Article March 4, 1939 Issue

Fidelity

THOMAS G. WATTERSON

IT was the Sabbath day. Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues when he called a woman to him, who, for eighteen years, had been so bowed together that she "could in no wise lift up herself." Following his declaration, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity," she was immediately healed.

The ruler of the synagogue rebuked him, saying to the congregation, "There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Jesus questioned him, If it is proper to care for the domestic animals on the Sabbath day, how much more is "a daughter of Abraham" entitled to be released on the Sabbath day? The ruler was silenced, and the people rejoiced. Jesus' manner of addressing the woman as "a daughter of Abraham" must have had a significant meaning.

In that important debate with the Pharisees recorded in the eighth chapter of the Gospel of John, it is recorded that when the Pharisees made the claim that Abraham was their father, Jesus replied, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham." Furthermore, he pointed out that, if they had loved God as Abraham had loved Him, they also would have loved Jesus and the truth he taught. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, the definition of "Abraham" is given as follows (p. 579): "Fidelity; faith in the divine Life and in the eternal Principle of being. This patriarch illustrated the purpose of Love to create trust in good, and show the life-preserving power of spiritual understanding."

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