Ch. 56, Wednesday, The Rest Day
“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition
Wednesday, The Rest Day
On this particular Wednesday everyone ate breakfast later than usual. A noticeable silence had fallen over the camp and little was said during the first half of the meal. At last Jesus said “I want you to rest today. Take time to think about all that has occurred since we came to Jerusalem, and meditate on the things that I have plainly told you are ahead. Make sure that the truth stands in your lives and that you grow daily in grace.” Jesus told Andrew that he was going to be gone for the day and suggested that the apostles be allowed to spend the time however they wanted, except that under no circumstances should anyone go into the gates of Jerusalem.
As Jesus prepared to go into the hills alone, David Zebedee went to him and said “You well know Master that the rulers and Pharisees want to destroy you, and yet you are getting ready to go into the hills alone. This is stupid; I am going to send three armed men along to see that nothing happens to you.” Jesus looked over at muscular Galileans and said “You mean well, David, but you are wrong; you fail to understand that the Son of Man needs no one to defend him. No man will touch me until I am ready to lay down my life in conformity to my Father’s will. These men cannot come with me. I want to go alone so that I can talk with the Father.”
After David Zebedee and the three Galileans left, Jesus started to walk off by himself. But John Mark came running up to him with a small basket of food and water and suggested that if he intended to be away all day he might find himself hungry.
One Day Alone with God
Jesus smiled at John, and as he was about to take the lunch basket from his hand the young man ventured to say “But Master, you may set the basket down while you turn aside to pray and then forget it. Besides, if I go along to carry the lunch you will be more free to worship and I promise to be quiet: I will ask no questions and I will stay by the basket when you go off by yourself to pray.”
As John said this, which astonished the nearby listeners, he held on to the basket of food and would not let go; there they stood, looking at one another. After a moment, Jesus let go and looking down at the lad and said “Since with all of your heart you crave to go with me, it will not be denied you. We will go off by ourselves and have a good visit. You can ask me any question that comes up in your heart, and we will comfort and console each other. You can start out carrying the lunch and when you get tired I will help you. Follow me.”
Jesus spent this last day of peace and quiet on Earth visiting with this truth-hungry lad and talking with his Paradise Father: they did not return to camp until after sundown. This event has become known on high as the day that a young man spent with God in the hills. Forever this occasion exemplifies the willingness of the Creator to become friends with the creature. People whose hearts are pure can command the attention and enjoy the loving companionship of the God of a universe, in other words, actually experience the unforgettable joy of being alone in the hills with God for a whole day. That was John Mark’s unique experience this Wednesday in the Judean hills.
Jesus and John Mark talked freely about the affairs of this world and the next. John told Jesus how much he regretted not having been old enough to be one of the apostles, and how much he appreciated being permitted to follow along with them since their first preaching at the Jordan ford near Jericho. Jesus warned John not to become discouraged by the events coming in the near future, and assured him that he would live to become a mighty messenger of the kingdom.
John Mark was thrilled by this day’s memories of being with Jesus in the hills, and he never forgot the Master’s final instruction given to him just as they were about to return to the Gethsemane camp. Jesus said “Well John, we have had a good visit—a real day of rest—but see to it that you tell no one the things that I told you.” John never did tell anyone what occurred this day with Jesus in the hills. Throughout the few remaining hours of Jesus’ life on Earth, John Mark never let the Master out of his sight for long: the lad was always hiding close by, and he only slept when Jesus did.
Early Home Life
That afternoon in the hills Jesus and John Mark spoke much about their early childhoods. Although John’s parents had been wealthier than Jesus’, they had much in common. Jesus explained many things to John Mark that helped him to better understand his parents and the other members of his family. When John asked Jesus how he knew that John would turn out to be a mighty messenger of the kingdom, Jesus said “I know you will prove loyal to the gospel of the kingdom; I can depend on your present love and faith because these qualities are grounded in the early training you had at home. You are the product of a home where the parents were sincerely affectionate, and because of that you have not been spoiled. Neither has your personality been messed up by your parent’s scheming between themselves for your love and loyalty, the one against the other. You have enjoyed that type of parental love that ensures worthy self-confidence and that fosters normal feelings of security. You were also lucky that your parents had wisdom as well as love; it was wisdom that led them to send you to the synagogue school along with your friends from the neighborhood, and to withhold most forms of indulgence and the many luxuries that their wealth could have bought. They also encouraged you to learn how to live in this world by letting you gain your own experiences.’
