Conservative Friends Bible Study of Mark #28 Mark 15:33-16:20

In this podcast on 1 John 3:11-4:6 , Henry does a great deal of looking at the Greek of this epistle, exploring both the original and variant meanings of the especially significant words. Many, but not all of those words are below.  

Chapter 3

Verse 11

 Henry has mentioned in previous sessions, the meaning of these related Greek words, 

• “angelia”:           message
• “euangelion”:   gospel /good news
• “epangelion”:   promise
• “angelos”:          messenger

 Verse 12
“Dikaios”: upright/righteous. Often in the gospels, when it is used, it has the meaning “upright in God’s eyes.”

 Verse 13
If we are doing what God says to do, frequently we will be hated by the world. 

 Verse 14
There are two basic Greek words which are translated into English as “life”:

1. bios: Can mean livelihood/the way one earns money. 
2. zoe: Life in the sense of being alive, especially spiritual and eternal life. 

 Verse 15
 The Greek word, “adelphos” (brother) is inclusive and includes both men and women. When the Greek refers specifically to women, it uses the word, “adelphe”. It was very unusual in the Roman world to call someone a brother, when they were not related. As a result, it became notable in the Roman world that Christians were so connected to each other that they called each other, “brother.”  

 Verse 18
As has been mentioned before, the term “dear children” is an endearing term. 

Verse 23
The Greek word, “pisteuo”, (often frequently translated into English as “believe”) means “to trust/put one’s trust in something”.               

Chapter 4

Verse 1
The false prophets John mentions in this verse are likely those who “went out from us” (1 John 2:19) who, in all probability, were docetists (and likely the predecessors of the Gnostics). These people believed that Jesus was not both completely God and completely man, but instead, He was instead almost entirely God, but in a human covering that was a miniscule amount human.

Verses 2-6
One of the very different understandings of early Friends from most other believers relates to the phrase Jesus Christ has come “in the flesh” in 1 John 4;2. Most other believers see that verse referring to the historical Jesus as having come “in the flesh” into the world. 

However, early Friends understood that phrase (of 1 John 4:2) “in the flesh” to mean something very different: Jesus had come in our flesh . . . in the believer’s flesh, as Colossians 1:27 also says it, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Finally, there is a brief reading and discussion of 1 John 4:3-6 as Henry looks ahead to session #9.

The Quote in our introduction is from Undaunted zeal: the letters of Margaret Fell.  Edited by Elsa F. Glines. Richmond IN, Friends United Pr, 2003.

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  In this podcast, Henry devotes most of his attention to 2:28-3:3, with the last several minutes devoted to some linguistic issues found in 1 John 3:4-10. 

1 John 2

Verse 28

        The Greek word “ean” which is typically mis-translated as “when” in verse 28 is more correctly translated, “if ever”. The change to “if ever” enhances the other often mis-translated word (Greek: “parousia”), usually translated “coming”, should, instead be translated “presence”. Thus, the more correct interpretation of this verse would be: If ever He is being present to us [manifesting Himself in us], we should not shrink back at that presence, but live in it. There is a sweetness in His presence of which we need not be ashamed. 

1 John 3

Verse 2  

        The above word, “parousia” in this verse has a similar meaning as the word “coming” in verse 28. The Greek word, “phanerothe” (from phanerao) does not really mean “appeared.” Rather, a better translation of the word is “to make apparent/made obvious/manifested”. Thus, when paired with the Greek word, “ean”, the meaning becomes: if ever Christ makes Himself apparent in the follower of Jesus. The implication is not that we are waiting for a second physical coming of Christ, but rather, we are waiting for an inner realization that He is already within one, making Himself apparent. 

Verse 3

Regarding the Greek word, “hagnos” instead of being translated “pure”, it has a more accurate meaning: of “holy” . . . being inwardly holy. 

Verse 4

“Lawlessness”: For a Jew, the Law was everything. To talk about lawlessness was to disregard the Law of Moses. 

“Cardia”: “heart”. However, in the Greek, the word, “cardia” would today be understood as “conscience” in modern-day English. In the early 17th century, the words “consciousness” and “conscience” began to be separated, developing very different meanings. 

