Responsive Reading: Isaiah 42 : 1-8

1.     Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

2.     He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

3.     A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

4.     He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

5.     Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6.     I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

7.     To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

8.     I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

1. Mark 1 : 1, 9-11

1     The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

9     And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

10     And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

11     And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

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. Matthew 20 : 30-34

30     And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

31     And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

32     And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

33     They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

34     So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

4. Mark 6 : 34-39, 41-44

34     And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

35     And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

36     Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

37     He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

38     He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

39     And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

41     And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

42     And they did all eat, and were filled.

43     And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

44     And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

5. Luke 7 : 11 (to ;), 12 (to :), 13-16

11     And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain;

12     Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow:

13     And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

14     And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

15     And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

16     And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

6. John 14 : 8-12

8     Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9     Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

10     Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11     Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

12     Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

7. John 17 : 1-3, 20, 21 (to ;), 26

1     These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2     As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3     And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

20     Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21     That they all may be one;

26     And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

1. 18 : 3-9

Jesus of Nazareth taught and demonstrated man's oneness with the Father, and for this we owe him endless homage. His mission was both individual and collective. He did life's work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals, — to show them how to do theirs, but not to do it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility.

2. 19 : 6-11

Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus' teachings, and this truer sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter, sin, and death by the law of Spirit, — the law of divine Love.

3. 332 : 23 (Jesus)-2

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. Mary's conception of him was spiritual, for only purity could reflect Truth and Love, which were plainly incarnate in the good and pure Christ Jesus. He expressed the highest type of divinity, which a fleshly form could express in that age. Into the real and ideal man the fleshly element cannot enter. Thus it is that Christ illustrates the coincidence, or spiritual agreement, between God and man in His image.

4. 333 : 8 (Christ)-13

Christ is not a name so much as the divine title of Jesus. Christ expresses God's spiritual, eternal nature. The name is synonymous with Messiah, and alludes to the spirituality which is taught, illustrated, and demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the embodiment.

5. 94 : 1-6

Jesus taught but one God, one Spirit, who makes man in the image and likeness of Himself, — of Spirit, not of matter. Man reflects infinite Truth, Life, and Love. The nature of man, thus understood, includes all that is implied by the terms "image" and "likeness" as used in Scripture.

6. 42 : 1-4

Jesus' life proved, divinely and scientifically, that God is Love, whereas priest and rabbi affirmed God to be a mighty potentate, who loves and hates. The Jewish theology gave no hint of the unchanging love of God.

7. 25 : 13-19, 22-26

Jesus taught the way of Life by demonstration, that we may understand how this divine Principle heals the sick, casts out error, and triumphs over death. Jesus presented the ideal of God better than could any man whose origin was less spiritual. By his obedience to God, he demonstrated more spiritually than all others the Principle of being.

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.

8. 26 : 16-18, 21-27

His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man.

Jesus' teaching and practice of Truth involved such a sacrifice as makes us admit its Principle to be Love. This was the precious import of our Master's sinless career and of his demonstration of power over death. He proved by his deeds that Christian Science destroys sickness, sin, and death.

9. 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.

10. 135 : 26-8

Christianity as Jesus taught it was not a creed, nor a system of ceremonies, nor a special gift from a ritualistic Jehovah; but it was the demonstration of divine Love casting out error and healing the sick, not merely in the name of Christ, or Truth, but in demonstration of Truth, as must be the case in the cycles of divine light.

Jesus established his church and maintained his mission on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life separate from God. Despite the persecution this brought upon him, he used his divine power to save men both bodily and spiritually.

11. 110 : 25-31

Jesus demonstrated the power of Christian Science to heal mortal minds and bodies. But this power was lost sight of, and must again be spiritually discerned, taught, and demonstrated according to Christ's command, with "signs following." Its Science must be apprehended by as many as believe on Christ and spiritually understand Truth.

12. 494 : 5-14

Is it not a species of infidelity to believe that so great a work as the Messiah's was done for himself or for God, who needed no help from Jesus' example to preserve the eternal harmony? But mortals did need this help, and Jesus pointed the way for them. Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demonstrated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.

13. 476 : 28-5

When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal. Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy.