Shepherds College: Interpretation, Lecture 4

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation Lecture 4 Shepherds College Scott Jacobsen, Instructor 22 October 2024 1 INEBRIATED PREACHING 2 3 How we look at the Bible: God Inspired All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 3:16–4:4 (ESV) 16 4 How we look at the Bible: Whole Bible is for Our Instruction For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 (ESV) 4 5 How we look at the Bible: It is about Jesus You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. John 5:39–40 (ESV) 39 6 Diagram 8: The invalid method of proceeding from text (T) to hearer (H) directly or intuitively (A) avoids the structure of revelation. The valid procedure is to trace the biblical path (B) from text to Christ and to link this with the biblical path (C) from Christ to hearer. Graeme Goldsworthy, (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 117. Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 117. 7 Getting the Work Done 8 Exegesis • Why is it important to keep the “first things first?” • Helm, page 40 • Gives the Biblical context rather than one’s own. • Listens intently until he knows how the text fits within the overall message of the book. • Sees the structure and emphasis of the text. 9 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 10 Exegesis ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 11 Exegesis ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h Dis cov ery Ch ann el 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 1. Discovery Channel: Interesting facts from the context but lacks application in Christ. 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 12 Exegesis ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h Theological Reflection Dis cov ery 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture Ch ann el 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 1. Discovery Channel: Interesting facts from the context but lacks application in Christ. 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 13 Exegesis ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h Theological Reflection 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture m icis t s My Dis cov ery Ch ann el 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 1. Discovery Channel: Interesting facts from the context but lacks application in Christ. 2. Mysticism: allegorical interpretation seeing Christ in ways not present 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 14 Follow in order: 1. Bible Text; 2. Bible Context; 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture; 4. Application. Theological Reflection m icis t s My Dis cov ery 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture Toda y Exegesis ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h Ch ann el 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 1. Discovery Channel: Interesting facts from the context but lacks application in Christ. 2. Mysticism: allegorical interpretation seeing Christ in ways not present 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 15 Follow in order: 1. Bible Text; 2. Bible Context; 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture; 4. Application. Theological Reflection n tio ec efl Dis cov ery 3. Seeing Christ in all Scripture Toda y m icis t s My lR ca gi lo Exegesis eo Th ow H : 2. Bible Context hen ers /T d re rea ? e h t it /T firs ad em he re Th id t or d ear h Ch ann el 4. Application: Us/Here/Now “What did it mean, and how does that meaning affect me?” 1. Mysticism: allegorical interpretation seeing Christ in ways not present 2. Discovery Channel: Interesting facts from the context but application in Christ. 1. Bible Text First temptation is to Read Ourselves into the Story and go straight to application. “What does this mean to me?” 16 Understandin g the Gospels 17 18 The Gospels: Terms Synoptic Term applied to Matthew, Mark, and Luke because they see the ministry of Jesus from generally the same point of view, which is quite different from that of the Gospel of John. • Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 2008. 19 The Gospels: Terms Harmony of the Gospels: “A work that seeks to harmonize the four Gospel accounts. Sometimes ‘harmony’ is used synonymously with synopsis of the Gospels or a Gospel parallel, but the function of a harmony is to interrelate the four Gospel accounts into a single continuous story of Jesus. A synopsis is a tool for the critical study of the Gospels that sets out the various pericopes of Matthew, Mark and Luke (and sometimes John) in parallel columns for detailed comparison and analysis.” 20 21 The Nature of the Gospels “Two Levels” First, there was the purely historical concern that this is who Jesus was and this is what he said and did; and this is the Jesus—crucified and raised from the dead—whom we now worship as the risen and exalted Lord. 22 The Nature of the Gospels “Two Levels” Second, there was the existential concern of retelling this story for the needs of later communities that did not speak Aramaic but Greek, and that did not live in a basically rural, agricultural, and Jewish setting, but in Rome, or Ephesus, or Antioch, where the gospel was encountering an urban, pagan environment. 