유란시아 책
IV 부. 예수의 생애와 교훈
Paper 186
Just Before the Crucifixion
Just Before the Crucifixion
186:0.1 (1997.1)
AS JESUS and his accusers started off to see Herod, the Master turned to the Apostle John and said: “John, you can do no more for me. Go to my mother and bring her to see me ere I die.” When John heard his Master’s request, although reluctant to leave him alone among his enemies, he hastened off to Bethany, where the entire family of Jesus was assembled in waiting at the home of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.
186:0.2 (1997.2)
Several times during the morning, messengers had brought news to Martha and Mary concerning the progress of Jesus’ trial. But the family of Jesus did not reach Bethany until just a few minutes before John arrived bearing the request of Jesus to see his mother before he was put to death. After John Zebedee had told them all that had happened since the midnight arrest of Jesus, Mary his mother went at once in the company of John to see her eldest son. By the time Mary and John reached the city, Jesus, accompanied by the Roman soldiers who were to crucify him, had already arrived at Golgotha.
186:0.3 (1997.3)
When Mary the mother of Jesus started out with John to go to her son, his sister Ruth refused to remain behind with the rest of the family. Since she was determined to accompany her mother, her brother Jude went with her. The rest of the Master’s family remained in Bethany under the direction of James, and almost every hour the messengers of David Zebedee brought them reports concerning the progress of that terrible business of putting to death their eldest brother, Jesus of Nazareth.
이 금요일 아침 여덟 시 반쯤에, 빌라도 앞에서 예수에 대한 공판이 끝났고, 주님은 십자가에 못박을 로마 병사들의 손에 넘겨졌다. 로마인이 예수를 넘겨받자마자, 유대인 경비병 지휘관은 부하들과 함께 행진해서 성전 본부로 돌아갔다. 수석 제사장들과 산헤드린 동료 회원들은 경비병들 바로 뒤에 좇아갔고, 성전에서 그 회원들이 항상 모이던, 다듬어진 돌로 지은 방으로 직행했다. 그들은, 예수를 어떻게 했는지 알려고 거기서 기다리고 있는 다른 산헤드린 회원들과 합류했다. 예수에 대한 재판과 유죄 판결에 관해 가야바가 산헤드린에 보고하고 있을 때, 주님을 체포하고 사형 선고를 내리기에 기여한 역할에 대한 보상을 요구하려고, 유다가 그들 앞에 나타났다.
186:1.1 (1997.4)
It was about half past eight o’clock this Friday morning when the hearing of Jesus before Pilate was ended and the Master was placed in the custody of the Roman soldiers who were to crucify him. As soon as the Romans took possession of Jesus, the captain of the Jewish guards marched with his men back to their temple headquarters. The chief priest and his Sanhedrist associates followed close behind the guards, going directly to their usual meeting place in the hall of hewn stone in the temple. Here they found many other members of the Sanhedrin waiting to learn what had been done with Jesus. As Caiaphas was engaged in making his report to the Sanhedrin regarding the trial and condemnation of Jesus, Judas appeared before them to claim his reward for the part he had played in his Master’s arrest and sentence of death.
이 유대인들은 모두 유다를 아주 싫어했으며;오직 전혀 무시하는 느낌으로 배반자를 바라봤다. 예수께서 가야바 앞에서 재판받는 동안, 그리고 빌라도 앞에 계시는 동안 내내, 유다는 자신의 배신행위에 대해 양심에 찔림을 받고 있었다. 다른 한편으로는, 예수를 판 행동의 대가{代價}로 받게 될 보상에 대해 어느 정도 환멸을 느끼기 시작했다. 유대인 권세자들의 냉담함과 쌀쌀맞은 태도가 싫었으나;그럼에도 자신의 비겁한 행위에 대해 후한 보상을 받으리라고 기대했다. 그는 산헤드린 전체 모임이 있기 전에 청함을 받고 참석하게 됐으며, 자기 민족을 도왔다고 우쭐해졌던 자신의 위대한 업적을 기념하여, 그에 걸맞은 상을 거기서 그들이 수여하면서 자신을 칭송할 것이라고 착각했다. 그러나 대제사장의 하인이 그에게 와서, 어깨를 두드리며 그를 방 밖으로 불러내고, “유다여, 예수를 판 값으로 당신에게 돈을 지불하라는 지시를 받았소. 이것이 당신에게 주는 보상금이오”라고 말했을 때, 강한 자부심을 지닌 이 배신자가 얼마나 놀랬을지 상상해보라. 그렇게 말하면서, 가야바의 하인은 유다에게, --우수하고 건강한 노예 한 사람에 해당되는 값인-- 은전 30개가 들어있는 주머니를 건넸다.
