Paper 169
LAST TEACHING AT PELLA
1. Word regarding the resurrection of Lazarus had reached the encampment two days before the Master's arrival, and the entire assembly was agog. Not since the feeding of the five thousand had anything occurred which so aroused the imagination of the people.
2. The Pharisees and the chief priests had begun to formulate their charges and to crystallize their accusations. They objected to the Master's teachings on these grounds:
1. He is a friend of publicans and sinners; he receives the ungodly and even eats with them.
2. He is a blasphemer; he talks about God as being his Father and thinks he is equal with God.
3. He is a lawbreaker. He heals disease on the Sabbath and in many other ways flouts the sacred law of Israel.
4.He is in league with devils. He works wonders and does seeming miracles by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils.
3. On Thursday afternoon Jesus talked to the multitude about the "Grace of Salvation."... I have come to show you that, while you are seeking to find God, God is likewise seeking to find you. Many times have I told you the story of the good shepherd who left the ninety and nine sheep in the fold while he went forth searching for the one that was lost ...Again I say there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance. The fact that souls are lost only increases the interest of the heavenly Father... it has truly been said of the Son of Man that he is a friend o publicans and sinners.
4. "And you should also remember the story of the woman who, having had ten pieces of silver made into a necklace of adornment, lost one piece, and how she lit the lamp and diligently swept the house and kept up the search until she found the lost piece of silver... And I tell you this story to impress upon you that the Father and his Son go forth to search for those who are lost, and in this search we employ all influences capable of rendering assistance in our diligent efforts to find those who are lost, those who stand in need of salvation... The sheep wanders away, unintentionally; the coin is covered by the dust of time and obscured by the accumulation of the things of men.
5. "And now I would like to tell you the story of a thoughtless son of a well‑to‑do farmer who deliberately left his father's house... A certain man had two sons; one, the younger, was lighthearted and carefree, always seeking for a good time and shirking responsibility, while his older brother was serious, sober, hard‑working, and willing to bear responsibility... This association became so disagreeable that the younger son came to his father and said: 'Father, give me the third portion of your possessions which would fall to me and allow me to go out into the world to seek my own fortune’…Within a few weeks the young man gathered together all his funds and set out upon a journey to a far country...he soon wasted all his inheritance in riotous living... One day, when he was very hungry, he came to himself and said: 'How many hired servants of my father have bread enough and to spare while I perish with hunger, feeding swine off here in a foreign country! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him: Father, 1 have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no more worthy to be called your son; only be willing to make me one of your hired servants.'...This father loved his son and was always on the lookout for his return, so that on the day he approached his home, even while he was yet afar off, the lather saw him and, being moved with loving compassion, ran out to meet him, and with affectionate greeting he embraced and kissed him... the lad did not find opportunity to complete his confession because the overjoyed father said to the servants who had by this time come running up: 'Bring quickly his best robe, the one I have saved, and, put it on him and put the son's ring on his hand and fetch sandals for his feet....Bring on the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
6. "About this time, while they were celebrating, the elder son came in from his day's work in the field...he called out one of the servants and inquired as to the meaning of all this festivity... But when the older brother heard,.. he was so hurt and angry he would not go into the house. When his father heard of his resentment ...he went out to entreat him... He answered his father, saying: 'Here these many years have I served you, never transgressing the least of your commands, and yet you never gave me even a kid that I might make merry with my friends’... Since this father truly loved both of his sons, he tried to reason with this older one: 'But, my son, you have all the while been with me, and all this which I have is yours. You could 'have had a kid at any time you had made friends to share your merriment. But it is only proper that you should now join with me in being glad and merry because of your brother's return.’”
7. Jesus was very partial to telling these three stories at the same time. He presented the story of the lost sheep to show that, when men unintentionally stray away from the path of life, the Father is mindful of such lost ones and goes out, with his Sons, the true shepherds of the flock, to seek the lost sheep. He then would recite the story of the coin lost in the house to
illustrate how thorough is the divine searching for all who are confused, confounded, or otherwise spiritually blinded by the material cares and accumulations of life. And then he would launch forth into the telling of this parable of the lost son, the reception of the returning prodigal, to show how complete is the restoration of the lost son into his Father's house and heart.
8. One evening Simon Zelotes, commenting on one of Jesus' statements, said: "Master, what did you mean when you said today that many of the children of the world are wiser in their generation than are the children of the kingdom since they are skillful in making friends with the mammon of unrighteousness?" Jesus answered: ..."You may all learn a lesson from the story of a certain rich man who had a shrewd but unjust steward. This steward had not only oppressed his master's clients for his own selfish gain, but he had also directly wasted and squandered his master's funds. When all this finally came to the ears of his master, he called the steward before him and asked the meaning of these rumors and required that he should give immediate accounting of his stewardship and prepare to turn his master's affairs over to another.
