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NEW - Lazarus: The Bible and the UB -Two Stories · Urantia Radio

0:15
Well, here we are again, back on another edition of the Rancho
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Radio Podcast. It's good to have you.
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Thank you for stopping by and I really appreciate all of the
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people from all over the world that have been tuning into the
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weekly podcast. We do a, we try to do at least
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one good show, maybe sometimes 2 every week.
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And boy, what a great week it's been.
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I spent so much time just pondering the birth of Jesus,
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which the rancher book readers around the world celebrated on
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August 21st. In fact, I, I feel really bad
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because I, I was so concentrated on that that I actually forgot
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my wedding anniversary, which is on August 22nd.
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So, you know, but I got everything squared away.
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It's all good, but you know it. It's almost hard to believe
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sometimes that such a tremendously great person
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personality of such a high order was able to grace our planet for
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the short time. And the effects of of his truths
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and his teachings about God being a personal father has
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completely changed the way that people feel about their religion
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in the world. And although I know we have so
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many different conflicts going on and there's great sadness,
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there's just great sadness in the world.
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There's so many things that are wrong.
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But I, I just have to remind myself.
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And I think the this is where faith really matters.
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I don't know how people can go without faith.
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I remember a long time ago, must have been 60 years ago.
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Maybe, who knows, maybe maybe 50 years ago.
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Remember the book that Hal Lindsay wrote called The Late
1:59
Great Planet Earth? Well, I don't remember much
2:02
about the book, but I do remember that on the back cover
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it said something to the effect of man can go without food for
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three days. Man can go without water for a
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day, 24 hours, but man cannot go without hope for a single
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second. And that always stuck with me.
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Always. And then there's also the great
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line that I picked up from a movie with Paul Newman in The
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Verdict, where he gives his summation at the end of a trial
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in which a woman who was killed by a hospital or paralyzed for
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life. And the odds are stacked against
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this lawyer. He's trying to save his career.
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He takes on this case. He takes on.
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It's like a David and Goliath. If you're not familiar with the
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movie, it's called The Verdict. And at the very end, he quotes a
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a Hebrew line that says, act as if she ye had faith, and faith
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will be given unto you. And that, again, is always stuck
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out of my mind because what it means is when you don't have
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faith or you can't muster up the courage to believe that
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everything is going to be all right, you can act like you have
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faith. And faith does sometimes come to
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you because it's so easy to not have faith.
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It's easier to not have faith. In a minute, I want to talk
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about something that occurred to me during the week of Jesus's
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birthday. I I told you I would do very
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special segments on Jesus's life as a way of celebrating August
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as Jesus Month. This is our 4th year of doing
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this, so it's exciting for me to spend more time than usual
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focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus.
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And so on Jesus birthday, I made sure to carve out some time and
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I read reread paper 168 in the Arantia book where it tells us
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the events leading up to and including the resurrect
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resurrection of Lazarus, which is also told in John in the New
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Testament. What was striking to me is how
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much background information we get in the Urantia Book that
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expands one's appreciation of the story above and beyond the
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biblical account. As a Christian in the
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traditional sense that I can appreciate the Urantia Book
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narrative for that reason. It makes the biblical story much
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more real and believable and substantive and also more
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profound. Have you found that to be true
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stories that perhaps you were familiar with growing up if you
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were exposed to any Christian tradition or biblical teachings
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and then you read the stories in the life and teachings of Jesus
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and it's all of a sudden this, it's like going from black and
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white to color. It's like going to 35mm to IMAX.
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So I wanted to always just trying to think of a way that I
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could illustrate that. And I think I found a good way
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to do it. So let me show you what I'm
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talking about here, and let's talk about the raising of
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Lazarus from the dead. Now, there's little information
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about the relationship between Jesus and Lazarus of Bethany, or
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of Jesus's friendship with their family, including Lazarus's
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sisters, Mary and Martha, that are noted in John or in Luke.
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It's very scant. And when we know there's a
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relationship, John talks about the closeness.
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But the Urantia Book tells the whole story and includes their
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early relationship in the Bible. By the time we hear about
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Lazarus, it is already the last period of Jesus's life.
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In fact, we're told that the resurrection of Lazarus was the
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event that finally convinced the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus, fearing
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the miracle would only enhance the popularity of the man from
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Nazareth. Now both the biblical account
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and the Urantia Book concur on this and many other points.
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So let me read one segment from John and then we will sample the
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same part of the story in the Urantia book account.
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And let's see if you can identify how the Urantia book
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fills in missing pieces that provide for a much better
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appreciation of the events as they unfolded.
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So I'm going to read from John 11, chapter one through 16, and
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this is the King King James Version.