186:1.2 (1997.5)
All of these Jews loathed Judas; they looked upon the betrayer with only feelings of utter contempt. Throughout the trial of Jesus before Caiaphas and during his appearance before Pilate, Judas was pricked in his conscience about his traitorous conduct. And he was also beginning to become somewhat disillusioned regarding the reward he was to receive as payment for his services as Jesus’ betrayer. He did not like the coolness and aloofness of the Jewish authorities; nevertheless, he expected to be liberally rewarded for his cowardly conduct. He anticipated being called before the full meeting of the Sanhedrin and there hearing himself eulogized while they conferred upon him suitable honors in token of the great service which he flattered himself he had rendered his nation. Imagine, therefore, the great surprise of this egotistic traitor when a servant of the high priest, tapping him on the shoulder, called him just outside the hall and said: “Judas, I have been appointed to pay you for the betrayal of Jesus. Here is your reward.” And thus speaking, the servant of Caiaphas handed Judas a bag containing thirty pieces of silver—the current price of a good, healthy slave.
유다는 대경실색해서 말문이 막힐 지경이었다. 그 방으로 들어가려고 되돌아 달려갔으나, 문을 지키는 자들에게 제지당했다. 산헤드린에 호소하려했으나, 그들은 그를 받아들이려하지 않았다. 유다는, 친구들과 주님을 배반하게 하고 나서 은전 30개로 보상하려는, 이 유대인 관리들의 처사를 믿을 수 없었다. 굴욕과 환멸을 느꼈고 철저히 낙담했다. 마치 넋이 나간 듯 성전에서 걸어 나갔다. 그는 무의식중에 돈주머니를 자기 전대{纏帶}에 넣었는데, 그 전대는 사도들의 자금을 간직하는 주머니를 오랫동안 넣고 다닌 것이었다. 인파가 십자가형을 지켜보려고 떠난 후에, 그는 성을 두루 방황하면서 돌아다녔다.
186:1.3 (1998.1)
Judas was stunned, dumfounded. He rushed back to enter the hall but was debarred by the doorkeeper. He wanted to appeal to the Sanhedrin, but they would not admit him. Judas could not believe that these rulers of the Jews would allow him to betray his friends and his Master and then offer him as a reward thirty pieces of silver. He was humiliated, disillusioned, and utterly crushed. He walked away from the temple, as it were, in a trance. He automatically dropped the money bag in his deep pocket, that same pocket wherein he had so long carried the bag containing the apostolic funds. And he wandered out through the city after the crowds who were on their way to witness the crucifixions.
유다는 예수를 못박은 십자가를 그들이 들어 올리는 모습을 멀리서 바라봤으며, 이것을 본 그는 성전으로 달려가서 문지기들에게 자기를 들어가게 하라고 윽박지르다가, 마침내 아직도 회의를 하고 있는 산헤드린 앞에 서게 됐다. 배반자는 숨이 턱까지 찼고 거의 미친 상태가 됐지만, 정신을 가다듬고 더듬거리면서 말했다;“나는 무고한 피를 배신하는 죄를 범했습니다. 여러분이 나를 무례하게 대우했습니다. 내 역할에 대한 보상으로 돈--곧 한 사람의 노예에 대한 값--을 줬습니다. 나는 이렇게 한 것을 후회하며;여러분의 돈이 여기 있습니다. 나는 이 일을 저지른 죄에서 벗어나려합니다.”
