“Jesus enjoyed a sublime and wholehearted faith in the Creator, experiencing the ordinary ups and downs of mortal existence, but never doubting the certainty of the Creator’s watchcare and guidance.” “In the Master’s life on Urantia, this and all other worlds of the local creation discover a new and higher type of religion, religion based on personal spiritual relations with the Universal Source and wholly validated by the supreme authority of genuine personal experience.” On Urantia, “The time ...
Oct 12, 2023•54 min
The events of the day of Pentecost “were to decide the future policies, and to determine the plans, of the majority of the apostles in their efforts. Peter was the real founder of the Christian church; Paul carried the Christian message to the gentiles, and the Greek believers carried it to the whole Roman Empire.” Today, “The great hope of Urantia lies in the possibility of a new revelation of Jesus with a new and enlarged presentation of the message which would spiritually unite in loving serv...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 30 min
As about one hundred and twenty followers were gathered together, “they all became aware of a strange presence in the room. At the same time these disciples all became conscious of a new and profound sense of spiritual joy, security, and confidence. This new consciousness of spiritual strength was immediately followed by a strong urge to go out and publicly proclaim the doctrine of the new realm and the news that Jesus had risen from the dead.” “And so they went forth, endowed with power, preach...
Oct 12, 2023•47 min
In a final appearance to the apostles, Jesus gave a parting instruction. “I directed you to wait in Jerusalem until you were endowed with power from on high. I am now about to take leave of you; I am about to ascend to the Creator, and soon, very soon, we will send the Spirit of Truth into this world; and when it has come, you will begin the proclamation of the doctrine of the new realm, first in Jerusalem and then to the uttermost parts of the world.” And then Jesus disappeared “to begin the as...
Oct 12, 2023•31 min
Jesus continued to make appearances to the apostles, and Peter began to preach that “...Jesus is not dead; we declare that the Master has risen from the tomb; we proclaim that we have seen and talked with Jesus.” “Already the first steps had begun of changing the doctrine of the new realm — relationship with the Creator and with mortals — into the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus.” “And so, under the vigorous leadership of Peter and before the Master ascended to the Creator, these well-...
Oct 12, 2023•31 min
“Resurrection Sunday was a terrible day in the lives of the apostles; ten of them spent the larger part of the day in the upper chamber behind locked doors. They might have fled from Jerusalem, but they were afraid of being arrested by the agents of the Sanhedrin if they were found.” It took quite a while for the apostles to accept the fact of Jesus’ resurrection, even though they had been told it would happen. After several appearances they became fully convinced that Jesus had risen from the d...
Oct 12, 2023•37 min
“ The resurrected Jesus now prepares to spend a short period on Urantia for the purpose of experiencing the ascending morontia career of a mortal of the realms. Although this time of the morontia life is to be spent on the world of mortal incarnation, it will, however, be in all respects the counterpart of the experience of Satania mortals who pass through the progressive morontia life of the seven mansion worlds of Jerusem.” “The mortals of the realms will rise in the morning of the resurrectio...
Oct 12, 2023•28 min
Michael of Nebadon, the creator of our local universe, having completed the life experience of a mortal in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, now “having freely made the decision to give up the mortal life, had the power to take it up again.” As a mortal Michael experienced material death, but as the Sovereign of a universe, had “elected to pass through the whole of the experience of mortal creatures, from birth on the material worlds, on through natural death and the resurrection of the morontia, i...
Oct 12, 2023•37 min
The day and a half that Jesus’ mortal body lay in the tomb, the period between death on the cross and resurrection, is somewhat mysterious even to the authors of this paper, which describes the burial and the activities of the followers during this time. It explains that Jesus’ death was the culmination “of twenty-five years on the cross of a real and intense mortal existence. The real value of the cross consists in the fact that it was the supreme and final expression of love, the completed rev...
Oct 12, 2023•35 min
“Jesus freely submits to death on the cross.” Foretelling this experience, Jesus said: “I will rise again. No one takes my life away from me — I lay it down myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up. I have received such a commandment from the Creator.” “Jesus lived and died royally, freely admitting being divine and remaining master of the situation throughout this tragic day.” This paper describes the events of that fateful day.