“You came to us with your young friend Amos, and at the time both of you wanted to follow us. When you both returned to Jerusalem your parents agreed to let you join us while Amos’ parents said no: they loved their son so much that they denied him the blessed experience that you have had right up to this very day. Amos could have joined us if he had run away from home, but doing so would have wounded love and sacrificed loyalty. Even if such a decision had been wise it would have been a terrible price to pay for his liberty, experience, and independence. Wise parents such as yours ensure that their children do not have to wound love or loyalty to become fully independent adults when older.’
“Love, John, is the supreme reality of the universe when enacted by all-wise beings, but it is a dangerous and often times semi-selfish trait with mortal parents. When you get married and have children of your own to raise make sure that your love is cautioned by wisdom and guided by intelligence.’
“Your young friend Amos believes this gospel just as much as you do, but I cannot fully depend on him. I am not certain what he will do in the years to come. His early home life was not the type that would produce a wholly dependable person. Amos is too much like one of the apostles who failed to enjoy a wise, loving, and normal childhood. Your whole afterlife will be more happy and dependable because you spent your first eight years in a well-regulated home. You possess a strong and well-knit character because you grew up in a family where love prevailed and wisdom reigned. Such training in childhood produces the type of loyalty that assures me you will finish what you have started.”
Jesus explained how a child is completely dependent on its parents and home environment for its early moral, social, spiritual, and intellectual training. The child must get their first impressions of the universe from the mother’s care, and their first sense of the heavenly father from their earthly father. The child’s later life is made happy or unhappy, easy or difficult, based on their early mental and emotional life and the social and spiritual relationships in the home. Furthermore, a human being’s entire afterlife is enormously influenced by what happens during the first few years of existence.
It is our sincere belief that the gospel, Jesus’ word, based like it is on the father-child relationship can hardly enjoy world-wide acceptance until the home life of modern civilized people embraces more love and wisdom. Even though parents in the twentieth-century have vast knowledge and increased truth for ennobling the home life, it remains a fact that few modern homes are good places to nurture boys and girls like were Jesus’ home in Galilee and John Mark’s home in Judea. That said, the acceptance of Jesus’ gospel will result in an immediate improvement in home life. The love in a wise home and the loyal devotion of true religion exert strong mutual influences on one another. Such a home life enhances religion, and genuine religion always glorifies the home.
It is true that many of the objectionable influences that stifled children’s development in Jewish homes has been virtually eliminated by today: there is more personal liberty and spontaneous freedom. But this liberty is not restrained by love, motivated by loyalty, or directed by intelligent disciplined wisdom. As long as we teach the child to pray “Our Father who is in heaven,” a tremendous responsibility rests on all earthly fathers to live and order their homes so that the word father becomes worthy and enshrined in the minds and hearts of all growing children.
The Day at Camp
The apostles spent their day hiking around Mount Olivet and visiting with the disciples who were camped with them, but early in the afternoon they became anxious for Jesus to return. As the day wore on they grew increasingly worried about his safety; they were overwhelmed with loneliness and arguing over Jesus being allowed to go off by himself with only by an errand boy. And although no man said this out loud, there was not a one of them—except Judas Iscariot—who did not wish it was he who was in John Mark’s place.
About midafternoon Nathaniel spoke on the topic of supreme desire to about half a dozen of the apostles and as many disciples. He ended his sermon saying “What is wrong with most of us is that we are only halfhearted. We fail to love the Master as he loves us. If we had all wanted to go with him as much as John Mark, he would surely have taken all of us. We stood by while the lad went up to the Master and offered him the basket, but when the Master took hold of it John would not let go. So the Master left us here while he went off into the hills with boy, basket, and all.”
Later at about four o’clock, runners arrived and brought David Zebedee word from his and Jesus’ mothers at Bethsaida. Several days earlier David had made up his mind that the Sanhedrin was going to kill Jesus, and he was almost convinced that Jesus would neither exert his divine power to save himself nor permit his followers to use force to defend him. Having come to this decision he lost no time sending a messenger to his mother urging her, Mary, and the rest of Jesus’ family to come at once to Jerusalem. David’s mother had done as he asked, and now the runners returned with word that she and Jesus’ entire family were on their way to Jerusalem; they would all arrive sometime late the following day or early the next morning. Since David did all of this on his own initiative he thought it wise to keep the matter to himself: he told no one that Jesus’ family was coming.
More than twenty of the Greeks who had met with Jesus and the twelve at Joseph of Arimathea’s home had arrived at the camp right before noon, and John and Peter spent several hours meeting with them. These Greeks, at least some of them, were well schooled in the knowledge of the kingdom having been instructed by Rodan at Alexandria. If it had not been for how much it would have upset his apostles, Jesus would have ordained these Greeks just like he had the seventy.
