Responsive Reading: John 1 : 1, 4, 5, 11-14, 16, 17

1.     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

4.     In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5.     And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

11.     He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12.     But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13.     Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14.     And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

16.     And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

17.     For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

1. Isaiah 9 : 6, 7 (to 1st .)

6     For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7     Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.

2. Luke 4 : 1 (to 1st ,), 16-19, 21 (This)

1     And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan,

16     And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

17     And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

18     The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

19     To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

21     This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

3. Luke 5 : 27-32

27     And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

28     And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

29     And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.

30     But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

31     And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

32     I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

4. Matthew 9 : 18 (there), 19, 23-25, 27 (to 2nd ,), 28-30 (to ;), 35

18     …there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

19     And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.

23     And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

24     He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

25     But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

27     And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him,

28     And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

29     Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

30     And their eyes were opened;

35     And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

5. Matthew 11 : 2-6

2     Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,

3     And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

4     Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

5     The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

6     And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

6. Luke 9 : 28 (And) only, 28 (he)-36

28 And … he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.

29     And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.

30     And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:

31     Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

32     But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

33     And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

34     While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.

35     And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

36     And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.

7. Matthew 28 : 16 (the), 18-20

16     …the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

18     And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19     Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20     Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

1. vii : 1-12

To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings. The wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.

2. 482 : 15 (Christ)-16, 19-22, 23-25

Christ is "the way" and the truth casting out all error. … Jesus was the highest human concept of the perfect man. He was inseparable from Christ, the Messiah, — the divine idea of God outside the flesh. … Angels announced to the Wisemen of old this dual appearing, and angels whisper it, through faith, to the hungering heart in every age.

3. 332 : 23 (Jesus)-26

Jesus was the son of a virgin. He was appointed to speak God's word and to appear to mortals in such a form of humanity as they could understand as well as perceive.

4. 26 : 14-18

Divine Truth, Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man.

5. 146 : 26-30

This healing power of Truth must have been far anterior to the period in which Jesus lived. It is as ancient as "the Ancient of days." It lives through all Life, and extends throughout all space.

6. 333 : 16 (The advent)-31, 32 (By)-9

The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is without beginning of years or end of days. Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea, — the reflection of God, — has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love. The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God. Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus: "Before Abraham was, I am;" "I and my Father are one;" "My Father is greater than I." The one Spirit includes all identities.

By these sayings Jesus meant, not that the human Jesus was or is eternal, but that the divine idea or Christ was and is so and therefore antedated Abraham; not that the corporeal Jesus was one with the Father, but that the spiritual idea, Christ, dwells forever in the bosom of the Father, God, from which it illumines heaven and earth; not that the Father is greater than Spirit, which is God, but greater, infinitely greater, than the fleshly Jesus, whose earthly career was brief.

7. 30 : 19-25

As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death, — to point out the way of Truth and Life. This ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and of error.

8. 259 : 6 (The)-14

The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the basis of thought and demonstration.

9. 230 : 4 (the)-10

…the awakening from this mortal dream, or illusion, will bring us into health, holiness, and immortality. This awakening is the forever coming of Christ, the advanced appearing of Truth, which casts out error and heals the sick. This is the salvation which comes through God, the divine Principle, Love, as demonstrated by Jesus.

10. 27 : 1-9

Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was intended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had come: "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." In other words: Tell John what the demonstration of divine power is, and he will at once perceive that God is the power in the Messianic work.

11. 25 : 22-26

Though demonstrating his control over sin and disease, the great Teacher by no means relieved others from giving the requisite proofs of their own piety. He worked for their guidance, that they might demonstrate this power as he did and understand its divine Principle.

12. 28 : 4-8

If the Master had not taken a student and taught the unseen verities of God, he would not have been crucified. The determination to hold Spirit in the grasp of matter is the persecutor of Truth and Love.

13. 334 : 10 (The invisible)-20

The invisible Christ was imperceptible to the so-called personal senses, whereas Jesus appeared as a bodily existence. This dual personality of the unseen and the seen, the spiritual and material, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest in flesh, continued until the Master's ascension, when the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes.

14. 565 : 13-18

The impersonation of the spiritual idea had a brief history in the earthly life of our Master; but "of his kingdom there shall be no end," for Christ, God's idea, will eventually rule all nations and peoples — imperatively, absolutely, finally — with divine Science.