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| Kapitel 169. Den Sidste Undervisning Ved Pella |
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Kapitel 171. På Vej Til Jerusalem |
THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
HIMMELRIGET
1955 170:0.1 SATURDAY afternoon, March 11, Jesus preached his last sermon at Pella. This was among the notable addresses of his public ministry, embracing a full and complete discussion of the kingdom of heaven. He was aware of the confusion which existed in the minds of his apostles and disciples regarding the meaning and significance of the terms “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God,” which he used as interchangeable designations of his bestowal mission. Although the very term kingdom of heaven should have been enough to separate what it stood for from all connection with earthly kingdoms and temporal governments, it was not. The idea of a temporal king was too deep-rooted in the Jewish mind thus to be dislodged in a single generation. Therefore Jesus did not at first openly oppose this long-nourished concept of the kingdom.
2015 170:0.1 LØRDAG eftermiddag den 11. marts holdt Jesus sin sidste prædiken i Pella. Dette var en af de mere bemærkelsesværdige taler i løbet af hans offentlige tjeneste, for den indeholdt en fuldstændig og detaljeret diskussion af Himmelriget. Han var klar over den forvirring, som fandtes i hans apostle og disciples sind om forståelsen og betydningen af begreberne "Himmelriget" og "gudsriget", som han anvendte som udskiftelige betegnelser for sin overdragelse mission. Selv om selve betegnelsen Himmelriget burde have været tilstrækkelig for at adskille, hvad det stod for fra al forbindelse til jordiske riger og tidsmæssige regeringer, så var det ikke sådan. Idéen om en tidsmæssig konge var så dybt forankret i det jødiske sind, at det ikke på denne måde kunne løsnes i en enkelt generation. Derfor modsatte Jesus sig ikke i begyndelsen dette længe næret begreb om gudsriget.
1955 170:0.2 This Sabbath afternoon the Master sought to clarify the teaching about the kingdom of heaven; he discussed the subject from every viewpoint and endeavored to make clear the many different senses in which the term had been used. In this narrative we will amplify the address by adding numerous statements made by Jesus on previous occasions and by including some remarks made only to the apostles during the evening discussions of this same day. We will also make certain comments dealing with the subsequent outworking of the kingdom idea as it is related to the later Christian church.
2015 170:0.2 Denne sabbat eftermiddag forsøgte Mesteren at tydeliggøre undervisningen om Himmelriget. Han diskuterede emnet fra hver synsvinkel og forsøgte at klargøre de mange forskellige betydninger, hvor udtrykket var blevet anvendt. I denne redegørelse udvider vi talen ved at tilføje en række erklæringer fra Jesus ved tidligere lejligheder, og ved at inddrage nogle af de bemærkninger, han kun gjorde til apostlene i løbet af aftendiskussionen samme dag. Vi tilfører også nogle bemærkninger vedrørende den senere udvikling af idéen om gudsriget, så det tilknyttes til den bagefter spirende kristne kirke.
1. CONCEPTS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
1. OPFATTELSER OM HIMMELRIGET
1955 170:1.1 In connection with the recital of Jesus’ sermon it should be noted that throughout the Hebrew scriptures there was a dual concept of the kingdom of heaven. The prophets presented the kingdom of God as:
2015 170:1.1 I forbindelse med redegørelsen af Jesu prædiken skal det bemærkes, at der gennemgående i de hebraiske skrifter fandtes et dobbelt begreb om Himmelriget. Profeterne præsenterede Guds Rige som:
1955 170:1.3 2. A future hope—when the kingdom would be realized in fullness upon the appearance of the Messiah. This is the kingdom concept which John the Baptist taught.
1955 170:1.5 3. The later Jewish concept of a world-wide and transcendental kingdom of supernatural origin and miraculous inauguration.
1955 170:1.6 4. The Persian teachings portraying the establishment of a divine kingdom as the achievement of the triumph of good over evil at the end of the world.
2015 170:1.6 4. De persiske lærdomme som beskrev etableringen af et guddommeligt kongerige som et resultat af det godes sejr over det onde ved verdens ende.
1955 170:1.7 Just before the advent of Jesus on earth, the Jews combined and confused all of these ideas of the kingdom into their apocalyptic concept of the Messiah’s coming to establish the age of the Jewish triumph, the eternal age of God’s supreme rule on earth, the new world, the era in which all mankind would worship Yahweh. In choosing to utilize this concept of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus elected to appropriate the most vital and culminating heritage of both the Jewish and Persian religions.
2015 170:1.7 Lige før Jesus ankom til jorden, kombinerede og sammenblandede jøderne alle disse idéer om Guds rige til deres apokalyptiske opfattelse af Messias, som ville komme til at etablere en tidsalder af jødisk triumf, den evige tidsalder af Guds øverste styre på jorden: den nye verden, det tidspunkt, hvor hele menneskeheden ville tilbede Jahve. Da Jesus besluttede at udnytte denne opfattelse af himmelriget, valgte han at anvende den mest vitale og kulminerede arv fra både den jødiske og persiske religion.
1955 170:1.8 The kingdom of heaven, as it has been understood and misunderstood down through the centuries of the Christian era, embraced four distinct groups of ideas:
2015 170:1.8 Himmelriget, som det er blevet forstået og misforstået ned gennem århundreder af den kristne æra, har omfattet fire forskellige grupper af idéer:
1955 170:1.11 3. The personal-experience concept of Jesus—“the kingdom of heaven within you.”
2015 170:1.11 3. Jesu opfattelse om himmelriget som en personlig erfaring - "Himmelriget i dig"
1955 170:1.12 4. The composite and confused concepts which the founders and promulgators of Christianity have sought to impress upon the world.
2015 170:1.12 4. De sammensatte og forvirrede opfattelser, som grundlæggerne af kristendommen og forkyndere har forsøgt at bibringe verden.
1955 170:1.13 At different times and in varying circumstances it appears that Jesus may have presented numerous concepts of the “kingdom” in his public teachings, but to his apostles he always taught the kingdom as embracing man’s personal experience in relation to his fellows on earth and to the Father in heaven. Concerning the kingdom, his last word always was, “The kingdom is within you.”