186:1.4 (1998.2)
From a distance Judas saw them raise the cross piece with Jesus nailed thereon, and upon sight of this he rushed back to the temple and, forcing his way past the doorkeeper, found himself standing in the presence of the Sanhedrin, which was still in session. The betrayer was well-nigh breathless and highly distraught, but he managed to stammer out these words: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood. You have insulted me. You have offered me as a reward for my service, money—the price of a slave. I repent that I have done this; here is your money. I want to escape the guilt of this deed.”
186:1.5 (1998.3)
When the rulers of the Jews heard Judas, they scoffed at him. One of them sitting near where Judas stood, motioned that he should leave the hall and said: “Your Master has already been put to death by the Romans, and as for your guilt, what is that to us? See you to that—and begone!”
186:1.6 (1998.4)
As Judas left the Sanhedrin chamber, he removed the thirty pieces of silver from the bag and threw them broadcast over the temple floor. When the betrayer left the temple, he was almost beside himself. Judas was now passing through the experience of the realization of the true nature of sin. All the glamor, fascination, and intoxication of wrongdoing had vanished. Now the evildoer stood alone and face to face with the judgment verdict of his disillusioned and disappointed soul. Sin was bewitching and adventurous in the committing, but now must the harvest of the naked and unromantic facts be faced.
186:1.7 (1998.5)
This onetime ambassador of the kingdom of heaven on earth now walked through the streets of Jerusalem, forsaken and alone. His despair was desperate and well-nigh absolute. On he journeyed through the city and outside the walls, on down into the terrible solitude of the valley of Hinnom, where he climbed up the steep rocks and, taking the girdle of his cloak, fastened one end to a small tree, tied the other about his neck, and cast himself over the precipice. Ere he was dead, the knot which his nervous hands had tied gave way, and the betrayer’s body was dashed to pieces as it fell on the jagged rocks below.
산헤드린 법정 앞에서, 예수께서는 거짓 증거하는 증인들의 증언에 답변하기를 거절했다. 친구든지 적이든지 상관없이, 그의 대답을 이끌어낸 한 가지 예외 질문이 있다면, 이 땅에서 그의 사명의 본질과 신성{神性}에 관한 것이었다. 하나님의 아들인지 질문을 받자, 그는 확실하게 그렇다고 대답했다. 호기심 많고 사악한 헤롯 앞에서는 끝까지 입을 다물었다. 빌라도 앞에서는, 자신이 말하는 것으로 말미암아 진리에 대해 더 잘 알 수 있도록, 빌라도 또는 다른 진지한 사람들에게 도움이 되겠다고 생각할 때에만 대답했다. 예수께서는, 진주를 돼지 앞에 던지는 것은 아무 쓸모없는 일이라고 사도들에게 가르쳤고, 이제 자신이 가르쳤던 것을 과감하게 실천했다. 이때 그의 행동은, 신성한 본성에서 나오는 장엄한 침묵과, 근엄한 품위에 동반된 인간 본성에서 나오는 끈기 있는 순종을 보여줬다. 그는 자신을 고발하는 정치적 기소 내용에 관련된 어떤 질문에 대해서든지--곧 총독의 사법권에 속한다고 그가 인식하는 어떤 질문에 대해서든지-- 빌라도와 기꺼이 토론할 의사가 있었다.
186:2.2 (1999.2)
Before the Sanhedrist court Jesus declined to make replies to the testimony of perjured witnesses. There was but one question which would always elicit an answer, whether asked by friend or foe, and that was the one concerning the nature and divinity of his mission on earth. When asked if he were the Son of God, he unfailingly made reply. He steadfastly refused to speak when in the presence of the curious and wicked Herod. Before Pilate he spoke only when he thought that Pilate or some other sincere person might be helped to a better knowledge of the truth by what he said. Jesus had taught his apostles the uselessness of casting their pearls before swine, and he now dared to practice what he had taught. His conduct at this time exemplified the patient submission of the human nature coupled with the majestic silence and solemn dignity of the divine nature. He was altogether willing to discuss with Pilate any question related to the political charges brought against him—any question which he recognized as belonging to the governor’s jurisdiction.
