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Summer Bible Camp Teaching Plan in Proverbs

July 26, 2019 By Peter Krol

This week, I’m serving as chaplain at a pretty terrific Christian summer camp. We’ve got girls from grades 3 through 11 learning about the great outdoors and our Father in heaven who made it all. Last year, I served a week of boys’ camp, where I taught the same material (though with very different application!).

sinisterbluebox (2009), Creative Commons

I have found that Proverbs is a fantastic book to teach to children and teenagers. It is clear. It stimulates. It provokes thoughtful questions. It gets intensely practical. And it easily sets us up to exalt Jesus as our Wisdom from God.

In case you might find it helpful, here is my teaching plan. It covers a broad range of pertinent topics for children and youth, while also enabling me to teach some basic Bible study skills. Each day, we just open up the text, read it, and talk about it. No expensive children’s curriculum required! For further explanation of these texts, see my blog series on Proverbs.

Day 1: What is wisdom? Proverbs 1:1-7.
- The first study explains the fundamental principle that wisdom is simply a journey in the right direction. It is not a location or a state of maturity. It is all about whether you are moving from where you are in the right direction.
- I had time for a second study on Day 1, where I gave examples of wisdom (very small, but extremely wise creatures) from Proverbs 30:24-28. In this study, I clarified that the journey of wisdom is a journey away from trusting in myself—a truth hinted at in Prov 1:7 but fleshed out here. May we be like lizards, and always be found in our King’s palace!
Day 2: What is the path of wisdom? Proverbs 2:1-11, 20-22.
- The journey of wisdom doesn’t just go wherever you want it to go. This path takes us toward the Lord and away from ourselves. Climax in John 14:6: Jesus is the path we must take to get to God.
Day 3: Obstacle to wisdom #1: More stuff. Proverbs 2:12-15, 1:10-19.
- There is nothing wrong with having or acquiring stuff (money, possessions, etc.). But when we live for it, when our desire for more stuff becomes the focus of our lives, we move in the wrong direction. Wanting more stuff causes me to trust in or please myself instead of the Lord. This is folly.
- Climax: Jesus was rich, but became poor so we could become rich in him (2 Cor 8:9).
Day 4: Obstacle to wisdom #2: More pleasure. Proverbs 5:1-6, 2:16-19.
- Though I broaden the application to all pleasure (food, sports, friends, reading, etc.), I make sure also to touch down on the chief pleasure Solomon has in mind: sexual pleasure. Children need to hear about this, even at a young age! And, as with the previous day’s teaching, I clarify that pleasure in itself is not bad. What matters is whether the pleasure makes me more enamored with the Lord (wisdom) or more enamored with myself (folly).
- Climax: Jesus doesn’t use people for his own pleasure. He loved the Church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by his word (Eph 5:25-26).
Day 5: Hard work. Proverbs 6:6-11.
- Look at the ant! She is self-motivated (Prov 6:7) and seasonally productive (Prov 6:8). She can teach us the wisdom of asking ourselves some hard questions (Prov 6:9), beginning with small choices (Prov 6:10), and remembering the consequences of foolishness (Prov 6:11).
- Climax: Jesus is still working on our behalf, just as his Father is working (John 5:17).
Day 6: Steady progress. Proverbs 26:11, 4:10-19.
- Closing vision for walking in wisdom, step by step, for the rest of your life. When you leave here, please don’t be like dogs licking up your own vomit (returning to your folly). The path of wisdom is like the sunrise, shining brighter and brighter until the full day. It doesn’t matter how far you are down that path. It doesn’t matter how you compare in maturity to anyone else. It matters only that you move toward the Sunrise from on high, one step at a time.
- Climax: Luke 2:51-52. Even Jesus “increased in wisdom.” He knows what it’s like to walk this path. Our hope is not even in our ability to stay on this path, but in the one who walked this path before us and calls us to follow him on it.

I picked the topic of hard work for Day 5, only because I was particularly excited about that topic when I first put this plan together. But it could easily be replaced with wise speech, money matters, friendship, thought life, truthfulness, or any other of the myriad topics of applied wisdom from Proverbs 10-31. Or, if you have only a 5-day program (such as a weekday VBS), you could drop my Day 5, and the rest would hang together just fine.