2015 170:1.13 Det lader til, at Jesus i sin offentlige forkyndelse på forskellige tidspunkter og under forskellige betingelser kan have præsenteret adskillige opfattelser af "riget" i sine offentlige lære, men han lærte altid sine apostle, at riget omfattede menneskets personlige erfaringer i forhold til sine medmennesker på jorden og til Faderen i himlen. Med hensyn til Guds rige, var hans sidste ord altid: "Guds rige er inden i jer[6]."
1955 170:1.14 Centuries of confusion regarding the meaning of the term “kingdom of heaven” have been due to three factors:
2015 170:1.14 Den forvirring, der er foregået gennem århundreder om betydningen af udtrykket "himmelriget" har været forårsaget af tre faktorer:
1955 170:1.15 1. The confusion occasioned by observing the idea of the “kingdom” as it passed through the various progressive phases of its recasting by Jesus and his apostles.
2015 170:1.15 1. Forvirringen er forårsaget af, at man observerede, hvordan idéen om "riget" passerede gennem forskellige progressive faser i færd med fornyelse af Jesus og hans apostle.
1955 170:1.16 2. The confusion which was inevitably associated with the transplantation of early Christianity from a Jewish to a gentile soil.
2015 170:1.16 2. Den forvirring, der uundgåeligt var forbundet med transplantation af den tidlige kristendom fra jødisk til ikke-jødisk jord.
2. JESUS’ CONCEPT OF THE KINGDOM
2. JESU OPFATTELSE OM RIGET
1955 170:2.1 The Master made it clear that the kingdom of heaven must begin with, and be centered in, the dual concept of the truth of the fatherhood of God and the correlated fact of the brotherhood of man. The acceptance of such a teaching, Jesus declared, would liberate man from the age-long bondage of animal fear and at the same time enrich human living with the following endowments of the new life of spiritual liberty:
2015 170:2.1 Mesteren gjorde det klart, at Himmelriget skal begynde med, og blive centreret i, det dobbelte begreb om sandheden af Guds faderskab og den dermed korrelerede kendsgerning om menneskernes broderskab. Jesus forklarede, at accepten af en sådan forkyndelse ville befri mennesket fra den urgamle trældom af animalsk frygt og samtidig berige menneskelivet med følgende frugter fra det nye liv af åndelig frihed:
1955 170:2.3 2. The gospel carried a message of new confidence and true consolation for all men, even for the poor.
1955 170:2.4 3. It was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick wherewith to measure human conduct. It portrayed the ideal of a resultant new order of human society.
1955 170:2.5 4. It taught the pre-eminence of the spiritual compared with the material; it glorified spiritual realities and exalted superhuman ideals.
1955 170:2.8 7. The new gospel affirmed that human salvation is the revelation of a far-reaching divine purpose to be fulfilled and realized in the future destiny of the endless service of the salvaged sons of God.
1955 170:2.9 These teachings cover the expanded idea of the kingdom which was taught by Jesus. This great concept was hardly embraced in the elementary and confused kingdom teachings of John the Baptist.
2015 170:2.9 De ovennævnte beskrivelser dækker den udvidede idé om Guds rige, som Jesus forkyndte. Denne ædle koncept indgik næppe i Johannes Døberens elementære og forvirrede forkyndelse af riget.
1955 170:2.10 The apostles were unable to grasp the real meaning of the Master’s utterances regarding the kingdom. The subsequent distortion of Jesus’ teachings, as they are recorded in the New Testament, is because the concept of the gospel writers was colored by the belief that Jesus was then absent from the world for only a short time; that he would soon return to establish the kingdom in power and glory—just such an idea as they held while he was with them in the flesh. But Jesus did not connect the establishment of the kingdom with the idea of his return to this world. That centuries have passed with no signs of the appearance of the “New Age” is in no way out of harmony with Jesus’ teaching.
2015 170:2.10 Apostlene kunne ikke forstå den virkelige betydning af Mesterens udsagn om Guds rige. Den efterfølgende forvridning af Jesu lære, som den er nedskrevet i Det Nye Testamente, beror på at evangelieforfatternes forståelse var farvet af overbevisningen om, at Jesus kun var borte fra verden en kort tid, at han snart ville vende tilbage til at etablere Guds rige i magt og herlighed - netop sådan en idé, som de havde opretholdt, mens han var sammen med dem i kødet[16]. Men Jesus havde ikke forbundet rigets etablering med tanken om hans tilbagevenden til denne verden. At århundreder har passeret uden tegn på en "ny tidsalder" er på ingen måde i disharmoni med Jesu lære.
1955 170:2.11 The great effort embodied in this sermon was the attempt to translate the concept of the kingdom of heaven into the ideal of the idea of doing the will of God. Long had the Master taught his followers to pray: “Your kingdom come; your will be done”; and at this time he earnestly sought to induce them to abandon the use of the term kingdom of God in favor of the more practical equivalent, the will of God. But he did not succeed.
2015 170:2.11 Den store ambition udtrykt i denne prædiken var forsøget på at omdanne begrebet himmelriget til et ideal, som omfattede tanken om at gøre Guds vilje. Længe havde Mesteren lært sine disciple at bede: "Må dit rige komme; må din vilje ske", og på dette tidspunkt forsøgte han alvorligt at overtale dem til at opgive brugen af udtrykket Guds rige til fordel for den mere praktiske tilsvarende, Guds vilje[17]. Men det lykkedes ikke.
1955 170:2.12 Jesus desired to substitute for the idea of the kingdom, king, and subjects, the concept of the heavenly family, the heavenly Father, and the liberated sons of God engaged in joyful and voluntary service for their fellow men and in the sublime and intelligent worship of God the Father.
2015 170:2.12 Jesus ønskede at erstatte idéen om riget, kongen, og undersåtter med begrebet om den himmelske familie, den himmelske Fader og Guds befriede sønner engageret i en fornøjelig og frivillig tjeneste for sine medmennesker og i en ophøjet og intelligent tilbedelse af Gud Faderen.
