Two outstanding statements on the purpose of Jesus' mission on earth are recorded in the New Testament. One of these, in answer to Pilate's question, "Art thou a king then?" occurs in John's Gospel (18:37), and is as follows: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." The other is to be found in the Gospel according to Matthew (4:23) and reads, "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." Thus, Christ Jesus' mission was to bear witness to Truth through teaching, preaching, and healing.

There can be no doubt that the purpose of the Master was to instruct mankind in the truth about God as the Father of all—the Father who cares for His children with love that is boundless—and to demonstrate what he taught in works of healing and regeneration. Moreover, Christ Jesus fulfilled prophecy in that he came, in the fullness of time, a spiritual light unto the world. The Hebrew prophets had foretold the coming of the Messiah, who should bring salvation to mankind. He himself declared that he was the Messiah; and he was recognized as such by those who understood his teaching and witnessed the proofs he gave of its authenticity in the healing of disease, the overcoming of sin, and the raising of the dead. In Revelation (19:10) it is written that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Jesus' testimony, set forth in his words and published by his deeds, was in strict harmony with what had been prophetically foretold of him.

Christ Jesus bore witness to eternal Truth. It was a tremendous task he took upon himself, but he pursued it with unwavering courage until his final victory over death. He marvelously overcame the false material sense of existence through the understanding he had of the Science of spiritual being—divine Science. He did not, however, elucidate this Science, but promised that "the Spirit of truth," the "Comforter," should come to bring to fruition the work which he had carried on among his fellow men. The Comforter is Christian Science, and Mary Baker Eddy is its Discoverer and Founder. On page 55 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes: "In the words of St. John: 'He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.' This Comforter I understand to be Divine Science."

What assurance is there that Christian Science is the Comforter prophesied by Jesus? First, its teachings are in perfect accord with his. All that he taught about God and man, and about man's relationship to God, is accepted by Christian Science. Indeed, Christian Science renders the spiritual message of the Master plain and readily understandable, as it does that of the entire Scriptures. Our Leader writes in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p.25), "Science, understood, translates matter into Mind, rejects all other theories of causation, restores the spiritual and original meaning of the Scriptures, and explains the teachings and life of our Lord."

Further, in proof that it is the Comforter, Christian Science enables its students to do works of healing similar to those of the Way-shower, maintaining that this healing work cannot be dissociated from pure Christianity, that it is the inevitable result of the application of the understanding which the teachings of Christ Jesus and of Christian Science give. More and more clearly is this being discerned, and more and more are men accepting these teachings and applying them to the solution of their problems.

Christian Scientists never fail in their gratitude to Christ Jesus, understanding as they do the nature and value of his testimony. They regard him as the great Way-shower, the great demonstrator of Truth and Love; the anointed of God, who made known his divine sonship and taught his fellow men that they too were the sons of God. At the same time, Christian Scientists never fail to honor their Leader, Mrs. Eddy, as the one who, through the discovery of Christian Science, fulfilled Jesus' prophecy that the Comforter should come and abide with men forever. They understand that Christian Science, which she discovered and founded, and which therefore can never be dissociated from her, is the complete and final revelation of Truth.

The world may be slow to acknowledge the fact, but fact it is, that in the teachings of Christ Jesus, and those of Mary Baker Eddy, which explain and affirm the Master's teachings, we have pure Christianity—Christianity, that is, entirely free from any taint of material doctrine or belief, entirely spiritual in its nature. Pure Christianity—Christian Science—is before the world today, before Christendom today, testifying to its authenticity by its healing and regenerating works. When it is universally accepted and its teaching universally practiced, then will have come the spiritual freedom of the entire human race.

Duncan Sinclair