The Urantia Book
PAPER 174
TUESDAY MORNING IN THE TEMPLE
174:0.1 ABOUT seven o'clock on this Tuesday
morning Jesus met the apostles, the women's corps, and some two
dozen other prominent disciples at the home of Simon. At this
meeting he said farewell to Lazarus, giving him that instruction
which led him so soon to flee to Philadelphia in Perea, where he
later became connected with the missionary movement having its
headquarters in that city. Jesus also said good-bye to the aged
Simon, and gave his parting advice to the women's corps, as he
never again formally addressed them.
174:0.2 This morning he greeted each of the
twelve with a personal salutation. To Andrew he said: "Be not
dismayed by the events just ahead. Keep a firm hold on your
brethren and see that they do not find you downcast." To Peter he
said: "Put not your trust in the arm of flesh nor in weapons of
steel. Establish yourself on the spiritual foundations of the
eternal rocks." To James he said: "Falter not because of outward
appearances. Remain firm in your faith, and you shall soon know of
the reality of that which you believe." To John he said: "Be
gentle; love even your enemies; be tolerant. And remember that I
have trusted you with many things." To Nathaniel he said: "Judge
not by appearances; remain firm in your faith when all appears to
vanish; be true to your commission as an ambassador of the
kingdom." To Philip he said: "Be unmoved by the events now
impending. Remain unshaken, even when you cannot see the way. Be
loyal to your oath of consecration." To Matthew he said: "Forget
not the mercy that received you into the kingdom. Let no man cheat
you of your eternal reward. As you have withstood the inclinations
of the mortal nature, be willing to be steadfast." To Thomas he
said: "No matter how difficult it may be, just now you must walk
by faith and not by sight. Doubt not that I am able to finish the
work I have begun, and that I shall eventually see all of my
faithful ambassadors in the kingdom beyond." To the Alpheus twins
he said: "Do not allow the things which you cannot understand to
crush you. Be true to the affections of your hearts and put not
your trust in either great men or the changing attitude of the
people. Stand by your brethren." And to Simon Zelotes he said:
"Simon, you may be crushed by disappointment, but your spirit
shall rise above all that may come upon you. What you have failed
to learn from me, my spirit will teach you. Seek the true
realities of the spirit and cease to be attracted by unreal and
material shadows."
And to Judas Iscariot he said: "Judas,
I have loved you and have prayed that you would love your
brethren. Be not weary in well doing; and I would warn you to
beware the slippery paths of flattery and the poison darts of
ridicule."
174:0.3 And when he had concluded these
greetings, he departed for Jerusalem with Andrew, Peter, James,
and John as the other apostles set about the establishment of the
Gethsemane camp, where they were to go that night, and where they
made their headquarters for the remainder of the Master's life in
the flesh. About halfway down the slope of Olivet Jesus paused and
visited more than an hour with the four apostles.
1. DIVINE FORGIVENESS
174:1.1 For several days Peter and James had
been engaged in discussing their differences of opinion about the
Master's teaching regarding the forgiveness of sin. They had both
agreed to lay the matter before Jesus, and Peter embraced this
occasion as a fitting opportunity for securing the Master's
counsel. Accordingly, Simon Peter broke in on the conversation
dealing with the differences between praise and worship, by
asking: "Master, James and I are not in accord regarding your
teachings having to do with the forgiveness of sin. James claims
you teach that the Father forgives us even before we ask him, and
I maintain that repentance and confession must precede the
forgiveness. Which of us is right? what do you say?"
174:1.2 After a short silence Jesus looked
significantly at all four and answered: "My brethren, you err in
your opinions because you do not comprehend the nature of those
intimate and loving relations between the creature and the
Creator, between man and God. You fail to grasp that understanding
sympathy which the wise parent entertains for his immature and
sometimes erring child. It is indeed doubtful whether intelligent
and affectionate parents are ever called upon to forgive an
average and normal child. Understanding relationships associated
with attitudes of love effectively prevent all those estrangements
which later necessitate the readjustment of repentance by the
child with forgiveness by the parent.
174:1.3 "A part of every father lives in the
child. The father enjoys priority and superiority of understanding
in all matters connected with the child-parent relationship. The
parent is able to view the immaturity of the child in the light of
the more advanced parental maturity, the riper experience of the
older partner. With the earthly child and the heavenly Father, the
divine parent possesses infinity and divinity of sympathy and
capacity for loving understanding. Divine forgiveness is
inevitable; it is inherent and inalienable in God's infinite
understanding, in his perfect knowledge of all that concerns the
mistaken judgment and erroneous choosing of the child. Divine
justice is so eternally fair that it unfailingly embodies
understanding mercy.
