Bible Study

This is a personal story about Bible study, the process of Bible study. Part of the Lenten vocation for all of us is to read and meditate on God’s Holy Word. It’s an activity that is worth the effort year ‘round.

When I first read the Gospel appointed for this Fifth Sunday in Lent I was initially struck by an almost ridiculous dichotomy. The bulk of the passage we just heard is a powerful and momentous statement by Jesus himself about the fulfillment of his ministry, the nature of the Christian life and the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection. This is significant stuff, the very crux of the Christian life and message. But the lead-in to Jesus’ words is a brief and puzzling anecdote about some Greeks and Philip and Andrew. It sounds almost like the beginning of a joke (Some Greeks came into a bar…) and it certainly doesn’t to be related to or set the stage at all for Jesus’ profound words. “Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus…” It reminded me of the childhood game of telephone. The Greeks talked to Philip; Philip talked to Andrew; Andrew talked to Jesus. I had fun imagining how the message might have sounded by the time it got to Jesus. Sir, we want to see Jesus, the Greeks initially said. How did it sound by the time the message got to Jesus? Sure, he’ll wash the sheets for us? And then Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!”

Even without my imaginative diversion about playing telephone, why did John include this odd little story about the Greeks and Philip and Andrew? Each Gospel writer picked and chose among the events of Jesus’ life and ministry, deciding which parts to use to convey the Good News faithfully and compellingly. Why this coupling in John of a trivial story with the sublime words of Jesus?

At least for me, this exploring and wondering is the beginning of Bible study, my own personal conversation with the words of Scripture. First, read the passage. And then bringing a bit of imagination, a lot of appreciation, and an inquiring heart to the voice speaking to me from the passage. This is part two: reflection, personal reflection. And in my own reflection on this passage I realized that it was the odd little anecdote about Philip, Andrew and the Greeks that hooked me, that really brought me into this passage, so that Jesus’ words could be spoken to me. Whatever the actual historical context may have been, whatever John’s purpose may have been in including this little incident, it was the story about some Greeks and two men named Philip and Andrew that drew me into the world of this whole Scripture passage.

And I think that’s because, even though it’s brief, this is a story. A story about real people. It’s more than just Jesus’ teaching about human life and the meaning of the resurrection. As profoundly important as that is, it is rather abstract or remote. But John doesn’t just give us Jesus, in the abstract, making profound pronouncements. The opening story invites us into a real world. I can see the Greeks… in my imagination they are two or three Greek fishermen wearing striped shirts and watch caps. They are young, with a mixture of earnest yearning and self-confident swagger. We want to see Jesus, they say, standing near each other for moral support. And I already know Andrew and Philip from other stories in Scripture. Their story comes alive.

The Gospels are full of stories. Full of quirky and seemingly extraneous detail. And I don’t think usually the details of the stories matter much. What matters is that they are stories. Stories about real people in a real place and time. Honest to God flesh and blood people whom Jesus touched and knew and spoke to. As I reflect upon this gospel passage, I recognize that the presence of this story helps me in two ways. First, it (and other stories in the Gospels) draws me into the reading of Scripture. Sort of like the tabloids in the grocery store check out line. Even without the bizarre headlines, stories about real people grab our attention. I’d find the Bible much less engaging if it were just a list of theological pronouncements, no matter how important. A story about some Greeks and Andrew and Philip engages my interest and brings the Gospel to life. And second, all of these stories remind me that Jesus was not just an abstract Word of God, although we call him the Word. He was a Word heard by real people; a touch felt by real people; God’s love experienced by real people.

Bible study. Read. Reflect. And sometimes study, academic study, as the third piece of Bible study. I’ve mentioned Raymond Brown before. As a Biblical scholar, his specialty was John. His commentary on the Gospel of John is two thick volumes in fine print. He has some very interesting observations about this particular passage in John. It comes near the middle of John’s Gospel, and is a major turning point. Up to this point in the Gospel Jesus has acted and spoken in ways that point forward, that are signs foretelling his purpose and ministry. But again and again he has said, “my hour has not yet come.” And then, in this passage, some Greeks show up and he says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

A scholar can tell us that it’s significant that they were Greeks, non-Jews. For the writer of John, at least, these Greeks represented the “whole world.” The world beyond just the Hebrew people, beyond the Jews who had known themselves as God’s own, God’s chosen. These few nameless Greeks who sought to know Jesus, to be with Jesus, who wanted to experience Jesus, were “proof” that God’s saving purpose in Christ was offered and meant for all people, people of all nations and cultures. And in John’s telling of the Gospel, the arrival of these Greeks triggered the active movement towards fulfillment of Jesus’ mission. The hour has now come. And they may have approached Philip, because although a Jew, he had a Greek sounding name. Even Raymond Brown doesn’t know why Andrew had to get into the action.

And in John’s Gospel, a scholar can also remind us, the words that Jesus speaks in this passage and the affirming voice from heaven mark the end of Jesus’ public ministry. There are many chapters of John’s Gospel remaining, much of it devoted to Jesus’ private discourse or teaching to the disciples. Until we get to the passion, these are the last words in John’s Gospel that Jesus says in public, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection… his being lifted up from the earth… will serve to draw all people to God. As Jesus shares our deaths at the same time that he shares God’s eternal life, he will become a direct link across all time and space for each of us to God. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection draw all people to God. After Jesus is lifted up, no one will need to play telephone to get God’s ear. No one will need any intermediary to know God or to be known by God. Jesus’ last words were words of invitation, drawing all people into God’s presence. If we but open our hearts, if we but turn our souls to God—each and every one of us—we will find God right here with us in the real world in which we live.

These last few sentences are the heart of my message today. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection mean that all people in every time and place have direct access to God’s presence. I could have preached just that. But, for one thing, the sermon would have been too short. You would hardly have been done rustling your leaflets and settling into your pews before I was done. But, especially during this Lenten season, I wanted also to outline and model a process for reading and meditating on God’s word. For me, the whole process is important. Read, reflect and study. First, just read a passage. Then spending some time in personal reflection. I can share my reflections, but you all have your own. Where does this passage stimulate your imagination; where does it connect with your own life? And then, academic study.

If your primary encounter with Scripture is just Sunday morning, just the Scripture inserts in your leaflets, you’re probably not getting passed the first stage. That’s a whole lot better than nothing, but there is the potential for such richness, such life beyond just the words on the page. On the other hand, too much emphasis on academic study can miss the living voice of God’s word in our lives today. God speaks beyond what scholars can tell us of the historical context of Jesus’ own day; God speaks beyond the original meaning or intent of the Greek words of the writer of John’s Gospel. Scholarly study can be a very important piece of the whole process of Bible study, but I typically do it last.

In today’s collect we pray that God will grant us grace to love what he commands and desire what he promises, so that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may be surely fixed where true joys are to be found. True joy is found in the presence of God with us, offered and made real in Jesus. If you seek that true joy, especially in the uncertain times in which we now live. If it is your prayer to find the true joy of God’s presence in the midst of the swift and varied changes of our world today, then a good, full, personal process of Bible study is one very good way to make that joy real.