IN the record of Jesus' birth, as related in the second chapter of Luke's Gospel, we are told,. "And she [Mary] brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn." On hearing this verse read one day, a student of Christian Science was especially arrested by the words "no room . . . in the inn." Although previously they had not appeared to impart any special message, on this occasion she gained a deep spiritual message from them.
In our study of Biblical narratives in the light of Christian Science it is both helpful and necessary to substitute the spiritual, or metaphysical, significance for the merely literal meaning of certain words. For instance, the substitution of "consciousness" for "house" often throws much light on Scriptural passages, as it did for the student when she heard the verse read from Luke. She saw that in this account the inn and the manger symbolized different states of consciousness.
No flourish attends the birth of the Christ-idea in human consciousness. It is a holy, spiritual experience, known only to the pure in heart. It can be seen, therefore, that there is no room in the inn of material consciousness for the Christ child, "who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the patriarch at noonday." These words conclude a paragraph from page 224 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, which reads in full: "A higher and more practical Christianity, demonstrating justice and meeting the needs of mortals in sickness and in health, stands at the door of this age, knocking for admission. Will you open or close the door upon this angel visitant, who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the patriarch at noonday?"