Verse 7 

“Dikaios”: means “righteous”, or “upright”. 

Verse 9

“Sperma”: means “seed” or “semen”. Our English word, “sperm” is derived directly from the Greek. 

 

The quote in our introduction is from the Sixth Chapter of George Fox's Journal.

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Before going on to this passage in 1 John:26-28, Henry goes back to the previous session, #5 (1 John 2:25) to further discuss the Greek word “epangelia” which is Greek for “promise”. It is related to the Greek words “angelia”: message; “angelos”: messenger/angel; “euangelion”: good news/gospel.

Next follows about a twenty-minute discussion from verse 25 of the concept of eternal life. 

Verses 27, 28 

“chrisma”: anointing. This Greek word means to rub/apply something onto a person. Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit because He had a special mission, i.e., that of messiah. 

“But you have been anointed by the Holy One . . . .” You too have Christ within you, so you too have His anointing within you. Early Quakers understood the truth that John was teaching: You have Christ within you and His anointing abides/remains/stays/continues within you. One doesn’t need anyone to teach you, the Inward Light of Christ is within you to teach and transform you, if you will let it.   

“Christos” is the Greek word meaning anointed, (the) Anointed One, (the) messiah in English. English “messiah" derives from the Greek “messias” which was borrowed from the  Hebrew: māšīah. 

Verse 28

Henry suggests what would be perhaps a more accurate translation of verse 28: 

“And now, dear children, remain in Him that if ever He is manifested/shows/appears Himself, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him and at His presence (Gk: Parousia). 

This word “parousia” is frequently mistranslated as “coming”, when it is much more accurately translated as “presence”. Thus, “presence” lends a much different sense to the sentence, (understood by early Christians, and again by the earliest Quakers) that the “parousia” of Christ is a spiritual presence in the present with the believer, not a coming at some time in the future. Live in His presence and light, and do not shrink from his presence in your life. There is a sweetness in His presence of which we need not be ashamed. 

At the first intimation of His presence in our lives, He will bring illumination to the things in our lives that need to be changed. However, as we abide in His continuing presence, the initial judgement (if we follow it and let Him work in our lives, and listen to and obey it),  will increasingly become more of a comfort to the follower of Jesus as he proceeds on the path to God the Father.  

The quote in our introduction is from Chapter One of George Fox's Journal.

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Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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                Before going on to this passage in 1 John:18-27, Henry goes back to the previous session to further discuss the Greek word “kosmos”. In addition to the many meanings discussed in session #4, another one of the primary meanings of this word is one with a negative connotation: worldliness; a worldly way of acting, and that we should not be conformed to the world. Other meanings of kosmos : water, to adorn or beautify, orderliness, the sum total of everything in the world or universe, the sum total of all the creatures of the world, the earth/world, humanity in general, the system of human existence and its many aspects, the sum total collected aspect of an entity.  

Verse 18: 

“antichristos”: antichrist. The word has two meanings: 

1.  Opposed to/opposite of Christ (the messiah, the anointed one); the antichrist is one who is opposed to the true Christ. 
2. In place of/instead of Christ. It can also be understood as someone or something that is looked upon as the true Christ, but instead is a false Christ.  

Verse 19: 

There had been a split in the churches with which John was associated. Those who left didn’t really belong among those who stayed. Perhaps those who left were docetists who heretically  said that Jesus just seemed to be human, but He was not: The said that He was God with a human covering that only made him look like a human. But there are other places in Holy Scripture that show Jesus was both completely human, and completely God. Likely the docetists were the forerunners of the later gnostics. 

Verse 20: 

“chrisma”: anointing. This Greek word means to rub/put something into a person. Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit because He had a special mission: messiah. “But you have been anointed by the Holy One . . . .” You too have Christ within you, so you too have His anointing within you. Early Quakers understood the truth that Paul was teaching: You have Christ within you and His anointing within you. 

Verse 21 : 

“alethea”: truth. This is not just truth, but Truth with a capital T: the Spirit of Truth/the way to God/eternal Life/Christ in you. In the writings of early Friends Quakerism itself was quite often simply  referred to as: Truth. At the beginning of the Quaker movement, to be called a Quaker by someone was a slur. 

