PAGE 18
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts. - PAUL.
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. - PAUL.
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the
kingdom of God shall come. - JESUS.
Divine oneness
1 ATONEMENT is the exemplification of man's unity
with God, whereby man reflects divine Truth, Life,
3 and Love. Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated
man's oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him
endless homage. His mission was both in-
6 dividual and collective. He did life's work
aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to
mortals,- to show them how to do theirs, but not to do
9 it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility.
Jesus acted boldly, against the accredited evidence of the
senses, against Pharisaical creeds and practices, and he
12 refuted all opponents with his healing power.
Human reconciliation
The atonement of Christ reconciles man to God, not
God to man; for the divine Principle of Christ is God,
15 and how can God propitiate Himself? Christ
is Truth, which reaches no higher than itself.
The fountain can rise no higher than its source. Christ,
18 Truth, could conciliate no nature above his own, derived
PAGE 19
1 from the eternal Love. It was therefore Christ's purpose
to reconcile man to God, not God to man. Love and
3 Truth are not at war with God's image and likeness.
Man cannot exceed divine Love, and so atone for him-
self. Even Christ cannot reconcile Truth to error, for
6 Truth and error are irreconcilable. Jesus aided in recon-
ciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love,
the divine Principle of Jesus' teachings, and this truer
9 sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter,
sin, and death by the law of Spirit,- the law of divine
Love.
12 The Master forbore not to speak the whole truth, de-
claring precisely what would destroy sickness, sin, and
death, although his teaching set households at variance,
15 and brought to material beliefs not peace, but a
sword.
Efficacious repentence
Every pang of repentance and suffering, every effort
18 for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to
understand Jesus' atonement for sin and aid
its efficacy; but if the sinner continues to pray
21 and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atone-
ment,- in the at-one-ment with God,- for he lacks the
practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables
24 man to do the will of wisdom. Those who cannot dem-
onstrate, at least in part, the divine Principle of the teach-
ings and practice of our Master have no part in God. If
27 living in disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no secur-
ity, although God is good.
Jesus' sinless career
Jesus urged the commandment, "Thou shalt have no
30 other gods before me," which may be ren-
dered: Thou shalt have no belief of Life as
mortal; thou shalt not know evil, for there is one Life,-
PAGE 20
1 even God, good. He rendered "unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are
3 God's." He at last paid no homage to forms of doctrine
or to theories of man, but acted and spake as he was moved,
not by spirits but by Spirit.
6 To the ritualistic priest and hypocritical Pharisee
Jesus said, "The publicans and the harlots go into the
kingdom of God before you." Jesus' history made a
9 new calendar, which we call the Christian era; but he
established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men
can be baptized, partake of the Eucharist, support the
12 clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and yet
be sensual and sinful.
Perfect example
Jesus bore our infirmities; he knew the error of mortal
15 belief, and "with his stripes [the rejection of error] we are
healed." "Despised and rejected of men,"
returning blessing for cursing, he taught mor-
18 tals the opposite of themselves, even the nature of God;
and when error felt the power of Truth, the scourge and
the cross awaited the great Teacher. Yet he swerved not,
21 well knowing that to obey the divine order and trust God,
saves retracing and traversing anew the path from sin to
holiness.
Behest of the cross
24 Material belief is slow to acknowledge what the
spiritual fact implies. The truth is the centre of all
religion. It commands sure entrance into
27 the realm of Love. St. Paul wrote, "Let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that
30 is set before us;" that is, let us put aside material self
and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of
all healing.
PAGE 21
Moral victory
1 If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and
conversation, you can finally say, "I have fought a
3 good fight . . . I have kept the faith," be-
cause you are a better man. This is having
our part in the at-one-ment with Truth and Love.
6 Christians do not continue to labor and pray, expecting
because of another's goodness, suffering, and triumph,
that they shall reach his harmony and reward.
9 If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he is striv-
ing to enter in. He constantly turns away from ma-
terial sense, and looks towards the imperishable things
12 of Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest from the
start, and gain a little each day in the right direction,
till at last he finishes his course with joy.
Inharmonious travellers
15 If my friends are going to Europe, while I am en
route for California, we are not journeying together.
We have separate time-tables to consult,
18 different routes to pursue. Our paths have
diverged at the very outset, and we have little oppor-
tunity to help each other. On the contrary, if my
21 friends pursue my course, we have the same railroad
guides, and our mutual interests are identical; or, if I
take up their line of travel, they help me on, and our
24 companionship may continue.
Zigzag course
Being in sympathy with matter, the worldly man is at
the beck and call of error, and will be attracted thither-
27 ward. He is like a traveller going westward
for a pleasure-trip. The company is alluring
and the pleasures exciting. After following the sun for
30 six days, he turns east on the seventh, satisfied if he can
only imagine himself drifting in the right direction. By-
and-by, ashamed of his zigzag course, he would borrow
PAGE 22
1 the passport of some wiser pilgrim, thinking with the aid
of this to find and follow the right road.
Moral retrogression
3 Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope
of forgiveness,- selfishness and sensuality causing con-
stant retrogression,- our moral progress will
6 be slow. Waking to Christ's demand, mortals
experience suffering. This causes them, even as drown-
ing men, to make vigorous efforts to save themselves; and
9 through Christ's precious love these efforts are crowned
with success.
Wait for reward
"Work out your own salvation," is the demand of
12 Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you.
"Occupy till I come!" Wait for your re-
ward, and "be not weary in well doing." If
15 your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive
no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a
sluggard in the race.
18 When the smoke of battle clears away, you will dis-
cern the good you have done, and receive according to
your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from
21 temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and
purified.
Deliverance not vicarious
Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in
24 immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not
reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning
one's faith without works to another's vicarious
27 effort. Whosoever believeth that wrath is righteous or
that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does not
understand God.
Justice and substitution
30 Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy
cancels the debt only when justice approves. Revenge
is inadmissible. Wrath which is only appeased is not
PAGE 23
1 destroyed, but partially indulged. Wisdom and Love
may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin.
3 One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to
pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires
constant self-immolation on the sinner's part. That
6 God's wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son, is
divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made. The
atonement is a hard problem in theology, but its scien-
9 tific explanation is, that suffering is an error of sinful sense
which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and suf-
fering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.
Doctrines and faith
12 Rabbinical lore said: "He that taketh one doctrine,
firm in faith, has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him."
This preaching receives a strong rebuke in
15 the Scripture, "Faith without works is dead."
