Editorial December 23, 1933 Issue

Christ, or Herod?

Duncan Sinclair

In the second chapter of Matthew's Gospel it is brought out how Herod tried to compass the death of Jesus, not knowing that the child had been taken with Mary his mother into Egypt by Joseph. The sixteenth verse reads, "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under." Obviously Herod thought that in this manner Jesus would be slain with the other innocents.

Herod had been informed of what had taken place in Bethlehem. He had been told of the birth of Jesus, who afterwards should reveal the Christ to mankind as never before; and fear seized him lest he should be displaced in his kingship by the one whom the wise men had honored. Then hatred took hold of him, the result being that he sought to kill the child. This, however, was beyond his power, for had he but known it, the Bethlehem babe was the best protected infant ever born into the world.

On page 583 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy defines "Christ" as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error." It was Jesus' purpose so to manifest God, so to reflect the divine qualities, so to demonstrate God's ideas, as to destroy the weaknesses, the diseases, the sins of the flesh, thus releasing mankind from material bondage. How wonderfully he did this is shown in the Gospels. During his ministry he healed all manner of disease and sin by his understanding of the Christ-idea. The Pharisaical thought cringed beneath the level gaze of his spiritualized consciousness. And in his resurrection and ascension he proved conclusively that Love is the master of hate, that the Christ is victor over all carnality, all animality.

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