Jesus in the New Testament and The Urantia Book, Part 3

Index to the Bible Comparison

Urantia Book Papers 135 through 147

John the Baptist

Urantia Paper 135: John the Baptist
- UP 135:0 Birth of John. Luke 1:57-80
- UP 135:1 John Becomes a Nazarite. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 135:2 The Death of Zacharias. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 135:3 The Life of a Shepherd. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 135:4 The Death of Elizabeth. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 135:5 The Kingdom of God. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 135:6 John Begins to Preach. Matt. 3:1-12, Mark 1:1-60, Luke 3:1-15
- Priests inquire if he is Messiah. John 1:19-28
  - "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar"--Augustus Caesar adopted Tiberius as his son and made him co:emperor in the provinces almost three years before his (Augustus') death in A.D. 14. (Tacitus, Ann. 1,3) Therefore Augustus first year of rule in the provinces would have been around A.D. 11, and the 15th year of Tiberius' rule in the province of Palestine would have been around A.D. 26.
  - "Herod, tetrarch of Galilee"--Herod Antipas was made ruler of Galilee at his father's (Herod the Great) death in 4 B.C. (see also Ch. 9, fn. 4)
  - "Now John wore a garment of camels' hair, and a leather girdle around his waist"--Compare John's mode of dress with the description of the legendary Elijah as found in 2 Kings 1:8: "He wore a garment of haircloth, with a girdle of leather about his loins."
- UP 135:7 John Journeys North. Matt. 3:11, Mark 1:7,8, Luke 3:16-18
- UP 135:8 Meeting of Jesus and John. Matt. 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22
- UP 135:9 Forty Days of Preaching
- New deputation of priests. John 1:19-28
  - "Levites":The descendants of Levi who maintained the temple and the provided temple music. They were also in charge of providing the money changing that took place in the temple courts.
  - "Pharisees":The scribes and rabbis taken together formed a religious party known as the Pharisees. Although they were sticklers for living according to the "law" they were more progressive than the other Jewish religious groups. They held many beliefs not clearly taught in the Hebrew Scripture such as belief in the resurrection of the dead:a doctrine only mentioned by the later prophet Daniel.
  - "Sadducees":The Sadducees were composed of the priests and certain wealthy Jews. They were a Jewish religious party which dominated Judea's highest ruling body:the Sanhedrin. It was principally the Sadducees who plotted and brought about the death of Jesus.
- John proclaims him "Son of God." John 1:29-34
  - "Messiah"--In ancient times oils were expensive and were used for ceremonial purposes, as well as to cleanse and protect the skin. Kings were anointed with holy oil at their coronation to show that they were consecrated to God. The term "messiah" comes from the Hebrew "mashi'ah" and means literally anointed
    one.
    The Jews held many conflicting ideas about an expected deliverer, but they agreed he was to be the Messiah, the Anointed One. The rabbis had gathered many passages from scripture which they believed were prophetic of a coming Messiah who would deliver them from bondage and bring about the kingdom of God on earth.
    To the Jews the Messiah was more than a prophet:one who taught God's will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living:he was to bring about the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.
    This was to be a righteous Kingdom in which God, through the Messiah, ruled the nations on earth just as he already ruled in heaven. For the Jews, the coming of the Messiah signified the establishment of a divine world government here on earth, with its capital at Jerusalem. The Greek word for Messiah is Christ. The gospels were written in Greek and in this restatement the word Christ is rendered as Messiah, Deliverer, or Christ depending upon the context.
  - "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."--Here John contrasts his baptism with water, an outward rite, with Jesus' baptism of the Holy Spirit, an inner change of mind and heart under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
  - "Rabbi"--a word used by the Jews as a term of address which meant Master or Teacher.
- UP 135:10 John Journeys South. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 135:11 John in Prison. Matt. 14:1-4
- John's disciples report to him. John 3.25-36
- John sends his last message to Jesus.
- Matt. 11:2-30, Luke 7:18-35. (Also in Urntia Paper 144)
- UP 135:12 Death of John the Baptist. Matt. 14:5-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:7-9

