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Use Context to Resist Satan

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J.A. Medders reflects on the fact that the devil hates context. He’ll quote scripture but ignore what’s present right in the immediate context. We should make sure we don’t do the same. (My co-blogger Ryan once made a similar point.) In fact, by employing context in our Bible study, we’ll be better equipped to resist the wiles of Satan.

The devil took Psalm 91:11–12, applied it to Jesus, and left out the context. And here’s why: verse 13 is an allusion, reminder, and reinforcement of the promise God made in Genesis 3:15. There in the garden of Eden, as sin rippled through the universe, the devil heard his doom—someone would be born who would crush his head. And his name is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. He didn’t want to think about Jesus and verse 13.

Check it out!

No Good Tree Bears Bad Fruit

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oranges

Birgit (2017), public domain

Jesus was a master of metaphor and illustration. Camels fitting through the eye of a needle! A woman turning her house upside down because of a lost coin!

He also spoke of trees and fruit. If you’ve been around the church, you’ve probably heard the saying, “no good tree bears bad fruit.”

So, what does this phrase mean?

Jesus the Preacher

While we hear much from Jesus in the Gospels, we must concede that Jesus preached far more sermons than the Gospel writers recorded. He likely talked with his disciples, preached to the crowds, or taught in the synagogues most every day of his adult ministry.

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

The phrase “no good tree bears bad fruit” shows up twice in the Gospels, in Matthew 7:18 and Luke 6:43. (The ESV translates the phrase in Matthew as “a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit.”) This is one of several similarities between Jesus’s sermons in Matthew 5:2–7:27 and Luke 6:20–49. Matthew’s account has been called the “Sermon on the Mount,” and many have assumed that Luke’s version is an excerpt from the same sermon.

But a closer look calls this assumption into question. Not all of Jesus’s sermon in Luke appears in Matthew. (The “woe” pronouncements in Luke 6:24–26 are a prime example.) Also, where the sermons overlap in content they differ in important specifics. (In Luke’s Beatitudes, Jesus blesses the “poor” and the “hungry,” while in Matthew Jesus blesses the “poor in spirit” and those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”)

The most straightforward conclusion is that these are different sermons. Anyone who has spent time around a preacher knows that favorite phrases and illustrations show up in different settings for different purposes.

Matthew 7

In Matthew 7, Jesus uses the tree/fruit illustration to help his disciples spot false prophets.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:15–20)

Consider the larger passage. In Matt 7:13–14 Jesus speaks about the wide and narrow gates leading (respectively) to destruction and life. In Matt 7:21–23 Jesus warns that not everyone who calls him “Lord” and claims to have worked in his name will enter the kingdom of heaven. Some he will throw out as “workers of lawlessness.” Jesus is teaching about the way to life—who’s in and who’s out?

Jesus wants his disciples to identify those who do not bear good fruit, especially when they claim to follow him. And what fruit did Jesus have in mind? “Judge not” (Matt 7:1). “Take the log out of your own eye” (Matt 7:5). Ask the Father for good things (Matt 7:7–11). Treat others the same way you want them to treat you (Matt 7:12). In summary, build a solid house by hearing and obeying Jesus (Matt 7:24–27).

Luke 6

Let’s take a look at the tree/fruit illustration in Luke.

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43–45)

The word “for” at the beginning of verse 43 points to the previous section, where Jesus commands his disciples not to be hypocrites, but to remove the log from their own eyes before taking a speck out of a brother’s eye (Luke 6:41–42). This caution flows from Jesus’s warning not to judge others (Luke 6:37–38).

Significantly, there is no mention of false prophets in this section of the sermon. Instead, Jesus speaks of fruit as the overflow of the heart.

Coming on the heels of the exhortation to “take the log out of your own eye,” the implication is clear. Jesus’s disciples must examine their own hearts. When they see bad fruit, it is the result of lingering evil in their hearts.

Context!

Back to our original question. What does the phrase “no good tree bears bad fruit” mean? I hope by now the answer is clear. It depends!

Words and phrases have little to no meaning when lifted from their context. This is true for our own words; how much more is it true of Holy Scripture!?

So, when reading Jesus’s sermons, or any part of the Bible, pay attention to the context. Observe and interpret accordingly. And as you apply the truths of the Bible, you also will bear much fruit.

This post was originally published in 2018.

Answers to Christmas Observation Exercise

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Last week, I posted some questions to see how well you’ve observed the birth narratives in Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, and Revelation 12. I now come bearing answers.