174:1.4 "When a wise man understands the inner
impulses of his fellows, he will love them. And when you love your
brother, you have already forgiven him. This capacity to
understand man's nature and forgive his apparent wrongdoing is
Godlike. If you are wise parents, this is the way you will love
and understand your children, even forgive them when transient
misunderstanding has apparently separated you. The child, being
immature and lacking in the fuller understanding of the depth of
the child-father relationship, must frequently feel a sense of
guilty separation from a father's full approval, but the true
father is never conscious of any such separation. Sin is an
experience of creature consciousness; it is not a part of God's
consciousness.
174:1.5 "Your inability or unwillingness to
forgive your fellows is the measure of your immaturity, your
failure to attain adult sympathy, understanding, and love. You
hold grudges and nurse vengefulness in direct proportion to your
ignorance of the inner nature and true longings of your children
and your fellow beings. Love is the outworking of the divine and
inner urge of life. It is founded on understanding, nurtured by
unselfish service, and perfected in wisdom."
2. QUESTIONS BY THE JEWISH RULERS
174:2.1 On Monday evening there had been held a
council between the Sanhedrin and some fifty additional leaders
selected from among the scribes, Pharisees, and the Sadducees. It
was the consensus of this meeting that it would be dangerous to
arrest Jesus in public because of his hold upon the affections of
the common people. It was also the opinion of the majority that a
determined effort should be made to discredit him in the eyes of
the multitude before he should be arrested and brought to trial.
Accordingly, several groups of learned men were designated to be
on hand the next morning in the temple to undertake to entrap him
with difficult questions and otherwise to seek to embarrass him
before the people. At last, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and even the
Herodians were all united in this effort to discredit Jesus in the
eyes of the Passover multitudes.
174:2.2 Tuesday morning, when Jesus arrived in
the temple court and began to teach, he had uttered but few words
when a group of the younger students from the academies, who had
been rehearsed for this purpose, came forward and by their
spokesman addressed Jesus: "Master, we know you are a righteous
teacher, and we know that you proclaim the ways of truth, and that
you serve only God, for you fear no man, and that you are no
respecter of persons. We are only students, and we would know the
truth about a matter which troubles us; our difficulty is this: Is
it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar? Shall we give or shall
we not give?" Jesus, perceiving their hypocrisy and craftiness,
said to them: "Why do you thus come to tempt me? Show me the
tribute money, and I will answer you." And when they handed him a
denarius, he looked at it and said, "Whose image and
superscription does this coin bear?" And when they answered him,
"Caesar's," Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's and render to God the things that are God's."
174:2.3 When he had thus answered these young
scribes and their Herodian accomplices, they withdrew from his
presence, and the people, even the Sadducees, enjoyed their
discomfiture. Even the youths who had endeavored to entrap him
marveled greatly at the unexpected sagacity of the Master's
answer.
174:2.4 The previous day the rulers had sought
to trip him before the multitude on matters of ecclesiastical
authority, and having failed, they now sought to involve him in a
damaging discussion of civil authority. Both Pilate and Herod were
in Jerusalem at this time, and Jesus' enemies conjectured that, if
he would dare to advise against the payment of tribute to Caesar,
they could go at once before the Roman authorities and charge him
with sedition. On the other hand, if he should advise the payment
of tribute in so many words, they rightly calculated that such a
pronouncement would greatly wound the national pride of his Jewish
hearers, thereby alienating the good will and affection of the
multitude.
174:2.5 In all this the enemies of Jesus were
defeated since it was a well-known ruling of the Sanhedrin, made
for the guidance of the Jews dispersed among the gentile nations,
that the "right of coinage carried with it the right to levy
taxes." In this manner Jesus avoided their trap. To have answered
"No" to their question would have been equivalent to inciting
rebellion; to have answered "Yes" would have shocked the
deep-rooted nationalist sentiments of that day. The Master did not
evade the question; he merely employed the wisdom of making a
double reply. Jesus was never evasive, but he was always wise in
his dealings with those who sought to harass and destroy him.
