Conservative Friends Bible Study of Mark #22 Mark Chapter 12 Verse 28 - Chapter 12 Verse 44

Mark 12:28-34A statement frequently recited (and foundational to Jewish teaching) is “Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is one”, and is frequently called the “Shema” because the first words in Hebrew in that statement are “Shema Yisrael Adonai . . . . “. It is notable that the Jews’ worship was monotheistic (worshipping only one God), and was an immense departure from all the other polytheistic religions (in ancient Israel and the surrounding area) that had many gods.           For the Jews of Jesus’ time, one’s neighbor was always understood to refer only to another Jew. Jesus greatly expanded the concept of “neighbor” to include anyone who lived next to one, including the greatly hated Samaritans, or even complete pagans.           The Greek word “agapa/agape“ was an inclusive, unconditional love, in the spirit of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would want to have them do unto you. Similarly, do not do unto to others the things that you would not want them to do unto you. A discussion ensues on the meaning of the several kinds of love, including a little on how early Friends interpreted love for one’s neighbor.           Referring to the statement “. . . the Lord is one.” Henry moves on to assert that the Quaker concept of God was pre-trinitarian. Conversely, early Friends were not unitarian in belief either. (Since the word, “trinity” never occurs in the Scriptures of Truth, Quakers were careful not to use the word “trinity" or "trinitarian” in referring to God.)          Henry goes on to let the group know that 1 John 5:7-8 was translated in the King James Version (KJV) (“There are three that testify in Heaven: Father, the word and the Holy Spirit” which many have interpreted as implying a trinitarian formula. However, in recent years, all of the copies of the Holy Scriptures that have been found (and that date many hundreds of years earlier than those used for the original KJV) do not have those words. Mark 12:35-40          The scribes of Jesus’ day could be seen as being similar to lawyers today.            The word “prophet” literally means a spokesman for God. God speaks through a prophet. Only sometimes did prophetic speaking include predicting the future.            Early Friends saw, and especially focused on, Jesus as our Guide.Mark 12:41-44          The widow was sacrificing greatly to give even the tiny amount she had. Greek: Plesion: neighborShema (Hebrew): HearAgapa/agape: unconditional, self-giving loveEros: sexual lovePhilia: love for a friendSterge: love for one’s familyKyrios: lordPropheteis: prophetDiscipulos (Latin): studentsDidaskale: teacherRabbi: master, teacherContemporary American English/older English: Mister: masterSir: sireTeacher: masterCredits: The words to our music are from George Fox’s 19th Epistle in 1652  (page 14 in  The Epistles of George Fox ) .  The music was composed and sung by Paulette Meier.  A complete list of our podcasts,  organized into topics, is available on our website.We will be publishing video interviews with Conservative Friends on YouTube.  See our YouTube channel.  The first interview is with Susan Smith. To learn more about Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), please visit  ohioyearlymeeting.org. Those interested in exploring the distinctives of Conservative Friends waiting worship should consider checking out our many Zoom Online Worship opportunities during the week here. All are welcome! We also have several Zoom study groups.  Check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website.   Advices read in these podcasts can be found on page 29 in our Book Of Discipline.We welcome feedback on this and any of our other podcast episodes.   Contact us through our website.