Episode:Jesus Culminates His Ministry—O Jerusalem! (Part 5)
It was the genius of the Master for dealing with his adversaries that made them so afraid of him, and incensed them to bring about his death. But the people were not slow to discern the dishonesty and insincerity in the questions asked by the Jewish rulers. Even the common folk could not fail to distinguish between the moral majesty of the Master and the designing hypocrisy of his enemies.
Keywords: Urantia, Jesus, Parable of the Two Sons, Parable of the Absent Landlord, Parable of the Marriage Feast
Opening thought: The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious and win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him; the beginning of his talking is foolishness and the end of his talk is wicked madness. Ecclesiastes 10:12-13
Closing thought: We hope our approach to studying Part IV helps you, in your own study, increasingly have a more humble, living, and enlightened relationship to the 5th ER.
Summary by Kermit
Commentary after Review
The 5th ER being a revelation of truth is to be read for more than an historical narrative of facts. Truth is forever transcendent to facts. We are fond of noting the distinctions between the truths of eternity and the facts of time. Truth and fact find association in the experiential triunity of fact, truth, goodness in distinction from the existential triunity of beauty, truth, goodness. SoS tries to find the revelation’s truths and their association with our lives here and now. Knowing truths of the revelation should be reflected and visible to others. By our fruits shall we be known! Knowing truth is a beginning step, but fruits become apparent when truth is obeyed (see [155:1.3]). Such obedience renders the truth seeker a new creature; the old passes away.
In the temple cleansing, contrary to my summary last week, John’s account coincides with the synoptic gospels in describing Jesus as overthrowing the tables of the money-changers. Such serious misinterpretation of Jesus’ actions leads his followers of the past two thousand years to portray him as a social reformer. In truth the mission of the 4th ER was to awaken believers to an inner life where entrance to the kingdom of heaven represents the recognition by the child of God of the Heavenly Father as the initiator of a relatively self-determinative personality, a faith son. It is upon the purity of this spiritual foundation that these collective outer-life issues can be engaged righteously. The encumbrance of the Master’s version of the kingdom of heaven with social, political, and economic considerations through a convoluted two-thousand-year history has brought us to today’s emergency. The 5th ER does indeed contain a plethora of such considerations, in the form of both prescriptions and proscriptions.
It's important to remember that Part IV of the 5th ER is not the 4th ER although it is an attempt to highlight and restore the purity of the 4th ER. Jesus was the 4th ER as evinced by [Paper 196] The Faith of Jesus. The additional complexities of the 5th ER going well beyond the purity of the faith nucleus established by the 4th ER, and render it a challenging if not dubious starting point for beginners on the spiritual journey of religious awakening. Due to the incomplete penetration or diminishing influence of the 4th ER in today’s religious environment many current devotees of the 5th ER are in need of or have had to distill the purity of the faith nucleus from the outer life issues as addressed in the 5th ER and enter the kingdom of heaven as a child of God.
173:2.6 Challenging the Master’s Authority (cont.)
Back to our story, following Jesus’ refusal to take the bait of the rulers questioning his authority. Ask yourself, who or what constitutes your authority? Jesus’ reply to the rulers was not being evasive. By his question to them about John’s authority for his baptism and their refusal to give an answer he exposed their insincerity discrediting them in the eyes of the people assembled. Even the common folk, encircuited in the Holy Spirit, were capable of discerning the hypocrisy of their rulers.
Worth mentioning again is the midwayers’ clarifying through synthetic use of existing records and disclosure of previously unknown information the details of these events for a more truthful appreciation by the truth seeker.
173:3 Parable of the Two Sons
Jesus now delivers three parables. This one illustrates the need and power of repentance. Careful correlation of the text of the revelation with the gospel records demonstrates the deft synthetic work of the midwayers in eliminating error and coordinating essential knowledge.
173:4 Parable of the Absent Landlord
Interestingly the temple rulers departed following the parable of the two sons and were not on hand to hear this one.
Here is the sad story of the Jews’ treatment of the prophets and teachers sent by God for the uplift and guidance of the Jewish nation. And as a group of Sadducees and Pharisee joined them, Jesus warns that a consequence of their continued rejection of him and the gospel will be their destruction, recounting the Scripture story of the stone the builders rejected but subsequently utilized as the cornerstone... with the addition of the mystery about the fate of those who fall upon the stone being broken yet saved and those upon whom the stone falls who are destroyed!
Recognizing Jesus was referring to them, the Pharisees and Sadducees were angered and became all the more determined to destroy the Master, that night planning to entrap him the following day.
173:5 Parable of the Marriage Feast
In this parable the original invitees to the king’s wedding feast accepted the invitation but thoughtlessly and faithlessly or even violently chose not to attend. Are these the secularists of today, unwitting and militant? To the rescheduled feast the king gathered from far and wide whomever he could find. Among these willing guests the king found one who was without a wedding garment. Inasmuch as the proper wedding garments had been freely supplied, the king cast him out. In a stellar piece of synthetic study, we find the clue to the nature of the wedding garment back in [150:5.2] where Jesus addressing the question “what must I do to be saved?” says quoting Scripture: “he has clothed me with garments of salvation and has covered me with the robe of his righteousness.” So it is, entrance into the kingdom of heaven is wholly free (by faith alone), but progress—growth in grace—is essential to continuance therein.
Following the parable, Jesus makes famous reference to his death and resurrection in answer to a question from a sympathetic believer: show us a sign that you are the Son of God. “Only one sign shall be given you”, he said, and pointing to himself declaring, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” No one understood his meaning until after his resurrection.
On their way back to Bethany for the night Jesus gives instructions to set up the camp in Gethsemane, closer to the city for his final days on earth. The apostles were beginning to grasp that something tremendous was coming but they knew not what. Even the Alpheus twins began to realize that the events of the Master’s life were moving swiftly toward their final culmination.
