Chapter II - Atonement And Eucharist
Jesus' teaching belittled
38:1
to stir mankind to Christian effort? Because men are
to stir mankind to Christian effort? Because men are
assured that this command was intended only for a par-
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
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
divine Science.
38:10
Jesus said: "These signs shall follow them that be-
Jesus said: "These signs shall follow them that be-
lieve; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they
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.
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
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
38:21
Jesus experienced few of the pleasures of the physical
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,
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
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-
derstand and be converted, and I might heal you. He
taught that the material senses shut out Truth and its
healing power.