Oct 12, 2023•35 min
Jesus was placed in the custody of the Roman soldiers, and Judas Iscariot appeared before the Sanhedrin “to claim the reward for having participated in the Master’s arrest and sentence of death.” “All of these Jews loathed Judas; they viewed the betrayer with only feelings of utter contempt.” Consequently, Judas was given “a bag containing thirty pieces of silver — the current price of a good, healthy slave.” “Judas was stunned, dumfounded...” “This onetime ambassador of the realm of the Creator...
Oct 12, 2023•27 min
As the death sentence could not be carried out by the Jews, Jesus was taken by the temple guards into the presence of Pilate, the Roman governor, bound and accompanied by about fifty accusers, including the Sanhedrist court, Judas Iscariot, and the high priest, Caiaphas. “Pilate would have liked to postpone this hearing, but saw that the Jewish leaders were determined to proceed with the case...” Consequently, Pilate conducted a private hearing and then tried to avoid responsibility by ordering ...
Oct 12, 2023•45 min
“Jesus spent about three hours at the palace of Annas on Mount Olivet, not far from the garden of Gethsemane.” After this interrogation, Annas sent Jesus to the palace of Caiaphas, the current high priest, who had called the Sanhedrist court of inquiry together in order to put Jesus on trial. When the court was finished with the hearing, they had drawn up an indictment of Jesus as being worthy of death. Finally, “Jesus was led from the home of Caiaphas to appear before Pilate for confirmation of...
Oct 12, 2023•37 min
Judas left the final meal with Jesus and the apostles and proceeded to meet with the temple guards, offering to lead them to Jesus. Judas led the guards to the home where the meal had taken place, but Jesus had already left with the apostles for Gethsemane, so the body of soldiers went directly to the garden. There the arrest took place, and Jesus was taken into custody and delivered to the palace of Annas, the former high priest. “And all the way to the palace of Annas, Jesus said nothing. From...
Oct 12, 2023•31 min
“As Jesus and the eleven made their way back to camp, the apostles began to wonder about the meaning of Judas’s prolonged absence.” “But they did not engage in open comment until they reached the camp and observed that Judas was not there, waiting to receive them.” “David Zebedee and John Mark took Jesus to one side and revealed that they had kept Judas under observation for several days, and that they knew of the intention to betray Jesus into the hands of the enemies.” “None of the apostles ex...
Oct 12, 2023•33 min
“At last it was beginning to dawn on these Galileans that their friend and teacher was going to leave them, and their hope grasped at the promise that Jesus, after a little while, would again be with them, but they were prone to forget that this return visit was also for a little while. On this occasion, Jesus took each of the apostles aside and spoke with them individually, giving them words of advice and comfort.
Oct 12, 2023•50 min
Jesus spoke freely about soon leaving the apostles, saying “..., I am going away, going back to my Creator Parent. In a little while you will not see me as you do here. In a very short time I am going to send you my spirit, just like me except for this material body. This new teacher is the Spirit of Truth who will live with each one of you, in your hearts...” “This divine endowment is not the letter or law of truth, neither is it to function as the form or expression of truth. The new teacher i...
Oct 12, 2023•44 min
Jesus and the apostles gathered at the home of John Mark’s parents, celebrating the Passover a day early. This is the meal commonly known as the “Last Supper.” The story is told in considerable detail, including the conflict among the apostles regarding preferential seating, Jesus’ washing their feet, the departure of Judas for the purpose of betrayal, and the establishment of the remembrance ceremony with the bread and the wine.
Oct 12, 2023•32 min
“Jesus planned to spend this Thursday, the last free day on earth, with the apostles and a few loyal and devoted disciples.” “Jesus talked to about fifty trusted followers for almost two hours and answered many questions regarding the relation of the realm of the Creator to the dominions of this world, and the relationship with the Creator to citizenship in earthly governments.” Later that day they walked into Jerusalem in order to have one last meal together.
