Studying the Bible (part 1)

For Sunday, March 14th, 2009

1) Studying the Bible can be a daunting task. Often it can seem intimidating and cryptic.
* What do you like about studying the Bible?
* What is hard about studying the Bible?

For the next couple weeks, we are going to explore some key types of passages from the Bible and how to read them. You are encouraged to ask questions and form your own opinions. We won't always agree, and that's part of the mystery of the Bible: It sometimes says different things to different people!

3) Read: Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

* What is this story about?
* What parts of this story seem to reference other parts of the bible?
* On a scale of 1 (least) to 10 (most), how well do you feel you understand this passage?

4) Read: Exodus 34:21

"Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

This single verse comes in the midst of a set of laws that God gives to the Israelites.
* How does this passage help explain part of the previous passage from Matthew?
* Where does the balance of 6 days of work and 1 day or rest come from? [Note: Genesis 1, the creation story]
* What questions does this passage now raise for you?

5) Read: 1 Samuel 21:1-6

David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?"
David answered Ahimelech the priest, "The king charged me with a certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find."
But the priest answered David, "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here—provided the men have kept themselves from women."
David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men's things are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!" So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the LORD and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.

This passage is part of the story of David, before he was king, and his travels while he hid from King Saul. David's men were tired and hungry.
* How does this passage help you understand the first passage from Matthew?
* What new questions does this passage raise for you?

6) Often times the Bible can leave us with more questions than answer, which might have happened with the above passages. This is natural! The above passages we read are an example of events that link together. This is sometimes referred to as a "narrative thread", or a chain of events that go together in the bigger story. Over the next couple weeks we will explore other types of passages we encounter in the Bible.
* What sort of questions do you have about studying the Bible that you would like answered over the next couple weeks?
[Note: Please collect the list of questions and send them to me.]