  1. In a dream (Matt 1:20)
  2. He came to her in a city of Galilee called Nazareth (Luke 1:26-28)
  3. An angel of the Lord (Matt 1:20)
  4. Gabriel (Luke 1:26)
  5. Both (Matt 1:21, Luke 1:31)
  6. Immanuel (Matt 1:22-23)
  7. The Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32)
  8. Joseph (Matt 1:25). Luke 2:21 does not specify which parent named him, but Matt 1:25 does.
  9. A great red dragon (Rev 12:3-4), who is the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan (Rev 12:9).
  10. Herod (Matt 2:16)
  11. A house (Matt 2:11)

How Well Have You Observed the Birth Narratives?

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For your Christmas cheer, here is a little quiz. How well have you observed the narratives of Jesus’ birth over the years? First, try this without looking. Then check out Matthew 1-2, Luke 1-2, and Revelation 12 for any answers you struggled to remember. Or go ahead and read those passages first, then come back here to see how well you observed them?

  1. In what form or setting did the angel appear to Joseph, when he told him Mary would have a child?
  2. In what form or setting did the angel appear to Mary, when he told her she would have a child?
  3. Which angel appeared to Joseph?
  4. Which angel appeared to Mary?
  5. Which parent—Mary or Joseph—was told to name the child Jesus?
  6. What other name does Matthew say the child will be called?
  7. What other name does Luke say the child will be called?
  8. Which parent—Mary or Joseph—actually named him Jesus when he was born?
  9. Who was waiting to kill Jesus right before he was born?
  10. Who tried to kill him shortly after he was born?
  11. In what sort of structure was Jesus located when the wise men met him and fell down to worship him?

I will post the answers next week so you can see how you did.

Not the Rock but the Storm

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I was recently studying the end of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, and something struck me about the parable of the builders. Take a look at it.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matt 7:24-27)

This little parable brings the Sermon to an end, and it is famous enough that anyone who has been around church knows what it means, right? There’s even an old children’s song about it: “The wise man builds his house upon the rock…” According to the third and fourth verses:

So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down.

The blessings come down as the prayers go up
The blessings come down as the prayers go up
The blessings come down as the prayers go up
So build your house on the Lord

Is that what this parable teaches?

Image generated with Jetpack AI Assistant from the prompt “beach house built on sand destroyed by hurricane”

A Closer Look at the Parable

Jesus is not the least bit mysterious. This parable is perhaps one of the clearest he ever told. No attempt to trick anyone here:

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man… And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will like a foolish man…

So the building of a house on the rock is a picture of not only hearing Jesus’ words but also obeying them. And the building of a house on the sand is a picture of hearing Jesus’ words and not obeying them. So the rock in this parable is a metaphor not for Jesus but for a Christian’s obedience to Jesus. The sand is a picture of disobedience, or perhaps even indifference, to Jesus’ commands.

Of course, this does not mean that “building on the foundation of Jesus” is an unbiblical metaphor. We find that very metaphor in numerous texts such as Eph 2:19-20 or 2 Cor 3:10-11.

So I’m not saying that it’s wrong to portray Jesus with the metaphor of a foundation on which we build. All I’m saying is that that is not what is going on in the parable of the builders in Matthew 7:24-27. In this parable, the rock is not a metaphor for Christ himself but for the Christian’s obedience to Christ.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Jesus himself is absent from the parable. I believe he still plays a major role within it. And maybe the context can help.

A Closer Look at the Context

We don’t have to go very far. The immediately preceding paragraph describes two different kinds of people as well: those who will enter the kingdom of heaven and those who won’t. And the person who will enter is “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21)—not necessarily the person who builds their case on a foundation of confessing Jesus as Lord (Matt 7:21) or on a foundation of seeking to represent Jesus when speaking the truth, overpowering satanic forces, or performing miracles (Matt 7:22).

The person who builds their Christian life from the groundwork of obedience to the Father will survive the judgment executed by Jesus himself. They will never have to hear him say, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23).

Do you see how, between these two paragraphs, Jesus equates doing “the will of my Father who is in heaven” with hearing “these words of mine” and doing them? Jesus places his commands at the same level of authority as the Father’s will. Jesus’ authority is thus complete and dramatic (Matt 7:28-29).

And because Jesus’ authority is both exhaustive and divine, he is the one whom every man and woman will one day have to face. He is the one who will break the nations with a rod of iron and own the peoples for his inheritance (Psalm 2:4-9). So on the last day, he will remove all pretenders from before him (Matt 7:23). Those who honored him with their lips but kept their hearts far from him (Matt 5:20-48) will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt 7:19). Those who practiced their righteousness before men, to be rewarded by them, will have reached the end of their full reward (Matt 6:1). Those who passed through the wide gate and walked the broad road with the rest of humanity will reach the end of that path—destruction (Matt 7:13).

And Jesus will be the one doling it out with all authority in heaven and on earth.

So Where is Jesus in the Parable?

By the time we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it ought to be clear that Jesus is not, in this text, the rock on which a person must build their life. No, Jesus is the storm that will come and put severe pressure on the lives they have built.