Verse 24: 

“Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” The earlies Christians focused on “God is one.” There was no dividing of God into separate beings (as trinitarianism would later do.) The word, “trinity” would not be found in Christian authors until decades after John’s writing. It would finally be introduced and codified more than two centuries later in the early 4th Century in the Nicene Creed. Thus, because the word “trinity” is not found in Holy Scriptures, as Henry says, “Early Quakers were really pre-trinitarian”, rejecting the danger of leaning toward the of making three gods, instead seeing Father, Son and Spirit simply as “God is one.”

References

The quote in our introduction is from Margret Fell's Epistle to Friends in Ireland.

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Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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The notes from this podcast follow not so much a narrative as a more abbreviated (verse by verse) summation of selected, important comments from the podcast. The comments follow:  

Verse 12: 

“little children” in Greek is the plural form of the word “teknion". When addressing adults or a congregation, it is an endearing term of affection, and does not literally mean children who are young in age but rather the “spiritual  children” of the writer.  

Verse 13:

“. . . fathers . . . .” Greek: “pateres”  (< patēr) is the grammatically masculine form translated “fathers”, but is inclusive, including fathers and mothers. An additional element of this word is that he is writing to those whose faith has become mature in Christ.  

“. . . have known . . . “ Greek: “egnōkate” (< ginōskō). The meaning of “know” is extremely significant because it means they (the men and women in the congregation) are not just acquainted with Jesus, but He is deeply known and experienced at the deepest spiritual level within them. Thus, they are mature in Christ.  

“. . . young men . . . .” Greek: “neaniskoi” (< neaniskos). Again, this grammatically masculine term in Greek is inclusive and speaks to both male and female young persons. An additional element in this word is that he is writing to those who even though they are young in their faith, they have remained true to God and have overcome the evil one, satan.  

Verse 14: 

“I write to you . . . .” is mistranslated twice in verse 14 because in the Greek it is clearly past tense: “I have written to you . . . .”

“. . . and the word of God lives in you . . . .” The usage of “word” is not referring to the Holy Scriptures living in them, but to “. . . the real Word of God, Christ Jesus, who is in you . . . .” 

Verses 15-17

“ . . . world . . . .” in Greek is “kosmos” which has various meanings. The neutral meaning is the one (from which we get our English word, “cosmos”) which means the world/universe and everything in it. In some verses in John it has the sense of worldliness, a materialistic focus on the material and social world and ways of acting, rather than on God and his Christ.

Verse 16

“. . . [desire of the] flesh . . . .” Greek: “sarkos” (<sarx) among other meanings can have a  sense of the desire for things of the flesh: sexual desires, desire for riches, desire for things of the world. We can let love for the “fleshly” desires push out of our hearts and spirits the love both for and of the Father.

 The quote in our introduction is from Chapter IX of George Fox's Journal. 

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Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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#03 1 John 2:1-11 

                When in 1 John 2:1, John refers to the recipients as “dear children”, the Greek word he uses for them is teknion, which here means one's “spiritual child.” In the context in which he is writing (to adults, not to literal children) there is no direct corollary in English. Thus, perhaps a close meaning in this context might be “dear students”, “dear followers.”

            In 2:1, John mentions that if one does sin, one has an advocate with the Father. The Greek word for advocate is “paraklētos” and literally means anyone who comes to one’s aid or help, a helper. Thus, it means someone who is called to be alongside  one to plead with the Father on our behalf. The “paraklētos” is defined in 2:1 as Jesus, the righteous one who is the complete, final atoning sacrifice for our sins and is called to help us and plead our case before the Father.  

            To walk as Christ walked (2:6) is to conduct oneself, or to behave in the same way as Christ walked/behaved/conducted Himself. 

        It is again mentioned that it is important to remember the Holy Scriptures themselves, are never referred to as "the Word" within the Holy Scriptures. Only Christ Jesus is referred to as the Word in the Holy Scriptures. Early Friends referred to the Bible as  the “Writings”, as the Scriptures, Holy Scriptures, or Scriptures of Truth.  The practice of calling the Holy Scriptures “the Word of God” began in the Middle Ages, and greatly increased during the Reformation.  