Through frequent repetition, during teaching times, of the following Q&A, which adds a new piece each day, I’ve seen the children solidly internalize the framework.

What treasure are we hunting for this week (Prov 25:2)?
- Wisdom.
What is wisdom?
- A journey in the right direction.
What is the right direction toward?
- God.
What does it move you away from?
- Myself.
What is the path you must take for this journey?
- Jesus.
What is the first thing that will turn you away from God and back toward yourself?
- More stuff.
What is the second thing?
- More pleasure.
What is the main thing that will make you wise—it’s more important than anything you’ve ever learned, and it’s more powerful than anything you’ve ever done or had done to you?
- Taking just one step toward God by trusting Jesus. Then another step. Then another.

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Examples of Jesus in the Old Testament

July 24, 2019 By Peter Krol

Jesse Johnson did us a great favor by giving 6 thoughtful examples of how to preach Jesus from Old Testament texts, where “the coming Messiah” is not the main point. Even when a text doesn’t directly predict the coming of Christ, we ought to make sure we see it climax in the good news about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and/or the message of forgiveness being preached to all nations.

Johnson’s examples are good models of first determining the author’s main point for his original audience, and second connecting that main point to the good news about Jesus. This prevents forced or tenuous gospel connections that fail to land with transformative power. See my post on this topic for further explanation.

Johnson’s examples are:

Leviticus 13 (leprosy)
Judges 19 (dismembered concubine)
Genesis 11 (Babel)
1 Kings 18 (showdown on Mt. Carmel)
1 Samuel 14 (Jonathan eating honey)
Proverbs 5 (sexual immorality)

Check it out!

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Behind the Scenes: My Bible Study Tools and Process

July 22, 2019 By Ryan Higginbottom

Studying the Bible is hard, holy work.

The tools we use for this work are not holy, but neither are they incidental. As we grow and mature we find different Bibles, different processes, and different translations that offer just the help we need at that time.

At the risk of navel gazing, my goal in this post is to let you into my Bible study workshop. I’ll describe the tools and process I use to prepare a small group Bible study.

This is one workshop among many. (My co-blogger Peter has written about this too.) My example is not meant for blind imitation, but I hope some readers may find some inspiration here. I should also note that my personal preferences are in flux. I have adopted some of my work flow within the past four months.

Tools

I use six main tools when studying the Bible and preparing for my small group.

An audio Bible. In my early exposure to the passage I’m studying, I like to listen to the Bible. A lot.
A markup Bible. My current markup Bible is a template of my own design. I copy the text from Bible Gateway into a Word document with fat margins (three inches on each side and two inches on the bottom). This gives me plenty of room for notes, arrows, and symbols.
Colored pencils. I use cheap colored pencils to mark up the Bible text. Color coordination helps me locate repetition and connections.
A Bible commentary. This one’s fairly self-explanatory.
A journal and pen. I need to write in order to understand a Bible passage. I grab a nearby notebook or journal.
Multiple Bible translations. I read the passage in multiple translations at Bible Gateway before my small group meets. (I make a point to consult the translations that my small group members prefer.)

My Process

With my tools in hand, these are the eight steps I take to prepare a small group Bible study lesson.

Before I do anything, I pray. I am weak and full of sin, and I am approaching God’s holy word. I need his help!
My first step is to print out my markup Bible. Simple enough.
Next, I listen to and read the Bible passage a bunch. My goal is to discover and understand the structure of the passage. (I recently wrote about how helpful it was to read a passage 25 times.) I listen to or read the Bible passage at least ten times before I make a single mark on the page.
Now it’s time for Bible study. Using the markup Bible, colored pencils, and a pen, I dive into the Observe-Interpret-Apply (OIA) Bible study method. I make a ton of observations on the paper, and these lead me to interpretive questions, which I also write next to the text. I use the right-hand margin of the paper for these notes.
At this point I try to answer the interpretive questions from the text. I outline the passage according to the central ideas of each paragraph and land on an overall main point. I force myself to make notes about the passage before reading any commentaries. I also write down the primary questions I’d like to learn from the commentary.
Next, I read the commentary. If I found the passage confusing, I’ll spend a lot of time interacting with the commentary. If it was an easier passage, I might skim the commentary or skip it altogether. I write notes from the commentary in the left-hand margin of my markup Bible.
It’s time for more writing. I try to identify the main point of each section of the passage and then the overall main point. (This will use my work from step 5 as well as what I learned in step 6.) I list how my interpretation of the passage connects to Jesus and I think through application. Finally, I write a launching question for my small group.
The last step is to create my leader’s notes for the small group meeting. This is a list of questions to help my friends discover the main point of the passage and discuss application. This is also when I read the passage in different translations, although I may do this earlier if the passage is especially thorny.

