With Easter fast approaching, today’s post is called “Crucifixion Billboard“
New Testament
Book Review: Pontius Pilate by Paul Maier
I am just re-reading a book I devoured a couple of years ago. It is historical fiction, but don’t let that put you off. This historically annotated piece of work is a brilliant read. It presents a biographical insight into the life and career of Pontius Pilate–his background in Rome, his prefecture in Judea, his confrontations with the Jewish authorities, his history shaping encounter with Jesus of Nazareth.
I suppose this review is a little late for this year, but if you ever preach around Easter, then you must read this book. It was originally published in the 1960’s, but the timeless content means it could have been written last week. Paul Maier is a pre-eminent historian of the first century and this makes his reconstruction of character and event particularly insightful.
Why did Pontius Pilate feel so trapped? He was two strikes down with the Jewish populous when Jesus was presented to him. This man was clearly innocent, but Pilate could not afford another disaster. He could not face another report to the Emperor about his failure to manage the pesky Jewish religious affairs. His ring declared him a friend of Caesar, with all the rights that went with that. But the Sanhedrin turned the Jesus trial into an ultimatum for Pilate. Was he really a friend of Caesar, or were these Jewish leaders more concerned with peace in Judea than he was?
Even if it is too late for this Easter, Christianity is an Easter faith and so I would strongly encourage you to get a copy of Pontius Pilate. Don’t read it to your children, but grab a drink, get comfortable and step back into the first century. Any preacher will benefit from doing so.
Wide View Application
If we are not careful we can easily misfire when it comes to applying Bible texts. One cause of dangerous misfiring comes from too narrow a view of the text. The result is application that functions as a legalistic burden – appealing to the flesh, but not consistent with the gospel.
In Narratives Look Up. In Bible stories we can easily focus on the human characters and determine to copy or not copy them. The moral of this story is . . . oops. This is a recipe for burdensome preaching. It is not a recipe for gospel preaching. It is not really good news that the Bible is full of examples for us to copy or not copy in our own strength. We need to always look up. The characters are not just humans in action, they are humans living in response to God and His Word. Their response is instructive, but we don’t live as their copycats, we live as people responding to God and His Word too. In preaching narratives, be sure to use a wider view and include the divine dimension.
In Epistles Look Out. In epistles we can easily focus on the commands and determine to obey them. The lesson for today is . . . oops. This is a recipe for burdensome preaching. It is not a recipe for gospel preaching. It is not really good news that the Bible is full of imperatives for us to harvest and apply in our own strength. We need always to look out. The imperatives and commands are not just stand alone instructions for holy living, they are imperatives and commands coming in the context of a whole letter that was written to be heard in one shot. The recipients would have felt the force of the instruction in light of the gospel content. Ephesians 4 is to applied in light of Ephesians 1-3, otherwise it becomes just another burden for our weary souls. In preaching epistles, be sure to use a wider view and include the divine doctrinal dimension.
Popcorn?
This week I may be a bit quieter than usual on the site. I am working on notes for the European Leadership Forum that is coming up in May. It is a privilege to be involved in the Bible Teachers Network there and your prayers are appreciated as I finish off the teaching notes for that event. Meanwhile, here’s this week’s Cor Deo post, simply titled Popcorn?
His Benefits
Today’s post ponders the tension created by the notion of benefits from God. This gets at the core of a huge issue for us as preachers of the gospel. To read the post, click here.
Legitimate Exemplar Preaching
This week we have been pondering the use of examples in preaching. I have offered warning, rather than prohibition. There are dangers in offering examples to copy, whether that be post-biblical characters, biblical characters, or even Christ himself. Yet there is also the positive side that must be pondered.
Paul told the Corinthians, “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” He told the Philippians to “join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” He affirmed the Thessalonians for becoming imitators of Paul and his team. The writer to the Hebrews urges them to imitate the faith of their leaders. John tells the church to imitate good, for whoever does good is from God, but those who do evil have not seen God.
