Responsive Reading: John 1 : 1, 4, 14, 18 • Matthew 6 : 9-13

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.

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.

18.     No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

9.     After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10.     Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11.     Give us this day our daily bread.

12.     And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13.     And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

1. Luke 4 : 14 (to :), 16-21, 33-35, 38-41, 44

14     And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:

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.

33     And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34     Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

35     And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

38     And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

39     And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

40     Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

41     And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

44     And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

2. Matthew 12 : 22, 23 (to 1st ,), 24-29, 31, 32, 35

22     Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

23     And all the people were amazed,

24     But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

25     And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

26     And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

27     And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

28     But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

29     Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

31     Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

32     And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

35     A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

3. John 2 : 13-16, 18-22

13     And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14     And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15     And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

16     And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

18     Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

19     Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20     Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21     But he spake of the temple of his body.

22     When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

4. John 10 : 24-30

24     Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.

25     Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.

26     But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27     My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28     And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

29     My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

30     I and my Father are one.

1. 586 : 9 (Father)-10

Father. Eternal Life; the one Mind; the divine Principle, commonly called God.

2. 595 : 7 (Temple)-10

Temple. Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love; a material superstructure, where mortals congregate for worship.

3. 243 : 32-6

Inasmuch as God is good and the fount of all being, He does not produce moral or physical deformity; therefore such deformity is not real, but is illusion, the mirage of error. Divine Science reveals these grand facts. On their basis Jesus demonstrated Life, never fearing nor obeying error in any form.

4. 249 : 14-19

God is the infinite, and infinity never began, will never end, and includes nothing unlike God. Whence then is soulless matter?

Life is, like Christ, "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever."

5. 400 : 30-4

The Scriptures plainly declare the baneful influence of sinful thought on the body. Even our Master felt this. It is recorded that in certain localities he did not many mighty works "because of their unbelief" in Truth. Any human error is its own enemy, and works against itself; it does nothing in the right direction and much in the wrong.

6. 119 : 25-1

In viewing the sunrise, one finds that it contradicts the evidence before the senses to believe that the earth is in motion and the sun at rest. As astronomy reverses the human perception of the movement of the solar system, so Christian Science reverses the seeming relation of Soul and body and makes body tributary to Mind. Thus it is with man, who is but the humble servant of the restful Mind, though it seems otherwise to finite sense.

7. 269 : 21-28

The testimony of the material senses is neither absolute nor divine. I therefore plant myself unreservedly on the teachings of Jesus, of his apostles, of the prophets, and on the testimony of the Science of Mind. Other foundations there are none. All other systems — systems based wholly or partly on knowledge gained through the material senses — are reeds shaken by the wind, not houses built on the rock.

8. 494 : 2-9, 15 (The)-19

Jesus said: "Destroy this temple [body], and in three days I [Mind] will raise it up;" and he did this for tired humanity's reassurance.

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.

The miracle of grace is no miracle to Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine Science.

9. 350 : 24 (“The)-30

"The Word was made flesh." Divine Truth must be known by its effects on the body as well as on the mind, before the Science of being can be demonstrated. Hence its embodiment in the incarnate Jesus, — that life-link forming the connection through which the real reaches the unreal, Soul rebukes sense, and Truth destroys error.

10. 399 : 29-8

Our Master asked: "How can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?" In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called mortal mind, which directly controls the body? When disease is once destroyed in this so-called mind, the fear of disease is gone, and therefore the disease is thoroughly cured. Mortal mind is "the strong man," which must be held in subjection before its influence upon health and morals can be removed. This error conquered, we can despoil "the strong man" of his goods, — namely, of sin and disease.

11. 403 : 14-20

You command the situation if you understand that mortal existence is a state of self-deception and not the truth of being. Mortal mind is constantly producing on mortal body the results of false opinions; and it will continue to do so, until mortal error is deprived of its imaginary powers by Truth, which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.

12. 207 : 15-16

Body is not first and Soul last, nor is evil mightier than good.

13. 241 : 27-30

The baptism of Spirit, washing the body of all the impurities of flesh, signifies that the pure in heart see God and are approaching spiritual Life and its demonstration.

14. 428 : 8-14

To divest thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, — this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, "whose builder and maker is God."

15. 16 : 20-15

Only as we rise above all material sensuousness and sin, can we reach the heaven-born aspiration and spiritual consciousness, which is indicated in the Lord's Prayer and which instantaneously heals the sick.

Here let me give what I understand to be the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father which art in heaven,
 Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Hallowed be Thy name.
 Adorable One.

Thy kingdom come.
 Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
 Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme.

Give us this day our daily bread;
 Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
 And Love is reflected in love;

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
 And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
 For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.