One Model Among Many

What I’ve outlined above is just one model among many. Some of it may work for you and some may not. And if what you’re doing already is working for you, you shouldn’t feel any need to change.

Don’t focus on the tools. Get and use the tools that will help you focus on the Bible.

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Why I Don’t Like Inductive Bible Study

July 19, 2019 By Peter Krol

You’ve probably heard of Inductive Bible Study. I don’t like it.

Anders Sandburg (2003), Creative Commons

I think the thing itself is just fine. My criticism is for the label. “Inductive” is just not the right term for it.

Harvey Bluedorn summarizes the common perception well when he states:

A deductive approach moves from the rule to the example, and an inductive approach moves from the example to the rule.

Bluedorn’s article is quite excellent, apart from this near-fatal assumption that drives his use of terminology. But Bluedorn’s terminology faithfully represents the popular wisdom. So “inductive” Bible study often gets billed as the way to allow the details of Scripture to shape our thinking, since we eliminate preconceptions, begin with the details of a passage, and build a belief system from there.

The problem is that inductive reasoning does not work this way. The difference between induction and deduction has little to do with whether one begins with particulars or with generalities.

From my college logic textbook (Patrick J. Hurley, A Concise Introduction to Logic, 6th Ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997):

The distinction between inductive and deductive arguments lies in the strength of an argument’s inferential claim. In other words, the distinction lies in how strongly the conclusion is claimed to follow from the premises (p. 32).
Deductive arguments are those that involve necessary reasoning, and inductive arguments are those that involve probabilistic reasoning (31).
There is a tradition extending back to the time of Aristotle which holds that inductive arguments are those that proceed from the particular to the general, while deductive arguments are those that proceed from the general to the particular…It is true, of course, that many inductive and deductive arguments do work in this way; but this fact should not be used as a criterion for distinguishing induction from deduction. As a matter of fact, there are deductive arguments that proceed from the general to the general, from the particular to the particular, and from the particular to the general, as well as from the general to the particular; and there are inductive arguments that do the same (36-37).

Here’s another text for you:

The difference between inductively strong and deductively valid arguments is not to be found in the generality or particularity of premises and conclusion but rather in the definitions of deductive validity [certainty] and inductive strength [probability] (Brian Skyrms, Choice & Chance: An Introduction to Inductive Logic, 3rd Ed., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1986, p. 15.).

And one more:

Some logicians have sought to distinguish between deductive and inductive arguments on the basis of the generality or particularity of their premisses and conclusions. Deductive inferences, it has been said, ‘move from the general to the particular,’ while inductive inferences ‘move from the particular to the general.’ But this way of distinguishing the two families of argument proves unsatisfactory, as a closer analysis will reveal (Irving M. Copi & Carl Cohen, Introduction to Logic, 10th Ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998, p. 27.).

I’ll stop there. Suffice it to say, we’ve mistakenly co-opted a wonderful term from the realm of logic to describe a beautiful thing wrongly.

That’s why I don’t write about “inductive” Bible study. I prefer the term “OIA Bible study,” which stands for observation, interpretation, application.

My wife thinks I’m too much of a curmudgeon on this issue. Perhaps she’s right. I concede that usage determines meaning. But in this case, common usage is founded upon an ill-fated and mistaken assumption accompanied by a tantalizing facade of sophistication. Though “OIA Bible study” is both a more accurate and a less reproachable label than “Inductive Bible study,” my crusade likely remains destined to crash and burn. So I’ll just sit here weeping silently and exuding remorse for what might have been. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!

