Taking this NT Class has been a very insightful one. It has given me many fresh revelations about the New Testament writings which have greatly intrigued me. I would like to share 3 insights out of the numerous things learnt which has struck me.
Firstly, learning about the Greco-Roman society which the NT books are based on has enabled me to better understand and appreciate the writings and their intended message.
For instance, I learnt more about the different groups of people in society during that time: Pharisees were more towards the religious aspect whereas the Sadducees were towards the political aspect. Sadducees wanted power and money.
https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=greco-roman&biw=1600&bih=777&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=qoBmVbnwOebP7gaHn4CYAw&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=pharisee+and+sadducees&imgrc=T68D7vqnjPI7FM%253A%3BTkW6Ip82oFjKCM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.goodsalt.com%252Fview%252Fpharisees-sadducees-1-1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fukasimuwod.opx.pl%252Fpharisees-and-sadducees-bible-reference.php%3B450%3B327
Concepts such as synagogue and temple were introduced and further bridged to the various groups of people: Pharisees centred around synagogues where they conducted religious teachings; whereas on the other hand, Sadducees centred around temples where the Jews would pay an annual temple tax.
In another instance, due to the Roman occupation, many roads linking cities were constructed. This was meant to provide good and proper roads for Roman soldiers to move from one city to another. However, such a time also allowed apostles such as Paul and Peter to travel extensively within the Roman Empire, preaching the gospel wherever they went.
Secondly, I also learnt that the gospels are each written for different audiences, for different purposes, and thus written differently. In all the years of reading the bible, it had never occurred to me to question the presence of 4 gospels which seemed to be repeating the same thing.
And because each gospel was written for an intended audience, I should avoid comparing between the gospels as that would lose the original purpose of the writing. Instead, for each gospel I should delve into
· Who is the intended audience?
· What is the purpose of the gospel written?
· What is the context of that time?
Book
|
Matthew
|
Mark
|
Luke
|
John
|
Intended
Audience
|
Jews
|
Romans
|
Greeks
|
Gentile Christians
|
Take for example, the narrative of Jesus’ journey to crucifixion is detailed in Mark (15:16-41) and Matthew (27:27-56). However, there are portions missing in Luke and John’s accounts.
Mark was written for the Romans. The Romans were familiar with the procedures of recognizing the new Caesar. And the details were accounted in Mark because the way in which Jesus was led to be crucified could be paralleled to that of recognizing the new Caesar. The Romans would be able to identify that Jesus was like the new king.
However, Luke and John were written for Greeks and Gentile Christians respectively, and the information familiar to Roman ways would not be familiar to them. Thus accounting for the ‘missing’ portions.
In another example, some may wonder why the genealogy of Jesus was written right at the beginning of Matthew. Matthew intended audience were the Jews who valued genealogies, as from there they could trace the genealogy of Jesus to prove that Jesus was the Messiah as foretold from the Old Testament – the Son of Abraham and David.
Furthermore, due to the nature of the intended audience and purpose of the individual gospels, there is no one ‘right’ gospel to hand to a new believer. Eg the gospel of John may not always be the apt one for a new believer as it was written for mature believers of the faith.
If one is seeking for a chronological order of events that happened, one can turn to Luke as it gives an orderly account (1:3).
Fourthly, through the Group Project on women, it has enlightened my understanding on what Paul means when he asks women to be silent in church (1 Cor 14:34). Again, context is crucial. Paul’s point was to have orderly worship in church. Some prophetesses thought they had the gift of judging prophecies of others (their husbands or other men) and were asking questions so as to judge what they had said, seemingly lording it over them. Paul wanted women to show their submission to their husbands by asking their questions at home.
In conclusion, from the study of the NT, I realized that there are many things which I am unaware of. And how crucial it is to understand the context of the passage and background of the society at that point of time! It would guide the interpretation of the passage to what the author intended it to be.
Many ideas and concepts have changed over the years from Jesus’ time till now. It is easy to read the Bible with our own human and modern understanding. But in so doing, we will not be able to capture the essence of the author’s message. Worse, we may so wrongly interpret the Bible and form a new cult group.
May all of us be spurred to dig deeper to uncover the treasures of His Living Word even though it takes more time and research to be done. With a better understanding and appreciation of the NT, it has brought me new excitement to find more understanding of the writings and their purpose of writing.
Thank God for teachers of the Word.
