Ch. 26, The Interlude Visit to Jerusalem
“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition
Chapter 26
The Interlude Visit to Jerusalem
Jesus and the apostles arrived in Capernaum on Wednesday, March 17th. The apostles taught for two weeks on the shore of the Sea of Galilee while Jesus went alone into the hills to do his Father’s business. Twice, Jesus took John and James Zebedee with him on secret trips to Tiberias where they taught believers. Many of the people from Herod’s household believed in Jesus and were at these meetings. Their influence in Herod’s official family helped lessen his ill will toward Jesus because they explained that his kingdom was a spiritual idea and not an attempt to gain political power. Herod trusted his servants and did not get too alarmed at the reports about Jesus: he had no problem with Jesus healing the people or spreading the message of the gospel of the kingdom. But in Herod’s household there were also people who were heavily influenced by the Sanhedrin; these people remained Jesus’ bitter enemies and later caused him and the apostles many problems. Herod was not the danger to Jesus: it was the Jews and the Sanhedrin who posed the problem, which is why Jesus and the apostles spent most of their time preaching in Galilee and not Judea or Jerusalem.
The Centurion’s Servant
The day before Jesus and the apostles left to attend the Passover in Jerusalem, a Roman centurion named Mangus who was stationed at Capernaum went to the synagogue and said to those there, “My faithful orderly is sick and about to die. Would you go to Jesus on my behalf and ask him to heal my servant?”
The Roman captain had gone to the Jewish leaders because he thought they would have more influence with Jesus. So the elders from the synagogue went to Jesus and said “Teacher, in earnest we ask that you to go over to Capernaum and save the favorite servant of the Roman centurion, he who is worthy of your notice because he loves our nation and even built us the synagogue that you have spoken in many times.” Jesus replied that he would go with them.
When they approached the centurion’s house they were met outside by his friends before Jesus could even enter his yard. They told Jesus that the Roman captain had sent them out to greet him and instructed them to say “Lord, do not trouble yourself to enter my house because I am not worthy of you being under my roof. Neither did I think myself worthy to come to you, so I sent the elders of your own people. But I know that you can speak the word from where you stand, and my servant will be healed. For I am myself under the orders of others and I have soldiers under me, and I say to this one go and he goes; to another come, and he comes, and to my servants do this or do that, and they do it.”
On hearing the centurion’s message Jesus turned to his apostles and the others gathered around, and said “I marvel at this gentile’s belief. Truthfully I say to you, I have not yet found so noble a faith, no, not in Israel.” Then turning from the house Jesus said “Let’s go now.”
The centurion’s friends went into the house and told Mangus what Jesus had said, and from that hour the servant began to heal and was eventually restored to his normal health and usefulness. But we never knew what occurred on this occasion. This is simply the record, and as to whether or not invisible beings healed the centurion’s servant was not made known to those who were with Jesus. We only know of the fact of the servant’s complete recovery.
The Journey to Jerusalem
Jesus and the apostles left to attend the Passover in Jerusalem on Tuesday, March 30th. They went through the Jordan valley and arrived at Bethany where they set up their main camp as usual the afternoon of Friday, April 2nd. When they had passed through Jericho on the way, Judas deposited some of their common funds in a bank owned by a friend of his family. This was the first time he had any excess money that needed to be safe guarded, and it remained on deposit until they came through Jericho again right before Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.
Jesus and the apostles had little time to rest. As soon as they were settled in at Bethany people from far and near started to show up to have their souls saved, their bodies healed, and their minds comforted. To handle the crowds the apostles pitched some more tents in Gethsemane, and Jesus went back and forth from there to Bethany so he could rest from the crowds. They stayed in Jerusalem for almost three weeks, during which time Jesus kept the apostles from doing any public speaking and instead had them teach people in private.
Jesus and his twelve apostles celebrated the Passover in Bethany while Abner and John’s apostles spent the night with John’s early followers. This was the second Passover that Jesus and the apostles spent together, and the first where they celebrated it as a bloodless meal. When they returned to Capernaum to work in Galilee they split from Abner and John’s apostles who remained in Jerusalem working quietly in the surrounding country. This was the last time that all of them were together until right before Jesus commissioned and sent forth the seventy evangelists. Good feelings continued between the two groups regardless their differences in opinion.
The Bethesda Hot Spring
The second Saturday that they were Jerusalem, John took Jesus aside and said “Come with me, I want to show you something.”
