HRB.Chapter1.docx

Pay Attention to the Context Defining the Principle What do you do when you put a jigsaw puzzle together? Probably you look at the picture on the box. You have a better chance of getting the right piece in the right place if you can see the “big picture.” So it is with Scripture. We explain the part...

Pay Attention to the Context Defining the Principle What do you do when you put a jigsaw puzzle together? Probably you look at the picture on the box. You have a better chance of getting the right piece in the right place if you can see the “big picture.” So it is with Scripture. We explain the parts in light of the whole. We recognize that the largest context is the whole of the Bible. The next smaller unit is the context of a single author or a single book. (Some authors, like James, wrote only one epistle; others, like Paul, wrote thirteen.1 The next smaller context is the paragraph, although some literary units in Scripture are somewhat larger than this. When pastors are trained to examine the context, they often are warned that “a text without a context is a pretext.” People can make the Bible say almost anything they want it to say if they quote a passage out of context. Even Peter recognizes this. Writing about Paul’s letters, Peter says, “His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (2 Peter 3:16b). Applying the Principle Romans 3:28 For our first example of precisely this point, let’s take a look at Romans 3:28. There Paul writes: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” Based on Romans 3:21–31, answer the following questions: What is the righteousness of God? How much of the human race has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? How much of the human race has been justified by Jesus’ death and resurrection? What problem did the cross of Christ solve? Since God is one, how many plans of salvation can He have? Paul uses a number of words that we don’t often use. As a result, we may not clearly understand what he means when he uses them. For example, the word righteousness is an abstract noun that denotes the quality of being right or of doing the right thing. When used as an adjective in Scripture, it refers to the man or woman who keeps the entire Law of God. Ezekiel describes what it means to be righteous (18:5–9). When used to describe God, righteous means that God always keeps His Word. God does what He says He is going to do. Yet when we read the Old Testament, we might think that God sometimes breaks His Word. We read in Genesis 2 that God permitted Adam to eat from all the trees in the garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (2:17 NKJV). In Genesis 3:1–6 the serpent contradicts God’s Word, claiming that Adam and Eve will not die if they eat from the tree. Eve chooses to doubt God’s Word, eats from the tree’and does not die. Adam was with her, watching, and when she does not die he, too, eats from the fruit of the tree. He does not die either. Even after God confronts them in Genesis 3, they do not die. In fact, Adam lived 930 years before death claimed him (Genesis 5:5). In light of these events, can God be charged with “unrighteousness”? That is, can He be charged with failing to keep His Word? And what of all the other sins that seemingly went unpunished from the time of Adam to Christ? Paul refers specifically to this point when he writes that God punishes all sins in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross, demonstrating His righteousness (sometimes translated justice, as in Romans 3:25). In the cross of Christ we see God’s righteousness, for in the cross of Christ He punishes all sins, even those of Adam and Eve. It is in the cross of Christ that we also see God’s grace, freely justifying sinners through faith in Jesus. Note that justify means to declare righteous. This is more than merely declaring someone innocent or not guilty. In Christ crucified God declares us righteous. He gives us credit for fulfilling the Law in every respect and for never violating it (see Ezekiel 18:5–9). God places our sin upon Christ and, through faith in Jesus, credits us with having kept the entire Law. Therefore Paul writes in Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” James 2:24 If this is right, then how can James say: “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (James 2:24)? The answer lies in the different contexts of Romans 3 and James 2 and in the way each writer uses the verb justify. James is showing the connection between a living faith in Jesus Christ and the works that a Christian with such faith does. James emphasizes the external evidence of the internal faith so much so that he can define true religion as taking care of widows and orphans in their distress and in avoiding the immorality of the world (James 1:27). The good deeds done by believers show their faith to the world. Where there are no good deeds, there is no faith. Where there is faith, there are good deeds (acts of compassion and kindness, especially to fellow Christians’see James 2:14–17). What role do these good deeds play in someone’s salvation? They are the evidence of faith. As such they serve as a legal exhibit on the Last Day. On that day of final judgment, when Jesus judges the living and the dead, He will point to these compassionate applications of saving faith as evidence for a person’s eternal destiny. Jesus presents this same picture in the story of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31–46). God separates the sheep and goats before He describes their deeds. Their eternal destiny is already known. The sheep receive their