Context
The biggest mistake most people make when reading the Bible is to think too small. Yes, the Bible is a collection of books, and many of the books can in turn be studied as a collection of stories, songs, sayings, or whatever – but what is easy to miss sight of is the fact that the Bible is in fact the sum of its parts.
As a cheap aside, I wrote the following “essay” a few years back in order to get some free books for my Bible software, but I think it’s still worth reading: (Nice formatting at http://www.logos.com/nationalbibleweek/biblestudy/54)
Bible Study with the Telescope and the Microscope
When we sit down to do serious Bible Study, we have all sorts of tools available to aid us in making discoveries. But generally these Bible Study tools fall into two categories – Microscopes and telescopes. As any good scientist can tell you, these tools each have their uses, and to learn the most you need to know to use them both.
The microscope Bible Study tools are perhaps the more common ones. TDNT, HALOT, BDAG – all kinds of tools exist that hone in on a single word and give great depth to each word. Like a microscope, these tools are at their best when they focus in on a single detail which has riches to unfold. Like a doctor studying a cell, the serious student of the Bible will be amazed at the universe hidden in such simple words as telos, charis, or agape.
But these Bible Study microscopes were never meant to be ends to themselves. After all, a cell unrelated to the rest of the organism is a quick candidate for death! This is why good Bible Study should also use the telescope, too. Telescopes, of course, help the astronomer to see very large things in closer detail. Commentaries, Concordances, sentence diagrams and even Systematic Theologies play a role in helping the student of the Bible to see how each part relates to the whole.
Even a tool as humble as the outline can sometimes reveal insights unseen to the unaided eye. You probably know the story of Martha slaving away in the kitchen while Jesus sits at Mary’s feet. But do you know its context? Luke 11 starts out Jesus famously summarizing the law as loving God and loving your neighbor. Jesus then tells the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate who our neighbor is. But then Luke inserts the story of Mary and Martha. Why? Could it be that Luke realized the parallel of loving your neighbor, and then loving God? How after all, do we love God, except by sitting at his feet and listening to what he says? (Interestingly enough, do you know what follows? It’s Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. If your God wants a relationship, how else but prayer?)
Sometimes, something as simple as asking, “What would I title this chapter?” yields insights into how each cell does its thing.
Such a Bible Study ‘aha’ becomes all the more precious when, as with a telescope, you see the whole picture in context – one theme building on another. Don’t miss out in Bible Study; Use your microscope, but don’t forget the telescope, too!
When one reads Scripture, one needs to always remember that every verse fits somewhere in context. It has been said that without context any verse can simply be used as pre-text. On my home page, I have one of those “Verse a Day” gadgets that simply shows a single Bible verse. One day, the verse was Matthew 4:9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” I am sure that day some people saw that verse and thought, “See – if I worship God he will in face give me everything I desire!” The “Name It & Claim It” people were probably pretty happy that day. But here’s a question for you? What is the context of that verse. Go ahead – I’ll make it a question:
1. Who is the “he” [he said] in this Scripture and to whom is he talking? What is the context of Matthew 4?
As good students of the Bible it is important that we are always aware of context. Ideally, whenever we read any verse (and ESPECIALLY when we memorize one!), we would know:
– something about the paragraph in which the verse appears
– something about the chapter in which the paragraph sits
– something about the book in which the chapter sits
– how that book fits in historically and within the whole redemption story.
I’ll be honest, that takes work. Its hard to keep all of that in mind, and still plumb the depths of what God is trying to say. So, how do I do it? I’ll read a passage several times in order to really get to the meaning.
Read #1: What is God trying to say in this particular passage?
Read #2: What are some of the most important words? What do they mean?
Read #3: What is the chapter as a whole about?
This month, let’s try doing Reads 1 & 3 on Luke 16. Let me give you the whole text. First, we’ll examine some of the parts, then we’ll go back and try to put the whole thing together. I’ll divide it up into three sections. Read each part first, then we’ll try to assemble the whole
Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.*’
7 “ ‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.*’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
2. What type of literature is this?
3. What is the essential conflict of this story?
4. Does the “Shrewd Manager” act in a “Christian” manner? In other words, is he sinning? If so, how?
5. Is Jesus commending the sin?
6. What was Jesus happy about in this man’s actions?
7. What is the “lesson” that this parable teaches?
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.