3. THE SADDUCEES AND THE RESURRECTION
174:3.1 Before Jesus could get started with his
teaching, another group came forward to question him, this time a
company of the learned and crafty Sadducees. Their spokesman,
drawing near to him, said: "Master, Moses said that if a married
man should die, leaving no children, his brother should take the
wife and raise up seed for the deceased brother. Now there
occurred a case where a certain man who had six brothers died
childless; his next brother took his wife but also soon died,
leaving no children. Likewise did the second brother take the
wife, but he also died leaving no offspring. And so on until all
six of the brothers had had her, and all six of them passed on
without leaving children. And then, after them all, the woman
herself died. Now, what we would like to ask you is this: In the
resurrection whose wife will she be since all seven of these
brothers had her?"
174:3.2 Jesus knew, and so did the people, that
these Sadducees were not sincere in asking this question because
it was not likely that such a case would really occur; and
besides, this practice of the brothers of a dead man seeking to
beget children for him was practically a dead letter at this time
among the Jews. Nevertheless, Jesus condescended to reply to their
mischievous question. He said: "You all do err in asking such
questions because you know neither the Scriptures nor the living
power of God. You know that the sons of this world can marry and
are given in marriage, but you do not seem to understand that they
who are accounted worthy to attain the worlds to come, through the
resurrection of the righteous, neither marry nor are given in
marriage. Those who experience the resurrection from the dead are
more like the angels of heaven, and they never die. These
resurrected ones are eternally the sons of God; they are the
children of light resurrected into the progress of eternal life.
And even your Father Moses understood this, for, in connection
with his experiences at the burning bush, he heard the Father say,
`I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob.' And so, along with Moses, do I declare that my Father is
not the God of the dead but of the living. In him you all do live,
reproduce, and possess your mortal existence."
174:3.3 When Jesus had finished answering these
questions, the Sadducees withdrew, and some of the Pharisees so
far forgot themselves as to exclaim, "True, true, Master, you have
well answered these unbelieving Sadducees." The Sadducees dared
not ask him any more questions, and the common people marveled at
the wisdom of his teaching.
174:3.4 Jesus appealed only to Moses in his
encounter with the Sadducees because this religio-political sect
acknowledged the validity of only the five so-called Books of
Moses; they did not allow that the teachings of the prophets were
admissible as a basis of doctrinal dogmas. The Master in his
answer, though positively affirming the fact of the survival of
mortal creatures by the technique of the resurrection, did not in
any sense speak approvingly of the Pharisaic beliefs in the
resurrection of the literal human body. The point Jesus wished to
emphasize was: That the Father had said, "I am the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," not I was their God.
174:3.5 The Sadducees had thought to subject
Jesus to the withering influence of ridicule, knowing full
well that persecution in public would most certainly create
further sympathy for him in the minds of the multitude.
4. THE GREAT COMMANDMENT
174:4.1 Another group of Sadducees had been
instructed to ask Jesus entangling questions about angels, but
when they beheld the fate of their comrades who had sought to
entrap him with questions concerning the resurrection, they very
wisely decided to hold their peace; they retired without asking a
question. It was the prearranged plan of the confederated
Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, and Herodians to fill up the entire
day with these entangling questions, hoping thereby to discredit
Jesus before the people and at the same time effectively to
prevent his having any time for the proclamation of his disturbing
teachings.
174:4.2 Then came forward one of the groups of
the Pharisees to ask harassing questions, and the spokesman,
signaling to Jesus, said: "Master, I am a lawyer, and I would like
to ask you which, in your opinion, is the greatest commandment?"
Jesus answered: "There is but one commandment, and that one is the
greatest of all, and that commandment is: `Hear O Israel, the Lord
our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul, with all your mind and
with all your strength.' This is the first and great commandment.
And the second commandment is like this first; indeed, it springs
directly therefrom, and it is: `You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these; on
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
174:4.3 When the lawyer perceived that Jesus had
answered not only in accordance with the highest concept of Jewish
religion, but that he had also answered wisely in the sight of the
assembled multitude, he thought it the better part of valor openly
to commend the Master's reply. Accordingly, he said: "Of a truth,
Master, you have well said that God is one and there is none
beside him; and that to love him with all the heart,
understanding, and strength, and also to love one's neighbor as
one's self, is the first and great commandment; and we are agreed
that this great commandment is much more to be regarded than all
the burnt offerings and sacrifices." When the lawyer answered thus
discreetly, Jesus looked down upon him and said, "My friend, I
perceive that you are not far from the kingdom of God."
174:4.4 Jesus spoke the truth when he referred
to this lawyer as being "not far from the kingdom," for that very
night he went out to the Master's camp near Gethsemane, professed
faith in the gospel of the kingdom, and was baptized by Josiah,
one of the disciples of Abner.
