Urantia Book 88. The life of Jesus of Nazareth, Joshua ben Joseph, Yeshua, Christ Michael, Sovereign God of Nebadon. Jesus told another parable. He said: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son and sent messengers to call all those who had been invited previously to the feast. They had all agreed to come, but when the messengers invited them a second time, they all refused to come. They all made up excuses. The messengers were sent out again, but, although he was the king, they refused again; one had to look at a new pair of oxen, another had to tend to his farm. And they even beat up the messengers. The king was furious, so he sent the messengers out to gather anyone in the street, and finally the feast could proceed. He also killed those who refused to come to the feast and burned their city. And as he looked at his guests, he noticed one of them was not dressed in wedding clothes. Since the king had provided wedding clothes, he was surprised and asked the man why he wasn’t properly dressed. The man was speechless, so the king had his servants cast him from the house. Said the king: “I will have none here except those who delight to accept my invitation, and who do me the honor to wear those guest garments so freely provided for all.” A believer asked Jesus: “How shall we be ready for the king’s invitation. What sign will you give us that we shall know that you are the Son of God.” And when the Master heard this he said: “Only one sign shall be given you.” And then pointing to his own body, he continued: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Nobody understood him, including his apostles. They thought he was talking about the temple in Jerusalem, which ironically, would be destroyed by 70 AD. But the apostles were beginning to sense that something tragic was about to happen. The cleansing of the temple in the morning had stimulated them and caused them to believe that Jesus would assert himself and manifest his mighty powers. The events of the afternoon were an anticlimax which pointed to the certain rejection of Jesus’ teaching by the Jewish authorities. The apostles were gripped by suspense and were held in the firm grasp of a terrible uncertainty. They realized that only a few short days could intervene the events of the day just passed and the crash of an impending doom. They all felt that something tremendous was about to happen, but they knew not what to expect. They slept little that night. Even the Alpheus twins were at last roused to the realization that the events of the Master’s life were moving swiftly toward their final culmination (173.5.1-6).****************** On Tuesday morning Jesus gave a formal address to the women’s corps as he would not be seeing them again. He greeted the important disciples for the last time. Lastly, he told each apostle how to get through the coming weeks. He also said a farewell to Lazarus, who had to go to Philadelphia for he was not safe near Jerusalem. Peter broke in on a conversation Jesus was having and asked,”Master, James and I are not in accord regarding your teachings having to do with the forgiveness of sin. James claims you teach that the Father forgives us even before we ask him, and I maintain that repentance and confession must precede the forgiveness. Which of us is right? what do you say?” After a short silence, Jesus looked significantly at all four and answered: “My brethren, you err in your opinions because you do not comprehend the nature of those intimate and loving relations between the creature and the Creator, between man and God…. Divine forgiveness is inevitable; it is inherent and inalienable in God’s infinite understanding, in his perfect knowledge of all that concerns the mistaken judgment and erroneous choosing of the child. Divine justice is so eternally fair that it unfailingly embodies understanding mercy. Sin is an experience of creature consciousness; it is not a part of God’s consciousness. Your inability or unwillingness to forgive your fellows is the measure of your immaturity, your failure to attain adult sympathy, understanding and love (174.1.1-5). I have found this true in my life. I did not have love from my mother when I was young and I found, and still find, it difficult to love. I forgave my mother, but I did it for myself, not her. I learned that there are millions of people with parental issues. I’m 73 and still in therapy and I know that’s not unusual.