The Urantia Book
PAPER 177
WEDNESDAY, THE REST DAY
177:0.1 WHEN the work of teaching the people did
not press them, it was the custom of Jesus and his apostles to
rest from their labors each Wednesday. On this particular
Wednesday they ate breakfast somewhat later than usual, and the
camp was pervaded by an ominous silence; little was said during
the first half of this morning meal. At last Jesus spoke: "I
desire that you rest today. Take time to think over all that has
happened since we came to Jerusalem and meditate on what is just
ahead, of which I have plainly told you. Make sure that the truth
abides in your lives, and that you daily grow in grace."
177:0.2 After breakfast the Master informed
Andrew that he intended to be absent for the day and suggested
that the apostles be permitted to spend the time in accordance
with their own choosing, except that under no circumstances should
they go within the gates of Jerusalem.
177:0.3 When Jesus made ready to go into the
hills alone, David Zebedee accosted him, saying: "You well know,
Master, that the Pharisees and rulers seek to destroy you, and yet
you make ready to go alone into the hills. To do this is folly; I
will therefore send three men with you well prepared to see that
no harm befalls you." Jesus looked over the three well-armed and
stalwart Galileans and said to David: "You mean well, but you err
in that you fail to understand that the Son of Man needs no one to
defend him. No man will lay hands on me until that hour when I am
ready to lay down my life in conformity to my Father's will. These
men may not accompany me. I desire to go alone, that I may commune
with the Father."
177:0.4 Upon hearing these words, David and his
armed guards withdrew; but as Jesus started off alone, John Mark
came forward with a small basket containing food and water and
suggested that, if he intended to be away all day, he might find
himself hungry. The Master smiled on John and reached down to take
the basket.
1. ONE DAY ALONE WITH GOD
177:1.1 As Jesus was about to take the lunch
basket from John's hand, the young man ventured to say: "But,
Master, you may set the basket down while you turn aside to pray
and go on without it. Besides, if I should go along to carry the
lunch, you would be more free to worship, and I will surely be
silent. I will ask no questions and will stay by the basket when
you go apart by yourself to pray."
177:1.2 While making this speech, the temerity
of which astonished some of the near-by listeners, John had made
bold to hold on to the basket. There they stood, both John and
Jesus holding the basket. Presently the Master let go and, looking
down on the lad, said: "Since with all your heart you crave to go
with me, it shall not be denied you. We will go off by ourselves
and have a good visit. You may ask me any question that arises in
your heart, and we will comfort and console each other. You may
start out carrying the lunch, and when you grow weary, I will help
you. Follow on with me."
177:1.3 Jesus did not return to the camp that
evening until after sunset. The Master spent this last day of
quiet on earth visiting with this truth-hungry youth and talking
with his Paradise Father. This event has become known on high as
"the day which a young man spent with God in the hills." Forever
this occasion exemplifies the willingness of the Creator to
fellowship the creature. Even a youth, if the desire of the heart
is really supreme, can command the attention and enjoy the loving
companionship of the God of a universe, actually experience the
unforgettable ecstasy of being alone with God in the hills, and
for a whole day. And such was the unique experience of John Mark
on this Wednesday in the hills of Judea.
177:1.4 Jesus visited much with John, talking
freely about the affairs of this world and the next. John told
Jesus how much he regretted that he had not been old enough to be
one of the apostles and expressed his great appreciation that he
had been permitted to follow on with them since their first
preaching at the Jordan ford near Jericho, except for the trip to
Phoenicia. Jesus warned the lad not to become discouraged by
impending events and assured him he would live to become a mighty
messenger of the kingdom.
177:1.5 John Mark was thrilled by the memory of
this day with Jesus in the hills, but he never forgot the Master's
final admonition, spoken just as they were about to return to the
Gethsemane camp, when he said: "Well, John, we have had a good
visit, a real day of rest, but see to it that you tell no man the
things which I told you." And John Mark never did reveal anything
that transpired on this day which he spent with Jesus in the
hills.