18 “For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery. And anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
8. What type of literature is this?
9. In verses 10-12, what does Jesus say about the role of money in this world? Do the words “training wheels” make any sense in this regard?
10. In verse 13-15, what is the danger of money? Look up 1 Timothy 6:10 for a god parallel.
11. Is the Pharisee’s reaction in verse 14 understandable? Why would they scoff? What would that sound like in today’s words? Have I ever done that? [Ok, I’m stopping there!]
12. In verse 15, what does the world value? What does God, in contrast, value? Why are these in conflict?
Now, before we look at 16 – 18, I’ll also admit I had to scratch my head a bit and ask myself how this fits into this chapter. When I first read this bit, I read it in the ESV and the NIV before the NLT (which is what I tend to use here because of its readability.) The point I’m wanting to make is this – reading in different translations will sometimes help you “get” a section, especially if a passage has you wondering. If you are wondering about a particular passage, that’s always a good sign you should stop and investigate!
13. In verse 16, what is Jesus talking about when he uses the words “the law” and “the prophets”?
14. The end of verse 16 seems to imply that what Jesus is teaching [the Good News of the Kingdom of God] is somehow more popular than the “law and the prophets.” Does that mean the Old Testament is irrelevant?
15. How does the example of adultery explain the permanence of the law?
Now, just a little bit of hint and reflection here. Is money a long-term thing? How about people? How about Scripture? Yes, I’m leading you here, but I want to again come back to what I was saying about “things that don’t fit should make you go back and think.” I “knew” what the first parable was about and what the last story we’re going to read was about, until I had to ask myself, how does verse 18 fit? When I asked myself that question, I realized I didn’t “know” as much as I thought.
Anyways, the last bit:
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in epurple and fine linen and fwho feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate gwas laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with hwhat fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by ithe angels jto Abraham’s side.6 The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in kHades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and lsaw Abraham far off and Lazarus jat his side. 24 And he called out, m‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and ncool my tongue, for oI am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that pyou in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers7—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have qMoses and the Prophets; rlet them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, sfather Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear qMoses and the Prophets, tneither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ” [1]
16. What type of literature is this?
Don’t skip over that question, because frankly, Christians have been divided over that question for a long time. It’s easy to think this is a parable, because it has a pretty strong point and the story can easily be thought of as a set of fantastic stereotypes. Because it talks about heaven and hell, which are hard for us to grasp, it’s easier for some people to “dismiss” this as parable. On the other hand, unlike every other parable, Jesus actually names the characters, and unlike every other parable it does NOT liken a situation to something that the hearers would identify with.
17. Does thinking of this as a parable or reality change your perception in any way?
18. How did the rich man live? How did Lazarus live?
19. Where did the rich man go in death? Where did Lazarus go in death?
20. Are there other people with Lazarus? How about the rich man?
21. Is it possible for those in heaven to reach those in Hell?
22. How can there be a place where God cannot go? [Talk to the Gateway kids about The Great Divorce!!!]
23. So, contrary to the popular notion that “Hell is a great place to party,” how does Lazarus speak of his torment? What is his plea?
24. What is Abraham’s response? Do we in fact have the things he says they already have?
25. In verse 30, is that completely true?
26. What is Jesus implying about how the rich man should have acted?
27. What is Jesus implying about the Scriptures?
Okay, now that we have read all this, it’s back to context. I should say that Luke 15 is the Parable of the Prodigal Son (or the Parable of the Loving Father or the Parable of the Older Brother depending on how you want to call it.) Luke 17 is getting into Jesus’ final teachings as he heads to the Cross. The question we want to get at is, what is Luke 16 teaching us?
28. What are some of the common themes?
29. So, you have NO MORE THAN 10 words. What is the point of Luke 16?
Here’s mine, but it isn’t the only one:
Love Lasts; Wealth doesn’t. Choose Wisely.
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.