The Great Teacher
When the prophet Isaiah wrote, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace;" and when the evangelist Luke wrote, "The child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him," they drew for the world an impressive picture of him who later on was to be known as the great Teacher of mankind.
The Bible has little to say concerning the early life of Jesus; that is, from the time he was born until he was about thirty years of age, when he entered upon his public ministry. With this fact before us, what conclusions are we to draw regarding Jesus' early experiences? What are we to decide that he was doing during those three decades? Are we to dispose of the matter simply by believing that he was occupying himself in a more or less easy, aimless fashion in the carpenter shop or among the townsfolk of Nazareth? Are we to take it for granted, because we are told that he was to be called "Wonderful, Counselor," and that "the grace of God was upon him," because he was destined to become the Wayshower or Exemplar of the race, that he had only to sit down and wait on time? No; such an opinion would greatly underestimate and belittle the life-work of Jesus, and would be directly opposed to sound logic.
In carefully examining the entire career of Jesus, as outlined in the Scriptures, we find that his parents were daily striving to do right and be religious in the highest sense of the term; that is, to serve God fearlessly, understandingly, and to walk in the straight and narrow way. They were modest, unassuming, energetic people, and, like others who are sincere and well meaning, desired that their son should be brought up according to the lofty ideals which they themselves were laboring to render practical. Joseph and Mary must, therefore, have sought to train and educate Jesus in careful keeping with their faith, and this training and education naturally started at home, where, according to the rigid custom of the best Jewish families, Jesus was instructed religiously. Presumably, in due course, he was given the advantages of the synagogue school, in which the history connected with the Old Testament characters and happenings was no doubt learned, as was also the Old Testament law in its fulness. Thus it was that, in common with other Jewish boys, Jesus became well versed in the Jewish Scriptures. Unlike the average student, however, he began to think for himself, refusing to accept the merely theological, dogmatic opinions and notions of his instructors, who, while they doubtless were sincere, nevertheless signally failed to perceive and point out the spiritual or practical import of the Old Testament.
This individual effort on the part of the Master, together with the spiritual illumination which attended it, was clearly shown on the occasion of his first visit to Jerusalem, at the age of twelve, when it would seem that his chief ambition was to associate with the rabbis or doctors of the law in the temple, and ask them questions regarding the great things embodied in the Old Testament. Jesus thus acquainted himself with the religious views of some of the foremost Scriptural authorities of the day, while at the same time giving them his views. "And," as the record tells us, "all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." Jesus probably studied the Old Testament in the Hebrew, and inasmuch as the Aramaic was the Jewish language of the time, he of course understood it and used it in common speech. He may have had, too, a working knowledge of the Greek, which was a means of intercourse with the Greeks who were in Palestine.
We know from the New Testament account of his public ministry that Jesus was the most practical, or, as Mrs. Eddy says in Science and Health, "the most scientific man that ever trod the globe" (p. 313 ),and we cannot help feeling that from his earliest days he was literally about his Father's business, even as he said he was when Mary and Joseph found him in the temple discussing religious questions with the rabbis. And what was this business which he regarded as so important, so urgent? This, namely, the earnest seeking for a sure way to bring the true knowledge or understanding of God to his own nation, together with the practical demonstration of this understanding.
While there is no Scriptural record of specific works on the part of Jesus up to the age of thirty, this is no proof whatever that he did not perform them, any more than the absence of a record of detailed experiences in the early life of a renowned professor of mathematics proves that this professor did not solve problems before entering upon his professional career. The fact that he became a successful demonstrator of mathematics would at once show that he had prepared himself, and that this preparation had necessarily involved study and practise, the learning of laws and rules and the correct application of them. And so we may be sure it was with Jesus. He knew full well that for him, as for others, to accomplish good and telling results in any line of endeavor, there would first have to be thorough and wholehearted preparation, and to this he devoted himself for thirty years. Then, having been truly faithful over what to him and others may have seemed little things, he found himself equipped to do his after-work well, and to be made ruler over many things,—yea, to stand upon the plane of perfect understanding.
Jesus' statement to the Samaritan woman, "God is a Spirit," and his declaration in his Sermon on the Mount, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," which may be denominated the alpha and omega of all his teaching, certainly make plain that one's chief duty by way of preparation for life's work is first to understand God, Spirit, aright, and then to understand one's self, the spiritual image and likeness of God, aright. This is indeed the only way in which men can work out their salvation and be happy and blessed.
For many centuries the world seemed to be in gross darkness as to how to make practical the teaching of Jesus and to gain that harmony and peace and joy which he promised to all who kept his sayings. Finally, this darkness was pierced by the bright and shining light of Christian Science, the simple, provable truth about God, man, and the universe. Knocking at the hearts of men and women everywhere, it matters not how heavy or hopeless they may be, this Science tenderly and lovingly says: "'Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!' Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being" (Science and Health, p. 227 ).
Christian Science gives the spiritual interpretation of the entire Bible, but more particularly of the words and works of Christ Jesus; and he who is ready and willing to begin its study, to obey its rules, and to do his best to live up to them, thus gradually but surely coming to understand the allness of Spirit, good, and the powerlessness, the nothingness, of evil, all materiality, will be renewed and uplifted in a manner which language cannot portray.
