Every Christmas, I like to take my Bible and read about the arrival of the baby Jesus. I rejoice with the angels as they announce our Savior’s birth to the shepherds. I applaud the discernment of the wise men who followed the star to see the child, then took another way home and refrained from telling King Herod Jesus’ whereabouts. Reviewing the nativity story fills me with gratitude and gladness. But one Christmas, I realized that I was focusing more on the human history of Jesus and neglecting Christ. How could this be possible?
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, notes, “Jesus as the son of man was human: Christ as the Son of God was divine” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 63), and in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures she writes: “Christ expresses God’s spiritual, eternal nature. The name is synonymous with Messiah, and alludes to the spirituality which is taught, illustrated, and demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the embodiment” (p. 333). Christ was the title given to Jesus, and I realized I needed to pay more attention to the timeless nature of Christ.
Because John the Baptist prophesied and heralded Christ’s coming, I decided to study three of John’s interactions with Christ Jesus. I was hoping to glimpse more of Christ through John the Baptist’s eyes. Mrs. Eddy observed, “Such Christians as John cognize the symbols of God, reach the sure foundations of time, stand upon the shore of eternity, and grasp and gather—in all glory—what eye hath not seen” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 82).
