There are multiple defining moments in the sermon preparation process. We have thought about starting the process, shifting from passage study to message formation, becoming conscious of who will be listening, and the unplanned interruptions that seem to prevent a smooth preparation. There is one more defining moment left. It is one to add if it doesn’t happen naturally:
7. The realization of insufficiency. You want to be a good steward of your opportunity to preach. You desire to give your best, both in terms of exegetical rigour, and pastoral sensitivity in sermon crafting. And perhaps the process has allowed better than normal focus, with more clear hours for preparation than you expected. Maybe nothing broke at home, no hospital visits were necessary, and everything was unusually peaceful and supportive along the way. Will you go into preaching feeling confident in your preparation, your skill, and your work of sermonic art? I hope not. When we feel we have “the best of sermons” then we tend to discover the false promise of self-sufficiency. If God has not brought you to humble dependency through a log jam, or through an interruption, or through years of preaching experience, then it is totally acceptable to bring yourself to the place of total dependency. Some combination of “apart from you, I can do nothing” prayer content along with a flat-on-your-face prayer posture is highly appropriate. One of my teachers always prayed that he had a stick but needed God to come through as he threw it on the ground. You want to be the most prepared preacher possible, but you must preach with a profound sense of your dependence on God.
What other defining moments do you recognize in your sermon preparation process?
Okay, here is a bonus one as I reflect on the list:
Bonus: The recognition of the coherence of the passage. Thinking back to the study of the passage, it is critical to arrive at the recognition that the passage holds together. It is easy to skip past this once you start to see some points that will preach. But actually, for your message to feel coherent, you need to recognise that the passage is also coherent. What unifies it? How does it hold together? How do the points and details relate to each other? Assume the Bible writer was not jumbled or scattered in his thinking, and keep thinking until you can see how it is a single unit of thought.
The genealogy in Matthew 1:1-17 points to the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham and David. It also gets the reader thinking about the troubled reputation of several women in earlier days. In Matthew 1:18-25, we see another couple troubled by apparent sexual sin.
Joseph’s Gracious Plan (vv18-19)
Couples married young, and this young couple had their lives before them. The young carpenter and his younger bride-to-be. But then the ultimate slap in the face: Joseph discovers that Mary is expecting a child. It is not hard to imagine the shattered dreams, repulsive images, and emotional turmoil that Joseph endured.
Not only did this crisis mean their forthcoming wedding was a sham, but Joseph also now faced the shame of suspicion. The obvious pathway forward was to save face for himself by publically disgracing her and distancing himself. If he could be sufficiently indignant and distance himself, then maybe his honour could be saved. But Joseph did not choose the obvious path.
Public disgrace for Mary might have meant some sort of public execution by stoning, but even without that, public disgrace is too painful to describe in a shame and honour society. Joseph chose an incredibly gracious option: he would divorce her, and he would do so quietly. What would people say about him? The cloud of suspicion would linger, but Joseph looked out for the best interests of the girl whom he thought had sinned. Joseph’s selflessness is worthy of reflection, not least because we know what he didn’t – the identity of the baby inside her!
God’s Greater Plan (vv20-21)
During the agonizing turmoil of Joseph’s deliberation, new information was introduced. Perhaps he tossed and turned on his bed. The thoughts, the images, the options, the consequences. But the troubled young man must have slept, for an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream.
He was told not to fear taking Mary into his home. He was told that the baby was in her from the Holy Spirit. He was told to name the boy Jesus. And he was told why.
Jesus. The Hebrew name Joshua. Yeshua in Aramaic. However we might pronounce it, this was a name of significance. Actually, it was not unusual. There were lots of little Jesuses running around the neighbourhood for it was one of the most common boys’ names in Palestine at that time. But the angel didn’t just give the name choice, he also gave the reason. This boy would live up to His name – He would save people from their sins.