186:2.3 (1999.3)
Jesus was convinced that it was the will of the Father that he submit himself to the natural and ordinary course of human events just as every other mortal creature must, and therefore he refused to employ even his purely human powers of persuasive eloquence to influence the outcome of the machinations of his socially nearsighted and spiritually blinded fellow mortals. Although Jesus lived and died on Urantia, his whole human career, from first to last, was a spectacle designed to influence and instruct the entire universe of his creation and unceasing upholding.
186:2.5 (1999.5)
Jesus had acquired that type of human character which could preserve its composure and assert its dignity in the face of continued and gratuitous insult. He could not be intimidated. When first assaulted by the servant of Annas, he had only suggested the propriety of calling witnesses who might duly testify against him.
선의{善意}에서 비롯됐지만, 그를 놓아주려는 마음은 별로 없는 빌라도의 노력에, 주님은 조금도 관심을 보이지 않았다. 정말로 빌라도를 불쌍히 여겼고, 그의 어두운 정신에 빛을 비추려고 진지하게 애썼다. 유대인에게 호소하여 그에 대한 고소를 취소시키려는 로마 총독의 모든 시도에, 그는 전혀 반응하지 않았다. 비참한 시련을 겪는 동안 내내, 순전한 품위와 허식 없는 위엄으로 참아냈다. 장차 그를 죽이게 될 자들이, 그가 “유대인의 왕”이냐고 물었을 때, 그는 결코 불성실한 태도로 그들을 비난하려고 하지 않았다. 그는 꾸밈없는 설명을 덧붙이고 그 칭호를 받아들였는데, 이는 그들이 자신을 거부하기로 결정했지만, 비록 영적 감각에서라도, 그들에게 민족의 진정한 지도력을 마지막으로 제공한 사람이 될 것을 알았기 때문이다.
186:2.8 (1999.8)
The Master never displayed the least interest in Pilate’s well-meant but halfhearted efforts to effect his release. He really pitied Pilate and sincerely endeavored to enlighten his darkened mind. He was wholly passive to all the Roman governor’s appeals to the Jews to withdraw their criminal charges against him. Throughout the whole sorrowful ordeal he bore himself with simple dignity and unostentatious majesty. He would not so much as cast reflections of insincerity upon his would-be murderers when they asked if he were “king of the Jews.” With but little qualifying explanation he accepted the designation, knowing that, while they had chosen to reject him, he would be the last to afford them real national leadership, even in a spiritual sense.
186:2.9 (2000.1)
Jesus said little during these trials, but he said enough to show all mortals the kind of human character man can perfect in partnership with God and to reveal to all the universe the manner in which God can become manifest in the life of the creature when such a creature truly chooses to do the will of the Father, thus becoming an active son of the living God.
186:2.10 (2000.2)
His love for ignorant mortals is fully disclosed by his patience and great self-possession in the face of the jeers, blows, and buffetings of the coarse soldiers and the unthinking servants. He was not even angry when they blindfolded him and, derisively striking him in the face, exclaimed: “Prophesy to us who it was that struck you.”
빌라도는, 예수를 채찍으로 때린 후에, 대중 앞에 보여주면서 “이 사람을 보라!”고 외쳤을 때, 자기가 아는 것보다 더 참되게 말했다. 사랑하는 주권자께서 음침하고 타락한 필사자 신하들로부터 조롱받고 구타당하는 굴욕스런 모습을, 바로 그 순간에 우주가 바라보면서 주목하고 있다는 것을, 두려움에-사로잡힌 로마 총독은 정말로 꿈도 꾸지 못했다. 그리고 빌라도가 말할 때, “하나님이요 사람이신 그를 보라!”는 음성이, 온 네바돈에 울려 퍼졌다. 온 우주에서, 헤아릴 수 없는 수많은 존재가 그날 이후로 언제나 그 사람을 끊임없이 지켜봤고, 온갖 우주의 최고 통치자이신 하보나의 하나님께서는, 나사렛 사람이 시공간 속에서 이 지방우주의 필사 피조물의 이상{理想}을 만족시켰다고 인정하셨다. 비길 데 없는 삶에서, 그는 하나님을 사람에게 드러내지 못한 적이 전혀 없었다. 그는 이제, 필사자 생애의 마지막 사건에서, 그리고 이어지는 죽음에서, 사람에 대한 새롭고 감동적인 계시를 하나님께 이뤄드렸다.