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Take a Closer Look at Nicodemus

July 17, 2019 By Peter Krol

Here is a terrific example of observation and interpretive investigation. Ian Carmichael revisits what he always thought to be true about Nicodemus, the kingdom of God, and being born again. This leads him to look more closely at the text, and consider what it has to say in light of the context of John’s argument.

This is some terrific Bible study, with weighty application. Check it out!

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How Plot Structure Helps with John 4

July 12, 2019 By Peter Krol

I led a Bible study this week on John 4. Not only the woman at the well (John 4:1-42), but the entire chapter. And I once dared to call plot structure the most import tool for observing the structure of a narrative. So I decided to put my money where my mouth was, and invest my limited mental energy in exploring the plot structure of this chapter.

The results got me farther down the road than any other tool I tried. Not only was this tool the most important one for observing the structure. It ended up also being the most important tool for helping me to interpret the narrative and determine the author’s main point.

Let me show you how it worked.

Stuck in the Details

Without handrails, John 4 is the sort of narrative that makes Bible students feel like they’re swimming in details. And great is the temptation for premature application. There is much in this chapter to provoke, stimulate, and inspire. All you have to do is pick your favorite from among the proffered topics and you’re free to camp there as long as you like.

We could focus on the satisfaction Jesus promises with living water (John 4:13-14). We could focus on sexual morality (John 4:17-18) or Jesus’ omniscience (John 4:16, 19). We could focus on true worship (John 4:21-24). We could focus on evangelism (John 4:28-29, 39-40). We could focus on spiritual dullness or failure to evangelize (John 4:35-38). We could focus on Jesus’ obedience to his Father (John 4:34). We could focus on Jesus’ experience of rejection (John 4:44-45) or his power to heal at a distance (John 4:50-53). We could focus on the nature of belief (John 4:39-42, 48, 50, 53) or the authority of Messiah (John 4:25-26).

So many goodies. So much raw material for theological exploration. And all of it would be true, biblical, practical, and engaging.

But why did John include all these things? What was his main idea?

Getting Unstuck

The best way to see how all these goodies fit together is to analyze the text according to its plot structure.

The first conflict is introduced in John 4:7-9. It must have been important to John that his readers understand the conflict, because he chooses to pop us on the nose with two parenthetical statements (the disciples were gone, and Jews don’t deal with Samaritans). Perhaps without the explanation, the nature of the conflict would have been subtle enough that his audience might have missed it. In short, the conflict, as John introduces it, is Jesus vs. cultural expectations of identity. Jesus does what nobody would have expected him to do: Speak to this woman, alone.
If that is the conflict, this suggests that John 4:1-6 is simply the setting to paint the picture for us. Jesus wishes to escape the Pharisees, who might compel a competition between him and John. And he “had to” pass through Samaria to get away.
So where is the reversal? Where are the cultural expectations of identity flipped around? John 4:26: “I who speak to you am he.” Here is the first climax.
Therefore, we can consider the intervening verses (John 4:10-25) as part of the rising action intended to heighten the tension and build toward climax.
- These verses are not unimportant. There is deep and significant teaching here. But, according to the way John has chosen to tell his story, this material is subordinate to the climax of verse 26.
- In John 4:10-15, Jesus has asked her for a drink, but he clarifies that, really, she should have asked him for a drink.
- In John 4:16, the conflict expands. Now Jesus is taking on not only the cultural expectations of his identity but also this woman’s worship. He shines light to expose her evil deeds (John 3:20-21), likely to see whether she’ll come out or withdraw further into cover of darkness.
- In John 4:17-25, the action rises as they now discuss true and false worship. Again, this material is valuable; I don’t think it’s unimportant. But for John, it’s part of a narrative device intended to heighten the tension and build to climax. We must keep in mind what he’s building toward: Who is Jesus, with respect to what his culture expects of him?
After the climax in John 4:26, the situation resolves into a new setting (John 4:27-30), a new state of affairs: One where Jesus’ own disciples marvel at his behavior (again, completely in conflict with their cultural expectations), and the woman testifies to Jesus’ new-found (to her) identity.