God’s Great Plan Predicted (vv22-23)
Matthew adds some theological commentary for the sake of the reader. Going back to Isaiah 7:14, Matthew quotes the prophet’s anticipation of a virgin giving birth to a special child with a special name. Ahaz may have been a king with all sorts of issues, but God was not out of touch with his struggling people. In fact, an unmarried woman was soon to give birth to a son of significance, and the significance was God’s presence with the people.
What was true in Ahaz’s day proved to be infinitely truer still with Mary. She was a virgin, unmarried, but with child. This time it was not a matter of sequencing prediction and then fulfilment by normal means. This time she truly bore a miracle child, a child whose significance could not be greater. Immanuel – God with us!
So what would Joseph do? Seems obvious: obey the angel. But not so fast. So he had insider information concerning the child inside her. The boy Jesus was to save the people from their sins and He would be God with us, Immanuel. All very well and perhaps worthy of some Christmas carols, but what about Joseph and Mary?
You can imagine his thinking. Two men come into his carpenter’s shop and request a bid on a certain job. Joseph tells them a price. They look impressed but concerned. Joseph adds a comment about how they could trust his word. Little boy Jesus runs in and starts playing with some wood blocks. They look at the child and whisper to each other. Joseph hears a snippet of a comment about an angel in a dream. They laugh and press him further for assurance on whether he can follow through on his bid. Joseph knows what they are thinking. They leave and go looking for another carpenter, one they can trust.
The stigma of the sinful reputation would linger for years. It could cost them on so many levels. How would he provide for them? How would Mary cope with the dagger comments in the market? How long until the child sensed what everyone thought? It wasn’t that nobody sinned in Nazareth, that was all too common. But when a couple perceived to be different turns out to be the same as everyone else, well, they don’t get treated the same as everyone else. And what about family? What would they say? Family, friends, work, and just about every aspect of life would be stained by the reputation of sinful infidelity.
Joseph’s Immediate Obedience (vv24-25)
Matthew leaves us with no doubt what kind of man Joseph was. He had been kind to Mary, even when he thought she had been unfaithful. And now he proved faithful to God when the days ahead looked so uncertain.
He took Mary into his home, thereby offering the protection and security she needed. A quick wedding was the best thing for all involved. Then he had no marital union with her until after she had the boy. And Joseph named the boy Jesus.
Three times Matthew points to the name of the child. Indeed, the significance of the birth story here is wrapped up in that name. Everyone thought they saw just a normal couple getting married in a hurry for the ‘normal’ reason and later giving birth to a son with a common name. But this was not normal in any way.
How could they face the uncertainties, the knowing looks, the suspicious smiles from family members, or worse, the rejection that may come their way? They could face the stigma of sin because this child was Jesus, the One who would save His people from their sin. This child was Immanuel, God with us.
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This post is adapted from chapter 9, Pleased to Dwell: A Biblical Introduction to the Incarnation (Christian Focus, 2014), 83-87.
Join us on a journey to Christmas this December. A new video every day walking through Pleased to Dwell (follow along with the book, or just the videos).
The process of Bible study must begin “back then.” We need to look carefully at the text to see what was actually written. And we need to learn diligently what the author intended to communicate. Then we need to appreciate the intended impact of the text “for today.” That means a careful consideration of the love response that the text should stir in us, as well as the appropriate transformation in how we live our lives.
After studying a passage and seeking to interpret it as well as possible, consider the following facets of a relational responsive heart check:
1. God himself. Since every biblical text is ultimately a revelation of a personal God, ask yourself what this text has revealed about God? Is it revealing his nature, his character, his heart, his values? Is it revealing his Son in some way that you can ponder? The answer is yes. Every biblical text is a revelation of a personal God, so there will always be value in considering what that revelation should stir in your heart as you read it.
