Chapter II - Atonement And Eucharist
Master's business
52:1
From early boyhood he was about his "Father's busi-
From early boyhood he was about his "Father's busi-
ness." His pursuits lay far apart from theirs. His mas-
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
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
52:9
Their imperfections and impurity felt the ever-present
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
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.
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
make common cause against the exponents of truth.
Saviour's prediction
52:19
The "man of sorrows" best understood the nothing-
The "man of sorrows" best understood the nothing-
ness of material life and intelligence and the mighty ac-
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-
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:
"He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do
also;" and "These signs shall follow them that believe."
Defamatory accusations
52:29
The accusations of the Pharisees were as self-contra-
The accusations of the Pharisees were as self-contra-
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
53:1
through Beelzebub," and is the "friend of publicans and
through Beelzebub," and is the "friend of publicans and
sinners." The latter accusation was true, but not in their
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.
He rebuked sinners pointedly and unflinchingly, because
he was their friend; hence the cup he drank.
Reputation and character
53:8
The reputation of Jesus was the very opposite of his
The reputation of Jesus was the very opposite of his
character. Why? Because the divine Principle and
practice of Jesus were misunderstood. He
was at work in divine Science. His words
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,
infinite Love.
Inspiring discontent
53:16
The world could not interpret aright the discomfort
The world could not interpret aright the discomfort
which Jesus inspired and the spiritual blessings which
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
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
goodness makes for the destruction of evil.
Bearing our sins
53:25
Jesus bore our sins in his body. He knew the
Jesus bore our sins in his body. He knew the
mortal errors which constitute the material body, and
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-
terial life, nor had he risen to his final demonstration of
spiritual power.
53:32
Had he shared the sinful beliefs of others, he would
Had he shared the sinful beliefs of others, he would