1955 170:2.13 Up to this time the apostles had acquired a double viewpoint of the kingdom; they regarded it as:
2015 170:2.13 Indtil dette tidspunkt havde apostlene erhvervet en dobbelt tilgang til Guds Rige; de anså det for at være:
1955 170:2.14 1. A matter of personal experience then present in the hearts of true believers, and
2015 170:2.14 1. Et spørgsmål om personlig erfaring, noget, som allerede eksisterede i hjerter hos sande troende.
1955 170:2.15 2. A question of racial or world phenomena; that the kingdom was in the future, something to look forward to.
2015 170:2.15 2. Et spørgsmål om racemæssige eller verdensfænomen; at Guds rige lå i fremtiden, noget at se frem til.
1955 170:2.16 They looked upon the coming of the kingdom in the hearts of men as a gradual development, like the leaven in the dough or like the growing of the mustard seed. They believed that the coming of the kingdom in the racial or world sense would be both sudden and spectacular. Jesus never tired of telling them that the kingdom of heaven was their personal experience of realizing the higher qualities of spiritual living; that these realities of the spirit experience are progressively translated to new and higher levels of divine certainty and eternal grandeur.
2015 170:2.16 De betragtede fremkomsten af riget i menneskernes hjerter som en gradvis udvikling, ligesom fermentering af surdej eller sennepskornets vækst[18][19]. De troede, at gudsrigets ankomst i befolkningens eller verdens fornuft ville være både pludseligt og spektakulært[20]. Jesus blev aldrig træt af at fortælle dem, at himmelriget var deres personlige erfaring til at genkende og realisere det åndelige livs højere kvaliteter; at disse åndelige erfarede virkeligheder gradvist overføres til nye og højere niveauer af guddommelig vished og evig storhed.
1955 170:2.17 On this afternoon the Master distinctly taught a new concept of the double nature of the kingdom in that he portrayed the following two phases:
2015 170:2.17 Denne eftermiddag forkyndte Mesteren klart en ny forståelse af gudsrigets dobbelte natur, da han beskrev de følgende to faser:
1955 170:2.18 “First. The kingdom of God in this world, the supreme desire to do the will of God, the unselfish love of man which yields the good fruits of improved ethical and moral conduct.
2015 170:2.18 "For det første: Guds rige i denne verden, det højeste ønske om at gøre Guds vilje, menneskets uselviske kærlighed, som bærer god frugt i form af forbedret etisk og moralsk adfærd.
1955 170:2.19 “Second. The kingdom of God in heaven, the goal of mortal believers, the estate wherein the love for God is perfected, and wherein the will of God is done more divinely.”
2015 170:2.19 "For det anden: Guds rige i himlen, målet for de dødelige troende, den fase af livet, hvor kærlighed til Gud er perfektioneret, og hvor Guds vilje sker på en mere guddommelig måde."
1955 170:2.20 Jesus taught that, by faith, the believer enters the kingdom now. In the various discourses he taught that two things are essential to faith-entrance into the kingdom:
2015 170:2.20 Jesus lærte, at den troende gennem sin tro trådte ind i riget nu. I sine mange foredrag lærte han, at to ting er afgørende for at den troende gennem troen komme ind i Guds Rige:
1955 170:2.21 1. Faith, sincerity. To come as a little child, to receive the bestowal of sonship as a gift; to submit to the doing of the Father’s will without questioning and in the full confidence and genuine trustfulness of the Father’s wisdom; to come into the kingdom free from prejudice and preconception; to be open-minded and teachable like an unspoiled child.
2015 170:2.21 1. Tro, oprigtighed. At komme som et lille barn, til at modtage overdragelsen af sønskabet som en gave; at underkaste sig til at gøre Faderens vilje uden spørgsmål og med fuld tillid og ægte tillidsfuldhed til Faderens visdom; til at komme ind i riget uden fordomme og forudfattede meninger; at have et åbent sind og være villig til at lære som et uspoleret barn[21].
1955 170:2.23 Jesus taught that sin is not the child of a defective nature but rather the offspring of a knowing mind dominated by an unsubmissive will. Regarding sin, he taught that God has forgiven; that we make such forgiveness personally available by the act of forgiving our fellows. When you forgive your brother in the flesh, you thereby create the capacity in your own soul for the reception of the reality of God’s forgiveness of your own misdeeds.
2015 170:2.23 Jesus lærte at synd ikke er resultatet af en fejlbehæftet menneskelige natur, men at det snarere kommer fra et bevidst sind, der er domineret af en genstridig vilje. Med hensyn til synd, lærte han, at Gud har tilgivet den; at vi gør denne tilgivelse personligt tilgængelig ved at tilgive vore medmennesker. Når du tilgiver din jordiske broder skaber du derved i din egen sjæl evnen til som en realitet at modtage Guds tilgivelse for dine egne ugerninger.
1955 170:2.24 By the time the Apostle John began to write the story of Jesus’ life and teachings, the early Christians had experienced so much trouble with the kingdom-of-God idea as a breeder of persecution that they had largely abandoned the use of the term. John talks much about the “eternal life.” Jesus often spoke of it as the “kingdom of life.” He also frequently referred to “the kingdom of God within you.” He once spoke of such an experience as “family fellowship with God the Father.” Jesus sought to substitute many terms for the kingdom but always without success. Among others, he used: the family of God, the Father’s will, the friends of God, the fellowship of believers, the brotherhood of man, the Father’s fold, the children of God, the fellowship of the faithful, the Father’s service, and the liberated sons of God.
2015 170:2.24 På det tidspunkt da apostlen Johannes begyndte at skrive historien om Jesu liv og lære havde de første kristne haft så meget besvær med idéen om at Guds rige forårsagede forfølgelse, at de i høj grad havde forladt brugen af udtrykket. Johannes taler meget om "det evige liv"[23]. Jesus talte ofte om det som "livets rige." Han henviste også ofte til "Guds rige i dig[24]." Han talte engang om en sådan oplevelse som "familie fællesskab med Gud Faderen." Jesus søgte at erstatte udtrykket riget med mange andre udtryk, men altid uden held. Blandt andet brugte han udtryk som: Guds familie, Faderens vilje, Guds venner, de troendes fællesskab, menneskers broderskab, Faderens flok, Guds børn, de trofastes fællesskab, Faderens tjeneste og Guds befriede sønner[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].
