Editorial April 7, 1928 Issue

"The resurrection, and the life"

Albert F. Gilmore

Deep consideration of the problem of resurrection inevitably turns one to the eleventh chapter of John's Gospel, for there are recorded words uttered by Christ Jesus which have gone far toward proving the continuity of life and destroying all belief in the reality of death. The occasion was the coming of the Master to Bethany, where Lazarus, having been stricken with disease, had died. Martha, meeting him on the way, stated her belief that had Jesus been present her brother would not have died. And she followed this with a fine expression of confidence that whatever he should ask of God would be granted. How sublime was her faith in this most valued friend! In response to Jesus' assurance that Lazarus would rise again, Martha declared that she knew he would "rise again in the resurrection at the last day." To this the Master replied in words of the greatest moment to mankind: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." And he added, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

What stimulus to faith do these words contain! What, precisely, did Christ Jesus mean when he declared himself to be "the resurrection, and the life"? Surely he did not refer to his material selfhood, to his personality, the human Jesus. Material belief could neither resurrect from the dead nor engender life. The explanation, it seems, is contained in the last sentence. He that believes on the Christ as the manifestation of God, as the expression of eternal Life, gains the true concept; and in the measure of his understanding, has laid hold of eternal Life, that is, has overcome belief in death. The same fact is precisely set forth by our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, on page 485 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," where she writes, "Not death, but the understanding of Life, makes man immortal."

Resurrection, then, is the gaining of the understanding of Life, of God and man, of reality. The Christ, so perfectly manifested by Christ Jesus, was his true selfhood. And the Christ, the reflection of eternal Life, understood, becomes the resurrection to all who grasp it; and we are assured that, gained in the fullness of its significance, it destroys belief in the necessity of death. This significance Mrs. Eddy sets forth on page 593 of Science and Health in the definition of "resurrection": "Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding." How plain does our Leader make it that resurrection is a process of unfoldment of thought in which we all may have part in the measure of our grasp of spiritual truth! We are resurrected in proportion to our understanding of Life.

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