Faith, if it be mere belief, is as a pendulum swinging be-
tween nothing and something, having no fixity. Faith,
18 advanced to spiritual understanding, is the evidence gained
from Spirit, which rebukes sin of every kind and estab-
lishes the claims of God.
Self-reliance and confidence
21 In Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English, faith and the
words corresponding thereto have these two defini-
tions, trustfulness and trustworthiness. One
24 kind of faith trusts one's welfare to others.
Another kind of faith understands divine Love and how
to work out one's "own salvation, with fear and trem-
27 bling." "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief!"
expresses the helplessness of a blind faith; whereas the
injunction, "Believe . . . and thou shalt be saved!"
30 demands self-reliant trustworthiness, which includes spir-
itual understanding and confides all to God.
The Hebrew verb to believe means also to be firm or
PAGE 24
1 to be constant. This certainly applies to Truth and Love
understood and practised. Firmness in error will never
3 save from sin, disease, and death.
Life's healing currents
Acquaintance with the original texts, and willingness
to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and
6 instigated sometimes by the worst passions of
men), open the way for Christian Science to be
understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where
9 the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed
out.
Radical changes
He to whom "the arm of the Lord" is revealed will
12 believe our report, and rise into newness of life with re-
generation. This is having part in the atone-
ment; this is the understanding, in which
15 Jesus suffered and triumphed. The time is not distant
when the ordinary theological views of atonement will
undergo a great change, - a change as radical as that
18 which has come over popular opinions in regard to pre-
destination and future punishment.
Purpose of crucifixion
Does erudite theology regard the crucifixion of Jesus
21 chiefly as providing a ready pardon for all sinners who
ask for it and are willing to be forgiven?
Does spiritualism find Jesus' death necessary
24 only for the presentation, after death, of the material
Jesus, as a proof that spirits can return to earth? Then
we must differ from them both.
27 The efficacy of the crucifixion lay in the practical af-
fection and goodness it demonstrated for mankind. The
truth had been lived among men; but until they saw that
30 it enabled their Master to triumph over the grave, his own
disciples could not admit such an event to be possible.
After the resurrection, even the unbelieving Thomas was
PAGE 25
1 forced to acknowledge how complete was the great proof of
Truth and Love.
True flesh and blood
3 The spiritual essence of blood is sacrifice. The effi-
cacy of Jesus' spiritual offering is infinitely greater than
can be expressed by our sense of human
6 blood. The material blood of Jesus was no
more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed
upon "the accursed tree," than when it was flowing in
9 his veins as he went daily about his Father's business.
His true flesh and blood were his Life; and they truly eat
his flesh and drink his blood, who partake of that divine
12 Life.
Effective triumph
Jesus taught the way of Life by demonstration, that
we may understand how this divine Principle heals
15 the sick, casts out error, and triumphs over
death. Jesus presented the ideal of God better
than could any man whose origin was less spiritual. By
18 his obedience to God, he demonstrated more spiritu-
ally than all others the Principle of being. Hence the
force of his admonition, "If ye love me, keep my com-
21 mandments."
Though demonstrating his control over sin and disease,
the great Teacher by no means relieved others from giving
24 the requisite proofs of their own piety. He worked for
their guidance, that they might demonstrate this power as
he did and understand its divine Principle. Implicit faith
27 in the Teacher and all the emotional love we can bestow
on him, will never alone make us imitators of him. We
must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the
30 great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to
bestow upon us. The divinity of the Christ was made
manifest in the humanity of Jesus.
PAGE 26
Individual experience
1 While we adore Jesus, and the heart overflows with
gratitude for what he did for mortals, - treading alone
3 his loving pathway up to the throne of
glory, in speechless agony exploring the way
for us, - yet Jesus spares us not one individual expe-
6 rience, if we follow his commands faithfully; and all
have the cup of sorrowful effort to drink in proportion
to their demonstration of his love, till all are redeemed
9 through divine Love.
Christ's demonstration
The Christ was the Spirit which Jesus implied in his
own statements: "I am the way, the truth, and the life;"
12 "I and my Father are one." This Christ,
or divinity of the man Jesus, was his divine
nature, the godliness which animated him. Divine Truth,
15 Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness,
and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of
celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does
18 for man.
Proof in practice
A musician demonstrates the beauty of the music he
teaches in order to show the learner the way by prac-
21 tice as well as precept. Jesus' teaching and
practice of Truth involved such a sacrifice
as makes us admit its Principle to be Love. This was
24 the precious import of our Master's sinless career and
of his demonstration of power over death. He proved
by his deeds that Christian Science destroys sickness, sin,
27 and death.
Our Master taught no mere theory, doctrine, or belief.
It was the divine Principle of all real being which he
30 taught and practised. His proof of Christianity was no
form or system of religion and worship, but Christian
Science, working out the harmony of Life and Love.
PAGE 27
1 Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was in-
tended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had
3 come: "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have
seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
6 to the poor the gospel is preached." In other words:
Tell John what the demonstration of divine power is,
and he will at once perceive that God is the power in
9 the Messianic work.
Living temple
That Life is God, Jesus proved by his reappearance
after the crucifixion in strict accordance with his scien-
12 tific statement: "Destroy this temple [body],
and in three days I [Spirit] will raise it up."
It is as if he had said: The I - the Life, substance,
15 and intelligence of the universe - is not in matter to
be destroyed.
Jesus' parables explain Life as never mingling with
18 sin and death. He laid the axe of Science at the root
of material knowledge, that it might be ready to cut
down the false doctrine of pantheism, - that God, or
21 Life, is in or of matter.
Recreant disciples
Jesus sent forth seventy students at one time, but only
eleven left a desirable historic record. Tradition credits
24 him with two or three hundred other disciples
who have left no name. "Many are called,
but few are chosen." They fell away from grace because
27 they never truly understood their Master's instruction.
Why do those who profess to follow Christ reject the
essential religion he came to establish? Jesus' persecu-
30 tors made their strongest attack upon this very point.
They endeavored to hold him at the mercy of matter and
to kill him according to certain assumed material laws.
PAGE 28
Help and hindrance
1 The Pharisees claimed to know and to teach the di-
vine will, but they only hindered the success of Jesus'
3 mission. Even many of his students stood
in his way. If the Master had not taken a
student and taught the unseen verities of God, he would
6 not have been crucified. The determination to hold Spirit
in the grasp of matter is the persecutor of Truth and
Love.
