IN the time of Christ Jesus, the mount of Olives commanded a sweeping view of the city of Jerusalem, with its walls, terraced gardens, magnificent palaces, and architectural monuments of shining marble and glittering gold. And from it may be seen the river Jordan, which Elisha parted with the mantle of Elijah, and in which Jesus was baptized by John. The Scriptures record that Jesus was wont to retire to the seclusion of this mount; and the Apostle John opens the eighth chapter of his Gospel with the terse statement, "Jesus went unto the mount of Olives."
The seven words just quoted are full of meaning to the student of Christian Science. We may profitably dwell on them to gain a view of the great Teacher not always considered carefully. We think often of him as ever about his Father's business, mingling throughout the day with the motley throng of the thousands in Jerusalem, driving the money changers out of the temple, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, comforting the sorrowing, raising the dead; but as night spreads her veil of silence over much of the city's activities, we catch another view of him, as he moves quietly away from the throng to the mount of Olives, there, through the still hours of the night, to commune more closely with God and gain inspiration, understanding, strength, and guidance for the work of the following day. We love to follow him in thought, as he slips unnoticed through the gate of the city wall, down over the brook Cedron, up through the quiet garden of Gethsemane, where he was afterwards to drain the cup of sorrow to its bitter dregs, and on to the mount. There, with the bright twinkling stars and the kindly Syrian moon shedding their soft, effulgent light over all, he gained the understanding to work out many of the great problems of being.
Among the many lessons to be gleaned from this seven-word narrative is this, that if a quiet place for study or spiritual communion is necessary for our advancement, that place is surely in some way available. We sometimes hear it said: "If my surroundings were only different; if only I had proper companionship, or could attend a Christian Science church, how much more rapidly I could advance!" But what a rebuke such a deceptive argument receives in that lonely figure on the mount of Olives! And let it not be forgotten that Jesus would have been an honored guest in many a home in the illustrious city at the foot of the mount. He, however, had but one aim and object in life, and that, in the words of Isaiah, was "to preach good tidings unto the meek; ... to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ... to give unto them beauty for ashes." To this end he was willing to sacrifice every worldly pleasure, every sensuous claim, every false attraction and allurement, was willing to withstand the jeers and the insults aimed at him by the very people whom he was trying to help, but who did not understand his doctrine.
