Jump Start # 2146

Luke 10:26 “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”

I heard on the news recently of a man that was arrested in a nationally known fitness gym. The gym advertises on TV as “No judging.” I always took that to mean one doesn’t have to be fit, muscular to work out in that gym. A person could be overweight, capable of only doing a few exercises and that’s ok. There would be no judging. Well, the man arrested the other day was working out in the buff. He was naked. When the police took him away, he said, “I thought you stood for ‘No judging.’”

Now, this is a classic example of context and interpretation. Does the slogan “No judging” mean a person could do anything that they wanted, legal or illegal and there would be “No judging?” In our culture today, could a person be a racist in that gym and there would be “No judging.” Could a person use drugs? Is there no limits to what a person could do? Could a person sell gym memberships to a competing gym? No judging, right?

Obviously, the company had a different meaning and interpretation of “No judging” than the naked man. The police were called and he was arrested. It’s against the law to be naked in the public. Now, he may believe that’s judging, but that’s the law.

What does this have to do with Jump Starts? Context and interpretation are the keys to understanding the Bible. Without those two principles, the Bible can be used to say things that God never intended. God commanded Noah to build an ark. Most do not feel compelled to do the same. Why? That command was for Noah. Context. Interpretation.

In our verse today, Jesus asks two questions. They are not the same question. These questions are a reply to a question asked of Jesus. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered with these two questions. First, what is written in the Law? The Law is the standard. It will read the same for this person as it did for Jesus. The answer is in the Law. There are not different meanings for different people. The Law is the same. We ought to see this and understand this as we drive. The speed limit is the speed limit. It’s not different for pickups or sports car. It’s not different if you are a young driver or a senior citizen. The fact that so few drive the speed limit doesn’t change what is written in the law.

The second question is about application. How does it read to you is asking what are you going to do with what the Law says? How are you going to apply the Law? How do you plan to live by this Law?

The danger of ignoring context leads to unsound ideas and principles that are not supported Biblically. This is why a person reading the Bible must understand who is talking, what are the circumstances, and who is being talked to. Those thoughts help frame a context. Then it is essential to read several verses above and following the verse we are looking at. Otherwise, it’s like walking into a room, where two people are having a conversation, and you hear one sentence and you get all upset because of what you heard. What you missed was the context. They could be talking about a movie and you think they are talking about each other. They may be talking about someone else and you assume that they are talking about you. Out of context leads to wrong conclusions and wrong ideas.

A popular out of context violation today is believing that the Holy Spirit revealed things directly to Paul and so the same should happen to me. I’ve read modern writers who claimed the Holy Spirit led them to write certain paragraphs, led them to certain passages and paralleled that experience to what was happening to Paul in the New Testament. Out of Context! Paul was an apostle, we are not. Paul was promised the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God’s word, we are not. Paul could do miracles. We can not.

So, when a person is reading about the apostle Paul, he must realize that Paul wore three hats. First, he was a Christian. Second, he was a preacher. Third, he was an apostle. Before we start following Paul, we must understand which hat he is wearing. We cannot do everything he did. That’s context. So, when Paul told the Corinthians, to be imitators of me, he was talking about character and behavior as a Christian. Context demands that. He wasn’t saying, do miracles, like I do miracles. We can’t. He wasn’t saying, write books of the Bible, like I write books of the Bible. We can’t. He wasn’t saying, the Holy Spirit will tell you what to write, just like He tells me what to write. We can’t. Context.

Many folks want to use Jesus as an example of drinking alcohol. Jesus turned water into wine, so that’s Heaven’s stamp of approval for you and I to hit the bars. Context. Have you noticed the passage never says that Jesus drank any of it. Also, the point isn’t issuing a green light to drink. It was showing the miraculous powers of Christ to change substance. It’s unlikely that it was even alcoholic. But greater than that, if we use what Jesus did to justify drinking, what are we going to do when Jesus turned tables over in the temple? Does that allow us to trash the property of those we disagree with? Can we use whips to run people off that we do not agree with? Context.

Jesus fed the crowds. Does that mean today’s church ought to do the same? Context. Finding a verse that supports my ideas and agenda does not always mean that the Bible actually teaches that. There is an old, old story called “Jumbled Up Scriptures” in which a guy randomly opened the Bible. He was going to do whatever the Bible said. The gist of the story is that he opened to a passage that said Judas went out and hung himself. In his horror, he closed the Bible and reopened it. He came to another passage that told him to do it quickly.

Jesus said do not judge. Folks love that passage. Yet, more than once within that same chapter, Jesus tells us to judge. If we never judged, then we could never say anything was wrong. That would be judging. Yet, how were early preachers, such as Timothy to reprove and rebuke, as they were told to do, if they could not judge. Context. What did Jesus mean by do not judge?

The Ephesians were told that they were saved by grace through faith. The world has stopped on that verse. Saved by grace. Nothing else to do. Nothing else required. Anything further would be work and we are not saved by works. Do you have to repent? Yeah, probably. Do you have to go to church? You should. How about being baptized? No. Never, they’d declare. Saved by grace and baptism is works, they scream. Context. Jesus, Himself, told the world to be baptized. Context.

We must allow God to speak through His word. Instead of telling God what He needs to tell us, let the Bible speak in it’s context. This takes a little digging. This takes some study. This takes some thinking.

