MARY BAKER EDDY says of Christ Jesus and his disciples (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 91), "When he was with them, a fishing-boat became a sanctuary, and the solitude was peopled with holy messages from the All-Father." Here was the first Christian congregation, and in this way the Christian church came into being.
During the three years' ministry of Jesus, his disciples had their Master to turn to in every need; he was there to instruct them, to rebuke, to comfort and heal, to save, to serve, and to guide them. They knew, as others said of him, that "never man spake like this man" (John 7:46). As their eyes and ears were spiritually opened, they gave him their faithful obedience.
Their own missionary work of preaching, teaching, and healing began under the Master's direction, and to him they turned in failure and success. But with the removal of his physical presence, a new sense of the Christ began to unfold to them. They had learned through inspiration and recognition that Jesus manifested the Christ, that the eternally true in heaven had been made practical on earth, and that a new era had begun. The loving allegiance that had bound them to their friend and Master was transformed, not broken, with the ascension. It became an indissoluble bond of unity with the living, universal Christ.
