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Sanhedrin 56a, from the same source, has more information.
Found it, thanks.
Richard E Warren
Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 184 – Before the Sanhedrin Court
4. The Hour of Humiliation
The Jewish law required that, in the matter of passing the death sentence, there should be two sessions of the court. This second session was to be held on the day following the first, and the intervening time was to be spent in fasting and mourning by the members of the court. But these men could not await the next day for the confirmation of their decision that Jesus must die. They waited only one hour. In the meantime Jesus was left in the audience chamber in the custody of the temple guards, who, with the servants of the high priest, amused themselves by heaping every sort of indignity upon the Son of Man. They mocked him, spit upon him, and cruelly buffeted him. They would strike him in the face with a rod and then say, “Prophesy to us, you the Deliverer, who it was that struck you.” And thus they went on for one full hour, reviling and mistreating this unresisting man of Galilee.
(1984.3)184:4.2 During this tragic hour of suffering and mock trials before the ignorant and unfeeling guards and servants, John Zebedee waited in lonely terror in an adjoining room. When these abuses first started, Jesus indicated to John, by a nod of his head, that he should retire. The Master well knew that, if he permitted his apostle to remain in the room to witness these indignities, John’s resentment would be so aroused as to produce such an outbreak of protesting indignation as would probably result in his death.
(1984.4)184:4.3 Throughout this awful hour Jesus uttered no word. To this gentle and sensitive soul of humankind, joined in personality relationship with the God of all this universe, there was no more bitter portion of his cup of humiliation than this terrible hour at the mercy of these ignorant and cruel guards and servants, who had been stimulated to abuse him by the example of the members of this so-called Sanhedrist court.
(1984.5)184:4.4 The human heart cannot possibly conceive of the shudder of indignation that swept out over a vast universe as the celestial intelligences witnessed this sight of their beloved Sovereign submitting himself to the will of his ignorant and misguided creatures on the sin-darkened sphere of unfortunate Urantia.
(1984.6)184:4.5 What is this trait of the animal in man which leads him to want to insult and physically assault that which he cannot spiritually attain or intellectually achieve? In the half-civilized man there still lurks an evil brutality which seeks to vent itself upon those who are superior in wisdom and spiritual attainment. Witness the evil coarseness and the brutal ferocity of these supposedly civilized men as they derived a certain form of animal pleasure from this physical attack upon the unresisting Son of Man. As these insults, taunts, and blows fell upon Jesus, he was undefending but not defenseless. Jesus was not vanquished, merely uncontending in the material sense.
(1985.1)184:4.6 These are the moments of the Master’s greatest victories in all his long and eventful career as maker, upholder, and savior of a vast and far-flung universe. Having lived to the full a life of revealing God to man, Jesus is now engaged in making a new and unprecedented revelation of man to God. Jesus is now revealing to the worlds the final triumph over all fears of creature personality isolation. The Son of Man has finally achieved the realization of identity as the Son of God. Jesus does not hesitate to assert that he and the Father are one; and on the basis of the fact and truth of that supreme and supernal experience, he admonishes every kingdom believer to become one with him even as he and his Father are one. The living experience in the religion of Jesus thus becomes the sure and certain technique whereby the spiritually isolated and cosmically lonely mortals of earth are enabled to escape personality isolation, with all its consequences of fear and associated feelings of helplessness. In the fraternal realities of the kingdom of heaven the faith sons of God find final deliverance from the isolation of the self, both personal and planetary. The God-knowing believer increasingly experiences the ecstasy and grandeur of spiritual socialization on a universe scale — citizenship on high in association with the eternal realization of the divine destiny of perfection attainment.
***
[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 Bonita, Bradly, nelsong, Alina, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests,
This is the most difficult, my least favorite, part of the UB. It exemplifies the very worst in humanity, behavior not worthy of the lowest animal, much less a potential child of God. The only, or perhaps the best, reason Jesus is required to go thru this savage humiliation is to prevent any one from ever thinking our Gods don’t know how bad life can become on a retarded, twice defaulted world where God, truth, goodness and beauty are little known, and even less respected.
The most awful part is the realization that it could happen again today. Much of Urantia is still in the grip of heathen rage, dogmatic pride, and craven materiality.
