How We Read the New Testament

Transcription

1 How We Read the New Testament Session 5 On a sitcom, three young women engage in a conversation. The first says, Okay, well, I did something that will either make me look like a lovable goof or a horrible monster. The second woman responds, I m sure it s lovable. The third responds, I m gonna go with monster. What do you got? The first woman says, Well, there s this lady in our office who s retiring, and they were passing around a card for us to sign But no one told me she was in a horrible car accident over the weekend and what I was signing was not a retirement card but was actually a get well card. So on the card, in the hospital, next to the woman who s clinging to life are the words, Hey, girl. You deserve this! And at least with you gone, no one will steal my yogurt out of the fridge! P. S. Good luck wherever you wind up. Retirement cards and get well cards are two very different types of communication. The context of genre really matters! When was a time you said or communicated something out of place? How did you discover your mistake? 44 Date of My Bible Study: 2015 LifeWay Christian Resources. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute within the license agreement with purchaser.

2 In this session, we now turn our attention to New Testament literature, specifically considering the narratives, the letters, and the Book of Revelation. Once again, we consider various guidelines for reading each of these kinds of literature well. Our goal here is to introduce these kinds of literature so we can begin tuning in to important differences in the ways these literatures work and speak to us. Voices from Church History The diligent reading of the word of God with the strong resolve to get at its meaning often begets spiritual life. 1 Charles Spurgeon ( ) 1. Interpreting New Testament Narrative There are dimensions of the New Testament stories that we need to grasp as we grow in our Bible-reading skills. Let s look at Mark 8:27-33 and then some guidelines for interpreting New Testament narrative: 27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? 28 And they told him, John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets. 29 And he asked them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Christ. 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. 1. The four Gospels together give us a full, consistent picture of Jesus, but they approach the story differently. The first three Gospels are sometimes called the Synoptic Gospels (synoptic basically means to see from the same perspective ) because Matthew, Mark, and Luke follow the same general pattern in telling the story of Jesus, and a good bit of their material overlaps. One characteristic they share in common is that they relate the story of Jesus as a process of discovery on the part of the disciples and the readers of the story. The Synoptic Gospels do not contradict; they complement one another. Session 5 45

3 John, on the other hand, tells the story of Jesus from heaven down. It is clear right from the beginning of John s Gospel who Jesus is. He is the Word who created the world (John 1:3). He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (1:29). 2. Understand that each Gospel, as well as the Book of Acts, offers unique emphases. Our five narrative books in the New Testament also offer particular emphases, and a basic understanding of these will help us read these narrative books better. A Comparison of the Four Gospels 2 Matthew Mark Luke John Dates Early 60s Late 50s Mid 60s Circa 85 Portraits of Jesus Promised Messiah Obedient Servant Perfect Man Divine Son of God Cultures of Original Readers Jewish Christians Gentiles Gentiles Jews and Gentiles Writing Style Teaching Fast-moving action Well researched, detailed Theological Outstanding Sections Sermons Miracles Parables Doctrines Prominent Ideas Law Jesus the great Teacher Kingdom Discipleship Jesus return Power Kingdom Jesus power Discipleship Grace Care for disadvantaged Work of Spirit Healing Prayer Gospel for all Glory Seven signs and discourses Seven I am statements Relationship between Son and Father If you were to recommend an unbeliever read one Gospel, which one would you choose? Why? 46 Personal Study Guide Summer 2015