inheritance’eternal life’through their faith in Jesus, which they demonstrated through acts of caring. The goats, on the other hand, receive their eternal punishment because they do not have faith in Jesus. God does not proclaim great evil in their lives, but their lives reflect no saving faith in any acts of compassion done to Jesus’ followers. If the word justify can refer to this public proclamation of judgment, then we can understand how James can say that “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). When Paul uses the verb justify, he refers to God’s declaration that all people are righteous (Romans 3:23–24) through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Paul also uses the word justify to refer to that moment when an individual is declared right with God through faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26, 28). Paul refers to what we term justification and James refers to that public proclamation of judgment that is based on what we call sanctification. If we misunderstand Paul in Romans 3:28, we might think that we can live our lives in an immoral or selfish way and it would make no difference. If we misunderstand James in James 2:24, we might think that we are partially or entirely responsible for our own salvation because of our good works. Reading Paul and James in the light of their contexts (Romans 3:21–31; James 2:14–26), we realize that they are emphasizing two different parts of the Christian’s life with God, both of which are important. Matthew 19 Look next at the importance of context in Matthew 19. Read Matthew 19:16–28 and answer the following questions: How does someone enter eternal life according to Jesus in verse 17? What does it take to be a perfect disciple of Jesus according to Jesus in verse 21? Under the theory that God loves rich people the most (because He has given them the most material blessings), a rich man is the “most likely to succeed” when it comes to entering the kingdom of God. What does Jesus say about the chances that even the best of us can earn our way into the kingdom according to verse 24? How do the disciples respond to Jesus’ statement in verse 24? (See verse 25.) What does Jesus then say in verse 26 about any person’s chances of earning eternal life? If we take the question of the rich young man and Jesus’ answer out of context, we might think that we have to keep all the commandments of God and sell everything and give our money to the poor in order to enter the kingdom of God and inherit eternal life. After all, that’s exactly what Jesus says in verses 17 and 21. However, this teaching directly contradicts the rest of Scripture where we learn that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone (as is clearly taught in Romans 3:28 and Ephesians 2:8–9). So how should we understand the responses of Jesus in Matthew 19:17 and 21? The rich young man believes that he can do good works and thus earn God’s approval. He has not been able to achieve peace with God by this method, however. He thinks he has fulfilled all the commandments, but still searches for assurance of salvation. He comes to Jesus in hopes of finding that assurance and that peace. The Pharisees in Matthew 19:1–12 also have come to Jesus with a question, but they are not seeking peace. They hope to trap Jesus in a difficult question, in the same geographical area where John the Baptist was arrested for criticizing the marriage of Herod Antipas to his sister-in-law, Herodias. John lost his head, and perhaps the Pharisees want Jesus to get into the same trouble. Both the rich young man and the Pharisees share a common assumption: you can earn God’s approval. The Pharisees believe that Deuteronomy 24:1–4 permitted divorce under some circumstances and debated what those circumstances were. Jesus reminds them that God’s original plan had been that a man and woman marry and stay married all their lives together. Jesus does something quite similar with the rich young man. By answering as He does, He confronts the rich young man with the impossibility of fulfilling the Law, just as the Pharisees were confronted with their own opposition to God’s plan in 19:1–12. The Pharisees go away frustrated and the rich young man goes away disappointed, because Jesus used the Law as a mirror to show them that their whole way of thinking was wrong. Nobody enters the kingdom of God because he or she has earned God’s stamp of approval. Jesus agrees with the disciples that it is absolutely impossible for us to save ourselves from God’s wrath on judgment day (19:26). But Jesus does not stop with the words, “With man this is impossible.” He adds, “But with God, all things are possible.” This, then, is the key to the chapter. Sandwiched between the story of the Pharisees with their question about divorce and the story of the rich young man with his question about earning eternal life we find a short story that may at first seem out of place. In Matthew 19:13–15 Jesus receives little children and says that “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” With that, He places his hands on them and blesses them. God’s approval comes not through keeping the commandments or even in selling all we have and giving our money to the poor. God’s approval, and thus eternal life, comes through Jesus Christ. He receives those who trust in Him, blesses them, and brings them into the kingdom of God. Jesus’ disciples were shocked by His answer to the Pharisees (19:10) and panicked by His conversation with the rich young man (19:27). They even tried to prevent the little children from reaching Jesus (19:13). In short, they did