Part 5 (1/2)
Painful prospect
Referring to the materiality of the age, Jesus said: ”The hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor- 31:27 s.h.i.+ppers shall wors.h.i.+p the Father in spirit and in truth.” Again, foreseeing the perse- cution which would attend the Science of Spirit, Jesus 31:30 said: ”They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth G.o.d service; and these things will they 32:1 do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor me.”
Sacred sacrament
32:3 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 32:6 _sacrament_ is derived from it. Among the Jews it was an ancient custom for the master of a feast to pa.s.s each guest a cup of wine. But the 32:9 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 32:12 forth his bitter experience, - the cup which he prayed might pa.s.s from him, though he bowed in holy submis- sion to the divine decree.
32:15 ”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 32:18 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 32:21 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 32:24 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 32:27 spiritual views.
Jesus' sad repast
The Pa.s.sover, which Jesus ate with his disciples in the month Nisan on the night before his crucifixion, 32:30 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 33:1 this supper closed forever Jesus' ritualism or concessions to matter.
Heavenly supplies
33:3 His followers, sorrowful and silent, antic.i.p.ating the hour of their Master's betrayal, partook of the heavenly manna, which of old had fed in the wilderness the 33:6 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.
33:9 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 33:12 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.
33:15 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
33:18 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, 33:21 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 33:24 sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespa.s.ses and sins, and preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek in heart.
Incisive questions
33:27 Christians, are you drinking his cup? Have you shared the blood of the New Covenant, the persecutions which attend a new and higher understand- 33:30 ing of G.o.d? 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 34:1 truly to drink his cup, take his cross, and leave all for the Christ-principle? Then why ascribe this inspira- 34:3 tion to a dead rite, instead of showing, by casting out error and making the body ”holy, acceptable unto G.o.d,”
that Truth has come to the understanding? If Christ, 34:6 Truth, has come to us in demonstration, no other com- memoration is requisite, for demonstration is Immanuel, or _G.o.d with us_; and if a friend be with us, why need we 34:9 memorials of that friend?
Millennial glory
If all who ever partook of the sacrament had really commemorated the sufferings of Jesus and drunk of 34:12 his cup, they would have revolutionized the world. If all who seek his commemoration through material symbols will take up the cross, heal 34:15 the sick, cast out evils, and preach Christ, or Truth, to the poor, - the receptive thought, - they will bring in the millennium.
Fellows.h.i.+p with Christ
34:18 Through all the disciples experienced, they became more spiritual and understood better what the Master had taught. His resurrection was also their resur- 34:21 rection. It helped them to raise themselves and others from spiritual dulness and blind belief in G.o.d into the perception of infinite possibilities. They needed this 34:24 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, 34:27 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 34:30 his last spiritual breakfast with his disciples in the bright morning hours at the joyful meeting on the sh.o.r.e of the Galilean Sea! His gloom 35:1 had pa.s.sed into glory, and His disciples' grief into repent- ance, - hearts chastened and pride rebuked. Convinced 35:3 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 35:6 side. Discerning Christ, Truth, anew on the sh.o.r.e of time, they were enabled to rise somewhat from mortal sensuousness, or the burial of mind in matter, into new- 35:9 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 35:12 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 35:15 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, 35:18 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 35:21 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 35:24 the fruits of Love, - casting out error and healing the sick. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the one G.o.d. Our bread, ”which cometh down from heaven,”