Urantia Book 111. 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 this was man’s doing, not God’s. 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 other worlds. The gospel of the good news that mortal man may, by faith, become spirit-conscious that he is a child of God, is not dependent on the death of Jesus. The Father in heaven loved mortal man after the crucifixion as much as he loved him before the crucifixion. But the Gods and the other celestial intelligences love us more because Jesus made a revelation of man to the whole universe. 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. Sin and rebellion have nothing to do with the fundamental bestowal plan, although it seems that a salvage plan is a provisional feature of the bestowal plan. The salvation of God for the mortals of Urantia would have been just as effective if Jesus had not been put to death by ignorant mortals. Mortals are the sons of God, and only one thing is required to make such a truth factual in their personal experience, and that is spirit-born faith. (Personal note: I grew up with a strict Baptist grandmother, who said we should hate ourselves because we were sinful. I grew up Baptist, but I switched to the Catholic Church, which seemed to be rational in comparison to Baptist). (186.5.1-9)******** Pilate didn’t have Jesus flogged again, but they put the cross beam on his back. The upright beam was already in the ground. Pilate had printed the following on a piece of wood: Jesus of Nazareth–King of the Jews in Latin, Greek and Aramaic. The Jewish leaders were very upset and tried to have Pilate change it, but Pilate said it was the accusation against Jesus, so it would not be changed. Usually they took the longest road to Golgotha, but today they took the shortest road, out of the city to the north. According to the UB, crucifixion was not a Jewish form of punishment. But both the Greeks and Romans learned this form of punishment from the Phoenicians. The Romans never crucified a Roman citizen. Some women walked with Jesus as he carried his cross-beam up to Golgotha. He said to some: “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves and for your children. My work is about done–soon I go to my Father–but the times of terrible trouble for Jerusalem are just beginning. The times are coming in which you shall say Blessed are the barren and those whose breasts have never suckled their young. In those day you will pray that the rocks of the hills fall on you so you can avoid the terrors coming.” Jesus fell down and the guard called Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross-beam. They got to Golgotha, they tied his arms to the cross-beams and nailed his hands to the wood. They nailed the cross-beam securely to the upright post, and then they put his feet together and nailed them with a very long nail. As they were nailing Jesus to the cross-beam, he said: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” John brought his family to see Jesus and went back to bring Jesus’ mother, Mary, his sister Ruth and his brother Jude. Both thieves harassed Jesus, there is no thief that becomes a believer at the very end of his life. A sand storm came up and the skies darkened. Just before 3:00 Jesus gave his last breath and said: “It is finished! Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The Roman centurion struck his breast and said: “Truly he must have been a Son of God!”