9 While respecting all that is good in the Church or out
of it, one's consecration to Christ is more on the ground
of demonstration than of profession. In conscience, we
12 cannot hold to beliefs outgrown; and by understanding
more of the divine Principle of the deathless Christ, we
are enabled to heal the sick and to triumph over sin.
Misleading conceptions
15 Neither the origin, the character, nor the work of
Jesus was generally understood. Not a single compo-
nent part of his nature did the material
18 world measure aright. Even his righteous-
less and purity did not hinder men from saying: He
is a glutton and a friend of the impure, and Beelzebub is
21 his patron.
Persecution prolonged
Remember, thou Christian martyr, it is enough if
thou art found worthy to unloose the sandals of thy
24 Master's feet! To suppose that persecution
for righteousness' sake belongs to the past,
and that Christianity to-day is at peace with the world
27 because it is honored by sects and societies, is to mis-
take the very nature of religion. Error repeats itself.
The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle,
30 "of whom the world was not worthy," await, in some
form, every pioneer of truth.
Christian warfare
There is too much animal courage in society and not
PAGE 29
1 sufficient moral courage. Christians must take up arms
against error at home and abroad. They must grapple
3 with sin in themselves and in others, and
continue this warfare until they have finished
their course. If they keep the faith, they will have the
6 crown of rejoicing.
Christian experience teaches faith in the right and dis-
belief in the wrong. It bids us work the more earnestly
9 in times of persecution, because then our labor is more
needed. Great is the reward of self-sacrifice, though we
may never receive it in this world.
The Fatherhood of God
12 There is a tradition that Publius Lentulus wrote to
the authorities at Rome: "The disciples of Jesus be-
lieve him the Son of God." Those instructed
15 in Christian Science have reached the glori-
ous perception that God is the only author of man.
The Virgin-mother conceived this idea of God, and
18 gave to her ideal the name of Jesus - that is, Joshua,
or Saviour.
Spiritual conception
The illumination of Mary's spiritual sense put to
21 silence material law and its order of generation, and
brought forth her child by the revelation of
Truth, demonstrating God as the Father of
24 men. The Holy Ghost, or divine Spirit, overshadowed
the pure sense of the Virgin-mother with the full recog-
nition that being is Spirit. The Christ dwelt forever
27 an idea in the bosom of God, the divine Principle of the
man Jesus, and woman perceived this spiritual idea,
though at first faintly developed.
30 Man as the offspring of God, as the idea of Spirit,
is the immortal evidence that Spirit is harmonious and
man eternal. Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-
PAGE 30
1 conscious communion with God. Hence he could give
a more spiritual idea of life than other men, and could
3 demonstrate the Science of Love - his Father or divine
Principle.
Jesus the way-shower
Born of a woman, Jesus' advent in the flesh partook
6 partly of Mary's earthly condition, although he was en-
dowed with the Christ, the divine Spirit, with-
out measure. This accounts for his struggles
9 in Gethsemane and on Calvary, and this enabled him to
be the mediator, or way-shower, between God and men.
Had his origin and birth been wholly apart from mortal
12 usage, Jesus would not have been appreciable to mortal
mind as "the way."
Rabbi and priest taught the Mosaic law, which said:
15 "An eye for an eye," and "Whoso sheddeth man's blood,
by man shall his blood be shed." Not so did Jesus, the
new executor for God, present the divine law of Love,
18 which blesses even those that curse it.
Rebukes helpful
As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to
rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death,-
21 to point out the way of Truth and Life. This
ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole
earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between
24 the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and
of error.
If we have triumphed sufficiently over the errors of
27 material sense to allow Soul to hold the control, we
shall loathe sin and rebuke it under every mask. Only
in this way can we bless our enemies, though they
30 may not so construe our words. We cannot choose for
ourselves, but must work out our salvation in the way
Jesus taught. In meekness and might, he was found
PAGE 31
1 preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit
to bear the standard of Truth, and God will never place
3 it in such hands.
Fleshly ties temporal
Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. He said: "Call
no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father,
6 which is in heaven." Again he asked: "Who
is my mother, and who are my brethren," im-
plying that it is they who do the will of his Father. We
9 have no record of his calling any man by the name of
father. He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and
therefore as the Father of all.
Healing primary
12 First in the list of Christian duties, he taught his fol-
lowers the healing power of Truth and Love. He attached
no importance to dead ceremonies. It is the
15 living Christ, the practical Truth, which makes
Jesus "the resurrection and the life" to all who follow him
in deed. Obeying his precious precepts, - following his
18 demonstration so far as we apprehend it, - we drink of
his cup, partake of his bread, are baptized with his pu-
rity ; and at last we shall rest, sit down with him, in a full
21 understanding of the divine Principle which triumphs
over death. For what says Paul? "As often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's
24 death till he come."
Painful prospect
Referring to the materiality of the age, Jesus said:
"The hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor-
27 shippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth." Again, foreseeing the perse-
cution which would attend the Science of Spirit, Jesus
30 said: "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea,
the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service; and these things will they
PAGE 32
1 do unto you, because they have not known the Father
nor me."
Sacred sacrament
3 In ancient Rome a soldier was required to swear
allegiance to his general. The Latin word for this oath
was sacramentum, and our English word
6 sacrament is derived from it. Among the
Jews it was an ancient custom for the master of a
feast to pass each guest a cup of wine. But the
9 Eucharist does not commemorate a Roman soldier's
oath, nor was the wine, used on convivial occasions and
in Jewish rites, the cup of our Lord. The cup shows
12 forth his bitter experience, - the cup which he prayed
might pass from him, though he bowed in holy submis-
sion to the divine decree.
15 "As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed
it and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said,
Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and
18 gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all
of it."
Spiritual refreshment
The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is
21 confined to the use of bread and wine. The disciples
had eaten, yet Jesus prayed and gave them
bread. This would have been foolish in a
24 literal sense; but in its spiritual signification, it was nat-
ural and beautiful. Jesus prayed; he withdrew from the
material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with
27 spiritual views.
Jesus' sad repast
The Passover, which Jesus ate with his disciples in
the month Nisan on the night before his crucifixion,
30 was a mournful occasion, a sad supper taken
at the close of day, in the twilight of a
glorious career with shadows fast falling around; and
PAGE 33
1 this supper closed forever Jesus' ritualism or concessions
to matter.
Heavenly supplies
3 His followers, sorrowful and silent, anticipating the hour
of their Master's betrayal, partook of the heavenly manna,
which of old had fed in the wilderness the
6 persecuted followers of Truth. Their bread
indeed came down from heaven. It was the great truth
of spiritual being, healing the sick and casting out error.
