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Welcome to The OPAD Online Study Session
Today’s Presentation
Paper 186 – Just Before the Crucifixion
4. Preparation for the Crucifixion
After Pilate had washed his hands before the multitude, thus seeking to escape the guilt of delivering up an innocent man to be crucified just because he feared to resist the clamor of the rulers of the Jews, he ordered the Master turned over to the Roman soldiers and gave the word to their captain that he was to be crucified immediately. Upon taking charge of Jesus, the soldiers led him back into the courtyard of the praetorium, and after removing the robe which Herod had put on him, they dressed him in his own garments. These soldiers mocked and derided him, but they did not inflict further physical punishment. Jesus was now alone with these Roman soldiers. His friends were in hiding; his enemies had gone their way; even John Zebedee was no longer by his side.
(2001.5)186:4.2 It was a little after eight o’clock when Pilate turned Jesus over to the soldiers and a little before nine o’clock when they started for the scene of the crucifixion. During this period of more than half an hour Jesus never spoke a word. The executive business of a great universe was practically at a standstill. Gabriel and the chief rulers of Nebadon were either assembled here on Urantia, or else they were closely attending upon the space reports of the archangels in an effort to keep advised as to what was happening to the Son of Man on Urantia.
(2001.6)186:4.3 By the time the soldiers were ready to depart with Jesus for Golgotha, they had begun to be impressed by his unusual composure and extraordinary dignity, by his uncomplaining silence.
(2001.7)186:4.4 Much of the delay in starting off with Jesus for the site of the crucifixion was due to the last-minute decision of the captain to take along two thieves who had been condemned to die; since Jesus was to be crucified that morning, the Roman captain thought these two might just as well die with him as wait for the end of the Passover festivities.
(2002.1)186:4.5 As soon as the thieves could be made ready, they were led into the courtyard, where they gazed upon Jesus, one of them for the first time, but the other had often heard him speak, both in the temple and many months before at the Pella camp.
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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
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Greetings nelsong, Bradly, Bonita, Alina, Carolyn, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Visitors,
From today’s reading:
…By the time the soldiers were ready to depart with Jesus for Golgotha, they had begun to be impressed by his unusual composure and extraordinary dignity, by his uncomplaining silence…. (2001.6)186:4.3
Too bad artist Tissot didn’t capture Jesus’ majesty during this time with the Roman guards.
…after removing the robe which Herod had put on him, they dressed him in his own garments…. (2001.4)186:4.1
A little reflection of today’s text is in the Gospel record:
From Matthew 27:
31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
From Mark 15:
20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.
From John 19:
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
From Luke 23:
32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
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Since Urantia is quarantined, the only open communications channel is the Archangels, mentioned in today’s reading:
…Gabriel and the chief rulers of Nebadon were either assembled here on Urantia, or else they were closely attending upon the space reports of the archangels….(2001.5)186:4.2
From Paper 114:
…Technically, the planet is still spiritually isolated in the Norlatiadek circuits, but in an emergency this handicap can now be circumvented through utilization of the archangels’ circuit…. (1254.4)114:5.4
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In tomorrow’s reading, Section 5. Jesus’ Death in Relation to the Passover, the Midwayers close out this Paper explaining that his demise during Passover was coincidental. Also that he didn’t have to die this way, God did not will this cruel death, men did.
Overview of Paper 186 – Just Before the Crucifixion
3. The Dependable David Zebedee
4. Preparation for the Crucifixion
5. Jesus’ Death in Relation to the Passover
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 186: (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 186 – Just Before the Crucifixion
5. Jesus’ Death in Relation to the Passover
There is no direct relation between the death of Jesus and the Jewish Passover. True, the Master did lay down his life in the flesh on this day, the day of the preparation for the Jewish Passover, and at about the time of the sacrificing of the Passover lambs in the temple. But this coincidental occurrence does not in any manner indicate that the death of the Son of Man on earth has any connection with the Jewish sacrificial system. Jesus was a Jew, but as the Son of Man he was a mortal of the realms. The events already narrated and leading up to this hour of the Master’s impending crucifixion are sufficient to indicate that his death at about this time was a purely natural and man-managed affair.
