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Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 175 – THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
[INTRODUCTION]SHORTLY after two o’clock on this Tuesday afternoon, Jesus, accompanied by eleven apostles, Joseph of Arimathea, the thirty Greeks, and certain other disciples, arrived at the temple and began the delivery of his last address in the courts of the sacred edifice. This discourse was intended to be his last appeal to the Jewish people and the final indictment of his vehement enemies and would-be destroyers — the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the chief rulers of Israel. Throughout the forenoon the various groups had had an opportunity to question Jesus; this afternoon no one asked him a question.
(1905.2) 175:0.2 As the Master began to speak, the temple court was quiet and orderly. The money-changers and the merchandisers had not dared again to enter the temple since Jesus and the aroused multitude had driven them out the previous day. Before beginning the discourse, Jesus tenderly looked down upon this audience which was so soon to hear his farewell public address of mercy to mankind coupled with his last denunciation of the false teachers and the bigoted rulers of the Jews.
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[Each OPAD presentation is copied from The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation. Questions and comments related to the Paper under discussion are welcome and encouraged. In-depth questions and related topics may be studied in branch threads in the OPAD, or other subforums, as you require. Thank you for studying with us.]
Richard E Warren
Greetings Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests!
Welcome to the OPAD presentation of Paper 175. It has seven pages and four Sections.
Overview of Paper 175: The Last Temple Discourse
1. The Discourse
2. Status of Individual Jews
3. The Fateful Sanhedrin Meeting
4. The Situation in JerusalemThis group of papers [121-196] was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.
Paper 175 provides the (three page) text of Jesus’ momentous speech of mercy and denunciation, and follows with the details surrounding this unique event that unfolded on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 4, AD 30. Jesus has just three days to wrap up his mission in the flesh. By Friday evening, he will be dead and gone–until Sunday morning.
Synopsis of Paper 175:
Jesus returned to the temple accompanied by Joseph of Arimathea, thirty Greeks, several disciples, and eleven of the apostles-all but Judas. He delivered his final discourse in the temple. Jesus explained once again that his proclamation of the truth of sonship with God was open to all. He said that he had persistently sought peace but that the rulers of Israel would not have it. “There cannot be peace between light and darkness, between life and death, between truth and error.” He offered mercy once more to the leaders who were about to reject him.
Jesus spoke about the long history of mercy that his Father had bestowed on the Jewish people, and about the prophets that had been sent generation after generation. He warned them that they were in danger of losing their status as the custodians of divine law. Jesus offered them one more chance to repent, to seek God and the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus faulted the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites, for refusing to enter the kingdom, for preventing others from entering the kingdom, for refusing to show mercy to the poor, for being false teachers, for dishonesty, for being strict about tithes while disregarding laws on faith, mercy, and judgment, for rejecting truth and spurning mercy, and for making an outward show of religion while their souls were steeped in iniquity. He warned them that if they persisted in their evil ways an accounting would be required. Jesus finished his speech and left the temple with his followers.
The apostles were confused. The crowds who heard Jesus were stunned. That evening all of Jerusalem discussed the question of Jesus’ fate. More than thirty prominent Jews met that night and agreed that if Jesus was arrested, they would make an open acknowledgment of their allegiance to him.
Judas returned to the temple in time to hear the last half of Jesus’ discourse. Although he clung more firmly than ever to his plan to forsake the gospel, Judas left the temple with the other apostles and remained with them that night at Mount Olivet.
The Sanhedrin’s answer to the Master’s offer of mercy was their unanimous vote to sentence him to death, a sentence declared even before Jesus was arrested. The Sanhedrin gave orders that Jesus was to be apprehended in secret and brought to court Thursday at midnight. The angels and celestial beings attending the Master were eager to assist him but were powerless to act against his wishes.
