Episode:Last Ministry of the Master—Detour for Lazarus (Part 6)

From Symmetry of Soul


The vast celestial host was all astir in unified action. In just twelve seconds of earth time the hitherto lifeless form of Lazarus began to move and presently sat up on the edge of the stone shelf whereon it had rested. His body was bound about with grave cloths, and his face was covered with a napkin. And as he stood up before them—alive—Jesus said, "Loose him and let him go."

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Lazarus's Resurrection, Newfound Belief, Hardened Hearts

Note: Justin Armstrong filled in for Andrea Barnes on this episode.

Summary by Kermit

Commentary after Review

Pre-reading discussion consisted of odds and ends including fantasy Frankensteinian scenarios surrounding the impending re-animation of Lazarus’s corpse, speculation on the excitement of the assembled celestials who are about to do the bidding of their sovereign, and the origin of the word “resurrection” inasmuch as Lazarus is the first and last instance of such a feat on our world. Primitive man in his ghost-cult framework surely imagined life beyond material death as experienced in their ghost dreams. Yet note the likely influence of the resurrection of Lazarus in material form to suggest Jesus’ resurrected form was also material. We may recall that the morontia Jesus was recognizable to his followers only by his personality engagement of them, e.g., his manner of speaking. The upward progress of religion from material to mind is evolutionary, going up from a religion of mind to spirit is effected through revelation.

168:2 The Resurrection of Lazarus

John’s gospel picks up the story with Jesus praying aloud, acknowledging his doing so for the edification of the on lookers that Jesus and the Father are in partnership in what is about to transpire. Even students of the 5th ER are challenged by the partnership of Jesus with the purely existential Universal Father. Such association is a Deity interaction and not a transaction in Reality. Note that the specific immediate mechanisms involved in the reconstitution of Lazarus’s body to life is under command of Gabriel and not Jesus. Stop to consider the manifold precise cosmic details which must be elaborated to accomplish the restoration of a mass of putrefying flesh such as a four-day old corpse to the fully functional likeness of Lazarus of Bethany! The imponderable physics here in play far transcends the simple turning of water into wine through the abrogation of time.

Understandably, in true ghost-cult mode all the mortals assembled before the tomb, save the apostles, Mary and Martha fled as the form of Lazarus began to move. As the bewildered Lazarus came from the tomb, Jesus’ Personalized Adjuster completed the process commanding Lazarus’s waiting Adjuster to resume residence in the mind and soul of his former indwelling. Note, re-animation of the soul is supplied by the indwelling spirit, whereas life animation engages matter.

Jesus’ immediate remarks to Lazarus and his sisters likening his experience to that which can be expected by all who believe the gospel (Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man) only in a more glorious form should not eclipse the technical requirements of genuine survival—morontia identification with eternity—signified by Adjuster fusion.

We lingered with Jesus’ declaration, “I am the resurrection and the life”, trying to ascertain what he meant. Putting aside the sixteen statements listed in [182:1] where Jesus has expanded his revelation of the Father to his universe, we looked for additional significance in [52:5] where upon careful reading we see that because of the planetary rebellion and subsequent quarantine the normal resurrection of sleeping survivors was suspended (a la Moses needing a special resurrection) until after the bestowal of Michael’s Spirit of Truth, revealing a direct link between Jesus’ mission and certain technicalities surrounding morontia resurrection. Listen to the discussion of how the Spirit of Truth can serve as the Spirit of Unification in bridging discontinuities of circle attainment enabling an Adjuster to indwell a person of seventh psychic circle attainment.

Believers in Jesus were further confirmed in their faith as a result of Lazarus’s resurrection, others were led to believe, but his target audience, the Jerusalem rulers were only hardened in their hatred and determination to destroy Jesus and his work. As a result of the widespread story of this miraculous event the Sanhedrin hastily convened to determine their next steps.

168:3 The Meeting of the Sanhedrin

Could this act of Jesus hastened the judgment of condemnation upon the obdurate Jewish leaders who presume to reject the gift of God? John’s gospel accurately reflects the Sanhedrin’s response to these events, capturing the first occurrence of the oft repeated old Jewish adage from Caiaphas’s mouth, “It is better that one man die, than that the community perish.”

The Sanhedrin’s alarm was so great that they exceed all previous decrees for Jesus to be brought to trial for blasphemy, that they resolved advance of a trial he should die. The acrimonious debate resulted in the resignation of fourteen members and subsequent expulsion of five more because of their friendly feelings toward Jesus. Now they were practically unanimous in condemning Jesus.

After the testimony of Lazarus and his sisters, there remained no doubt that Lazarus had been resurrected. Yet, the Sanhedrin attributed this wonder to Jesus acting by the power of the prince of devils. Their great fear was that Jesus’ popularity would grow as the perceived Messiah and bring serious complications with their Roman rulers.

Jesus was fully aware of the doings of the Sanhedrin yet was unperturbed. As planned Jesus and the apostles began their journey back to Pella. We speculated as to the disconnect of John’s gospel account with the midwayers’ having the party proceeding to another location entirely.

Notes by Brad

  • Most concepts of resurrection are rooted in bottom-up ghost cult material.
    • Very natural. On all worlds.


  • The whole is not just the sum of the individuals.
    • The sum of all individuals has a relation to the whole, but it is not the whole.


  • A 12-second resurrection. That's all it took.
    • Jesus as a Creator Son isn't doing this as a power-personality synthesis in some direct way.
    • No Creators are acting here, just a lot of very knowledgeable creatures.
      • Unseen individuals are behind all the workings that are about to transpire.
      • More than we can imagine, to perform this resurrection in 12 of our seconds.
    • The physics are beyond us. How could they all surround his body without stepping on each other, for example?
    • The coordination and teamwork are beyond us, too. This author wonders if they rehearsed on a dummy first, somewhere. Did they have charts and diagrams?


  • Jesus' prayer life is far more advanced than a psychologic procedure these days.
    • But he prays out loud for their benefit, including modeling prayer to them.
    • Imagine a life of true worshipful problem solving, not delusional prayerful problem solving.


  • Jesus addresses the Universal Father as if he were about to pull the magic puppet strings.
    • But that isn't really Him. God the Father has no personal presence in time and space here.
    • Jesus is not speaking false words here in his prayer. You have to see it in truth.


  • "All who believe in this gospel" will be resurrected.
    • Does that validate the atonement doctrine? No.
    • Put it in the context of the whole 5th ER.
    • You will have to accept eternity at some point in order to have eternal life, but not necessarily in this life.


  • "I am the resurrection and the life." Really?
    • A Creator Son doesn't directly animate life (that's a Life Carrier, for example)
    • Yet, they do have some indirect connection to resurrection... because the Spirit of Truth re-enabled individual ascenders here.