HRB.Chapter2.docx

Stick with the Plain and Obvious Meaning of a Text Defining the Principle Communication is a difficult art. We choose our words and we put them together in sentences, hoping the other person will understand what we are saying or writing. At times, though, we don’t say what we mean or mean what we sa...

Stick with the Plain and Obvious Meaning of a Text Defining the Principle Communication is a difficult art. We choose our words and we put them together in sentences, hoping the other person will understand what we are saying or writing. At times, though, we don’t say what we mean or mean what we say. Sometimes we use irony or sarcasm to make our point, sometimes we exaggerate or use hyperbole for emphasis, and sometimes we use puns and wordplays for humorous effect. The first principle is to take the words of Scripture in the normal, intended sense unless the context compels us to understand the words in some other way. The best rule of thumb when reading Scripture is to read it as straightforward communication unless the text contains some indicator that we should disregard the usual and customary meaning of the words or paragraphs. Applying the Principle Mark 5:21–43 Perhaps the best way to get a handle on this principle is to read Mark 5:21–43. We will then examine three additional passages to illustrate the principle. Mark 5:21–43 is actually two stories, one set inside the other.1 They form the climax for a series of miracles that began in 4:35 (Jesus calms the storm) and continued into chapter 5 (Jesus exorcises a man possessed by many demons). By the end of chapter 5, the reader has seen Jesus command nature, give orders to a multitude of demons, heal the sick with a touch of his garment, and raise the dead. Mark shows us four scenes that clearly answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” The last two stories (a woman sick for 12 years and a 12-year-old dead girl) focus especially on faith, trusting Jesus as Savior. Mark then contrasts the faith of the woman and the faith of the dead girl’s parents with the unbelief of Jesus’ home town (Mark 6:1–6). Applying the first principle of interpretation, does anything in Mark 5:21–43 require us to understand these two stories in a nonliteral sense? In other words, does Mark indicate in the text that we should take these two stories as a metaphor or in a figurative way? If not, then we can conclude that Mark thought of these stories as actual events in real history. He presents them to us as a straightforward account of what really occurred when a sick woman interrupted Jesus’ journey to help a dying girl. Some people believe that miracles can’t happen. They work on the principle that “if I haven’t seen it, it can’t be true.” They read these stories about Jesus and try to draw some “spiritual truth” from what they consider to be a myth. However, without the miraculous nature of these healings, we lose Mark’s whole point. Mark wants to show the reader that Jesus is the Christ (Mark 8:29), the Son of God (Mark 15:39).2 In order to show us that we can trust Jesus as the woman and the girl’s parents trusted Jesus, these events really had to happen (which is how Mark presents them). Otherwise we would have to say that Mark was asking us to trust in someone who couldn’t help us. Neither Jesus nor Mark is promising that we won’t get sick and die. That happens to Christians all the time. Mark’s point is this: Jesus has power over nature and demons, over sickness and death. God then invites us to trust in Jesus, who rescues us from our biggest problem: sin, and the righteous wrath of God against sinners. Thus Mark records Jesus’ comforting words to the woman in 5:34: “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” You can use the Old Testament to confirm this interpretation. It contains a number of laws dealing with ceremonial cleanness and uncleanness (see especially Leviticus 11–15). The rule is this: If you touch something unclean (or it touches you), you are rendered unclean and must go through the purification process (Leviticus 5:2). Yet a woman with a flow of blood (which renders her ceremonially unclean) touches Jesus, and Jesus touches a dead girl (also ceremonially unclean) without Himself becoming unclean. In fact, the opposite happens—the unclean people are cured of what made them unclean. Who is Jesus that he can do this? Mark answers this question in Peter’s confession (“You are the Christ”—8:29) and the centurion’s statement (“Surely this man was the Son of God”—15:39). Some people have a world view that excludes the possibility of the supernatural. Others believe no divine intervention is possible in the daily affairs of the world. When these people read the miracle stories in the Bible, they cannot accept them at face value. These Bible readers are bound to misunderstand Scripture. The authors of Scripture (Mark included) present the miracles as fact. Since nothing in the context compels us to understand the words in some other way, we, too, take these words of Scripture in the normal, intended sense—as fact. Matthew 28:1–10 We look next at Matthew 28:1–10, where Matthew records the resurrection of Jesus. Based on the story in this section, answer the following: What day of the week is it? Who goes to the tomb of Jesus? Who comes to the tomb ahead of them? What unusual events accompany his arrival? What message does he bring? Whom do these women meet on the way back to the disciples? Why is the women’s fear turned into joy? Where is the body of Jesus? How does your answer to the previous question affect your expectation, if any, for your own physical resurrection on Judgment Day? An angel came to Jesus’ tomb, rolled the stone back, and announced that Jesus had risen from the dead. The women ran away from the tomb, but on the way to the disciples they met Jesus, who spoke to them. The story is straightforward, narrated as factual history. The text contains no indication that anything is to be taken figuratively or symbolically. The problem for the modern reader does not lie in what the text says, but in whether he or she believes that the Bible is absolutely true. If you believe