Our lenses are three.
We need them all.
If we hope to see
Wide and far and small.

Lens #2: Looking at the Bible through a telescope

Our next lens is a telescope. Telescopes bring things that are far away closer. We are separated from the Bible by many centuries. The culture, customs and language of the Bible are alien to us. When we get out our telescopes we are trying to bring the Bible times closer to us. Can you draw the floor plan of a 1st century Palestinian house? Describe a meal? Or a synagogue meeting? Or a wedding? Customs and daily life are the richest source of material for helping us understand the Bible.

Two resources that I use all the time are:

• IVP Bible Background Commentaries

They have cultural notes, verse by verse for the Old Testament and New Testament. Some of it is highly speculative but in general it will help you understand Bible passages in their cultural context.

• The Biblical Illustrator

The Southern Baptist Christian Education department has been putting out this information for decades and now they’ve collected it all together on a CD. This is a treasure-trove of articles, photos and illustrations that will help you to imagine what life was like in Bible times.

In the story of the Gerasene demoniac, the most important aspect of Jewish culture to understand is “impurity.” Nothing is ever said explicitly in the text but the scene that unfolds would have horrified a devout Jew. The region where Jesus and his disciples arrive in their boat is Gentile territory. They’re confronted by a filthy, raving demoniac who is living among the tombs. Nearby, pigs are feeding. And just to make it scary, it’s night time (4:35). This is a bad scene. The wrong side of the tracks. And in this story as in all the other stories in this section, Jesus comes into contact with impurity and the result is not that he is made impure but rather that others are purified. Same thing with the unclean woman suffering from “a flow of blood.” Same thing with the unclean corpse of the little girl. This is one of the major themes of the gospels but it’s hidden if you haven’t studied the culture of first-century Palestine.

What are some resources that you have found helpful for telescoping?

Grasshopper Greek

Go to the next lens: microscope