Chapter II - Atonement And Eucharist
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preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit
preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit
to bear the standard of Truth, and God will never place
it in such hands.
Fleshly ties temporal
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Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. He said: "Call
Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. He said: "Call
no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father,
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
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
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First in the list of Christian duties, he taught his fol-
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
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
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
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
death till he come."
Painful prospect
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Referring to the materiality of the age, Jesus said:
Referring to the materiality of the age, Jesus said:
"The hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor-
shippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth." Again, foreseeing the perse-
cution which would attend the Science of Spirit, Jesus
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
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do unto you, because they have not known the Father
do unto you, because they have not known the Father
nor me."
Sacred sacrament
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In ancient Rome a soldier was required to swear
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
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
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
forth his bitter experience, – the cup which he prayed
might pass from him, though he bowed in holy submis-
sion to the divine decree.
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"As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed
"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
gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, Drink ye all
of it."
Spiritual refreshment
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The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is
The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is
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
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
spiritual views.
Jesus' sad repast
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The Passover, which Jesus ate with his disciples in
The Passover, which Jesus ate with his disciples in
the month Nisan on the night before his crucifixion,
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