Bible Lesson
By
Mary Baker G. Eddy.
"Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church."Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matt 16,18.
Peter was a person the name was derived from the Latin "rock"Editorial Note: "Peter" is derived, not from Latin, but from the Greek word, petros.. We learn from the text that Christ built his church not upon the person of Peter or of Jesus as we define person but upon the rock of Truth Life and Love that which Jesus defined -named- his personality. Building upon this rock Christ Jesus was announcedAs Written:anounced as the gospel method of salvation. Our Master would settle the question of personality on these grounds he that hath seen me hath seen the FatherJohn 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? hence his personality was not the form the senses material look upon but the infinite God.
When Jesus said to the doubting discipleEditorial Note: The disciple Thomas is known as "doubting Thomas" because he would not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he could see and touch the wounds of crucifixion in Jesus' body. "I am Truth and LifeJohn 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. he could not mean his outlined personality was that or that God was outlined in him only through his life so hidden in holiness from the material sense of that age and this that even his disciples could not discern by what power a personality could be governed as when the sick were made whole and this personality could walk the wave. Rock was a rich Oriental metaphor. The BenjaminitesEditorial Note: Of the tribe of Benjamin. taking refuge in the rock RimmonJudg 20:45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men; and pursued hard after them unto Gidom, and slew two thousand men of them. Judg 20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. Judg 21:13 And the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock Rimmon, and to call peaceably unto them. escaped the fury of other tribes of Israel. Moses gave the children of Israel in the wilderness water from a rockEx 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. . Jesus prolongs the figure as a fundamental truth against the winds and waves beat in vain and the divine Life Truth and Love whence the superstructure of all faith and spiritual understanding rose to God and against which the gates of hellMatt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. should not prevail the flood tides of sin sickness and death could not overthrow since his proof of power over these should establish and explain Christianity As Written:christianity
The commencementAs Written:commencment of this chapter shows the point of his argument he addressed the materialism of the age to destroy it and establish christianity upon a purely spiritual basis. The different sects or Pharisees and Sadducees demanded of him a sign of his spiritual Christianity built not upon personality as finity but upon infinite power and goodness was better or beyond theirs built upon personality as finity and materiality and the materiality of rites and ceremoniesAs Written:cerimonies How inconsistentAs Written:inconsistant was this demand for a sign when those signs had been given them and their significance misinterpreted he had announcedAs Written:anounced to John that he was the Christ on the basis "Go tell them the things ye see and hear the lame walk the deaf hear"Matt 11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Matt 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: as much as to say my personality is divine power Love and Truth the Christ and not the Jesus the divine Principle of the man Jesus and this Principle and its idea man are inseparableAs Written:inseperable but do not call the finite man the personality of his infinite Principle.
Manfully and God like Jesus refused them a material sign and demanded they should understand his spiritual signs and their great significance how and whence was his healing he knew their need that the letter killeth and the Spirit maketh aliveII Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. He knew that the materialistic religion bringeth not forth the fruits of the Spirit casting out devils and healing the sick. Seeing the deadness of the church he warned the disciples to beware of the leaven of the PhariseesMatt 16:6 ¶Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matt 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Matt 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Mark 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. but the materialism of even his students shocked him when they inferredAs Written:infered it was a warning to take with them some bread to eat For this materialism he rebuked them saying Oh ye of little faith! Do ye not yet understand neither remember the miracle of the loavesAs Written:loafes and fishesMatt 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. Matt 15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. Matt 15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. Matt 15:36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. Matt 15:37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. Matt 15:38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. Mark 6:38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. Mark 6:39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. Mark 6:40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. Mark 6:41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. Mark 6:42 And they did all eat, and were filled. Mark 6:43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. Mark 6:44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. Luke 9:12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. Luke 9:14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. Luke 9:15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. Luke 9:16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. Luke 9:17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. John 6:5 ¶When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? John 6:6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. John 6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. John 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, John 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? John 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. . In other words can christians see no power except in meal or monad that is natural and divine? Is matter to them more than Spirit in every case? Does the life of man consist in what he shall eat and drink since God is our life and when "this shall appear we shall be like unto Him" Our personality will not be of finity and matter but Spirit and infinity.
Our Master first upbraidedAs Written:upbraded their lack of faith next their lack of understanding since faith and understanding combine in the science of God that Jesus was demonstrating for the instruction of man.
To get nearer to their spiritual need and test their capacity our Master next asked
his students "Whom do men say that I the son of men am"Matt 16:13 ¶When Jesus came into the coasts of C
æsarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Matt 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others,
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Matt 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Matt 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Matt 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar–jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Matt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. They answered "some say thou art John the Baptist other one of the prophets.Mark 8:27 ¶And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of C
æsarea
Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I
am? Mark 8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets. Mark 8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto
him, Thou art the Christ. This answer indicated that the opinions of some people of that period were flavored with mediumship. The individuals
referredAs Written:refered to were dead hence the inference that Jesus was controlledAs Written:controled by these persons instead of a divine Principle in his healing. The darkness of that
period and of this rests on the wrong sense entertained of personality how Mind constituted it and finity and infinity mortal mind has its finite personality, immortal Mind the infinite and the
whole error of their conceptions of God and that constitute him a sinning sick and
dying man was in putting the infinite and finite together even infinite Spirit into
finite form that destroy their true sense of God's power since it gauged the infinite
by the capacities of the finite and gave matter supremacy over Spirit They failed
to see how God could come into the life and acts of man through reflection and not
the person of God even as light comes to the earth and lightens it bringeth not the
sun with it. They failed to see that God is infinite Love not finite compressed to a limited form hence his personality is his infinity. I agree to this for God is Love
and Love is not person but Principle. If the personality of God was understood we
should feel his everpresence. Our false sense of it keep him afar off that is why
christians turn to matter and away from the everpresent Spirit to drugs and material
methods for power when God is all power and an everpresent help in every time of need
turn to personality as finite form instead of infinite Love to lean upon and worship
the creature more than the Creator.
[*]Archival Note: The edits in this final paragraph were made by Mary Baker Eddy.On the great truths of Spirit Christ built his church healed the sick and cast out devils evils he directed our worship to the Father - the divine Love and Truth which he designated as his own personality and claimed a less personality as God manifest in the flesh only what the material eye could see the ear hear and the hand touch that which he called a ghost instead of his substance but which even his disciples called substance and Spirit a ghost until the descent of the Holy Ghost divine science illuminating their understanding with a better sense of the substance of Spirit. The personality of Jesus was changed before the eyes of his students and finally it disappeared wholly to their comprehension when he rose to the status of spiritual being that eye hath not seen nor ear heard what this is but God was is revealed to man in Truth Life & Love