9 Their Master had explained it all before, and now this
bread was feeding and sustaining them. They had borne
this bread from house to house, breaking (explaining) it to
12 others, and now it comforted themselves.
For this truth of spiritual being, their Master was about
to suffer violence and drain to the dregs his cup of sorrow.
15 He must leave them. With the great glory of an everlast-
ing victory overshadowing him, he gave thanks and said,
"Drink ye all of it."
The holy struggle
18 When the human element in him struggled with the
divine, our great Teacher said: "Not my will, but
Thine, be done!"- that is, Let not the flesh,
21 but the Spirit, be represented in me. This
is the new understanding of spiritual Love. It gives all
for Christ, or Truth. It blesses its enemies, heals the
24 sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespasses
and sins, and preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek
in heart.
Incisive questions
27 Christians, are you drinking his cup? Have you
shared the blood of the New Covenant, the persecutions
which attend a new and higher understand-
30 ing of God? If not, can you then say that
you have commemorated Jesus in his cup? Are all
who eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus willing
PAGE 34
1 truly to drink his cup, take his cross, and leave all for
the Christ-principle? Then why ascribe this inspira-
3 tion to a dead rite, instead of showing, by casting out
error and making the body "holy, acceptable unto God,"
that Truth has come to the understanding? If Christ,
6 Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other com-
memoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel,
or God with us; and if a friend be with us, why need we
9 memorials of that friend?
Millennial glory
If all who ever partook of the sacrament had really
commemorated the sufferings of Jesus and drunk of
12 his cup, they would have revolutionized the
world. If all who seek his commemoration
through material symbols will take up the cross, heal
15 the sick, cast out evils, and preach Christ, or Truth,
to the poor, - the receptive thought, - they will bring
in the millennium.
Fellowship with Christ
18 Through all the disciples experienced, they became more
spiritual and understood better what the Master had
taught. His resurrection was also their resur-
21 rection. It helped them to raise themselves and
others from spiritual dulness and blind belief in God into
the perception of infinite possibilities. They needed this
24 quickening, for soon their dear Master would rise again
in the spiritual realm of reality, and ascend far above
their apprehension. As the reward for his faithfulness,
27 he would disappear to material sense in that change which
has since been called the ascension.
The last breakfast
What a contrast between our Lord's last supper and
30 his last spiritual breakfast with his disciples
in the bright morning hours at the joyful
meeting on the shore of the Galilean Sea! His gloom
PAGE 35
1 had passed into glory, and His disciples' grief into repent-
ance, - hearts chastened and pride rebuked. Convinced
3 of the fruitlessness of their toil in the dark and wakened
by their Master's voice, they changed their methods, turned
away from material things, and cast their net on the right
6 side. Discerning Christ, Truth, anew on the shore of
time, they were enabled to rise somewhat from mortal
sensuousness, or the burial of mind in matter, into new-
9 ness of life as Spirit.
This spiritual meeting with our Lord in the dawn of a
new light is the morning meal which Christian Scientists
12 commemorate. They bow before Christ, Truth, to re-
ceive more of his reappearing and silently to commune
with the divine Principle, Love. They celebrate their
15 Lord's victory over death, his probation in the flesh
after death, its exemplification of human probation, and
his spiritual and final ascension above matter, or the flesh,
18 when he rose out of material sight.
Spiritual Eucharist
Our baptism is a purification from all error. Our
church is built on the divine Principle, Love. We can
21 unite with this church only as we are new-
born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which
is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth
24 the fruits of Love, - casting out error and healing the
sick. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the one
God. Our bread, "which cometh down from heaven,"
27 is Truth. Our cup is the cross. Our wine the inspira-
tion of Love, the draught our Master drank and com-
mended to his followers.
Final purpose
30 The design of Love is to reform the sinner. If the
sinner's punishment here has been insufficient to re-
form him, the good man's heaven would be a hell to
PAGE 36
1 the sinner. They, who know not purity and affection by
experience, can never find bliss in the blessed company of
3 Truth and Love simply through translation
into another sphere. Divine Science reveals
the necessity of sufficient suffering, either before or after
6 death, to quench the love of sin. To remit the penalty
due for sin, would be for Truth to pardon error. Escape
from punishment is not in accordance with God's govern-
9 ment, since justice is the handmaid of mercy.
Jesus endured the shame, that he might pour his
dear-bought bounty into barren lives. What was his
12 earthly reward? He was forsaken by all save John,
the beloved disciple, and a few women who bowed in
silent woe beneath the shadow of his cross. The earthly
15 price of spirituality in a material age and the great moral
distance between Christianity and sensualism preclude
Christian Science from finding favor with the worldly-
18 minded.
Righteous retribution
A selfish and limited mind may be unjust, but the un-
limited and divine Mind is the immortal law of justice as
21 well as of mercy. It is quite as impossible for
sinners to receive their full punishment this
side of the grave as for this world to bestow on the right-
24 eous their full reward. It is useless to suppose that the
wicked can gloat over their offences to the last moment
and then be suddenly pardoned and pushed into heaven,
27 or that the hand of Love is satisfied with giving us only
toil, sacrifice, cross-bearing, multiplied trials, and mock-
ery of our motives in return for our efforts at well doing.
Vicarious suffering
30 Religious history repeats itself in the suf-
fering of the just for the unjust. Can God
therefore overlook the law of righteousness which de-
PAGE 37
1 stroys the belief called sin? Does not Science show that
sin brings suffering as much to-day as yesterday? They
3 who sin must suffer. "With what measure ye mete, it
shall be measured to you again."
Martyrs inevitable
History is full of records of suffering. "The blood of
6 the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Mortals try in
vain to slay Truth with the steel or the stake,
but error falls only before the sword of Spirit.
9 Martyrs are the human links which connect one stage with
another in the history of religion. They are earth's lumi-
naries, which serve to cleanse and rarefy the atmosphere of
12 material sense and to permeate humanity with purer ideals.
Consciousness of right-doing brings its own reward; but
not amid the smoke of battle is merit seen and appreciated
15 by lookers-on.
Complete emulation
When will Jesus' professed followers learn to emulate
him in all his ways and to imitate his mighty works?
