The Urantia Book
PAPER 176
TUESDAY EVENING ON MOUNT OLIVET
176:0.1 THIS Tuesday afternoon, as Jesus and the
apostles passed out of the temple on their way to the Gethsemane
camp, Matthew, calling attention to the temple construction, said:
"Master, observe what manner of buildings these are. See the
massive stones and the beautiful adornment; can it be that these
buildings are to be destroyed?" As they went on toward Olivet,
Jesus said: "You see these stones and this massive temple; verily,
verily, I say to you: In the days soon to come there shall not be
left one stone upon another. They shall all be thrown down." These
remarks depicting the destruction of the sacred temple aroused the
curiosity of the apostles as they walked along behind the Master;
they could conceive of no event short of the end of the world
which would occasion the destruction of the temple.
176:0.2 In order to avoid the crowds passing
along the Kidron valley toward Gethsemane, Jesus and his
associates were minded to climb up the western slope of Olivet for
a short distance and then follow a trail over to their private
camp near Gethsemane located a short distance above the public
camping ground. As they turned to leave the road leading on to
Bethany, they observed the temple, glorified by the rays of the
setting sun; and while they tarried on the mount, they saw the
lights of the city appear and beheld the beauty of the illuminated
temple; and there, under the mellow light of the full moon, Jesus
and the twelve sat down. The Master talked with them, and
presently Nathaniel asked this question: "Tell us, Master, how
shall we know when these events are about to come to pass?"
1. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
176:1.1 In answering Nathaniel's question, Jesus
said: "Yes, I will tell you about the times when this people shall
have filled up the cup of their iniquity; when justice shall
swiftly descend upon this city of our fathers. I am about to leave
you; I go to the Father. After I leave you, take heed that no man
deceive you, for many will come as deliverers and will lead many
astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled,
for though all these things will happen, the end of Jerusalem is
not yet at hand. You should not be perturbed by famines or
earthquakes; neither should you be concerned when you are
delivered up to the civil authorities and are persecuted for the
sake of the gospel. You will be thrown out of the synagogue and
put in prison for my sake, and some of you will be killed. When
you are brought up before governors and rulers, it shall be for a
testimony of your faith and to show your steadfastness in the
gospel of the kingdom. And when you stand before judges, be not
anxious beforehand as to what you should say, for the spirit will
teach you in that very hour what you should answer your
adversaries. In these days of travail, even your own kinsfolk,
under the leadership of those who have rejected the Son of Man,
will deliver you up to prison and death. For a time you may be
hated by all men for my sake, but even in these persecutions I
will not forsake you; my spirit will not desert you. Be patient!
doubt not that this gospel of the kingdom will triumph over all
enemies and, eventually, be proclaimed to all nations."
176:1.2 Jesus paused while he looked down upon
the city. The Master realized that the rejection of the spiritual
concept of the Messiah, the determination to cling persistently
and blindly to the material mission of the expected deliverer,
would presently bring the Jews in direct conflict with the
powerful Roman armies, and that such a contest could only result
in the final and complete overthrow of the Jewish nation. When his
people rejected his spiritual bestowal and refused to receive the
light of heaven as it so mercifully shone upon them, they thereby
sealed their doom as an independent people with a special
spiritual mission on earth. Even the Jewish leaders subsequently
recognized that it was this secular idea of the Messiah which
directly led to the turbulence which eventually brought about
their destruction.
176:1.3 Since Jerusalem was to become the cradle
of the early gospel movement, Jesus did not want its teachers and
preachers to perish in the terrible overthrow of the Jewish people
in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem; wherefore did he
give these instructions to his followers. Jesus was much concerned
lest some of his disciples become involved in these soon-coming
revolts and so perish in the downfall of Jerusalem.
176:1.4 Then Andrew inquired: "But, Master, if
the Holy City and the temple are to be destroyed, and if you are
not here to direct us, when should we forsake Jerusalem?" Said
Jesus: "You may remain in the city after I have gone, even through
these times of travail and bitter persecution, but when you
finally see Jerusalem being encompassed by the Roman armies after
the revolt of the false prophets, then will you know that her
desolation is at hand; then must you flee to the mountains. Let
none who are in the city and around about tarry to save aught,
neither let those who are outside dare to enter therein. There
will be great tribulation, for these will be the days of gentile
vengeance. And after you have deserted the city, this disobedient
people will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive
into all nations; and so shall Jerusalem be trodden down by the
gentiles. In the meantime, I warn you, be not deceived. If any man
comes to you, saying, `Behold, here is the Deliverer,' or `Behold,
there is he,' believe it not, for many false teachers will arise
and many will be led astray; but you should not be deceived, for I
have told you all this beforehand."
