Episode:Jesus Culminates His Ministry—Final Preaching and Teaching (Part 7)
Jesus promised to do two things after he had ascended to the Father, and after all power in heaven and on earth had been placed in his hands. He promised, first, to send into the world, and in his stead, another teacher, the Spirit of Truth; and this he did on the day of Pentecost. Second, he most certainly promised his followers that he would sometime personally return to this world.
Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Return of Michael, Last Day of Rest, John Mark and the Master
Opening thought: Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The righteous spend their days under the Lord’s care, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. Psalms 37:16-19
Closing thought: Just like John Mark here, follow God's instructions.
Note: Justin Armstrong and David Tucker filled in for Ruthie and Andrea this week.
Summary by Andrea
Commentary after Review
While we all thoroughly enjoyed Brad’s review we couldn’t help but realize the very stark seriousness of many questions he left us with at the end, including “Have you, gentle reader, 'knowingly and persistently' rejected these truths?” We should all be sobered to the realities being taught. Living faith is the way we resonate with the Father and eventually fuse with Him. Without that divine righteousness we will not experience an ongoing existence. Religion must be our mode of living.
We discussed mistakes and how evil can be overplayed. Evil is not tied to the wholeness of our upper domain of mind, merely to our unity. Imagine a sphere in our inner domain. If you imagine cutting a section through that sphere from any angle you have a plane of unity. Within that plane, you may have evil that disrupts the unity of that particular plane. But unrighteousness is when every plane is corrupted by evil. We can let the wholeness of the Holy Spirit keep this from happening if we take delight in cultivating our scientific, moral, and spiritual insights. The conversation became quite deep and even more interesting. Check the archives for the full discussion.
Because of the brilliance of the revelation many students may exalt themselves above other religionists and even fancy the opinion that they are better than those with more superstitious notions about God. But in [103:3.4] we read, “Remember that in the religion of all ages the experience which is paramount is the feeling regarding moral values and social meanings, not the thinking regarding theologic dogmas or philosophic theories. Religion evolves favorably as the element of magic is replaced by the concept of morals.”
Some people who found The Urantia Book and then stumbled into a theologic conflict can fall into this category. If we are not careful we could become part of that unwitting actual secularist group that early in the 20th century threw out morality when they threw out notions of primitive religion. Those unwitting folks have a so-called religion that is not evolving favorably. Yes, we need to remove magic, but it must be replaced by that living faith that has morality as its foundation. Anything else is a delusion. It is so self-evident and yet we still seem quite clueless. Even our supposedly primitive ancestors understood this. Doing the will of God is not a burden except to our ease-seeking lower domain.
176:4. The Return of Jesus
Because the book states “Urantia will eternally be one of the seven nativity spheres of Michael in the winning of universe sovereignty,” we can rest assured that there will be nothing that will keep this planet from existing. We read also that “Urantia is the sentimental shrine of all Nebadon, the chief of ten million inhabited worlds.” Therefore, nothing can prevent this world’s continuing existence. Nothing.
We discussed the word Armageddon and how it is an actual place where the Orange Man built up piles of rocks. It is also used in the Book of Revelation. Humans tend to get fixated on places that we deem meaningful especially if it is an ancient, supposedly sacred, place.
The 3 key sections from the Christian Bible that come into play in our reading concerning thinking about the 2nd coming of Jesus:
- Book of Revelation,
- Book of Daniel, and
- Chapter 24 of Matthew.
If they were not in the Bible it would be difficult to formulate or rationalize the reasons why he did not return long ago.
We are reminded of what we read the week before when they say [176:2.4] "You behold me now in weakness and in the flesh, but when I return, it shall be with power and in the spirit. The eye of flesh beholds the Son of Man in the flesh, but only the eye of the spirit will behold the Son of Man glorified by the Father and appearing on earth in his own name."
But we always want to hear what applies to us in the here and now and what will appeal to our outer life.
We want to engage the revelation with “why questions” like in paragraph 3 we ask "why are they presenting two different ideas there?" We reminded ourselves that about 100 years ago our very own Machiventa Melchizedek became a vicegerant planetary Prince which complicates the conjectures about Michael’s 2nd coming.
Now Michael and Machiventa will be in play as our future unfolds. But regardless of what Michael does as the Creator Son of our local universe in regards to Urantia he must still finish what he started here 2000 years ago as our bestowal son and a religious uplifter. That mission is not finished, in fact it barely began before he was put to death. That job can only be accomplished by him. Could he come unannounced and as an isolated event?
The book tells us “Be you therefore ever ready to welcome him on earth as he stands ready to welcome you in heaven.” This is because upon death we are face to face with that same reality. If we remember the Parable of the Talents, we will heed this reminder and do our best to take the talents we have been given, along with the truth we’ve been blessed to receive, and make the very most out of it. The Master will require a reckoning.
The children of light are all destined to see him. The children of light refers to those who are managing their lives using personality management, those who are aligned in righteousness in their inner lives.
Paper 177. Wednesday, The Rest Day
This was the apostles' very last day of rest with the Master. After a quiet morning, Jesus spoke reminding them to make sure that the truth abides in their lives, and to daily grow in grace.
As Jesus made ready to go into the hills David Zebedee admonished him to not be a fool and go out alone. He wanted 3 armed men to accompany him. Jesus told 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.” We found David’s naivete at who and what he was dealing with to be intriguing. Offering our advice to others, even when we think they are going astray, can become a self-righteous and self-appointed mission that we are wise to stay away from.
John Mark also wanted to go and made bold to request that he carry the basket of food.
177:1. One Day Alone With God
All of us come up with rationalization schemes to get what we want. John Mark had deployed one of these for the purpose of being with the person he loved, Jesus. He told him that he would watch the basket and say nothing if he could be permitted to come along. As John and Jesus both held the basket Jesus told him he could come and said “...we will comfort and console each other.” We took a deeper dive into those terms. Comfort meaning “with strength or fortification” and console meaning the spirit of unification. That part of the spirit of Truth that allows us to know we are not an orphan in the universe. For more about this read the section in paper [194:2.2].
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.
Jesus told John Mark not to share anything they discussed that day and John Mark actually did that. Jesus was here to represent the Father. And we know that our relationship with the Father is an intimate one. It’s only between the two of us. Therefore his admonition accomplishes the reminder of that special relationship that John Mark enjoyed that day with Jesus. It's one that we too can enjoy with our existential Father.