23 Understanding the Gospels 1. Historical Setting of Jesus 2. Historical Context of the Writers 24 Historical Setting: An Example Refer to Luke 2:1–21 (NIV) 25 Mark 2:27 “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Sabbath//man Man//sabbath 26 Luke 2:1-20 A Shepherds in field 8 B Angel appears--fear 9 C Angelic Announcement 10-11 D Lying in a manger 12 E Glory to God 13-15 D' Lying in a manger 16 C' Sephardic Announcement 17 B' Shepherds appear--others wonder 18-19 A' Shepherds return to field 20 Conclusion: "His name is Jesus" 21 The centre of the story is God, and His Glory. 27 Historical Notes • Emperor Worship • Subversive intent: anti-emperor • Choirs worshipped the emperor • Augustus was said to be “the bringer of Peace” • A Subversive text: God is the centre • Heavenly choirs worship the King of Kings • Real peace is brought by God in Christ 28 Historical Context “euangélion is particularly important in the emperor cult. The emperor is a divine ruler who controls nature, dispenses healing, serves as a protective god, and brings good fortune, his birth being accompanied by cosmic signs. Imperial messages, then, are joyous ones, since what he says is a divine act implying good and salvation. The first euangélion is news of his birth, then his coming of age, then his accession. Offerings and yearly festivals celebrate the new and more hopeful era that dawns with him. “ 29 Historical Context “His accession to the throne is a gospel for his subjects. This imperial euangélion, like that of the NT, has a Near Eastern source, but to the many imperial messages the NT opposes the one gospel, and to the many accessions the one proclamation of God’s kingdom. Again, the NT may use familiar language, but it associates it with the scandal of the cross (1 Cor. 1:17), penitence, and judgment, so that it must have seemed ironical to some (Acts 17:32). Caesar and Christ confront one another. They have much in common, for both claim to be gospel, but they belong to different worlds.” 30 Historical Context “It is a day which we may justly count as equivalent to the beginning of everything—if not in itself and in its own nature, at any rate in the benefits it brings—inasmuch as it has restored the shape of everything that was failing and turning into misfortune, and has given a new look to the Universe at a time when it would gladly have welcomed destruction if Caesar had not been born to be the common blessing of all men.… 31 Historical Context Whereas the Providence (pronoia) which has ordered the whole of our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to it Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a saviour for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere … 32 Historical Context “. . . and whereas the birthday of the God [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the glad tidings [in the Greek the ‘Evangel’] that have come to men through him … Paulus Fabius Maximus, the proconsul of the province … has devised a way of honouring Augustus hitherto unknown to the Greeks, which is, that the reckoning of time for the course of human life should begin with his birth” 33 Interpreting Parables 34 Parables: Terms Parable “A short instructive story that contains an analogy.” 35 Parables: Terms Metaphor “In general usage, an implied comparison in which the characteristics, qualities or actions of one thing are applied to another (e.g., speaking of God as shepherd).” 36 Parables: Terms Simile A comparison of two basically unlike things, frequently using the word like or as (Lat. similis, “alike”). See 1 Corinthians 3:10. 1 Corinthians 3:10 (NIV) 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 37 38 Assignment on Parables • Read Luke 15 • Do these parables occur in other Gospels? • Locate the pericope • Do the worksheet based upon these three 39 Assignment! WORKSHOPS ON BIBLICAL EXPOSITION SMALL GROUP PREPARATION WORKSHEET Name: Passage: Luke 15 INSTRUCTIONS: In your small group, you will have 5 minutes to present on each of your passages. For each of your assigned passages, please respond to the questions below and provide 10 copies of this onepage handout (front and back, typed) that will assist your group in offering productive feedback. If you do not understand any of these questions, please visit http://simeontrust.org/prepare/ to find additional advice. 40 Assignment! 1. How does the context inform the meaning of this passage? Please consider: a) the literary context (passages before and after the passage), b) the historical context (circumstances of the audience), and c) the biblical context (citations/allusions or historical connections to other books that the author is making). 41 Assignment! 2. How has the author organized this passage? Please a) show the structure in sections with verse references and b) explain what strategies you used to see this structure. 42 Assignment! 3. Drawing on your work to this point, state the author’s aim for his audience (in one short sentence). 43 Assignment! 4. What parts of this passage connect to the gospel of Jesus Christ? What part of the gospel is in view? 44 Assignment Drawing on your work to this point, what conclusion will you argue to your audience (in one short sentence)? What applications will you make for your audience? 45 Assignment 6. What is your sermon title and your preaching outline? 46