176:1.5 The apostles sat in silence in the
moonlight for a considerable time while these astounding
predictions of the Master sank into their bewildered minds. And it
was in conformity with this very warning that practically the
entire group of believers and disciples fled from Jerusalem upon
the first appearance of the Roman troops, finding a safe shelter
in Pella to the north.
176:1.6 Even after this explicit warning, many
of Jesus' followers interpreted these predictions as referring to
the changes which would obviously occur in Jerusalem when the
reappearing of the Messiah would result in the establishment of
the New Jerusalem and in the enlargement of the city to become the
world's capital. In their minds these Jews were determined to
connect the destruction of the temple with the "end of the world."
They believed this New Jerusalem would fill all Palestine; that
the end of the world would be followed by the immediate appearance
of the "new heavens and the new earth." And so it was not strange
that Peter should say: "Master, we know that all things will pass
away when the new heavens and the new earth appear, but how shall
we know when you will return to bring all this about?"
176:1.7 When Jesus heard this, he was thoughtful
for some time and then said: "You ever err since you always try to
attach the new teaching to the old; you are determined to
misunderstand all my teaching; you insist on interpreting the
gospel in accordance with your established beliefs. Nevertheless,
I will try to enlighten you."
2. THE MASTER'S SECOND COMING
176:2.1 On several occasions Jesus had made
statements which led his hearers to infer that, while he intended
presently to leave this world, he would most certainly return to
consummate the work of the heavenly kingdom. As the conviction
grew on his followers that he was going to leave them, and after
he had departed from this world, it was only natural for all
believers to lay fast hold upon these promises to return. The
doctrine of the second coming of Christ thus became early
incorporated into the teachings of the Christians, and almost
every subsequent generation of disciples has devoutly believed
this truth and has confidently looked forward to his sometime
coming.
176:2.2 If they were to part with their Master
and Teacher, how much more did these first disciples and the
apostles grasp at this promise to return, and they lost no time in
associating the predicted destruction of Jerusalem with this
promised second coming. And they continued thus to interpret his
words notwithstanding that, throughout this evening of instruction
on Mount Olivet, the Master took particular pains to prevent just
such a mistake.
176:2.3 In further answer to Peter's question,
Jesus said: "Why do you still look for the Son of Man to sit upon
the throne of David and expect that the material dreams of the
Jews will be fulfilled? Have I not told you all these years that
my kingdom is not of this world? The things which you now look
down upon are coming to an end, but this will be a new beginning
out of which the gospel of the kingdom will go to all the world
and this salvation will spread to all peoples. And when the
kingdom shall have come to its full fruition, be assured that the
Father in heaven will not fail to visit you with an enlarged
revelation of truth and an enhanced demonstration of
righteousness, even as he has already bestowed upon this world him
who became the prince of darkness , and then Adam, who was
followed by Melchizedek, and in these days, the Son of Man. And so
will my Father continue to manifest his mercy and show forth his
love, even to this dark and evil world. So also will I, after my
Father has invested me with all power and authority, continue to
follow your fortunes and to guide in the affairs of the kingdom by
the presence of my spirit, who shall shortly be poured out upon
all flesh. Even though I shall thus be present with you in spirit,
I also promise that I will sometime return to this world, where I
have lived this life in the flesh and achieved the experience of
simultaneously revealing God to man and leading man to God. Very
soon must I leave you and take up the work the Father has
intrusted to my hands, but be of good courage, for I will sometime
return. In the meantime, my Spirit of the Truth of a universe
shall comfort and guide you.
176:2.4 "You behold me now in weakness and in
the flesh, but when I return, it shall be with power and in the
spirit. The eye of flesh beholds the Son of Man in the flesh, but
only the eye of the spirit will behold the Son of Man glorified by
the Father and appearing on earth in his own name.
176:2.5 "But the times of the reappearing of the
Son of Man are known only in the councils of Paradise; not even
the angels of heaven know when this will occur. However, you
should understand that, when this gospel of the kingdom shall have
been proclaimed to all the world for the salvation of all peoples,
and when the fullness of the age has come to pass, the Father will
send you another dispensational bestowal, or else the Son of Man
will return to adjudge the age.