"Now this unfaithful steward began to say to himself: 'What shall I do since I am about to lose this stewardship? I have not the strength to dig; to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do to make certain that, when I am put out o this stewardship, I will be welcomed into the houses of all who do business with my master.' And then, calling in each of his lord's debtors, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He answered, 'A hundred measures of oil.' Then said the steward, 'Take your wax board bond, sit down quickly, and change it to fifty.' ...And this he did with numerous other debtors. And so did this dishonest steward seek to make friends for himself after he would be discharged from his stewardship. Even his lord and master, when he subsequently found out about this, was compelled to admit that his unfaithful steward had at least shown sagacity in the manner in which he had sought to provide for future days of want and adversity.
"And it is in this way that the sons of this world sometimes show more wisdom in their preparation for the future than do the children of light.
9. "I affirm that he who is faithful in little will also be faithful in much, while he who is unrighteous in little will also be unrighteous in much. If you have not shown foresight and integrity in the affairs of this world, how can you hope to be faithful and prudent when you are trusted with the stewardship of the true riches of the heavenly kingdom?... And again I
assert that no man can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one while he despises the other. You cannot serve God and mammon”
10. When the meeting became too noisy, Simon Peter standing up, took charge, saying: "Men and brethren, it is not seemly thus to dispute among yourselves. The Master has spoken, and you do well to ponder his words. And this is no new doctrine which he proclaimed to you. Have you not also heard the allegory of the Nazarites concerning the rich man and the beggar?...There was a certain rich man named Dives, who, being clothed in purple and
fine linen, lived in mirth and splendor every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who laid at this rich man's gate, covered with sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table...And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to rest in Abraham's bosom... When the rich man departed from this world, he waked up in Hades...And then Dives cried aloud: 'Father Abraham, have mercy
on me’...Abraham replied: 'My son, you should remember that in your lifetime you enjoyed the good things while Lazarus in like manner suffered the evil...between us and you there is a great gulf so that we cannot go to you, neither can you come over to us.' Then said Dives to Abraham: 'I pray you send Lazarus back to my father's house...that he may so testify as to prevent my brothers from coming to this place of torment.' ...And then said Abraham: 'If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded even if one were to rise from the dead."' ...Although both the apostles and his disciples frequently asked Jesus questions about the parable of Dives and Lazarus, he never consented to make comment thereon.
11. Jesus always had trouble trying to explain to the apostles that, while they proclaimed the establishment of the kingdom of God, the Fattier in heaven was not a king ...Jesus never gave his apostles a systematic lesson concerning the personality and attributes of the Father in heaven ...Jesus never belittled himself by offering arguments in proof of the reality of the Father. His teaching regarding the Father all centered in the declaration that he and the Father are one; that he who has seen the Son has seen the Father. ..that he who knows the Son knows also the Father...He never made other pronouncements about his Father except to the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well, when he declared, "God is spirit."
12. You learn about God from Jesus by observing the divinity of his life, not by depending on his teachings... The finite can never hope to comprehend the Infinite except as the Infinite was focalized in the time‑space personality of the finite experience of the human life of Jesus of Nazareth..
Jesus well knew that God can be known only by the realities of experience; never can he be understood by the mere teaching of the mind. Jesus taught his apostles that, while they never could fully understand God, they could most certainly know him, even as they had known the Son of Man. You can know God, not by understanding what Jesus said, but by knowing what Jesus was, Jesus was a revelation of God,
13. Jesus employed the word God to designate the idea of Deity and the word Father to designate the experience of knowing God...To the Jews, Elohim was the God of gods, while Yahweh was the God of Israel. Jesus accepted the concept of Elohim and called this supreme group of beings God. In the place of the concept of Yahweh, the racial deity, he introduced the idea of the fatherhood of God and the world‑wide brotherhood of man...Jesus never claimed to be the manifestation of Elohim (God) to the flesh. He never declared that he was a revelation of Elohim (God) to the worlds. He never taught that he who had seen him had seen Elohim (God). but he did proclaim himself as the revelation of the Father in the flesh, and he did say that whoso had seen him had seen the Father. As the divine Son he claimed to represent only the Father.
14. Although Jesus revealed the true nature of the heavenly Father in his earth life, he taught little about him. In fact, he taught only two things; that God in himself is spirit, and that, in all matters of relationship with his creatures, he is a Father ...But mark you! never did Jesus say, "Whoso has heard me has heard God.” But he did say, "He who has seen me has seen the Father.” To hear Jesus' teaching is not equivalent to knowing God, but to see Jesus is an experience which in itself is a revelation of the Father to the soul...Jesus is the spiritual lens in human likeness which makes visible to the material creature Him who is invisible. He is your elder brother who, in the flesh, makes known to you a Being of infinite attributes whom not even the celestial hosts can presume fully to understand... God who is spirit can be known only as a spiritual experience. God can be revealed to the finite sons of the material worlds, by the divine Son of the spiritual realms, only as a Father. You can know the Eternal as a Father; you can worship him as the God of universes, the infinite Creator of all existences.
U.B. 169: 1850‑1857
1. What are some of the divine influences that are used to recover those who are lost?
2. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, what is the spiritual lesson of the younger son and the elder son?
3. Which of the three ways of being lost—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son—is the most common in our day?
4. Are religious people more naïve than secular people?
5. How is experiencing God different than knowing God through Jesus’ teaching?
6. How was Jesus a “revelation of God?”
7. What is the difference between the Elohim concept of God and Jesus’ reference to the Father?