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Press upon Jesus to hear the word of God

Greetings from Zambia. I try to keep my eyes and ears open for inspiration, and certain stories, images, and ideas catch my attention from time to time. One image has done this for me lately, and I would like to share it with you. It’s the way that Luke, John, and Paul use the Greek word for “press upon” (epikeimai) in the New Testament, and it’s loaded with meaning for the work of training pastors here at Justo Mwale Theological University College.

I like how some versions of the New Testament translate Luke 5:1 literally and say “the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God”. The verse is found in a passage where Simon Peter hears Jesus give him a small command to move his boat a little, followed by a harder command to go back out into deep water after a whole night of catching nothing.  This is followed by a magnificent catch of fish. Then Jesus explains that Simon Peter is now to fish for people, and Peter leaves everything to follow Jesus. It’s a rich passage for learning about discipleship, yet we often tend to miss the first couple verses which set the stage. I am learning not only from Jesus and Peter’s interaction, but also from this crowd at the opening of the story: They press upon Jesus to hear the word of God.

Too often, seminary professors and seminary students spend a great deal of time studying and talking about the Bible and theology, but still miss what this crowd experienced: pressing upon Jesus to hear the word of God. When our students asked me to speak at a recent all-night prayer meeting, I shared that I hope this crowd can be a model for how we approach education at Justo Mwale. Learning to study and think about Scripture is so much more than an academic exercise. We need to meet and keep meeting Jesus, we need to lean upon him, and we need to hear a living word spoken to us and to those we minister to.

The way John 21:9 uses the same Greek word for “press upon” also piqued my curiosity. Interestingly, John uses this word to describe fish and bread that are lying upon, or pressing upon, a charcoal fire. That made me think about what happens when fish and bread lie or press upon a fire. The heat seeps into, and spreads throughout, the fish and the dough. The fish change, and the dough is transformed to bread.

Which brings me back to seeing the crowd as a model for how we approach Scripture: we can press upon Jesus to hear the word of God. And the voice of Christ through the scriptures is like a hot charcoal fire. Just as fish and dough upon the fire are changed by the heat, when we press upon Jesus and his word, something happens to us. The heat, light, and energy of the word press back upon us. The heat enters us. It fills us. And we change. We’re transformed into disciples who are on our way to joining the work of our master.

The apostle Paul, too, uses this word for “press upon” in an intriguing way. In 1 Cor 9:16 he says, “A necessity (or urge) presses upon me.” And the verse goes on to say that the necessity/urge that presses upon him is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The result is that he has a message he simply must share with others.

We believers can go through a similar “press upon” experience.  By pressing upon Jesus and the Holy Spirit with our attitude and heart when we open Scripture (whether it be alone in our homes, in a small study group or Sunday School class, or during a sermon), we can allow the word to speak to us afresh. And as we press on Jesus, his word begins to press upon us. That changes us, and the result is that we have something to share. We have something we feel we must share with others. But it all starts with us being like the crowd of Luke 5:1 — pressing upon Jesus to hear the word of God.

My students have experienced all of this for themselves, and that’s why they’ve been chosen to come to our theological college. It’s a place where students can learn a lifelong habit of opening Scripture to lean on Jesus and hear his word. They have the opportunity to interact deeply with books, with each other, and with the faculty – all for the sake of learning to hear the transforming word of Christ, spoken to them and their African context.

As you think of us, please pray that we’ll receive the crowd’s signal from Luke 5:1. Pray that each bit of our academic work at Justo Mwale will help us to lean upon Jesus to hear his word. May we never settle for information alone. Pray that our faculty and students won’t miss the heat, energy, and light of the word of God, so there won’t be a gap between our study of theology and our practice of the Christian life. Your prayers can help our students get this foundation they need for future ministry in Africa.

I also pray that God will give you all that you need to be able to open Scripture, press upon Jesus, and hear the particular word he wishes to speak into your life.

Posted on by Dustin Ellington

Christian Freedom when the Bible Seems Silent: The Case of Media and Technology

I just realized I never shared my seminary’s 2011 issue of our journal, Word and Context. I’ll paste the beginning of my article here, and then those who wish can link to the rest of it on our seminary website. I also commend the other articles, written by my colleagues.

Introduction: Christian Freedom Then and Now

The Bible, as a book written in ancient times, does not mention certain aspects of life today. For instance, the Bible does not speak explicitly about the use of technology and media like televisions, cell phones, and computers. But does this mean that the Bible does not speak at all about these tools of communication and forms of entertainment that play such enormous roles in our lives? Sometimes Scripture does not speak about a topic on the surface level but speaks wisely about it once we take a deeper look. If we look closely at Scripture, we may be surprised to see how much it can address even these areas of life today.

