Thursday, November 7, 2019

Recap of "How to Read the Bible" Session 3

On Wednesday November 6, 2019 we met for our third of four sessions to study "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth." This meeting continued our practice of the two fundamental steps for solid interpretation: Exegesis and the Hermeneutics. We specifically focused on applying these steps to the Gospels.

A written recap of the main points that we discussed is provided below.



We began with a refresher on our intent for reading the Bible. Our goal is to do fundamentally know the plain meaning of the text. To do that the two basic steps are:

  1. Exegesis - answering the question, "What was the original intent of the words of the Bible?"
  2. Hermeneutics - applying the words to our life in the here and now
The guidelines for good hermeneutics is a good exegesis. The meaning of the words as we apply them to our life must be consistent with the originally intended meaning. The text means what it meant!

So next we looked at the Gospels to understand some tips for reading these unique books well.

What are the Gospels?

The gospels are about Jesus but they contain teachings of Jesus as well as stories about Jesus.

The gospels are unique pieces of literature, there is not first century type of literature that they neatly fall within. They as a blend of a biographical summary of Jesus mixed with teachings and sayings of Jesus. 

The gospels can be challenging to read for at least two reasons. 
  1. Jesus himself didn't write a gospel. If the main focus of the gospels is about Jesus, it would be nice to have writings directly from Jesus. But we don't have that. We have accounts and sayings of Jesus by others. This can be a challenge.
  2. We have 4 gospels. This can be a challenge because 3 are very similar to one another (the Synoptics) but they still differ in some ways. It is a challenge and a goal to appreciate the distinctives of each gospel.

How Do We Start Our Exegesis of the Gospels?

We need to start by recognizing that the gospels are two-level documents. On one level they are
about Jesus but on another level the gospels are assembled by their author for certain reasons, to make certain points. We need to understand the context at both levels to achieve our goal of knowing the original intent (exegesis).

General Historical Context of Jesus

To know the general historical context of Jesus the authors recommend a book on Background of Early Christianity to get the culture that Jesus lived within as well as a book on The Method and Message of Jesus' Teachings in order to know why he taught the way he did. 

Particular Historical Context of Jesus' Activities

If we want to know the particular historical context of specific teachings, sayings, or actions of Jesus we need to know about pericopes (/pəˈrikəpē/). Pericopes are individual stores and saying of Jesus that were passed on

Examples of Pericopes
  • Stilling the storm
  • Healing Peter's mother-in-law
  • “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”
  • Sermon on the Mount
  • Parable of the Good Samaritan
  • Lord's Prayer
The gospel authors assembled these pericopes together in their chosen order (not necessarily chronological) and, in many cases we don't have the original context of the pericopes. Because each pericope is somewhat self-encapsulated we are challenged to know the particular historical context of specific pericopes.

Context of the Gospel Writers

Each gospel writer assembled their gospel in a unique way, they each have a certain angle or coloring their text about Jesus. We ought to do some research to see what Bible scholars have identified as the special emphases in each gospel. We specifically looked at Mark's gospel and got a 9-minute overview of the gospel by watching the Bible Project video on it

Think Horizontally - Be Aware of Parallels

With some understanding of the context of Jesus and the gospel writers in mind the first tip for reading the gospels is to "Think Horizontally", that is to be aware of parallels. We have 4 gospels and they have the same pericopes. We can recognize and appreciate the distinctives of each gospel by seeing the parallels

We looked parallels of the Desolating Sacrilege pericope. The table below helps to show the differences in the telling of this pericope between each gospel. 

Mark (the gospel likely written first) simply asks his reader to "understand". But Matthew, in his telling, includes specific reference to Daniel. Matthew seems to be writing to a Jewish audience who would be able to understand this comment about Daniel. Luke, on the other hand, abbreviates the whole telling and gets straight to the point, saying it is about Jerusalem. Therefore it appears as if Luke is writing more for a Gentile audience who might not be able to understand the point of the pericope the way Mark wrote it. Seeing the parallels will help us appreciate the original intent of the words that the gospel writers put together.

Think Vertically - Be Aware of the Evangelist's Purpose

The second tip for reading the gospels is, for a given pericope, to keep in mind the historical context of Jesus. 

For example, consider Matthew's telling of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-6). If you look at the text before and after this parable and compare it to Mark you'll see remarkable similarities. Matthew follows Mark's writing word-for-word except that Matthew decides to insert the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. See the table below for a comparison.

We want to ask ourselves, "What was the original context of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard?" That is, when Jesus told the parable who was it meant to be direct at and what do we think was the point? Well the parable is about workers who all get the same agreed upon wage despite when they began their work, either early or late. It is about God's grace, no predicated on what is "fair". In the original context Jesus probably told this parable to counter the Pharisees who were judging Jesus for hanging out with sinners; this parable was likely told in the presence of the Pharisees to justify his calling sinners.

But now consider where and why Matthew inserted the parable in his gospel. He drops it in right after Peter asks what the disciples merit for leaving everything to follow Jesus. Then Matthew concludes the parable with a reiteration about the reversal of the first and the last. Matthew seems to be using the parable to make a point about discipleship, that those who have forsaken all to follow Jesus are the last who have become first. Same point used in a unique context by the gospel writer.

Quick Closing Comments

We were rushed on time and so we concluded with a couple comments about the Gospels, parables, and Acts made very quickly.

Already and Not Yet

We would do well to understand the "already and not yet" tension of Jesus' concept of the kingdom of God. The gospel writers had a Jewish eschatological view of the Messiah coming to do something now. And something did happen now but yet there is a not-yet element to remember. E.g., Already victory over death, yet would still die; already forgiveness yet still not perfected; already justified yet still a future judgment.

Parables

We need to get the point. They were meant to be "caught", like jokes. There's a certain punch or force to the parables that we must understand. For example Jesus told the parable about the debtors who have been forgiven (Luke 7:36-50) in the presence of Simon the Pharisee who was appalled that Jesus let a harlot wash his feet. 

When Jesus concluded the parable saying that the person with the very small debt and the person with the very large debt were both canceled, this would have felt like a punch in the gut to Simon the Pharisee. He would have identified himself as the person with the small debt who was forgiven as compared to the harlot, with the large debt, who was also forgiven. And then she would have also felt the force of the parable, giving her confidence and a strong sense of her acceptance.

Acts

Acts includes a description of how the early church operated. And so the hermeneutical challenge we face is that we want to often say, "This is the way the early church did it, so we should do the same!"

But we need to always keep in mind three things when trying to determine hermeneutical application: intent, intent, and intent.

What was the original author's intent? If it was meant to be simply descriptive, a simple telling of the way things were, then perhaps we shouldn't take it to be prescriptive, as an imperative for us now.

Next Week

Our next and final meeting will be next Wednesday, November 13th, 2019 - 6:30 to 8pm in rooms 13-15 of the education building of Mt. Zion UMC. We will be looking at the Psalms, Proverbs, OT Narratives and hopefully will have time to address the Law and the Prophets.

Hope to see you there!

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