186:2.11 (2000.3)
Pilate spoke more truly than he knew when, after Jesus had been scourged, he presented him before the multitude, exclaiming, “Behold the man!” Indeed, the fear-ridden Roman governor little dreamed that at just that moment the universe stood at attention, gazing upon this unique scene of its beloved Sovereign thus subjected in humiliation to the taunts and blows of his darkened and degraded mortal subjects. And as Pilate spoke, there echoed throughout all Nebadon, “Behold God and man!” Throughout a universe, untold millions have ever since that day continued to behold that man, while the God of Havona, the supreme ruler of the universe of universes, accepts the man of Nazareth as the satisfaction of the ideal of the mortal creatures of this local universe of time and space. In his matchless life he never failed to reveal God to man. Now, in these final episodes of his mortal career and in his subsequent death, he made a new and touching revelation of man to God.
빌라도 앞에서 선고가 내려지고, 예수께서 로마 병사에게 넘겨진 직후에, 주님을 따르는 자들을 해산시키거나 체포하려고 성전 경비병들이 겟세마네로 신속히 파견됐다. 그러나 이들은 경비병들이 도착하기 훨씬 전에 흩어졌다. 사도들은 지정된 은신처에 숨었으며;그리스인들은 헤어져서 예루살렘에 있는 여러 집으로 숨었으며;다른 제자들도 마찬가지로 피신했다. 다윗 세베대는, 예수를 대적하는 자들이 다시 올 것이라고 믿었으므로;기도하고 경배 드리려고 주님이 종종 물러나 계셨던 산골짜기로, 대여섯 개의 천막을 일찌감치 옮겨놓았다. 그는 이곳에 숨어있으면서, 연락 업무를 관리하는 본부 또는 협조하는 장소로 이용하기로 했다. 성전 경비병이 도착했을 때, 다윗은 가까스로 야영지를 빠져나갔다. 아무도 발견하지 못하자, 그들은 야영지를 불태우는 것으로 만족하고 성전으로 돌아갔다. 산헤드린은 그들의 보고를 듣고, 예수를 따르는 자들이 혼비백산하고 지리멸렬하여, 사형을 집행하는 자들로부터 예수를 구출하려고 시도하거나 소요를 일으킬 염려가 없어졌다고 안심했다. 그들은 마침내 편히 숨 쉴 수 있게 됐으므로, 회의를 폐하고, 각자 유월절을 준비하려고 돌아갔다.
186:3.1 (2000.4)
Shortly after Jesus was turned over to the Roman soldiers at the conclusion of the hearing before Pilate, a detachment of the temple guards hastened out to Gethsemane to disperse or arrest the followers of the Master. But long before their arrival these followers had scattered. The apostles had retired to designated hiding places; the Greeks had separated and gone to various homes in Jerusalem; the other disciples had likewise disappeared. David Zebedee believed that Jesus’ enemies would return; so he early removed some five or six tents up the ravine near where the Master so often retired to pray and worship. Here he proposed to hide and at the same time maintain a center, or co-ordinating station, for his messenger service. David had hardly left the camp when the temple guards arrived. Finding no one there, they contented themselves with burning the camp and then hastened back to the temple. On hearing their report, the Sanhedrin was satisfied that the followers of Jesus were so thoroughly frightened and subdued that there would be no danger of an uprising or any attempt to rescue Jesus from the hands of his executioners. They were at last able to breathe easily, and so they adjourned, every man going his way to prepare for the Passover.
