Chapter 10 - The Passover at Jerusalem

CHAPTER 10

THE PASSOVER AT JERUSALEM

THE month of April Jesus and the apostles worked in Jerusalem, going out of the city each evening to spend the night at Bethany.

The first day in Jerusalem Jesus called upon his friend of former years, Annas, the onetime high priest and relative of Salome, Zebedee's wife. Annas had been hearing about Jesus and his teachings, and when Jesus called at the high priest's home, he was received with much reserve.

When Jesus perceived Annas's coldness, he took immediate leave, saying as he departed:

• "Fear is man's chief enslaver and pride his great weakness. Will you betray yourself into bondage to both of these destroyers of joy and liberty?"

But Annas made no reply.

Teaching in the Temple

Throughout this month Jesus or one of the apostles taught daily in the temple.

The burden of their message was:

• 1. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

• 2. By faith in the fatherhood of God you may enter the kingdom of heaven, thus becoming the sons of God.

• 3. Love is the rule of living within the kingdom -- supreme devotion to God while loving your neighbor as yourself.

• 4. Obedience to the will of the Father, yielding the fruits of the spirit in one's personal life, is the law of the kingdom.

God’s Wrath

A wealthy Jewish trader from Crete, named Jacob came to Andrew making request to see Jesus privately. Andrew arranged this secret meeting with Jesus at Flavius's home the evening of the next day.

Said Jacob to Jesus:

• "But, Rabbi, Moses and the olden prophets tell us that Yahweh is a jealous God, a God of great wrath and fierce anger. The prophets say he hates evildoers and takes vengeance on those who obey not his law. You and your disciples teach us that God is a kind and compassionate Father who so loves all men that he would welcome them into this new kingdom of heaven, that you proclaim is so near at hand."

When Jacob finished speaking, Jesus replied:

• "Jacob, you have well stated the teachings of the olden prophets who taught the children of their generation in accordance with the light of their day. Our Father in Paradise is changeless. But the concept of his nature has enlarged and grown from the days of Moses down through the times of Amos and even to the generation of the prophet Isaiah. And now have I come in the flesh to reveal the Father in new glory and to show forth his love and mercy to all men on all worlds. As the gospel of this kingdom shall spread over the world with its message of good cheer and good will to all men, there will grow up improved and better relations among the families of all nations. As time passes, fathers and their children will love each other more, and thus will be brought about a better understanding of the love of the Father in heaven for his children on earth. Remember, Jacob, that a good and true father not only loves his family as a whole -- as a family -- but he also truly loves and affectionately cares for each individual member."

• "What profit have you from successive generations of spiritual illumination if you persist in viewing God as Moses and the prophets saw him? I say to you, Jacob, under the bright light of this hour you should see the Father as none of those who have gone before ever beheld him. And thus seeing him, you should rejoice to enter the kingdom wherein such a merciful Father rules, and you should seek to have his will of love dominate your life henceforth."

Flavius and Greek Culture

Flavius, the Greek Jew, was a proselyte of the gate, having been neither circumcised nor baptized. Since he was a great lover of the beautiful in art and sculpture, the house that he occupied when sojourning in Jerusalem was a beautiful edifice. This home was exquisitely adorned with priceless treasures that he had gathered up here and there on his world travels. The Master saw that his host was bewildered at his friendly attitude toward art.

Therefore, when they had finished the survey of the entire collection, Jesus said:

• "Because you appreciate the beauty of things created by my Father and fashioned by the artistic hands of man, why should you expect to be rebuked? Because Moses onetime sought to combat idolatry and the worship of false gods, why should all men frown upon the reproduction of grace and beauty? I say to you, Flavius, Moses' children have misunderstood him. Now do they make false gods of even his prohibitions of images, and the likeness of things in heaven and on earth. But even if Moses taught such restrictions to the darkened minds of those days, what has that to do with this day when the Father in heaven is revealed as the universal Spirit Ruler over all? Flavius, I declare that in the coming kingdom they shall no longer teach `do not worship this and do not worship that'. No longer shall they concern themselves with commands to refrain from this and take care not to do that, but rather shall all be concerned with one supreme duty. This duty of man is expressed in two great privileges, sincere worship of the infinite Creator, the Paradise Father, and loving service bestowed upon one's fellow men. If you love your neighbor as you love yourself, you really know that you are a son of God.

• "In an age when my Father was not well understood, Moses was justified in his attempts to withstand idolatry, but in the coming age the Father will have been revealed in the life of the Son. This new revelation of God will make it forever unnecessary to confuse the Creator Father with idols of stone or images of gold and silver. Henceforth, intelligent men may enjoy the treasures of art without confusing such material appreciation of beauty with the worship and service of the Father in Paradise, the God of all things and all beings."

The Discourse on Assurance

A man asked Jesus:

• "But, Rabbi, how shall we know of a certainty that you are sent by God, and that we may truly enter into this kingdom that you and your disciples declare is near at hand?"

And Jesus answered:

• "As to my message and the teaching of my disciples, you should judge them by their fruits. If we proclaim to you the truths of the spirit, the spirit will witness in your hearts that our message is genuine. Concerning the kingdom and your assurance of acceptance by the heavenly Father. Let me ask what father among you, who is a worthy and kindhearted father, would keep his son in anxiety or suspense regarding his status in the family, or his place of security in the affections of his father's heart? Do you earth fathers take pleasure in torturing your children with uncertainty about their place of abiding love in your human hearts? Neither does your Father in heaven leave his faith children of the spirit in doubtful uncertainty as to their position in the kingdom. If you receive God as your Father, then indeed and in truth are you the sons of God. If you are sons, then are you secure in the position and standing of all that concerns eternal and divine sonship. If you believe my words, you thereby believe in Him who sent me, and by thus believing in the Father, you have made your status in heavenly citizenship sure. If you do the will of the Father in heaven, you shall never fail in the attainment of the eternal life of progress in the divine kingdom.