2. The Biblical characters. The Bible is much more incarnated theological truth than it is written code. That is to say, there are real people on the page. Theological teaching is usually wrapped up in real people, living in real situations. There is more narrative than any other type of text, which means lots of characters living out their response to God’s word. But every text has a narrative nature to it. Poetry offers a glimpse into a narratival setting, even if you don’t know the details. Direct communication like speeches and letters were not written in a vacuum. There was a situation and we are given the glimpse offered by an epistle penned purposefully for the recipients at one moment in their story. The Bible is ultimately a revelation of God. And that revelation is wrapped up in the people on the page. Be mentored by them. Learn from them. Allow your heart to engage with them as you watch how they responded to God.
3. The original recipients. The original author of each book wrote with relational intent. He wanted to do more than just transfer information. Each book was written to stir the hearts of the original recipients. Why not consider them? What did Moses want Israel to feel as they read his great foundational collection? What did Paul want to stir in the believers in Galatia, or in his representative Timothy serving in Ephesus? The text is ultimately about God, it presents itself with characters on the page, and it was written to real people in real situations. Ponder the intended impact on their hearts as you consider the impact on yours
4. Me. The original author of each book could not have known about me, but the divine Author has preserved the Scriptures, superintended the collection of the Scriptures, sovereignly overseen the translation of the Scriptures, and graciously provided the opportunity for me to own the Scriptures. He has given me if I am his child, a new heart that relishes the goodness of God in Christ. And so, I should look at the Scriptures to see my God, as well as be mentored by the people on the page, considering the impact for the original recipients, and overtly considering how the text should stir my heart as I read it.
5. Others. As I study the biblical text and consider how it should be stirring my heart, the result will not just be a Godward response. Yes, there should be wonder, awe, worship, praise, gratitude, devotion, and so on. But also, a God-stirred heart will be a heart that reflects God’s other-centred heart. How can what I am seeing in the text, which is stirring my heart in response to God’s revelation, be carried to others evangelistically or pastorally? At this stage, there might well be a stirring of prayer for others, even if the action of sharing remains in the future from the time I am studying the text. A truly relational response to the Bible will not just be Godward, but it will also spill over to others because we are relational beings.
Perhaps this five-point checklist can be helpful as we seek to more overtly recognize the role of the heart in the Bible study process. Look, learn, love, live.
Last time we looked at John 5 and Jesus’ critique of the Jewish leadership. They were eminent Bible scholars, but something was missing. They could well have been an example to us in terms of observing the text, technically interpreting the text, and fastidiously applying the text. They thought that in the Scriptures they would find life. But they were missing the person revealed there.
For the Jewish leadership, there was apparently confidence in the inductive process. However, their incurved hearts spelled the corruption of that process. They did not see the person, and the reason was a heart issue. Why is the heart so often left out of hermeneutics?
A More Complete Process
A complete approach to biblical study needs more than “look, learn, live.” We need to put the heart back into our hermeneutics. What does the text say? What does the text mean? What should the text stir? What difference should the text make?
Look —- Learn —- Love —- Live
When we lose the sense that the biblical text is primarily revealing a person, and that the intent of the author is to stir the reader’s heart in response, then our approach will necessarily fall short. Even if we progress from “back then” and arrive at “for today,” we can end up with something stripped of its relational dynamic.
Principles and Morals
In a process that is blind to the significance of the heart, some will end up with just an abiding theological principle. This statement of truth and instruction is what remains after traversing the millennia from back then to our own time. Others will end up with a “moral of the story.”
That’s what people do with old stories. Since the people are all dead in history, or figments of fiction that will soon fade from memory, at least there is a lasting lesson for us all. So, our children might enter the land of make-believe for an old tale, but what remains when the story ends and it is time to sleep? Well, the moral of the story is that we should be like the tortoise, or don’t speak to strangers who look like wolves or witches, or whatever. These may well be good life lessons well worth learning.
And what of the people in the pew? After entering the world of a Bible story in the sermon, they must then re-enter normal life. As the story fades and present reality dawns, at least they can carry an abiding theological principle into their week.