1955 170:2.25 But he could not escape the use of the kingdom idea. It was more than fifty years later, not until after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, that this concept of the kingdom began to change into the cult of eternal life as its social and institutional aspects were taken over by the rapidly expanding and crystallizing Christian church.
2015 170:2.25 Men han kunne ikke undgå at bruge idéen om riget. Først over halvtreds år senere, efter at de romerske hære havde ødelagt Jerusalem, begyndte denne idé om riget at forandres til det evige livets kult da de sociale og institutionelle aspekter blev overtaget af den hastigt voksende og krystalliserende kristne kirke.
3. IN RELATION TO RIGHTEOUSNESS
3. I FORHOLD TIL RETFÆRDIGHEDEN
1955 170:3.1 Jesus was always trying to impress upon his apostles and disciples that they must acquire, by faith, a righteousness which would exceed the righteousness of slavish works which some of the scribes and Pharisees paraded so vaingloriously before the world.
1955 170:3.2 Though Jesus taught that faith, simple childlike belief, is the key to the door of the kingdom, he also taught that, having entered the door, there are the progressive steps of righteousness which every believing child must ascend in order to grow up to the full stature of the robust sons of God.
1955 170:3.3 It is in the consideration of the technique of receiving God’s forgiveness that the attainment of the righteousness of the kingdom is revealed. Faith is the price you pay for entrance into the family of God; but forgiveness is the act of God which accepts your faith as the price of admission. And the reception of the forgiveness of God by a kingdom believer involves a definite and actual experience and consists in the following four steps, the kingdom steps of inner righteousness:
2015 170:3.3 Det er i betragtning af måden for at modtage Guds tilgivelse, at opnåelsen af rigets retfærdighed åbenbares. Troen er den pris, du betaler for at træde ind i Guds familie, men tilgivelse er Guds handling som godkender din tro som prisen for indtrædelse. Modtagelse af Guds tilgivelse indebærer for en troende i riget en konkret og aktuel erfaring, og består af fire trin, rigets trin af indre retfærdighed:
2015 170:3.5 2. Mennesket tilgiver ikke seriøst deres medmennesker, hvis ikke det elsker dem som sig selv.
1955 170:3.7 4. Moral conduct, true righteousness, becomes, then, the natural result of such love.
2015 170:3.7 4. Moralsk adfærd, sand retfærdighed, bliver det naturlige resultat af en sådan kærlighed.
1955 170:3.8 It therefore is evident that the true and inner religion of the kingdom unfailingly and increasingly tends to manifest itself in practical avenues of social service. Jesus taught a living religion that impelled its believers to engage in the doing of loving service. But Jesus did not put ethics in the place of religion. He taught religion as a cause and ethics as a result.
2015 170:3.8 Det er derfor indlysende, at rigets sande og indre religion ufejlbarligt og i stigende grad har en tendens til at manifestere sig i praktiske foranstaltninger af social tjeneste. Jesus forkyndte en levende religion, der tilskyndede sine troende til at engagere sig i kærlig tjeneste[40]. Men Jesus satte ikke etik i stedet for religion. Han underviste religionen som en årsag og etikken som resultat.
1955 170:3.9 The righteousness of any act must be measured by the motive; the highest forms of good are therefore unconscious. Jesus was never concerned with morals or ethics as such. He was wholly concerned with that inward and spiritual fellowship with God the Father which so certainly and directly manifests itself as outward and loving service for man. He taught that the religion of the kingdom is a genuine personal experience which no man can contain within himself; that the consciousness of being a member of the family of believers leads inevitably to the practice of the precepts of the family conduct, the service of one’s brothers and sisters in the effort to enhance and enlarge the brotherhood.
2015 170:3.9 Retfærdigheden af enhver handling skal måles med motivet til den; de højeste former for godhed er derfor ubevidste. Jesus beskæftigede sig aldrig med moral eller etik som sådan. Han var helt optaget af det indre og åndelige fællesskab med Gud Faderen, som så sikkert og direkte manifesterer sig i en udad og kærlig tjeneste for mennesket. Han lærte, at rigets religion er en ægte personlig erfaring, som intet menneske kan holde i sig; bevidstheden om, at man er et medlem af familien af troende fører uundgåeligt til at man følger reglerne for familiens adfærd, for at tjene sine brødre og søstre i et forsøg på at udvide og udbygge fællesskabet.
1955 170:3.10 The religion of the kingdom is personal, individual; the fruits, the results, are familial, social. Jesus never failed to exalt the sacredness of the individual as contrasted with the community. But he also recognized that man develops his character by unselfish service; that he unfolds his moral nature in loving relations with his fellows.
2015 170:3.10 Gudsrigets religion er personlig, individuel; frugterne, resultaterne, påvirker familien, broderskabet. Jesus undlod aldrig at ophøje helligheden hos individet i modsætning til samfundet. Men han indså også, at mennesket opbygger sin karakter ved uselvisk tjeneste; det udvikler sin moralske natur i kærlige relationer med sine medmennesker.
1955 170:3.11 By teaching that the kingdom is within, by exalting the individual, Jesus struck the deathblow of the old society in that he ushered in the new dispensation of true social righteousness. This new order of society the world has little known because it has refused to practice the principles of the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. And when this kingdom of spiritual pre-eminence does come upon the earth, it will not be manifested in mere improved social and material conditions, but rather in the glories of those enhanced and enriched spiritual values which are characteristic of the approaching age of improved human relations and advancing spiritual attainments.
2015 170:3.11 Ved at forkynde, at riget er indeni mennesket, ved at ophøje den enkelte, gav Jesus dødsstødet til det gamle samfund, og indvarslede den nye dispensation af sand social retfærdighed[41]. Denne nye samfundsorden har verden knap kendt til, fordi verden har nægtet at anvende principperne i himmelrigets evangelium. Når dette rige, som indebær at det åndelige har forrang, faktisk kommer på jorden, vil det ikke kun manifestere sig i bedre sociale og materielle forhold, men snarere i herligheder af de forhøjede og berigede åndelige værdier, der kendetegner den forestående tidsalder af forbedrede menneskelige relationer og avanceret åndelige opnåelser.
4. JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT THE KINGDOM
4. JESU UNDERVISNING OM RIGET
1955 170:4.1 Jesus never gave a precise definition of the kingdom. At one time he would discourse on one phase of the kingdom, and at another time he would discuss a different aspect of the brotherhood of God’s reign in the hearts of men. In the course of this Sabbath afternoon’s sermon Jesus noted no less than five phases, or epochs, of the kingdom, and they were:
2015 170:4.1 Jesus gav aldrig en præcis definition af gudsriget. Én gang, diskuterede han en bestemt fase af riget, og en anden gang behandlede han et andet aspekt af broderskabet af Guds herredømme i menneskenes hjerter. I løbet af denne sabbateftermiddags prædiken nævnte Jesus ikke mindre end fem faser, eller epoker af riget, nemlig:
1955 170:4.2 1. The personal and inward experience of the spiritual life of the fellowship of the individual believer with God the Father.
2015 170:4.2 1. Den personlige og indre oplevelse af det åndelige liv for den enkelte troendes fællesskab med Gud Faderen.
1955 170:4.3 2. The enlarging brotherhood of gospel believers, the social aspects of the enhanced morals and quickened ethics resulting from the reign of God’s spirit in the hearts of individual believers.
2015 170:4.3 2. Det voksende broderskab af evangeliske troende, de sociale aspekter af den højere moral og strengere etik som følge af Guds ånd i de enkelte troendes hjerter.
1955 170:4.4 3. The supermortal brotherhood of invisible spiritual beings which prevails on earth and in heaven, the superhuman kingdom of God.
2015 170:4.4 3. Det overjordiske broderskab af usynlige åndelige væsener, der hersker på jorden og i himlen, det overmenneskelige Guds rige.
1955 170:4.5 4. The prospect of the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God, the advance toward the dawn of a new social order in connection with improved spiritual living—the next age of man.
2015 170:4.5 4. Forventninger om en mere perfekt opfyldelse af Guds vilje, fremskridt hen imod indgangen til en ny social orden i forbindelse med en forbedret åndelig levemåde - menneskets næste tidsalder.
1955 170:4.6 5. The kingdom in its fullness, the future spiritual age of light and life on earth.
1955 170:4.7 Wherefore must we always examine the Master’s teaching to ascertain which of these five phases he may have reference to when he makes use of the term kingdom of heaven. By this process of gradually changing man’s will and thus affecting human decisions, Michael and his associates are likewise gradually but certainly changing the entire course of human evolution, social and otherwise.
2015 170:4.7 Derfor skal vi altid undersøge Mesterens lære for at afgøre, hvilke af disse fem faser han kan tænkes at henvise til, når han bruger udtrykket Himmelriget. Gennem denne proces, med gradvis at ændre menneskets vilje og dermed påvirke menneskelige beslutninger, ændrer Mikael og hans kolleger sig ligeledes gradvist, men sikkert i hele forløbet af menneskelig udvikling - socialt og andet.
1955 170:4.8 The Master on this occasion placed emphasis on the following five points as representing the cardinal features of the gospel of the kingdom:
2015 170:4.8 Mesteren lagde ved denne lejlighed vægt på følgende fem punkter som udtryk for de vigtigste elementer i rigets evangelium:
1955 170:4.9 1. The pre-eminence of the individual.
2015 170:4.9 1. Forrang for den enkelte.
1955 170:4.10 2. The will as the determining factor in man’s experience.
2015 170:4.10 2. Viljen som den afgørende faktor i den menneskelige erfaring.
1955 170:4.11 3. Spiritual fellowship with God the Father.
2015 170:4.11 3. Åndeligt fællesskab med Gud Faderen.
2015 170:4.12 4. Den højeste tilfredshed gennem kærlig tjeneste af menneskeheden.
1955 170:4.13 5. The transcendency of the spiritual over the material in human personality.
2015 170:4.13 5. Den åndelige transcendens over det materielle i menneskets personlighed.
1955 170:4.14 This world has never seriously or sincerely or honestly tried out these dynamic ideas and divine ideals of Jesus’ doctrine of the kingdom of heaven. But you should not become discouraged by the apparently slow progress of the kingdom idea on Urantia. Remember that the order of progressive evolution is subjected to sudden and unexpected periodical changes in both the material and the spiritual worlds. The bestowal of Jesus as an incarnated Son was just such a strange and unexpected event in the spiritual life of the world. Neither make the fatal mistake, in looking for the age manifestation of the kingdom, of failing to effect its establishment within your own souls.
2015 170:4.14 Denne verden har aldrig for alvor, oprigtigt eller ærligt prøvet disse dynamiske idéer og guddommelige idealer i Jesu lære om himmelriget. Men du bør ikke tillade dig selv at blive afskrækket af de tilsyneladende langsomme fremskridt af rigets idé på Urantia. Husk, at rækkefølgen af fremadskridende evolution udsættes for pludselige og uventede periodiske ændringer i både den materielle og den åndelige verden. Jesu overdragelse som en inkarneret søn var netop sådan en usædvanlig og uventet begivenhed i det åndelige liv i verden. Gør heller ikke den fatale fejl, mens I venter på at riget vil manifestere sig i en ny tidsalder, til at forsømme at etablere det i jeres egne sjæle.
1955 170:4.15 Although Jesus referred one phase of the kingdom to the future and did, on numerous occasions, intimate that such an event might appear as a part of a world crisis; and though he did likewise most certainly, on several occasions, definitely promise sometime to return to Urantia, it should be recorded that he never positively linked these two ideas together. He promised a new revelation of the kingdom on earth and at some future time; he also promised sometime to come back to this world in person; but he did not say that these two events were synonymous. From all we know these promises may, or may not, refer to the same event.
2015 170:4.15 Selvom Jesus henviste en af rigets faser til fremtiden, og ved flere lejligheder antydede, at en sådan begivenhed kunne tænkes at dukke op som en del af en global krise, og selv om han også ved flere lejligheder bestemt lovede endnu engang at vende tilbage til Urantia, skal det noteres, at han aldrig definitivt forbandt disse to tanker sammen. Han lovede på et tidspunkt i fremtiden en ny åbenbaring af riget på jorden. Han lovede også engang, i egen person at komme tilbage til denne verden, men han sagde ikke, at disse to begivenheder var synonyme. For alt hvad vi ved, kan, eller ikke kan, disse løfter refererer til den samme begivenhed.
