Paper 189 Overview: The Resurrection

Jesus was buried on Friday afternoon, and early Sunday morning he was resurrected. The archangels of Nebadon and other celestial beings gathered but could not help with the resurrection because only Jesus could resurrect himself. When Jesus came back to life, he appeared in a morontia body, which is different from his physical body.

After the resurrection, Jesus met with various followers and friends. His physical body remained in the tomb undisturbed while he walked around in his new morontia form. The apostles had trouble believing Jesus had risen even when women and others told them they had seen him.

Shortly after Jesus was buried, a gathering of archangels met to discuss how they might help resurrect Jesus. They realized that they could do nothing to help, as Gabriel explained that Jesus had the power to take up his life again by his own choice. Jesus' Thought Adjuster, who was now in command of the celestial hosts on Urantia, told the waiting angels that they could not assist their Creator-father in returning to life.

The Thought Adjuster explained that Jesus was experiencing the same death that mortals experience. Jesus had chosen to go through the entire human experience from birth to death, and was now entering the morontia phase of existence. The Thought Adjuster knew what would happen because of instructions from the Paradise Father, but the heavenly beings had to wait patiently for developments.

At 2:45 Sunday morning, seven Paradise personalities arrived at Jesus' tomb. At 3:02 a.m., Jesus emerged from the tomb in his morontia form while his physical body remained undisturbed inside. The stone at the entrance remained unmoved, Pilate's seal was unbroken, and the guards were still on duty, unaware that Jesus had risen.

Jesus' resurrection was a morontia event, not a material one. No creature from this universe or any other universe helped with the resurrection. The morontia resurrection happened exactly at the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, but involved only Jesus and the seven Paradise personalities who were there to witness it.

After Jesus was resurrected, the chief of archangels asked Gabriel if they could take care of Jesus' physical body. The archangel wanted permission to quickly dissolve the body rather than let it slowly decay. Gabriel granted this request after consulting with the Most High of Edentia.

The archangels and midwayers then moved the stones from the tomb entrance. When the Jewish guards and Roman soldiers saw the stone moving on its own, they ran away in fear. Later, the Jewish leaders bribed these guards to say that Jesus' disciples had stolen his body while they slept.

After Jesus was resurrected, Gabriel prepared for a general resurrection of all those who had died since the time of Adam and were ready for the mansion worlds. The morontia Jesus appeared before Gabriel and authorized this resurrection to begin. Gabriel then signaled for the resurrection to start.

This was the third planetary resurrection in Urantia's history. The first happened when the Planetary Prince arrived, the second during Adam's time, and now this third one marked Jesus' morontia resurrection. After the dispensational resurrection was complete, many celestial beings who had been on Urantia returned to their regular duties, but Gabriel stayed with Jesus.

While the apostles were hiding in fear at the home of Elijah Mark, five women set out for Jesus' tomb early Sunday morning. They brought spices and bandages to properly prepare Jesus' body for burial. The women were surprised to find the stone rolled away from the tomb entrance. Mary Magdalene was the first to enter and saw that Jesus' body was gone, although the burial cloths remained neatly arranged.

Mary was upset and called out to the other women, who had initially run away in fear when they heard her cry out. The women returned to the tomb, and all five entered to confirm that it was empty. They sat down to discuss what might have happened, wondering who had moved the body and why the grave cloths were left behind so neatly.

As the women were talking, they noticed a stranger nearby. Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener and asked where Jesus' body had been taken. When the stranger spoke to them and called Mary by name, they realized it was Jesus himself in his morontia form. Jesus told them not to touch him and instructed them to tell the apostles, especially Peter, that he had risen. The women hurried back to tell the apostles, but the men did not believe them. Peter and John decided to run to the tomb to see for themselves.

When Peter and John heard from the women that Jesus' body was gone, they ran to the tomb to see for themselves. John got there first but waited outside, while Peter went straight in. They saw that the tomb was indeed empty, with the grave cloths neatly arranged as the women had described.

The two apostles sat on a stone outside the tomb trying to understand what had happened. They wondered if enemies had stolen Jesus' body, but John pointed out that thieves would not have left the grave cloths so neatly arranged. While they were talking, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb weeping, and Jesus appeared to her again. He told her to tell the apostles that he had risen and would meet them in Galilee.