Did the fitness gym judge the naked man? Yes. Did that violate their advertising campaign? No. It’s a matter of context. The political battleground these days are examples of not understanding context. A statement is made. War is declared politically and in the media. It doesn’t matter the context, some say, the statement was made. People are missing the point.

Using the Bible wrongly is not much different than not using the Bible at all. Using the Bible to say what it doesn’t say will not find God’s support and approval. Putting words in God’s mouth will not make Him smile at you.

Context—observe it. Understand it. Follow it. Use it.

Roger

Jump Start # 2092

Luke 10:26 “And He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How does it read to you?’”

Our verse today contains two questions. Questions were used to answer a question. Jesus was asked by a lawyer what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Rather than just tell the person, Jesus asked, not one, but two questions. The answer to the lawyer’s question is found in the answer to Jesus’ questions.

How does it read to you—is Jesus’ second question. How does the law read to you? That question makes us consider some thoughts about the Bible. Does the Bible read differently to each of us? I have seen a one volume commentary on the Bible that is called, The African Commentary. It is a commentary on the Bible written by an African for Africans. Then there is the Women’s Bible Commentary that is written by women for women. I suppose there is a Teen’s commentary out there, designed just for teens. And, there probably is a seniors commentary just for senior citizens. Is this what Jesus meant by, “How does it read to you?”

So, does the African commentary give a different meaning than the Women’s Bible commentary on the same passage? Do Africans have a different meaning than Americans? Do women have a different meaning than men? Do we all have our own understanding of the Bible? This thinking has led some to conclude that we have our own interpretation. Yours might differ from mine, but somehow we can both be right and even more amazing, somehow we can be united, even though we don’t see eye to eye on things.

Give some thoughts to the following:

First, Jesus said that you shall know the truth (John 8:32). The idea that we cannot agree upon the Bible or that we each get to have our own unique understanding, dilutes truth and makes it of little value. You may not like the truth. You may be offended by the truth. You may want more options than what truth allows, but that doesn’t change the nature of truth. Truth is exclusive. Truth is narrow. How fitting that Jesus referred to the way of life as being narrow and strait.

We all come to the Bible with different perspectives, backgrounds, prejudices, agendas, histories and issues. We have been taught things in the past. We have heard things before. And with all of that stirring around in our minds, we must read the Bible for what it says. We must understand words. We must look at what is being taught. You can know the truth. Paul told Timothy to teach the same thing that he had been taught. In turn, they would teach others the same thing. Paul told the Corinthians that he delivered to them what the Lord had taught him. Same thing. Handing the same thing over and over. No variations. No deviations. Just the same thing, over and over.

Second, there is one faith. In the unity section of Ephesians, one faith is listed with one Lord, one God and one Spirit. Jude told his readers to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered. The Faith. One Faith. The Thessalonians were told, “If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him” (2 Thes. 3:14). Now, how would that work if “our instruction” reads differently to me than it does to you. How would the African look at “our instruction?” Would a woman see it differently? Maybe I take a different slant on it. Maybe I see it from the combined female African perspective. Implied and understood in Paul’s words is that we all can not only understand but we also can obey his instructions. This idea of it means this to you, but it means something different to me, doesn’t work.

Third, much of what is behind all of this is a person wanting to direct his own steps. He comes a guy and he doesn’t want to go to worship on Sunday with other people. So, he finds a way for it to read differently. For him, his church is the golf course on Sunday morning. Others aren’t content with a spiritual mission of the church. They want to help and serve in the community. So, for them, the church needs to be feeding the poor, building homes and having foreign missions that include helping the orphan and establishing schools. This is how it reads to them. Is it any wonder we have such confusion in the religious community. Everyone points to the same Bible, yet everyone is finding different things to believe and do.

Finally, Jesus knew, by His statement, “How does it read to you,” that there is a correct understanding of the Bible. After Jesus asked these two questions, the lawyer answered with Loving God and Loving your neighbor. That’s how the law read to him. Those two major principles define the Ten Commandments. Just about everything in the law could be found within those two principles.

After the lawyer said this, Jesus answered, “You have answered correctly.” There is a correct way to read the Bible. When Jesus first asked, “How does it read to you,” there was the possibility that he could have answered wrongly. When the Sadducees asked Jesus about who a woman would be married to in the resurrection, having been married seven times, the Lord said, ‘You are mistaken not understanding the Scriptures’ (Mt 22:29). It wasn’t a matter of I see things differently than you do. There is a correct understanding and there is an incorrect understanding of the Bible. The lawyer got it. The Sadducees didn’t. How does it read to you, means, do you understand it correctly.

When the apostles went into all the world to preach the Gospel of Christ, did they have to change their message? Some old reformers claimed Paul did. The Paul among the Jews was different than the Paul among the Gentiles, they’d argue. They were wrong. The message is the same. God is not the author of confusion. The message for the African is the same as for the woman and it’s the same in America today as it was in Europe in the middle ages.

When books proudly proclaim that they have a new way of looking at the Bible we must question what is being said. First, who said the old way wasn’t right. Who said the old way didn’t work. With this new way of looking at the Bible, how did people long ago know God’s will since this new approach wasn’t written yet?

Jeremiah was told to ask for the ancient paths. We do well to do the same. The Bible reads the same. Rather than changing the Bible, we must be about changing ourselves to conform to the Bible.

Roger