1955 170:4.16 His apostles and disciples most certainly linked these two teachings together. When the kingdom failed to materialize as they had expected, recalling the Master’s teaching concerning a future kingdom and remembering his promise to come again, they jumped to the conclusion that these promises referred to an identical event; and therefore they lived in hope of his immediate second coming to establish the kingdom in its fullness and with power and glory. And so have successive believing generations lived on earth entertaining the same inspiring but disappointing hope.
2015 170:4.16 Hans apostle og disciple forbandt faktisk disse to lære sammen. Da riget udeblev som de havde forventet, huskede de Mesterens lærdomme om en fremtidig rige og huskede hans løfte om at komme tilbage, og så drog de den forhastede konklusion, at disse løfter henviste til samme hændelse. Derfor levede de i håbet om, at hans umiddelbare genkomst en anden gang, med magt og herlighed for at etablere Guds rige i sin helhed. Så nu har generationer af troende levet på jorden, den ene efter den anden, med det samme inspirerende, men skuffende håb.
5. LATER IDEAS OF THE KINGDOM
5. SENERE IDÉER OM GUDS RIGE
1955 170:5.1 Having summarized the teachings of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven, we are permitted to narrate certain later ideas which became attached to the concept of the kingdom and to engage in a prophetic forecast of the kingdom as it may evolve in the age to come.
2015 170:5.1 Da vi nu har sammenfattet Jesu lære om himmelriget, har vi lov til at forklare nogle af de seneste idéer, der er knyttet til begrebet om riget, og at fremføre en profetisk forudsigelse af riget, som det kan tænkes at udvikle sig i den kommende tid.
1955 170:5.3 But the great step which marked the transplantation of the teachings of Jesus from a Jewish to a gentile soil was taken when the Messiah of the kingdom became the Redeemer of the church, a religious and social organization growing out of the activities of Paul and his successors and based on the teachings of Jesus as they were supplemented by the ideas of Philo and the Persian doctrines of good and evil.
2015 170:5.3 Men det store skridt, som markerede omplantningen af Jesu lære fra en jødisk til en ikke-jødisk grobund, blev taget, da rigets Messias blev kirkens Forløser. Kirken var den religiøse og sociale organisation, der voksede frem af Paulus og hans tilhængeres aktiviteter, og som baserede sig på Jesu lære, som blev suppleret med Filons tanker og de persiske doktriner om godt og ondt.
1955 170:5.4 The ideas and ideals of Jesus, embodied in the teaching of the gospel of the kingdom, nearly failed of realization as his followers progressively distorted his pronouncements. The Master’s concept of the kingdom was notably modified by two great tendencies:
2015 170:5.4 Jesu idéer og idealer, så som de kom til udtryk i forkyndelsen om rigets evangelium, blev næsten tabt, da hans tilhængere i stigende grad forvrængede hans udtalelser. Mesterens opfattelse af riget blev mærkbart ændret ved to stærke tendenser:
1955 170:5.5 1. The Jewish believers persisted in regarding him as the Messiah. They believed that Jesus would very soon return actually to establish the world-wide and more or less material kingdom.
2015 170:5.5 1. De jødiske troende holdt stædigt fast i betragtningen om ham som Messias. De troede, at Jesus snart ville vende tilbage for faktisk at etablere et verdensomspændende og mere eller mindre materielt rige.
1955 170:5.6 2. The gentile Christians began very early to accept the doctrines of Paul, which led increasingly to the general belief that Jesus was the Redeemer of the children of the church, the new and institutional successor of the earlier concept of the purely spiritual brotherhood of the kingdom.
2015 170:5.6 2. De ikke-jødiske kristne begyndte meget tidligt at acceptere Paulus doktriner, som i stigende grad har ført til den generelle opfattelse, at Jesus var Forløseren af kirkens børn, kirken som var den nye og institutionelle efterfølger til den tidligere opfattelse om riget som et rent åndeligt broderskab[44].
1955 170:5.7 The church, as a social outgrowth of the kingdom, would have been wholly natural and even desirable. The evil of the church was not its existence, but rather that it almost completely supplanted the Jesus concept of the kingdom. Paul’s institutionalized church became a virtual substitute for the kingdom of heaven which Jesus had proclaimed.
2015 170:5.7 Som en social udvækst af riget, havde kirken været helt naturligt og endda ønskeligt. Det onde med kirken var ikke dens eksistens, men snarere, at den næsten helt fortrængte Jesu opfattelse af riget. Paulus institutionaliserede kirke blev næsten en erstatning for himmelriget som Jesus havde forkyndt[45].
1955 170:5.9 The kingdom of Jesus’ teaching, the spiritual ideal of individual righteousness and the concept of man’s divine fellowship with God, became gradually submerged into the mystic conception of the person of Jesus as the Redeemer-Creator and spiritual head of a socialized religious community. In this way a formal and institutional church became the substitute for the individually spirit-led brotherhood of the kingdom.
2015 170:5.9 Riget ifølge Jesu lære, det åndelige ideal om individuel retfærdighed og begrebet menneskets guddommelige fællesskab med Gud, blev til sidst begravet i den mystiske tankekonstruktion om Jesu person som Forløseren-Skaberen og åndelig leder af et socialiseret religiøst samfund. På denne måde blev en formel og institutionel kirke en stedfortræder for det individuelt åndeligt ledede broderskab af riget.
1955 170:5.10 The church was an inevitable and useful social result of Jesus’ life and teachings; the tragedy consisted in the fact that this social reaction to the teachings of the kingdom so fully displaced the spiritual concept of the real kingdom as Jesus taught and lived it.
2015 170:5.10 Kirken var en uundgåelig og nyttig social følge af Jesu liv og undervisning, tragedien bestod i, at denne sociale reaktion til læren om riget så fuldt fortrængte det åndelige begreb om det virkelige rige i overensstemmelse med Jesu lære og liv.
