Jesus’ Impact, and Ours
We all want to make a difference in this world, and during the present political upheaval in our country and world, it helps to turn to the Gospel for guidance, and a healthy perspective. Christ Jesus came into the world during the height of the Roman Empire. When he was heralded as the Saviour of Israel, most assumed that he would lead a revolt against the Romans, who occupied the land. Because the chief priests and scribes (members of religious establishment of the time) felt threatened by Jesus’ revolutionary message, they tried to trap him into saying something incendiary towards Rome, and thereby get him into trouble with the authorities. They asked him, “Is it lawful for us to give tribute [pay taxes] unto Caesar, or not?” Jesus knew well what they were up to, and foiled them by showing them a penny with Caesar’ image and superscription. Then he made his now-famous proclamation, “Render unto Caesar the things that be Caesar’s, and unto God the things that be God’s.”
The mission of Jesus was far greater than freeing a nation from a tyrannical government for a moment in time. As Mrs. Eddy so perfectly described it: “In no other one thing seemed Jesus of Nazareth more divine than in his faith in the immortality of his words. He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;” and they have not… They still live, and to-morrow speak louder than to-day… Jesus taught by the wayside, in humble homes. He spake of Truth and Love to artless and dull disciples. His immortal words were articulated in a decaying language, and then left to the providence of God. Christian Science was to interpret them; and woman, “last at the cross,” was to awaken the dull senses, intoxicated with pleasure or pain, to the infinite meaning of those words.” (Misc. Wr.)
If this message of Truth has touched us, we ought to follow our Master, the Way-shower, and see the bigger picture! He did not get entangled in political struggles or worldly achievement, and yet nobody has had greater impact on humanity. Jesus did not get sucked into the endless bickering of mortals, nor should we: “The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind.” (S&H) Should we not follow his example, as stated in the sixth Tenet of Christian Science? “And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.” The impact of doing this we leave to “the providence of God.”
Andrew Kidd