18 Those who procured the martyrdom of that
righteous man would gladly have turned his
sacred career into a mutilated doctrinal platform. May
21 the Christians of to-day take up the more practical im-
port of that career! It is possible, - yea, it is the duty
and privilege of every child, man, and woman, - to follow
24 in some degree the example of the Master by the demon-
stration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness. Chris-
tians claim to be his followers, but do they follow him in
27 the way that he commanded? Hear these imperative com-
mands: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect!" "Go ye into all the world,
30 and preach the gospel to every creature!" "Heal the
sick!"
Jesus' teaching belittled
Why has this Christian demand so little inspiration
PAGE 38
1 to stir mankind to Christian effort? Because men are
assured that this command was intended only for a par-
3 ticular period and for a select number of fol-
lowers. This teaching is even more pernicious
than the old doctrine of foreordination, - the election of a
6 few to be saved, while the rest are damned; and so it will
be considered, when the lethargy of mortals, produced
by man-made doctrines, is broken by the demands of
9 divine Science.
Jesus said: "These signs shall follow them that be-
lieve; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
12 shall recover." Who believes him? He was addressing
his disciples, yet he did not say, " These signs shall follow
you," but them - "them that believe" in all time to come.
15 Here the word hands is used metaphorically, as in the text,
"The right hand of the Lord is exalted." It expresses
spiritual power; otherwise the healing could not have
18 been done spiritually. At another time Jesus prayed, not
for the twelve only, but for as many as should believe
"through their word."
Material pleasures
21 Jesus experienced few of the pleasures of the physical
senses, but his sufferings were the fruits of other peo-
ple's sins, not of his own. The eternal Christ,
24 his spiritual selfhood, never suffered. Jesus
mapped out the path for others. He unveiled the Christ,
the spiritual idea of divine Love. To those buried in the
27 belief of sin and self, living only for pleasure or the grati-
fication of the senses, he said in substance: Having eyes
ye see not, and having ears ye hear not; lest ye should un-
30 derstand and be converted, and I might heal you. He
taught that the material senses shut out Truth and its
healing power.
PAGE 39
Mockery of truth
1 Meekly our Master met the mockery of his unrecog-
nized grandeur. Such indignities as he received, his fol-
3 lowers will endure until Christianity's last
triumph. He won eternal honors. He over-
came the world, the flesh, and all error, thus proving
6 their nothingness. He wrought a full salvation from sin,
sickness, and death. We need "Christ, and him cruci-
fied." We must have trials and self-denials, as well as
9 joys and victories, until all error is destroyed.
A belief suicidal
The educated belief that Soul is in the body causes
mortals to regard death as a friend, as a stepping-stone
12 out of mortality into immortality and bliss.
The Bible calls death an enemy, and Jesus
overcame death and the grave instead of yielding to them.
15 He was "the way." To him, therefore, death was not
the threshold over which he must pass into living
glory.
Present salvation
18 "Now," cried the apostle, "is the accepted time; be-
hold, now is the day of salvation," - meaning, not that
now men must prepare for a future-world salva-
21 tion, or safety, but that now is the time in which
to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is
the time for so-called material pains and material pleas-
24 ures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible
in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get
the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists
27 and governs the universe harmoniously. This thought is
apprehended slowly, and the interval before its attain-
ment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as
30 triumphs.
Sin and penalty
Who will stop the practice of sin so long as he believes
in the pleasures of sin? When mortals once admit that
PAGE 40
1 evil confers no pleasure, they turn from it. Remove error
from thought, and it will not appear in effect. The ad-
3 vanced thinker and devout Christian, perceiv-
ing the scope and tendency of Christian healing
and its Science, will support them. Another will say:
6 "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient
season I will call for thee."
Divine Science adjusts the balance as Jesus adjusted
9 it. Science removes the penalty only by first removing
the sin which incurs the penalty. This is my sense of
divine pardon, which I understand to mean God's method
12 of destroying sin. If the saying is true, "While there's
life there's hope," its opposite is also true, While there's
sin there's doom. Another's suffering cannot lessen our
15 own liability. Did the martyrdom of Savonarola make
the crimes of his implacable enemies less criminal?
Suffering inevitable
Was it just for Jesus to suffer? No; but it was
18 inevitable, for not otherwise could he show us the way
and the power of Truth. If a career so great
and good as that of Jesus could not avert a
21 felon's fate, lesser apostles of Truth may endure human
brutality without murmuring, rejoicing to enter into
fellowship with him through the triumphal arch of
24 Truth and Love.
Service and worship
Our heavenly Father, divine Love, demands that all
men should follow the example of our Master and his
27 apostles and not merely worship his personal-
ity. It is sad that the phrase divine service
has come so generally to mean public worship instead of
30 daily deeds.
Within the veil
The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed,
but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of
PAGE 41
1 hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the
Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and
3 this advance beyond matter must come
through the joys and triumphs of the right-
eous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions.
6 Like our Master, we must depart from material sense
into the spiritual sense of being.
The thorns and flowers
The God-inspired walk calmly on though it be with
9 bleeding footprints, and in the hereafter they will reap
what they now sow. The pampered hypo-
crite may have a flowery pathway here, but
12 he cannot forever break the Golden Rule and escape the
penalty due.
Healing early lost
The proofs of Truth, Life, and Love, which Jesus gave
15 by casting out error and healing the sick, completed his
earthly mission; but in the Christian Church
this demonstration of healing was early lost,
18 about three centuries after the crucifixion. No ancient
school of philosophy, materia medica, or scholastic theol-
ogy ever taught or demonstrated the divine healing of
21 absolute Science.
Immortal achieval
Jesus foresaw the reception Christian Science would have
before it was understood, but this foreknowledge hindered
24 him not. He fulfilled his God-mission, and
then sat down at the right hand of the Father.
Persecuted from city to city, his apostles still went about
27 doing good deeds, for which they were maligned and
stoned. The truth taught by Jesus, the elders scoffed at.
Why? Because it demanded more than they were willing
30 to practise. It was enough for them to believe in a national
Deity; but that belief, from their time to ours, has never
made a disciple who could cast out evils and heal the sick.
PAGE 42
1 Jesus' life proved, divinely and scientifically, that God
is Love, whereas priest and rabbi affirmed God to be a
3 mighty potentate, who loves and hates. The Jewish the-
ology gave no hint of the unchanging love of God.
A belief in death
The universal belief in death is of no advantage. It
6 cannot make Life or Truth apparent. Death
will be found at length to be a mortal dream,
which comes in darkness and disappears with the light.
Cruel desertion
9 The "man of sorrows" was in no peril from salary or
popularity. Though entitled to the homage of the world
and endorsed pre-eminently by the approval
12 of God, his brief triumphal entry into Jerusa-
lem was followed by the desertion of all save a few friends,
who sadly followed him to the foot of the cross.