that it is true, you accept as truth that angels exist and you believe in the possibility of a physical resurrection from the dead. This belief has a profound impact on how you interpret and understand the story. Matthew 26:17–35 Human reason can be a valuable tool in Bible study. We use our human reason and study skills to explore the text. However, the use of reason has its limits. It must remain subject to God’s Word. Thus, we do not place ourselves above the text. Rather, we place ourselves under the Scripture, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to create, sustain, and build our faith, and we use reason only to help understand the intended meaning. Note how the use of reason affects the interpretation of Matthew 26:17–35. Answer the following questions: During which Jewish festival does Jesus eat the Last Supper? What does Jesus say when He gives His disciples the bread? What does Jesus say when He gives His disciples the wine?3 In this account of the Last Supper, Jesus says, “Take and eat; this is My body” (verse 26). He also says, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (verse 28). The words are plain enough, but what do they mean? Is there any reason to believe that they mean something different? If we come to the text with open minds, we see that Jesus means what He says, “This is My body … this is My blood of the covenant.” Answer the following: What significance does Passover have for the Jews? You may want to read Exodus 11–13 for more background. Why is it helpful to know this? What does Jesus mean when He says, “This is My body”? What does Jesus mean when He says, “This is My blood”? Can we humanly comprehend the text? Should we explain what we don’t understand in human terms? Sometimes we use the word is to mean represents. We might hold up a picture of a child and say: “This is my daughter.” What we mean, of course, is “This is a picture of my daughter.” In a way, the picture represents the person who is in it. We are able to figure out the meaning of the word “is” by context. If someone holds up a picture, we have no problem understanding what is meant because the photograph or painting is right in front of us. But what if we are on the other side of a door when we hear someone say, “This is my daughter”? We can’t see if that person is pointing to an individual or to a photograph. Quite naturally we would assume the person is referring to his actual daughter. When we read in Matthew’s gospel that Jesus said, “This is My body,” we have to determine what He meant by this. From the immediate context it is clear this refers to the bread. Further, since the text does not provide any clues that Jesus means something else than the plain meaning of the words, we should take the Words of Institution to mean that Jesus offers His body in, with, and under the bread He gives to His disciples. We do not know how this happens or even how this is possible. These simply are the words Matthew wrote. He provides no textual clues to indicate that we should take it any other way. Our human reason might argue that this is not possible because we can’t do it ourselves. Therefore, we let Scripture be the authority and the human mind be its servant. How can readers check their understanding of a text’apply, as it were, a kind of quality control? After reading a passage and drawing a conclusion about its meaning, we might ask, “What if the writer had said it differently?” This question assumes that the Holy Spirit inspired the various authors of Scripture to write in the clearest manner possible, expressing the intended meaning as plainly as they could. Each word, each sentence, then, becomes integral to the meaning of a verse or text. Matthew 28:16–20 Take, for example, the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16–20. Answer the following questions: Where and when did Jesus give the Great Commission? With what authority does Jesus give this commission? To whom does Jesus give this commission? How are Jesus’ followers to make disciples? What does Jesus promise at the end? Here Jesus commissions His listeners to “make disciples of” all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Triune God and by teaching them to obey everything He has commanded His disciples. Jesus meant what He said’all nations’which includes people of all races, ages, and personalties. Jesus makes no distinctions based on age, sex, ethnic background, or other such things. Sent by the Father, Jesus sends His disciples out into the world to make more disciples. He directs them to do this by baptizing and by teaching. If we have previously made up our minds that infants should not be baptized, we will not understand the Great Commission as Jesus intended it. Often the difficulty in interpreting a text lies not in the words, but in the attitudes and presuppositions of the reader. All of us have opinions and beliefs about God, Jesus, and what is going on in the Bible. Sometimes those get in the way of understanding a text as its author intended. As hard as it is to do, we have a better chance of getting the point of a passage if we keep our minds as open as possible and pay attention to what the author actually writes in the section we are studying. Finally, the Bible should make sense. It was written for the purpose of being read and in leading the reader to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, as John says in John 20:30–31. God inspired men to write the book in the language of the people so ordinary, common people would see and believe in Jesus. Except for a few sections where God apparently chose to communicate in a unique way for a specific reason (like parts of Zechariah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation), the Bible is not written in some code that requires experts to explain it to the rest of us. The message of the Bible is, in many ways, a simple message of sin and grace, Law and Gospel, written so that the average person can understand. Jesus Himself says: “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). Thus, the first principle of Biblical interpretation is stick to the plain and obvious meaning of the text.