1955 170:5.11 The kingdom, to the Jews, was the Israelite community; to the gentiles it became the Christian church. To Jesus the kingdom was the sum of those individuals who had confessed their faith in the fatherhood of God, thereby declaring their wholehearted dedication to the doing of the will of God, thus becoming members of the spiritual brotherhood of man.
2015 170:5.11 Guds rige var for jøderne israelitternes samfund; for ikke-jøderne blev det den kristne kirke. For Jesus var riget summen af de personer, der havde bekendt deres tro på Guds faderskab og dermed erklæret sig helhjertet dedikeret til at gøre Guds vilje og dermed blive medlemmer af det åndelige broderskab.
1955 170:5.12 The Master fully realized that certain social results would appear in the world as a consequence of the spread of the gospel of the kingdom; but he intended that all such desirable social manifestations should appear as unconscious and inevitable outgrowths, or natural fruits, of this inner personal experience of individual believers, this purely spiritual fellowship and communion with the divine spirit which indwells and activates all such believers.
2015 170:5.12 Mesteren var fuldt ud klar over, at visse sociale resultater ville fremtræde i verden, som følge af udbredelsen af rigets evangelium; men hans hensigt var, at alle sådanne ønskelige sociale manifestationer bør fremstå som ubevidste og uundgåelige udvækster, eller naturlige frugter af dette indre personlige erfaring hos de enkelte troende, dette rent åndelige fællesskab og fællesskab med den guddommelige ånd som er iboende og aktiverer alle sådanne troende.
1955 170:5.13 Jesus foresaw that a social organization, or church, would follow the progress of the true spiritual kingdom, and that is why he never opposed the apostles’ practicing the rite of John’s baptism. He taught that the truth-loving soul, the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, for God, is admitted by faith to the spiritual kingdom; at the same time the apostles taught that such a believer is admitted to the social organization of disciples by the outward rite of baptism.
2015 170:5.13 Jesus forudså, at en social organisation eller kirke ville følge det sande åndelige riges udbredelse, og derfor modsatte han sig aldrig apostlene praktisering af Johannes dåb. Han lærte, at den sandheds elskende sjæl, som hungrer og tørster efter retfærdighed - efter Gud - gennem tro optages i den åndelige verden[47][48][49]. Samtidig lærte apostlene, at en sådan troende gennem det ydre dåbsritual optages i disciplenes sociale organisation.
1955 170:5.14 When Jesus’ immediate followers recognized their partial failure to realize his ideal of the establishment of the kingdom in the hearts of men by the spirit’s domination and guidance of the individual believer, they set about to save his teaching from being wholly lost by substituting for the Master’s ideal of the kingdom the gradual creation of a visible social organization, the Christian church. And when they had accomplished this program of substitution, in order to maintain consistency and to provide for the recognition of the Master’s teaching regarding the fact of the kingdom, they proceeded to set the kingdom off into the future. The church, just as soon as it was well established, began to teach that the kingdom was in reality to appear at the culmination of the Christian age, at the second coming of Christ.
2015 170:5.14 Da Jesu umiddelbare tilhængere efter hans tid indså deres delvise manglende virkeliggørelse af hans ideal for oprettelsen af riget i menneskenes hjerter gennem åndens dominans over og vejledning af den enkelte troende, gik de i gang med at redde hans undervisning fra at blive helt tabt ved at erstatte Mesterens ideal om riget med den gradvise oprettelse af en synlig social organisation, den kristne kirke. Da de havde gennemført dette erstatningsprogram begyndte de, for at bevare sammenhængen og at sørge for anerkendelse af Mesterens lærdomme om riget, at udskyde riget ind i fremtiden. Så snart kirken var blevet veletableret, begyndte den at undervise, at Guds rige i virkeligheden ville fremtræde når den kristne tidsalder kulminerede, ved Kristi genkomst.
1955 170:5.15 In this manner the kingdom became the concept of an age, the idea of a future visitation, and the ideal of the final redemption of the saints of the Most High. The early Christians (and all too many of the later ones) generally lost sight of the Father-and-son idea embodied in Jesus’ teaching of the kingdom, while they substituted therefor the well-organized social fellowship of the church. The church thus became in the main a social brotherhood which effectively displaced Jesus’ concept and ideal of a spiritual brotherhood.
2015 170:5.15 På denne måde blev riget et begreb om en tidsalder, en idé om et fremtidigt besøg og et ideal om den endelige indfrielse af den Højestes hellige[50]. De første kristne (og alt for mange af de senere) mistede helt synet af idéen om Faderen og søn som den blev udtrykt i Jesu forkyndelse af riget, samtidig som de erstattede den med kirkens velorganiserede sociale fællesskab. Kirken blev således primært et socialt broderskab, som effektivt fordrev Jesu koncept og idealet om et åndeligt broderskab.
1955 170:5.16 Jesus’ ideal concept largely failed, but upon the foundation of the Master’s personal life and teachings, supplemented by the Greek and Persian concepts of eternal life and augmented by Philo’s doctrine of the temporal contrasted with the spiritual, Paul went forth to build up one of the most progressive human societies which has ever existed on Urantia.
2015 170:5.16 Jesus ideelle koncept gik stort set tabt, men med Mesterens personlige liv og lære som grundlag, suppleret af de græske og persiske begreber om det evige liv og udvidet med Filons doktrin om det tidsmæssige i modsætning til det åndelige, gik Paulus ud for at opbygge et af de mest progressive menneskelige samfund, som nogensinde har eksisteret på Urantia.
1955 170:5.17 The concept of Jesus is still alive in the advanced religions of the world. Paul’s Christian church is the socialized and humanized shadow of what Jesus intended the kingdom of heaven to be—and what it most certainly will yet become. Paul and his successors partly transferred the issues of eternal life from the individual to the church. Christ thus became the head of the church rather than the elder brother of each individual believer in the Father’s family of the kingdom. Paul and his contemporaries applied all of Jesus’ spiritual implications regarding himself and the individual believer to the church as a group of believers; and in doing this, they struck a deathblow to Jesus’ concept of the divine kingdom in the heart of the individual believer.
