These words were Jesus’ command to the mourners and onlookers after he raised Lazarus from the dead.  The full passage (John 11:44) reads:

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.  Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Obviously, the literal meaning of this command was to unbind the graveclothes that Lazarus was wrapped in.  But it recently became clear to me that Jesus’ eternal utterance was a command to human minds—to mortal thoughts—to let go of the wrong view of man.  The view that would claim that man—any of us, male or female—are mortal, material-based beings which are vulnerable and susceptible to sin, sickness, death.

Jesus was instead commanding not only those present, but all of us to recognize the real man.  The man that is immortal, pure, and whole.  The man that each of us really is.  The man that we have always been.

The man who is the reflection of the very living God.

Mary Baker Eddy exhorts her readers to:

Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in sickness and sin. Then, when thou art delivered to the judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, “Thou art whole!” (Science and Health, p. 391)

The results of blotting out those images and those beliefs in sickness and sin—those lies—are nothing short of transformative.  Every aspect of our life changes for the better.  I’ve seen the effect time and again in my own life—transformations from illness to health, from poverty to means, from sadness to joy, and many more.

And the Master’s command and Eddy’s statement apply not only to how we view ourselves, but how we view everyone else.  They align with the 2^nd Great Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves—to see them as they truly are, as God’s beloved, eternal child.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I have to remind myself from time to time to not buy into the false image—it’s so easy to let that wrong idea creep in during conversations or even in recollections.  But the healing rewards of staying vigilant at the door of our thought—to stay alert, to stay aware, and to only allow the image and likeness of our God to be present—far outweigh the effort expended.

Mrs. Eddy described Jesus’ unequalled success in healing in two succinct statements in Science and Health (p. 476)—statements which set the standard for all of us:

Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God’s own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick.

Profound yet simple ideas each of us can surely take to heart.