(2002.3)186:5.2 It was man and not God who planned and executed the death of Jesus on the cross. True, the Father refused to interfere with the march of human events on Urantia, but the Father in Paradise did not decree, demand, or require the death of his Son as it was carried out on earth. It is a fact that in some manner, sooner or later, Jesus would have had to divest himself of his mortal body, his incarnation in the flesh, but he could have executed such a task in countless ways without dying on a cross between two thieves. All of this was man’s doing, not God’s.
(2002.4)186:5.3 At the time of the Master’s baptism he had already completed the technique of the required experience on earth and in the flesh which was necessary for the completion of his seventh and last universe bestowal. At this very time Jesus’ duty on earth was done. All the life he lived thereafter, and even the manner of his death, was a purely personal ministry on his part for the welfare and uplifting of his mortal creatures on this world and on other worlds.
(2002.5)186:5.4 The gospel of the good news that mortal man may, by faith, become spirit-conscious that he is a son of God, is not dependent on the death of Jesus. True, indeed, all this gospel of the kingdom has been tremendously illuminated by the Master’s death, but even more so by his life.
(2002.6)186:5.5 All that the Son of Man said or did on earth greatly embellished the doctrines of sonship with God and of the brotherhood of men, but these essential relationships of God and men are inherent in the universe facts of God’s love for his creatures and the innate mercy of the divine Sons. These touching and divinely beautiful relations between man and his Maker, on this world and on all others throughout the universe of universes, have existed from eternity; and they are not in any sense dependent on these periodic bestowal enactments of the Creator Sons of God, who thus assume the nature and likeness of their created intelligences as a part of the price which they must pay for the final acquirement of unlimited sovereignty over their respective local universes.*
(2002.7)186:5.6 The Father in heaven loved mortal man on earth just as much before the life and death of Jesus on Urantia as he did after this transcendent exhibition of the copartnership of man and God. This mighty transaction of the incarnation of the God of Nebadon as a man on Urantia could not augment the attributes of the eternal, infinite, and universal Father, but it did enrich and enlighten all other administrators and creatures of the universe of Nebadon. While the Father in heaven loves us no more because of this bestowal of Michael, all other celestial intelligences do. And this is because Jesus not only made a revelation of God to man, but he also likewise made a new revelation of man to the Gods and to the celestial intelligences of the universe of universes.
(2003.1)186:5.7 Jesus is not about to die as a sacrifice for sin. He is not going to atone for the inborn moral guilt of the human race. Mankind has no such racial guilt before God. Guilt is purely a matter of personal sin and knowing, deliberate rebellion against the will of the Father and the administration of his Sons.
(2003.2)186:5.8 Sin and rebellion have nothing to do with the fundamental bestowal plan of the Paradise Sons of God, albeit it does appear to us that the salvage plan is a provisional feature of the bestowal plan.
(2003.3)186:5.9 The salvation of God for the mortals of Urantia would have been just as effective and unerringly certain if Jesus had not been put to death by the cruel hands of ignorant mortals. If the Master had been favorably received by the mortals of earth and had departed from Urantia by the voluntary relinquishment of his life in the flesh, the fact of the love of God and the mercy of the Son — the fact of sonship with God — would have in no wise been affected. You mortals are the sons of God, and only one thing is required to make such a truth factual in your personal experience, and that is your spirit-born faith.