SYNOPSIS SOURCE: http://www.ubfellowship.org/Default.aspx?PageID=15909858&A=SearchResult&SearchID=7448956&ObjectID=15909858&ObjectType=1
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Joseph of Arimathea was a brave soul and faithful player, especially in the closing scenes of Jesus’ life. He was mentioned in the introduction to 175, but his name first appeared in Paper 142:
…But Nicodemus did summon faith enough to lay hold of the kingdom. He faintly protested when his colleagues of the Sanhedrin sought to condemn Jesus without a hearing; and with Joseph of Arimathea, he later boldly acknowledged his faith and claimed the body of Jesus, even when most of the disciples had fled in fear from the scenes of their Master’s final suffering and death…. (1603.1) 142:6.9
His name also appears in a dozen other paragraphs. His home became a gathering place for the faithful, right up to the end. And his daughter Rebecca was part of the women’s corps. She was set apart for evangelical service with Mary Magdalene. She and Mary were both at the crucifixion attending Jesus.
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MAP SOURCE: http://www.urantia.org/in-his-steps/33
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Tomorrow’s reading is part 1 of Section 1. The Discourse. Jesus talks of mercy and rejection, promise and failure, the past and the future of the Jews as standard-bearers of truth on Urantia.
Listen to Paper 175: http://www.urantia.org/urantia-book-standardized/paper-175-last-temple-discourse (click the speaker icon at the top of the page)
Thanks for reading. Members’ thoughts, reflections, insights, observations, comments, corrections and questions about today’s OPAD presentation are invited.
Much love, Rick/OPAD host.
Richard E Warren
Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 175 – THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
1. The Discourse
[Part 1 of 2]
“This long time have I been with you, going up and down in the land proclaiming the Father’s love for the children of men, and many have seen the light and, by faith, have entered into the kingdom of heaven. In connection with this teaching and preaching the Father has done many wonderful works, even to the resurrection of the dead. Many sick and afflicted have been made whole because they believed; but all of this proclamation of truth and healing of disease has not opened the eyes of those who refuse to see light, those who are determined to reject this gospel of the kingdom.
(1905.4) 175:1.2 “In every manner consistent with doing my Father’s will, I and my apostles have done our utmost to live in peace with our brethren, to conform with the reasonable requirements of the laws of Moses and the traditions of Israel. We have persistently sought peace, but the leaders of Israel will not have it. By rejecting the truth of God and the light of heaven, they are aligning themselves on the side of error and darkness. There cannot be peace between light and darkness, between life and death, between truth and error.
(1905.5) 175:1.3 “Many of you have dared to believe my teachings and have already entered into the joy and liberty of the consciousness of sonship with God. And you will bear me witness that I have offered this same sonship with God to all the Jewish nation, even to these very men who now seek my destruction. And even now would my Father receive these blinded teachers and these hypocritical leaders if they would only turn to him and accept his mercy. Even now it is not too late for this people to receive the word of heaven and to welcome the Son of Man.
(1906.1) 175:1.4 “My Father has long dealt in mercy with this people. Generation after generation have we sent our prophets to teach and warn them, and generation after generation have they killed these heaven-sent teachers. And now do your willful high priests and stubborn rulers go right on doing this same thing. As Herod brought about the death of John, you likewise now make ready to destroy the Son of Man.
(1906.2) 175:1.5 “As long as there is a chance that the Jews will turn to my Father and seek salvation, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will keep his hands of mercy outstretched toward you; but when you have once filled up your cup of impenitence, and when once you have finally rejected my Father’s mercy, this nation will be left to its own counsels, and it shall speedily come to an inglorious end. This people was called to become the light of the world, to show forth the spiritual glory of a God-knowing race, but you have so far departed from the fulfillment of your divine privileges that your leaders are about to commit the supreme folly of all the ages in that they are on the verge of finally rejecting the gift of God to all men and for all ages — the revelation of the love of the Father in heaven for all his creatures on earth.
(1906.3) 175:1.6 “And when you do once reject this revelation of God to man, the kingdom of heaven shall be given to other peoples, to those who will receive it with joy and gladness. In the name of the Father who sent me, I solemnly warn you that you are about to lose your position in the world as the standard-bearers of eternal truth and the custodians of the divine law. I am just now offering you your last chance to come forward and repent, to signify your intention to seek God with all your hearts and to enter, like little children and by sincere faith, into the security and salvation of the kingdom of heaven.