John then led Jesus out one of the gates into Jerusalem, and took him to a natural pool of water named Bethesda. A wooden structure of five porches had been built around the pool and under it was a large group of people, some who were sick and some who just thought they were, and all waiting around to be healed. Bethesda was a hot spring with reddish-tinged water and the gas that accumulated in the rock caverns below it would bubble at irregular intervals. Many people believed this release of gas was due to supernatural forces, and that the first person into the water after it happened would be healed.
The apostles had all been restless because of the restrictions Jesus had placed on their preaching, but the constraints were naturally the hardest on John who was the youngest of the twelve. He had taken Jesus to the pool hoping that when Jesus saw all of the people suffering it would appeal to his heart and he would heal them. John imagined that then everyone in Jerusalem would be astonished and won into the kingdom. So John said “Master, do you see all of these people suffering? Is not there something that we can do for them?”
Jesus replied “John, why would you tempt me to change the way I have chosen? Why do you keep wanting to substitute miracles and healing the sick for announcing the gospel of eternal truth? My son, I will not do as you want, but do go and get all of these sick people together so I can speak words of good cheer and eternal comfort before we leave.”
After Jesus had spoken to the people gathered around, he said “Many of you are sick because of your many years of wrong living. Some of you suffer from the accidents of time, others from the mistakes of your parents, and some of you are struggling with your lot in life. But while my Father would work to better your Earth life, we would rather ensure your eternal life. None of us can do much to change life’s difficulties unless we discover that the Father in heaven so wills. After all, we are all beholden to do the will of the Eternal. If you could all be healed of your physical problems you would indeed marvel, but it is even more wonderful to be cleansed of all spiritual disease and healed of all moral sicknesses.’
“You are all God’s children: you are the sons of the heavenly Father. The bonds of time may seem to bother you, but the God of eternity loves you. And when the judgment time comes, fear not, because you will all find not only justice but also an abundance of mercy. It is true when I say to you that he who hears the gospel of the kingdom and believes this teaching of sonship with God has eternal life: already are such believers passing from death and judgement to light and life, and the hour is coming when even those who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the resurrection.”
Many of the sick who heard Jesus that day believed the gospel of the kingdom. Some of them were so inspired and spiritually revived that they left the pool and told everyone that they had been cured of their physical diseases. One man who for years had been downcast with mental problems rejoiced at Jesus’ words, picked up his bed, and went home even though it was the Sabbath. This man had waited all these years for somebody to help him; he was such a victim of his own helplessness that he had never once thought about helping himself, which proved to be the one thing he had to do to heal himself—take up his bed and walk.
Then to John, Jesus said “Let us leave this place before the chief priests and the scribes get angry that we spoke words of life to these sick people.” They returned to the temple to join their companions, and a short time later all of them left Jerusalem to spend the night at Bethany. John never told the other apostles about taking Jesus to the Bethesda hot springs that Saturday afternoon.
The Rule of Living
Later that evening in Bethany while Jesus, the twelve, and a group of believers were standing around the fire in Lazarus’ garden, Nathaniel said “Master, although you have taught us the positive version of the old rule of life, instructing us that we should do to others as we wish them to do to us, I do not understand how we can always follow such a rule. For example, a lustful man who wickedly looks on a woman with sin in his mind. How can we teach that this evil-intending man should do to others as he would have them do to him?”
Jesus immediately pointed his finger at the apostle and said “Nathaniel, Nathaniel! What is going on in your heart? Do you not understand my teachings like one who has been born of the spirit? Do you not hear the truth as a person of wisdom and spiritual understanding? When I told you to do to others as you would have them do to you, I was speaking to people of high ideals, not to those who would be tempted to distort my teaching into a license to encourage doing evil.”
Nathaniel replied “But Master, do not think that I approve of that interpretation of your teaching. I asked the question because I thought that many people like that may misjudge your command and I hoped you would teach us more about these things.”
Jesus said “I know very well Nathaniel that you do not approve of evil like that, but I am disappointed that all of you fail so often to put a true spiritual interpretation on my commonplace teachings—teachings that have to be given to you in human language and as common people speak. Now I am going to teach you the different levels of this rule, ‘do to others what you want others to do to you’.
“First, is the level of the flesh. This is a purely selfish and lustful interpretation of the rule like the example Nathaniel just used. Second, is the level of the feelings, which is where pity and sympathy condition a person’s understanding of the rule. Third, is the level of mind, the inclusion of mental reasoning and the lessons learned from experience. Fourth, is brotherly love, the unselfish devotion to the welfare of one’s friends that grows out of the realization of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity. Fifth, is the moral level: a true philosophical interpretation with insight into the rightness and wrongness of things, and sixth, the spiritual and most exalted level of all—the impulse to treat others as we understand God would have us treat them. That is the universe ideal of human relationships, and that will be your attitude toward all such problems when your supreme desire is the Father’s will: treat all people as you know I would treat them in the same situation.”