***
[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, Bradly, Bonita, Alina, Carolyn, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests,
Obviously this Section was inserted to disabuse any and all from the idea that this death was a sacrifice in the Jewish tradition of Passover. More than once we are informed that blood sacrifice and the atonement doctrine are wholly repugnant from the celestial point of view. A Melchizedek wrote this in Paper 103:
…Jesus swept away all of the ceremonials of sacrifice and atonement. He destroyed the basis of all this fictitious guilt and sense of isolation in the universe by declaring that man is a child of God; the creature-Creator relationship was placed on a child-parent basis. God becomes a loving Father to his mortal sons and daughters. All ceremonials not a legitimate part of such an intimate family relationship are forever abrogated…. (1133.4)103:4.4
From Paper 188:
…Although Jesus did not die this death on the cross to atone for the racial guilt of mortal man nor to provide some sort of effective approach to an otherwise offended and unforgiving God; even though the Son of Man did not offer himself as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God and to open the way for sinful man to obtain salvation; notwithstanding that these ideas of atonement and propitiation are erroneous, nonetheless, there are significances attached to this death of Jesus on the cross which should not be overlooked. It is a fact that Urantia has become known among other neighboring inhabited planets as the “World of the Cross….” (2016.6)188:4.1
Such a revolting icon, a super-cruel torture device as a religious symbol of an epoch, even of a planet. Such a planet we were born on and will die on. What a way to begin the Paradise ascent, eh?Maybe living and dying here will get us a badge of honor, or at least that of an Agondonter. I suspect that billions of Adjusters volunteered to be assigned to one of the apostles or another character who had a role in the Master’s life. Our Adjusters got in line and are still coming to evil-plagued Urantia in the Master’s wake. And some of us human hosts have found this new revelation, making a fresh connection with Jesus who was here a mere two thousand years ago. Still tho, this horrendous symbol of the mistreatment of a visiting God lingers on, and in spite of the fact that it didn’t have to be.
From today’s reading:
…he could have executed such a task in countless ways without dying on a cross between two thieves. All of this was man’s doing, not God’s…. (2002.3)186:5.2
The startling revelation that Jesus was essentially done with his bestowal mission long before he died is in today’s reading:
…At the time of the Master’s baptism he had already completed the technique of the required experience on earth and in the flesh which was necessary for the completion of his seventh and last universe bestowal. At this very time Jesus’ duty on earth was done…. (2002.4)186:5.3
…and in Paper 136. The Constellation Father addressing Jesus during his “40 days” on Mount Hermon:
“…The records are completed. The sovereignty of Michael number 611,121 over his universe of Nebadon rests in completion at the right hand of the Universal Father. I bring to you the bestowal release of Immanuel, your sponsor-brother for the Urantia incarnation. You are at liberty now or at any subsequent time, in the manner of your own choosing, to terminate your incarnation bestowal, ascend to the right hand of your Father, receive your sovereignty, and assume your well-earned unconditional rulership of all Nebadon…Technically, your work on Urantia and in the flesh of the mortal creature is finished. Your course from now on is a matter of your own choosing….” 1513.2) 136:3.5
He didn’t have to go through this ordeal of pain, blood and humiliation. He did it for the love of God and enlightenment of humanity. But the entire cosmos also caught some light, reflected by his bestowal. From today’s reading:
…he also likewise made a new revelation of man to the Gods and to the celestial intelligences of the universe of universes.… (2002.7)186:5.6
…which made them love us more!
…While the Father in heaven loves us no more because of this bestowal of Michael, all other celestial intelligences do…. (2002.7)186:5.6
Who would have thought they loved us less before his incarnation?
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About human guilt, cited in today’s text:
…Guilt is purely a matter of personal sin and knowing, deliberate rebellion against the will of the Father and the administration of his Sons…. (2003.1)186:5.7
Compare that with this in Paper 89:
…The sense or feeling of guilt is the consciousness of the violation of the mores; it is not necessarily sin. There is no real sin in the absence of conscious disloyalty to Deity….(984.6)89:10.3
From Paper 103:…The sense of guilt (not the consciousness of sin) comes either from interrupted spiritual communion or from the lowering of one’s moral ideals. Deliverance from such a predicament can only come through the realization that one’s highest moral ideals are not necessarily synonymous with the will of God…. (1133.3)103:4.3
***The Midwayers end Paper 186 on a happy and reassuring note:
…You mortals are the sons of God, and only one thing is required to make such a truth factual in your personal experience, and that is your spirit-born faith…. (2003.3)186:5.9
From Paper 102:…The vast gulf between the experience of the truth of God and ignorance as to the fact of God can be bridged only by living faith…. (1125:1) 102:6.6
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In tomorrow’s reading, the introduction to Paper 187, Roman guards scourge and prepare the other two condemned ones, then begin the march toward the place of execution with all three, as the Master’s sympathizers, and morbid thrill-seekers, followed on.
Overview of Paper 186 – Just Before the Crucifixion
3. The Dependable David Zebedee
4. Preparation for the Crucifixion
5. Jesus’ Death in Relation to the Passover
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 186: (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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