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So we pick up at 11. Now a man named Lazarus was
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sick. He was from Bethany, the village
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of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary who brother Lazarus
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now lay sick was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord
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and wiped his feet with her hair.
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Remember that was the incident that made people really upset
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because she was wasting such valuable materials.
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So the sisters sent word to Jesus quote, Lord, the one you
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love is sick. When he heard this, Jesus said
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this sickness will not end in death.
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No, it it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified
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through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her
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sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus
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was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
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And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to
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Judea. But Rabbi, they said a short
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while ago, the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you're
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going back. And Jesus answered, Are there
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not 12 hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime
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will not stumble, for they see by this world's light.
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It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for
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they have no light. After he said this he went on to
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tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm going
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there to wake him up. From John 1112.
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His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps he will get better.
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Jesus had been Speaking of his death, but his disciples thought
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he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly,
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Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there
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so that you may believe. But let us go to him.
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Then Thomas, also known as Didymus, said to the rest of the
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disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him.
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Now I want to take the narrative as it's told from the Urantia
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book. Same basic story leading again
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right up to the event where Jesus performs the resurrection.
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And this comes from paper 168. Same story that I just told you,
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sections one through 12. It was shortly afternoon when
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Martha started out to meet Jesus as he came over the brow of the
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hill near Bethany. Her brother Lazarus had been
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dead for four days and had been laid away in their private tomb
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at the far end of the garden. Late on Sunday afternoon.
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The stone at the entrance of the tomb had been rolled in place.
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On the morning of this day, Thursday, when Martha and Mary
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sent word to Jesus concerning Lazarus illness, they were
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confident the Master would do something about it.
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They knew that their brother was desperately sick, and though
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they hardly dared hope that Jesus would leave His work of
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teaching and preaching to come to their assistance, they had
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such confidence in His power to heal diseases that they thought
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He would just speak the curative words and Lazarus would
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immediately be made whole. And when Lazarus died a few
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hours after the messenger left Bethany for Philadelphia, they
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reasoned that it was because the Master did not learn of their
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brother's illness until it was too late, until he had already
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been dead for several hours. But they, with all of their
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believing friends, were greatly puzzled by the message which the
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runner brought back Tuesday for noon.
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When he reached Bethany, the the messenger insisted he heard
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Jesus say this sickness is really not to the death.
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Neither could they understand why he sent no word to them nor
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otherwise proffered assistance. Many friends from nearby Hamlets
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and others from Jerusalem came over to comfort the sorrow
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stricken sisters. Lazarus and his sisters were the
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children of a well to do and honorable Jew, one who had been
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the leading resident of the little village of Bethany.
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And notwithstanding that all three had long been ardent
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followers of Jesus, they were respected, highly respected by
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all who knew them. They had inherited extensive
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vineyards and olive orchards in this vicinity.
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And that they were wealthy was further attested by the fact
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that they could afford a private burial tomb on their premises.
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Both of their parents had already been laid away in this
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tomb. Mary had given up the thought of
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Jesus coming and was abandoned by to her grief.
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But Martha clung to the hope that Jesus would come, even up
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to the time on that very morning when she rolled the stone in
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front of the tomb and sealed the entrance.
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Even then she instructed a neighbor lad to keep watch down
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the Jericho Road from the brow of the hill to the east of
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Bethany. And it was this lad who brought
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tidings to Martha that Jesus and his friends were approaching.
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When Martha met Jesus, she fell at his feet exclaiming, Master,
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if you have been here, my brother would not have died.
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Many fears were passing through Martha's mind, but she gave
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expression to no doubt, nor did she venture to criticize or
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question the Masters conduct as related to Lazarus's death.
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When she had spoken, Jesus reached down and lifting her
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upon her feet only said, Only have faith Martha, and your
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brother shall rise again. Then Martha answered, I know
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that he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day,
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and even now I believe that whatever you shall ask of God,
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our Father will give you. Then said Jesus, looking
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straight into the eyes of Martha, I am the resurrection
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and the life. He who believes in me, though he
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dies, yet shall he live in truth.
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Whoever lives and believes in me shall never really die.
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Martha, do you believe this? And Martha answered the Master,
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Yes, I have long believed that you are the Deliverer, the Son
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of the living God, even he who should come to this world.
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Jesus having inquired for Mary, Martha went at once into the
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house, and whispering to her sister, said, The Master is here
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and has asked for you. And when when Mary heard this,
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she rose up quickly and hastened out to meet Jesus, who still
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tarried at the place some distance from the house where
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Martha had first met him. The friends who were with Mary,
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seeking to comfort her, when they saw that she rose up
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quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was
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going to the tomb to weep. Many of those present were
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Jesus's bitter enemies. That is why Martha had come out
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to meet Him alone, and also why she went in secretly to inform
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Mary that He had asked for her. Martha, while craving to see
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Jesus, desire to avoid any possible unpleasantness which
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might be caused by His coming suddenly into the midst of a
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large group of His Jerusalem enemies.
