Better Than a Wild Guess

I’ve argued that you can get the main point; you’re not reduced to making a wild guess every time you study a passage. A few key skills will be most helpful:

• Observing the structure
• Asking and answering interpretive questions
• Tracking the flow of thought

Let me show you some brief examples of how this works.

Luke 18:1-30

This passage consists of four brief scenes:

• A parable: God’s elect ought to never stop praying for justice against adversaries – Luke 18:1-8
• A parable: Everyone who exalts self will be humbled; those who humble self will be exalted – Luke 18:9-14
• A conversation: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it – Luke 18:15-17
• A conversation: Whoever leaves some things for the kingdom of God will gain everything – Luke 18:18-30

According to context and flow of thought, this passage sits within the section of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, where Jesus is answering the question: When will the kingdom of God come (Luke 17:20)? So the parable about praying (Luke 18:18) is not about just any prayer, but about the prayer for the kingdom to come, and with it to bring justice for God’s people (Luke 18:5, 7, 8). It’s all about the timing of the kingdom: “Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7).

The following three scenes then flesh out the answer to a crucial question. Even if the kingdom were to come, would the Son of Man find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8). That answer comes in three pieces. The kingdom of God comes when people:

• humble themselves,
• receive it as children, and
• leave some things to gain everything

That’s what true faith looks like.

So what is the main point being communicated through this structure and train of thought? The kingdom of God comes when people humble themselves, receive it as children, and leave some things to gain everything.

Ephesians 4

The chapter has two units of thought, each beginning with a command to “walk” (Eph 4:1, 17).

The first section issues a call to unity (Eph 4:1-3) along with two reasons why diversity shouldn’t divide the church:

• Eph 4:4-6: The unity of the diverse Trinity
• Eph 4:7-16: The gracious gifts of the ascended Christ

The second section explains what to do when diversity does end up threatening unity (17-24) with a series of four case studies (25-32) that demonstrate the exact process laid out in 22-24.

• Eph 4: 17-24: Don’t be like the Gentiles, but put off the old humanity, renew your mind, and put on the new humanity
• Case studies that demonstrate all three steps:
  • Eph 4:25: Lies
  • Eph 4:26-27: Sinful anger
  • Eph 4:28: Theft
  • Eph 4:29: Rotten speech
  • Eph 4:30-32: Concluding summary

The main point: Diversity shouldn’t divide the church, but when it does, stop thinking about it the way Gentiles do.

Ephesians 5

The “therefore” in Eph 5:1 signals the conclusion to the previous chapter, which becomes the thesis for the following chapter. The repetition of “walk,” along with shifts in metaphor then signal the supporting arguments.

• Eph 5:1: Thesis: We ought to imitate God. We do that by:
  • Eph 5:2-6: Walking in love
  • Eph 5:7-14: Walking in light
  • Eph 5:15-21: Walking in wisdom
    • Eph 5:18: One aspect of wisdom is being filled with the Spirit.
      • Eph 5:21: One aspect of being filled with the Spirit is submission to authority.
        • Eph 5:22-6:9: Three case studies in such submission.

According to the logic and grammatical signals, Paul continues drilling his argument down to a finer and finer point. But as we study (or teach) what he says about marriage, parenting, or slavery, we ought not miss the fact that these are all, ultimately, examples of how to walk in wisdom in imitation of God.

The main point: We imitate God by rooting our lives in his love, his light, and his wisdom.

Conclusion

Please know that I am not offering these main points as definitive or unquestionable. These main points are only the best I can do with my current understanding of those texts. But they are open to debate or sharpening.

Some of my favorite small group discussions take place when others challenge what I thought was the main point. When folks do that well, through careful observation and interpretation of the text, we all win.

Next week, I’ll give a few more examples from poetic texts.