(1906.4) 175:1.7 “My Father has long worked for your salvation, and I came down to live among you and personally show you the way. Many of both the Jews and the Samaritans, and even the gentiles, have believed the gospel of the kingdom, but those who should be first to come forward and accept the light of heaven have steadfastly refused to believe the revelation of the truth of God — God revealed in man and man uplifted to God.
(1906.5) 175:1.8 “This afternoon my apostles stand here before you in silence, but you shall soon hear their voices ringing out with the call to salvation and with the urge to unite with the heavenly kingdom as the sons of the living God. And now I call to witness these, my disciples and believers in the gospel of the kingdom, as well as the unseen messengers by their sides, that I have once more offered Israel and her rulers deliverance and salvation. But you all behold how the Father’s mercy is slighted and how the messengers of truth are rejected. Nevertheless, I admonish you that these scribes and Pharisees still sit in Moses’ seat, and therefore, until the Most Highs who rule in the kingdoms of men shall finally overthrow this nation and destroy the place of these rulers, I bid you co-operate with these elders in Israel. You are not required to unite with them in their plans to destroy the Son of Man, but in everything related to the peace of Israel you are to be subject to them. In all these matters do whatsoever they bid you and observe the essentials of the law but do not pattern after their evil works. Remember, this is the sin of these rulers: They say that which is good, but they do it not. You well know how these leaders bind heavy burdens on your shoulders, burdens grievous to bear, and that they will not lift as much as one finger to help you bear these weighty burdens. They have oppressed you with ceremonies and enslaved you by traditions.
(1907.1) 175:1.9 “Furthermore, these self-centered rulers delight in doing their good works so that they will be seen by men. They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their official robes. They crave the chief places at the feasts and demand the chief seats in the synagogues. They covet laudatory salutations in the market places and desire to be called rabbi by all men. And even while they seek all this honor from men, they secretly lay hold of widows’ houses and take profit from the services of the sacred temple. For a pretense these hypocrites make long prayers in public and give alms to attract the notice of their fellows.
(1907.2) 175:1.10 “While you should honor your rulers and reverence your teachers, you should call no man Father in the spiritual sense, for there is one who is your Father, even God. Neither should you seek to lord it over your brethren in the kingdom. Remember, I have taught you that he who would be greatest among you should become the server of all. If you presume to exalt yourselves before God, you will certainly be humbled; but whoso truly humbles himself will surely be exalted. Seek in your daily lives, not self-glorification, but the glory of God. Intelligently subordinate your own wills to the will of the Father in heaven.
(1907.3) 175:1.11 “Mistake not my words. I bear no malice toward these chief priests and rulers who even now seek my destruction; I have no ill will for these scribes and Pharisees who reject my teachings. I know that many of you believe in secret, and I know you will openly profess your allegiance to the kingdom when my hour comes. But how will your rabbis justify themselves since they profess to talk with God and then presume to reject and destroy him who comes to reveal the Father to the worlds?
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[Each OPAD presentation is copied from The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation. Questions and comments related to the Paper under discussion are welcome and encouraged. In-depth questions and related topics may be studied in branch threads in the OPAD, or other subforums, as you require. Thank you for studying with us.]
Richard E Warren
Good Day Nelsong, Brad, Bonita, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Visitors,
Time to speak plain truth directly to power. To give the Jewish leaders one final chance to recognize and embrace the Messenger they claim to be expecting, and the God they profess to believe and follow.
“…Even now it is not too late for this people to receive the word of heaven and to welcome the Son of Man….” (1905.5) 175:1.3
The piercing denunciations of the Rabbis, like this in today’s reading:“…And even while they seek all this honor from men, they secretly lay hold of widows’ houses and take profit from the services of the sacred temple….” (1907.1) 175:1.9
…are in fact the last call and farthest extension of mercy. The Master would still like to have them enter his service. But:
“…By rejecting the truth of God and the light of heaven, they are aligning themselves on the side of error and darkness. There cannot be peace between light and darkness, between life and death, between truth and error….” (1905.4) 175:1.2
In the Gospels, Matthew made this brief record of today’s reading:
From Matthew 23:
1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
Luke 20 has this much:
45 Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,
46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
Mark 12 mirrors Luke:
38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
JESUS DENOUNCES THE SCRIBES
IMAGE SOURCEPhylacteries: A small leather box containing Hebrew texts on vellum, worn on the head of Jewish men.
