Chapter II - Atonement And Eucharist
49:1
The women at the cross could have answered Pilate's
The women at the cross could have answered Pilate's
question. They knew what had inspired their devotion,
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
unto us through thy name."
Students' ingratitude
49:7
Where were the seventy whom Jesus sent forth? Were
Where were the seventy whom Jesus sent forth? Were
all conspirators save eleven? Had they forgotten the
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-
quited affection? O, why did they not gratify his last
human yearning with one sign of fidelity?
Heaven's sentinel
49:14
The meek demonstrator of good, the highest instruc-
The meek demonstrator of good, the highest instruc-
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
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
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,
Life, and Love, to triumph over sin, sickness, death, and
the grave.
Cruel contumely
49:26
The priests and rabbis, before whom he had meekly
The priests and rabbis, before whom he had meekly
walked, and those to whom he had given the highest
proofs of divine power, mocked him on the
cross, saying derisively, "He saved others;
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."
50:1
"He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
"He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."
"Who shall declare his generation?" Who shall decide
what truth and love are?
A cry of despair
50:5
The last supreme moment of mockery, desertion, tor-
The last supreme moment of mockery, desertion, tor-
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?"
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
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
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
human race.
Divine Science misunderstood
50:19
If his full recognition of eternal Life had for a mo-
If his full recognition of eternal Life had for a mo-
ment given way before the evidence of the bodily senses,
what would his accusers have said? Even
what they did say, – that Jesus' teachings
were false, and that all evidence of their cor-
rectness was destroyed by his death. But this saying
could not make it so.
The real pillory
50:26
The burden of that hour was terrible beyond human
The burden of that hour was terrible beyond human
conception. The distrust of mortal minds, disbelieving
the purpose of his mission, was a million
times sharper than the thorns which pierced
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