Hey, why not share my notes from some of the sessions here at Willow Creek?
Session 1: Community
Scott McKnight, Prof. @ North Park University
“Community is at the center of what we’re about.”
The hope of the world is the local church.” Hybels
To understand the bible we must deal with three re-occurring words:
-Israel
-Kingdom
-ChurchThis stands in tension with extreme western individualism
So what does re-learning the bible with community in mind looks like?
Let’s look at Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus’ temptation/testing in the wilderness...
1(A) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness(B) to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting(C) forty days and forty nights, he(D) was hungry. 3And(E) the tempter came and said to him, "If you are(F) the Son of God, command(G) these stones to become loaves of bread." 4But he answered, (H) "It is written,
(I) "'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
5(J) Then the devil took him to(K) the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
(L) "'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and
"'On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
7Jesus said to him, "Again(M) it is written,(N) 'You shall not(O) put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8(P) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone,(Q) Satan! For(R) it is written,
(S) "'You shall worship the Lord your God
and(T) him only shall you serve.'"
11Then the devil left him, and behold,(U) angels came and were ministering to him.
How will most western Christians read the bible?
1. The Law Approach
God word are God’s commands for us to do
This makes God primarily a law-giver, this as opposed to Covenant-Maker
Thus, the bible becomes a weapon and puts people in judgment over one another
2. The search for blessings and promises Approach
Reading the bible becomes a search for the blessings I want
What to do with God’s wrath, judgment? What about suffering, failing and complaining?
If you’re looking for the blessing in Jesus’ temptation, you’ll just skip over it.
3. The “Ink-Blot” Approach
“There’s nothing really there in the ink blot, it’s only what you impose/project onto it.”
The truth is that we do impose our pre-existing ideologies on the text
So, what are you looking for in the temptation story? That all depends...
4. The Puzzle Approach
God put all the pieces in there, you just need to sort through and put them together
We call it “Systematic Theology”
The problem is that ST consistently neglects huge portions of the bible story
Example: Where does Ezekiel or some of the stories of the judges fit in?
If you impose systematic theology on this text you might not know where it fits or what purpose it serves
(Note: this is why biblical theology is so important. It is impossible to deny our categorical approach to understanding the texts)
5. The “Maestro” Approach
Who is the one that really nailed this
If Paul is our guy, Romans is our book, and 1-3 are our chapters!
Then we read all of the bible through the lens of these three chapters
(Note: Actually, I think Jesus is the maestro, and we do read the text thru his life)
Really, he’s applying historical contextualism through Christo-centric interpretation
And that is what any good seminary will teach you to do!
How do we read the temptation?
Is Jesus the second Adam? Kinda, but this is no garden
Jesus quotes Deut. 3X
All 3 are references to Israel in the wilderness
Jesus is in wilderness
Israel wandering 40 yrs
Jesus out 40 days
Jesus is the second Israel
Jesus succeeds where Israel failed
Therefore...
You are God’s chosen people when you are in God’s chosen one- Jesus!
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