2015 170:5.17 Jesu koncept er stadig i live i de avancerede religioner i verden. Paulus kristne kirke er den socialiserede og humaniserede skygge af, hvad Jesus antog at himmelriget ville være - og hvad det helt sikkert en dag vil blive. Paulus og hans efterfølgere flyttet delvis spørgsmålene om det evige liv fra individet til kirken. Kristus blev dermed kirkens overhoved snarere end en storebror til hver enkelt troende i Faderens familie i riget[51][52]. Paulus og hans samtidige anvendte alle Jesu åndelige implikationer vedrørende ham selv og den enkelte troende til kirken som en gruppe af troende, og når de gjorde dette, så gav de dødsstødet til Jesu begreb om det guddommelige rige i den enkelte troendes hjerte.
1955 170:5.18 And so, for centuries, the Christian church has labored under great embarrassment because it dared to lay claim to those mysterious powers and privileges of the kingdom, powers and privileges which can be exercised and experienced only between Jesus and his spiritual believer brothers. And thus it becomes apparent that membership in the church does not necessarily mean fellowship in the kingdom; one is spiritual, the other mainly social.
2015 170:5.18 Så den kristne kirke har i århundreder arbejdede under en stor forlegenhed, fordi den vovede at gøre krav på rigets mystiske beføjelser og privilegier, som kun kan udøves og erfares mellem Jesus og hans åndelige troende brødre. Således bliver det tydeligt, at medlemskab i kirken ikke nødvendigvis betyder fællesskab i riget; sidstnævnte er åndelig, den første hovedsagelig social.
1955 170:5.19 Sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming “the kingdom of God is at hand”—meaning a return to the high spiritual concept of Jesus, who proclaimed that the kingdom is the will of his heavenly Father dominant and transcendent in the heart of the believer—and doing all this without in any way referring either to the visible church on earth or to the anticipated second coming of Christ. There must come a revival of the actual teachings of Jesus, such a restatement as will undo the work of his early followers who went about to create a sociophilosophical system of belief regarding the fact of Michael’s sojourn on earth. In a short time the teaching of this story about Jesus nearly supplanted the preaching of Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. In this way a historical religion displaced that teaching in which Jesus had blended man’s highest moral ideas and spiritual ideals with man’s most sublime hope for the future—eternal life. And that was the gospel of the kingdom.
2015 170:5.19 Før eller senere, er tiden inde for at en anden og større Johannes Døberen skal opstå og forkynde: "Guds rige er nært forestående" - i betydningen af en tilbagevenden til det høje åndelige begreb fra Jesus, som forkyndte, at riget er hans himmelske Faders vilje, når den er dominerende og transcendent i hjertet af den troende - og at gøre alt dette uden på nogen måde at henvise til enten den synlige kirke på jorden eller til den forventede Kristi genkomst[53]. Der skal være en genoplivning af Jesu faktiske lære, en sådan genrepræsentation som vil ophæve hans tidligere tilhængers arbejde, som gik på at skabe et sociofilosofisk trossystem om kendsgerningen af Mikaels ophold på Jorden. Inden for en kort tid, erstattede undervisningen af denne historie om Jesus forkyndelse af Jesu evangelium om riget. På denne måde tilsidesatte en historisk religion, den undervisning, i hvilken Jesus havde blandet menneskets højeste moralske idéer og åndelige idealer med dets mest sublime håb for fremtiden - det evige liv. Og det var evangeliet om gudsriget.
1955 170:5.20 It is just because the gospel of Jesus was so many-sided that within a few centuries students of the records of his teachings became divided up into so many cults and sects. This pitiful subdivision of Christian believers results from failure to discern in the Master’s manifold teachings the divine oneness of his matchless life. But someday the true believers in Jesus will not be thus spiritually divided in their attitude before unbelievers. Always we may have diversity of intellectual comprehension and interpretation, even varying degrees of socialization, but lack of spiritual brotherhood is both inexcusable and reprehensible.
2015 170:5.20 Det er netop, fordi at Jesu evangelium var så alsidigt at de som studerede optegnelserne om hans lære indenfor et par århundreder var opdelt i så mange kulter og sekter. Denne ynkelige inddeling af kristne troende er en følge af at man ikke i Mesterens mangesidede forkyndelse har formået at skelne den guddommelige enhed i hans uforlignelige liv. Men en dag kommer, hvor de sande troende i Jesus ikke på denne måde vil være åndeligt delt i deres holdning overfor ikke-troende. Altid kan vi have mangfoldighed i intellektuel forståelse og fortolkning, selv varierende grader af socialisering, men mangel på åndeligt broderskab er både utilgiveligt og forkasteligt.
1955 170:5.21 Mistake not! there is in the teachings of Jesus an eternal nature which will not permit them forever to remain unfruitful in the hearts of thinking men. The kingdom as Jesus conceived it has to a large extent failed on earth; for the time being, an outward church has taken its place; but you should comprehend that this church is only the larval stage of the thwarted spiritual kingdom, which will carry it through this material age and over into a more spiritual dispensation where the Master’s teachings may enjoy a fuller opportunity for development. Thus does the so-called Christian church become the cocoon in which the kingdom of Jesus’ concept now slumbers. The kingdom of the divine brotherhood is still alive and will eventually and certainly come forth from this long submergence, just as surely as the butterfly eventually emerges as the beautiful unfolding of its less attractive creature of metamorphic development.
2015 170:5.21 Tag ikke fejl! Der findes i Jesu lære sådan en evig natur, der ikke vil tillade den for evigt at forblive ufrugtbare i hjerterne hos tænkende mennesker. Guds rige, som Jesus forstod det er stort set mislykkedes på jorden, for tiden, har en materiel kirke fundet sin plads, men du må forstå, at denne kirke kun er det forsinkede åndelige rigets larvestadium, der bærer riget gennem denne materielle tidsalder over til en mere åndelig verdensorden, hvor Mesterens lære kan nyde en fyldigere mulighed for at udvikle sig. Således bliver den såkaldte kristne kirke den kokon, i hvilken riget ifølge Jesus koncept nu blunder. Det guddommelige broderskabets rige er stadig i live og vil i sidste ende og helt sikkert fremtræde fra denne lange nedsænkning, lige så sikkert som sommerfuglen i sidste ende vil fremstå som den smukke udfoldelse af dets mindre attraktivt metamorfiske udviklingsvæsen.
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