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Tomorrow’s reading is the second half of Section 1. The Discourse. Jesus makes his most numerous, stringent and pointed denunciations yet, ten of them begin with the words: “Woe upon…”.
Overview of Paper 175: The Last Temple Discourse
1. The Discourse
2. Status of Individual Jews
3. The Fateful Sanhedrin Meeting
4. The Situation in Jerusalem.
This group of papers [121-196] was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.Listen to Paper 175 (click the speaker icon at the top of the page)
Thanks for reading. Members’ thoughts, reflections, insights, observations, comments, corrections and questions about today’s OPAD presentation are invited.
Much love, Rick/OPAD host.
Richard E Warren
Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 175 – THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
1. The Discourse
[Part 2 of 2]
“Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You would shut the doors of the kingdom of heaven against sincere men because they happen to be unlearned in the ways of your teaching. You refuse to enter the kingdom and at the same time do everything within your power to prevent all others from entering. You stand with your backs to the doors of salvation and fight with all who would enter therein.
(1907.5) 175:1.13 “Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! for you do indeed encompass land and sea to make one proselyte, and when you have succeeded, you are not content until you have made him twofold worse than he was as a child of the heathen.
(1907.6) 175:1.14 “Woe upon you, chief priests and rulers who lay hold of the property of the poor and demand heavy dues of those who would serve God as they think Moses ordained! You who refuse to show mercy, can you hope for mercy in the worlds to come?
(1907.7) 175:1.15 “Woe upon you, false teachers, blind guides! What can be expected of a nation when the blind lead the blind? They both shall stumble into the pit of destruction.
(1907.8) 175:1.16 “Woe upon you who dissimulate when you take an oath! You are tricksters since you teach that a man may swear by the temple and break his oath, but that whoso swears by the gold in the temple must remain bound. You are all fools and blind. You are not even consistent in your dishonesty, for which is the greater, the gold or the temple which has supposedly sanctified the gold? You also teach that, if a man swears by the altar, it is nothing; but that, if one swears by the gift that is upon the altar, then shall he be held as a debtor. Again are you blind to the truth, for which is the greater, the gift or the altar which sanctifies the gift? How can you justify such hypocrisy and dishonesty in the sight of the God of heaven?
(1908.1) 175:1.17 “Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees and all other hypocrites who make sure that they tithe mint, anise, and cumin and at the same time disregard the weightier matters of the law — faith, mercy, and judgment! Within reason, the one you ought to have done but not to have left the other undone. You are truly blind guides and dumb teachers; you strain out the gnat and swallow the camel.
(1908.2) 175:1.18 “Woe upon you, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites! for you are scrupulous to cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but within there remains the filth of extortion, excesses, and deception. You are spiritually blind. Do you not recognize how much better it would be first to cleanse the inside of the cup, and then that which spills over would of itself cleanse the outside? You wicked reprobates! you make the outward performances of your religion to conform with the letter of your interpretation of Moses’ law while your souls are steeped in iniquity and filled with murder.
(1908.3) 175:1.19 “Woe upon all of you who reject truth and spurn mercy! Many of you are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful but within are full of dead men’s bones and all sorts of uncleanness. Even so do you who knowingly reject the counsel of God appear outwardly to men as holy and righteous, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.
(1908.4) 175:1.20 “Woe upon you, false guides of a nation! Over yonder have you built a monument to the martyred prophets of old, while you plot to destroy Him of whom they spoke. You garnish the tombs of the righteous and flatter yourselves that, had you lived in the days of your fathers, you would not have killed the prophets; and then in the face of such self-righteous thinking you make ready to slay him of whom the prophets spoke, the Son of Man. Inasmuch as you do these things, are you witness to yourselves that you are the wicked sons of them who slew the prophets. Go on, then, and fill up the cup of your condemnation to the full!
(1908.5) 175:1.21 “Woe upon you, children of evil! John did truly call you the offspring of vipers, and I ask how can you escape the judgment that John pronounced upon you?