Is this post a retraction of the previous three? Not at all. There is a legitimate perspective on example in the Christian life. In fact, it is at the very core of our calling.
Jesus, the Rabbi extraordinaire, called the most unlikely of folk to follow him. These weren’t the elite boys with stacks of scrolls and wire-rimmed glasses that had sat at the front in the synagogue school and impressed the rabbi enough to be able to ask to follow him. When that day came, these boys slipped away and back to the shores to work with their Dads in the family business. Not the worst option in life, but not the elite option. They left behind the brightest and best to be followers of the rabbi.
To be a follower, or disciple, of a rabbi is like an apprenticeship on steroids. It means living with, learning from, copying, becoming like, being shaped by. It means being so connected relationally that you aren’t becoming an impersonator who takes on a fake persona, but a disciple whose values, whose beliefs, whose conduct is shaped by the one you follow.
Jesus called the most unlikely folk, and he asked them to follow him! He still does that: what a privilege is ours! To be so relationally tied to Him that our lives are shaped from the inside out. You can’t be a disciple from a distance. You can’t be disciple from merely observing externals. It takes that close relational bond to make the process work.
So Jesus commissioned his disciples to make disciples: to bring others into that close bond that would lead to life transformation. Paul was calling the Corinthians and others to the same. Follow me as I follow Christ.
That is where example is legitimate. It isn’t copying behaviour as if that will shape the inside of a life. It is being in relationship in such a way that hearts beat as one, values become owned, and life spills outward even into the area of conduct. Inside-out transformation is at the heart of the Christian message. Hence the importance of the Spirit who unites our spirit to His. Hence we are to draw others not to some sort of cognitive conversion and impersonation practice, but into full discipleship with Christ Himself.
Growing Each Together
Today we start another season of the Cor Deo training programme. Here is today’s post reflecting on 2Thessalonians 1:3. 
Biblical Girders 4
Where does each girder go? The Bible has a superstructure that holds it all together. So the thematic element of the promised seed in Genesis 3:15 will work its way through multiple books and become overt in places like Galatians 3 at the other end of the canon. But this poses a challenge. How much should we be preaching Galatians 3 when we are supposed to be preaching Genesis 3?
Many preachers would see no problem with springing from Genesis to Galatians since that is the fulfillment and the clarification of what is first stated in the Garden of Eden. I am certainly not going to criticize the impulse to preach Christ and it would be strange to leave listeners wondering who that seed might be (unless such suspense were part of a bigger teaching strategy).
On the other hand, I do wonder if we can collapse themes forward too easily and lose some of the strength of the steel at that point in the biblical story? If the Bible were a building, then Genesis would be the foundation. Steel starting there does go through the whole structure and holds the whole together. Themes of creation, of relationship, of fellowship lost, of divine grace and rescue, of divine promise, etc. all work their way from Genesis on through the Bible. That steel girder seen in Genesis 3:15 later on turns out to be the spire at the top of the whole structure, the pinnacle of it all. It makes sense to let folks know the significance of that, but at the same time it makes sense to help people see the importance of the foundation.
That is to say, instead of immediately looking up to the spire that caps off the whole building, when we are preaching in Genesis lets be sure to help people see how the foundation fits together, how the hope offered by God’s grace in the seed of the woman is such a striking promise in the context of a spurned relationship in that first senseless human rebellion. That passage is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training, etc. So let’s preach Genesis 3, not just bounce off it to go straight to the spire. At the same time let’s not get our noses in the foundations and let people miss the grandeur of the whole.
It isn’t either/or, it surely needs to be both/and. And with that both/and, I think it needs to be honouring to the earlier text in its own right, not just a token glance.
Biblical Girders 3
I have been writing about Biblical Girders: those superstructure passages that form the skeleton that holds the Bible together. As well as key passages, we could well add a list of key themes that weave through the canon like ribbons. I did this earlier last year with the 10 Biggest Big Ideas series (click here to go to the first of those posts).