176:2.6 "And now concerning the travail of
Jerusalem, about which I have spoken to you, even this generation
will not pass away until my words are fulfilled; but concerning
the times of the coming again of the Son of Man, no one in heaven
or on earth may presume to speak. But you should be wise regarding
the ripening of an age; you should be alert to discern the signs
of the times. You know when the fig tree shows its tender branches
and puts forth its leaves that summer is near. Likewise, when the
world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness
and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new
dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new
visitation draws near.
176:2.7 "But what is the significance of this
teaching having to do with the coming of the Sons of God? Do you
not perceive that, when each of you is called to lay down his life
struggle and pass through the portal of death, you stand in the
immediate presence of judgment, and that you are face to face with
the facts of a new dispensation of service in the eternal plan of
the infinite Father? What the whole world must face as a literal
fact at the end of an age, you, as individuals, must each most
certainly face as a personal experience when you reach the end of
your natural life and thereby pass on to be confronted with the
conditions and demands inherent in the next revelation of the
eternal progression of the Father's kingdom."
176:2.8 Of all the discourses which the Master
gave his apostles, none ever became so confused in their minds as
this one, given this Tuesday evening on the Mount of Olives,
regarding the twofold subject of the destruction of Jerusalem and
his own second coming. There was, therefore, little agreement
between the subsequent written accounts based on the memories of
what the Master said on this extraordinary occasion. Consequently,
when the records were left blank concerning much that was said
that Tuesday evening, there grew up many traditions; and very
early in the second century a Jewish apocalyptic about the Messiah
written by one Selta, who was attached to the court of the Emperor
Caligula, was bodily copied into the Matthew Gospel and
subsequently added (in part) to the Mark and Luke records. It was
in these writings of Selta that the parable of the ten virgins
appeared. No part of the gospel record ever suffered such
confusing misconstruction as this evening's teaching. But the
Apostle John never became thus confused.
176:2.9 As these thirteen men resumed their
journey toward the camp, they were speechless and under great
emotional tension. Judas had finally confirmed his decision to
abandon his associates. It was a late hour when David Zebedee,
John Mark, and a number of the leading disciples welcomed Jesus
and the twelve to the new camp, but the apostles did not want to
sleep; they wanted to know more about the destruction of
Jerusalem, the Master's departure, and the end of the world.
3. LATER DISCUSSION AT THE CAMP
176:3.1 As they gathered about the campfire,
some twenty of them, Thomas asked: "Since you are to return to
finish the work of the kingdom, what should be our attitude while
you are away on the Father's business?" As Jesus looked them over
by the firelight, he answered:
176:3.2 "And even you, Thomas, fail to
comprehend what I have been saying. Have I not all this time
taught you that your connection with the kingdom is spiritual and
individual, wholly a matter of personal experience in the spirit
by the faith-realization that you are a son of God? What more
shall I say? The downfall of nations, the crash of empires, the
destruction of the unbelieving Jews, the end of an age, even the
end of the world, what have these things to do with one who
believes this gospel, and who has hid his life in the surety of
the eternal kingdom? You who are God-knowing and gospel-believing
have already received the assurances of eternal life. Since your
lives have been lived in the spirit and for the Father, nothing
can be of serious concern to you . Kingdom builders, the
accredited citizens of the heavenly worlds, are not to be
disturbed by temporal upheavals or perturbed by terrestrial
cataclysms. What does it matter to you who believe this gospel of
the kingdom if nations overturn, the age ends, or all things
visible crash, since you know that your life is the gift of the
Son, and that it is eternally secure in the Father? Having lived
the temporal life by faith and having yielded the fruits of the
spirit as the righteousness of loving service for your fellows,
you can confidently look forward to the next step in the eternal
career with the same survival faith that has carried you through
your first and earthly adventure in sonship with God.
176:3.3 "Each generation of believers should
carry on their work, in view of the possible return of the Son of
Man, exactly as each individual believer carries forward his
lifework in view of inevitable and ever-impending natural death.
When you have by faith once established yourself as a son of God,
nothing else matters as regards the surety of survival. But make
no mistake! this survival faith is a living faith, and it
increasingly manifests the fruits of that divine spirit which
first inspired it in the human heart. That you have once accepted
sonship in the heavenly kingdom will not save you in the face of
the knowing and persistent rejection of those truths which have to
do with the progressive spiritual fruit-bearing of the sons of God
in the flesh. You who have been with me in the Father's business
on earth can even now desert the kingdom if you find that you love
not the way of the Father's service for mankind.