177:1.6 Throughout the few remaining hours of
Jesus' earth life John Mark never permitted the Master for long to
get out of his sight. Always was the lad in hiding near by; he
slept only when Jesus slept.
2. EARLY HOME LIFE
177:2.1 In the course of this day's visiting
with John Mark, Jesus spent considerable time comparing their
early childhood and later boyhood experiences. Although John's
parents possessed more of this world's goods than had Jesus'
parents, there was much experience in their boyhood which was very
similar. Jesus said many things which helped John better to
understand his parents and other members of his family. When the
lad asked the Master how he could know that he would turn out to
be a "mighty messenger of the kingdom," Jesus said:
177:2.2 "I know you will prove loyal to the
gospel of the kingdom because I can depend upon your present faith
and love when these qualities are grounded upon such an early
training as has been your portion at home. You are the product of
a home where the parents bear each other a sincere affection, and
therefore you have not been overloved so as injuriously to exalt
your concept of self-importance. Neither has your personality
suffered distortion in consequence of your parents' loveless
maneuvering for your confidence and loyalty, the one against the
other. You have enjoyed that parental love which insures laudable
self-confidence and which fosters normal feelings of security. But
you have also been fortunate in that your parents possessed wisdom
as well as love ; and it was wisdom which led them to withhold
most forms of indulgence and many luxuries which wealth can buy
while they sent you to the synagogue school along with your
neighborhood playfellows, and they also encouraged you to learn
how to live in this world by permitting you to have original
experience. You came over to the Jordan, where we preached and
John's disciples baptized, with your young friend Amos. Both of
you desired to go with us. When you returned to Jerusalem, your
parents consented; Amos's parents refused; they loved their son so
much that they denied him the blessed experience which you have
had, even such as you this day enjoy. By running away from home,
Amos could have joined us, but in so doing he would have wounded
love and sacrificed loyalty. Even if such a course had been wise,
it would have been a terrible price to pay for experience,
independence, and liberty. Wise parents, such as yours, see to it
that their children do not have to wound love or stifle loyalty in
order to develop independence and enjoy invigorating liberty when
they have grown up to your age.
177:2.3 "Love, John, is the supreme reality of
the universe when bestowed by all-wise beings, but it is a
dangerous and oftentimes semiselfish trait as it is manifested in
the experience of mortal parents. When you get married and have
children of your own to rear, make sure that your love is
admonished by wisdom and guided by intelligence.
177:2.4 "Your young friend Amos believes this
gospel of the kingdom just as much as you, but I cannot fully
depend upon him; I am not certain about what he will do in the
years to come. His early home life was not such as would produce a
wholly dependable person. Amos is too much like one of the
apostles who failed to enjoy a normal, loving, and wise home
training. Your whole afterlife will be more happy and dependable
because you spent your first eight years in a normal and
well-regulated home. You possess a strong and well-knit character
because you grew up in a home where love prevailed and wisdom
reigned. Such a childhood training produces a type of loyalty
which assures me that you will go through with the course you have
begun."
177:2.5 For more than an hour Jesus and John
continued this discussion of home life. The Master went on to
explain to John how a child is wholly dependent on his parents and
the associated home life for all his early concepts of everything
intellectual, social, moral, and even spiritual since the family
represents to the young child all that he can first know of either
human or divine relationships. The child must derive his first
impressions of the universe from the mother's care; he is wholly
dependent on the earthly father for his first ideas of the
heavenly Father. The child's subsequent life is made happy or
unhappy, easy or difficult, in accordance with his early mental
and emotional life, conditioned by these social and spiritual
relationships of the home. A human being's entire afterlife is
enormously influenced by what happens during the first few years
of existence.
