Bible Lesson Questions (version 2.04)

The answers to all of these questions can be found (1) in the Bible Lesson itself, (2) in the Bible Lesson Study Aid at http://www.bibletexts.com/bl.htm, or (3) in other webpages on the BibleTexts.com website, the homepage of which is at http://www.bibletexts.com.

1. What is the answer to the question, "Which does the LORD prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices?" (Golden Text)
2. What saying of Jesus appears to have been based upon "Be holy because I am holy," which 1Pe 1:15 quoted from Deu 19:2? (Responsive Reading #1)
3. How does the New Testament meaning of "the Lord" often differ from the Old Testament meaning? Why? (As a resource to answer this question, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/lord.htm.)

1. What role did John the Baptist play in the life of Jesus?
2. What were conditions like for John in prison?
3. In what ways did Jesus both exemplify and preach to others obedience to God?
4. In addition to being fellow-fisherman and fellow-disciples, what was the relationship between Simon (Peter, Cephas) and Andrew?

Note: (For a list of and some details regarding all of the twelve disciples, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/thetwelve.htm.)

1. How did Jesus attract crowds and illustrate that "the Kingdom of God is near (at hand)?"
2. What is the foundation of the church (the community of followers) that Jesus launched?
3. What was Peter's role in the early church? (For additional details on Peter's role and life in the early church, browse "Part 2. An illustration of repeated need for correction of an early church leader" at http://www.bibletexts.com/qa/qa078.htm.)

1. What is the significance of the bread and wine used by Jesus in the last supper?
2. Jesus said, "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:23,24, NRSV) How does this help explain how we should honor the sacrament of the last supper?

1. What was the value of Jesus washing the disciples' feet? What qualities that Jesus exemplified are essential to our prayer-life? (As a resource to answer this question, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/prayer.htm.)
2. How does Jesus' washing of the disciples' bring additional significance to the woman's anointing of Jesus head/feet? (As a resource to answer this question, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/anointing.htm.)
3. When considering prayer and worship, what is the role of our unselfishly and unconditionally loving everyone?

1. What can we learn from Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane?
2. What can we learn from the disciples' behavior in the Garden of Gethsemane?
3. In light of the Beatitudes (Mat 5:3-12), how blessed was Jesus? How does such blessedness apply to each of us?
4. How is willfulness an impediment to blessedness?

1. What were the individual missions of John the Baptist and Jesus? How did the imprisonment and persecution of John end differently than the imprisonment and persecution of Jesus? Why?
2. How did the last supper compare with the breakfast meal at Lake Tiberias, also known as the Sea of Galilee? What lessons did the disciples learn between those two events?
3. How did that breakfast in Galilee help shed further light on the meaning of the communion meal of the last supper?
4. What were the responsibilities of Jesus' followers, in the 1st century, and what is the responsibility of each Christian in the 21st century?

1. How does the Reverend Irving Tomlinson's explanation of the composition of the Bible Lesson apply to this week's Bible Lesson?

"The Golden Text may be said to contain the fundamental thought with which the sermon deals.... The responsive reading, while entirely separate from the sermon, deals with the same subject... Usually, the first Science and Health reference in each section hints the leading thought in that section, which the Bible selections and the other Science and Health selections in the section develop." (TCSJ, Vol 40, p 483-487.)

SOME NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE BIBLE LESSON

In 1898 when Mary Baker Eddy chose the 26 subjects for an entirely new Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson format, the Reverend Irving Tomlinson was one of the original members of the newly constituted Christian Science Bible Lesson Committee.

From 1888 to 1899 the Christian Science Bible Lesson Committee simply had directly copied to the Christian Science Quarterly the Bible citations that had been prepared by the multi-denominational International Lesson Committee [ILC] for the weekly International Sunday School Lessons used by Protestant churches. (The Church of Christ, Scientist, had no representation on that committee.) To those Bible Lessons the Christian Science Bible Lesson Committee added correlative citations from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which provided explanations of the Bible texts chosen by the ILC. Until 1898 the ILC-based Bible Lessons were a key component of both Christian Science church services and Christian Science Sunday School, which until 1895 included adult Sunday School classes.]

To read the Rev. Tomlinson's complete article, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/articles/j040p483.htm. To read more about the history of the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons, including the official use of other translations in addition to -- and for one entire year replacing -- the King James Version, browse http://www.bibletexts.com/bl-ver.htm.)]