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It had been Martha's intention to remain in the house with her
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friends while Mary went to greet Jesus, but in this she failed,
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for they all followed Mary and so found themselves unexpectedly
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in the presence of the Master. Martha LED Mary to Jesus, and
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when she saw him, she fell at his feet, exclaiming, If you'd
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only been here, my brother would not have died.
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And when Jesus saw how they all grieved over the death of
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Lazarus, his soul was moved with compassion.
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When the mourners saw that Mary had gone to greet Jesus, they
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withdrew for a short distance while both Mary and Martha
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talked with the Master and received further words of
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comfort and exhortation to maintain strong faith in the
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Father and complete resignation to the divine will.
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The human mind of Jesus was mightily moved by the contention
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between his love for Lazarus and the bereaved sisters, and his
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disdain and contempt for the outward show of affection
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manifested by some of these unbelieving and murderously
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intentional Jews. Jesus indignantly resented the
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show of forced and outward mourning for Lazarus by some of
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these professed friends, inasmuch as such false sorrow
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was associated in their hearts with so much bitter enmity
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toward himself. Some of these Jews, however,
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were sincere in their mourning, for they were real friends of
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the family. So on both accounts we get
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essentially the same story, but can you observe how much more
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detail is provided? More of the back story, in part
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because the authors of Paper 168 also had access to mortal
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transcripts of the people who were actually there at the time.
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John's account is a reflection of his experience as he
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remembered it. The Urantia Book narrative
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presents the same story, but fills in the context of the
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relation of Jesus with his Bethany friends, as well as
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those who were in the crowd and had a real disdain for him.
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In John's account, he notates that he is well aware that there
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are those in the crowd who don't like Jesus very well, but in the
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Urantia Book account we actually learn who they are and what
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they're thinking. But let's look at the
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resurrection itself and compare the two narratives, again
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highlighting the more expansive account provided by the Urantia
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Book. So from John 1132 to 43, we
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read. When Mary reached the place
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where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord,
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if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with
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her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
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Where have you laid him? He asked.
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Come and see, Lord, they replied.
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Jesus wept. Then the Jew said, See how he
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loved him. But some of them said, could not
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he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man
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from dying? Jesus once more deeply moved,
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came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid
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across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said.
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But Lord said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time
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there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days from John
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40. Then Jesus said, did I not tell
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you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
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So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said,
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Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
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I knew that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit
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of the people standing here, that they may believe that you
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sent me. When he had said this, Jesus
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called in a loud voice. Lazarus, come out.
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The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of
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linen and a cloth around his face.
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Jesus said to them, Take off the grave clothes and let him go.
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Now let's turn back to the Urantia book, Paper 168, same
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segment of the story, and it reads from Paper 168, Section 1.
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After Jesus has spent a few moments in comforting Martha and
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Mary apart from the mourners, he asked them, Where have you laid
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him? Then Martha said, come out and
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see. And as the Master followed on in
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silence with the two sorrowing sisters, he wept.
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When the friendly Jews who followed after him saw his
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fears, one of them said, Behold, how he loved him.
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Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man
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from dying? By this time they were standing
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before the family tomb, a small natural cave or declivity, and
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the ledge of rock which rose up some 30 feet at the far end of
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the garden plot. It is difficult to explain to
19:15
human minds just why Jesus wept. While we have access to the
19:20
registration of the combined human emotions and divine
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thoughts as a record in the mind of the personalized gesture, we
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are not altogether certain about the real cause of these
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emotional manifestations. We are inclined to believe that
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Jesus wept because of a number of thoughts and feelings which
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were going through His mind at this time, such as he felt a
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genuine and sorrowful sympathy for Martha and Mary.
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He had a real and deep human affection for these sisters who
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had lost the brother. He was perturbed in his mind by
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the presence of the crowd of mourners, some sincere and some
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merely pretenders. He always resented these outward
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exhibitions of mourning. He knew the sisters loved their
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brother and had faith in the survival of believers.
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These conflicting emotions may possibly explain why he groaned
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as they came near the tomb. And then there's this, which I
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find really fascinating. He truly hesitated about
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bringing Lazarus back to mortal life.
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His sisters really needed him. But Jesus regretted having to
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summon his friend back to experience the bitter
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persecution which he well knew Lazarus would have to endure as
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a result of being the subject of the greatest of all
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demonstrations of the divine power of the Son of Man.
