Our Master silenced the accusations of the multitude on a certain occasion when they questioned why he mingled with sinners, by answering, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick." It is plain that Jesus implied a lack of something in the lives of those he sought to save, since to be "whole" means to be complete, lacking in nothing. When he added that he came not to "call the righteous, but sinners to repentance," he stated quite plainly what the lack was—the lack of righteousness.
Now the tenor of the Scriptures reveals that the righteous are those who think aright, and consequently do the right. It is evident that these do not need to be called, or shown, the way. But the sinner, bound about with the beliefs of life in a material body, wrapped in the graveclothes of mortal fear, frailty, and failure, does need to be shown the way—does need to hear and heed the call "Come forth," which Jesus uttered with a loud voice at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. The sinner must come forth from the false beliefs of matter as having entity, or reality.
On page 290 of the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read, "Life is the everlasting I am, the Being who was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase." And man is the image and likeness of this "I AM," God. The understanding of the real man is thus waiting at the door of consciousness. Let us open the door and admit the true idea of man, and behold in it our real selfhood. Let not the seeming weight of past mistakes deter us.
