Christ Jesus was an extraordinary healer. What gave him this capacity? Many people evade a truly direct answer to such a question by suggesting either that Jesus was God or that God reserved the gift of healing primarily for the Master.

Christ Jesus was not God, but he embodied the Christ, the divine idea of God. He understood more clearly than anyone else ever has that man is the perfect child of God. This glowing realization put his whole life in a context entirely apart from those who assumed that man is the child of a mortal. In the final analysis it was Jesus' recognition of his, and every individual's, unblemished relationship to God that enabled him to heal. But simply to state the truth that Jesus knew God to be perfect and man to be His perfect expression provides only a very broad generalization.

What are some specifics? Christian Science opens up the Bible and shows how it brings to light not only why Jesus was able to overturn disease and sin but also his basis for teaching others this capacity to practice Christian healing. One of the many ways to better understand the activity of the Christ would be to learn more of Jesus' capacity to heal through Mind-reading.

For instance, in his encounter with the woman of Samaria at the well, he perceived the state of her thought. Later, in coaxing friends to join her she said, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" ^{John 4:29.} When the palsied man was brought to Jesus, the healing came quickly when Jesus recognized and exposed the thoughts of those who were resisting healing (see Mark 2).

There are two ways that the human mind can be read. One approach carries many dangers—harming even as it may be appearing to help. This is where one finite mind is simply believing so strongly in its own reality and power that it sees the thoughts and experiences of another limited, corporeal mind. This could be called mortal mind reading.

The other approach, that used by Christ Jesus, is divine Mind-reading. This is a world apart from the dangers of one mortal mind acting on, or trying to observe or know, another material mentality. Mrs. Eddy writes: "Jesus could injure no one by his Mind-reading. The effect of his Mind was always to heal and to save, and this is the only genuine Science of reading mortal mind." Further on she explains: "Paul said, 'To be spiritually minded is life.' We approach God, or Life, in proportion to our spirituality, our fidelity to Truth and Love; and in that ratio we know all human need and are able to discern the thought of the sick and the sinning for the purpose of healing them. Error of any kind cannot hide from the law of God." ^{Science and Health, pp. 94-95.}

True Mind-reading rests upon the fundamental understanding that man represents and accurately expresses the law of God, divine Mind. We, today, can practice more effective healing as we learn how to be genuine Mind-readers, healers in the way of Christ Jesus.

We exercise this scientific basis of healing as we relinquish the belief that we possess a finite, limited consciousness. There is one Mind, and that Mind is God. The more thoroughly we understand our reflection of this one Mind, the more fully we express Mind's all-knowing nature. In fact, we begin to reflect God's knowing. We find ourselves able to recognize the patient's identity more from the standpoint of one divine Mind than from the perspective of what claims to be either his finite mentality or our own.

God knows His man to be pure and intelligent, spiritual and fearless. As we surrender to God, accept Him as our perfect Mind, the source of every thought, we discern the health and wholeness of our fellowman. The effect of this Mind-reading reveals something of man's Godlike nature. And it does more. By throwing such a floodlight of truth on individual consciousness, it causes whatever is untrue to stand out in stark contrast. In the light of reality, facets of mortal belief, such as resentment or fear or envy, are exposed as false. The recognition of Truth and the exposure of error bring healing.

But if one allowed himself to slip into the fallacy of mortal mind reading, his actions would amount to little more than clumsy slogging through the swamp of material beliefs, pinpointing various evils as realities, and thereby reinforcing the very wrongs that need to be corrected. This kind of treatment, practiced by various systems of mentalism, is little more than mesmerism. Mrs. Eddy has quite a bit to say about the use of divine Mind-reading and the misuse of mortal mind reading in the Christian Science textbook (for instance, see Science and Health 83:25 to 87:18 and 94: 24-18). She includes this statement: "Science enables one to read the human mind, but not as a clairvoyant. It enables one to heal through Mind, but not as a mesmerist." ^{Ibid., p. 87.}

Treating someone through prayer is a sacred trust. It is not an event in which the other individual is yielding his mentality to yours. It is one in which you are so completely yielding any sense of a mortal mentality to the one Mind, that you discern your patient through the perfect faculties of Mind, the lens of spiritual sense. And the spiritual power involved in knowing your patient on this basis overthrows the erroneous standpoint from which he is seeing himself. Then both of you discern more clearly the truth of real being.

NATHAN A. TALBOT

Then there arose a reasoning among them,
which of them should be greatest.
And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart,
took a child, and set him by him,
and said unto them,
Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me:
and whosoever shall receive me
receiveth him that sent me:
for he that is least among you all,
the same shall be great.

Luke 9:46-48