In Jerusalem the Sanhedrin was stunned that Jesus did not return to continue speaking to the masses. True, the day before when he left the temple he said “I leave your house to you desolate.” But they could not understand why he would be willing to give up the enormous advantage that he had with the people. While they feared he would cause a commotion, Jesus’ had also told the crowd to conform in every reasonable manner with the authorities, those “who sit in Moses’ seat.” It was a busy day for the Sanhedrin as they simultaneously prepared for the Passover and perfected their plans to kill Jesus.
Judas and the Chief Priests
Shortly after Jesus and John Mark had left the camp, Judas Iscariot also left and did not return until late in the afternoon. In spite of Jesus’ specific request that the apostles were not to go into Jerusalem, Judas had quickly gone to keep his appointment with Jesus’ enemies at Caiaphas’ home. This was an informal meeting of the Sanhedrin, and it had been set for shortly after ten o’clock that morning. They discussed the charges that should be brought against Jesus and how to secure the necessary civil approval to confirm the death sentence they had already passed.
The day before, Judas had told his relatives and the Sadducees that Jesus was a well-meaning idealist but he was not Israel’s expected deliverer; Judas informed them that he wanted to find a way to withdrawal gracefully from the whole movement. His family and friends flattered him and assured him that abandoning Jesus would please the Jewish rulers, and in return nothing would be too good for him. Judas was led to believe that he would immediately receive high honors from the Sanhedrin, and that he would at last be in a position to erase the stigma of his well-meant but unfortunate association with untaught Galileans.
Judas did not really believe that Jesus’ mighty works had been done by the power of the prince of devils, but he was now convinced that Jesus would not exert his power to glorify himself. He was at last certain that Jesus would let himself be destroyed by the Jewish rulers, and Judas could not endure the humiliating thought of being identified with a defeated movement: he refused to entertain the idea of apparent failure. Judas well knew his Master’s sturdy character and the keenness of his merciful and majestic mind, but he took greater pleasure thinking that Jesus was a well-meaning fanatic and probably not of sound thought: for Judas, Jesus had always appeared to be a strange and misunderstood person.
Now like never before, Judas found himself strangely resentful that Jesus had never assigned him a position of more importance. All along he had enjoyed the distinction of being the apostles’ treasurer, but now he felt that he had not been appreciated and his abilities unrecognized. Judas was suddenly overcome with indignation that John, James, and Peter had been selected as Jesus’ close associates. As Judas walked to the high priest’s home he was more intent on getting even with John, James, and Peter than he was concerned about betraying Jesus. But over and above all just then a new and dominating thought began to occupy the front of his conscious mind: he had originally set out to get honor for himself, but if this could be achieved at the same time as taking revenge on those who had contributed to the hardest disappointment of his life, all the better. Judas was seized with a terrible conspiracy of pride, confusion, desperation, and determination: it is clear that he did not betray Jesus for money.
Judas made his final decision to abandon Jesus as he approached Caiaphas’ home. Having made up his mind to desert the cause of the kingdom he was now determined to get the honor and glory that he had thought would sometime be his when he had first identified himself with Jesus and the new gospel. All of the other apostles had once shared Judas’ ambition, but as time passed they learned to love Jesus and admire truth, at least more than Judas did.
The traitor was presented to Caiaphas and the Jewish rulers by his cousin who explained that Judas, having discovered his mistake in allowing himself to be misled by the subtle teachings of Jesus, wished to make a public and formal renunciation of his association with the Galilean. At the same time he was also asking to be reinstated in fellowship with his Judean friends. Judas’ spokesman explained that Judas recognized it would be best for the peace of Israel if Jesus was arrested, so as evidence of his sorrow and as proof of Judas returning to Moses’ teachings he was volunteering to arrange for Jesus to be taken into custody quietly, thus avoiding the danger of stirring up the people or postponing his arrest until after the Passover.
When his cousin had finished speaking, Judas stepped up to the high priest and said “All that he has promised, I will do, but what are you willing to give me for this service?”
Judas did not seem to detect the look of contempt on Caiaphas’ face: his heart was too set on self-glory and craving self-importance to notice. Caiaphas looked down on the betrayer and said “Judas, you go to the captain of the guard and arrange with that officer to bring your Master to us either tonight or tomorrow night, and when he has been delivered by you into our hands you will receive your just reward for this service.” Judas knew that Jesus was not at the camp right then, and he did not know when he would return that evening. So after meeting with the captain of the guard the two decided to arrest Jesus the next night, Thursday after everyone in Jerusalem had gone to bed.
