Article May 18, 1981 Issue

I won't jump!

MARY E. AILSHIRE

Did you ever wonder why the devil, when tempting Christ Jesus in the wilderness, didn't just throw him down from the pinnacle of the temple?^{See Matt. 4:1-11 .}

The scientific answer is that the devil—evil or error—has no real power and so could not throw Jesus down or even push him off. Evil's only recourse in the wilderness temptation was to make suggestions—to suggest that Jesus cast himself down, to suggest that he turn stones into bread, to suggest that he should worship the devil in return for unlimited worldly power. But the Master knew how to resist such temptation, which Mrs. Eddy terms in Christian Science "aggressive mental suggestion." He simply refused to give in to allurements of evil because he knew "that power belongeth unto God,"^{Ps. 62:11.} as the Bible says. Through the consciousness of God's total presence and omnipotence he was able to exclude any supposititious evil presence or power.

Devilish and aggressive mental suggestion still plagues people today. Coming as our own thoughts, evil says, "I am sick"; "I am so tired I can't work today"; "I have a headache." We can counteract such suggestions on the basis of their powerlessness. As our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, explains: "There is no power apart from God. Omnipotence has all-power, and to acknowledge any other power is to dishonor God."^{Science and Health, p. 228.} When we honor God by ascribing all power to Him, God's angels—His healing thoughts—come and minister to us as they did to the Saviour.