To continue, click below and go to page 47 of the 2011 issue.

http://justomwale.net/media/publications/cat_view/6-word-and-context

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Uncovering a Biblical Book’s Vision of the Christian Life

Each book of the Bible bears a distinct witness to life with God. Asking the right questions and using good study methods can help us to recognize and receive that witness, so that it shapes and textures our own vision of the Christian life.

When we study a book of Scripture it can reveal to us not just the outward actions God calls us to, but also the inner processes and principles behind them. In addition, it can help us learn and grasp the resources that make the Christian life possible. We can find out how life with God actually works, as depicted in that particular book of Scripture. We shouldn’t assume we already know these things; there’s always more to discover.

So the first thing we can do when approaching a book of Scripture is read it straight through with eyes open for clues to that book’s unique witness. We look for the literary aspects that feed into and shape its particular message. These include the occasion that led the author to write, the stated aims of the author, and the main themes. (Books of the Bible don’t usually leave us in the dark; a close reading is enough, even without the help of a commentary or study Bible, to get at these things.)

To go still deeper, we can study how the book’s main aims and themes intersect and relate to one another. Taking note of these intersections in a biblical book is like hitting a tennis ball with the part of a racket where the longest and most important strings intersect – the sweet spot. In tennis, using the sweet spot is crucial for accuracy and power. Likewise, when studying a book of Scripture, if we can pinpoint the main aims and themes, and trace how they interrelate, then we’ve found our way to the heart of the book. We want to aim for that kind of accuracy, because it takes us to the real depth and power of what’s written.

Pinpointing the main aims and themes of a book of Scripture (or even within a particular passage), and dwelling on how they relate to one another, protects us from misunderstanding. Friedrich Schleiermacher called hermeneutics “the art of understanding”. He also called it “the art of avoiding misunderstanding”. He said that misunderstanding happens “if I take as the main thought what is only a secondary thought”. To recognize a book of the Bible’s vision for life with God, we need to make the most of the places where the main aims and themes intersect, and the ways they intersect. This keeps us from overemphasizing what’s secondary.

Yet there may still be a farther distance to go in order to grasp how the book depicts the Christian life. To get there, we can try to discern and follow the particular reasoning of a book of the Bible when it is at its most practical. When it gives commands or makes statements about the Christian life, we can pay close attention to the line of thought and how one statement, image, or command builds upon others. Often a basis is given for a command. Often a book will describe not just a desired behavior but also resources for arriving at that behavior. By tracing such patterns of reasoning, we can often see the inner processes of life with God – how this life actually works, and what makes it possible.

Finally, all of the above involves tapping into the awareness of God known by the writers of Scripture. Every book of Scripture depicts a way of life suffused with convictions about God. Even when a book is at its most practical, statements about God (maybe Jesus Christ, maybe the Holy Spirit) are close at hand. Studying a book of Scripture leads to an awareness of God at the heart of the outer behaviors, inner processes, and fundamental resources of the life of faith. So we approach a book of Scripture with an attitude of prayerfulness. Study of Scripture requires using good methods and asking the right questions, but it also demands that we be open to the living God who inspired the object of study and speaks through it.

Note: This piece would look a little different in the case of books of the Bible that are narratives. I am primarily thinking of New Testament epistles here, but most of this also applies to other kinds of books in the Bible.

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Literary Context

If we grow in our ability to interpret the Bible, that can always help our relationship with God, because we will hear God speak to us through Scripture more clearly. Perhaps the most important skill to learn for interpreting Scripture is to read a passage in its literary context. What does it mean to read Scripture in light of the literary context, and why is the literary context so important?

By giving attention to the literary context, I mean that we interpret words in light of the verses of the Bible in which they’re found. And we interpret verses in light of the immediate sections of Scripture in which they’re found. And we interpret small sections of verses in light of chapters and large sections of a book of the Bible. And we interpret chapters and large sections of a book of the Bible in light of the book as a whole. Words, sentences, passages, and chapters “take their meaning from the biblical book of which they are a part” (Jeannine Brown, Scripture as Communication, 213). In short, making use of the literary context means that we interpret words and verses according to what we find in the immediate and surrounding passages.

The literary context is important because it helps to keep us on track. Too often we try and make a piece of Scripture fit our own preconceived notions. When we read something in its literary context, we have to face what’s really in the text, so that we don’t accidentally (or purposefully) make Scripture say whatever we want it to say. When we read a verse in its literary context, we must deal with the verse in light of what the rest of its own context is saying. A good literary approach allows Scripture to have its own voice. The literary context is also important because it’s clarifying. It’s very hard to see the meaning of a text if we don’t understand what the author says before and after that given piece of text. Many meanings are possible when we don’t read something in context. The literary context gives us much more to work with, so that we have the author’s own guidance to clarify the meaning.

