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The
Story of Everything
An
abridged edition of The Urantia Book
Paper
189: The Resurrection
As Jesus' body lay in the tomb, the chief archangel stationed on Urantia called a meeting to consider techniques for restoring Jesus' life. The angels were advised by Gabriel that Michael already had whatever power he needed to take up his life again. Michael's personalized Adjuster also advised them, saying, "Those things which you ordinarily do for the creature, you may not do for the Creator." And so the council of celestials waited patiently for further events to unfold.
At two forty-five Sunday morning, a commission of seven Paradise personalities arrived on the scene. Vibrations began to emanate from the tomb, and at two minutes past three, Jesus came forth. The form in which the Master appeared during this final episode of earthly life was that of a resurrected morontia ascender. The mortal body still lay in the sepulchre undisturbed. The soldiers were still on guard, the seal of Pilate still unbroken.
Jesus' physical body could not be removed from the tomb the same way his morontia form was released. The chief archangel received permission from Gabriel to dissolve the mortal body of Jesus. He invoked the "process of accelerated time" in order that the hosts of heaven would be spared the sight of the slow decay of the human form of their Creator.
Secondary midwayers rolled away the huge stones from the tomb. The mortal remains of the Master then went through the usual disintegration process, but without the time factor. The physical dissolution of Jesus' body happened nearly instantaneously. When the guards at the grave saw the stones begin to move, they fled in fear back to the city.
That morning, ten of the apostles were staying at the Mark home. Thomas was in solitude at the home of Simon of Bethphage. The women were at the home of Joseph of Arimathea, and other disciples were gathered at the home of Nicodemus.
Five women started out before daybreak with bandages and embalming lotions, intending to anoint and rewrap the body of Jesus. It was half past three when these women arrived at the tomb. They were surprised to see the stone already rolled away from the entrance; they had wondered how they would get into the tomb. As the others stood by fearfully Mary Magdalene went inside the sepulchre.
Mary saw that Jesus' body was gone; only the grave cloths remained on the shelf. She cried out in alarm and the other women panicked. They fled all the way to the Damascus gate before they rallied and returned to the tomb. Mary showed her friends that the tomb was empty. They conjectured that the body had been moved to another place. As the women discussed what they should do they noticed a stranger standing nearby.
Mary Magdalene rushed over to him, asking, "Where have you taken the Master? Where have they laid him?" The stranger did not answer. Mary began to weep. Jesus then asked, "Whom do you seek?" And Mary told him that they were looking for Jesus, and asked again where he had been taken. Jesus asked, "Did not this Jesus tell you, even in Galilee, that he would die, but that he would rise again?" And then he spoke to Mary in a familiar voice, saying simply, "Mary." She recognized the voice of her Master and knelt at his feet. Mary tried to embrace Jesus' feet but he prevented her. He asked the women to go back into the city to tell the apostles that he had risen.
The women hurried to the Mark home and related what they had seen and heard. The apostles did not believe them. Peter and John ran out to look at the empty tomb for themselves. They could not understand what could have happened, thinking that perhaps the body had been stolen by the guards.
Mary returned to the tomb disheartened that the apostles did not believe her. After Peter and John left the Master appeared to her again, asking her to have courage. Jesus asked Mary to tell the apostles that he would soon appear before them. Mary returned to the city to speak once more with the apostles. They still did not believe, but when they heard Peter and John's reports they were filled with fear.
Mankind is slow to perceive that, in all that is personal, matter is the skeleton of morontia, and that both are the reflected shadow of enduring spirit reality. How long before you will regard time as the moving image of eternity and space as the fleeting shadow of Paradise?