…They mocked him, spit upon him, and cruelly buffeted him. They would strike him in the face with a rod and then say, “Prophesy to us, you the Deliverer, who it was that struck you….” (1984.2)184:4.1
My God, my God, how can you still love us?!
***
We could hope that John Z would protect his Master even if it did cost his life. But there must have been too many of them and Jesus wisely sent him away, then bore the beatings by himself. From today’s text:
…John’s resentment would be so aroused as to produce such an outbreak of protesting indignation as would probably result in his death….(1984.3)184:4.2
The world would have been much poorer, and the Gospel message diminished, if John had died then and there.
One might think the horrible scourging, or the hours-long pain of the crucifixion was the most bitter portion. Not so apparently. From today’s reading:
…there was no more bitter portion of his cup of humiliation than this terrible hour at the mercy of these ignorant and cruel guards and servants…. (1984.4)184:4.3
The Midwayers rightly ask a question (and give an answer) about this outrageous, repugnant, streak of inhumanity in humans:
…What is this trait of the animal in man which leads him to want to insult and physically assault that which he cannot spiritually attain or intellectually achieve? In the half-civilized man there still lurks an evil brutality which seeks to vent itself upon those who are superior in wisdom and spiritual attainment…. (1984.6)184:4.5
That too is still true.
What do you think the Midwayers mean by this?:
…As these insults, taunts, and blows fell upon Jesus, he was undefending but not defenseless…. (1984.6)184:4.5
Merely that he was certainly capable but intentionally didn’t defend himself? Or something more?
***
The synoptic Gospels all three recorded a little about this hour of humiliation.
From Matthew 26:
67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
From Mark 14:
65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
From Luke 22:
63 And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him.
64 And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
65 And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.
Curiously, John who was there in the adjacent room, recorded nothing about this hour of torment. But he did, in several places, aver to the Midwayers assertion that Jesus and God are one.
From John, chapter 17:
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
John, chapter 5:
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
John, chapter 14:
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
***
Wikipedia has this much about that terrible hour:
..After his arrest, Jesus is taken to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish judicial body. The gospel accounts differ on the details of the trials.In Matthew 26:57, Mark 14:53 and Luke 22:54, Jesus is taken to the house of the high priest, Caiaphas, where he is mocked and beaten that night. Early the next morning, the chief priests and scribes lead Jesus away into their council. John 18:12–14 states that Jesus is first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and then to the high priest.
Remarkably, the Midwayers declare this is his finest hour. From the last paragraph of today’s reading:
…These are the moments of the Master’s greatest victories in all his long and eventful career as maker, upholder, and savior of a vast and far-flung universe…. (1985.1)184:4.6
Maybe because he here showed the greatest restraint, the greatest courage, and the greatest compassion for his benighted children on backward Urantia. One malevolent or vengeful thought from him could have wiped Urantia out of existence, presumably.
***
In tomorrow’s reading, Section 5. The Second Meeting of the Court, three phony charges are created, charges that would cause the Roman authority in this realm–Pilate–great concern, about taxes, king-making, and sedition.
Overview of: Before the Sanhedrin Court
1. Examination by Annas
2. Peter in the Courtyard
3. Before the Court of Sanhedrists
4. The Hour of Humiliation5. The Second Meeting of the Court
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 184: (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 184 – Before the Sanhedrin Court
5. The Second Meeting of the Court
At five-thirty o’clock the court reassembled, and Jesus was led into the adjoining room, where John was waiting. Here the Roman soldier and the temple guards watched over Jesus while the court began the formulation of the charges which were to be presented to Pilate. Annas made it clear to his associates that the charge of blasphemy would carry no weight with Pilate. Judas was present during this second meeting of the court, but he gave no testimony.
(1985.3)184:5.2 This session of the court lasted only a half hour, and when they adjourned to go before Pilate, they had drawn up the indictment of Jesus, as being worthy of death, under three heads:
(1985.7)184:5.6 This entire procedure was irregular and wholly contrary to the Jewish laws. No two witnesses had agreed on any matter except those who testified regarding Jesus’ statement about destroying the temple and raising it again in three days. And even concerning that point, no witnesses spoke for the defense, and neither was Jesus asked to explain his intended meaning.