4 For all of these unique emphases, the Gospels and Acts (written by Luke; extends his Gospel s emphases but adds others, such as the mission of the church to the nations) focus on one common theme: Jesus is God s promised Messiah who is now exalted Lord of the universe. So as we work our way through any of these narrative books, we want to ask, What does this part of the story tell me about Jesus? Voices from the Church The Gospels present themselves and are placed in the canon in such a way that they hold together both the OT s witness and that of the other apostolic writings. On the one hand they are the fulfillment of all the OT spoke of, while on the other they are the fountainhead of all the epistolary literature. In this way they serve the key role in all of Holy Scripture. 3 For example, what does Mark 8:27-33 tell us about Jesus? Well, obviously, it tells us that Jesus is the Messiah, and this is God s revelation, or God s idea that He reveals to human beings. But we also learn from this part of the story that Jesus role as Messiah is directly related to His suffering on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. He was not coming to the disciples and the world as the Messiah they expected. Jonathan Pennington 3. We need to continue growing in our understanding of the cultural contexts reflected in these stories. The confession of Jesus as Messiah in Mark 8 should be read against a particular cultural backdrop messianic expectations in the first century. There were many different expectations about the Jewish Messiah who was to come. What no one expected was a suffering Messiah. We really need to understand the cultural context if we are going to understand the punch of the passage. In Mark, Jesus prediction of His coming suffering is at once profoundly countercultural and profoundly integrated to the kind of Messiah He came to be. List five characters we meet in the Gospels. What can we learn from them? Session 5 47

5 2. Interpreting the Letters The New Testament also contains letters. Thirteen of these letters come from Paul (four to individuals and nine to churches), and seven were written by other authors (many consider Hebrews a sermon rather than a letter). As we look at this genre, let s consider the first few verses of a brief New Testament letter written by Paul to his friend Philemon and a couple of guidelines that will help us approach a letter: 1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. 1. Understand the situation that prompted the letter. Most of the New Testament letters were occasional, which means that a particular occasion or situation prompted the author to write. In the case of Philemon, the personal letter was written around a.d while Paul was in prison (probably in Rome). Philemon, who lived in Colossae, had a slave named Onesimus who had run away and had stolen some of Philemon s property (Philem ,18-19). Onesimus had made his way to Rome, and there he met Paul, who was in prison. Paul led the runaway slave to faith in Christ, and Onesimus proved to be a valuable companion and helper to Paul (vv ). Paul then sent Onesimus back with his letter so that Onesimus and Philemon could be reconciled and so Philemon could release Onesimus to serve Paul further (vv ,20-21). 4 Now, as we have seen with the other literary genres of the Bible, the occasions behind the New Testament letters often are shaped by the cultural and historical context of the letter. For example, when dealing with Philemon, we would want to understand more about the nature of slavery in the first-century Mediterranean world. A slave could legally be executed for running away, for instance. 48 Personal Study Guide Summer 2015

6 2. Seek to understand the general structure of the letter. Today, we have a general form for letters. Similarly, ancient letters normally can be divided into three parts: an opening, the letter body, and the closing. In the ancient world, letters often began with an opening that included a prescript and a prologue. The prescript often was crafted with a superscriptio (the author), plus an adscriptio (the addressee), and followed by a salutatio (normally an expression of grace and peace in the New Testament letters). The body of a letter lined out the main topics the author wanted to discuss, perhaps information, teachings, encouragement, requests, or recommendations. In the case of Philemon, Paul offered a series of shrewd statements meant to persuade Philemon to respond well to Onesimus. Paul included an appeal to Philemon (vv. 9-10), expressions of how much he valued Onesimus and how Philemon should value him (vv ), respect for Philemon s authority in the situation (v. 14), an encouragement for Philemon to accept Voices from the Church The letters in the New Testament are more than time-bound communication; they are works inspired by the Holy Spirit, offering authoritative instruction to the church in every age. 5 Robert Plummer Onesimus as a brother in Christ (v. 16), a statement of Paul s willingness to pay for wrongs done by Onesimus (vv ), expressions of confidence that Philemon would do the right thing (vv ), and accountability Paul would be coming soon (v. 22). Finally, a letter normally included a closing, which Paul has in verses 23-25, including greetings from several people and an expression of grace. One way of getting at the structure of a book and letters are certainly included is to look at an outline of the book in a study Bible or Bible dictionary. With letters, we often can see in a letter s structure the logic of the letter s development as well as key themes. How might Paul s letter to Philemon serve as a model of how to make a skillful appeal to someone today, either in a work situation or in the context of the family? Session 5 49