So John 4:1-30 gives us one full cycle of plot structure, with a sense of resolution and a new state of affairs. I’ll abbreviate my commentary on the remaining two cycles.

Second plot arc (John 4:27-42):

John 4:27-30: setting, described above.
John 4:31-32: next conflict introduced. Jesus vs. disciples’ perception of the world.
John 4:33-37: rising action. Q&A. Jesus takes their eyes off physical food to the spiritual reality of harvest.
John 4:38: climax. Disciples’ mistaken perception reversed as they enter into another’s labor (as they now reap that for which they did not labor).
John 4:39-42: new setting. Samaritans believe that Jesus is savior of the world; they ask him to stay.

Third plot arc (John 4:39-54):

John 4:39-42: setting, described above.
John 4:43-46: more setting. John raises the question of response. We ought to expect, with Jesus, a poor response to him from his own people (cf. John 1:11, 4:44).
John 4:47-48: next conflict introduced. On the surface, we might think the conflict is Jesus vs. illness. But with Jesus’ first response (John 4:48) John highlights a different conflict instead: Jesus vs. unbelief (defined as trusting more in signs than in the savior). The surface conflict with illness is merely the literary mechanism for presenting the true conflict with unbelief.
John 4:49-50a: rising action, where the Roman official requests Jesus’ presence but receives his word of promise instead.
John 4:50b: climax. The official believes Jesus’ word, even without a visible sign. He goes on his way without Jesus’ company.
John 4:51-53a: resolution. The official gets proof of his son’s healing, to confirm the word of promise from Jesus.
John 4:53b-54: new setting. Belief spreads in Roman official’s household.

Implications

Let me close with a few principles for mapping plot structure:

Because the categories and lines can seem fuzzy in any given story, I find it most helpful to identify first the conflict and climax. The conflict is the point at which the narrative introduces tension. The climax is the point at which that tension is fixed or reversed. Those two points are typically the clearest elements of the plot.
Then the material in between the introduction of the conflict and the climax falls into place as rising action, serving to expand on or intensify the tension produced by the conflict.
Almost everything that comes before the conflict is simply setting. The details matter for the sake of the story, but they will likely not be as crucial to the text’s theology or application.
And the payout for interpretation comes when we focus our attention on the climax and resolution to determine the author’s main point.

In John 4, we see three arcs with climaxes:

The first arc climaxes (John 4:26) with the immoral Samaritan woman hearing and, in the resolution, trusting in Jesus’ identity as Messiah.
The second arc climaxes (John 4:38) with the disciples entering into Jesus’ labor, to reap the harvest with him.
The third arc climaxes (John 4:50b) with the powerful Roman official trusting Jesus’ word of promise, without any visible sign.

How does this help with discovering John’s main point? The religious insiders need help to perceive God’s salvation extending to religious outsiders. This Jesus is not only King of the Jews. He is the Savior of the world (John 4:42), rejected by his own but believed on in the world. Not even Nicodemus the Pharisee is described as believing just yet (John 3); but any outsider of any race or status who trusts Jesus’ identity and word of promise can become his child. This chapter illustrates, with flamboyant color, the truth that God so loved the world (John 3:16-17).

This main point fits perfectly with the flow of thought in this section of the gospel:

In John 2, the messianic kingdom has arrived!
In John 3, we see how to enter the kingdom.
In John 4, we see who enters the kingdom.

I find it is well worth my time to simply draw a plot arc and use it to help me grasp biblical narratives. Perhaps it can be useful to you as well.

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How Tim Challies Prepares a Sermon

July 10, 2019 By Peter Krol

Here is a post where Tim Challies walks through his routine for preparing a sermon. Whether you preach regularly or not, you may find it helpful to see how he intertwines the OIA method into his preparation to teach the Scripture.

Check it out!

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5 Characteristics of a Great Small Group Leader

July 8, 2019 By Ryan Higginbottom

What do the best small group Bible study leaders have in common?