Death outdone
15 The resurrection of the great demonstrator of God's
power was the proof of his final triumph over body
and matter, and gave full evidence of divine
18 Science, - evidence so important to mortals.
The belief that man has existence or mind separate from
God is a dying error. This error Jesus met with divine
21 Science and proved its nothingness. Because of the won-
drous glory which God bestowed on His anointed, temp-
tation, sin, sickness, and death had no terror for Jesus.
24 Let men think they had killed the body! Afterwards he
would show it to them unchanged. This demonstrates
that in Christian Science the true man is governed by
27 God - by good, not evil - and is therefore not a mortal
but an immortal. Jesus had taught his disciples the
Science of this proof. He was here to enable them to
30 test his still uncomprehended saying, "He that believ-
eth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." They
must understand more fully his Life-principle by casting
PAGE 43
1 out error, healing the sick, and raising the dead, even as
they did understand it after his bodily departure.
Pentecost repeated
3 The magnitude of Jesus' work, his material disappear-
ance before their eyes and his reappearance, all enabled
the disciples to understand what Jesus had
6 said. Heretofore they had only believed;
now they understood. The advent of this understanding
is what is meant by the descent of the Holy Ghost, - that
9 influx of divine Science which so illuminated the Pentecos-
tal Day and is now repeating its ancient history.
Convincing evidence
Jesus' last proof was the highest, the most convincing,
12 the most profitable to his students. The malignity of
brutal persecutors, the treason and suicide of
his betrayer, were overruled by divine Love to
15 the glorification of the man and of the true idea of God,
which Jesus' persecutors had mocked and tried to slay.
The final demonstration of the truth which Jesus taught,
18 and for which he was crucified, opened a new era for the
world. Those who slew him to stay his influence perpetu-
ated and extended it.
Divine victory
21 Jesus rose higher in demonstration because of the cup
of bitterness he drank. Human law had condemned
him, but he was demonstrating divine Science.
24 Out of reach of the barbarity of his enemies,
he was acting under spiritual law in defiance of mat-
ter and mortality, and that spiritual law sustained him.
27 The divine must overcome the human at every point.
The Science Jesus taught and lived must triumph over
all material beliefs about life, substance, and intelli-
30 gence, and the multitudinous errors growing from such
beliefs.
Love must triumph over hate. Truth and Life must
PAGE 44
1 seal the victory over error and death, before the thorns
can be laid aside for a crown, the benediction follow,
3 "Well done, good and faithful servant," and the suprem-
acy of Spirit be demonstrated.
Jesus in the tomb
The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge
6 from his foes, a place in which to solve the great
problem of being. His three days' work in
the sepulchre set the seal of eternity on time.
9 He proved Life to be deathless and Love to be the mas-
ter of hate. He met and mastered on the basis of Chris-
tian Science, the power of Mind over matter, all the claims
12 of medicine, surgery, and hygiene.
He took no drugs to allay inflammation. He did not
depend upon food or pure air to resuscitate wasted
15 energies. He did not require the skill of a surgeon to
heal the torn palms and bind up the wounded side and
lacerated feet, that he might use those hands to remove
18 the napkin and winding-sheet, and that he might employ
his feet as before.
The deific naturalism
Could it be called supernatural for the God of nature
21 to sustain Jesus in his proof of man's truly derived power?
It was a method of surgery beyond material
art, but it was not a supernatural act. On
24 the contrary, it was a divinely natural act, whereby divinity
brought to humanity the understanding of the Christ-
healing and revealed a method infinitely above that of
27 human invention.
Obstacles overcome
His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was
hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demon-
30 strating within the narrow tomb the power
of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense.
There were rock-ribbed walls in the way, and a great
PAGE 45
1 stone must be rolled from the cave's mouth; but Jesus
vanquished every material obstacle, overcame every law
3 of matter, and stepped forth from his gloomy resting-place,
crowned with the glory of a sublime success, an everlasting
victory.
Victory over the grave
6 Our Master fully and finally demonstrated divine Sci-
ence in his victory over death and the grave. Jesus'
deed was for the enlightenment of men and
9 for the salvation of the whole world from sin,
sickness, and death. Paul writes: "For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the [seeming] death
12 of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life." Three days after his bodily burial he talked
with his disciples. The persecutors had failed to hide im-
15 mortal Truth and Love in a sepulchre.
The stone rolled away
Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts!
Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of hu-
18 man hope and faith, and through the reve-
lation and demonstration of life in God, hath
elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual
21 idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.
After the resurrection
They who earliest saw Jesus after the resurrection
and beheld the final proof of all that he had taught,
24 misconstrued that event. Even his disciples
at first called him a spirit, ghost, or spectre,
for they believed his body to be dead. His reply was:
27 "Spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
The reappearing of Jesus was not the return of a spirit.
He presented the same body that he had before his cru-
30 cifixion, and so glorified the supremacy of Mind over
matter.
Jesus' students, not sufficiently advanced fully to un-
PAGE 46
1 derstand their Master's triumph, did not perform many
wonderful works, until they saw him after his crucifixion
3 and learned that he had not died. This convinced them
of the truthfulness of all that he had taught.
Spiritual interpretation
In the walk to Emmaus, Jesus was known to his friends
6 by the words, which made their hearts burn within them,
and by the breaking of bread. The divine
Spirit, which identified Jesus thus centuries
9 ago, has spoken through the inspired Word and will speak
through it in every age and clime. It is revealed to the
receptive heart, and is again seen casting out evil and
12 healing the sick.
Corporeality and Spirit
The Master said plainly that physique was not Spirit,
and after his resurrection he proved to the physical senses
15 that his body was not changed until he himself
ascended, - or, in other words, rose even
higher in the understanding of Spirit, God. To convince
18 Thomas of this, Jesus caused him to examine the nail-
prints and the spear-wound.
Spiritual ascension
Jesus' unchanged physical condition after what seemed
21 to be death was followed by his exaltation above all ma-
terial conditions; and this exaltation explained
his ascension, and revealed unmistakably a
24 probationary and progressive state beyond the grave.
Jesus was "the way;" that is, he marked the way for
all men. In his final demonstration, called the ascen-
27 sion, which closed the earthly record of Jesus, he rose
above the physical knowledge of his disciples, and the
material senses saw him no more.