7 3. Interpreting Apocalyptic Literature There is a third type of New Testament literature that we need to consider: apocalyptic, expressed especially in the Book of Revelation. The term apocalyptic means revelation or disclosure. The Book of Revelation is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to interpret. This is directly related to why apocalyptic was used as a form of writing in the ancient world and how apocalyptic literature was crafted. God gave John the disclosure in this unique and powerful form, so we need to understand a few things about it. 1. Apocalyptic literature often was written in a context of persecution to give encouragement to those being persecuted. Parts of the book are prophetic, speaking of God s ultimate judgment on the evil power structures of the world, but the prophecies are meant to give immediate encouragement to those who are suffering injustice because of their faith in Christ. Since persecution is a primary backdrop for Revelation, what are specific places in the world today where the book could be especially helpful to followers of Christ? 2. The main message of the Book of Revelation is that God, not the Roman emperor, is in ultimate control of the universe. During the time of persecution, it looks like the evil forces are winning. But Revelation pulls back the curtain of the universe to reveal a greater reality. God sits on the throne of the universe. In fact, the word throne is used 37 times in the book, and the court of heaven is depicted as a courtroom from which God judges the world and the evil forces opposing Him. At the end of the age, God will bring His judgment to a climactic point, shutting down those evil forces. 3. The communication of this important message involves the use of graphic word pictures and symbols, many taken from the Old Testament. The symbolism of Revelation functions to represent greater realities through a striking picture. Think, for instance, of how a political cartoon works. In one glimpse, you get the picture, understanding the message. The symbols of Revelation work similarly. 50 Personal Study Guide Summer 2015

8 With these guiding principles in mind, consider Revelation 12: And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. We don t have space to unpack this passage fully. But consider our three guiding principles. Here we have persecution, especially the persecution of Christ Himself, symbolized here as a child (12:5). The persecuted people of God follow in the footsteps of the suffering Christ. The evil character here is the red dragon, a symbol of Satan, which John tells us himself in 12:9. But the child Christ (or the messianic community, some may say) is vindicated and exalted to heaven. The picture given here is the triumph of the gospel. Christ s resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of God heralds the demise of Satan and the evil forces of the world (as described in vv. 7ff). God wins. The gospel triumphs. What are some ways we can bridge the gap between first-century culture and our application of Revelation today? Conclusion There are 260 chapters in the New Testament, which contain a far greater treasure than mere gold and silver objects. Where would we be without the New Testament? Yet we at times need to do some digging to really understand the value of our treasure. Hopefully the principles we have seen in this session will give us the needed tools. Session 5 51

9 HIS MISSION, YOUR MISSION He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21 Your insights: Live on Mission 1. Jesus warned His disciples to tell no one about him in Mark 8:30. Why, then, do we emphasize our mission of telling others about Jesus? 2. In what ways does love for all the saints support our mission for the sake of Christ (Philem. 4-7)? 3. How are you encouraged by the message of the Book of Revelation as a whole, that in the end, God wins? How will you respond? 52 Personal Study Guide Summer 2015

10 About the Writers The Gospel Project Adult Personal Study Guide ESV Volume 3, Number 4 Summer 2015 Eric Geiger Vice President, Church Resources Ed Stetzer General Editor Trevin Wax Managing Editor Daniel Davis Content Editor Josh Hayes Content and Production Editor Philip Nation Director, Adult Ministry Publishing Faith Whatley Director, Adult Ministry Send questions/comments to: Managing Editor, The Gospel Project: Adult Personal Study Guide, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN ; or make comments on the Web at Printed in the United States of America The Gospel Project : Adult Personal Study Guide ESV (ISSN pending; Item ) is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President LifeWay Christian Resources. For ordering or inquiries, visit or write LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN For subscriptions or subscription address changes, subscribe@lifeway.com, fax (615) , or write to the above address. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, orderentry@lifeway.com, fax (615) , or write to the above address. We believe that the Bible has God for its author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. To review LifeWay s doctrinal guideline, please visit Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unit 1: George Guthrie serves as the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible and Senior Fellow in the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He has written numerous books and articles on study of the Bible, including Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God s Word. He is married to Pat, and they have two children, Joshua and Anna. Unit 2: Ken Fentress (session 7) serves as the Senior Pastor of Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Maryland. He has formerly served as Dean of Intercultural Programs and Assistant Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ken is married to Linda, and they have three children. Mike Cosper (sessions 8-13) is one of the founding pastors of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where he serves as the Executive Pastor of Worship and Arts. He s the author of The Stories We Tell: How TV and Movies Long for and Echo the Truth and Rhythms of Grace and the co-author of Faithmapping with Daniel Montgomery. He and his wife, Sarah, have two daughters, Dorothy and Maggie. WRITERS

