Holy Week 2021
This site records for each day of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection on Easter Monday, some material that I found useful during a retreat carried out in 2021 as lock down comes to a close. The material is mostly from the Urantia Book as I find that book gives a very clear and detailed description of the events of that momentous time.
Paper 172 of the Urantia Book is entitled "Going into Jerusalem". It gives a vivid account of the entrance into Jerusalem by Jesus rising on an ass, and the time immediately before and after. More details can be found on this page and at Urantia Foundation
Paper 173 of the Urantia Book is entitled "Monday in Jerusalem". Today is the famous occasion when Jesus overturns the money changers tables in the Temple in Jerusalem. More details on this page. The full paper can be found at the Urantia Foundation.
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We could do with something similar now - overturning the existing corrupt and unfair money system for a stable system using gold backed currencies. One idea is a Quantum Financial System.
The activities of Day 3 Tuesday is reported in the Urantia Book in three papers:
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There is a lot to take in, in these three papers, including predictions of the destruction of the Temple and the Day of Reckoning:
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175:1.22 (1908.6) “But even now I offer you in my Father’s name mercy and forgiveness; even now I proffer the loving hand of eternal fellowship. My Father has sent you the wise men and the prophets; some you have persecuted and others you have killed. Then appeared John proclaiming the coming of the Son of Man, and him you destroyed after many had believed his teaching. And now you make ready to shed more innocent blood. Do you not comprehend that a terrible day of reckoning will come when the Judge of all the earth shall require of this people an accounting for the way they have rejected, persecuted, and destroyed these messengers of heaven?.
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Second Coming
In paper 176, Jesus answers the questions from his disciples about his return to Urantia. It is this section that I would like to concentrate on in the page for day 3 of my retreat for Holy Week 2021.
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Paper 177 of the Urantia Book is entitled "Wednesday, the Rest Day". It covers the time alone with John Mark where Jesus talked about home life. The paper then reveals how Judas made up his mind to betray Jesus. This gives a deep insight into the thinking behind the betrayal:
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Judas did not realize it at this time, but he had been a subconscious critic of Jesus ever since John the Baptist was beheaded by Herod. Deep down in his heart Judas always resented the fact that Jesus did not save John. You should not forget that Judas had been a disciple of John before he became a follower of Jesus. And all these accumulations of human resentment and bitter disappointment which Judas had laid by in his soul in habiliments of hate were now well organized in his subconscious mind and ready to spring up to engulf him when he once dared to separate himself from the supporting influence of his brethren while at the same time exposing himself to the clever insinuations and subtle ridicule of the enemies of Jesus. Every time Judas allowed his hopes to soar high and Jesus would do or say something to dash them to pieces, there was always left in Judas’s heart a scar of bitter resentment; and as these scars multiplied, presently that heart, so often wounded, lost all real affection for the one who had inflicted this distasteful experience upon a well-intentioned but cowardly and self-centered personality. Judas did not realize it, but he was a coward. Accordingly was he always inclined to assign to Jesus cowardice as the motive which led him so often to refuse to grasp for power or glory when they were apparently within his easy reach. And every mortal man knows full well how love, even when once genuine, can, through disappointment, jealousy, and long-continued resentment, be eventually turned into actual hate.
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But it is the last section of the paper that I focused on. Please check out this page.
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Paper 178 & Paper 179 cover the events of Thursday, traditionally called Maundy Thursday ie the day of feet washing. Feet washing is one of the sacraments that is often forgotten in the modern age.
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I will be performing this ancient sacrament today, along with a Zen Eucharist according to the Melchizedek tradition.
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Due to the importance of the Last Supper, this day has two pages dedicated to it: 178 - 5A: Last day at the Camp and 179 - 5B: The Last Supper
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After the Last Supper, there are three more papers dealing with the events up to the arrest of Jesus:
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180 - The Farewell Discourse where Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment "That you love one another even as I have loved you", plus the parable of the Vine and branches (which has been much misunderstood).
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181 - Final admonitions and warnings.
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182 - In Gethsemane
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183 - The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
This is perhaps the most important day in the Christian calendar - Good Friday. The Urantia Book gives a graphic account of the phony trials carried out by the Sanhedrin in the early hours of Friday. Then the trial by Pilate where he washes his hands after his wife's intervention based on a dream she had had.
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184 - Before the Sanhedrin Court. Jesus was first taken to the most powerful man in all Jewry - Annas who was "threatened by what Jesus has so recently done in driving the money-changers and other commercial traders out of the Temple".
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185 - The Trial before Pilate - 6am April 7th AD 30. As explained by the Urantia Book, Pilate never fully recovered from the regretful condemnation of having consented to the crucifixion of Jesus. He retired to the province of Lausanne, where he subsequently committed suicide.
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186 - Just before the Crucifixion. The end of Judas Iscariot and the preparation for the crucifixion
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187 - The Crucifixion
The Time in the Tomb is a Mystery. As explained in the Urantia Book:
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We can narrate the burial of the Son of Man and put in this record the events associated with his resurrection, but we cannot supply much information of an authentic nature about what really transpired during this epoch of about thirty-six hours, from three o’clock Friday afternoon to three o’clock Sunday morning.
Day 8 - Resurrection
Finally - the miracle of the Resurrection.
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In paper 189, the Urantia Book explains the process of how the resurrection took place, which partly explains why Mary Magdalene did not initially recognize Jesus and thought he was the gardener. It also explains how the apostles did not initially believe in the resurrection and so on.
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I have compared the mechanics of Resurrection in the Urantia Book with prevailing theories of the Turin Shroud on this page.