The Bible is Not a Fable
But isn’t the Bible different? Is not the goal of the Bible something more than divinely sanctioned and historically accurate Aesop’s fables? It is critical that we keep clear the ultimate purpose of Scripture – to reveal the living God, his heart, his plan, his Son.
In the next post, I will suggest a relational responsive hermeneutical checklist to enliven the critical love stage of the Bible study process.
In John 5, Jesus is both in trouble and on trial. He had healed a man on the Sabbath and then made himself equal with God when confronted by the authorities. His extended speech in verses 19-47 is actually a legal defense speech in what had quickly become a capital trial. By the time we get near the end of the chapter, Jesus is actually turning the tables and putting the Jewish authorities on the back foot.
Jesus knew that he needed a second witness. But as the angry leaders looked at this man from Nazareth, they could not see anyone standing with him. However, he had the best witness of all: God himself. The problem was on their side though, because according to Jesus, they had never heard God’s voice, nor seen God’s form, and they did not have God’s word abiding in them.
Bible Study Experts?
Understandably these Jewish leaders would have balked at that diagnosis of their spiritual state. They, of all people, spent the most time with their nose in the scrolls. They were the Bible men of their day. They could quote more of the Old Testament from memory than many Christians today have even read. And yet, Jesus was right. Something was missing. And it meant that their hermeneutical approach was rendered useless.
Did they look at the text? Every day, at length. Did they learn what the text meant? They would say so. Did they follow through and consider its implications for how they lived? Fastidiously. These men were the eminent biblical studies professors of their time. And yet, in Jesus’ estimation, they did not have God’s word abiding in them. What was missing?
The Missing Piece
In the Scriptures there is a relational dynamic at play. The text is about a person, but they did not believe in him. They refused to come to him. Jesus immediately drew the contrast between him and them. He did not live for horizontal glory from people but lived with a total orientation toward his father. However, they did live for the glory that would come from people. Because the horizontal dimension meant everything to them, the vertical dimension was missing. And how did Jesus phrase that vertical dimension in their case? They did not seek the glory that comes from God. Which meant that they did not have the love of God in them. (John 5:37-44)
It is not possible to rightly handle God’s word if the love dimension is missing. In the next post, we will probe that love dimension.
Something is missing. Too much training in Bible handling is missing something critical. Either we get the technical interpretation elements well: such as recognizing the distance between the world of the text and the world of the contemporary reader, and seeing the gaps that need to be crossed (linguistic, cultural, geographical, religious, etc.). Or, we dump the technical process and lose both textual accuracy and authority as we treat the Bible like an ancient source of contemporary devotional material.
To put that another way, while some are stronger on the “back then” nature of the text, others are too quick to rush to a “for today” impact. Good Bible handling requires both a “back then” and a “for today” mindset.
We Must Cross the Divide
The traditional inductive approach to the biblical text requires that we cross the divide. We begin with Look! This is the observation stage of seeing what is actually in the text. What was written? What does the text say? Then we progress to Learn! This is the interpretation stage of making sense of the author’s intended meaning. What did the text mean? To look at the text and learn what it means requires that we cross a big gap and go “back then” in our minds.
But then we must also cross that divide to “today” and progress to Live! This is the application stage of seeing the life impact of the text. What difference does the text make to my life today?
So, we go back then to ask what does the text say? And also, what did the text mean? Then, having understood the meaning of the text, we then need to return to today and seek a biblically appropriate answer to what difference should it make?
Look — Learn — Live
Each stage is critically important.
We Tend to Favour One Part of the Process
Some so enjoy the academic pursuit that they dwell in the learn stage and seldom let the text change their lives. Others are so applicational in their approach that they seldom find out what a text really means before they start landing it in daily life. (Perhaps fewer get stuck in the observation stage. It seems like people are drawn to interpretation or application.) However, even when people are well equipped to progress through each stage with a well-grounded “back then” followed by an appropriate and diligent “for today” progression, it still seems like something is missing in our hermeneutics.
I have recently posted a series of videos on common Bible study mistakes. We have probably all made some, or all, of these mistakes. Please take a look and see if these are helpful to you, or to anyone else you know.
