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Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

—Isaiah 60:1
 

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 Golden Text

Isaiah 52:1, 2

Awake, awake; … Shake thyself from the dust.

Isaiah is encouraging a nation benumbed by bondage and affliction. His double charge to wake up urgently exhorts the people to rise and accept their status as God’s children. “Shake thyself from the dust” assures Israel that it is to be clothed in the “beautiful garments” (see verse 1) befitting God’s children. 

from the Responsive Reading

Ephesians 4:24 

Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, ... in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation].

—Amplified Bible

“After God” is seen by most scholars as a reference to the image or likeness of God described in Genesis 1:26, 27. Similar wording occurs in Colossians 3:10, “after the image of him that created him.”

from Section 1

4 | Isaiah 60:1 

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 

The biblical term most often translated glory (Hebrew, kabod) encompasses honor, abundance, riches, and splendor.

The phrase “glory of the Lord” appears multiple times in the Bible to describe the divine presence, movement, or appearance. Words such as rise, fill, see, and appear are often used with it to indicate the many ways in which God’s glory is made manifest.

from Section 2

5 | Genesis 2:23

This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.

Bone and flesh occur to indicate kinship several other times in the Old Testament. Laban says to his nephew Jacob, “Thou art my bone and my flesh” (Genesis 29:14), for instance—and the tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel identify themselves to David this way before anointing him as king (see II Samuel 5:1).

from Section 3

7 | Genesis 3:9, 10

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

In the Bible, the term naked has a range of meanings—from complete nudity to inadequate covering. Although in general not considered inherently evil, nakedness in the presence of God was a sin (see Exodus 20:26) and is tied to wrongdoing in this account. Later in Scripture it is associated with shame or humiliation. It is alluded to in describing those who turn away from God (see Lamentations 1:8 and Ezekiel 16:37). Deuteronomy 28:48 lists it as a condition of captivity, and James 2:15 as a sign of poverty.

Christ Jesus calls for clothing the naked in his poignant teaching about caring for “the least of these my brethren” (see Matthew 25:34–40). Later, Paul uses nakedness as a symbol for separation from God: “In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked” (II Corinthians 5:2, 3).

from Section 5

15 | John 11:7, 11, 12

After that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judæa again.… Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 

When Jesus receives the message about Lazarus’ death, he is staying in a region east of the Jordan River known as Perea. He had returned to this territory—the site of John the Baptist’s preaching and his own early ministry—after a confrontation with hostile Jews (see John 10:39, 40). One source identifies Jesus’ place of refuge as the same area where Elijah hid from Ahab (see I Kings 17:1–3).

Jesus’ intention to “go into Judæa again” brings objections from his disciples: “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” (John 11:8). The disciples’ ensuing words, “If he sleep, he shall do well,” are a further attempt to dissuade Jesus from returning to Judea. The Greek verb sōzō, translated here as “shall do well,” usually refers to being saved or delivered—an indication that Jesus’ friends believe that Lazarus will recover on his own. The Master’s foreknowledge of Lazarus’ need—and of his own role in raising him—far surpasses their limited assessment of the situation and overrules their fears. 

Related Healing Ideas

Snake Talk

Genesis 3 

By Mary Shaw Brock
From the January 1972 issue of The Christian Science Journal

 What
did the
serpent do
to Eve?
Simply
tempt
her to
believe
that good
and
evil
can
combine
to make
one's
living
more
sublime.
He didn't
touch her
except in
thought,
and if she'd
been correctly
taught to
respond
only
to the
still,
small
voice,
and always
make it her
only choice,
she would never
have chosen to walk
in
the
path
outlined
by
snake talk.

© 2017 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version on the Holy Bible.