11 SESSION 1 1. Kevin DeYoung, Taking God at His Word (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014), Augustine, quoted in The Divine Unity of Scripture, by Adolph Saphir (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1892), John Stott, quoted in 444 Surprising Quotes About the Bible, by Isabella D. Bunn (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005) [ebook]. 4. Julia Baird, Is Happiness Overrated? Newsweek [online], 24 September 2009 [cited 3 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: 5. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Touchstone, 1980), Adrian Rogers, What Every Christian Ought to Know (Nashville: B&H, 2012), George Müller, quoted in Quotes, GeorgeMuller.org [online; cited 10 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: SESSION 2 1. Mark L. Strauss, How to Read the Bible in Changing Times (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2011), Doug Ferguson, Hoch finishes off Furyk at Doral, Peninsula Clarion [online], 11 March 2003 [cited 4 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: 3. John Broadus, quoted in Foreword, by Trevin Wax, in John Albert Broadus: Prince of the Pulpit, ed. Roger D. Duke (Mountain Home, AR: BorderStone Press, 2014), Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: HarperOne, 1954), Lesslie Newbigin, The Household of God (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2008), 13. SESSION 3 1. D. A. Carson, One Way (Matthew 7:13-27), in Only One Way? ed. Richard Phillips (Wheaton: Crossway, 2006), Andreas Köstenberger, quoted in Read the Bible for Life, by George H. Guthrie (Nashville: B&H, 2011), Nicholas Perrin, Foreword, in From Abraham to Paul, by Andrew E. Steinmann (St. Louis: Concordia, 2011), xxiv. 4. D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, in The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), Andreas Köstenberger, quoted in Read the Bible for Life, by George H. Guthrie, D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, in The Pillar New Testament Commentary, Mark Allen Powell, What Do They Hear? (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007), 16-17, SESSION 4 1. Mark L. Strauss, How to Read the Bible in Changing Times, Robert L. Plummer, 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010), J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God s Word, 3 rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), Ben Patterson, God s Prayer Book (Grand Rapids: Tyndale, 2008), Ambrose, Six Days of Creation, , quoted in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, ed. J. Robert Wright, vol. IX in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament (Downers Grove: IVP, 2005), 7. SESSION 5 1. C. H. Spurgeon, How to Read the Bible, The Spurgeon Archive [online], 1879 [cited 24 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: 2. George H. Guthrie, Read the Bible for Life Workbook (Nashville: LifeWay, 2010), Jonathan Pennington, in The Gospel in the Gospels: A Conversation with Jonathan Pennington, by Trevin Wax, Kingdom People [online], 25 October 2012 [cited 25 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: thegospelcoalition.org. 4. Murray Harris, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Colossians and Philemon (Nashville: B&H, 2010), Robert L. Plummer, 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible, 279. SESSION 6 1. Adapted from Hearing, by P. J. Alindogan, The Potter s Jar [online], 4 March 2012 [cited 25 September 2014]. Available from the Internet: pottersjar.blogspot.com. 2. John R. W. Stott, quoted in The Westminster Collection of Christian Quotations, comp. Martin H. Manser (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001), Augustine, Sermons , quoted in James, 1 2 Peter, 1 3 John, Jude, ed. Gerald Bray, vol. XI in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament (Downers Grove: IVP, 2000), Didymus the Blind, Commentary on 1 John, quoted in James, 1 2 Peter, 1 3 John, Jude, ed. Gerald Bray, vol. XI in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament, C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Touchstone, 1996), Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth (Preach The Word), 82. Available from the Internet: Personal Study Guide Summer 2015