174:4.5 Two or three other groups of the scribes
and Pharisees were present and had intended to ask questions, but
they were either disarmed by Jesus' answer to the lawyer, or they
were deterred by the discomfiture of all who had undertaken to
ensnare him. After this no man dared to ask him another question
in public.
174:4.6 When no more questions were forthcoming,
and as the noon hour was near, Jesus did not resume his teaching
but was content merely to ask the Pharisees and their associates a
question. Said Jesus: "Since you ask no more questions, I would
like to ask you one. What do you think of the Deliverer? That is,
whose son is he?" After a brief pause one of the scribes answered,
"The Messiah is the son of David." And since Jesus knew that there
had been much debate, even among his own disciples, as to whether
or not he was the son of David, he asked this further question:
"If the Deliverer is indeed the son of David, how is it that, in
the Psalm which you accredit to David, he himself, speaking in the
spirit, says, `The Lord said to my lord, sit on my right hand
until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.' If David
calls him Lord, how then can he be his son?" Although the rulers,
the scribes, and the chief priests made no reply to this question,
they likewise refrained from asking him any more questions in an
effort to entangle him. They never answered this question which
Jesus put to them, but after the Master's death they attempted to
escape the difficulty by changing the interpretation of this Psalm
so as to make it refer to Abraham instead of the Messiah. Others
sought to escape the dilemma by disallowing that David was the
author of this so-called Messianic Psalm.
174:4.7 A short time back the Pharisees had
enjoyed the manner in which the Sadducees had been silenced by the
Master; now the Sadducees were delighted by the failure of the
Pharisees; but such rivalry was only momentary; they speedily
forgot their time-honored differences in the united effort to stop
Jesus' teachings and doings. But throughout all of these
experiences the common people heard him gladly.
5. THE INQUIRING GREEKS
174:5.1 About noontime, as Philip was purchasing
supplies for the new camp which was that day being established
near Gethsemane, he was accosted by a delegation of strangers, a
group of believing Greeks from Alexandria, Athens, and Rome, whose
spokesman said to the apostle: "You have been pointed out to us by
those who know you; so we come to you, Sir, with the request to
see Jesus, your Master." Philip was taken by surprise thus to meet
these prominent and inquiring Greek gentiles in the market place,
and, since Jesus had so explicitly charged all of the twelve not
to engage in any public teaching during the Passover week, he was
a bit perplexed as to the right way to handle this matter. He was
also disconcerted because these men were foreign gentiles. If they
had been Jews or near-by and familiar gentiles, he would not have
hesitated so markedly. What he did was this: He asked these Greeks
to remain right where they were. As he hastened away, they
supposed that he went in search of Jesus, but in reality he
hurried off to the home of Joseph, where he knew Andrew and the
other apostles were at lunch; and calling Andrew out, he explained
the purpose of his coming, and then, accompanied by Andrew, he
returned to the waiting Greeks.
174:5.2 Since Philip had about finished the
purchasing of supplies, he and Andrew returned with the Greeks to
the home of Joseph, where Jesus received them; and they sat near
while he spoke to his apostles and a number of leading disciples
assembled at this luncheon. Said Jesus:
174:5.3 "My Father sent me to this world to
reveal his loving-kindness to the children of men, but those to
whom I first came have refused to receive me. True, indeed, many
of you have believed my gospel for yourselves, but the children of
Abraham and their leaders are about to reject me, and in so doing
they will reject Him who sent me. I have freely proclaimed the
gospel of salvation to this people; I have told them of sonship
with joy, liberty, and life more abundant in the spirit. My Father
has done many wonderful works among these fear-ridden sons of men.
But truly did the Prophet Isaiah refer to this people when he
wrote: `Lord, who has believed our teachings? And to whom has the
Lord been revealed?' Truly have the leaders of my people
deliberately blinded their eyes that they see not, and hardened
their hearts lest they believe and be saved. All these years have
I sought to heal them of their unbelief that they might be
recipients of the Father's eternal salvation. I know that not all
have failed me; some of you have indeed believed my message. In
this room now are a full score of men who were once members of the
Sanhedrin, or who were high in the councils of the nation, albeit
even some of you still shrink from open confession of the truth
lest they cast you out of the synagogue. Some of you are tempted
to love the glory of men more than the glory of God. But I am
constrained to show forbearance since I fear for the safety and
loyalty of even some of those who have been so long near me, and
who have lived so close by my side.