Pentecostal power
30 His students then received the Holy Ghost. By this is
meant, that by all they had witnessed and suffered, they
were roused to an enlarged understanding of divine Sci-
PAGE 47
1 ence, even to the spiritual interpretation and discernment
of Jesus' teachings and demonstrations, which gave them
3 a faint conception of the Life which is God.
They no longer measured man by material
sense. After gaining the true idea of their glorified Master,
6 they became better healers, leaning no longer on matter,
but on the divine Principle of their work. The influx of
light was sudden. It was sometimes an overwhelming
9 power as on the Day of Pentecost.
The traitor's conspiracy
Judas conspired against Jesus. The world's ingratitude
and hatred towards that just man effected his betrayal.
12 The traitor's price was thirty pieces of silver
and the smiles of the Pharisees. He chose his
time, when the people were in doubt concerning Jesus'
15 teachings.
A period was approaching which would reveal the in-
finite distance between Judas and his Master. Judas
18 Iscariot knew this. He knew that the great goodness of
that Master placed a gulf between Jesus and his betrayer,
and this spiritual distance inflamed Judas' envy. The
21 greed for gold strengthened his ingratitude, and for a time
quieted his remorse. He knew that the world generally
loves a lie better than Truth; and so he plotted the be-
24 trayal of Jesus in order to raise himself in popular esti-
mation. His dark plot fell to the ground, and the
traitor fell with it.
27 The disciples' desertion of their Master in his last
earthly struggle was punished; each one came to a vio-
lent death except St. John, of whose death we have no
30 record.
Gethsemane glorified
During his night of gloom and glory in the garden,
Jesus realized the utter error of a belief in any possi-
PAGE 48
1 ble material intelligence. The pangs of neglect and the
staves of bigoted ignorance smote him sorely. His stu-
3 dents slept. He said unto them: "Could Ye
not watch with me one hour?" Could they
not watch with him who, waiting and struggling in voice-
6 less agony, held uncomplaining guard over a world?
There was no response to that human yearning, and so
Jesus turned forever away from earth to heaven, from
9 sense to Soul.
Remembering the sweat of agony which fell in holy
benediction on the grass of Gethsemane, shall the hum-
12 blest or mightiest disciple murmur when he drinks from the
same cup, and think, or even wish, to escape the exalt-
ing ordeal of sin's revenge on its destroyer? Truth and
15 Love bestow few palms until the consummation of a
life-work.
Defensive weapons
Judas had the world's weapons. Jesus had not one
18 of them, and chose not the world's means of defence.
"He opened not his mouth." The great dem-
onstrator of Truth and Love was silent before
21 envy and hate. Peter would have smitten the enemies of
his Master, but Jesus forbade him, thus rebuking re-
sentment or animal courage. He said: "Put up thy
24 sword."
Pilate's question
Pale in the presence of his own momentous question,
"What is Truth," Pilate was drawn into acquiescence
27 with the demands of Jesus' enemies. Pilate
was ignorant of the consequences of his awful
decision against human rights and divine Love, knowing
30 not that he was hastening the final demonstration of what
life is and of what the true knowledge of God can do for
man.
PAGE 49
1 The women at the cross could have answered Pilate's
question. They knew what had inspired their devotion,
3 winged their faith, opened the eyes of their understand-
ing, healed the sick, cast out evil, and caused the disciples
to say to their Master: "Even the devils are subject
6 unto us through thy name."
Students' ingratitude
Where were the seventy whom Jesus sent forth? Were
all conspirators save eleven? Had they forgotten the
9 great exponent of God? Had they so soon lost
sight of his mighty works, his toils, privations,
sacrifices, his divine patience, sublime courage, and unre-
12 quited affection? O, why did they not gratify his last
human yearning with one sign of fidelity?
Heaven's sentinel
The meek demonstrator of good, the highest instruc-
15 tor and friend of man, met his earthly fate alone with
God. No human eye was there to pity, no
arm to save. Forsaken by all whom he had
18 blessed, this faithful sentinel of God at the highest
post of power, charged with the grandest trust of
heaven, was ready to be transformed by the renewing
21 of the infinite Spirit. He was to prove that the Christ
is not subject to material conditions, but is above the
reach of human wrath, and is able, through Truth,
24 Life, and Love, to triumph over sin, sickness, death, and
the grave.
Cruel contumely
The priests and rabbis, before whom he had meekly
27 walked, and those to whom he had given the highest
proofs of divine power, mocked him on the
cross, saying derisively, "He saved others;
30 himself he cannot save." These scoffers, who turned
"aside the right of a man before the face of the Most
High," esteemed Jesus as "stricken, smitten of God."
PAGE 50
1 "He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
3 "Who shall declare his generation?" Who shall decide
what truth and love are?
A cry of despair
The last supreme moment of mockery, desertion, tor-
6 ture, added to an overwhelming sense of the magnitude
of his work, wrung from Jesus' lips the awful
cry, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
9 This despairing appeal, if made to a human parent, would
impugn the justice and love of a father who could with-
hold a clear token of his presence to sustain and bless so
12 faithful a son. The appeal of Jesus was made both to
his divine Principle, the God who is Love, and to himself,
Love's pure idea. Had Life, Truth, and Love forsaken
15 him in his highest demonstration? This was a startling
question. No! They must abide in him and he in them,
or that hour would be shorn of its mighty blessing for the
18 human race.
Divine Science misunderstood
If his full recognition of eternal Life had for a mo-
ment given way before the evidence of the bodily senses,
21 what would his accusers have said? Even
what they did say, - that Jesus' teachings
were false, and that all evidence of their cor-
24 rectness was destroyed by his death. But this saying
could not make it so.
The real pillory
The burden of that hour was terrible beyond human
27 conception. The distrust of mortal minds, disbelieving
the purpose of his mission, was a million
times sharper than the thorns which pierced
30 his flesh. The real cross, which Jesus bore up the hill
of grief, was the world's hatred of Truth and Love. Not
the spear nor the material cross wrung from his faithful
PAGE 51
1 lips the plaintive cry, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" It
was the possible loss of something more important than
3 human life which moved him, - the possible misappre-
hension of the sublimest influence of his career. This
dread added the drop of gall to his cup.
Life-power indestructible
6 Jesus could have withdrawn himself from his enemies.
He had power to lay down a human sense of life for his
spiritual identity in the likeness of the divine;
9 but he allowed men to attempt the destruc-
tion of the mortal body in order that he might furnish
the proof of immortal life. Nothing could kill this Life
12 of man. Jesus could give his temporal life into his
enemies' hands; but when his earth-mission was accom-
plished, his spiritual life, indestructible and eternal,
15 was found forever the same. He knew that matter had
no life and that real Life is God; therefore he could no
more be separated from his spiritual Life than God could
18 be extinguished.