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Interpreting the Last Nine

Last week I shared “A Brief Guide for Learning to Interpret a Whole Book of the Bible”. I put much of that guide together while studying the letters of Paul, but lately I’ve been applying the steps and skills from the guide to a different section of the New Testament. These days I’ve been studying and teaching the last nine books, Hebrews through Revelation.

Unlike Paul’s letters, these books are written to broad Christian audiences living in many areas of the first-century Greco-Roman world. So Hebrews through Jude are sometimes called the “General Epistles” (not including Revelation, though it’s really a letter, too). The name does not mean they only have general, not specific, things to say. The audiences, not the messages, are general.

While we can put a general label on the audiences, the books themselves are harder to categorize. They are quite different from one another. For instance, when I move from James to what follows, 1 Peter, it strikes me that two mature Christian leaders, both writers of the NT, could express their faith in such different ways. While both books consist of five chapters and focus on the Christian life, the way they go about it could hardly be more different. 1 Peter emphasizes who believers are through Christ, and mentions Christ 22 times, while James concentrates on the need for believers to be doers of the word, and mentions Christ only twice.

The last nine books of the NT are also different than the rest of the NT. For instance, the Greek noun for “gospel” is used only twice from Hebrews to Revelation, though it occurs 74 times in the writings that come before them. On the other hand, the Greek noun for “endurance” or “perseverance” is used fourteen times: seven times more often than the word “gospel”. That’s a taste of how the focus in these books is different from the first eighteen books of the NT.

So we shouldn’t open these books and expect to hear exactly the same kind of message we find in the rest of the NT. Each one of the books has its own distinct voice and offers a distinct witness about the Christian life. And that’s how I want to study them – to find out what particular message and testimony each one bears. This way, we can receive not just a general Christian message but a fresh and pointed word from each book, to challenge and shape our lives.

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A Brief Guide for Learning to Interpret a Whole Book of the Bible

Note: I wrote this with the interpretation of New Testament epistles in mind, but most of it applies to other parts of the Bible, too.

1. Read through the book in its entirety, seeking to understand it as a whole and trying to follow the line of thought. As you read the whole book, be aware if you see things you haven’t noticed before or if you recognize parts that may not have been emphasized in your prior exposure to the book. Also, does reading the whole give you have a sense of the basic structure of the book?

2. What clues do you discover about the rhetorical situation and aims? That is, can you find evidence for the occasion that gave rise to the book, or what situation the writer is addressing? Do you find information about the original audience and their circumstances? What clues does the book give about the writer? What rhetorical aims do you find? That is, where and how does the writing express what the author was seeking to accomplish by writing this book?

3. What primary themes stand out? Look for literary devices like repetition of key nouns, verbs, images, phrases, and ideas. Look for “book ends”, where a theme stands out at the beginning and end of the book. Try to trace how the author develops the main themes. Making an outline of the book will help you follow the flow of thought and the way the themes develop. Where and how do the key themes intersect? As you read this book of the Bible, keep asking what the main thought is and where it changes.

4. In light of your attention to the book as a whole, what have you come to understand about the theological perspective of the book? What seem to be the most important beliefs, and how are they described?

5. What perspective on the Christian life do you find? How does this piece of literature describe the inner dynamics and outward behaviors of the Christian life? What are the Christian’s resources for living in this way? Try to figure out and describe how the Christian life works, according to this document.

6. This is optional but possibly clarifying: How do your observations regarding numbers 5 and 6 compare with what you’ve seen in other books of the Bible? Does the comparison help to distinguish the particular perspective of this book?

7. In light of all that you have discovered above, how does this document speak a living word to you personally, and how might it speak to your church or to others you know?

8. If you are writing an essay, teaching a class, or preparing for a preaching series that will interpret the book as a whole, read and dwell with your observations until you can develop a way of organizing your discoveries in a meaningful way.

Posted on by Dustin Ellington

Interpreting a Passage of Scripture in Depth

My seminary students have appreciated this, and I hope it can be helpful to others. I wrote it with the interpretation of New Testament epistles in mind, but you may also find it helpful for other parts of the Bible.

1.  Read the passage very closely, several times, to see what’s in it. Try to read it in more than one translation. (If you’ve studied Greek, use it, but this guide doesn’t assume knowledge of Greek.) What questions come to mind in regard to the passage? As you read the passage, try to follow the train of thought. Describe the line of thought as best you can.

2. Notice the key repeated words and ideas. What role do they play in the passage? What is the main theme(s)? Describe the transitions from one theme to another. Describe what you think these verses are really about.

3. If at all possible, read the whole letter to look for insight into your passage. This will help you take advantage of the literary context. When you find connections between your passage and other parts of this book of the New Testament, describe the links and record the verse references. What can you say about the stage of the overall book where your passage occurs? Does reading the whole letter give you information about the rhetorical situation? (By rhetorical situation, I mean the circumstances of the author and audience that led the author to write as he did.) Has reading the whole letter helped to answer your questions regarding the passage? What insights into your verses have you gained in light of the whole-book context?

