Editorial March 23, 1912 Issue

WHEN?

Annie M. Knott

Toward the close of Matthew's gospel we find many trenchant utterances by Christ Jesus which point to the passing of materiality with all its miseries, and the establishment in human consciousness of God's eternal kingdom. After Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he gave a series of marvelous discourses in the temple, and the healing work to which he had devoted himself throughout his entire earthly ministry was also carried into the temple whose sacrificial services had but faintly symbolized the work of the Messiah. In every one of these discourses the great Teacher assailed the false foundations of material belief. In harmony with this Mrs. Eddy tells us that when we become "conscious of the supremacy of Truth," then "the nothingness of error is seen; and we know that the nothingness of error is in proportion to its wickedness" (Science and Health, p. 569).

In the twenty-fourth chapter of this gospel we are told that the disciples anxiously questioned their teacher as to the fulfilment of his predictions. "When shall these things be?" they asked, "and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" His answer which follows is categorical, and presents scene after scene in the great drama of the world's redemption. Many readers of the Scriptures are however puzzled by the statement, "This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." They fail to connect it with that which almost immediately follows: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Some even say that if Jesus was mistaken in declaring for the final culmination of mortal existence within his own generation, his teachings on other questions as well might be unreliable. Before entering upon any discussion of this topic it is well for us to remember that to God there has never been any interruption of the divine order,—no sin, sickness, or death; hence the changes which come must be in human consciousness, for God says, "I change not"! That a great change was, however, needed in the world's concept of being is undeniable, and the same kind of a change is needed today. Ritualism must give place to "the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith;" and as the paramount importance of these is admitted, the new heaven and the new earth is seen to be at hand, "even at the doors."

There is no need to evade the question as to what Jesus taught respecting the end of materiality and the complete establishment of God's kingdom on earth. In reading the first chapter of Acts we find the disciples listening to the advanced teaching which they were doubtless better prepared to receive after their Master's glorious demonstration over death and the grave. This elicited from them an inquiry as to when the kingdom was to be restored to Israel. To this he replied, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." Then he told them that they must receive power from the Holy Ghost, and that this would make them worthy witnesses to the truth he had taught them; a promise which was soon fulfilled in the healing of the sick and even in the raising of the dead. The most definite statement as to when all error shall vanish is however found in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, where we read: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." This gospel! The whole gospel that Christ Jesus offered to humanity—not a man-made gospel of dry dogmas with the life-giving element left out! We are also told that "all the tribes of the earth shall mourn" when the sign of Christ's reappearing is seen, and this because Truth demands the entire surrender of the carnal mind; but in spite of all resistance the light of Truth grows brighter, and the Son of man is seen through the clouds of sense coming "with power and great glory." This coming is for the waiting human race, including its weary sufferers, and the time of deliverance is "today if ye will hear his voice."

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