Mistake 1: Proof-Texting – It is just so convenient to find a line of text that says what we want to say. But the danger is that we will not see the richness of the text as it was intended to be understood. It seems obvious once you say it, but it is good to remember that what God made it say is always better than what we can make it say! Click here for this video.
Mistake 2: Collapsing Correlations – When you are reading and you see something that reminds you of something else . . . perhaps a saying of Jesus, or a different epistle, and then you collapse both passages in together, then you are collapsing your correlations together. Easily done, but what if that other passage doesn’t mean the same thing? Click here for the video.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Background – Sometimes it is just easier to read the passage and ignore whatever background may be relevant to your study. Who has the time to think about distant geography, ancient customs, and foreign politics? Well, if we want to understand the Bible, we need to make sure we don’t ignore the background. Click here for this video.
Mistake 4: Genre Override – Apart from sounding like a cool concept, what is genre override? It is when you take some of the rules of interpreting a genre and let those rules run roughshod over your interpretation of the passage. “Since this passage is apocalyptic literature…” is the start of many misleading sentences! Of course, we need to be sensitive to the genre, but that is always a support to our being sensitive to the passage. Click here to find out more.
Mistake 5: Imposing Meaning – Our goal in Bible study is exegesis, that is, drawing out the meaning of the text as intended by the author. But when we impose meaning, we are doing eisegesis. That is, reading into the text what we want to see there. God’s Word is better than yours, or mine! Click here for more.
Mistake 6: Isolationist Confidence – Bible study is something we may do on our own a lot of the time. But we must be wary of isolationist confidence. When it is just me and the Bible, I can easily become overconfident in my own opinion. I may be on the right track, but very superficial. Or I might be wandering off into new (therefore heretical) theological territory. We need to think about the role of the community in our Bible study! Click here for this video.
Mistake 7: Tone-Deaf Reading – The Bible is not just a data store that we are to mine for theological truths or applicational points. It is interpersonal communication and so we need to make sure we are sensitive to the writer’s tone as we seek to make sense of what is written. Here is the link to this video.
I will probably add a few more, in due course. As ever with these things, if you are able to like, share, comment or subscribe to the YouTube channel, it is all helpful in encouraging the algorithm to share this content. Thanks!
Here is the playlist that contains these videos, plus others that are all related!
I have completed a series of videos that detail the Learn phase of the Bible study process. Using 1 Peter 2:1-10, I look at the kind of thinking that goes into learning what a passage means. Good observation of the details in a passage will set us up to accurately learn what the text means as we study to determine the original author’s intended meaning. So, what goes into interpreting a Bible passage?
1. Context: Historic – When was the passage written? What was happening at the time? What prompted the author to write it? What can we understand about the relevant cultures, the occasion for the writing, the situation at the time? (Click here for the video.)
2. Context: Written – The passage you are looking at sits within a book and therefore there is a written context to consider. What has come before your passage? What flows out from it? To understand a passage, you have to wrestle with the flow of the whole document. (Click here for the video.)
5. Content: Flow – How do the details work together in the flow of thought in this passage? It is so important to not only understand details, but to understand them in their most immediate context! (Click here for the video.)
6. Intent – What did the author intend to achieve through writing this passage? Are there clues within the passage, and are there indications within the book as a whole? (Click here for the video.)
I will release another series that uses a different passage but focuses on the Love/Live phase instead of the Learn phase as I have this time. Hopefully, that makes sense! Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can see the new videos as they are released.
I have completed a series of videos that detail the Look phase of the Bible study process. Using the triumphal entry passage in John 12, I look at the kind of details that we need to notice as we look at a Bible passage. The more closely we look at and observe the text, the easier it will be to accurately learn what the text means in the next phase of our study. So, what type of details are we noticing?