    Verse 2:7 uses the Greek word entolē, “commandment” which also means an order; something one is told to do. 

     In both Greek and older English, the term “brother” (Gk: adelphos) is inclusive, meaning both male and female. Whereas, the feminine form for sister in Greek (adelphē) is exclusive and always (and only) refers to a female.

The quote in our introduction is from George Fox's work titled SOME PRINCIPLES OF  THE Elect People of God Who in Scorn are called QUAKERS, For all People throughout all Christendome to Read over, and thereby their own States to Consider.  The reference is from Chapter X, Concerning Scriptures. 

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#02 1 John 1:5-10

In 1John 1:5-10, Henry makes specific mention of foundational vocabulary.
These words are also foundational concepts in Quaker understanding.  While
some nuances are explored in the podcast, there are too many to mention here.
Below are a few of the words/concepts that are discussed: 

• “Message” (v. 5) “angelion” in Greek.  
• “Light” (v. 5) is “phōs” in Greek which is the same root as in the English words photo, and photograph. God is Light, God is the spiritual illuminator, spiritual illumination. 
• “Fellowship” (v. 6) in Greek is “koinōnia” - a sharing in something.
• “Walk” (v. 6) in Greek “peripateō” - to walk; also to behave, to conduct yourself.
• “Son” (v. 7): in Greek is “huios”.
• “Truth” (v. 8): in Greek is alētheia which also means “reality”.

The quote in our introduction is from George Fox’s sermon on Firbank Fell in 1652 as reported in Chapter six of his Journal.  

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Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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The epistles in the Holy Scriptures are often letters from an author to someone
else. However, In the case of the epistle 1 John, it is more of an essay, a
treatise, a sermon or message that was sent out to early Christian believers. The
name, “John” was common in the years of the early church, and it is possible that
these three epistles (1 John, 2 John and 3 John) were not necessarily written by
the apostle John, but by another prominent figure in the early church, John the
elder, whose name was also John. However, it is clear that all three epistles
(First, Second, and Third John) are all related in terms of how they perceive
Christ and the language that is used in them, which is very similar to the
language in which the Gospel according to John was written.  The epistles
appear to have been written in the 90’s A.D., at about the same time as the final
version of the Gospel of John.

For the first 1,400 years or so, the Holy Scriptures were not broken down into
chapters and verses. When one examines 1 John, it is possible, however, to
identify the main themes as they appear in the order in the epistle.

One of those divisions is Walking in the Light

1. Living as God’s children
2.  The Source of love and faith
3. Conclusion
4. Supplements to the epistle (a kind of post script)
   1. A prayer for sinners
   2. Summary of the letter.
      
      

After his introduction to the epistle, Henry then goes on, with a focus on the
original Greek, to examine the first four verses of Chapter 1 of First John. In
those verses, John emphasizes the complete divinity of Jesus as the “Word”,
(who in all ways was divine). John also proclaims the complete humanity of
Jesus (who in all ways was completely human). This was an effort by John to
combat the heretical attacks of those making Jesus mostly God, with only a
superficial, outward covering of humanity, instead of recognizing the complete
divinity and complete humanity of Jesus.  

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The sour wine given to Jesus on the cross (15:36) may have been meant as a sedative to ease pain. As in our not too distant past, people could be given liquor to ease their pain.
In 15:38, the curtain to the Holy of Holies in the temple being torn in two
could symbolize there now was full access to God through the sacrifice of Jesus
of Himself.
15:39 is mistranslated. Both since there is no definite article (“the”) in the original
Greek, and also since the centurion was almost certainly a Roman pagan who
believed in many gods, the Greek should instead be translated, “Truly, this man
is a son of a god.”
 Regarding Mark 15:40-41, women in patriarchal Judaism held a very low
position. It was very unusual that Jesus, as a rabbi, included women as a
significant part of his group of apostles and disciples.
The color white worn by the young man (16:5) was a symbol of victory.
There has been much discussion over the centuries concerning the ending of
Mark 16:9-20. Those last 11 verses are not found in the oldest and most reliable
manuscripts, making it appear that perhaps the last page of Mark’s Gospel was
lost before it could be copied by others. The reason to think the last page may
have been lost is because the last Greek word in 16:8 is the conjunction “for”
(γάρ/”gar”). The problem is that in Greek, γάρ is a conjunction and appears never
to be found as the last word in a sentence. Some of the more reliable earliest
manuscripts just end at verse 8. So, some copyists felt a need to complete this
Gospel’s missing ending.
In addition, in the first century it was increasingly becoming the practice among
Greeks to no longer write in scrolls, but to write on individual pages bound into
“codices”, the forerunners of our books today. Thus, the grammatical abruptness
of this ending in the Greek manuscripts seems to indicate that perhaps the last
page of Mark’s Gospel was lost before it had a chance to be copied by other
people. There are several other variations of endings to Mark, and they are
discussed in the podcast.