(1908.6) 175:1.22 “But even now I offer you in my Father’s name mercy and forgiveness; even now I proffer the loving hand of eternal fellowship. My Father has sent you the wise men and the prophets; some you have persecuted and others you have killed. Then appeared John proclaiming the coming of the Son of Man, and him you destroyed after many had believed his teaching. And now you make ready to shed more innocent blood. Do you not comprehend that a terrible day of reckoning will come when the Judge of all the earth shall require of this people an accounting for the way they have rejected, persecuted, and destroyed these messengers of heaven? Do you not understand that you must account for all of this righteous blood, from the first prophet killed down to the times of Zechariah, who was slain between the sanctuary and the altar? And if you go on in your evil ways, this accounting may be required of this very generation.
(1908.7) 175:1.23 “O Jerusalem and the children of Abraham, you who have stoned the prophets and killed the teachers that were sent to you, even now would I gather your children together as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you will not!
(1908.8) 175:1.24 “And now I take leave of you. You have heard my message and have made your decision. Those who have believed my gospel are even now safe within the kingdom of God. To you who have chosen to reject the gift of God, I say that you will no more see me teaching in the temple. My work for you is done. Behold, I now go forth with my children, and your house is left to you desolate!”
(1908.9) 175:1.25 And then the Master beckoned his followers to depart from the temple.
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[Each OPAD presentation is copied from The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation. Questions and comments related to the Paper under discussion are welcome and encouraged. In-depth questions and related topics may be studied in branch threads in the OPAD, or other subforums, as you require. Thank you for studying with us.]
Richard E Warren
Greetings Gene, Brad, Bonita, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests,
Rather chilling isn’t it? Sounds as if this is their last chance at “entering the kingdom”. The mercy credits have run out:
“…You who refuse to show mercy, can you hope for mercy in the worlds to come? (1907.6) 175:1.14
Jesus uses the words hypocrites and hypocrisy six times in this woeful discourse. It is a statement within itself that God in the flesh, full of love, goodness and mercy, would use such harsh criticism for his own children. But the truth is the truth, and sometimes it has to be stated. Seldom has the Master criticized anyone, although he call Herod “that fox” twice. Otherwise he has always leaned over backwards to accommodate and uplift everyone, even his enemies. But if ever there was an appropriate time and place to denounce those who reject the light of life, and who prevent others seeing the light, now is the time and he is the one to deliver it.
Two of the Gospel writers recorded the woe upons:
From Matthew 23:
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’
houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
From Luke 11:
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.
45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.
46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
An artist’s attempt to depict the Master’s woeful sayings:
James Tissot, Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, Brooklyn Museum
IMAGE SOURCE***
Tomorrow’s reading is Section 2: Status of Individual Jews. The Midwayers are compelled to denounce the persecution of Jewish descendants, that has happened and continues, even to such enlightened generations as our own. Such as been perpetrated and endlessly repeated by professed Christians, presumed lovers of God and advocates for the fraternity of all humanity.
Overview of Paper 175: The Last Temple Discourse
1. The Discourse
2. Status of Individual Jews
3. The Fateful Sanhedrin Meeting
4. The Situation in Jerusalem
.
This group of papers [121-196] was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.Listen to Paper 175 (click the speaker icon at the top of the page)
Thanks for reading. Members’ thoughts, reflections, insights, observations, comments, corrections and questions about today’s OPAD presentation are invited.
Much love, Rick/OPAD host.
Richard E Warren
Welcome to The OPAD Online Study SessionToday’s Presentation
Paper 175 – THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
2. Status of Individual Jews
The fact that the spiritual leaders and the religious teachers of the Jewish nation onetime rejected the teachings of Jesus and conspired to bring about his cruel death, does not in any manner affect the status of any individual Jew in his standing before God. And it should not cause those who profess to be followers of the Christ to be prejudiced against the Jew as a fellow mortal. The Jews, as a nation, as a sociopolitical group, paid in full the terrible price of rejecting the Prince of Peace. Long since they ceased to be the spiritual torchbearers of divine truth to the races of mankind, but this constitutes no valid reason why the individual descendants of these long-ago Jews should be made to suffer the persecutions which have been visited upon them by intolerant, unworthy, and bigoted professed followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who was, himself, a Jew by natural birth.
