It's Biblical: Difficult Texts
It's Biblical • Sermon • Submitted
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· 10 viewsSuggested difficult passages in the text to explore. Confusing texts.
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Introduction and Devotional
Introduction and Devotional
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Read
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Blessed are the righteous…dwell in the law.
Women, be quiet!
Women, be quiet!
What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
1 Corinthians 14:26-
What is the problem with this text? What are possible definitions?
Ok when you read this passage what are some clues about what is going on? You can use background information or something you have learned in the past. Look at immediate context or any knowledge of the whole book 1 Corinthians. Yall this is a safe space. I will present my view on this text eventually but we can work this out together and we can disagree.
Ok on the surface what do we see?
Passage is to whole group about when to speak, then specifies women here. Indicates something specific is going on.
Then in Paul makes this specific statement.
But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.
1 Corinthians is a corrective Epistle…he is speaking to some very specific issues.
Now look at Paul Romans talking about women....
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus.
Romans
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
In they are the ones that teach Apollos, the great 1st century evangelist, “The way of God.”
Then show the Bible word study for “ask”
Finally, one more thing I want to show you is how a lens changes the way something is translated here.
Why is this important? John Macarthur
Go home!
“There is no case that can be made for a woman preacher. Period. Paragraph. End of discussion.”
“Narcissistic.” He said, “When I first saw her I thought, ‘This is what it looks like to preach yourself rather than Christ.'”
MacArthur went on, “Just because you have the skill to sell jewelry on the TV sales channel doesn’t mean you should be preaching. There are people who have certain hocking skills. Natural abilities to sell. They have energy and personality and all that. That doesn’t qualify you to preach.”
Dead Fig Tree
Dead Fig Tree
Let’s read
Well start in 12 and go from there.....
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
“ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
Luke 12:54-13:8
What clues in the text tell us is going on with the fig tree?
Where else might we look in the bible?
show slides of comparison of Matthew and Mark:
Matthew is about faith. Could be tied to the cleansing of the temple but it is really a focus on the faith and power available for those that follow Jesus
Mark intentionally brackets the story. Fig tree curse, cleaning of the temple, then it dies. Judgement of the temple
Luke tells it different. There is really a threat of judgement on all the people that are hearing. A emphasis on urgency of repentence when comparing to everything around....those killed by Pilate, then those dying from an accident, etc.
Hate your family
Hate your family
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Luke 14
What is the most important theme in this text? What is the main idea?
Ok, let’s brainstorm together about what it could mean to hate mother and father. Give me a few options.
What do you think? ....(I think this is a rhetorical device and not to be literal). Why? Well think about Jesus’ command to love neighbor as you love yourself as a summation of what God desires…well the literal sense of hating family falls apart. The next chapter has a parable about family. That would not be as effective if it was a literal sense. We do not see Jesus act in this way....
But what does it mean?
Yes, all about allegiance here. The challenging aspect here is to hold this relationship with Christ above all others.
Compare to Matthew to drive it home:
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Stop your babbling!!!!
Stop your babbling!!!!
Check out
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6
What are our options about the meaning of babbling here?
Ok just a little bit quick here.....there is something specific here about babbling like pagans. There was a question about the difference of babbling and what Paul says pray about all things. So using the Bible as a hermeneutic to study itself....let’s weight this. We believe the Bible, particularly in commanding or prescribing is consistent. Babbling like pagans has to be something else.
I consulted a couple of commentaries and tried to look at greek. Only time used in Greek NT so that does not really help. However, historically it was known that pagans would try to manipulate their gods by reminding them of past dues and then to just call out all sorts of names of gods hoping one would answer…or just trying to manipulate. Some of that is going on here I think.
Demons and Failures
Demons and Failures
Read
When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
“What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.
A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
“You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”
“From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
Mark 9:14-
Setting is important here immediately following the transfiguration.
This back half of Mark is really going to focus on discipleship. They come off the mountain the three of them and then right into ministry. Taking the bigger book in context we see some of the themes of teaching and leaning into inadequacies. This is a very challenging, nuanced, and layered text.
Let me share some commentary....I dont think we have enough time to take a deep dive here.
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Frail Faith in a Strong Savior (9:14–29)
The present passage also introduces prayer in the context of faith, connecting it with spiritual power. Grundmann correctly notes that “prayer is faith turned to God.” Prayer is the focusing and directing of faith in specific requests to God. Both faith and prayer testify that spiritual power is not in oneself but in God alone, and both wait in trust upon his promise to save.
A recurrent theme in this passage is the inadequacy of the disciples in ministry with Jesus. Service in fellowship with Christ is characterized by constant awareness of the inadequacy of the servant. As this story illustrates, Jesus calls disciples to tasks beyond their abilities, and the fact that the tasks surpass their abilities is evidence that the ministry is Christ’s, not theirs. The inadequacy of disciples is not their fault, nor should it have the effect of impairing either their faith or fellowship with Christ. Rather, inadequacy drives the disciples to prayer, which is God’s gift to them and another form of fellowship with Jesus as their Lord.
CHAPTER NINE
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel according to Mark Frail Faith in a Strong Savior (9:14–29)
The present passage also introduces prayer in the context of faith, connecting it with spiritual power. Grundmann correctly notes that “prayer is faith turned to God.” Prayer is the focusing and directing of faith in specific requests to God. Both faith and prayer testify that spiritual power is not in oneself but in God alone, and both wait in trust upon his promise to save.
A recurrent theme in this passage is the inadequacy of the disciples in ministry with Jesus. Service in fellowship with Christ is characterized by constant awareness of the inadequacy of the servant. As this story illustrates, Jesus calls disciples to tasks beyond their abilities, and the fact that the tasks surpass their abilities is evidence that the ministry is Christ’s, not theirs. The inadequacy of disciples is not their fault, nor should it have the effect of impairing either their faith or fellowship with Christ. Rather, inadequacy drives the disciples to prayer, which is God’s gift to them and another form of fellowship with Jesus as their Lord.
CHAPTER NINE
Homework
Homework
Read
look for themes
can you break it apart into thematic sections?
repetition, comparison, other literary devices
What questions do you have about the passage?
Journal 1-2 paragraphs about your interpretation and how it impacts you right now
Next I want you to consider a parable and something from an Epistle you want to study.