So what do we do if we recognize that people in our churches are foggy on the biblical superstructure? How can we help folk without turning the church into a lecture hall and losing the devotional and spiritual emphasis in our preaching? Some ideas:
1. Periodically Be Overtly Educational – Perhaps a seminar or evening class or group session where you trace through the superstructure. You will find that there are people in every church that have a genuine appetite to know the Bible better and will want to attend this kind of training if it is done well. You will also find that a false dichotomy between education and devotional spirituality need not be imposed. Take every opportunity, even in a “lecture” to woo people by the gracious work of God in biblical history.
2. Be Alert to the Girders – If you are preaching Genesis 22, Abraham offering up Isaac, be alert to the place of that story in the flow of the narrative. Take the opportunity to help people see it not as a stand-alone incident, but as the culmination of a journey over many decades for Abraham. Include and highlight the importance of Genesis 15 as you preach Genesis 22. When you preach about David and Bathsheba, don’t just look ahead to the fallout in his family life, but also look back to 2Samuel 7 and the amazing covenant God had made with him – highlight the importance of that to your listeners.
3. Preach the Girders – Take a miniseries and help people see the big picture of the Bible. Too many Christians make too many “surprised and helped” comments when they hear a Bible overview. This implies that it is not being offered enough.
4. Preach through Books Without Being “Flat” – When we preach through a book, it is easy to flatten it out into so many segments of equal length and apparently equal value. Instead, look for ways to point toward and back to passages in the book that have a “superstructure status” for the book and the Bible as a whole. Preaching through Habakkuk, don’t let 2:4 get lost in the mix.
Biblical Girders 2
Last time I wrote about biblical girders, the superstructure of the Bible that folks in churches tend to hear very little about. While not seeking to diminish the well-known passages, let’s consider whether we can help people know their Bibles better by bringing to their attention the existence and importance of some of the biblical girder passages.
Biblical Covenant Passages – A strong case can be made for seeing the biblical covenants as a skeleton on which the Bible is built. God’s promise and subsequent covenant with Abram/Abraham in Genesis 12, then 13, 15, 17 is critical. Then there’s the Mosaic content in Deuteronomy 27-30 (how often do we stumble across “who will ascend?” or “who has descended?” allusions in the New Testament?) Then God’s covenant with David in 2Samuel 7 and 1Chronicles 17. And, of course, the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36 and the latter part of Isaiah. Being unaware of these covenants is crippling if someone is wanting to grasp the Old Testament, or the development in the New Testament.
Biblically Quoted Passages – Some passages are quoted with a significant frequency. Sometimes the quote is actually just an allusion, but that doesn’t diminish its significance. Sometimes it proves the writer assumed hearers would spot it more easily. God’s spoken self-revelation in Exodus 34 runs like a refrain through the Old Testament. Psalms 2, 69 and 110 get their fair share of airtime once you get to the New Testament, as does Psalm 118 in reference to Jesus and Psalm 8 plays a key role in Hebrews. Genesis 15:6 comes out three significant times, as does Habakkuk 2:4. The lesser known part of Isaiah 6 does some heavy lifting, as does the allusion to Daniel 7. And in the passion of Christ, where you might expect lots of references to Genesis 22 (Abraham & Isaac), instead you find lots of Davidic Psalms and Zechariah quotes.
Structurally Significant Passages – Some passages seem to serve a key purpose in the structure of a book or a section. Joshua 1 serves a key transitional function between the Torah and the Kethubim. Psalm 73 seems to provide the hinge for the turn in the flow of the whole collection. John 11-12 offer a significant transition in John’s Gospel.
There are many more that could be listed. The point is that many of these are less familiar to most people in the church than David’s slaying Goliath, or Naaman dipping in the Jordan, or Daniel in the den of lions, or Jesus calming the storm, or Paul in prison in Philippi. All important, but in terms of grasping the flow and message of the whole Bible, perhaps there are too many gaps at critical points.