186:3.2 (2000.5)
As soon as Jesus was turned over to the Roman soldiers by Pilate for crucifixion, a messenger hastened away to Gethsemane to inform David, and within five minutes runners were on their way to Bethsaida, Pella, Philadelphia, Sidon, Shechem, Hebron, Damascus, and Alexandria. And these messengers carried the news that Jesus was about to be crucified by the Romans at the insistent behest of the rulers of the Jews.
186:3.3 (2001.1)
Throughout this tragic day, until the message finally went forth that the Master had been laid in the tomb, David sent messengers about every half hour with reports to the apostles, the Greeks, and Jesus’ earthly family, assembled at the home of Lazarus in Bethany. When the messengers departed with the word that Jesus had been buried, David dismissed his corps of local runners for the Passover celebration and for the coming Sabbath of rest, instructing them to report to him quietly on Sunday morning at the home of Nicodemus, where he proposed to go in hiding for a few days with Andrew and Simon Peter.
독특한-성향의 이 다윗 세베대는, 예수의 수제자들 중에서, 주님이 죽게 될 것이고 “삼 일만에 다시 살아날 것이라”고 하신 약속을, 글자 그대로 그리고 명백한 사실적 견해로 받아들이고자 한, 유일한 사람이었다. 다윗은 언젠가 이 예견을 들은 적이 있었고, 꼼꼼하게 머리를 쓰는 사람이었으므로, 예수께서 죽음에서 일어나는 경우에 소식을 즉시 전파할 수 있도록, 일요일 이른 아침에 니고데모의 집으로 모이라고, 심부름꾼들에게 지시했다. 다윗은, 예수를 따르던 자들 중에서 예수가 그토록 속히 무덤에서 돌아오리라고 기대한 사람이 아무도 없다는 것을 곧 발견했으며;그랬기 때문에, 심부름꾼 부대를 일요일 아침 일찍 동원시킨 것에 대해 그리고 자기가 믿는 바에 대해 아무에게도 말하지 않았고, 다만 금요일 오전에 멀리 있는 도시와 신자들 무리에게 파견했던 심부름꾼들에게만 알려줬다.
186:3.4 (2001.2)
This peculiar-minded David Zebedee was the only one of the leading disciples of Jesus who was inclined to take a literal and plain matter-of-fact view of the Master’s assertion that he would die and “rise again on the third day.” David had once heard him make this prediction and, being of a literal turn of mind, now proposed to assemble his messengers early Sunday morning at the home of Nicodemus so that they would be on hand to spread the news in case Jesus rose from the dead. David soon discovered that none of Jesus’ followers were looking for him to return so soon from the grave; therefore did he say little about his belief and nothing about the mobilization of all his messenger force on early Sunday morning except to the runners who had been dispatched on Friday forenoon to distant cities and believer centers.
빌라도는, 유대인 통치자들의 아우성에 저항하기가 두려워서 결백한 사람을 십자가형에 처하도록 넘겨줬다는 죄의식에서 빠져나갈 궁리를 하면서 대중 앞에서 손을 씻은 후에, 주님을 로마 병사에게 넘겨주도록 지시했으며, 즉시 십자가에 못박으라고 지휘관에게 명령했다. 예수를 맡게 된 병사들은 그를 다시 집정관 관저 안마당으로 끌고 갔으며, 헤롯이 입혀준 예복을 벗기고, 원래 입고 있었던 옷을 입혔다. 이 병사들은 그를 조롱하고 비웃었으나, 더 이상 육체적인 형벌을 가하지는 않았다. 예수께서는 이제 홀로 이 로마 병사들과 함께 있게 됐다. 그의 친구들은 모두 숨었으며;대적하던 자들은 다 돌아갔으며;요한 세베대도 더 이상 옆에 남아있지 않았다.
186:4.1 (2001.4)
After Pilate had washed his hands before the multitude, thus seeking to escape the guilt of delivering up an innocent man to be crucified just because he feared to resist the clamor of the rulers of the Jews, he ordered the Master turned over to the Roman soldiers and gave the word to their captain that he was to be crucified immediately. Upon taking charge of Jesus, the soldiers led him back into the courtyard of the praetorium, and after removing the robe which Herod had put on him, they dressed him in his own garments. These soldiers mocked and derided him, but they did not inflict further physical punishment. Jesus was now alone with these Roman soldiers. His friends were in hiding; his enemies had gone their way; even John Zebedee was no longer by his side.