• "The Supreme Spirit shall bear witness with your spirits that you are truly the children of God. And if you are the sons of God, then have you been born of the spirit of God. Whosoever has been born of the spirit has in himself the power to overcome all doubt, and this is the victory that overcomes all uncertainty, even your faith.

• "Said the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of these times `when the spirit is poured upon us from on high, then shall the work of righteousness become peace, quietness, and assurance forever.' For all who truly believe this gospel, I will become surety for their reception into the eternal mercies and the everlasting life of my Father's kingdom. You, then, who hear this message and believe this gospel of the kingdom, are the sons of God, and you have life everlasting. The evidence to all the world that you have been born of the spirit is that you sincerely love one another."

The Visit With Nicodemus

One evening at the home of Flavius there came to see Jesus one Nicodemus, a wealthy and elderly member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Upon being presented by Flavius, Nicodemus said:

• "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God, for no mere man could so teach unless God were with him. And I am desirous of knowing more about your teachings regarding the coming kingdom."

Jesus:

• "Verily, verily, I say to you, Nicodemus, except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus:

• "But how can a man be born again when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born."

Jesus:

• "Nevertheless, I declare to you, except a man be born of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. But you should not marvel that I said you must be born from above. When the wind blows, you hear the rustle of the leaves, but you do not see the wind -- whence it comes or whither it goes -- and so it is with everyone born of the spirit. With the eyes of the flesh you can behold the manifestations of the spirit, but you cannot actually discern the spirit."

Nicodemus:

• "But I do not understand -- how can that be?"

Jesus:

• "Can it be that you are a teacher in Israel and yet ignorant of all this? It becomes, then, the duty of those who know about the realities of the spirit to reveal these things to those who discern only the manifestations of the material world. But will you believe us if we tell you of the heavenly truths? Do you have the courage, Nicodemus, to believe in one who has descended from heaven, even the Son of Man?"

Nicodemus:

• "But how can I begin to lay hold upon this spirit which is to remake me in preparation for entering into the kingdom?”

Jesus:

• "Already does the spirit of the Father in heaven indwell you. If you would be led by this spirit from above, very soon would you begin to see with the eyes of the spirit, and then by the wholehearted choice of spirit guidance would you be born of the spirit since your only purpose in living would be to do the will of your Father who is in heaven. So finding yourself born of the spirit and happily in the kingdom of God, you would begin to bear in your daily life the abundant fruits of the spirit."

The Lesson on the Family

After the busy period of teaching and personal work of Passover week in Jerusalem, Jesus spent the next Wednesday at Bethany with his apostles, resting. That afternoon, Thomas asked a question which elicited a long and instructive answer.

Said Thomas:

• "Master, on the day we were set apart as ambassadors of the kingdom, you told us many things, instructed us regarding our personal mode of life, but what shall we teach the multitude? How are these people to live after the kingdom more fully comes? Shall your disciples own slaves? Shall your believers court poverty and shun property? Shall mercy alone prevail so that we shall have no more law and justice?"

Very plainly Jesus explained that the kingdom of heaven was an evolutionary experience, beginning here on earth and progressing up through successive life stations to Paradise. He next explained that the "kingdom idea" was not the best way to illustrate man's relation to God. He employed such figures of speech because the Jewish people were expecting the kingdom, and because John had preached in terms of the coming kingdom.

Jesus said:

• "The people of another age will better understand the gospel of the kingdom when it is presented in terms expressive of the family relationship -- when man understands religion as the teaching of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, sonship with God."

Although Jesus discoursed for several hours, Thomas was not yet satisfied, for he said:

• "But, Master, we do not find that the Father in heaven always deals kindly and mercifully with us. Many times we grievously suffer on earth, and not always are our prayers answered. Where do we fail to grasp the meaning of your teaching?"

Jesus replied:

• "Thomas, Thomas, how long before you will acquire the ability to listen with the ear of the spirit? How long will it be before you discern that this kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and that my Father is also a spiritual being? Do you not understand that I am teaching you as spiritual children in the spirit family of heaven, of which the father head is an infinite and eternal spirit? Will you not allow me to use the earth family as an illustration of divine relationships without so literally applying my teaching to material affairs? In your minds cannot you separate the spiritual realities of the kingdom from the material, social, economic, and political problems of the age? When I speak the language of the spirit, why do you insist on translating my meaning into the language of the flesh just because I presume to employ commonplace and literal relationships for purposes of illustration? My children, I implore that you cease to apply the teaching of the kingdom of the spirit to the sordid affairs of slavery, poverty, houses, and lands, and to the material problems of human equity and justice. These temporal matters are the concern of the men of this world, and while in a way they affect all men, you have been called to represent me in the world, even as I represent my Father. You are spiritual ambassadors of a spiritual kingdom, special representatives of the spirit Father. By this time it should be possible for me to instruct you as full-grown men of the spirit kingdom. Must I ever address you only as children? Will you never grow up in spirit perception? Nevertheless, I love you and will bear with you, even to the very end of our association in the flesh. And even then shall my spirit go before you into all the world."