Oct 12, 2023•30 min
“When the work of teaching the people did not press them, it was the custom of Jesus and the apostles to rest each Wednesday.” On this particular day, Jesus decided to go into the hills alone, but John Mark insisted on going along. “The Master spent this last day of quiet on earth visiting with this truth-hungry youth and talking with the Paradise Creator.” “This occasion exemplifies the willingness of the Creator to socialize with the creature. Even a youth, if the desire of the heart is really...
Oct 12, 2023•36 min
On this evening Jesus spoke to the apostles about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. “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.” Instruction was also given about Jesus’ intent...
Oct 12, 2023•36 min
“This discourse was intended to be a last appeal to the Jewish people and the final indictment of the vehement enemies and would-be destroyers — the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the chief rulers of Israel.” Following the discourse, “the Sanhedrin, as then constituted, officially and unanimously voted to impose the death sentence on both Jesus and Lazarus. This was the answer to the Master’s last appeal to the rulers of the Jews that had been made in the temple only a few hours before, and ...
Oct 12, 2023•31 min
“...a council between the Sanhedrin and some fifty additional leaders selected from among the scribes, Pharisees, and the Sadducees had been held. It was the consensus of this meeting that it would be dangerous to arrest Jesus in public because of the affections of the common people. It was also the opinion of the majority that a determined effort should be made before an arrest and trial to discredit Jesus in the eyes of the multitude. Accordingly, several groups of learned people were designat...
Oct 12, 2023•32 min
This paper relates the story of Jesus cleaning the temple of sacrificial animals and money-changers. “This cleansing of the temple discloses the Master’s attitude toward commercializing the practices of religion as well as all forms of unfairness and profiteering at the expense of the poor and the unlearned. This episode also demonstrates that Jesus did not look with approval on the refusal to employ force to protect the majority of any given human group against the unfair and enslaving practice...
Oct 12, 2023•36 min
“...the twelve apostles were given their final instructions by Jesus preparatory to entering Jerusalem, learning that Jesus would probably deliver many addresses and teach many lessons before returning to the Creator, but being advised to refrain from doing any public work during this Passover sojourn in Jerusalem.” Jesus had decided on a method for making a public entrance into Jerusalem, relying on a Scripture “which referred to a ruler coming to Jerusalem riding on a donkey.” As Jesus and the...
Oct 12, 2023•40 min
The teaching about the realm of the Creator and an “announcement about going to the Passover set all the followers to thinking that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to inaugurate the temporal rule of Jewish supremacy. No matter what Jesus said about the nonmaterial character of the realm, the Jewish hearers were still convinced that the Messiah was to establish some kind of nationalistic government with headquarters at Jerusalem. The apostles were less concerned now about the efforts of the religiou...
Oct 12, 2023•45 min
The concept of the realm of the Creator has no one specific meaning. “At different times and in varying circumstances it appears that Jesus may have presented numerous concepts in public teachings, but to the apostles Jesus always taught the realm of the Creator as embracing one’s personal experience in relation to others on earth and to the Creator.”
Oct 12, 2023•39 min
During the final week at Pella, “Jesus was very active in teaching the multitude and instructing the apostles, preaching every afternoon to the crowds and each night answering questions for the apostles and certain of the more advanced disciples residing at the camp.” Meanwhile, “The Pharisees and the chief priests had begun to formulate their charges and to crystallize their accusations.” “And so it was at the very height of the second phase of the public ministry that Jesus planned to teach th...
Oct 12, 2023•26 min
This paper tells the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. “Though many believed in Jesus as a result of this mighty work, others only hardened their hearts. By noon of the day after Lazarus’ resurrection this story had spread over all Jerusalem. Scores of people went to Bethany to talk with Lazarus, and the alarmed and disconcerted Pharisees hastily called a meeting of the Sanhedrin...” “No matter what the source of such wonder-working power, these Jewish leaders were p...
Oct 12, 2023•34 min
The work continued to progress, with large numbers of followers attending the sessions. “This was a period when the teachings were proclaimed with power, without miracles, and most of the time without the personal presence of Jesus or even of the apostles.” The Pharisees, however, persisted in their efforts to entrap Jesus at every opportunity. Jesus, while consistently pointing out the fallacies in the Pharisees’ thinking, “did urge the Jews to live up to their own laws and higher teachings, co...
Oct 12, 2023•38 min