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It's a much bigger story there. So now, now let me add one more
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element to this story that is not disclosed in the Bible owing
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to the fact that no, no mortal man would have known what was
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going on behind the scenes, but that we are now Privy to it
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because of the authors of the Urantia book are midway errs our
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unseen friends who many were even present at the time of this
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momentous event. From Paper 168, Section 2.
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As this company of some 45 mortals stood before the tomb,
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they could only dim. They could only dimly see the
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form of Lazarus, wrapped in linen bandages, resting on the
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right lower niche of the burial cave.
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While these earth creatures stood there in almost breathless
21:39
silence, a vast host of celestial beings had swung into
21:44
their places, preparatory to answering the signal for action
21:48
when it should be given by Gabriel, their commander.
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Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I am thankful that
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you heard and granted my request.
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I know that You always hear me, but because of those who stand
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here with me, I thus speak with you, that they may believe that
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you have sent me into the world, and that they may know that you
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are the you are working with me in that which we are about to
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do. And when he had prayed, he cried
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with a loud voice. Lazarus, come forth.
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Though these human observers remained at motionless, the Bas,
22:27
Celestial, Hulse were all astir in unified action and obedience
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to the Creator's Word. In just 12 seconds of Earth
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time, the hitherto lifeless form of Lazarus began to move and
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presently sat up on the edge of the stone shelf where it had
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rested. His body was bound with the
22:49
grave cloth and his face was covered with a napkin.
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And as he stood up before them alive, Jesus said, lose him and
22:57
let him go. All save the apostles with
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Martha and Mary fled to the house.
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They were pale with fright and overcome with astonishment.
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While some tarried, many hastened to their homes.
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Lazarus greeted Jesus and the apostles and asked the meaning
23:16
of the grave clothes and why he had awakened in the garden.
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Jesus and the apostles drew to one side while Martha told
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Lazarus of his death, burial, and resurrection.
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She had to explain to him that he had died on Sunday and was
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now brought back to life on Thursday, inasmuch as he had no
23:37
consciousness of time since falling asleep and death.
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As Lazarus came out of the tomb, the personalized adjuster of
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Jesus, now chief of his kind in this local universe, gave
23:50
command to the former adjuster of Lazarus now and waiting to
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resume a boat in the mind and soul of the resurrected man.
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Then went Lazarus over to Jesus with his sisters, knelt at the
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Master's feet to give thanks and offer praise to God.
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Jesus, taking Lazarus by the hand, lifted him up, saying, My
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son, what has happened to you will also be experienced by all
24:16
who believe this gospel, except that they shall be resurrected
24:20
in a more glorious form. You shall be a living witness of
24:24
the truth which I spoke. I am the resurrection and the
24:28
life. But let us all now go into the
24:31
house and partake of nourishment for these physical bodies.
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As they walked toward the house, Gabriel dismissed the extra
24:38
groups of the assembled heavenly hosts while he made record of
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the first instance on Urantia and the last where a mortal
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creature had been resurrected in the likeness of the physical
24:52
body of death. Lazarus could hardly comprehend
24:56
what had occurred. He knew he had been very sick,
24:59
but he could only recall that he had fallen asleep and had been
25:03
awakened. He was never able to tell
25:06
anything about these four days in the tomb because he was
25:09
wholly unconscious. Time is non existent to those
25:14
who sleep. The sleep of death and all that
25:17
comes from one paper. 168 talking about the resurrection
25:22
of Lazarus. So you can see from this
25:25
illustration that the Bible has the facts, but the Urantia book
25:32
coupled with the other circumstances brings forth much
25:37
more context and profound truths.
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And this is a good example of why the Bible and the Urantia
25:46
book sort of work hand in hand. So for people who are very
25:50
familiar, I will say to this is a is a closing comment that I'm
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grateful for my exposure of Christian teachings.
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I'm grateful that I was exposed to them because they form the
26:04
soil so that years later in my life I would stumble upon this
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book, the Urantia book, and it would take the soil that was
26:15
already there, the foundational truths, because without them I'm
26:19
not sure I would have the full appreciation.
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So I'm grateful for that, and I hope that this rather long
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winded explanation or example proves my point about how the
26:30
Urantia book expands upon the biblical testimony.
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I'll leave it at that. If you've got a question or a
26:37
comment, you know, I'll always respond
26:40
urantiabookradio@gmail.com. And I'll probably have another
26:46
short segment before the end of August next week.
26:49
Look for it. And I also want to thank the
26:51
person who asked me to comment on some of the miracles in the
26:55
Urantia book. And I hope that I've met with
26:57
that person satisfaction. So until next time, thank you so
27:00
much and I hope that you will continue to enjoy the blessings
27:04
of Jesus month the.