1. Who? – Who is being referred to in the passage? How are they being described? Who do the pronouns refer to? This is the first and, in some ways, the most important detail to notice. Why? Because the entire Bible is primarily a revelation of God and so noticing who is in the passage should get us thinking about God from the very beginning. (Click here for the video.)
2. When? – Are there any time references in the passage? Perhaps a time of day, or a point on the calendar. But it is not just about explicit time references, there is also the whole issue of tenses. Is something written with a tense that stands out – perhaps a reference to the past or the future. (Click here for the video.)
3. Where? – Does the passage refer to any locations? These could be geographic (i.e. Jerusalem), or circumstantial (sitting on a donkey), or they could be out of this world (God’s throne). Notice any details to places or locations in the passage. Do you need to check a map to note a specific location? (Click here for the video.)
4. What? – This is a catch-all question! What is repeated? What seems to be significant? What other details are you seeing in the passage? What key terms are being used? (Click here for the video.)
5. Which? – Which other passages are feeding into the passage you are looking at? These could be earlier Biblical content that is being quoted or alluded to in the passage you are studying. Or it could be earlier passages in the same book that are influencing our understanding of the passage we are studying. (Click here for the video.)
6. How? – How did the writer choose to write the passage? Is it a narrative, poetry, or discourse? At the Look stage, we don’t need to conclude why they did it, but we do need to notice how it was written. (Click here for the video.)
After the Look! stage of Bible study, we will then move on to Learn (what does the text mean?) Here is a one-video summary of the Learn phase for this passage. And then there is the Love/Live response (what should the text stir?) Here is a one-video summary of the Love/Live phase for this passage. I will release another series that uses a different passage but focuses on the Learn phase instead of the Look phase as I have this time. Then another focusing on Love/Live. Hopefully, that makes sense! Please subscribe to the YouTube channel so that you can see the new videos as they are released.
The first half of preparing a sermon is studying the biblical text. More than that, a fundamental feature of the Christian life is feasting on God’s word. We all need to be able to study the Bible and enjoy the great gift of God’s word to us. So, how should we do it?
In this video, I give a brief overview of the Bible study process. Let’s think of it in terms of three questions, or four stages:
1.Look – what does the text say? We need to develop our observational skills to be able to see what is actually written in the text before us. Too many of us are too good at feeling familiar with the text and therefore skipping ahead. A lot of Bible-handling errors and heresies would be avoided if we slowed down to see what is actually there. What does the text say?
2. Learn – what does the text mean? Once we have looked carefully at the text, we will get to the point of determining what the text means. That is, not what does it mean to me – this is not an exercise in modern art appreciation. What was the author intending to communicate? Learning what the text means requires me to travel back in my mind to the original author’s situation, and try to make sense of what he wrote, in context, for the sake of the original recipients. I have to go back then before I can think about lasting implications for today.
3.Love/Live – what should the text stir? Bible study should never end “back then.” God did not give us the Bible as a historical curiosity. It should ultimately have an impact on my life today. So what should it stir? Since it is primarily a revelation of God’s heart, character and plan, it should stir my heart to love Him. Bible study that does not lead to greater love for God has gone astray. My heart should be stirred by the God I am discovering in my Bible study. But it is not enough to have a stirred heart. This is not about a mere emotional response. The Bible is intended to exact transformation in my life. And that transformation works from the inside to out. So my heart is warmed to God, and then my life should bear fruit as I am not just a hearer, but a doer of God’s Word. Good Bible study will stir my heart to worship, and it will stir transformation in every area of my life.
What does the text say? What does the text mean? What should the text stir? This is the Bible study process. It might seem cumbersome at first, but this can, and should, become second nature to us as Bible readers. Make sure you see what is actually there. Look closely. Go back then before considering today. Expect God to change you from the core of your being out to the most specific activities of your day.
In the coming weeks, I will be breaking down these stages on YouTube. There will be a series of videos on Look, then another on Learn, and another on Love/Live. I will offer some in written form here, but to catch it all, be sure to subscribe to the channel on this link.
Biblical Preaching 