Episode:Jesus Goes Public—Preparation and Preaching (Part 10)

From Symmetry of Soul


Jesus admonished his apostles: "Do not make the mistake of thinking that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets. I come not to transgress the law but rather to write these new commandments on the tablets of your hearts. If you would enter the kingdom, you must have a righteousness that consists in love, mercy, and truth—the sincere desire to do the will of my Father in heaven."

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Evening of the Ordination, Further Instruction, Apostleship

Opening thought: Clear words, freed from ambiguity and clarified by exact definitions, are the light of human minds, reason is the stride, growth of science is the path, and the well-being of mankind is the end of our journey. —Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)

Closing thought: Spend the week reflecting.

Summary by Kermit

Commentary after Review

Interestingly, SoS studied this paper eight and a half years ago. Notably the lines of approach and interpretation of the text were markedly different. The ensuing discussion addressed this issue of approaching a passage in the revelation in different ways while staying within the context (sphere) of the truth of the revelation. A great challenge of engaging the 5th ER as a revelation of truth is to differentiate between mere rational interpretations, which risk false conclusions, and genuinely truthful interpretations of the text.

The 5th ER being a revelation of concentrated and most advanced truth for our time comes to us as a double-edged sword. The opportunities for false tangents and misinterpretations are greatly multiplied.

140:6 The Evening of the Ordination

We noted that upon the return of Jesus and the twelve to Zebedee’s home for their evening meal, Jesus absented himself by going for a walk alone, leaving the apostles alone to talk among themselves. Here we can see Jesus manifesting the Father’s Deity relationship to experiential reality. In the ordination sermon he initiated and directionized the twelve in their sacred responsibilities as ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven. An interesting exercise for students is to survey the epochal revelations and seek to discern their characteristics and purposes vis à vis Father and Mother Deity influence.

Suffice it to say the apostles were confounded by Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom. Upon the Master’s return from his walk, he spoke to their bewilderment. Using strong words implying evil, Jesus admonished them that they had wrong ideas of the Son of Man in their grafting his new teachings upon the old. He asks of them the attitude of a child: reborn, delivered from their religious codes of the avoidance of wrongdoing. He asks them to transmute their notions of righteousness wherein they seek the Father’s favor by almsgiving, prayer, and fasting into the internalized righteousness which consists of love, mercy, and truth—the sincere desire to do the will of the Father in heaven. Jesus attempted to elevate their thinking regarding the keeping of the commandments from acts in the outer life to considering their motives in the inner life. As he said, “You must judge your fellows by their deeds; the Father in heaven judges by intent.” Listen to the broadcast discussion here on the inner life process whereby a real desire leads to a spiritual motive, which in turn begets a mindal intention. Such are the bases of the heavenly Father’s judgements.

James Zebedee then takes the discussion on a tangent by asking Jesus a question concerning divorcement. In response Jesus attempts to clarify that his mission is to comfort minds, liberate spirits, and save souls in contrast to reforming social, political, and economic life. Jesus goes on to urge their recognition of the two viewpoints of all mortal conduct—the human and the divine; the ways of the flesh and the way of the spirit; the estimate of time and the viewpoint of eternity. Survey of today’s cultural, philosophic, and religious climate reveals a distinctly secular environment, even more challenging for the proclamation of the kingdom of heaven than first century Palestine, where religious traditions prevailed.

Jesus goes on to draw distinctions between the requirements and responsibilities of apostleship and discipleship. Apostleship demands higher standards of conduct. To the invitation to turn back from apostleship in light of the more rigorous requirements, the twelve, led by Peter declared wholehearted dedication to the path of apostleship. Jesus went on to encourage them and instruct them regarding the necessities of living with the exhortation to seek first the kingdom of God whereupon all things needful shall be added.

Initiated by Peter, the apostles, save the twins each sought and received individual face time with the Master, such that by the time all ten apostles had had their alone time with Jesus, a new day was dawning.

SoS pointed out how the gospel record of Matthew is herein sorted out in the revelation’s coordination of essential knowledge.