(1909.2) 175:2.2 Many times has this unreasoning and un-Christlike hatred and persecution of modern Jews terminated in the suffering and death of some innocent and unoffending Jewish individual whose very ancestors, in the times of Jesus, heartily accepted his gospel and presently died unflinchingly for that truth which they so wholeheartedly believed. What a shudder of horror passes over the onlooking celestial beings as they behold the professed followers of Jesus indulge themselves in persecuting, harassing, and even murdering the later-day descendants of Peter, Philip, Matthew, and others of the Palestinian Jews who so gloriously yielded up their lives as the first martyrs of the gospel of the heavenly kingdom!
(1909.3) 175:2.3 How cruel and unreasoning to compel innocent children to suffer for the sins of their progenitors, misdeeds of which they are wholly ignorant, and for which they could in no way be responsible! And to do such wicked deeds in the name of one who taught his disciples to love even their enemies! It has become necessary, in this recital of the life of Jesus, to portray the manner in which certain of his fellow Jews rejected him and conspired to bring about his ignominious death; but we would warn all who read this narrative that the presentation of such a historical recital in no way justifies the unjust hatred, nor condones the unfair attitude of mind, which so many professed Christians have maintained toward individual Jews for many centuries. Kingdom believers, those who follow the teachings of Jesus, must cease to mistreat the individual Jew as one who is guilty of the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus. The Father and his Creator Son have never ceased to love the Jews. God is no respecter of persons, and salvation is for the Jew as well as for the gentile.
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[Each OPAD presentation is copied from The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation. Questions and comments related to the Paper under discussion are welcome and encouraged. In-depth questions and related topics may be studied in branch threads in the OPAD, or other subforums, as you require. Thank you for studying with us.]
Richard E Warren
Good Day Gene, Brad, Bonita, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Visitors,
What madness possesses people that we would blame and hurt Jewish descendants for the actions of a tiny minority of their progenitors of 2000 years ago? It defies logic and love. But anti-semitism is a fact, even in the “age of reason” and supposed enlightenment.
…And to do such wicked deeds in the name of one who taught his disciples to love even their enemies! (1909.3)175:2.3
From Wikipedia:
…Antisemitism may be manifested in many ways, ranging from expressions of hatred of or discrimination against individual Jews to organized violent attacks by mobs, state police, or even military attacks on entire Jewish communities. Although the term did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is now also applied to historic anti-Jewish incidences. Notable instances of persecution include the pogroms which preceded the First Crusade in 1096, the expulsion from England in 1290, the massacres of Spanish Jews in 1391, the persecutions of the Spanish Inquisition, the expulsion from Spain in 1492, Cossack massacres in Ukraine of 1648–1657, various pogroms in Imperial Russia between 1821 and 1906, the 1894–1906 Dreyfus affair in France, the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe, official Soviet anti-Jewish policies and Arab and Muslim involvement in the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries.
Jews are often the first ones attacked when trouble comes.
Jews (identified by the mandatory Jewish badge and Jewish hat) being burned during the Black Death in 1348
Of course the acme of hatred and murder of Jews came not that long ago, during the second world war, when the Nazi regime of Germany determined that all Jews should be eliminated. An estimated six million Jews and others did meet their end before the Nazi ideology was overturned:
Jewish Soviet soldier taken prisoner by the German Army, August 1941. At least 50,000 Jewish soldiers were shot after selection.
Starting in the 1990s, some scholars have advanced the concept of new antisemitism, coming simultaneously from the left, the right, and radical Islam, which tends to focus on opposition to the creation of a Jewish homeland in the State of Israel, and they argue that the language of anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel are used to attack Jews more broadly. In this view, the proponents of the new concept believe that criticisms of Israel and Zionism are often disproportionate in degree and unique in kind, and they attribute this to antisemitism. It is asserted that the new antisemitism deploys traditional antisemitic motifs, including older motifs such as the blood libel.
Critics of the concept view it as trivializing the meaning of antisemitism, and as exploiting antisemitism in order to silence debate and to deflect attention from legitimate criticism of the State of Israel, and, by associating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, misused to taint anyone opposed to Israeli actions and policies.