177:2.6 It is our sincere belief that the gospel
of Jesus' teaching, founded as it is on the father-child
relationship, can hardly enjoy a world-wide acceptance until such
a time as the home life of the modern civilized peoples embraces
more of love and more of wisdom. Notwithstanding that parents of
the twentieth century possess great knowledge and increased truth
for improving the home and ennobling the home life, it remains a
fact that very few modern homes are such good places in which to
nurture boys and girls as Jesus' home in Galilee and John Mark's
home in Judea, albeit the acceptance of Jesus' gospel will result
in the immediate improvement of home life. The love life of a wise
home and the loyal devotion of true religion exert a profound
reciprocal influence upon each other. Such a home life enhances
religion, and genuine religion always glorifies the home.
177:2.7 It is true that many of the
objectionable stunting influences and other cramping features of
these olden Jewish homes have been virtually eliminated from many
of the better-regulated modern homes. There is, indeed, more
spontaneous freedom and far more personal liberty, but this
liberty is not restrained by love, motivated by loyalty, nor
directed by the intelligent discipline of wisdom. As long as we
teach the child to pray, "Our Father who is in heaven," a
tremendous responsibility rests upon all earthly fathers so to
live and order their homes that the word father becomes
worthily enshrined in the minds and hearts of all growing
children.
3. THE DAY AT CAMP
177:3.1 The apostles spent most of this day
walking about on Mount Olivet and visiting with the disciples who
were encamped with them, but early in the afternoon they became
very desirous of seeing Jesus return. As the day wore on, they
grew increasingly anxious about his safety; they felt
inexpressibly lonely without him. There was much debating
throughout the day as to whether the Master should have been
allowed to go off by himself in the hills, accompanied only by an
errand boy. Though no man openly so expressed his thoughts, there
was not one of them, save Judas Iscariot, who did not wish himself
in John Mark's place.
177:3.2 It was about midafternoon when Nathaniel
made his speech on "Supreme Desire" to about half a dozen of the
apostles and as many disciples, the ending of which was: "What is
wrong with most of us is that we are only halfhearted. We fail to
love the Master as he loves us. If we had all wanted to go with
him as much as John Mark did, he would surely have taken us all.
We stood by while the lad approached the Master and offered him
the basket, but when the Master took hold of it, the lad would not
let go. And so the Master left us here while he went off to the
hills with basket, boy, and all."
177:3.3 About four o'clock, runners came to
David Zebedee bringing him word from his mother at Bethsaida and
from Jesus' mother. Several days previously David had made up his
mind that the chief priests and rulers were going to kill Jesus.
David knew they were determined to destroy the Master, and he was
about convinced that Jesus would neither exert his divine power to
save himself nor permit his followers to employ force in his
defense. Having reached these conclusions, he lost no time in
dispatching a messenger to his mother, urging her to come at once
to Jerusalem and to bring Mary the mother of Jesus and every
member of his family.
177:3.4 David's mother did as her son requested,
and now the runners came back to David bringing the word that his
mother and Jesus' entire family were on the way to Jerusalem and
should arrive sometime late on the following day or very early the
next morning. Since David did this on his own initiative, he
thought it wise to keep the matter to himself. He told no one,
therefore, that Jesus' family was on the way to Jerusalem.
177:3.5 Shortly after noon, more than twenty of
the Greeks who had met with Jesus and the twelve at the home of
Joseph of Arimathea arrived at the camp, and Peter and John spent
several hours in conference with them. These Greeks, at least some
of them, were well advanced in the knowledge of the kingdom,
having been instructed by Rodan at Alexandria.
177:3.6 That evening, after returning to the
camp, Jesus visited with the Greeks, and had it not been that such
a course would have greatly disturbed his apostles and many of his
leading disciples, he would have ordained these twenty Greeks,
even as he had the seventy.
177:3.7 While all of this was going on at the
camp, in Jerusalem the chief priests and elders were amazed that
Jesus did not return to address the multitudes. True, the day
before, when he left the temple, he had said, "I leave your house
to you desolate." But they could not understand why he would be
willing to forego the great advantage which he had built up in the
friendly attitude of the crowds. While they feared he would stir
up a tumult among the people, the Master's last words to the
multitude had been an exhortation to conform in every reasonable
manner with the authority of those "who sit in Moses' seat." But
it was a busy day in the city as they simultaneously prepared for
the Passover and perfected their plans for destroying Jesus.