Jesus is the storm. He is the flood, and the wind (Matt 7:25, 27).

Those who have only heard him, before going on with their precious little lives, will suffer from his storm, and they will fall spectacularly (Matt 7:27). But those who heard his words and then went and lived them out? Those folks will face the same Judge as the first group.

But they will remain standing before him. They will not be shattered to pieces. They will not fall (Matt 7:25).

What will be your experience of facing this Judge and the storm of his reckoning?

Context Matters: The Least of These

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Consider one of the most chilling statements Jesus ever made:

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt 25:45-46)

It sounds as though the way a person treats “the least of these” is—if not the cause—at least the evidence of a person’s eternal fate. But do we understand who those people are whom Jesus wishes us to feed, clothe, welcome, and visit? It prevails on us to get this right.

Kevin DeYoung recently republished a helpful piece where he examines the phrase “least of these” from the context. He looks at Jesus’ usage not only in Matt 25:45 but also Matt 25:40, along with the logical flow of Jesus’ discourse and the literary connections back to Matthew 10.

I won’t quote his conclusion here, to entice you to go and read how he arrives at it.

Check it out!

How to See a Narrative’s Train of Thought

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Bible Stories Have a Point

Perhaps I’ve convinced you that part of Bible study requires picking up an author’s train of thought. And you can see it most clearly with instructional texts like epistles, wisdom poetry, and prophets. But what about the narrative books? Do they have a train of thought as well?

Ted McGrath (2014), Creative Commons

Ted McGrath (2014), Creative Commons

Remember that Bible stories are more than stories. While biblical narratives tell a true history of God’s redemption, the purpose of the stories is more than the history itself (or the story itself). Paul uses biblical narratives to provide examples to follow and warnings to avoid (1 Cor 10:6, 11). Jesus uses biblical narratives to draw ethical principles for his day (Mark 10:6-9). And Hebrews uses biblical narratives to inspire and motivate people not to shrink back but hold fast to Jesus despite great affliction (Hebrews 10:39-12:3). Examples, morals, and motivation all come from stories.

Finding the Point of a Bible Story

What does this mean for our Bible study? How do we find the main points of Bible stories?

Narratives by nature don’t present their material logically. You won’t find many “so that”s or “therefore”s in narratives, so it’s more challenging to trace out a logical train of thought.

But the tools of narratives lie primarily in plot, structure, and climax. Learn to see these things, and you’ll discover the narrator’s train of thought.

Plot: What is the primary sequence of action? Who does what to whom, and what are the results? At what point does the plot hinge and build toward climax and resolution?

Structure: Narratives won’t make clear logical argument, but they structure their material intentionally.

Climax: Where is the highest point of energy in the story? Where do the characters find what they seek or resolve their tension?

Look for these clues, and you’re on your way toward the main point.

Example #1 – Matthew 1:18-25

This short example begins with a clear title statement: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way” (Matt 1:18). The plot immediately thickens as Mary gets pregnant and Joseph tries to do the right thing by her. Suddenly, an angel appears to him in a dream (not an everyday occurrence) and gives Joseph two commands with explanation:

  • command 1: do not fear to marry her.
    • explanation: this child is from the Holy Spirit.
  • command 2: call his name Jesus.
    • explanation: he will save his people from their sins.

So not only the marriage, but also the child’s name is important here. We don’t hit the story’s climax, though, until we read “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet” (Matt 1:22), which leads into more talk of pregnancy, birth, and naming of a child – with another explanation of the name (God with us – Matt 1:23).

As the tension resolves, Joseph obeys the angel. And Matthew goes out of his way to tell us that he 1) married her without making love to her, and 2) named the child Jesus (Matt 1:24-25).

We’re not told much in this short tale, but the following things are clear:

  1. Joseph is not this child’s father.
  2. God has come to be with us.
  3. This God will save his people from their sins.

What is the point of this short story? God himself has come to deal with his people’s sin. See how the story’s train of thought leads us to this key point?

Example #2 – Mark 6:7-8:30

I don’t have the space to analyze this lengthy passage exhaustively, but I want to show how observing structure helps us to get the point.

Intro: Jesus sends out the 12, creating a crisis for Herod: Who is Jesus? – 6:7-29

A Jesus feeds 5,000 – 6:30-44

B Jesus crosses the sea with his disciples – 6:45-56

C Pharisees argue with Jesus – 7:1-23

D Jesus talks to a woman about bread – 7:24-30

E Jesus heals a deaf man – 7:31-37

A Jesus feeds 4,000 – 8:1-9

B Jesus crosses the sea with his disciples – 8:10

C Pharisees argue with Jesus – 8:11-13

D Jesus talks to his disciples about bread – 8:14-21

E Jesus heals a blind man – 8:22-26

Conclusion: Peter sees and understands exactly who Jesus is – 8:27-30

Seeing this larger structure is what helped me to understand why it took Jesus two tries to heal the blind man in Mark 8:22-26. Mark portrays two parallel cycles of events with the disciples, where they get to experience firsthand who Jesus is. Herod’s initial questions (John the Baptist? Elijah? One of the prophets?) go unanswered until Jesus takes his disciples through these two cycles.