IMAGES/TEXT SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism
WHEN WILL IT END?
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Tomorrow’s reading is Section 3. The Fateful Sanhedrin Meeting. The tribunal formulates its answer to Jesus’ last appeal: Death “at any and all costs”. The fate of the nation of Israel is sealed then and there, the priesthood, by their acts, have ensured its certain doom.
Overview of Paper 175: The Last Temple Discourse
Thanks for reading. Members’ thoughts, reflections, insights, observations, comments, corrections and questions about today’s OPAD presentation are invited.
Much love, Rick/OPAD host.
Richard E Warren
Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 175 – THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
3. The Fateful Sanhedrin Meeting
At eight o’clock on this Tuesday evening the fateful meeting of the Sanhedrin was called to order. On many previous occasions had this supreme court of the Jewish nation informally decreed the death of Jesus. Many times had this august ruling body determined to put a stop to his work, but never before had they resolved to place him under arrest and to bring about his death at any and all costs. It was just before midnight on this Tuesday, April 4, A.D. 30, that the Sanhedrin, as then constituted, officially and unanimously voted to impose the death sentence upon both Jesus and Lazarus. This was the answer to the Master’s last appeal to the rulers of the Jews which he had made in the temple only a few hours before, and it represented their reaction of bitter resentment toward Jesus’ last and vigorous indictment of these same chief priests and impenitent Sadducees and Pharisees. The passing of death sentence (even before his trial) upon the Son of God was the Sanhedrin’s reply to the last offer of heavenly mercy ever to be extended to the Jewish nation, as such.
(1910.1) 175:3.2 From this time on the Jews were left to finish their brief and short lease of national life wholly in accordance with their purely human status among the nations of Urantia. Israel had repudiated the Son of the God who made a covenant with Abraham, and the plan to make the children of Abraham the light-bearers of truth to the world had been shattered. The divine covenant had been abrogated, and the end of the Hebrew nation drew on apace.
(1910.2) 175:3.3 The officers of the Sanhedrin were given the orders for Jesus’ arrest early the next morning, but with instructions that he must not be apprehended in public. They were told to plan to take him in secret, preferably suddenly and at night. Understanding that he might not return that day (Wednesday) to teach in the temple, they instructed these officers of the Sanhedrin to “bring him before the high Jewish court sometime before midnight on Thursday.”
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[Each OPAD presentation is copied from The Urantia Book published by Urantia Foundation. Questions and comments related to the Paper under discussion are welcome and encouraged. In-depth questions and related topics may be studied in branch threads in the OPAD, or other subforums, as you require. Thank you for studying with us.]
Richard E Warren
Greetings Gene, Brad, Bonita, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests,
Welcome to the Association’s new Forum everyone. Hope everything is looking the way it should, please let me know if it isn’t.
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So, Jesus doesn’t even get a trial, Lazarus either. What skewed and arbitrary justice for the Son of God, from a body supposedly representing God! But they probably thought they were doing the right thing. A terrible ignorance besets every generation on this mad world. Some overcome it, some are overcome by it.
The deal with Abraham, cited in today’s reading, was recorded in Paper 93:6:
…And Melchizedek made a formal covenant with Abraham at Salem. Said he to Abraham: “Look now up to the heavens and number the stars if you are able; so numerous shall your seed be….” (1020.6) 93:6.3
If only the priests could have realized they were in essence about to forfeit their national status for two millennia, something not regained until 1948. Israel is still a troubled and tenuous nation, still steeped in enmity and recurring war of child murders and endless fratricide. The torch of truth Israel lost permanently, passed on to the gentiles of the world, who, it should be said, have been only marginally better at conserving and spreading God’s good truth. Finally comes new revelation, which we now study and revel in. Thanks be to God and his loyal children who didn’t forget, abandon or ignore us.
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In tomorrow’s reading Section 4. The Situation in Jerusalem, the Midwayers outline the charges against Jesus by the two groups, Pharisees and Sadducees. And give a hint at the larger picture, the “anxious” onlooking celestial hosts.