177:3.8 Not many people came to the camp, for
its establishment had been kept a well-guarded secret by all who
knew that Jesus was expecting to stay there in place of going out
to Bethany every night.
4. JUDAS AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS
177:4.1 Shortly after Jesus and John Mark left
the camp, Judas Iscariot disappeared from among his brethren, not
returning until late in the afternoon. This confused and
discontented apostle, notwithstanding his Master's specific
request to refrain from entering Jerusalem, went in haste to keep
his appointment with Jesus' enemies at the home of Caiaphas the
high priest. This was an informal meeting of the Sanhedrin and had
been appointed for shortly after 10 o'clock that morning. This
meeting was called to discuss the nature of the charges which
should be lodged against Jesus and to decide upon the procedure to
be employed in bringing him before the Roman authorities for the
purpose of securing the necessary civil confirmation of the death
sentence which they had already passed upon him.
177:4.2 On the preceding day Judas had disclosed
to some of his relatives and to certain Sadducean friends of his
father's family that he had reached the conclusion that, while
Jesus was a well-meaning dreamer and idealist, he was not the
expected deliverer of Israel. Judas stated that he would very much
like to find some way of withdrawing gracefully from the whole
movement. His friends flatteringly assured him that his withdrawal
would be hailed by the Jewish rulers as a great event, and that
nothing would be too good for him. They led him to believe that he
would forthwith receive high honors from the Sanhedrin, and that
he would at last be in a position to erase the stigma of his
well-meant but "unfortunate association with untaught Galileans."
177:4.3 Judas could not quite believe that the
mighty works of the Master had been wrought by the power of the
prince of devils, but he was now fully convinced that Jesus would
not exert his power in self-aggrandizement; he was at last
convinced that Jesus would allow himself to be destroyed by the
Jewish rulers, and he could not endure the humiliating thought of
being identified with a movement of defeat. He refused to
entertain the idea of apparent failure. He thoroughly understood
the sturdy character of his Master and the keenness of that
majestic and merciful mind, yet he derived pleasure from even the
partial entertainment of the suggestion of one of his relatives
that Jesus, while he was a well-meaning fanatic, was probably not
really sound of mind; that he had always appeared to be a strange
and misunderstood person.
177:4.4 And now, as never before, Judas found
himself becoming strangely resentful that Jesus had never assigned
him a position of greater honor. All along he had appreciated the
honor of being the apostolic treasurer, but now he began to feel
that he was not appreciated; that his abilities were unrecognized.
He was suddenly overcome with indignation that Peter, James, and
John should have been honored with close association with Jesus,
and at this time, when he was on the way to the high priest's
home, he was bent on getting even with Peter, James, and John more
than he was concerned with any thought of betraying Jesus. But
over and above all, just then, a new and dominating thought began
to occupy the forefront of his conscious mind: He had set out to
get honor for himself, and if this could be secured simultaneously
with getting even with those who had contributed to the greatest
disappointment of his life, all the better. He was seized with a
terrible conspiracy of confusion, pride, desperation, and
determination. And so it must be plain that it was not for money
that Judas was then on his way to the home of Caiaphas to arrange
for the betrayal of Jesus.
177:4.5 As Judas approached the home of
Caiaphas, he arrived at the final decision to abandon Jesus and
his fellow apostles; and having thus made up his mind to desert
the cause of the kingdom of heaven, he was determined to secure
for himself as much as possible of that honor and glory which he
had thought would sometime be his when he first identified himself
with Jesus and the new gospel of the kingdom. All of the apostles
once shared this ambition with Judas, but as time passed they
learned to admire truth and to love Jesus, at least more than did
Judas.