This was the most astonishing lesson Jesus had ever impressed on the apostles up until this point, and they all continued to discuss Jesus’ words long after he went to bed. While it took some time for Nathaniel to recover from his belief that Jesus had misunderstood the spirit of his question, the other apostles were more than thankful that their philosophical brother had mustered the courage to bring up such a thought-provoking topic.
Visiting Simon the Pharisee
Simon was a prominent Pharisee in Jerusalem, but he was not a part of the Sanhedrin. He was a half-hearted believer in Jesus’ message and much impressed by his personality. Even though he knew that he might be criticized for doing so, he invited Jesus, John, James, and Peter to his house for dinner.
The wealthy Pharisees were intent on showing off how they helped the poor, and at times would even have someone blow a trumpet to let people know they were about to give money to a beggar. It was also their custom to leave the doors to their house open when they would throw a banquet for a distinguished guest: they did this so the street beggars could come into the room and sit on the floor behind the people eating at the table where they would have scraps of food thrown to them on occasion.
During Simon’s feast, a woman who had been the madam of one of Jerusalem’s more successful brothels arrived with the other street people. She had become a believer in Jesus’ gospel, closed her place of business, and convinced most of the women to find another line of work. Regardless of these lifestyle changes the Pharisees still despised her and forced her to wear her hair down, which was the sign of a prostitute. This woman—whose name we do not know—had brought with her a large pitcher of expensive massage oil. While Jesus ate his meal she massaged his feet with the oil mixed in with tears of gratitude, wiping away the excess with her hair. After she was finished massaging Jesus’ feet, she continued kissing them as she quietly cried.
When Simon saw the woman doing this he thought to himself, “If this man was a prophet, he would know that this woman was a prostitute and a notorious sinner.”
Jesus knew what Simon was thinking and said “Simon, I have something that I want to say to you.”
Simon replied “Teacher, go ahead.”
To which, Jesus said “A certain wealthy moneylender had two people who owed him money. One person owed him five hundred coins, and the other person owed him fifty. When neither of them had nothing to pay their loan, he forgave them both. Which of them do you think would love him the most for what he did?”
Simon replied “The man, I suppose, that he forgave the most.”
Jesus said “You are right.” Then pointing to the woman, he said “Simon, take a good look at this woman. I entered your house as an invited guest, but you did not give me water to wash my feet. This grateful woman has washed my feet with tears and dried them with her hair. You did not greet me with a friendly kiss when I arrived, but this woman ever since she came in has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has massaged my feet with precious lotions. And what does all of this mean? Just that all of her sins have been forgiven, and this has led her to love much. But those of you who have received only a little forgiveness sometimes only love a little.”
Turning toward the woman, Jesus took her by the hand and as he was helping her stand-up said “You have indeed repented your sins, and they are forgiven. Do not be discouraged by other people’s thoughtless and unkind attitudes; go forth in the joy and liberty of the kingdom of heaven.”
When Simon and his friends heard this they were more than astonished and they began to whisper among themselves, “Who is this man that dares to forgive even sins?”
When Jesus heard them, he turned and dismissed the woman saying “Woman, go in peace; your faith has saved you.”
Jesus stood up to leave with his friends following suit, and then turning to Simon said “I know your heart Simon, how you are torn between faith and doubt and how you are scared and troubled by pride. But I pray that you will yield to the light, and that you experience in your life the same tremendous transformation of mind and spirit that the gospel of the kingdom has already brought about in your unasked and unwelcomed guest. And I state to all of you, that the Father has opened the doors of the heavenly kingdom to everyone who has the faith to enter, and no person or group of people can close those doors even to the most humble soul or supposedly the worse sinner on Earth if they are sincere in seeking an entrance.” Then Jesus, John, James, and Peter said their farewells and went to join the rest of the apostles at the camp in the Gethsemane garden.
Later that night Jesus taught the apostles about a person’s relationship with God in the eternal journey to Paradise. He said “My children, if there is a true living connection between the child and the Father, the child is sure to continually move toward the Father’s ideals. True, the child may make slow progress at first but progress is assured. The important thing is not how fast you progress, but rather the fact that you are progressing. Your actual progress is not as important as the direction of your progress. What you are becoming day by day, is infinitely more important than what you aretoday.’