not understand that human beings have no hope of earning eternal life by their good works. Matthew writes these three stories so that we, the readers of his gospel, might understand what the disciples failed to understand. The context of the chapter makes it clear why Jesus tells the rich young man what He does in 19:17: Jesus shows him the Law with its impossible demands in order to drive him to the Gospel of full and free acceptance by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Mark 4:10–12 and Isaiah 6:9 In the first part of this chapter (James 2:24 and Romans 3:28) we saw how some writers use the same words with slightly different meanings and how the whole of Scripture provides a “safety net” for interpreting those passages. In the second part (Matthew 19:17) we saw how the entire chapter helps us understand a particular verse. In the third and final part of this chapter we will see that checking out the Old Testament context of a New Testament citation helps us understand the meaning of the verse. We will look at Mark 4:12, where Jesus speaks His reason for using parables, and consider the context of the Old Testament citation’Isaiah 6:9. Read Mark 4:10–12 and answer the following questions: Who or what does Jesus call “the secret of the kingdom of God”? Why does Jesus teach in parables? What Old Testament passage does Jesus quote? The first extended parable of Jesus appears in Mark 4 (parallel passages are Matthew 13:1–15 and Luke 8:4–10). It seems that Jesus did not use parables (or at least none are recorded) in the early months of His ministry. Only after opposition developed (see Mark 3:6 where the Pharisees and Herodians plot together to kill Him) did Jesus begin to use parables. This provides the background for Jesus’ statement in verses 11 and 12. Two groups of people spend time near Jesus’His disciples and His enemies. To the disciples Jesus explains what the parables mean. To them He reveals the “secrets” of the kingdom of God’that He is the Messiah who has come to give His life on the cross as a ransom for all people. Jesus’ enemies are waiting for Him to say something so that they may charge Him in court with a crime, preferably a capital crime. When Jesus teaches the Good News, that He is the promised Messiah, He does so covertly so that these enemies have no ammunition to use against Him in a religious or criminal court of law. Because His enemies have hardened themselves against Him, Jesus uses parables. The Old Testament passage He cites in support of this approach is Isaiah 6:9. This verse comes from the section where Isaiah receives his call to be a prophet from God. God warns him that the people of Israel will not listen to his message or respond to his call for repentance, for they have hardened themselves against God and His Word. The preaching of God’s Word, both Law and Gospel, will have the same effect on these people of Isaiah’s day’it will make their minds even more closed to God’s message. They have chosen this path; it is nobody’s fault but their own. The key question for Isaiah to ask is simply, “For how long, O Lord?” (Isaiah 6:11). The fourth principle is to interpret Scripture in light of the rule of faith. God answers that this hardening is temporary, and that after the Assyrians have devastated Israel and the Babylonians have led Judah away into captivity, He will continue to keep His promise to send a Savior, the Messiah (Isaiah 6:13). Here we also have the key to interpreting Mark 4:12. Jesus will advance to the cross. Using the opposition of His enemies, He will see to it that He is crucified according to the timetable He established before the foundation of the world. It would not do for Him to be rushed to the cross prematurely, before He finished the work the Father sent Him to do in His earthly ministry. By teaching in “code”’that is, by using parables’Jesus retains control of the situation and control of His destiny. When that destiny is accomplished’when He has given His life as the sacrifice for the sins of the world’then the “secrets” of the kingdom of God will be proclaimed openly for all people to see and perceive, hear, and understand. In short, the hardening of His larger audience is temporary. The context of Mark 4 confirms this interpretation. In verse 22 Jesus predicts, “For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.” In both Mark 4:9 (which sets up the quote from Isaiah) and in Mark 4:23 (which marks the end of a literary unit that began at 4:9), Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Scripture clearly teaches that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). When Christ dies on the cross, He dies for all people (Romans 3:23–24). The fact that Jesus recognizes the hostility of His enemies and avoids their traps does not contradict His love for people, including those who oppose Him. Mark reminds us (in 4:12) that Jesus is master of the situation and that He can even use people who want to see Him dead to work out His plan of salvation. A Key to Interpretation We close this chapter with one more point: whenever we read Scripture and interpret it in a way that robs us of our assurance of God’s love in Christ Jesus, or when we misunderstand a passage so that we lose the conviction that we are truly saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we have gotten off on the wrong track. God gave us the Bible to lead us to faith in Jesus Christ and thus to have life in His name (John 20:30–31). Paying attention to the context as we interpret Scripture will help us to realize the joy of our salvation, which is so very precious to each of us.