177:4.6 The traitor was presented to Caiaphas
and the Jewish rulers by his cousin, who explained that Judas,
having discovered his mistake in allowing himself to be misled by
the subtle teaching of Jesus, had arrived at the place where he
wished to make public and formal renunciation of his association
with the Galilean and at the same time to ask for reinstatement in
the confidence and fellowship of his Judean brethren. This
spokesman for Judas went on to explain that Judas recognized it
would be best for the peace of Israel if Jesus should be taken
into custody, and that, as evidence of his sorrow in having
participated in such a movement of error and as proof of his
sincerity in now returning to the teachings of Moses, he had come
to offer himself to the Sanhedrin as one who could so arrange with
the captain holding the orders for Jesus' arrest that he could be
taken into custody quietly, thus avoiding any danger of stirring
up the multitudes or the necessity of postponing his arrest until
after the Passover.
177:4.7 When his cousin had finished speaking,
he presented Judas, who, stepping forward near the high priest,
said: "All that my cousin has promised, I will do, but what are
you willing to give me for this service?" Judas did not seem to
discern the look of disdain and even disgust that came over the
face of the hardhearted and vainglorious Caiaphas; his heart was
too much set on self-glory and the craving for the satisfaction of
self-exaltation.
177:4.8 And then Caiaphas looked down upon the
betrayer while he said: "Judas, you go to the captain of the guard
and arrange with that officer to bring your Master to us either
tonight or tomorrow night, and when he has been delivered by you
into our hands, you shall receive your reward for this service."
When Judas heard this, he went forth from the presence of the
chief priests and rulers and took counsel with the captain of the
temple guards as to the manner in which Jesus was to be
apprehended. Judas knew that Jesus was then absent from the camp
and had no idea when he would return that evening, and so they
agreed among themselves to arrest Jesus the next evening
(Thursday) after the people of Jerusalem and all of the visiting
pilgrims had retired for the night.
177:4.9 Judas returned to his associates at the
camp intoxicated with thoughts of grandeur and glory such as he
had not had for many a day. He had enlisted with Jesus hoping some
day to become a great man in the new kingdom. He at last realized
that there was to be no new kingdom such as he had anticipated.
But he rejoiced in being so sagacious as to trade off his
disappointment in failing to achieve glory in an anticipated new
kingdom for the immediate realization of honor and reward in the
old order, which he now believed would survive, and which he was
certain would destroy Jesus and all that he stood for. In its last
motive of conscious intention, Judas's betrayal of Jesus was the
cowardly act of a selfish deserter whose only thought was his own
safety and glorification, no matter what might be the results of
his conduct upon his Master and upon his former associates.
177:4.10 But it was ever just that way. Judas
had long been engaged in this deliberate, persistent, selfish, and
vengeful consciousness of progressively building up in his mind,
and entertaining in his heart, these hateful and evil desires of
revenge and disloyalty. Jesus loved and trusted Judas even as he
loved and trusted the other apostles, but Judas failed to develop
loyal trust and to experience wholehearted love in return. And how
dangerous ambition can become when it is once wholly wedded to
self-seeking and supremely motivated by sullen and long-suppressed
vengeance! What a crushing thing is disappointment in the lives of
those foolish persons who, in fastening their gaze on the shadowy
and evanescent allurements of time, become blinded to the higher
and more real achievements of the everlasting attainments of the
eternal worlds of divine values and true spiritual realities.
Judas craved worldly honor in his mind and grew to love this
desire with his whole heart; the other apostles likewise craved
this same worldly honor in their minds, but with their hearts they
loved Jesus and were doing their best to learn to love the truths
which he taught them.