4. Now that you have made many observations, review your notes, think through them, and draw connections between the things you have seen. How would you summarize the focus of the passage? What conclusions can you draw regarding the role and function that your passage plays in the book as a whole? How do these verses help to shape the theology of this book of the Bible? What conclusions can you make about this passage’s teaching regarding the Christian life?

5. If you have not already done so, ask yourself: How does what you see in the text relate to your life? How do you see yourself in these verses? How do you see your church or your society in and through this passage? How is God speaking to you, and how might God wish to speak to others through the passage?

6. This is a good stage to look at a commentary, if you have access to one. Now that you know what you think about your passage, you’ll be able to tell the difference between your own thoughts and what you find in the commentary. Does it offer insights that correct your perspective or persuade you of a different point of view? Do not assume that the commentary has all of the right answers. (A commentary is just an informed conversation partner.) Does the commentary give you historical or cultural information that adds insight into your passage? Be careful at this stage to keep a clear distinction between what the commentary says and what your own observations are, and keep a clear record of page numbers if you take ideas or quotations.

7. Have key themes or questions stood out that might help you organize an essay, teaching, or sermon? Organize the information you have found as well as you can until the basic outline of your presentation develops. If you’re writing a paper for a class, now is the time to write. Then proofread and edit it. Read it aloud to make sure each paragraph and sentence says exactly what you wish to say.

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Forming a Christian Family (despite not having all the explicit directions from the Bible that we might like to have)

Our faculty and student small groups used this piece for discussion. We had good conversations, and I hope it can be helpful beyond our campus.

The New Testament does not offer as much direct guidance for family life as we might like. Passages that teach about the life of the church, and how believers are to live in unity with one another, may have as much to tell us about our life as Christian families as those few passages that deal directly and explicitly with family life.

When the New Testament was being written, those who wrote it were preoccupied with the meaning of the gospel, the nature of discipleship, and the welfare of new congregations of believers. The New Testament was written so early in Christian history that the biblical writers may have barely begun to give thought to what it means to have a Christian home and to live as Christian families. That may be why it’s hard to find many passages that deal explicitly and directly with our life as Christian families. The New Testament does confirm certain teachings from the Old Testament, such as reserving sexual relations for marriage. And we find specific guidance now and then, as when Ephesians tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25). However, as a whole, family life was not at the forefront of thought for those who wrote our New Testament. Because of this reality, when we turn our attention to Scripture for the formation of our families as Christian families, we have to exercise extra thoughtfulness.

Yet the truth is that the New Testament does give us plenty of guidance for forming Christian families, if we consider that the Christian home is a place of Christian fellowship and that a Christian family is a small piece of the body of Christ. In a Christian home we carry out our life of discipleship in a very close and personal way with other believers. When we realize these things, we can realize also that passages of Scripture that teach believers to live out the Christian life in fellowship with one another implicitly have much to say about life as a Christian family. Passages that teach believers to grow together as disciples fill the pages of Scripture. While the passages of Scripture that deal explicitly with family life may be limited, passages which teach Christians how to live in unity and grow together in Christ are plentiful.

So, today we are going to look at the passage that may be the poetic height of the apostle Paul’s writing on relationships between believers. It is safe to say that Paul was not thinking about family life or marriage when he wrote 1 Corinthians 13. He was thinking of helping the body of Christ in Corinth to get along with one another, and not harm each other, as they learned to use their spiritual gifts to build up their congregation. However, since Christian families are also small pieces of the body of Christ, what Paul said about love between believers in the body of Christ also speaks depths of wisdom about creating a Christian home.

Questions for Study and Discussion of 1 Corinthians 13

Let’s read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 for the purpose of what these verses might speak to us regarding Christian family life.

1. In verses 1-3, love is a standard to measure the value and contribution that we add to the church. What would it look like to use these verses as a standard to measure what we as parents, spouses, brothers, sisters, and children offer to our families?

(1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.)

2. Why might Paul have said in verse 13 that “the greatest of these is love”? Why would he elevate love over hope and faith?

(1 Corinthians 13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.)

3. How do verses 4-8a describe love? Can you summarize?

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8  Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.)

4. What do these qualities look like when they’re expressed concretely in family life? And what would be the result if these qualities were present and increasing?

5. Are there parts of Paul’s description of love that were very present as you grew up in your own family as a child? Were there parts that seemed to be lacking?

6. What parts of the description of love are difficult or most challenging for your family now?

7. What habits or practices have you found to be helpful for cultivating love in your family? What ideas can you share that might help other families?

8. How can we pray for one another’s families today?