Personal Preparation for Public Ministry

Urantia Paper 136: Baptism and the Forty Days.
- UP 136:0 No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 136:1 Concepts of the Expected Messiah. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 136:2 The Baptism of Jesus. Matt. 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22
  - "And when Jesus was baptized":John began his ministry "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." (Luke 3: 1). Tiberius ruled in the provinces (including Palestine) for more than two years before the death of Augustus Caesar in A.D. 14. This means that the first year of Tiberius' rule in Palestine would have been around A.D. 11/12 and the fifteenth year of his rule would be around A.D. 26/27. If Jesus were baptized in this first year of John's ministry (as is implied by Luke 3:1-21) and if Jesus were born around August, 7 B.C. (see also Ch. 5, fn. 1) he would have been around 31/32 years old when he received John's baptism.
    This conclusion is consistent with Luke's statement that Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry (which followed soon after his baptism). (Luke 3:23)
  - "Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not."- Here John denies that he is the literal Elijah of old. But why then did he dress in the manner of the legendary Elijah? Just as the Jews believed that the Messiah would come to deliver them they also believed that Elijah the prophet would come to prepare the way for the promised deliverer: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5,6) John must have reasoned that if this prophecy applied to Jesus as the Messiah then he, as Jesus' advance messenger, must be the Elijah of the prophecy. Perhaps this led him to style himself after Israel's first great prophet.
    And indeed Jesus later on affirms that John is the second Elijah in his role as the forerunner of Jesus. (See Matthew 11:10 and Mark 9:11.
  - "Are you the prophet?":The prophet promised by Moses: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from among your brethren:him you shall heed." And the Lord said to me, "I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him." (Deuteronomy 18:15, 17, 18)
- UP 136:3 The Forty Days. Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12,13, Luke 4:1-13
- UP 136:4 Plans for Public Work. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 136:5 The First Great Decision. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 136:6 The Second Decision. Matt. 4:2-4, Luke 4:3,4
- UP 136:7 The Third Decision. Matt. 4:5-7, Luke 4:9-12
- UP 136:8 The Fourth Decision. Matt. 4:8-10, Luke 4:5-8
- UP 136:9 The Fifth Decision. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 136:10 The Sixth Decision. No New Testament Correspondence.

Selecting and Training the Apostles

Urantia Paper 137: Tarrying Time in Galilee
- UP 137:0 No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 137:1 Choosing the First Four Apostles. John 1:35-42, Matt. 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11.
- UP 137:2 Choosing Philip and Nathaniel. John 1:43-51
- UP 137:3 The Visit to Capernaum. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 137:4 The Wedding at Cana. John 2:1-11
- UP 137:5 Back in Capernaum. Matt. 4:13-16, Luke 4:31, John 2:12
- UP 137:6 The Events of a Sabbath Day. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 137:7 Four Months of Training. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 137:8 Sermon on the Kingdom. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 138: Training the Kingdom's Messengers
- UP 138:0 No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:1 Final Instructions. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:2 Choosing the Six. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:3 The Call of Matthew and Simon. Matt. 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32
  - "You shall be called Cephas" -- Cephas is the Aramaic word for rock (its Greek form is Peter). Knowing the dangers of thoughtless speech and action in the work of the Kingdom, perhaps Jesus was here seeking to temper Peter's impulsive nature with a name that suggested steadiness and solidity.
- UP 138:4 The Call of the Twins. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 138:5 The Call of Thomas and Judas. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:6 The Week of Intensive Training. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:7 Another Disappointment. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:8 First Work of the Twelve. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:9 Five Months of Testing. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 138:10 Organization of the Twelve. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 139: The Twelve Apostles.
- No New Testament Correspondence, except as in Matt. 10:2-4, Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16
- UP 139:1 Andrew, the First Chosen
- UP 139:2 Simon Peter
- UP 139:3 James Zebedee
- UP 139:4 John Zebedee
- UP 139:5 Philip the Curious
- UP 139:6 Honest Nathaniel
- UP 139:7 Matthew Levi
- UP 139:8 Thomas Didymus
- UP 139:9 and 139:10 James and Judas Alpheus
- UP 139:11 Simon the Zealot
- UP 139:12 Judas Iscariot
Urantia Paper 140: The Ordination of the Twelve.
- UP 140:0 No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 140:1 Preliminary Instruction. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 140:2 The Ordination. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 140:3 The Ordination Sermon. (Sermon on the Mount) Matt. Chapt. 5, Matt. Chapt. 6, Matt. Chapt. 7, Luke 6:20-49
  - The word apostles comes from the Greek to send.
  - "his disciples came":The term disciple means student orfbllower. In the gospels it is used in two ways: in general it refers to a follower of Jesus, but it is also often used to refer specifically to Jesus' apostles :the twelve disciples he ordained and set apart as his personal associates in the proclamation of the gospel
    of the kingdom, eg. "And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority (Matt. 10:1) it is in this more specific meaning that the word is used here.
  - "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain and when he sat down his disciples came to him":In this context the word disciple is best interpreted as apostle (see fn. 1, above). In other words, in order to get away from others and be alone with his apostles, Jesus went up on a nearby mountain. Here he imparted special instructions to his chosen followers.
    This interpretation makes sense of the fact that the "Sermon on the Mount" contains much more of Jesus' instruction, and on a wider range of subjects, than any other recorded episode. In fact, it may be viewed as a summary statement of Jesus' personal philosophy of living. Such concentrated teaching would hardly have been comprehensible to the general public, and these words are most fittingly viewed as directed exclusively to Jesus's chosen apostles at the time of their ordination as messengers of the gospel of the kingdom. And this interpretation is confirmed by Jesus' statements to the disciples (apostles), "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world." (Matt. 5:13,14)
- UP 140:4 You Are the Salt of the Earth
- UP 140:5 Fatherly and Brotherly Love.
- UP 140:6 The Evening of the Ordination. No New Testament Correspondence.
- The commandments. Matt. 5:21-48, Matt. 6:1-34, Matt 7:1-29
- UP 140:7 The Week following the Ordination. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 140:8 Thursday Afternoon on the Lake . No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 140:9 The Day of Consecration. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 140:10 The Evening after the Consecration. No New Testament Correspondence.

