The legacy we inherit from Christ Jesus' experiences on the cross and in the sepulcher includes the message of compassion— that quality so needed to reach distressed humanity.

After the Master's most difficult trial, he quickly reached out with compassion to the mourners. Soon after he had risen, he consoled and blessed a woman in tears mourning the loss of her Saviour. This woman, Mary Magdalene, had been healed by the divine Principle Jesus taught, and now he reassured her of the eternality of that saving Principle, untouched by death. Her tears could now be wiped away. Shortly thereafter he also hastened to rouse the disciples from their fears and to lift them to a higher understanding of the Life which is God. Even the doubtful Thomas was embraced by the Master's compassion. All these incidents show that Jesus' teachings were not left in abstract theorism but illustrated the Principle to be loved and lived.

In the chapter "Christian Science Practice" of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy states: "The physician who lacks sympathy for his fellow-being is deficient in human affection, and we have the apostolic warrant for asking: 'He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' Not having this spiritual affection, the physician lacks faith in the divine Mind and has not that recognition of infinite Love which alone confers the healing power." ^{Science and Health, p. 366.}

To aid humanity, the Christian's love must reach both the sick and the sinful. While Jesus forgave the repentant woman at Simon's house, he also rebuked his host's lack of compassion, with the story of the two debtors (see Luke 7:36-50). The love of the Christ, the divine ideal that Jesus exemplified, extends to both the sick and the sinner, but the love that comforts the sick may often appear as a rebuke to the sinner. To have true compassion for the sinner calls forth our deepest sense of love for God and man and shows the extent of our devotion.

Paul's commitment to Christianity was questioned at first by the early Christian workers; they hesitated to trust him in view of his former attacks on the Christian churches. Even in later years, that record may—to some—have been hard to forgive; yet Paul himself had learned forgiveness. He wrote, "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." ^{Rom. 14:13.}

The human being who looks compassionately on his neighbor will not be the one who constantly watches for and magnifies the faults of others. It is the human ego (the belief of an intelligence separate from God) that seems to enjoy pointing to others' mistakes, making them public, while resting in its own self-righteousness and pointing to its own goodness. But we can free ourselves and others from this belief of a personal ego by understanding and acknowledging the oneness of the divine Ego, the all-intelligent Mind that is God. The human effect of this Mind is never defamation but restoration and regeneration. It uplifts mankind to claim their heritage as the children of God.

The lack of forgiveness toward those who have repented of evil personalizes the problem and can never free them. The tenderness that heals is expressed in a hymn from the Christian Science Hymnal:

Proportionately as we perceive the impossibility of a break in the relations of God and man, we are able to extend a helpful hand to those who have accepted (consciously or unconsciously) the discord that attends the belief of an existence apart from Spirit, God. The state of thought that sees through the discord (whether sickness or sin) and beholds the eternal covenant between God and man is the window through which the saving Christ appears to help mankind. We therefore must be working out our own freedom from the evils of material existence in order to reach the needy. We cannot be ignorant of the demands on our own moral progress. Mrs. Eddy states: "If the Scientist has enough Christly affection to win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Magdalen gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to practise scientifically and deal with his patients compassionately; and the result will correspond with the spiritual intent." ^{Science and Health, p. 365.}

In proportion as the message of compassion glows more brightly in our lives will we be prepared to demonstrate the fullness of the Master's legacy—inevitable, eternal Life.

Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.... And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

I John 3:18, 22, 23