Bible Lens—April 4–10, 2016
Subject: Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Exploring Bible Verses
An exploration of Bible citations from the Christian Science Quarterly® Bible Lessons
“. . . a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends."—Mary Baker Eddy
from the Responsive Reading
The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Ransomed (Hebrew, padah) suggests a common reality of ancient times—the payment required for release of a person enslaved for debt. Commentators take “the ransomed of the Lord” to signify God’s people freed from exile in Babylon—and, in its deeper sense, liberated by His love from sin and sorrow.
from Section 1
1 | Psalms 143:10
Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
• • •
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
—New Living Translation
from Section 2
8 | Psalms 16:10
Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
The Hebrew word for corruption (shachath) is often translated “pit” here—a common reference to the grave. Job 33:28 says, “He will deliver his soul from going into the pit [shachath].”
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
One scholar notes that these verses comprise the longest list of military metaphors in Paul’s writings. He was facing attacks on his authority from outsiders and rebellion from within the Corinthian church, a church he had founded. His imagery shows familiarity with the military strategies of the Roman world in which he lived.
The Greek word for imaginations (logismos) is also translated as “speculations,” “arguments,” and “obstacles.” One source defines this as “a reasoning … hostile to the Christian faith.”
from Section 3
12 | Numbers 12:1, 2
Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married …. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?
Researchers are unsure about the reference to the “Ethiopian woman.” Some believe it describes Moses’ wife Zipporah; others, a second wife.
More certain is that Miriam and Aaron objected to Moses’ choosing seventy elders with whom to share government of the people without consulting them (see Numbers 11:16, 17). The two considered themselves equal to Moses as leaders of the Hebrews—Miriam, Moses’ older sister, as the first woman in Scripture to be called a prophetess (see Exodus 15:20); and Aaron, his older brother, as high priest and divinely designated spokesman for Moses. In Numbers 12:4–8, God firmly endorses Moses as His chosen servant.
Commentators believe Miriam to have been the instigator of the dissension against Moses. Her name is mentioned first in the account, and she alone is punished. But the people respected her—after she was stricken with leprosy, they did not continue their journey until she was allowed to rejoin them. And Moses’ prayer for her brought healing (see verses 13–15).
from Section 4
16 | Luke 13:14
The ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day.
The healing of the stooped woman is unique to the Gospel of Luke, but Jesus frequently healed on the Sabbath—a man with a withered hand (see Matthew 12:10–13), an invalid (see John 5:1–10), and a blind man (see John 9:1–7). Each time, he was met with objections from Pharisees and others based on the Fourth Commandment (see Exodus 20:8–11). Jesus shifted the focus from a rigid, ritualistic interpretation of religious codes to a higher sense of obedience to God’s law, which includes compassion and healing.
from Section 5
18 | Matthew 18:20
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Hebrew tradition held that when two men discussed the law together, the Shekinah —God’s presence—was with them. Jesus specifies gathering “in my name”—as believers united by his teachings. The small number of two or three is seen as encouragement for his followers, often tiny minorities among great populations of nonbelievers. Scholars also tie this statement to Jesus’ instruction to call two or three witnesses to address wrongs within the Christian community (see verse 16).
20 | Acts 14:19, 20
There came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city.
Paul’s stoning came immediately after his healing of a cripple from birth. A crowd had gathered to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods (see verses 8–18). But hostile Jews persuaded the same crowd to turn on Paul and stone him. Paul’s swift, full recovery was clear—he departed immediately to preach in Derbe, and returned to Lystra, the site of the stoning, soon afterward (see verses 20–23).
Related Healing Ideas
Hearing and responding to the healing Christ
By Barbara-Jean Stinson
From the March 19, 1984, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
Anyone who has struggled long with some challenging physical or mental difficulty may think, “If I could only go to Christ Jesus. He wouldn’t require a lot of me, and would heal me immediately.”
From a surface reading of the Bible record of Jesus’ healing works, it almost appears that the individuals needing healing didn’t have to do much to have Jesus’ help. Consider this illustration from Luke: “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God” (13:10–13).
Even though these four verses give us very few details, they do reveal that the woman did have to do something in order to receive her healing. And what she did can be a very helpful example to us in showing us what we must do in order to receive the Christly touch of healing.
Mary Baker Eddy, in speaking of Jesus, writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, “He knew that matter had no life and that real Life is God; therefore he could no more be separated from his spiritual Life than God could be extinguished” (p. 51). And what’s true of Jesus—that he could not in actuality ever be separated from divine Life—must also be true of us.
Going back to the illustration of the woman Jesus healed, we see steps she herself took that led to her healing. First, she was in the synagogue. She was where Jesus was. To be where the Christ, Truth, is we must be desiring spiritual good, longing to know God, striving to love our fellowman. That heartfelt spirituality rising up within us puts us in the atmosphere of Love, where the healing Christ dwells.
Another important point is implied in these Bible verses. When Jesus saw the woman, he “called her to him.” Are we quietly, prayerfully, day by day, listening for and to the message of man’s perfection as God’s idea that divine Love is ever giving us? The message is always present, but we must listen for it by keeping our thoughts quiet, free of the mindless imaginations and morbid chatter of the unregenerated human mind.
The next healing help that this tender Bible story gives to us is the implication that when Jesus called the woman, she went to him. Don’t we all need to respond to the call of the healing Christ?
To find healing we must go to the Christ in humility, in love, in patience, and with a willingness to hear and obey the message God is giving us. Too often we want God to be reconciled to us, to what we want to be and do in our lives. But the compassionate Christ reconciles us to God’s will. And God’s will for man is freedom, harmony, and health.
The woman in the synagogue was healed. She was where Christ Jesus was; she heard his call; she responded to his call; and then “immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.” So we, too, can be made straight mentally, physically, morally, through hearing and responding to the healing call and the healing touch of the Christ.
This article has been shortened to fit this page. To read the entire article, go to jsh.christianscience.com/hearing-and-responding-to-the-healing-christ.
For Further Study: Resources used in this issue
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