Beginning the Public Work

Urantia Paper 141: Beginning the Public Work
- UP 141:0 No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:1 Leaving Galilee. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:2 God's Law and the Father's Will. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:3 The Sojourn at Amathus. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:4 Teaching about the Father. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:5 Spiritual Unity. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:6 Last Week at Amathus. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:7 At Bethany beyond Jordan. John 3:22-24
- UP 141:8 Working in Jericho. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 141:9 Departing for Jerusalem. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 142: The Passover at Jerusalem
- UP 142:0 No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 142:1 Teaching in the Temple. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 142:2 God's wrath. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 142:3 The Concept of God. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 142:4 Flavius and Greek Culture. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 142:5 Discourse on Assurance. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 142:6 The Visit with Nicodemus. John 2:23 to end, John 3:1-21
  - The Feast of the Passover took place each year in April.
  - "A ruler of the Jews"--A member of the Sanhedrin--the Jewish Supreme Court
- UP 142:7 The Lesson on the Family. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 142:8 In Southern Judea. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 143: Going through Samaria.
- UP 143:0 No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 143:1 Preaching at Archelais. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 143:2 Lesson on Self mastery. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 143:3 Diversion and Relaxation. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 143:4 The Jews and the Samaritans. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 143:5 The Woman of Sychar. John 4:4-26
  - "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain":When Alexander the Great passed through Palestine he was accorded a friendly reception by the Samaritans. In return for their co:operation Alexander allowed the Samaritans to build a temple on Mount Gerizim. Here they worshiped and gave sacrifices in the manner of the temple at Jerusalem. This practice was ended however during the reign of the Maccabees when John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple.
  - "I know that the Messiah is coming":The Jewish scriptures taught the coming of one anointed by God who would bring about the kingdom of God on earth. He was also known as the "Deliverer" since he was to deliver his people from their bondage. The word Messiah is the Hebrew word for anointed one; its Greek form is Christ.
  - "I who speak to you am he.":This is Jesus' first admission and affirmation that he is the promised deliverer.
- UP 143:6 The Samaritan Revival. John 4:27-42
- UP 143:7 Teachings about Prayer and Worship. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 144: At Gilboa and in the Decapolis
- UP 144:0 No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 144:1 The Gilboa Encampment. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 144:2 The Discourse on Prayer. Luke 11:1-13
- UP 144:3 The Believer's Prayer. Matt. 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4
- UP 144:4 More about Prayer. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 144:5 Other Forms of Prayer. No New Testament Correspondence
- UP 144:6 Conference with John's Apostles. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 144:7 In the Decapolis Cities. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 144:8 In Camp near Pella
- UP 144:9 Death of John the Baptist. Matt. 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:7-9
Urantia Paper 145: Four Eventful Days at Capernaum
- UP 145:0 ("Gennesaret" is the ancient name for the Sea of Galilee.) Matt. 4:12-17, Mark 1:14,15, Luke 4:14,15, John 4:43-45
- UP 145:1 The Draught of Fishes. Luke 5:1-11
- UP 145:2 Afternoon at the Synagogue
- UP 145:3 The Healing at Sundown. Matt. 8:16,17, Mark 1:32-34, Luke 4:40,41
- UP 145:4 The Evening After. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 145:5 Early Sunday Morning. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 146: First Preaching Tour of Galilee
- UP 146:0 Matt. 4:23, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 4:42-44
- UP 146:1 Preaching at Rimmon. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 146:2 At Jotapata, No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 146:3 The Stop at Ramah. No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 146:4 The Gospel at Iron.
- UP 146:5 Back in Cana
- UP 146:6 Nain and the Widow's Son. Luke 7:11-17
- UP 146:7 At Endor. No New Testament Correspondence.
Urantia Paper 147: The Interlude Visit to Jerusalem.
- UP 147:0 No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 147:1 The Centurion's Servant. Matt. 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10
- UP 147:2 The Journey to Jerusalem. John 5:1-3, John 5:9, John Chapt. 15, John Chapt. 16
  - "a feast of the Jews"--This refers to the Jewish Feast of the Passover, which took place each year in April. This is the second recorded Passover following Jesus' baptism.
- UP 147:3 At the Pool of Bethesda. John Chapter 5
  - "waiting for the moving of the water"--The Pool of Bethesda was a hot spring which would bubble up at irregular intervals. It was believed that the first person to enter the pool after one of these periodic disturbances would be healed.
- UP 147:4 The Rule of Living . No New Testament Correspondence.
- UP 147:5 Visiting Simon the Pharisee. Luke 7:36-50
  - "denarii"--A denarius was equal to a day's wage for a laborer.
- UP 147:6 Returning to Capernaum
  - Plucking grain on Sabbath. Matt. 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5
- UP 147:7 Back in Capernaum
- UP 147:8 The Feast of Spiritual Goodness. No New Testament Correspondence.

Next: Part 4--Development of Jesus' Public Ministry

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