176:3.4 "As individuals, and as a generation of
believers, hear me while I speak a parable: There was a certain
great man who, before starting out on a long journey to another
country, called all his trusted servants before him and delivered
into their hands all his goods. To one he gave five talents, to
another two, and to another one. And so on down through the entire
group of honored stewards, to each he intrusted his goods
according to their several abilities; and then he set out on his
journey. When their lord had departed, his servants set themselves
at work to gain profits from the wealth intrusted to them.
Immediately he who had received five talents began to trade with
them and very soon had made a profit of another five talents. In
like manner he who had received two talents soon had gained two
more. And so did all of these servants make gains for their master
except he who received but one talent. He went away by himself and
dug a hole in the earth where he hid his lord's money. Presently
the lord of those servants unexpectedly returned and called upon
his stewards for a reckoning. And when they had all been called
before their master, he who had received the five talents came
forward with the money which had been intrusted to him and brought
five additional talents, saying, `Lord, you gave me five talents
to invest, and I am glad to present five other talents as my
gain.' And then his lord said to him: `Well done, good and
faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things; I will
now set you as steward over many; enter forthwith into the joy of
your lord.' And then he who had received the two talents came
forward, saying: `Lord, you delivered into my hands two talents;
behold, I have gained these other two talents.' And his lord then
said to him: `Well done, good and faithful steward; you also have
been faithful over a few things, and I will now set you over many;
enter you into the joy of your lord.'
And then there came to the accounting
he who had received the one talent. This servant came forward,
saying, `Lord, I knew you and realized that you were a shrewd man
in that you expected gains where you had not personally labored;
therefore was I afraid to risk aught of that which was intrusted
to me. I safely hid your talent in the earth; here it is; you now
have what belongs to you.' But his lord answered: `You are an
indolent and slothful steward. By your own words you confess that
you knew I would require of you an accounting with reasonable
profit, such as your diligent fellow servants have this day
rendered. Knowing this, you ought, therefore, to have at least put
my money into the hands of the bankers that on my return I might
have received my own with interest.' And then to the chief steward
this lord said: `Take away this one talent from this unprofitable
servant and give it to him who has the ten talents.'
176:3.5 "To every one who has, more shall be
given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even
that which he has shall be taken away. You cannot stand still in
the affairs of the eternal kingdom. My Father requires all his
children to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the truth. You who
know these truths must yield the increase of the fruits of the
spirit and manifest a growing devotion to the unselfish service of
your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister
to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this service to
me.
176:3.6 "And so should you go about the work of
the Father's business, now and henceforth, even forevermore. Carry
on until I come. In faithfulness do that which is intrusted to
you, and thereby shall you be ready for the reckoning call of
death. And having thus lived for the glory of the Father and the
satisfaction of the Son, you shall enter with joy and exceedingly
great pleasure into the eternal service of the everlasting
kingdom."
176:3.7
Truth is living; the Spirit of Truth is
ever leading the children of light into new realms of spiritual
reality and divine service. You are not given truth to crystallize
into settled, safe, and honored forms. Your revelation of truth
must be so enhanced by passing through your personal experience
that new beauty and actual spiritual gains will be disclosed to
all who behold your spiritual fruits and in consequence thereof
are led to glorify the Father who is in heaven. Only those
faithful servants who thus grow in the knowledge of the truth, and
who thereby develop the capacity for divine appreciation of
spiritual realities, can ever hope to "enter fully into the joy of
their Lord." What a sorry sight for successive generations of the
professed followers of Jesus to say, regarding their stewardship
of divine truth: "Here, Master, is the truth you committed to us a
hundred or a thousand years ago. We have lost nothing; we have
faithfully preserved all you gave us; we have allowed no changes
to be made in that which you taught us; here is the truth you gave
us." But such a plea concerning spiritual indolence will not
justify the barren steward of truth in the presence of the Master.
In accordance with the truth committed to your hands will the
Master of truth require a reckoning.
176:3.8 In the next world you will be asked to
give an account of the endowments and stewardships of this world.
Whether inherent talents are few or many, a just and merciful
reckoning must be faced. If endowments are used only in selfish
pursuits and no thought is bestowed upon the higher duty of
obtaining increased yield of the fruits of the spirit, as they are
manifested in the ever-expanding service of men and the worship of
God, such selfish stewards must accept the consequences of their
deliberate choosing.