Yes, there are certain things they do. We have provided a guide for those steps, from planning the group, running the study itself, and training a new leader. These actions are vital.

But no one wants to be in a group where the leader takes the right actions but has poor character. In this post, we won’t look at what a leader should do as much as who they should be.

Five Qualities

This list isn’t exclusive; there are many other qualities we could add. But when I think about a leader whose study I’d like to attend, these characteristics come to mind.

A great leader is diligent

Putting together a solid small group Bible study takes a lot of work, and this requires diligence. A good leader will study the passage thoroughly using a trusted Bible study method. (We have written about the OIA method here.)

Turning that personal Bible study into good questions for the group can also be a challenge. First-rate leaders set aside enough preparation time to write questions that will help their group find and wrestle with the main point of the passage.

A great leader is vulnerable

The best small group studies are lead by a person who has already been changed by their study of the Bible. When preparing, an exceptional leader will be vulnerable with God when thinking through the application of a passage. They will prayerfully consider areas where they need to change.

This vulnerability will also carry over into the meeting time. They will talk with the group about their own sin, their efforts to repent, and the grace God extends to them. A great leader will provide a potential map for their group members by sharing their own applications of a text.

A great leader is curious

A terrific leader is hungry to know God through his word, so they ask difficult questions as they read the Bible. They love God and understand that he makes himself known through this book.

While a good small group leader will put in a lot of preparation time before the study, they know they do not have a monopoly on God’s wisdom. They understand that different perspectives, approaches, and life experiences can help them both understand the text and grow in love for others. They want to know how their small group friends see the Bible text, so they ask honest questions during the meeting.

A great leader is humble

All the preparation in the world does not make a leader self-sufficient. A great leader is aware of their dependence on God, and they seek God’s help in prayer as they work to prepare for the group.

A humble leader is open to correction. They study the Bible aware that they need the discipline that God gives as a loving father. They also know that God may correct them during the group meeting itself, so they listen to their friends’ interpretations and look back to the text. An outstanding leader is not afraid to be wrong, because they know that the real authority is the Word of God.

A great leader is loving

This may be the most important characteristic of all. A great leader loves their small group members and wants the best for them. They want them to grow in the ways they know and trust God.

Love motivates a good leader in their preparation, in their activities with their group members outside the group, and in their prayers. During the meeting, a loving leader will not be concerned with their image or reputation, but with God’s glory and their friends’ growth.

God Makes a Leader

Does your small group leader have these characteristics? If so, thank God! And encourage your leader that you see this fruit in their leadership. Pray that God would help them abound all the more in these qualities.

If your leader lacks some (or all) of these characteristics, pray for them!

Finally, if you are a small group leader, pray for yourself, that God by his Spirit would grow these characteristics in you.

God is the only one who can change hearts. Let’s look to him for the character of our small group leaders.

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More on Walking Through Walls

July 5, 2019 By Peter Krol

When we repeat a particular idea often enough that it becomes part of the air we breathe for years, or even generations on end, it accumulates a gravitas, an authority, that soon goes unexamined. It’s easy for us to see other cultures or communities doing this; it’s difficult to see ourselves doing it. That’s why I’ve sought to expose numerous unquestioned mantras (such as: Jesus’ ministry lasted 3 years, judge not, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, forgetting what lies behind, and Jesus never broke a bruised reed) that have become unassailably axiomatic in evangelical Protestant circles. I am deeply grateful when others show me that what I’ve always heard and assumed isn’t actually supported by the text of Scripture.

So with all due respect to commentator D.A. Carson and the countless others who have always believed Jesus walked through walls, I raised the question last week: Do John 20:19 and John 20:26 truly claim that Jesus walked through walls? Is the matter as obvious as we typically assert?

