FEBRUARY 2000
Each Lesson-Sermon published in the Christian Science Quarterly Weekly Bible Lessons is designed to be complete in itself. Its Bible references (King James Version) are corroborated and explained by passages from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. These notes and commentary are offered by The Christian Science Journal as indications of the possibilities for individual research.
Abbreviations
Barclay=The Daily Bible Study Series (Revised Edition) by William Barclay
Cruden=Cruden's Complete Concordance to the Old and New Testaments
Dummelow=A Commentary on the Holy Bible edited by J.R. Dummelow
HBC=Harper's Bible Commentary
IB=The Interpreter's Bible
JFB=Commentary on the Old and New Testaments by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
KJV=King James Version
MH=Commentary on the Whole Bible by Matthew Henry
NC=New Commentary
NEB=The New English Bible
NIV=New International Version
Phillips=The New Testament in Modern English translated by J. B. Phillips
REB=The Revised English Bible
RSV=Revised Standard Version
TEV=Today's English Version
Thayer=A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament by Joseph H. Thayer
TWOT=Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament by Harris, Archer, and Waltke
WBC=Word Biblical Commentary
January 31-February 6
SPIRIT
Behold, thou art there (Ps. 139:8)
In English, the verb "behold" may often be translated as "look" or "see." But when used as an interjection, it demands the reader's full attention to the information which follows, and means, according to Cruden, "to look on a thing with our eyes," or "to think over a thing in our minds."
I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you (Isa. 43:12)
"Declared," used of God's declarations to man, has the sense of revelation. "Save" in Hebrew means deliverance from distress or from one's enemies, and came to include physical healing and transformation from sin to righteousness. "Shewed" represents a causative form of the verb "to hear," and means "that which is caused to be heard," that is, the act of communication (TWOT).
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness (Ps. 63:5)
NEB has, "I am satisfied as with a rich and sumptuous feast ...."
Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ (Phil. 1:27)
The Greek term rendered "conversation" here originally referred to the duties of citizenship, and thus means conduct rather than merely speech. TEV has, "... the important thing is that your manner of life be as the gospel of Christ requires," and NIV gives, "... conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
February 7-13
SOUL
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined (Ps. 50:2)
MH states, "Zion is here called the perfection of beauty, because it was the holy hill; and holiness is indeed the perfection of beauty."
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Rom. 7:23)
JFB comments: "In this important verse, observe, first, that the word 'law' means an inward principle of action, ... operating with the fixedness and regularity of a law. The apostle found two such laws within him; the one 'the law of sin in his members,' called (in Galatians 5:17, 24) 'the flesh which lusteth against the spirit,' 'the flesh with the affections and lusts,' ... the other, 'the law of the mind,' or the holy principle of the renewed nature." Paul's use of the term "mind" here, meaning the "inward man" (KJV, verse 22; RSV calls it the "inmost self") is significant, according to IB, because "the phrase seems to suggest Paul's conception that the part of him which assents to, even delights in, the law of God is his true, his real, self."
Let us lift up our heart with our hands (Lam. 3:41)
The expression, which appears only here in the Hebrew Scriptures, "manifestly means wholehearted prayer ..." (IB). RSV renders, "Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven."
February 14-20
MIND
The magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans (Dan. 2:2)
As used in this passage, "Chaldeans" refers to certain Babylonians who traveled throughout the ancient Middle East and Mediterranean world "as magicians, astrologers, and diviners of all sorts."
In the volume of the book it is written (Ps. 40:7)
WBC thinks of this as a royal psalm, referring to Deuteronomic law and its requirements of kings. IB, however, represents another scholarly view: "Most probably the psalmist is referring to the heavenly book where men's deeds are recorded (cf. 56:8; 87:6; 139:16)."
How I bare you on eagles' wings (Ex. 19:4)
Dummelow writes: "God's grace and care were the source of Israel's duty of obedience and loyalty .... The image here employed to illustrate the watchful solicitude of God is true and beautiful. When the eaglets first attempt to fly, the parent bird is said to hover round them and beneath them, so as to support them on its expanded wings when they are exhausted ...." Compare Deuteronomy 32:11.
Let me never be put to confusion (Ps. 71:1)
The Hebrew root rendered "confusion" here means, according to TWOT, "to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust."
February 21-27
CHRIST JESUS
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1)
IB comments, "Nicodemus ... a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin ..., appears here as a furtive seeker after truth, but on his two later appearances shows considerable courage in his relation to Jesus" (see John 7:45-52; 19:38-40). NC adds that Nicodemus was one of "a few religionists [who] exercised the spiritual and intellectual honesty to approach Christ with a sincerely inquisitive attitude. ... He has often been criticized for his secretive, nighttime rendezvous with Christ, but the fact remains that Nicodemus did come to hear and receive, as his later actions affirm ...."
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3)
According to Thayer, the Greek word rendered "again" can also mean "from above, from a higher place." NC comments: "The language describes an infusion of new, divine life which then causes a revolution in the person's entire life. Without this birth, a person cannot perceive the things in the spiritual realm ...."
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8)
Barclay points out that verse 7 indicates that Nicodemus marvels because he can't understand how this rebirth works. Jesus' answer, the commentary continues, depends on the fact that the Greek word for "spirit" has two meanings, "spirit" and "wind." So Jesus said to Nicodemus in effect: "You may not understand how and why the wind blows; but you can see what it does. ..." The Spirit "is exactly the same. You may not know how the Spirit works; but you can see the effect of the Spirit in human lives. ... This is no theoretical thing.... We can point to man after man who has been re-born by the power of the Spirit."
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth (II Tim. 2:25)
"Peradventure" is an old English word meaning "perhaps; it may be; possibly." Phillips translates, "... the Lord's servant ... must be tolerant and have the ability gently to correct those who oppose his message. For God may give them a different outlook, and they may come to know the truth." REB states that the servant should be "gentle when he must discipline those who oppose him. God may then grant them a change of heart and lead them to recognize the truth."
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself (Acts 26:1)
Herod Agrippa II, the great-grandson of Herod the Great, was king of the northern districts of Chalcis, including Galilee. When Agrippa came to Caesarea to greet Festus, the new procurator of Judea, Agrippa desired "to hear the famous prisoner .... When Festus admitted that he found 'nothing worthy of death' in Paul, Agrippa authorized the famous statement of defense spoken by Paul (Acts 26), after which the king uttered his notable words ...: Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian' " (HBC).
© 1999 The Christian Science Publishing Society. All rights reserved.