 Greek Words

• Kanōn - a straight reed, used as a standard of measurement (English: the canon,
• canonical)
• 15:39 centurion: “Truly this man was a son of a god.”
• Leukos adj. – white (symbolizing “victory”). Here, victory over death.
• Scroll – a roll of paper or parchment with writing on it.
• Codex (plural: codices) – the earliest form of books, first used in the first century,
• A.D.
• In 16:7 Peter is mentioned separately from the other disciples. (Recall that he
• had renounced Jesus).
• In 16:8 Ephobounto gar. – “For they were afraid.”
• Phobeō (v.)– be afraid; have awesome respect
• Gar (conjunction) – for (only occurs after the first word of a clause/sentence in
• Greek)
• In English the conjunction “for” is always the first word in a clause/sentence.
• [Note that this is different from the usage of the English preposition “for” in a
• prepositional phrase which can occur anywhere in a sentence].

 The Quote in the introduction is from George Fox's book SOME PRINCIPLES
OF THE People Called Quaker

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Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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At the time of Jesus, Palestine was a province of Rome, which held complete
control over the area. Rome reserved the authority to put someone to death, so
for a local government to put someone to death required Roman approval.
The meeting of the Sanhedrin at night to try Jesus (14:53 and following) was
highly irregular, and not a typical time for gathering.
The term “Son of Man” (14:62) is drawn from Daniel and is literally, “Son of
Adam”.

To tear one’s clothing (14:63) was the proper Jewish response when someone
spoke blasphemy.

The main reason the Jewish leaders were able to get Jesus crucified was
because His alleged claim to be king of the Jews (in challenge to the Roman
Emperor) made Him an insurrectionist and rebel, and thus worthy of crucifixion
under Roman law.   

For Roman crucifixion, since the vertical piece of the cross was usually already
installed at the place of crucifixion, the one to be crucified only carried the
horizontal cross piece of the cross to the place of crucifixion, not both the
horizontal and vertical pieces.

In crucifixion, the nails were not driven through the palm (where there is almost
no structure to hold the body to the cross), but the nails were driven through the
bones of the wrist. The Greek word for hand (cheir) included any part of the arm,
from the hand to the upper arm. Thus, one had to know the context of the usage
in order to understand what specific part of the upper limb a Greek writer meant.
Because the Romans wanted to completely shame and humiliate those who
were being crucified, the crucified were stripped of all clothing and left to hang
completely naked from the cross.

The Greek word “lēistēs” often translated as “robber” in the Holy Scriptures could
also mean insurrectionist or rebel. It is much more likely that Jesus was crucified
between two insurrectionists, and He Himself also crucified insurrectionists.
 

Greek Words

• Christos: anointed (The Hebrew word (mashiach) meant “anointed”, messiah.)
• Cheir: any part of the arm from the upper arm including the hand, thus hand or
• arm.
• Lēistēs: bandit or insurrectionist

To listen to any or all of our Mark Bible study, use this link:  https://ohioyearlymeeting.org/filterable-podcasts-list/ and click on Conservative Friends Bible Study of Mark.

Visit us on our website at ohioyearlymeeting.org.

Any who might be interested in joining any of the Ohio Yearly Meeting Zoom online studies should check out the Online Study and Discussion Groups on our website. All are welcome!

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