Example for our salvation
His consummate example was for the salvation of us
all, but only through doing the works which he did and
21 taught others to do. His purpose in healing
was not alone to restore health, but to demon-
strate his divine Principle. He was inspired by God, by
24 Truth and Love, in all that he said and did. The motives
of his persecutors were pride, envy, cruelty, and vengeance,
inflicted on the physical Jesus, but aimed at the divine Prin-
27 ciple, Love, which rebuked their sensuality.
Jesus was unselfish. His spirituality separated him
from sensuousness, and caused the selfish materialist
30 to hate him; but it was this spirituality which enabled
Jesus to heal the sick, cast out evil, and raise the
dead.
PAGE 52
Master's business
1 From early boyhood he was about his "Father's busi-
ness." His pursuits lay far apart from theirs. His mas-
3 ter was Spirit; their master was matter. He
served God; they served mammon. His affec-
tions were pure; theirs were carnal. His senses drank in
6 the spiritual evidence of health, holiness, and life; their
senses testified oppositely, and absorbed the material evi-
dence of sin, sickness, and death.
Purity's rebuke
9 Their imperfections and impurity felt the ever-present
rebuke of his perfection and purity. Hence the world's
hatred of the just and perfect Jesus, and the
12 prophet's foresight of the reception error would
give him. "Despised and rejected of men," was Isaiah's
graphic word concerning the coming Prince of Peace.
15 Herod and Pilate laid aside old feuds in order to unite
in putting to shame and death the best man that ever
trod the globe. To-day, as of old, error and evil again
18 make common cause against the exponents of truth.
Saviour's prediction
The "man of sorrows" best understood the nothing-
ness of material life and intelligence and the mighty ac-
21 tuality of all-inclusive God, good. These were
the two cardinal points of Mind-healing, or
Christian Science, which armed him with Love. The high-
24 est earthly representative of God, speaking of human
ability to reflect divine power, prophetically said to his
disciples, speaking not for their day only but for all time:
27 "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do
also;" and "These signs shall follow them that believe."
Defamitory accusations
The accusations of the Pharisees were as self-contra-
30 dictory as their religion. The bigot, the deb-
auchee, the hypocrite, called Jesus a glutton
and a wine-bibber. They said: "He casteth out devils
PAGE 53
1 through Beelzebub," and is the "friend of publicans and
sinners." The latter accusation was true, but not in their
3 meaning. Jesus was no ascetic. He did not fast as did
the Baptist's disciples; yet there never lived a man so far
removed from appetites and passions as the Nazarene.
6 He rebuked sinners pointedly and unflinchingly, because
he was their friend; hence the cup he drank.
Reputation and character
The reputation of Jesus was the very opposite of his
9 character. Why? Because the divine Principle and
practice of Jesus were misunderstood. He
was at work in divine Science. His words
12 and works were unknown to the world because above
and contrary to the world's religious sense. Mortals be-
lieved in God as humanly mighty, rather than as divine,
15 infinite Love.
Inspiring discontent
The world could not interpret aright the discomfort
which Jesus inspired and the spiritual blessings which
18 might flow from such discomfort. Science
shows the cause of the shock so often pro-
duced by the truth, - namely, that this shock arises from
21 the great distance between the individual and Truth.
Like Peter, we should weep over the warning, instead of
denying the truth or mocking the lifelong sacrifice which
24 goodness makes for the destruction of evil.
Bearing our sins
Jesus bore our sins in his body. He knew the
mortal errors which constitute the material body, and
27 could destroy those errors; but at the time
when Jesus felt our infirmities, he had not
conquered all the beliefs of the flesh or his sense of ma-
30 terial life, nor had he risen to his final demonstration of
spiritual power.
Had he shared the sinful beliefs of others, he would
PAGE 54
1 have been less sensitive to those beliefs. Through the
magnitude of his human life, he demonstrated the divine
3 Life. Out of the amplitude of his pure affection, he de-
fined Love. With the affluence of Truth, he vanquished
error. The world acknowledged not his righteousness,
6 seeing it not; but earth received the harmony his glorified
example introduced.
Inspiration of sacrifice
Who is ready to follow his teaching and example? All
9 must sooner or later plant themselves in Christ, the true
idea of God. That he might liberally pour
his dear-bought treasures into empty or sin-
12 filled human storehouses, was the inspiration of Jesus'
intense human sacrifice. In witness of his divine com-
mission, he presented the proof that Life, Truth, and
15 Love heal the sick and the sinning, and triumph over
death through Mind, not matter. This was the highest
proof he could have offered of divine Love. His hearers
18 understood neither his words nor his works. They
would not accept his meek interpretation of life nor
follow his example.
Spiritual friendship
21 His earthly cup of bitterness was drained to the
dregs. There adhered to him only a few unpretentious
friends, whose religion was something more
24 than a name. It was so vital, that it en-
abled them to understand the Nazarene and to share
the glory of eternal life. He said that those who fol-
27 lowed him should drink of his cup, and history has con-
firmed the prediction.
Injustice to the Saviour
If that Godlike and glorified man were physically on
30 earth to-day, would not some, who now pro-
fess to love him, reject him? Would they
not deny him even the rights of humanity, if he enter-
PAGE 55
1 tained any other sense of being and religion than theirs?
The advancing century, from a deadened sense of the
3 invisible God, to-day subjects to unchristian comment and
usage the idea of Christian healing enjoined by Jesus; but
this does not affect the invincible facts.
6 Perhaps the early Christian era did Jesus no more
injustice than the later centuries have bestowed upon
the healing Christ and spiritual idea of being. Now
9 that the gospel of healing is again preached by the
wayside, does not the pulpit sometimes scorn it? But
that curative mission, which presents the Saviour in a
12 clearer light than mere words can possibly do, cannot be
left out of Christianity, although it is again ruled out of
the synagogue.
15 Truth's immortal idea is sweeping down the centuries,
gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My
weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall
18 recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as
himself, - when he shall realize God's omnipotence and
the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done
21 and is doing for mankind. The promises will be ful-
filled. The time for the reappearing of the divine healing
is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly
24 all on the altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ's
cup now, and is endued with the spirit and power of
Christian healing.
27 In the words of St. John: "He shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." This
Comforter I understand to be Divine Science.