate the Father
through the inspiring spectacle of the starry realms of the
Creator Sons.
167:6.6 When it is not possible to worship God
in the tabernacles of nature, men should do their best to provide
houses of beauty, sanctuaries of appealing simplicity and artistic
embellishment, so that the highest of human emotions may be
aroused in association with the intellectual approach to spiritual
communion with God. Truth, beauty, and holiness are powerful and
effective aids to true worship. But spirit communion is not
promoted by mere massive ornateness and overmuch embellishment
with man's elaborate and ostentatious art. Beauty is most
religious when it is most simple and naturelike. How unfortunate
that little children should have their first introduction to
concepts of public worship in cold and barren rooms so devoid of
the beauty appeal and so empty of all suggestion of good cheer and
inspiring holiness! The child should be introduced to worship in
nature's outdoors and later accompany his parents to public houses
of religious assembly which are at least as materially attractive
and artistically beautiful as the home in which he is daily
domiciled.
7. THE TALK ABOUT ANGELS
167:7.1 As they journeyed up the hills from
Jericho to Bethany, Nathaniel walked most of the way by the side
of Jesus, and their discussion of children in relation to the
kingdom of heaven led indirectly to the consideration of the
ministry of angels. Nathaniel finally asked the Master this
question: "Seeing that the high priest is a Sadducee, and since
the Sadducees do not believe in angels, what shall we teach the
people regarding the heavenly ministers?" Then, among other
things, Jesus said:
167:7.2 "The angelic hosts are a separate order
of created beings; they are entirely different from the material
order of mortal creatures, and they function as a distinct group
of universe intelligences. Angels are not of that group of
creatures called `the Sons of God' in the Scriptures; neither are
they the glorified spirits of mortal men who have gone on to
progress through the mansions on high. Angels are a direct
creation, and they do not reproduce themselves. The angelic hosts
have only a spiritual kinship with the human race. As man
progresses in the journey to the Father in Paradise, he does
traverse a state of being at one time analogous to the state of
the angels, but mortal man never becomes an angel.
167:7.3 "The angels never die, as man does. The
angels are immortal unless, perchance, they become involved in sin
as did some of them with the deceptions of Lucifer. The angels are
the spirit servants in heaven, and they are neither all-wise nor
all-powerful. But all of the loyal angels are truly pure and holy.
167:7.4 "And do you not remember that I said to
you once before that, if you had your spiritual eyes anointed, you
would then see the heavens opened and behold the angels of God
ascending and descending? It is by the ministry of the angels that
one world may be kept in touch with other worlds, for have I not
repeatedly told you that I have other sheep not of this fold? And
these angels are not the spies of the spirit world who watch upon
you and then go forth to tell the Father the thoughts of your
heart and to report on the deeds of the flesh. The Father has no
need of such service inasmuch as his own spirit lives within you.
But these angelic spirits do function to keep one part of the
heavenly creation informed concerning the doings of other and
remote parts of the universe. And many of the angels, while
functioning in the government of the Father and the universes of
the Sons, are assigned to the service of the human races. When I
taught you that many of these seraphim are ministering spirits, I
spoke not in figurative language nor in poetic strains. And all
this is true, regardless of your difficulty in comprehending such
matters.
167:7.5 "Many of these angels are engaged in the
work of saving men, for have I not told you of the seraphic joy
when one soul elects to forsake sin and begin the search for God?
I did even tell you of the joy in the presence of the angels
of heaven over one sinner who repents, thereby indicating the
existence of other and higher orders of celestial beings who are
likewise concerned in the spiritual welfare and with the divine
progress of mortal man.
167:7.6 "Also are these angels very much
concerned with the means whereby man's spirit is released from the
tabernacles of the flesh and his soul escorted to the mansions in
heaven. Angels are the sure and heavenly guides of the soul of man
during that uncharted and indefinite period of time which
intervenes between the death of the flesh and the new life in the
spirit abodes."
167:7.7 And he would have spoken further with
Nathaniel regarding the ministry of angels, but he was interrupted
by the approach of Martha, who had been informed that the Master
was drawing near to Bethany by friends who had observed him
ascending the hills to the east. And she now hastened to greet
him.
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