186:4.2 (2001.5)
It was a little after eight o’clock when Pilate turned Jesus over to the soldiers and a little before nine o’clock when they started for the scene of the crucifixion. During this period of more than half an hour Jesus never spoke a word. The executive business of a great universe was practically at a standstill. Gabriel and the chief rulers of Nebadon were either assembled here on Urantia, or else they were closely attending upon the space reports of the archangels in an effort to keep advised as to what was happening to the Son of Man on Urantia.
186:4.4 (2001.7)
Much of the delay in starting off with Jesus for the site of the crucifixion was due to the last-minute decision of the captain to take along two thieves who had been condemned to die; since Jesus was to be crucified that morning, the Roman captain thought these two might just as well die with him as wait for the end of the Passover festivities.
예수의 죽음과 유대인의 유월절 사이에는, 아무런 직접 관계가 없다. 유대인의 유월절을 준비하는 날, 그리고 성전에서 유월절 양들을 희생 제물로 바치는 시간 무렵인 이날에 예수께서 목숨을 던진 것은 사실이다. 그러나 이렇게 우연히 동시에 발생됐다는 사실 때문에, 이 세상에서 사람의 아들의 죽음이, 유대인의 희생 제사 체제와 어떤 의미에서든지 연결됐다고 보는 것은 옳지 않다. 유대인이기는 했으나, 예수는 사람의 아들로서 이 영역에 속한 필사자였다. 주님의 임박한 십자가형에 이르기까지 이미 기술된 사건들만으로도, 이때 그의 죽음이 순전히 자연스런 것이었고, 사람이-일으킨 사건이었음을 알기에 충분하다.
186:5.1 (2002.2)
There is no direct relation between the death of Jesus and the Jewish Passover. True, the Master did lay down his life in the flesh on this day, the day of the preparation for the Jewish Passover, and at about the time of the sacrificing of the Passover lambs in the temple. But this coincidental occurrence does not in any manner indicate that the death of the Son of Man on earth has any connection with the Jewish sacrificial system. Jesus was a Jew, but as the Son of Man he was a mortal of the realms. The events already narrated and leading up to this hour of the Master’s impending crucifixion are sufficient to indicate that his death at about this time was a purely natural and man-managed affair.
186:5.2 (2002.3)
It was man and not God who planned and executed the death of Jesus on the cross. True, the Father refused to interfere with the march of human events on Urantia, but the Father in Paradise did not decree, demand, or require the death of his Son as it was carried out on earth. It is a fact that in some manner, sooner or later, Jesus would have had to divest himself of his mortal body, his incarnation in the flesh, but he could have executed such a task in countless ways without dying on a cross between two thieves. All of this was man’s doing, not God’s.
186:5.3 (2002.4)
At the time of the Master’s baptism he had already completed the technique of the required experience on earth and in the flesh which was necessary for the completion of his seventh and last universe bestowal. At this very time Jesus’ duty on earth was done. All the life he lived thereafter, and even the manner of his death, was a purely personal ministry on his part for the welfare and uplifting of his mortal creatures on this world and on other worlds.
사람의 아들이 이 땅에서 말씀하고 행한 모든 것이, 사람이 하나님의 아들이요 서로 형제관계라는 교리를 매우 아름답게 장식했지만, 하나님과 사람의 이 근본 관계는, 피조물에 대한 하나님의 사랑과, 신의 아들들이 본질적으로 타고나는 자비{慈悲}라는 우주적 사실에 내재돼있다. 온갖 우주에 두루, 이 세계는 물론 다른 모든 세계에서, 사람과 조물주 사이에 형성되는 이런 감동적이고 아름다운 관계는 영원부터 존재해왔으며;이런 관계는 어떤 면에서도, 하나님의 창조주 아들들의 이런 주기적 증여 시행과 상관없는데, 그들은 이처럼 각 지방우주에 대한 무한한 주권을 최종적으로 획득하기 위하여 자신이 지불해야하는 값의 일부분으로서, 자신이 창조한 지성체들의 본성과 모습을 입는다.
