Episode:Jesus Culminates His Ministry—O Jerusalem! (Part 1)

From Symmetry of Soul


Although the common folks of the villages of Bethany and Bethphage thought Jesus was now going into Jerusalem, in utter defiance of the Sanhedrin’s decree of death, to proclaim himself king of the Jews, the Bethany family—Lazarus, Martha, and Mary—more fully realized that the Master was not that kind of a king; they dimly felt that this might be his last visit to Jerusalem and Bethany.

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Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Mary Anoints the Master, Judas Hardens His Heart, Lazarus Must Also Die

Opening thought: Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. Joshua 24:14-15

Note: Justin Armstrong filled in for Brad Garner.

Summary by Andrea

Commentary after Review

A question was asked by one of the Symmetry of Soul team about whether it is the Divine Minister with her mandate directing that nothing be done to half cure, cowardly suppress, or otherwise hide the hideous visage of rebels and rebellion who is at the heart of what is happening to our world now. It was pointed out that every world goes through the growing pains of catastrophic physical events, appalling accidents, horrific disasters, painful illnesses, and world-wide scourges. The revelators tell us that is all part of the plan and that everything always works out for the welfare and progress of the universes. It is up to us to choose to serve a God who can design a universe that is seemingly unloving using our foresight and insight into the way things really are.

A question from another SoS teammate generated a fair bit of conversation. Justin Armstrong summarized it thusly:

We discussed the potential significance of The Infinite Upholder, a self-experiential facet of Deity being referenced at the tail end of each sequence concerning both Father and Mother Deity. Through the Trinity, Father and Mother Deity are connected to each other through the back door. The Infinite Upholder is transcendent of the appropriate distinctions of Father and Mother.

The Infinite Upholder is extended to engage The Paradise Trinity and this logically initiates the formation of Mother Deity. The experiential nature of Reality is intimately connected to self-experiential Deity. Always remember that there is an existential predicate to the intimacy of the experiential.

172 Going into Jerusalem

We marvel at Jesus’ composure as he approaches his death which he knows is just around the corner. We consider where, in the gospels, this story appears and learn that it is in the Gospel of John. You can see the last 3 verses of {{bible:John 11}. And then again into the first part of chapter 12. The Midwayers clear up who the host of the part is. Simon is the leading citizen of Bethany and the father of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. He is not the leper as stated in the Bible. In addition, they let us know that Martha is directing the serving and not doing it herself. These are cleared up from the Bible account.

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were among the few who understood that Jesus was readying himself for his last trip to Jerusalem. He is culminating his entire public ministry here in these little villages near the Mount of Olives. In defiance of the Sanhedrin and in honor of Jesus, a banquet was put together by Lazarus, Martha and Mary. On this evening, before the dinner begins, he is there engaging with the children and speaking to the most humble and unlearned with majestic calmness that astounds the apostles and all of us throughout the ages. He was majestically calm. A pattern for all of us to learn from. He is exhibiting an unnatural response to external stimuli, the sign of a true religionist. He’s using the same inner life we all have and can use as we move in the world using our faith nucleus as our guide.

172:1 Sabbath at Bethany

The chief priests and Pharisees were confused about Jesus’ boldness. They wanted to apprehend him but were afraid of his friends and remembered the resurrection of Lazarus. The gospels of Mathew, Mark, and John give us details about this story that are not repeated in the revelation.

Jesus’ opening message dealt with the walls of Jericho falling down, Jesus said: "I am not concerned with such walls of brick and stone; but I would cause the walls of prejudice, self-righteousness, and hate to crumble before this preaching of the Father's love for all men." We are reminded that the cure for these things is God within each individual, not some system we might develop in the outer world that we think might remedy the situation. Only the inner life and a relationship to God can solve these issues. Outer life remedies can only breed more hate and self-righteousness.

In the famous scene where Mary, the sister of Lazarus, pours the expensive ointment over Jesus’ head and feet we see again how the revelators clean up the story and eliminate the error of conflating the two stories of Jesus being anointed. Since it was so many years after Jesus’ death when the New Testament was written we can easily understand how this could happen.

