PAPER 188 – THE TIME OF THE TOMB

[Richard E Warren]

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Good Day nelsong, Bonita, Bradly, Alina, Carolyn, Carola, Fellow Students, Forum Friends, Members and Guests,

More than once the authors attempt to take away the long nurtured idea that our Father is a punishing God, a vengeful monarch. From today’s reading:

…Love, the love of a father for his son, becomes the central truth in the universe relations of Creator and creature — not the justice of a king which seeks satisfaction in the sufferings and punishment of the evil-doing subject…. ^{(2017.9)188:5.1}

From Paper 2:

 …Infinite wisdom is the eternal arbiter which determines the proportions of justice and mercy which shall be meted out in any given circumstance. The greatest punishment (in reality an inevitable consequence) for wrongdoing and deliberate rebellion against the government of God is loss of existence as an individual subject of that government. The final result of wholehearted sin is annihilation. In the last analysis, such sin-identified individuals have destroyed themselves by becoming wholly unreal through their embrace of iniquity. The factual disappearance of such a creature is, however, always delayed until the ordained order of justice current in that universe has been fully complied with…. ^(36.7)2:3.2

And, more than once, the authors refer to the contagion of love. From today’s reading:

…Jesus loves men so much that his love awakens the response of love in the human heart. Love is truly contagious and eternally creative…. ^{(2018.1)188:5.2}

From a Melchizedek, Paper 100:

 …Love is infectious, and when human devotion is intelligent and wise, love is more catching than hate. But only genuine and unselfish love is truly contagious…. ^{(1098.3)100:4.6}

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This idea of the destruction of evil, cited in today’s reading:

…True love does not compromise nor condone hate; it destroys it…. ^{(2018.1)188:5.2}

…is reflected in Paper 2:

…The love of God saves the sinner; the law of God destroys the sin…. ^(41.6)2:6.8

Evil’s attraction is cited in today’s text:

…The beauty of divine love, once fully admitted to the human heart, forever destroys the charm of sin and the power of evil…. (2018:2) 188:5.3

…and in Paper 132:

…With the attainment of finality of choice for goodness and of completed capacity for truth appreciation, there comes into existence a perfection of beauty and holiness whose righteousness eternally inhibits the possibility of the emergence of even the concept of potential evil. Such a God-knowing soul casts no shadow of doubting evil when functioning on such a high spirit level of divine goodness…. (1460:1) 132:3.8

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This is a rather stark and unexpected statement from the Midwayers, isn’t it?

…The sufferings of Jesus were not confined to the crucifixion. In reality, Jesus of Nazareth spent upward of twenty-five years on the cross of a real and intense mortal existence…. ^{(2018.3)188:5.4}

Does that mean we too spend our lives in such intensity? But, the statement does imply about ten of his 35 years were not so intense, his childhood presumably.

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At least we have many, many siblings on the same, so often perilous, mortal journey:

 …tens of trillions of evolving creatures who may have been tempted to give up the moral struggle and abandon the good fight of faith, have taken one more look at Jesus on the cross and then have forged on ahead…. ^{(2018.4)188:5.5}

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Looks like the writer of Luke’s Gospel is the only one who recorded Jesus’ forgiving request to God, cited in today’s reading:

« …Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do….” ^{(2018.5)188:5.6}

^{From Luke 23:}

³⁴ Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

But there is this similar statement in Mark 4:

¹² That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

He’s been mentioned before, and later on we will read more about the first martyr, Stephen the Greek. This, in today’s reading, is in reference to him:

…The very first teacher of his gospel who was called upon to lay down his life in this service, said, as they stoned him to death, “Lay not this sin to their charge….” ^{(2018.5)188:5.6}

From Paper 194:

…Stephen, the leader of the Greek colony of Jesus’ believers in Jerusalem, thus became the first martyr to the new faith and the specific cause for the formal organization of the early Christian church…. ^{(2068.2)194:4.12}

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Evidently, not only mortals learned from the Master’s selfless laying down of life:

…it has aroused the highest devotion of the angels…. ^{(2019.1)188:5.8}

Midwayers too:

 …the very sight of this great symbol of the bestowal life of Jesus truly inspires all of us to want to go and do likewise…. ^{(2019.2)188:5.9}

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Apparently, an incarnated God can and does feel, just like us. And they are completely willing and able, as Jesus so beautifully and completely demonstrated during his life here on sick, backward Urantia.

 …No man can ever fear that the Creator does not know the nature or extent of his temporal afflictions….^{(2019.5)188:5.12}

That is the end of this awful spectacle. Now we can move past it, on to the greatest refutation of blind ignorance, greedy materialism, and mean-spiritedness ever: The Resurrection. That’s the title of Paper 189. The introduction to it is tomorrow’s OPAD reading. It has some of the details about what was going on outside Urantia, and there is a long paragraph from the Adjuster who indwelt Jesus, telling everyone to relax, there was nothing that can be done, even at the celestial level, except wait and watch.

Overview of: Paper 188 – The Time Of The Tomb

1. The Burial of Jesus
2. Safeguarding the Tomb
3. During the Sabbath Day

4. Meaning of the Death on the Cross
5. Lessons from the Cross

 

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 188: (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.

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Richard E Warren

[Auteur]

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