All down through the ages the Master's sayings and their interpretation have been the subject of a multitude of discussions and have formed the basis of many different creeds and denominations. His message is reflected to some degree in every advancing step of civilization. Every phase of human conduct and every moral issue has felt the touch of his Sermon on the Mount. As a pebble thrown into a quiet pool by some unknown hand causes a ripple which extends to its utmost limits, so the life of this wonderful Teacher has touched the lives of those who never have known him or even heard his name. Not only is this true of the years intervening between his time and our own, but it remains to be true so long as there is sorrow to be healed and sin and disease to be destroyed.
The influence of this man of Nazareth, who first appeared as the hope and central figure of an almost unknown province of the Roman Empire, now knows no geographical boundaries, and the perspective of time reveals him as one who is beyond comparison. His birth, unique in its character, was the fulfilment of prophecy, and in his triumph over the grave was born the promise of a resurrection for the whole world from the bondage of sin, sickness, and death. Notwithstanding all this, the world has never really known him, and humanity is only just beginning to understand his career through the teachings of Christian Science.
On page 50 of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy, in speaking of the scene at Golgotha, when Jesus was about to pass through the experiences which were to be the culmination of his ministry to mankind, tells us that "the distrust of mortal minds, disbelieving the purpose of his mission, was a million times sharper than the thorns which pierced his flesh." His greatest grief was the result of the people's inability to comprehend the character either of himself or of his mission. He seems sometimes even to have questioned the spiritual understanding of his disciples, for we read that on one occasion he turned to them and asked, "Whom say ye that I am?"