When Judas attempted to reprove Mary for this act basing his opinion on his long-held resentments and the opinions of others in the room, Jesus points out that it is Mary that has reproved them. Her faith is shining through and her story has lived on through the ages as Jesus said it would. This episode is the beginning of Judas finally making up his mind consciously to seek revenge for his hurt feelings and bruised ego. Because his loyalties were defective since childhood this episode pushed him over the edge. He has finally spiritualized those temperamental tendencies wherein strong dislike in the lower domain is moved up to hatred in the upper domain. This is wickedness.

In the Book of John, Judas is accused of being a thief, but we know from The Urantia Book that this is not correct and that money would never be a motive for Judas. John’s accusation was because he esteemed his own opinion and felt it was his place to accuse Judas of this. This reminds us that self-righteousness can create hatred of others because we focus on the negative so thoroughly that it twists us. Hatred and self-righteousness go hand in hand. We think we have a right to see others in a negative light because we have esteemed ourselves too greatly. What we ourselves embody we see in others if we are not on guard. Jesus had such humility that he never let himself go down that path of hatred. And what an example the Creator of our Universe gave to us so that we may also exemplify such humility!

It’s not easy to maintain our objectivity, to be in the world, but not of the world when everyone around us is succumbing to this hatred. Humility is our bridge to unquestioning loyalty that allows us to have wholehearted devotion to supreme values.

172:2 Sunday Morning with the Apostles

On Sunday morning the Master called his twelve apostles around him and gave them their final instructions preparatory to entering Jerusalem. He told them to refrain from doing any public work and simply to "watch and pray."

Notes by Brad

  • Our world seems so messed up! Is this "unlimited opportunity for sin-expression"? [54:5.11]
    • Frame of reference: the cosmic evolutionary process is designed to contain natural vicissitudes. Even a normal world is supposed to experience "catastrophic physical events, appalling accidents, horrific disasters, painful illnesses, and world-wide scourges" [10:7.5].
    • But our world is also sin-darkened (rebellion and default). Here, sin exists at a systemic level (as opposed to the individual level on a normal world).
      • And our local universe mother spirit and her daughters will not intervene in such matters. To not soften the flow. To let the sin work out as quickly as possible.
      • This decision to allow sin to work itself out on our world is not about any one individual. Many "innocents" will be apparently crushed in the course of this. Beings on high minister to your destiny (the long game), not some temporal moment or your material comfort.
      • In a non rebellion-tainted area of a universe, our guardian angels would gently set up circumstances to try to let us back to the righteous path if we are drifting. But they've been ordered not to do that on our world. We have to ask for help to receive it here; we must initiate here, just as repentance must be sincere.
    • Is sin in "full disclosure" on our world, or is it hidden in machinations?
      • More and more these things seem to be in full disclosure. Amidst today's civilizational emergency we see people openly insisting we see black and for us to call it white. Even plain eyesight can see this is wrong (one doesn't need the eye of faith insight for it); it's directly in your face to accept or refuse to go along with.
    • And so, consider: were you following men, thinking you were following God? Do you now see these men are wicked? That theirs are "the paths of sin and death?" [139:12.5]. If so, choose this day whom you will serve.
      • You'll have to own up to an about face. Face others? Sure.
      • But perhaps even moreso: you'll have to face yourself. "It requires a great and noble character, having started out wrong, to turn about and go right." [184:2.12]
    • And remember: a wise parent doesn't absolutely shield their child from the inevitabilities. They are the path to knowing God, the God of love, even though it may be tough love born out of a parent's wise and long-distance view.


  • Some precision of language used consistently in the 5th ER:
    • Over versus above. Over means still touching, above is higher. Hence: over control, not above-control.
    • Under versus below. Under means still touching, below is lower. Infra- is under, sub- is below.


