THE saying of our Master, as recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew's Gospel, "Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath," may have caused questioning to those unenlightened by the study of Christian Science. Luke's version of the second half of the saying is, "And whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have," a rendering which makes it clear that we cannot lose anything that we really possess, but only that which we may seem to possess. In spite, however, of this clear statement, many in our own day still wonder why those who already possess much should receive more, and, especially, why they should receive an abundance of good.
Now, as Matthew tells it, Jesus had just related his parable of the talents, wherein the faithful servants were commended and promoted by their lord because of their obedience and diligence in having made good use of the gifts which he had apportioned to each, and wherein also the slothful servant was deprived of even the one talent bestowed upon him, because of his failure to make any attempt to use it. While he had received a talent, the outcome was the same as if he had never received it, for all that he did with it was to bury it in the earth. In other words, the slothful servant had so limited a sense of his possession and of his ability to use it that he was one of those who only "seemeth to have."
In the book of Numbers we find an illuminating instance of what is meant by the words "have" or "possess" in their spiritual meaning. When the children of Israel were nearing the land of Canaan, Moses appointed rulers out of every tribe whose task it was to go and find out what kind of land this was, good or bad; whether the people were few or many, strong or weak; and he gave them the injunction to be of "good courage." To the first part of their leader's instructions they were very attentive; but to the precept to be of "good courage," they evidently paid scant heed. Indeed, they seem to have completely ignored or else to have forgotten it; for we read that they brought back the report that the land was surely a good one, flowing "with milk and honey," having a plentiful supply of all that they would need. But the inhabitants, they reported, were strong and many in number, and, dwelling as they did in walled cities, they were altogether too formidable for the Israelites to attempt to displace them. So carried away by appearances were the majority of these rulers of Israel that they described the dwellers in Canaan as giants, compared with whom they themselves were as grasshoppers.
