Another instalment in an ongoing series about studying the
Bible using methods deduced from the Bible itself. The series introduction can
be found here.
The second Bible study tool we are discussing is
context. For justification, see the first post on this subject.
2. LARGER CONTEXT
(The Book)
It’s fair to say that each book of the Bible is written with
a specific purpose in view. This would likely be true even if each book was
solely authored by a human being; most people do not sit down and write without
purpose, though some things one reads on the internet might make one question
that assertion.
But it seems all the more logical that this would be the
case when we remind ourselves that the word of God has a single author, in that
“men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. Of
course each instalment of God’s progressive revelation of himself to mankind
would have a specific purpose, whether or not such purpose is instantly obvious
to us.
Let’s think about that fact for a bit.
We always need to remind ourselves that, where most of
Scripture is concerned, we are not the intended recipients, though we always
benefit from the knowledge of God that we gain. As others have well put it, we
are “reading someone else’s mail”.
That’s screamingly obvious when we read Paul’s letter to
Philemon, for instance: The book is tiny, written specifically to one Christian
man for the purpose of imploring him to respond in a kindly and Christian
manner to the return of a runaway slave. Anything we can get out of it for
ourselves is purely by application or by extension. But since “all scripture …
is profitable”, we need not doubt that there are important lessons we can glean
indirectly from that particular piece of mail.
In other cases, though, the fact that a book of Scripture
had an intended audience other than us, and a primary purpose unrelated to our
daily lives may be easily forgotten. Psalms and Proverbs contain such universal
statements that we may forget that they are not written first and foremost for
21st century Christians but for faithful Jews and, in some cases,
for Israel’s remnant, about which we read in Revelation. These Psalms have not
yet reached their intended audience. Whatever useful lessons we may draw from
such passages, it would be a mistake to attempt to interpret every detail as if
it relates to our own experience.
But let’s not just assert that the Holy Spirit writes with purpose, let’s examine how:
An Example:
Why do we have four gospels when we could’ve simply had one?
We could try speculating, I suppose, but at least in one case, the author has
told us why he wrote about the life of the Lord Jesus:
Luke tells Theophilus,
to whom he writes, that he is doing so “in consecutive order … so that you
might know the exact truth about the things you have been taught”. His concern
is primarily historical, documenting the entire account of the Lord’s life with
considerable detail for the purpose of authentication.
As for the other three:
Matthew doesn’t
tell us his purpose in so many words, but the fact that his intended audience
is Jewish is evident from the fact that he begins with the Lord’s genealogy and
continuously refers back to the Law; something with, and in which, a Greek,
Roman or modern audience would be much less familiar or interested. He takes
great pains to show the continuity between that which was prophesied in the Old
Testament and its fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. He starts in
chapter 1, with “all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet might be fulfilled” and continues all through his narrative (2:5,17; 3:3;
4:4,6,7,15; etc., etc.), establishing how in every detail, Jesus fulfils the
requirements of the promised Messiah of Israel.
Mark’s emphasis
is on the actions of the Lord rather than his words, concentrating on his
continuous activity in service of his Father. There are few parables or long
speeches as are found in the other three gospels, but much activity. The word
translated “immediately” occurs 40 times.
John makes no
attempt to write comprehensively, telling us “there are also many other things
Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world
itself would not contain the books which were written”. Instead, his mission is
primarily theological; to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was fully God.
Consequently he begins, not with genealogy or human history, but with the
statement “… the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. It is through John
that we learn clearly for the first time, though it may be suggested elsewhere,
that Jesus Christ was the agent through which God created the world. This is not
something to which John was a witness, obviously, and puts his gospel in a
different category entirely from the other three.
Considering the specific themes apparent in Matthew, Mark
and John, it is unsurprising to find that all three writers, under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit, pick and choose the facts they use in the service of those
themes:
·
Mark, viewing the Lord as servant, and John,
giving evidence that he is God in the flesh, don’t bother with genealogies;
Luke, the historian, and Matthew, writing to Jews, both provide them.
·
Luke and Matthew provide varying degrees of
birth and childhood detail, with Luke naturally providing the greatest amount
of history; John and Mark start with the Lord as an adult.
·
John, with his emphasis on the heavenly nature
of Christ, comes back time and time again to it, giving detail the others do
not. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us John the Baptist referred to the Lord as
one “mightier than I”, but only John reports these words from the Baptizer:
“[He] has a higher rank than I, for he
existed before me”. John frequently adds such details to reinforce his
theme.
So why four gospels? The Lord Jesus is the centre, the
nexus, the entire point of the word of God. He is everything that God has to
say. It’s not surprising that it takes more than one account to even begin to
do him justice.
But the wealth of information provided for us, as John
admits, only scratches the surface.
One thing is certain: When their purpose is understood,
nobody can suggest that the gospels are redundant.
Next: More about
larger context
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