  • The start of [Paper 172] matches up roughly with John 11:55 and on into John 12.
  • All earthly things are about to crash for Jesus. An ominous week. How does he act?
    • Is it crushing him? Is he howling "who is tormenting me??" [86:2.2]
    • No, he is majestic and calm. "Exceptionally cheerful," and so forth.
      • A reminder that of we each can seek first the kingdom of heaven, found ourselves on the inner life and stand unmoved in even the worst "redirecting cataclysms" [100:2.8] of outer-life goings on.
      • You can handle the death of your outer life if you have a properly founded inner life.
      • Have true religion—be a religionist. Only being a religionist will serve you well when the going gets tough.
      • If your inner life can keep you peaceful in tumultuous times, you can retain your true human qualities instead of fretting like an animal. You can continue to have insight in tough times, for example. You won't be deceived.
    • You see here a religionist responding unnaturally to outer-life circumstances.
      • Someone who's potentially a part of the solution, not a part of the problem on our sin-darkened world?
      • This last week of Jesus' life on earth contains a lot of heavy material. But a religionist can still "be of good cheer," because they stand on the firm foundation of God; you are not frothing at the mouth if you are a religionist.
  • Jesus is exhibiting humility.
    • The culmination of Jesus' ministry is received gladly in two humble towns: Bethany and Bethpage, home of the "humble and unlearned of God's children on earth" [102:0.2], not the Jerusalem home of some fancy intellectual types.
    • Jesus rides in on a donkey instead of horse.
    • Even as a near Master Son, Jesus refuses to rule in the kingdoms of men (the Most High (observer) rules in the kingdoms of men [43:5.17]).
    • Here is Jesus, not to usurp the kingdoms of men, but to enthrone God in the hearts of those who would hear his message.
    • Here Jesus is not concerned about wealth (Martha, Mary, Lazarus all were well to do). his concern is love of wealth (an inner life issue).
    • Here Jesus is not concerned with free food and healthcare. He is concerned about our souls.


  • Coordination of essential knowledge.
    • Fragments of this story appear in Matthew and Mark, but are far more confused than the gospel of John. "Simon of Bethany" is not "Simon the leper," for example.
    • In a seemingly small moment, the 5th ER clarifies that "Martha directed the serving of the food" (emphasis added) at this public banquet in Bethany, whereas John 12:2 writes, "Martha served" the food.
      • The revelators clear up seemingly minor things. Why? So that might have caused "eddies of distraction" in our thoughts for centuries? To allow truth to flow better? We think so.
      • What could be the reason here for this clarification? One can reflect on that.
    • Jesus and company arrive in Bethany on Friday not Saturday as in the gospel of John (which suggests they would have been traveling on the Sabbath).
    • Yes, this is the second time Jesus was anointed by a woman using her hair at the banquet of a well-to-do man named Simon. Two different times, places, Simons, and women. No wonder these things got confused in people's minds as they recounted all of this for writing the gospels. The 5th ER brings clarity to all of this.
    • the gospel of John accuses Judas of being a thief who stole from the treasury, but the 5th ER clarifies he never did any such thing.
      • But that's just the kind of misremembering a guy like John Zebedee could have, years later, if he was prone to self-exaltation (self esteem).


  • How's Judas doing here? Not well.
    • He tried to reprove Mary for using costly ointment, but Jesus ended up declaring Mary had reproved all of them (which Judas took personally)
      • We surmise this scene with Mary was doubly upsetting to Judas, a Judean sensitive to Jewish custom (as opposed to Galileans) and the traditional low status of women.
    • Judas was an outer-life sort of guy.
      • Whereas Jesus points out that Mary's actions here reflect something in her heart, something of faith, the inner life.
    • He finally entertains conscious, wicked thoughts of betrayal. He is spiritualizing (taking into the inner life) his manifold outer-life genetic, temperamental, and upbringing issues (wicked is an inner-life word).
  • How are the Jewish authorities doing here? Not well.
    • They "rightly" concluded Lazarus also must die. That can only mean one thing: self-righteousness, not righteousness. "There is a way that seems right to a man..."
      • Caution: There are no limits to how self-righteous you can become, and never feel the tension of it. You are absolutely sovereign in your inner life.
      • You've made your own sphere/bubble of unreality, and within there you perceive your real wickedness is as a subjective righteousness.
    • He seeks revenge. No. For ages we have known "Vengeance is mine [not ours], says the Lord."
    • Even still, we see Judas dabbling with sin here, not the full flower of iniquity. He is a tragic figure and a cautionary tale, not someone with devil-horns on them.


  • Hate versus dislike. The only solution to prejudice and hate (inner-life issues) is God (also in the inner life).
    • Don't look for some outer-life rigid totalitarian regime to solve hate. Outer-life "solutions" to hate inexorably breed more hate.
    • It's an inner-life problem. And only God can solve it.
    • Caution: If you focus too much on the negative in others, you become that yourself.
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