Responsive Reading:

Revelation 19 : 11-16

11.     And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12.     His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13.     And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14.     And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15.     And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16.     And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

1. Isaiah 40 : 1-5

1     Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2     Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

3     The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4     Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5     And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

2. Luke 4 : 14-21

14     And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

15     And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

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.

20     And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

21     And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

3. Luke 8 : 41, 42 (to 1st .), 49-55

41     And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:

42     For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying.

49     While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

50     But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

51     And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

52     And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

53     And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

54     And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

55     And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

4. Luke 22 : 1, 2

22     Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

2     And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.

5. Luke 23 : 1-4, 20, 21, 24, 33, 34, 45-47

1     And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.

2     And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cæsar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.

3     And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.

4     Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

20     Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.

21     But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

24     And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.

33     And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

34     Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

45     And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

46     And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

47     Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

6. Mark 16 : 9-15, 17-20

9     Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

10     And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

11     And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

12     After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

13     And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

14     Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

15     And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

17     And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18     They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19     So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20     And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

1. 76 : 18-21

Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal. When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by divine authority.

2. 487 : 27-29

The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.

3. 428 : 3-6, 30-10

Life is real, and death is the illusion. A demonstration of the facts of Soul in Jesus' way resolves the dark visions of material sense into harmony and immortality.

The author has healed hopeless organic disease, and raised the dying to life and health through the understanding of God as the only Life. It is a sin to believe that aught can overpower omnipotent and eternal Life, and this Life must be brought to light by the understanding that there is no death, as well as by other graces of Spirit. We must begin, however, with the more simple demonstrations of control, and the sooner we begin the better. The final demonstration takes time for its accomplishment. When walking, we are guided by the eye. We look before our feet, and if we are wise, we look beyond a single step in the line of spiritual advancement.

4. 429 : 31-12

Jesus said (John viii. 51), "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." That statement is not confined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of existence. Jesus demonstrated this, healing the dying and raising the dead. Mortal mind must part with error, must put off itself with its deeds, and immortal manhood, the Christ ideal, will appear. Faith should enlarge its borders and strengthen its base by resting upon Spirit instead of matter. When man gives up his belief in death, he will advance more rapidly towards God, Life, and Love. Belief in sickness and death, as certainly as belief in sin, tends to shut out the true sense of Life and health. When will mankind wake to this great fact in Science?

5. 289 : 14-20

The fact that the Christ, or Truth, overcame and still overcomes death proves the "king of terrors" to be but a mortal belief, or error, which Truth destroys with the spiritual evidences of Life; and this shows that what appears to the senses to be death is but a mortal illusion, for to the real man and the real universe there is no death-process.

6. 24 : 27-31

The efficacy of the crucifixion lay in the practical affection and goodness it demonstrated for mankind. The truth had been lived among men; but until they saw that it enabled their Master to triumph over the grave, his own disciples could not admit such an event to be possible.

7. 42 : 5-8, 15-2

The universal belief in death is of no advantage. It cannot make Life or Truth apparent. Death will be found at length to be a mortal dream, which comes in darkness and disappears with the light.

The resurrection of the great demonstrator of God's power was the proof of his final triumph over body and matter, and gave full evidence of divine Science, — evidence so important to mortals. The belief that man has existence or mind separate from God is a dying error. This error Jesus met with divine Science and proved its nothingness. Because of the wondrous glory which God bestowed on His anointed, temptation, sin, sickness, and death had no terror for Jesus. Let men think they had killed the body! Afterwards he would show it to them unchanged. This demonstrates that in Christian Science the true man is governed by God — by good, not evil — and is therefore not a mortal but an immortal. Jesus had taught his disciples the Science of this proof. He was here to enable them to test his still uncomprehended saying, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." They must understand more fully his Life-principle by casting out error, healing the sick, and raising the dead, even as they did understand it after his bodily departure.

8. 43 : 32-19

Love must triumph over hate. Truth and Life must seal the victory over error and death, before the thorns can be laid aside for a crown, the benediction follow, "Well done, good and faithful servant," and the supremacy of Spirit be demonstrated.

The lonely precincts of the tomb gave Jesus a refuge from his foes, a place in which to solve the great problem of being. His three days' work in the sepulchre set the seal of eternity on time. He proved Life to be deathless and Love to be the master of hate. He met and mastered on the basis of Christian Science, the power of Mind over matter, all the claims of medicine, surgery, and hygiene.

He took no drugs to allay inflammation. He did not depend upon food or pure air to resuscitate wasted energies. He did not require the skill of a surgeon to heal the torn palms and bind up the wounded side and lacerated feet, that he might use those hands to remove the napkin and winding-sheet, and that he might employ his feet as before.

9. 44 : 28-5

His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demonstrating within the narrow tomb the power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense. There were rock-ribbed walls in the way, and a great stone must be rolled from the cave's mouth; but Jesus vanquished every material obstacle, overcame every law of matter, and stepped forth from his gloomy resting-place, crowned with the glory of a sublime success, an everlasting victory.

10. 45 : 16-21

Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts! Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at-one-ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love.

11. 31 : 17-22 (to .)

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 purity; and at last we shall rest, sit down with him, in a full understanding of the divine Principle which triumphs over death.