Not too long ago I came upon a passage in Mary Baker Eddy’s book Unity of Good that made me stop in my tracks.
Referring to Mary Magdalene, who came to Christ Jesus’ tomb after his crucifixion and found the stone rolled away, Mrs. Eddy writes: “Mary had risen to discern faintly God’s ever-presence, and that of His idea, man; but her mortal sense, reversing Science and spiritual understanding, interpreted this appearing as a risen Christ” (pp. 62–63).
I had always thought of Jesus’ resurrection as a really big deal, a triumph of Spirit over the flesh and a monumental proof, a demonstration, of divine Science. And it certainly was. Yet, suddenly I saw it from a new point of view. I was struck with the thought that the resurrection of Jesus was his demonstration of his spiritual identity as the Christ, which was no more an “event” to God than the sunrise is an event to the sun. I saw that the really big deal is the discernment of God’s ever-presence, a realization of our oneness with divine Mind. This is what brought the healings Jesus performed, brought his resurrection, and moved him on to his ascension.
