Bible Seminar, Lesson 1 (Part #1)
Bible Seminar, Lesson 1 (Part #2)
Bible Seminar, Lesson 1 (Part #2)
Mark 8:22-25 And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up: and he was restored and saw every man clearly.
Not long ago while walking through the woods on the way back from one of my favorite fishing spots, I took a picture, of nothing more than a peaceful wooded scene. Uploading the picture to my social media page I caption it with, “Can you see the bear?” The varied response was surprising, and I divided them into groups. There were those who could see the bear, those who did not see the bear, and another group who spread rumors saying, “I saw a bear in the woods”. The fourth group was the most intimidating, in that it suggested that I should lay off the hard liquor while walking in the woods. The result of the study became more embarrassing when some of my friends insisted on organizing a bear hunt. This experiment proved that our perception is often clouded by our perspective. In many of Jesus messages he referenced this flawed condition of humanity as such: Mark 8:18 having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
The theme of this seminar, “Understands the Word of God”, it is not based upon the proclamation of a new doctrine, nor is it an attempt to confirm or enforce a new set of rules governing the interpretation of the scriptural. This lecture series s designed to pose questions. We will pose more questions than answers, the same as Jesus did during his ministry. In the Hebrew Bible, Jesus asked at least 183 questions, compared to the more than 307 questions he was asked. He only gave a direct answer to three. Jesus often formulated his response to questions in such a manner that the person asking the question was forced to provide the answer. Questions are an important asset to teaching and learning. It is through the entertainment of questions that our perception will be sharpened, and the mind is able to adjust its perspective and gain a deeper insight into the knowledge of God. This lecture and the ones that follow is a process of searching for answers. The answer for many of the questions that we will pose is necessary to reaffirm the faith of the emerging generation. A generation who maintains the frameworks and vocabulary of Christianity while having lost touch with their substance.
Understanding The Word of God will allow us to adjust our vantage point, it will enable us to address many of the flawed facets of religious ideology. The world has embraced a new and permissive order; the scriptures are quickly discarded as clichés without substance and the irrelevant rants of ambiguous church folks. Christianity once was heralded as the true religion and protected by the Western world, it is now being offered up on the altar of political correctness. The detractors are presenting it as a failed religion while many of our religious leaders glory in worldly excesses. Through these lectures or classes, we intend to reaffirm the ideology that the journey is spiritual and the message is the Word of God; it is not about the art of preaching and addressing the emotional and motivational aspects of humanity. It is not about coming to church and standing in line waiting for God to hand out a blessing. The message is the same one that was preached by Jesus and his disciples, it is a call to the world to repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Over the course of this event, we will conduct a number of discussions. In this venue in order for a Bible discussion to be believable the foundation of that discussion must rest upon several principles, among them are perspective and context. The context and perspective began at the point of interpretation. If this is true, then we must guard against a subtle form of syncretism. Syncretism is defined as the tendency to read the Bible through the lens of our denomination, organization or ministry strategy. When the interpretation of the scripture is based upon our personal views or perspective we take a chance on missing out on much of what God reveals in the scripture. Theological syncretism is a form of spiritual suicide,
For a deeper understanding of the Word of God, a prayer for God to open our eyes must be at the forefront of our endeavor. God’s perspective is from one vantage point, man’s perspective is from many different vantage points. It is, therefore, easy for a man with a slight influence from that old devil to see things different from God. Mark gives us a startling example of Jesus adjusting the perspective of the once blind man. Mark 8:23-25 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. (Remember the picture. “Can you see the bear?) After that he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. What stands out in this scripture is, Jesus touched the man and he was healed, but he did not see clearly. Being touched by the Savior and viewing life from the proper perspective was a two-step process.
There are guidelines for establishing perspective and context, and they are based upon who is speaking, who is being spoken to, and what is the subject matter. There are three major groups addressed in the Bible, the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church. Paul referenced these three separate entities in 1st Corinthians 10:32, “Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:” To preclude an argument within the mind of many, the Jews and Gentiles are earthly people, the church is a spiritual body, and as Paul stated in 1st Corinthians 12:13, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. Paul is addressing the spiritual makeup of the church, not the earthly makeup of a person.
What is perspective? Perspective is defined as a particular attitude toward our way of regarding something; in essence, it is a point of view. If the perspective is a point of view, then it can vary from person to person. No doubt the blind man whom we discussed earlier saw men as trees walking based his assessment upon the knowledge he had received as a blind man. Perspectives can be clouded by indoctrinated beliefs, whether they be true or false. Perspectives can be based upon what we want to believe and not what is. Solomon addressed the issue in Proverbs 16:25, he said, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death.” Solomon had previously stated in Proverbs 12:15 that, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel, is wise.” A simple conclusion by examining these two verses is, there is a proper or true perspective and there is a false perspective.
A professional photographer will spend valuable time adjusting and repositioning his camera in search of the proper perspective as pertaining to its subject. Even after the photograph is processed, it is subjected to critical review. This review sometimes results in the photos being discarded and a new photo shoot scheduled. This does not detract from the expertise or professionalism of the photographer. In the world of professional photography there is a constant search for the proper perspective of static objects, thus highlighting and signify the difference between a snapshot and a photograph.
Lets view a common scripture from different perspectives. When I was a small child I saw a picture of Jesus standing at a door knocking. The caption for the picture was Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hears my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Most, if not all of us have seen that picture and the image is burned into our memory. Sermons and Bible studies are often presented, emphasizing Jesus at the door knocking. Would the message be the same if it was viewed from a different perspective, let's take a closer look at two of them. Perspective (1). We see Jesus standing at the door and depending upon our proximity to him, we might be able to hear him knocking and pleading. In order to see and hear what Jesus is doing, we must get as close to Jesus as we can. Therefore, we are now in the same position Jesus is in, and the message is not to us because we are outside of the room. Our perspective will not allow us to act upon the message, rather it has allowed us to become a projector of the message, rather than a receiver of the message. With all of the smugness of a saint of God, we can now proclaim, “Jesus is standing at the door knocking, will you please let him in.” To some this might seem as it is an extreme analogy, but remember the bear that did not exist. We must be careful that the view from the outside does not cause us to strive for a position equal to that of Christ as Lords of his church.
Perspective (2) We are inside of a room and we hear this knocking on the door. We hear the voice saying, “let me in”. To act upon the request of Jesus, you must be in the room. Jesus said, “if any man hears my voice and open the door.” He did not say hear me knocking, which was an act to get the attention of those in the room. He said, “hear my voice”. The message was a call to action. The uses of the term, “any man” makes this a message to the individual, a personal message. The message contained within this verse was never about seeing Jesus standing at the door, it was about hearing the Word of God on an individual level and opening the door. To spiritualize this, if you cannot hear Jesus knocking at the door of your Heart, then you must be in the wrong place. The message of the Word of God in Revelation 3:20 and even from the beginning of time has always been, “If you do this, this is what I will do.”
