Episode:Jesus Faces Death—Farewell Instruction (Part 10)

From Symmetry of Soul


Jesus was isolated from his family in the flesh; one of his chosen associates was betraying him. His father Joseph’s people had rejected him and thereby sealed their doom as a people with a special mission on earth. His soul was tortured by baffled love and rejected mercy. It was just one of those awful human moments when everything seems to bear down with crushing cruelty and terrible agony.

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Alone in Gethsemane, Great Anguish, Untold Sorrow

Summary by Kermit

Commentary after Review

We began our post-summary commentary talking about the distinction between believing IN Jesus vs. believing WITH Jesus and how the 5th ER encourages us to strive to go beyond the child of God belief in Jesus as God incarnate to an adult of God belief with him as our Creator father-brother. Such an enhanced faith carries us beyond the domains of the local universe, as grand as we may discover them to be.

Prior to our reading we discussed the cosmic mechanisms of material and spirit gravity and their influence on our minds. The 5th ER enlightens us as to the interplay of these two forces in our daily struggles with the vicissitudes of evolutionary life. When subjected to external life challenges, isolation, loneliness, rejection by family and friends, unfair and untrue accusations, material gravity exerts an incessant pull downward pull on the mind resulting in anxiety and depression. But the small dose of spirit gravity made available to us through the by grace encircuitment in the Holy Spirit, when taken hold of through our personal free-will faith grasp is sufficient to counterbalance the downward pull and restore our mental equilibrium. That is if we strive to cultivate such a faculty. We are about to witness Jesus alone in the garden of Gethsemane. He provides a Master class in the utilization of the God given gifts available to all men and women to move up the levels of meaning and attain the victory of the spirit over the flesh and regain spiritual fitness and mental equilibrium. Advancing civilization harbors religionists whose purpose it is to remind us of these grace gifts and our sovereignty to wield them. Alas, it is sad to record that modern day religion is too often characterized by a preoccupation with material remedies to material concerns rather than providing reminders of the spiritual resources available to better equip believers for profitably dealing with “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

182:3. Alone in Gethsemane

Jesus now takes Peter, James, and John apart and separates from them to pray. We are alerted to the manner in which the midwayers coordinate the essential knowledge of these events and sort out the various details found in the New Testament versions of this episode of the Master’s life. Noting the precision of the midwayer account we discern the pull of material gravity on Jesus’ mind by their use of words and phrases as “grievously oppressed”, and “heavy laden.” Even the Master’s posture, prostrate testifies to material gravity’s pull. Jesus has become so focused on the externals of the situation that he has for the moment lost his equilibrium and must regain his inner balance. His prayer is in effect seeking a sign from God that his impending tribulations are consistent with God’s will. He asks for assurance that he will please God in this death as he ahs in his life. This is such a prayer as any man or women in like circumstances might make. Jesus is at his lowest and most challenging moment in his inner life. Greater external tests are to come, but this is where he struggles to regain his mastery of the situation. We notice that following his prayer he remains in a prayerful attitude for a few moments in a reflective attitude seeking insight, moving up from prayer as a purely material technique. Further illustrating the direness of his emotional state, he finds the three apostles asleep and expresses his deep sorrow to them.

Removing himself a second time to pray reaffirming his intent and purpose to do the Father’s will, He also demonstrates upward movement whereby he includes prayer for his sleepy apostles. At this point a mighty angel came down and speaking to him also touched him. How far in the depths of despair was Jesus that he needed not only the celestial visitor to speak to him, but to also touch him physically? Can we say his prayer was answered? As with David’s messenger earlier, we conjectured as to the type of creature this mighty angel was who could thus make physical contact with Jesus. After some discussion we suspected that it might have been a Brilliant Evening Star of the ascendant variety, who are known to accompany divine sons on bestowals and in liaison with power beings interact with humans during the missions of the Trinity Teacher Sons. Jesus Is here shown to be true man, not merely mimicking a man. As a true man he is in need of an objectivity boost. We also recall at this point Jesus is meeting this adversity solely with his personality, human mind and the Holy Spirit, and without a Thought Adjuster or the Spirit of Truth.

Finding his apostles asleep following his second prayer, he shows more signs of moving up the levels of meaning and regaining his mastery by showing more concern for them that they should be mindful to pray to not fall into temptation.

Praying a third time, he leverages the plight of the apostles by focusing his prayer on them before renouncing his own will for that of the Father in taking this bitter cup. Observe the appropriate prayer of a Creator Son on this bestowal mission in renouncing his Michael-will for that of the Father. The appropriate creature prayer is not to renounce creature will for the Father’s will. Rather as creatures we are to assert our personal sovereignty of will by declaring that it is OUR will that God’s will be done. He continues to remain in a prayerful attitude at the conclusion of his prayer. Jesus is here using prayer as a psychologic procedure only approached from above as a spiritual technique.

Finding his apostles asleep a third time and tenderly awakens them sending them back to their rest. Then the midwayers enumerate the circumstances and specifics of the Master’s woes. They also remind us of the assembled hosts hovering over this scene. Interestingly, they have to be warned repeatedly not to interfere with these transactions.

