Andy's Seminar Part three (final)

The key to studying and understanding scripture is in asking questions of what you read!

1. Let The Bible Interpret Itself.

In reading the Bible we can come across concepts phrases customs etc which are either unfamiliar or need clarifyin Find other places in the Bible where these issues are spoken of or mentioned. Compare them and see what they say in each of the contexts

As our example, we will take John 2, the wedding at cana and work through this passage using these guidelines.

As we read the passage we need to enquire about the significance of 'weddings' and 'wine.' Other words which are associated are 'marriage', 'vine'.

Check out Matthew 22-1-14 Revelation 19:7 and 9, Luke 22:18, Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18

Scripture talks of the end of time in terms of a wedding – the wedding of the Son of God to His bride The Church.

Wine is a symbol of the new kingdom: Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18, Zec 9:15/17, Luke 22:18

2. Distance Yourself From The Text

Try and look objectively at the situation which the text originally described or addressed. We want to understand this before trying to see what the text has to say to us. Sometimes commentaries can help here.

Some of the questions we can ask here is:

• What is the setting in life
• What was the historical situation
• What were the social or political conditions
• Who was the writer? Who were the hearers/readers
• What point did the writer want to make.

Being responsible for a wedding was an honour. To run out of wine at a wedding was not just a disaster from a fun point of view, but shameful for the bridegroom. It was the responsibility of the bridegroom to provide the wine.

3. Question The Text

A text may raise all sort of questions and it’s impossible to prepare a check list. Not all questions can be answered from the text. Some questions can be even misleading.

• What is the passage saying
• Why is it saying it
• Why is it saying it here

What was Mary’s motive in telling Jesus that the wine had run out? Did she expect a miracle? Why does she persist despite Jesus’ apparent rebuke? What does Jesus mean by ‘It’s not my time yet?’ Is Jesus going to have a wedding?

Maybe a misleading question is Was Jesus drinking at the wedding?

4. Understand The Present Situation

A silly question you may think. But it involves at least two important activities:
thought, meditation, analysis, etc allowing the biblical passage we are interested in to give us a sphere of reference.

We need to understand more than ourselves as individuals. We need to understand the bodies which we are apart of; our church, locality, nation and world. How do we do this? By reading, not just theology or Christian books, but novels, newspapers, watching films, looking at art, listening to music, discussion.

Weddings are times of hope, joy and dreams. The future looks bright, the possibilities are unlimited. There is a sense of things can only get better, and all thoughts of difficulties, hard times or tragedies are forgotten.

5. Bring The Bible And The Present Situation Together

This is were hermeneutics really takes place: the situation the Bible portrays is seen to Have a bearing on our situation.

Scholars call this the two horizons which need to be brought together. The Bible passage has it’s own horizon or viewpoint and so has the reader. By questioning both positions a real communication can take place between them.

It is possible that when Mary confronted Jesus with the problem of the lack of wine at the wedding Jesus’ response indicates that he is not the bridegroom, it’s not his wedding and so he is not responsible for the provision of the wine. Yet his response could also imply that one day he will be a bridegroom and that he will be responsible for the wine.

The Bible tells us that the wedding be at the end of time, when there will be no more tears, no more diseases and no more death. It will be the fulfilment of hope and the culmination of history. A place where the new wine, the best wine, will be poured.

In Jesus we have the beginning of this hope, the beginning of the new wine. It is not yet fulfilled but it will be one day.

6. Respond To The Message

The hard thinking has been done and the straight forward but necessary last steps remains – obedience to what God has showed us.

Andy's Seminar part 2

HOW DO WE READ OR STUDY THE BIBLE?

There are different ways of engaging with the Bible:

Reading the Bible: It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. Deu 17:19

Listening to the Bible being read: So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon before the men and women and those children who could understand. All the people were eager to hear the book of the law. Neh 8:3

Hearing the Bible being preached: They read from the book of God's law, explaining it and imparting insight. Thus the people gained understanding from what was read. Neh 8:8

Meditation: O how I love your law! All day long I meditate on it. Psa 119:97

It is useful to develop a variety of ways of reading the Bible. And variety can help us to concentrate. Also, some parts of the Bible need a different approach; e.g. you can meditate on a psalm or Proverb, but trying to meditate on a verse from the story of Jacob may be a waste of time – you would really need to read the whole story.

Reading or listening through the Bible in a year, two years or three years is a good habit. Find a good reading plan. I use the Robert Murray McCheyne plan. It takes you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year. You can download the plan from the net.

Why not read large chunks of the Bible in one go. Try reading a whole book – it takes 2 hours to read the Gospel of mark. Reading whole books is very useful to getting the big picture.

Asking questions of the text you are reading is always good. Three questions to ask when you’re reading the Bible are:

1. What is the passage saying
2. Why is it saying it
3. Why is it saying it here

Spend time meditating on the some verses in the Bible. Maybe you have done your Bible reading for the day, or listened to it on CD and a verse, or two really strike you. Stop. Re-read them and then focus on those verse only. Think through what they mean – think of any other places in the Bible which speak of these verses, or relate to them. Memorize the verses. And then think how the verses apply to you now. How can you change?

On top of this we should also set aside time to study the Bible.

A minister once heard a famous preacher preach and was so impressed he went to the preacher and asked how he managed to teach so well. The preacher said “You really don’t want to know.” The minister said, “I do, really, please tell me.” The preacher said “Before I study a passage I read the book 25 times.”