186:5.5 (2002.6)
All that the Son of Man said or did on earth greatly embellished the doctrines of sonship with God and of the brotherhood of men, but these essential relationships of God and men are inherent in the universe facts of God’s love for his creatures and the innate mercy of the divine Sons. These touching and divinely beautiful relations between man and his Maker, on this world and on all others throughout the universe of universes, have existed from eternity; and they are not in any sense dependent on these periodic bestowal enactments of the Creator Sons of God, who thus assume the nature and likeness of their created intelligences as a part of the price which they must pay for the final acquirement of unlimited sovereignty over their respective local universes.
하늘에 계신 아버지께서는, 사람과 하나님이 서로 협동하는 관계를 예수가 이렇게 초월적으로 보여준 이후와 마찬가지로, 그가 유란시아에서 살다가 죽기 전에도, 이 땅에 있는 필사적 사람을 사랑하셨다. 네바돈의 하나님이 유란시아에 사람으로 육신화한 이 엄청난 사건은, 영원하고 무한하고 보편적인 아버지의 속성들을 증대시키지는 못하지만, 네바돈 우주의 다른 모든 경영자와 피조물을 풍요롭게 했고 계몽시켰다. 하늘에 계신 아버지께서는, 미가엘의 이런 증여 때문에 우리를 더 사랑하시지는 않지만, 다른 모든 천상의 지성체는 그것 때문에 우리를 더 사랑한다. 그리고 이것은, 예수께서 하나님을 사람에게 나타냈을 뿐만 아니라, 하나님께 그리고 온갖 우주에 있는 천상의 지성체들에게 사람을 새롭게 드러냈기 때문이다.
186:5.6 (2002.7)
The Father in heaven loved mortal man on earth just as much before the life and death of Jesus on Urantia as he did after this transcendent exhibition of the copartnership of man and God. This mighty transaction of the incarnation of the God of Nebadon as a man on Urantia could not augment the attributes of the eternal, infinite, and universal Father, but it did enrich and enlighten all other administrators and creatures of the universe of Nebadon. While the Father in heaven loves us no more because of this bestowal of Michael, all other celestial intelligences do. And this is because Jesus not only made a revelation of God to man, but he also likewise made a new revelation of man to the Gods and to the celestial intelligences of the universe of universes.
186:5.7 (2003.1)
Jesus is not about to die as a sacrifice for sin. He is not going to atone for the inborn moral guilt of the human race. Mankind has no such racial guilt before God. Guilt is purely a matter of personal sin and knowing, deliberate rebellion against the will of the Father and the administration of his Sons.
유란시아의 필사자에게 베푸시는 하나님의 구원은, 예수께서 무지한 필사자의 잔인한 손에 죽지 않았더라도, 똑같이 유효하고 반드시 이뤄졌을 것이다. 주님이 이 땅의 사람들로부터 호의적으로 환영받았더라도, 그리고 육신 속에서 지내던 삶을 자발적으로 마침으로써 유란시아를 떠났더라도, 하나님의 사랑과 아들의 자비라는 사실--곧 하나님의 아들신분이라는 사실--은 결코 영향 받지 않았을 것이다. 너희 필사자는 하나님의 아들이며, 너희의 개인 체험에서 그런 진리가 사실로 이뤄지게 하는 데는 오직 한 가지 요구 사항밖에 없는데, 영으로-태어난 너희의 신앙이다.
186:5.9 (2003.3)
The salvation of God for the mortals of Urantia would have been just as effective and unerringly certain if Jesus had not been put to death by the cruel hands of ignorant mortals. If the Master had been favorably received by the mortals of earth and had departed from Urantia by the voluntary relinquishment of his life in the flesh, the fact of the love of God and the mercy of the Son—the fact of sonship with God—would have in no wise been affected. You mortals are the sons of God, and only one thing is required to make such a truth factual in your personal experience, and that is your spirit-born faith.