177:4.11 Judas did not realize it at this time,
but he had been a subconscious critic of Jesus ever since John the
Baptist was beheaded by Herod. Deep down in his heart Judas always
resented the fact that Jesus did not save John. You should not
forget that Judas had been a disciple of John before he became a
follower of Jesus. And all these accumulations of human resentment
and bitter disappointment which Judas had laid by in his soul in
habiliments of hate were now well organized in his subconscious
mind and ready to spring up to engulf him when he once dared to
separate himself from the supporting influence of his brethren
while at the same time exposing himself to the clever insinuations
and subtle ridicule of the enemies of Jesus. Every time Judas
allowed his hopes to soar high and Jesus would do or say something
to dash them to pieces, there was always left in Judas's heart a
scar of bitter resentment; and as these scars multiplied,
presently that heart, so often wounded, lost all real affection
for the one who had inflicted this distasteful experience upon a
well-intentioned but cowardly and self-centered personality. Judas
did not realize it, but he was a coward. Accordingly was he always
inclined to assign to Jesus cowardice as the motive which led him
so often to refuse to grasp for power or glory when they were
apparently within his easy reach. And every mortal man knows full
well how love, even when once genuine, can, through
disappointment, jealousy, and long-continued resentment, be
eventually turned into actual hate.
177:4.12 At last the chief priests and elders
could breathe easily for a few hours. They would not have to
arrest Jesus in public, and the securing of Judas as a traitorous
ally insured that Jesus would not escape from their jurisdiction
as he had so many times in the past.
5. THE LAST SOCIAL HOUR
177:5.1 Since it was Wednesday, this evening at
the camp was a social hour. The Master endeavored to cheer his
downcast apostles, but that was well-nigh impossible. They were
all beginning to realize that disconcerting and crushing events
were impending. They could not be cheerful, even when the Master
recounted their years of eventful and loving association. Jesus
made careful inquiry about the families of all of the apostles
and, looking over toward David Zebedee, asked if anyone had heard
recently from his mother, his youngest sister, or other members of
his family. David looked down at his feet; he was afraid to
answer.
177:5.2 This was the occasion of Jesus' warning
his followers to beware of the support of the multitude. He
recounted their experiences in Galilee when time and again great
throngs of people enthusiastically followed them around and then
just as ardently turned against them and returned to their former
ways of believing and living. And then he said: "And so you must
not allow yourselves to be deceived by the great crowds who heard
us in the temple, and who seemed to believe our teachings. These
multitudes listen to the truth and believe it superficially with
their minds, but few of them permit the word of truth to strike
down into the heart with living roots. Those who know the gospel
only in the mind, and who have not experienced it in the heart,
cannot be depended upon for support when real trouble comes. When
the rulers of the Jews reach an agreement to destroy the Son of
Man, and when they strike with one accord, you will see the
multitude either flee in dismay or else stand by in silent
amazement while these maddened and blinded rulers lead the
teachers of the gospel truth to their death. And then, when
adversity and persecution descend upon you, still others whom you
think love the truth will be scattered, and some will renounce the
gospel and desert you. Some who have been very close to us have
already made up their minds to desert. You have rested today in
preparation for those times which are now upon us. Watch,
therefore, and pray that on the morrow you may be strengthened for
the days that are just ahead."
177:5.3 The atmosphere of the camp was charged
with an inexplicable tension. Silent messengers came and went,
communicating with only David Zebedee. Before the evening had
passed, certain ones knew that Lazarus had taken hasty flight from
Bethany. John Mark was ominously silent after returning to camp,
notwithstanding he had spent the whole day in the Master's
company. Every effort to persuade him to talk only indicated
clearly that Jesus had told him not to talk.
177:5.4 Even the Master's good cheer and his
unusual sociability frightened them. They all felt the certain
drawing upon them of the terrible isolation which they realized
was about to descend with crashing suddenness and inescapable
terror. They vaguely sensed what was coming, and none felt
prepared to face the test. The Master had been away all day; they
had missed him tremendously.
177:5.5 This Wednesday evening was the low-tide
mark of their spiritual status up to the actual hour of the
Master's death. Although the next day was one more day nearer the
tragic Friday, still, he was with them, and they passed through
its anxious hours more gracefully.
177:5.6 It was just before midnight when Jesus,
knowing this would be the last night he would ever sleep through
with his chosen family on earth, said, as he dispersed them for
the night: "Go to your sleep, my brethren, and peace be upon you
till we rise on the morrow, one more day to do the Father's will
and experience the joy of knowing that we are his sons."
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