The Testimony of the Ancients

John Calvin would disagree, and with flair:

And while the doors were shut. … We ought, therefore, to believe that Christ did not enter without a miracle, in order to give a demonstration of his Divinity, by which he might stimulate the attention of his disciples; and yet I am far from admitting the truth of what the Papists assert, that the body of Christ passed through the shut doors. Their reason for maintaining this is, for the purpose of proving not only that the glorious body of Christ resembled a spirit, but that it was infinite, and could not be confined to any one place. But the words convey no such meaning; for the Evangelist does not say that he entered through the shut doors, but that he suddenly stood in the midst of his disciples, though the doors had been shut, and had not been opened to him by the hand of man. We know that Peter (Acts 10:10) [sic Acts 12:10] went out of a prison which was locked; and must we, therefore, say that he passed through the midst of the iron and of the planks? Away, then, with that childish trifling, which contains nothing solid, and brings along with it many absurdities! Let us be satisfied with knowing that Christ intended, by a remarkable miracle, to confirm his disciples in their belief of his resurrection.
Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on the Gospel according to John (Vol. 2, p. 264). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

Augustine read the text to say that Christ “appeared” within the room, without speculating on how exactly he got there:

When he appeared with all the members of his body and used their functions, he also displayed the places of his wounds. I have always taken these as scars, not as actual wounds, and saw them as the result of his power, not of some necessity. He revealed the ease of this power, especially when he either showed himself in another form or appeared as his real self to the disciples gathered in the house when the doors were closed.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 356). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Gregory of Nyssa reads the text similarly:

After his resurrection he showed himself whenever he wanted to his disciples. When he wished to be present with them, he was in their midst without being seen, needing no entrance through open doors.… All of these occurrences, and whatever other similar facts we know about his life, require no further argument to show that they are signs of deity and of a sublime and supreme power.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 357). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Regarding the grave-clothes left in the empty tomb (John 20:6-8), Chrysostom seems to think they were simply stripped off and laid aside:

They see the linen clothes lying there, which was a sign of the resurrection. For if they had removed the body, they would not have stripped it first, nor, if any had stolen it, would they have taken the trouble to remove the napkin and roll it up and lay it in a place by itself apart from the linens. They would have taken the body as it was.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (pp. 340–341). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Eusebius of Caesarea hears the text saying the grave-clothes were simply left lying:

The cloths lying within seem to me at once to furnish also a proof that the body had not been taken away by people, as Mary supposed. For no one taking away the body would leave the linens, nor would the thief ever have stayed until he had undone the linens and so be caught.
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IVb, Elowsky, J. C. (Ed.). (2007). John 11–21 (p. 341). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Now my point is not to say we must agree with whatever the commentators write. That would go against a fundamental principle of this blog.

Rather, my point is that the notion of Jesus’ resurrected body passing through solid objects is by no means required of the text. Many Bible readers, in cultures and times different than ours, saw nothing of the sort. Or at least, if they did, not many saw reason to say so.

Eyes Back On the Text

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
John 20:19

What is plain is that the disciples were in a room with the doors locked. And John’s explicit reason for mentioning the locked doors is to highlight not Jesus’ miraculous entry but the disciples’ great fear of the Jews. And then at some point, Jesus came and stood among them. He may have entered the room in a miraculous way (which would be consistent with the views of the older commentators quoted above), but again, John doesn’t say so outright.

John doesn’t want us to focus on how exactly Jesus got into the room, though it may have been miraculous. And there is no reason to believe John wants us to think Jesus could pass through solid objects (but as I stated last week: It’s possible he could have!).

John wants us simply to see the risen Christ, in the flesh, offering peace to his fearful followers and sending them to bear witness to these things (John 20:20-23). Those are the facts of which we can be certain, and they ought to be the focus of our attention as we strive to understand and teach John’s message in this text.

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Snapshots of Jesus in Every Old Testament Book

July 3, 2019 By Peter Krol

Garrett Kell writes of “The Most Epic Bible Study of All Time,” where Jesus explained to two disciples on the road to Emmaus all the things contained in the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:27).

Kell walks through every Old Testament book, summarizing what Jesus may have had to say concerning himself in each one. He concludes:

Reading the Old Testament to find Jesus isn’t meant to be like playing “Where’s Waldo?”—looking behind every tree for a cross or every chair for a throne. We do, however, find both explicit teachings and also implicit themes that push us to know that something, or someone, greater must come to fulfill them. Jesus proved this true that day following his resurrection.

This is worth a few moments of your time. Check it out!

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