1. That he was a perverter of the Jewish nation; he deceived the people and incited them to rebellion.
2. That he taught the people to refuse to pay tribute to Caesar.
3. That, by claiming to be a king and the founder of a new sort of kingdom, he incited treason against the emperor.
(1985.8)184:5.7 The only point the court could have consistently judged him on was that of blasphemy, and that would have rested entirely on his own testimony. Even concerning blasphemy, they failed to cast a formal ballot for the death sentence.
(1985.9)184:5.8 And now they presumed to formulate three charges, with which to go before Pilate, on which no witnesses had been heard, and which were agreed upon while the accused prisoner was absent. When this was done, three of the Pharisees took their leave; they wanted to see Jesus destroyed, but they would not formulate charges against him without witnesses and in his absence.
(1986.1)184:5.9 Jesus did not again appear before the Sanhedrist court. They did not want again to look upon his face as they sat in judgment upon his innocent life. Jesus did not know (as a man) of their formal charges until he heard them recited by Pilate.
(1986.2)184:5.10 While Jesus was in the room with John and the guards, and while the court was in its second session, some of the women about the high priest’s palace, together with their friends, came to look upon the strange prisoner, and one of them asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?” And Jesus answered: “If I tell you, you will not believe me; and if I ask you, you will not answer.”
(1986.3)184:5.11 At six o’clock that morning Jesus was led forth from the home of Caiaphas to appear before Pilate for confirmation of the sentence of death which this Sanhedrist court had so unjustly and irregularly decreed.
***
[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 Bonita, nelsong, Brad, Alina, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Visitors,
Of course none of the three charges had merit. But what else could we expect from these men who are entrenched in material pursuits, who are afraid of what the truth will do to their incomes, their status and prestige? These men answer to no one, except their Roman overlords. And they care very little about these minor matters of spiritual teachings and ecclesiastical law among the Jews. The Romans’ greatest concern was rebellion, and quashing it in the bud wherever it might spring up.
The only quote from Jesus in today’s reading:
“…If I tell you, you will not believe me; and if I ask you, you will not answer….” (1986.2)184:5.10
…also appears in Luke 22, albeit the curious women were omitted:
66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying,
67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe:
68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go.
***
Annas now drops out, but will insert his authority at least once more, as recorded in Paper 190:
…word began to come to the rulers of the Jews during the early evening that it was being reported about the city that Jesus had risen, and that many persons were claiming to have seen him. The Sanhedrists were thoroughly aroused by these rumors. After a hasty consultation with Annas, Caiaphas called a meeting of the Sanhedrin to convene at eight o’clock that evening. It was at this meeting that action was taken to throw out of the synagogues any person who made mention of Jesus’ resurrection. It was even suggested that anyone claiming to have seen him should be put to death; this proposal, however, did not come to a vote since the meeting broke up in confusion bordering on actual panic. They had dared to think they were through with Jesus. They were about to discover that their real trouble with the man of Nazareth had just begun…. (2033.3)190:3.3
From the last paragraph of today’s reading:
…At six o’clock that morning Jesus was led forth from the home of Caiaphas to appear before Pilate…. (1986.3)184:5.11
From Matthew 27:
1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
From Mark 15:
1 And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
From Luke 23:
1 And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.
And so this Paper ends with a grim march to Pilate’s palace. Tomorrow’s reading is the introduction Paper 185. Pilate is prepared to receive and examine Jesus. He arrives in the custody of the Roman guards, with about 50 others including the Sanhedrists, John Z and Judas.
What a sorrowful scene it was on this Friday morning in old Palestine. A God descended from Salvington is led around to fake trials when his only offenses were spreading goodness and divine love. The abject unfairness of it all is monumental and forever marks Urantia with an indelible stain of cruelty, tragedy and horror, making our planet the only one in all Nebadon where the Creator Son was tortured and murdered.
Overview of Paper 184: Before the Sanhedrin Court
1. Examination by Annas
2. Peter in the Courtyard
3. Before the Court of Sanhedrists
4. The Hour of Humiliation5. The Second Meeting of the Court
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 184: (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
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