176:3.9 And how much like all selfish mortals
was this unfaithful servant with the one talent in that he blamed
his slothfulness directly upon his lord. How prone is man, when he
is confronted with the failures of his own making, to put the
blame upon others, oftentimes upon those who least deserve it!
176:3.10 Said Jesus that night as they went to
their rest: "Freely have you received; therefore freely should you
give of the truth of heaven, and in the giving will this truth
multiply and show forth the increasing light of saving grace, even
as you minister it."
4. THE RETURN OF MICHAEL
176:4.1 Of all the Master's teachings no one
phase has been so misunderstood as his promise sometime to come
back in person to this world. It is not strange that Michael
should be interested in sometime returning to the planet whereon
he experienced his seventh and last bestowal, as a mortal of the
realm. It is only natural to believe that Jesus of Nazareth, now
sovereign ruler of a vast universe, would be interested in coming
back, not only once but even many times, to the world whereon he
lived such a unique life and finally won for himself the Father's
unlimited bestowal of universe power and authority. Urantia will
eternally be one of the seven nativity spheres of Michael in the
winning of universe sovereignty.
176:4.2 Jesus did, on numerous occasions and to
many individuals, declare his intention of returning to this
world. As his followers awakened to the fact that their Master was
not going to function as a temporal deliverer, and as they
listened to his predictions of the overthrow of Jerusalem and the
downfall of the Jewish nation, they most naturally began to
associate his promised return with these catastrophic events. But
when the Roman armies leveled the walls of Jerusalem, destroyed
the temple, and dispersed the Judean Jews, and still the Master
did not reveal himself in power and glory, his followers began the
formulation of that belief which eventually associated the second
coming of Christ with the end of the age, even with the end of the
world.
176:4.3 Jesus promised to do two things after he
had ascended to the Father, and after all power in heaven and on
earth had been placed in his hands. He promised, first, to send
into the world, and in his stead, another teacher, the Spirit of
Truth; and this he did on the day of Pentecost. Second, he most
certainly promised his followers that he would sometime personally
return to this world. But he did not say how, where, or when he
would revisit this planet of his bestowal experience in the flesh.
On one occasion he intimated that, whereas the eye of flesh had
beheld him when he lived here in the flesh, on his return (at
least on one of his possible visits) he would be discerned only by
the eye of spiritual faith.
176:4.4 Many of us are inclined to believe that
Jesus will return to Urantia many times during the ages to come.
We do not have his specific promise to make these plural visits,
but it seems most probable that he who carries among his universe
titles that of Planetary Prince of Urantia will many times visit
the world whose conquest conferred such a unique title upon him.
176:4.5 We most positively believe that Michael
will again come in person to Urantia, but we have not the
slightest idea as to when or in what manner he may choose to come.
Will his second advent on earth be timed to occur in connection
with the terminal judgment of this present age, either with or
without the associated appearance of a Magisterial Son? Will he
come in connection with the termination of some subsequent
Urantian age? Will he come unannounced and as an isolated event?
We do not know. Only one thing we are certain of, that is, when he
does return, all the world will likely know about it, for he must
come as the supreme ruler of a universe and not as the obscure
babe of Bethlehem. But if every eye is to behold him, and if only
spiritual eyes are to discern his presence, then must his advent
be long deferred.
176:4.6 You would do well, therefore, to
disassociate the Master's personal return to earth from any and
all set events or settled epochs. We are sure of only one thing:
He has promised to come back. We have no idea as to when he will
fulfill this promise or in what connection. As far as we know, he
may appear on earth any day, and he may not come until age after
age has passed and been duly adjudicated by his associated Sons of
the Paradise corps.
176:4.7 The second advent of Michael on earth is
an event of tremendous sentimental value to both midwayers and
humans; but otherwise it is of no immediate moment to midwayers
and of no more practical importance to human beings than the
common event of natural death, which so suddenly precipitates
mortal man into the immediate grasp of that succession of universe
events which leads directly to the presence of this same Jesus,
the sovereign ruler of our universe. The children of light are all
destined to see him, and it is of no serious concern whether we go
to him or whether he should chance first to come to us. Be you
therefore ever ready to welcome him on earth as he stands ready to
welcome you in heaven. We confidently look for his glorious
appearing, even for repeated comings, but we are wholly ignorant
as to how, when, or in what connection he is destined to appear.
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