174:5.4 "In this banquet chamber I perceive
there are assembled Jews and gentiles in about equal numbers, and
I would address you as the first and last of such a group that I
may instruct in the affairs of the kingdom before I go to my
Father."
174:5.5 These Greeks had been in faithful
attendance upon Jesus' teaching in the temple. On Monday evening
they had held a conference at the home of Nicodemus, which lasted
until the dawn of day, and thirty of them had elected to enter the
kingdom.
174:5.6 As Jesus stood before them at this time,
he perceived the end of one dispensation and the beginning of
another. Turning his attention to the Greeks, the Master said:
174:5.7 "He who believes this gospel, believes
not merely in me but in Him who sent me. When you look upon me,
you see not only the Son of Man but also Him who sent me. I am the
light of the world, and whosoever will believe my teaching shall
no longer abide in darkness. If you gentiles will hear me, you
shall receive the words of life and shall enter forthwith into the
joyous liberty of the truth of sonship with God. If my fellow
countrymen, the Jews, choose to reject me and to refuse my
teachings, I will not sit in judgment on them, for I came not to
judge the world but to offer it salvation. Nevertheless, they who
reject me and refuse to receive my teaching shall be brought to
judgment in due season by my Father and those whom he has
appointed to sit in judgment on such as reject the gift of mercy
and the truths of salvation. Remember, all of you, that I speak
not of myself, but that I have faithfully declared to you that
which the Father commanded I should reveal to the children of men.
And these words which the Father directed me to speak to the world
are words of divine truth, everlasting mercy, and eternal life.
174:5.8 "But to both Jew and gentile I declare
the hour has about come when the Son of Man will be glorified. You
well know that, except a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it abides alone; but if it dies in good soil, it springs up
again to life and bears much fruit. He who selfishly loves his
life stands in danger of losing it; but he who is willing to lay
down his life for my sake and the gospel's shall enjoy a more
abundant existence on earth and in heaven, life eternal. If you
will truly follow me, even after I have gone to my Father, then
shall you become my disciples and the sincere servants of your
fellow mortals.
174:5.9 "I know my hour is approaching, and I am
troubled. I perceive that my people are determined to spurn the
kingdom, but I am rejoiced to receive these truth-seeking gentiles
who come here today inquiring for the way of light. Nevertheless,
my heart aches for my people, and my soul is distraught by that
which lies just before me. What shall I say as I look ahead and
discern what is about to befall me? Shall I say, Father save me
from this awful hour? For this very purpose have I come into the
world and even to this hour. Rather will I say, and pray that you
will join me: Father, glorify your name; your will be done."
174:5.10 When Jesus had thus spoken, the
Personalized Adjuster of his indwelling during prebaptismal times
appeared before him, and as he paused noticeably, this now mighty
spirit of the Father's representation spoke to Jesus of Nazareth,
saying: "I have glorified my name in your bestowals many times,
and I will glorify it once more."
174:5.11 While the Jews and gentiles here
assembled heard no voice, they could not fail to discern that the
Master had paused in his speaking while a message came to him from
some superhuman source. They all said, every man to the one who
was by him, "An angel has spoken to him."
174:5.12 Then Jesus continued to speak: "All
this has not happened for my sake but for yours. I know of a
certainty that the Father will receive me and accept my mission in
your behalf, but it is needful that you be encouraged and be made
ready for the fiery trial which is just ahead. Let me assure you
that victory shall eventually crown our united efforts to
enlighten the world and liberate mankind. The old order is
bringing itself to judgment; the Prince of this world I have cast
down; and all men shall become free by the light of the spirit
which I will pour out upon all flesh after I have ascended to my
Father in heaven.
174:5.13 "And now I declare to you that I, if I
be lifted up on earth and in your lives, will draw all men to
myself and into the fellowship of my Father. You have believed
that the Deliverer would abide on earth forever, but I declare
that the Son of Man will be rejected by men, and that he will go
back to the Father. Only a little while will I be with you; only a
little time will the living light be among this darkened
generation. Walk while you have this light so that the oncoming
darkness and confusion may not overtake you. He who walks in the
darkness knows not where he goes; but if you will choose to walk
in the light, you shall all indeed become liberated sons of God.
And now, all of you, come with me while we go back to the temple
and I speak farewell words to the chief priests, the scribes, the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the benighted rulers
of Israel."
174:5.14 Having thus spoken, Jesus led the way
over the narrow streets of Jerusalem back to the temple. They had
just heard the Master say that this was to be his farewell
discourse in the temple, and they followed him in silence and in
deep meditation.
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