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Overview of Paper 175: The Last Temple Discourse
This group of papers [121-196] was sponsored by a commission of twelve Urantia midwayers acting under the supervision of a Melchizedek revelatory director. The basis of this narrative was supplied by a secondary midwayer who was onetime assigned to the superhuman watchcare of the Apostle Andrew.
Thanks for reading. Members’ thoughts, reflections, insights, observations, comments, corrections and questions about today’s OPAD presentation are invited.
Much love, Rick/OPAD host.
Richard E Warren
(1910.1) 175:3.2 From this time on the Jews were left to finish their brief and short lease of national life wholly in accordance with their purely human status among the nations of Urantia.
I suppose this is evidence that the Most Highs are fully capable of ruling here on earth. From the quote it is clear that the Jewish nation had superhuman assistance from the time of the covenant with Abraham up to the point they denied our Lord. But that had nothing to do with them being the “chosen people”. It was meant for the greater good.
134:5.4 This rule of the Most Highs in the kingdoms of men is not for the especial benefit of any especially favored group of mortals. There is no such thing as a “chosen people.” The rule of the Most Highs, the overcontrollers of political evolution, is a rule designed to foster the greatest good to the greatest number of all men and for the greatest length of time.
Jesus explained this to his apostles in the following quote, which is why I’m guessing he respected these rulers for so long. They were ruled by the Most Highs . . . until they weren’t.
175:1.8 Nevertheless, I admonish you that these scribes and Pharisees still sit in Moses’ seat, and therefore, until the Most Highs who rule in the kingdoms of men shall finally overthrow this nation and destroy the place of these rulers, I bid you co-operate with these elders in Israel. You are not required to unite with them in their plans to destroy the Son of Man, but in everything related to the peace of Israel you are to be subject to them. In all these matters do whatsoever they bid you and observe the essentials of the law but do not pattern after their evil works.
How do we know there isn’t another covenant on this world? How do we know that the Most Highs are not currently overcontrolling political evolution of some nation in order to foster the greatest good to the greatest number of people for the greatest length of time? My guess is that they are, which means that it is warranted to cooperate and respect the essentials of the law without patterning after what is perceived as evil.
Yeah, great point and thoughtwork, Bonita,
It’s VERY interesting that Jesus put it this way:
…I admonish you that these scribes and Pharisees still sit in Moses’ seat, and therefore, until the Most Highs who rule in the kingdoms of men shall finally overthrow this nation and destroy the place of these rulers…175:1.8
Are we to believe the Most Highs control the decision makers in matters of war. Or does it mean they controlled the ones who rebelled against Rome and brot the army down on Jerusalem? Or does it mean without the blessing of heaven, doom quickly settles in?
Richard E Warren
Not sure. We do know that the Most Highs do their work through the seraphim. It seems to me that those who are evil-minded would not be susceptible to seraphic influences. The Jews were led by God-seeking men like Moses and taught by many prophets who are still respected today. It seems to me that the fingerprints of the seraphim can be seen all over these individuals.
When you look at the history of the Jews, from the time of Machiventa and Abraham up to the point of Michael’s bestowal, it is obvious to me that there was superhuman influence involved in their survival. If you think about all the crises they faced over the millennia, it is remarkable. They were led from slavery out of Egypt; Cyrus released them from captivity in Babylon; during the second Temple period they were spared by a variety of invading rulers; the Romans allowed them to practice their religion and never were the Jews subject to conscription out of respect for their refusal to do any work on their sabbath. They were truly treated as if they really were chosen people. It is a shame that they ultimately failed to live up to that ideal. Imagine if they had.
Imagine a world back on track! Fascinating question we may never get answered unless there’s Creator Son somewhere in the cosmos who had the scales tip the other way.
Speaking of angelic/Most High over-control, didn’t the angels free Daniel from prison…not finding that paragraph.
Richard E Warren
Do you mean Peter busting out of prison?
77:8.12 Many of the more literal phenomena ascribed to angels have been performed by the secondary midway creatures. When the early teachers of the gospel of Jesus were thrown into prison by the ignorant religious leaders of that day, an actual “angel of the Lord” “by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth.” But in the case of Peter’s deliverance after the killing of James by Herod’s order, it was a secondary midwayer who performed the work ascribed to an angel.
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