“The woman who was transformed at Simon’s house today is at this time living on a material level well below that of Simon and his well-meaning friends. But while these Pharisees are spending their time focused on meaningless ceremonies, this woman has in full sincerity started out on the long and eventful search for God, and her path is not blocked by spiritual pride and moral self-satisfaction.’
“The woman is now much farther away from God than Simon but her soul is in progressive motion; she is on the way toward an eternal goal. This woman has in herself tremendous spiritual possibilities for the future. Some of you may not stand high in actual levels of soul and spirit, but you are making daily progress on the living way I have opened up through faith to God. There are tremendous possibilities in each of you for the future. Better by far to have a small but living and growing faith, than to have an impressive intellect with its dead stores of worldly wisdom and spiritual unbelief.”
Jesus warned his apostles against the foolishness of taking the Father’s love for granted. He told them that the heavenly Father is not a lax and foolish parent who indulges his children by condoning sin and forgiving recklessness—actions that contribute to the delinquency and early demoralization of their own children. Jesus said “My Father does not indulge those actions that are self-destructive to moral growth and spiritual progress. Such sin is a horror in the sight of God.”
Jesus attended many other banquets and semi-private meetings with the rich and poor of Jerusalem before he and his apostles left for Capernaum. Many of these people became believers in the gospel of the kingdom, and were later baptized by Abner and his associates who remained behind in Jerusalem to continue spreading the gospel.
Returning to Capernaum
The last week of April Jesus and the twelve left the Bethany headquarters near Jerusalem and started back to Capernaum by way of Jericho and the Jordan. The Jewish leaders held many secret meetings trying to decide what they were going to do with Jesus. They all agreed that something should be done to stop his teaching, but they could not agree on what. They had hoped that the civil authorities would get rid of him like Herod had put an end to John, but they realized that Jesus was working in such a way that the Romans were not alarmed by his preaching. When they met the day before Jesus left for Capernaum, they decided that he would have to be arrested on religious charges and then tried by the Sanhedrin. To accomplish this they appointed six spies to follow Jesus and collect enough evidence of blasphemy or law-breaking to convict him. When these agents caught up with Jesus, the apostles, and the almost two dozen other people following along with them, they told everyone that they wanted to be disciples and they were allowed to join the group. Later at the beginning of the second preaching tour of Galilee, three of them returned to Jerusalem with their report.
That night Peter preached at the Jordan crossing, and the next morning they all moved up river toward Amathus. They had wanted to go straight on to Capernaum, but there were so many people waiting for them that they stayed there for three days teaching, preaching, and baptizing. They did not leave for home until early Saturday morning, May 1st.
The spies now thought that they had their first charge against Jesus: breaking the Sabbath by traveling to Capernaum on Saturday morning. But they were soon disappointed. Right before everyone started walking Jesus told Andrew to only take the group one thousand yards down the road—which was the Jewish limit for traveling on the Sabbath—before again setting up camp.
Still, the spies did not have long to wait for another opportunity to accuse Jesus or the apostles of breaking their religious laws. As everyone was walking the allotted kilometer down the road, some of the apostles were picking the wheat growing along the way and rubbing the chaff off with their hands to eat the kernels of grain inside. This was a normal thing for people to do when traveling from one place to another, so no one gave it a second thought except of course the spies, who saw it as a chance to charge them with an offense. So when they saw Andrew again rubbing the grain in his hands, they went to him and said “Do you not know that it is against the law to pick and rub the grain on the Sabbath?”
Andrew replied “But we are hungry and only rub what we need; since when did it become sinful to eat grain on the Sabbath?”
The Pharisees replied “You are not wrong eating the grain, but you do break the law by picking and rubbing out the grain between your hands. Surely your Master would not approve of this.”
Andrew said “But if it is not wrong to eat the grain, then rubbing it out between our hands is hardly more work than chewing the grain, which you allow. Why do you quibble over such trifles?”
When Andrew suggested that the spies were quibblers, they became angry and rushed back to where Jesus was walking with Matthew. They protested to him saying “Behold Teacher, your apostles break the law on the Sabbath day: they pick, rub, and eat the grain. We are sure you will order them to quit doing that.”
Jesus said “You are indeed passionate for the law, and it is good to remember to keep the Sabbath day holy. But have you not read in the scriptures about the day when David was hungry and he and his friends went into God’s house and ate the holy bread, which is against the law for anyone to eat except the priests? And have you not read in our law that it is okay to do many things on the Sabbath day? And will I not before the day is over see you eat what you have brought along for today? My good men, you do well to be serious about the Sabbath, but you would do better to guard the health and well-being of your friends. I am telling you that the Sabbath was made for people: people were not made for the Sabbath. And if you are here to spy on what I say, then I openly tell you that the Son of Man is lord of even the Sabbath.”