Among the many causes for the Master’s sorrow was the rejection of his father Joseph’s people thereby sealing their doom as a people with a special mission on earth. Among the techniques the human Jesus employed during this ordeal to soothe his suffering was the recollection of memories from his early ministry and the environs of Nazareth, Capernaum, Mount Hermon, and the sunrise and sunset on the Sea of Galilee.

Having regained his internal wholeness and equilibrium the Master was fully equipped to meet the coming humiliation and crucifixion with equanimity and in full assurance of his invincibility as a mortal man unreservedly dedicated to the doing of his Father’s will.

Notes by Brad


  • Jesus' praying in the garden is well-known from the Bible.
    • Here the story is clarified, un-muddled.
    • In the Bible the stories are very short, and based mostly on John Mark remembering years later.


  • This author wonders how we can be lifted by spirit gravity, while surrounded by basic material concerns.
    • The Holy Spirit--a tiny measure of spirit gravity--is what can help us most immediately.
    • Supply favorable conditions and your inner life can be grown to meet all demands of the outer life.
    • In a proper society, religionists would amongst us, to remind us of this mustard seed there by grace
    • But these days most so-called religionists all outer life oriented, fussing with social concerns and speaking in warmed-over platitudes.
    • When someone is struggling, they don't need your sentiment, would-be religionist!
      • Don't be a sentimentalist. Thoughtful feelings are sentiments. which only paper over the real problem. They're distraction. Perhaps escapism.
      • Classic sentiment: ""I feel your pain. We get through tough times, we learn our lessons." This won't help someone struggling with material gravity.
    • Instead, as a religionist can you help the person take ahold of the grace already within them?
      • Observe that this grace is something they've willingly shoved away.
      • Help them let go of the material gravity they've white-knuckle gripped.
      • Performing this service for them is an art. It's not programmable, it's an unnatural, artificial, artistic approach.
      • Study how Jesus acted in this regard for some hint of the artistry.


  • Material gravity is in full play in Jesus the Man's mind here.
    • Jesus the man is needing to take ahold of his inner domain, so spirit gravity can lift him back up.
    • He's sorely depressed. "Grievously" so, as in gravity. "Heavy-laden" as in weight.
      • His face in in the ground. Gravity! Pressure!
    • In this moment it's as if he is back to the 7th-psychic-circle level of helplessness (where most of us spend our lives if we're honest)
    • Even if you're at fusion level, you're still sovereign in your inner life.


  • So, wait, Jesus did not live a perfect life?
    • At this moment there are disruptions of unity in Jesus' mind--evil, by definition!
    • Perfect is not the issue. A human cannot avoid error and evil. They're unavoidable as a child of God.
    • But if he was bounded away from error and evil, his life is of no use to us!
    • Technically Jesus the Man here doesn't even have a Thought Adjuster! Or Spirit of Truth. Things we have all the time.
      • Tough spot indeed.


  • Does Jesus the Man effectively say "show me a sign, God?"
    • Is he asking the ghost-cult God to do something for him to make things easier?
      • This author notes that, under stress, we are expected naturally to revert back to older and more primitive forms of behaving.
    • Not exactly pure ghost cult stuff. Note how Jesus "remained in a prayerful attitude for a few moments." He didn't end the prayer as quickly as possible as a ghost cultists typically does.
      • Can you do that under less trying conditions? Can you be reflective enough to pause after praying?
    • The absence of his Thought Adjuster here should not be understated.
    • "Send me the assurance." But of course the 5th ER remind us assurance need not be sent: faith, trust, and assurance are there already.
    • And yes, an angel came and literally touched him.
      • More than a seraphim, most likely. Probably en evolved Brilliant Evening star, we reasoned.
      • Note that he asked "Send me the assurance...", and surely the legion standing by found this command from the Creator Son was allowed by God's will (via his personalized Adjuster)


  • Each time Jesus returns to the apostles here, you observe him ascending back up the levels of meaning.
    • Anguish and dread are words associated with the first level of meaning.
    • Some mutuality instead of selfishness, for example, in the 2nd awakening of the apostles.
    • We see him becoming more objective. Being pulled back up by spirit gravity. Supplying favorable conditions.
    • His weary, sleeping apostles are an object less to him in the moment. Via projection, perhaps, he observes in them something true about himself: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
      • Remember that [Paper 196] repeatedly emphasizes that many things Jesus said were affirmations to himself the religionist more than commands to his followers.
    • "Let us be going" is how he concludes this matter. He's moving again. He's not frozen.


  • Now having hold of himself again here in the garden, he'll be able to hold it together for the coming arrest, trial, and crucifixion.
    • He is the culmination of the dispensational age: achieving these heights without the Spirit of Truth or a Thought Adjuster. Totally human.
    • We have these additional influences these days, by grace.


  • Once he recomposes himself here, he's back in his public-ministry mode. Post-baptism mode. Which is not entirely relatable to our experiences.
    • "What would Jesus do" doesn't always apply to us. We should say "It is my will that God's will be done." Only a Creator Son on a bestowal mission should say "Not my will, but yours be done."


  • Sorrow is lower domain. Suffering is upper domain.
    • An animal cannot suffer; it has no reflective oversight.
    • Animals don't experience sorrow, either. Sorrow is a companion with suffering, and is uniquely human.
    • The lower domain needs soothing (pleasant images from childhood). Soothe the savage beast. "Self-soothing" is today's popular parlance.
    • But the upper domain needs strengthening.