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Paper 140--The Ordination. Is it Important?
Ken Glasziou
A few days ago, I was rummaging through my bookshelf and noticed that my old King James version of the Bible had a small number of pages that, through wear and tear, stood dog-eared out from the remainder. On checking, the battered pages commenced at the Gospel of Matthew and progressed into that of Mark. The first of these worn pages started at Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount.
This particular Bible was one in which the spoken word of Jesus was picked out in red ink. I recalled that for about twenty years of my life, during the period prior to receiving a copy of The Urantia Book, I had read little else in the Bible than the red-ink components of the Gospel of Matthew.
Another recollection that came to mind was my puzzlement that so many church leaders acknowledged that the Sermon on the Mount was a fine piece of ethics but nevertheless felt it had little to do with the Christian religion. For me, it was the heart and soul of Jesus spoken word. Comb the literature of mankind and even today it remains true--no other man ever spoke like this.
The Urantia Book was given to me around 1970 with a request for my opinion on its content. By habit, I did not start reading at the beginning but simply opened at random and skipped through its pages to try and get a feeling for what the book was about. I recalled that the random selection procedure had come to an end at the Ordination Sermon when I recognized that much of Paper 140 was almost word for word from the Gospel of Matthew. From that point onwards, I read straight through to the end of the book.
This last recollection stimulated another response. I picked up my copy of Big Blue, went to the paper on the Ordination, and soon confirmed that it really is the very heart and soul of Jesus' life and teaching:
"The teaching of Jesus is a religion for everybody...His life and teachings were bequeathed the universe as an inspirational and idealistic inheritance suitable for the spiritual guidance and moral instruction of all ages on all worlds. And even today, Jesus' teaching stands apart from all religions, as such, albeit it is the living hope of every one of them. (Paper 140, p. 1583)
"It was not apparent to the apostles that their Master was engaged in living a life of spiritual inspiration for every person of every age on every world of a far-flung universe. Notwithstanding what Jesus told them from time to time, the apostles did not grasp the idea that he was doing a work on this world but for all other worlds in his vast creation. Jesus lived his earth life on Urantia, not to set a personal example of mortal living for the men and women of this world, but rather to create a high spiritual and inspirational ideal for all mortal beings on all worlds." (Paper 140, p.1585)
"No wonder these apostles did not fully comprehend the Master's words, for he was projecting to them the plan of a new age." (1595)
Yes, the life and teachings of Jesus, as conveyed in those red ink sections of my Matthew's Gospel, have been available to Christianity for the best part of 2000 years. For the whole of that period mankind has been blessed with truth of Jesus' living revelation of the real nature of our Father-God. Yet so few have really understood.
Something else caught my eye. The author of this Paper on the ordination is claiming that what is being revealed is not only suitable for the spiritual guidance of Urantians, but is intended for the creation of a spiritual and inspirational ideal for all mortals on all worlds in our universe!
If we were to postulate that the papers are fraudulent, would this not be an outrageous proposal for any human author to make--that what is presented is an inspirational and idealistic inheritance suitable for the spiritual guidance and moral instruction of all ages on all worlds?
But not only does the writer make this extraordinary claim, he actually succeeds in fulfilling it!
Another point I noticed about this presentation is that rarely are opinions expressed. Dominantly what we are given is authoritative, as if it had come directly from Jesus. In this ordination sermon and the subsequent question and answer discussions, the Master was truly "projecting the plan of a new age." Surely it must be important?
Prior to exiting these meanderings of the mind through the "dreamtime," one more question arose from who-knows-where. What would the effect have been if fire had fortuitously destroyed all but one of the Urantia Papers prior to their publication? Which one would I hope it to be? The answer to such a question may vary according to the prior experience of the individual. For myself, if only one Paper could survive, my choice would have to be the one covering the ordination.
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