The Pharisees were both confused and astonished by Jesus’ wisdom and discrimination. For the rest of the day they kept by themselves and did not dare to ask any more questions. Jesus went against the slavish Jewish traditions by doing and affirming positive actions: he did not spend much time telling people what not to do. Jesus taught that the people who know God can enjoy the liberty of living without being tricked into sinning. Jesus told the apostles, “Men, if you are enlightened by the truth and know what you are doing, you are blessed; but if you do not know the divine way you are unfortunate, and already breaking the law.”
Back in Capernaum
To escape the crowd following them Jesus and the twelve took a boat from Tarichea to Bethsaida. They arrived about noon on Monday, May 3rd. But by the next day everyone including the spies from Jerusalem had found them. That Tuesday evening as Jesus was holding one of his question and answer sessions, one of the six spies said “Today I was talking with one of John’s disciples who was at your lesson, and we were at a loss to understand why you never command your disciples to fast and pray like we and John’s followers do?”
Jesus said “Do the sons of the bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as the bridegroom remains with them they cannot fast. But the time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken away and during those times the children of the bridechamber will undoubtedly fast and pray. To pray is natural for the children of light, but fasting is not a part of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.’
“Remember that a wise tailor does not sew a piece of new and unshrunk cloth on to old cloth because when it is wet it will shrink and make the tear worse. Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, because the new wine will burst the skins and both the wine and the skins would be lost: the wise person puts the new wine into fresh wine skins.’
“Because of this, my disciples are wise not to bring too much of the old order into the new teaching of the gospel of the kingdom. You who have lost your teacher may be justified in fasting for a time. Fasting may be an appropriate part of the law of Moses, but in the coming kingdom the sons of God will experience freedom from fear and joy in the divine spirit.”
When John’s disciples heard these words they were comforted. The Pharisees on the other hand just became more confused. Then Jesus continued and warned those around him against believing that all of the old teaching should be replaced entirely by new ones. Jesus said “That old and also true you must keep. Likewise, that new but false must be rejected. But that new and also true you have to have the faith and courage to accept. Remember it is written, ‘Forsake not an old friend for the new is not comparable to him. As is new wine, so is a new friend; if it becomes old you will drink it with gladness.’”
The Feast of Spiritual Goodness
That night long after the usual listeners had gone to bed, Jesus continued teaching his apostles. He began this special lesson by quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, “‘Why have you fasted? For what reason do you upset your souls while you continue to find pleasure in oppression and take delight in injustice? See, you fast for the sake of conflict and to strike with a wicked fist. But you will not fast like this to make your voices heard on high.’
“Is this the fast that I have chosen: a day for people to hurt their soul? To bow their heads down like a bulrush and to grovel in the ashes in rough cloths worn just to cause them pain? Do you dare to call this a fast and an acceptable day in the sight of the Lord?’
“This is the fast that I choose—to break every yoke, to let the oppressed go free, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, and to undo the knots of heavy burdens. It is to share my bread with the hungry, and to bring those who are poor and homeless to my house. And when I see those who are naked, I will give them cloths.’
“‘Then your light will shine forth like the morning and your health will quickly improve. Your righteousness will go before you, while the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then when you call on the Lord he will answer: you will cry out, and he will say “Here I am.”’
“And all of this he will do if you drop your vanity and do not oppress or condemn other people. Instead, the Father wants you to minister to hurt souls and to open your heart to the hungry. Then your light will shine so that even your darkness will be like the noonday. The Lord will continue to guide you satisfying your soul and renewing your strength. You will become like a watered garden; like a spring whose waters never end.’
“And the people who do these things will restore the wasted glories; they will raise up the foundations of many generations; they will be called the rebuilders of broken walls and the restorers of safe paths in which to dwell.’”
Throughout the night Jesus urged his apostles to accept that it is their faith that makes them secure in the kingdom, now and in the future. Fasting, hurting one’s body, and inflicting pain on one’s soul have no place in worshiping God. Jesus urged the apostles to at least live up to the ideas of the prophets of old, and expressed hope that they would progress far beyond even the ideals of Isaiah. Jesus’ final words that night were, “Grow in grace through living your faith that you are in fact the sons of God, while at the same recognizing every person as your brother.” It was after two o’clock in the morning when Jesus finished speaking and everyone retired for the night.
Bob