Judas returned to the other apostles at the camp intoxicated with thoughts of glory and grandeur like he had not enjoyed for many a day. He had originally enlisted with Jesus hoping to someday become a distinguished man in the new kingdom, but he finally realized that there was not going to be a new kingdom like he had anticipated. Still, he rejoiced that he had been so wise trading off his disappointment from not achieving glory in an anticipated new kingdom for the immediate realization of honor and reward in the old order that he now not only believed would survive, but would certainly destroy Jesus and the kingdom. In the end, Judas’ betrayal was the cowardly act of a selfish deserter whose only thought was for his own safety and glorification no matter the resulting harm to his Master and former friends.
Judas had long cultivated his evil and hateful desires for revenge. Jesus loved and trusted Judas like he loved and trusted the other apostles, but Judas failed to develop loyal trust and to experience wholehearted love in return. How dangerous ambition can become when it is completely self-seeking and supremely motivated by sullen and long-suppressed vengeance! What a crushing disappointment in the lives of those foolish people who focus their gaze on the short-lived temptations of time and become blinded to the higher and more real attainment of eternal worlds of divine values and true spiritual realities. Judas craved worldly honor in his mind and grew to love this desire with his whole heart. The other apostles likewise craved this same worldly honor, but in their hearts they loved Jesus and were doing their best to love the truths he had taught them.
Judas did not realize it at the time, but he had been a subconscious critic of Jesus ever since Herod killed John the Baptist. Deep down in his heart Judas had always resented the fact that Jesus did not save John. You should not forget that Judas had been one of John’s disciples before he became one of Jesus’ apostles. All of this accumulated human resentment and bitter disappointment that Judas had hatefully stored away was now well organized in his subconscious mind and ready to engulf him when he dared to separate himself from his friend’s supporting influence while simultaneously exposing himself to the subtle ridicule and clever insinuations of Jesus’ enemies. Every time that Judas had allowed his hopes to soar high just to have Jesus dash them to pieces left resentment scarring his heart. As these scars multiplied Judas lost all real affection for the one he considered responsible for inflicting these distasteful experiences on his well-intentioned but cowardly and self-centered personality. Judas did not realize it but he was a coward: thus, he was always inclined to say that cowardice caused Jesus to refuse to take power or glory when it was apparently in easy reach. Every mortal knows how love even when once genuine can through jealousy, disappointment, and long-continued resentment be eventually turned into hatred.
At last the Sanhedrin could relax. They would not have to arrest Jesus in public and securing Judas as a traitorous ally ensured that Jesus would not escape their jurisdiction like he had so many times in the past.
The Last Social Hour
Since it was Wednesday this evening at the camp was a social hour. Jesus tried to cheer his downcast apostles but that was well-nigh impossible: they were all beginning to realize that crushing and distressing events were looming at hand. They could not be happy even when Jesus recounted their years of loving and eventful friendship. Jesus carefully asked about each of their families, and then looking over toward David Zebedee he asked if anyone had recently heard from his mother, his youngest sister, or the other members of his family. David just looked down at his feet, afraid to answer.
Jesus cautioned his followers to beware of the support of the crowd. He recounted their experiences in Galilee when time and again huge throngs of people enthusiastically followed them around and then just as passionately turned against them and returned to their former ways of living. Jesus said “So you must not allow yourselves to be fooled by the large crowds that heard us in the temple and who seemed to believe our teachings. These crowds listen to the truth and believe it superficially with their minds, but few of them permit the word of truth to strike down into their heart with living roots. Those who know the gospel only in the mind and who have not experienced it in the heart cannot be depended on for support when real trouble arrives. When the Jewish rulers reach an agreement to destroy the Son of Man and they strike with one accord, you will see the crowd either flee in panic or else stand by silently amazed while these blinded and maddened rulers lead the teachers of the gospel truth to their death. Then when adversity and persecution descend on you still others who you think love the truth will be scattered and will desert you and renounce the gospel. Some who have been close to us have already made up their minds to desert. You have rested today in preparation for those times that are now on us: pray that tomorrow you will be strengthened for the days that are just ahead.”
The camp was charged with a strange tension; silent messengers came and went communicating only with David Zebedee. Before the night passed the apostles knew that Lazarus had quickly fled from Bethany. John Mark was ominously silent after returning to camp even though he had spent the whole day with Jesus. Every effort to persuade him to speak clearly indicated that Jesus had told him not to speak. Even Jesus’ good cheer and his unusual friendliness frightened them. They all felt a terrible isolation was about to suddenly crash down with inescapable terror: they vaguely sensed what was coming, and none of them felt prepared to face the test.
This Wednesday evening marked the low point of the apostles’ spiritual status up to the hour of Jesus’ death. It was just before midnight when Jesus, as he dismissed them and knowing that this would be the last night he would ever spend with his chosen family on Earth, said “Go to your sleep my friends; peace be on you until we get up in the morning, one more day to do the Father’s will and experience the joy of knowing that we are his sons.”