“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ . . . ” (Eph. 4, emphasis added)
“To understand all our Master’s sayings as recorded in the New Testament, sayings infinitely important, his followers must grow into that stature of manhood in Christ Jesus which enables them to interpret his spiritual meaning. Then they know how Truth casts out error and heals the sick. His words were the offspring of his deeds, both of which must be understood. Unless the works are comprehended which his words explained, the words are blind.” (Science and Health, by Mrs. Eddy, p. 350, emphasis added)
The life of Joseph in this week’s lesson prefigured that of Christ Jesus, as both were able to scale the mount of attainment to achieve dominion over their respective environments and to realize “the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2) Jesus was not the fully developed God-man the instant he was born. Like mastering a musical instrument, he had to grow in grace, developing and maturing into a full understanding of Christ. As his estimation of the stature of Christ increased — the length of it, breadth of it, the depth of it, the height of it — he increased in stature according to the measure of the fulness he sought for, step by step.
This is the principle of “I become what I behold.”
Thus Jesus, at last, matured into his true identity as image and likeness of God, the only true man.
The fulness of the stature of God’s fully expressed idea was the measuring stick by which Mind measured the progress of Jesus’ growth in grace.
So it must be with you, me, all of us:
“To the vision of the Wisemen, this spiritual idea of the Principle of man or the universe, appeared as a star. . . . As the Wisemen grew in the understanding of Christ, the spiritual idea, it grew in favor with them.” (Miscellaneous Writings, by Mrs. Eddy, p. 164).
So today, as wise ones’ apprehension of God’s perfect man increases, the more they hunger and thirst for the Truth of Christ and the more desirable the goal of attaining the fulness of the stature of the Christ. Then is the parable of the Pearl of Great Price fulfilled. (Matt. 13)
“Divine and unerring Mind measures man, until the three measures be accomplished, and he arrives at fulness of stature; for ‘the Lord God omnipotent reigneth’ . . . . The three measures of meal may well be likened to the false sense of life, substance, and intelligence, which says, I am sustained by bread, matter, instead of Mind.” (Ibid, p. 172, 175)