And they don’t get it (Mark 8:21). But in healing the blind man, Mark gives a living parable of Jesus’ healing of the disciples blindness. And then, finally, they see him clearly. Not John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets – but the Christ (Mark 8:27-29).

The narrative has a train of thought; not only within a particular episode but also across many episodes. Look for this train and hop on board.

A Darkened Sun and Falling Stars

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When Jesus spoke of the sun being darkened, the moon not giving light, and the stars falling from heaven (Mark 13:24-25), was he talking about the end of the world? Or was he using prophetic terminology for the fall of Jerusalem?

Michael Bird tackles the issue in a lengthy but carefully argued article that would be well worth your time. Looking at the entire “Olivet Discourse,” he argues that:

…the discourse needs to be situated in the context of Jesus’s mission; namely, the preaching of the kingdom (Mark 1:15) and the restoration of Israel (Matt 10:5–6; 15:27; Mark 7:27; Rom 15:8). Jesus announced that Israel was facing a national crisis, that it had to choose how to be Israel. He explained how to be God’s chosen people to some who were choosing the path of violent revolution, to those who were following the pattern and piety of the Pharisees, to those who accepted the status quo of the Herodians, and to those who put put up with the moral and mercantile corruption of the priesthood. He gave them options: follow his way of being Israel, or else find the holy city laid waste and the sanctuary itself desecrated and destroyed.

Bird concedes that Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24-25) does contain a preview of the final judgment. But Mark and Luke appear to be squarely focused on events surrounding Rome’s assault on Jerusalem in AD 70.

Bird makes his case from both literary and historical contexts, and whether you end up agreeing with him or not, his article is well worth your time and consideration.

Check it out!

The Sermon on the Mount is not Meant to Make You Feel Bad

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I’ve seen a general pattern in “Christ-centered” or “gospel-centered” Bible teaching, that preaching the gospel requires us to always make ourselves and others feel bad for our sin. That the gospel has not been preached unless we get to the conclusion that “We cannot do what this text is saying, but Jesus can and did, so let’s trust him.” I’ve contributed to this tendency in years past, and have come to see how this actually flattens the Scriptures, often using them in a way contrary to their stated intentions.

One key place where this tendency shows up is in studies on the Sermon on the Mount.

Kevin DeYoung has a wonderful piece, excerpted from a recent book, where he debunks — from the text itself — this way of reading Jesus’ most famous sermon.

If we approach the Sermon on the Mount only or mainly as a means by which we see our sinfulness, we’ve not taken the sermon on its own terms… We’ve turned the Sermon on the Mount into a giant spanking spoon—good for making you squeal in pain, but not a welcome instrument or a way of life. The Great Commission, then, becomes a summons to teach the nations everything Jesus has said—which, of course, they cannot do, and he doesn’t expect them to observe.

DeYoung then observes four ways in which the text points us “away from thinking Jesus means to give us an impossible discipleship plan.”

  1. Jesus presents us with bracing either/or options at several points in his sermon.
  2. Jesus understands that there is an already-and-not-yet dimension to our Christian walk.
  3. Woven into the fabric of Christ’s kingdom living is the expectation that we will need grace and forgiveness.
  4. The Sermon on the Mount is not an impossible standard, because pleasing Jesus is not impossible.

DeYoung observes the text carefully, following the sermon’s own logic, to free us from unnecessary guilt to walk in the joy of allegiance to the Lord Jesus. I highly commend his article to you.

Check it out!

How to Read the Sermon on the Plain

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When studying a passage in the gospels, we must handle parallel passages with care. We’ll make better use of the parallels if we don’t merely harmonize but illuminate.

For example, let’s take Luke’s Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6. Much time could be spent on the question of harmonization: Is this the same sermon as Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, or not? How do we harmonize these two extensive teachings of Jesus?

But that question of harmonization is not nearly as important as the following:

  • What is Luke’s message in Luke 6?
  • What is Matthew’s message in Matthew 5-7?

Those questions may not have the same answer!

To help you with this example, let me recommend an article called “The Sermon on the Plain: What It Is & How It Differs from the Sermon on the Mount.” I wrote this article to analyze some of the similarities and differences between the two sermons. But ultimately, I wanted to get to these four suggestions:

  1. Don’t be distracted by the Mount/Plain question
  2. Read the entire sermon as a sermon
  3. Read the sermon in the context of Luke’s Gospel
  4. Read, read, and read again

Check it out!