Was anything impossible to Jesus? Was there ever a disease he was asked to heal that he pronounced incurable, or a need put before him that he wasn’t able to meet? A seemingly impossible case once came to Jesus’ disciples. A man had come to them who’s son suffered from seizures. After the disciples were unable to cure him, the man appealed to Jesus who then healed the boy. “Why couldn’t we heal him?” the disciples asked. “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matthew 17:20 NLT).
Jesus was explaining to his disciples that it only takes a small amount of faith to make the impossible possible. Jesus practiced proving this, demonstrating it time and time again. Early in his career he found himself facing an angry mob that was attempting to push him off a cliff. The mob was unsuccessful and Jesus “passed right through the crowd and went on his way.” Another time Jesus’ disciples found themselves battling a fierce storm at sea. Jesus wasn’t in the boat with them, but in the midst of the storm they saw him walking toward them on top of the waves. When he reached them he came into the ship, and not only did the storm cease, the ship immediately arrived at it’s destination. With each of these proofs building on the next the mustard seed of faith was growing into a tree. Jesus likened this process to the kingdom of heaven: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 NLT).
How can we water the seeds of faith in our lives and do things that at first seem impossible? We can do this by first learning about ourselves as the perfect, indestructible ideas of God, and then by holding onto this knowledge in the face of false, contradictory evidence. Mary Baker Eddy describes this process in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “We must form perfect models in thought and look at them continually,” (Science and Health 248:26-27). These perfect models are informed by what we learn about man in the Bible, that he is created in the image and likeness of God, good. The more we hold to this fact, the more our thought will be transformed from a limited material basis to the standpoint of infinite spirit. When this happens, life opens up to infinite possibilities.
Third Church is rejoicing in the infinite possibilities that God has given us with a special Easter weekend event on Friday, March 25th. This event will feature a talk by Christian Science Lecturer Chet Manchester and music by Rebecca Minor that will illustrate how a deeper understanding of the resurrection can bring transformation and healing to our lives and the world. Click here to learn more about this event.
You can also join us on Wednesday’s at 7:30pm for our Testimony Meeting and at our Sunday morning service at 11:00am. Our Reading Room is another great resource to dig deeper and find helpful articles on how Christian Science heals. You can join any of our services on the phone at the following number:
Dial-in Number: 1-310-372-7549
Access Code: 607611