Week 7 Theo Interpretation of the Church

THE THEOLOGICAL
INTERPRETATION OF
SCRIPTURE
LECTURE SEVEN: CHURCH

The Metanarrative
Creation Fall Israel Jesus Church New Creation

Jesus:
Great Commission:
- Mt. 28

Matthew 28
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the
mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When
they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the
mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When
they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age.”
It is difficult to express how crucial this passage is
for Christian theology.

Jesus:
Great Commission:
- Themes:
‣Worship coexists with doubt.
‣Cross and Resurrection grant Christ “all authority”
‣The movement turns toward “nations” (first time)
‣Baptism (not circumcision) is the initiatory rite.
‣The three-fold Name [note the singularity].
‣A continued presence promised -“with you always”

Jesus:
Ascension:
- Q: What is its purpose (or function)?

Acts 1
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he
gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but
wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have
heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water,
but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him,
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom
to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or
dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very
eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was
going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood
beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you
stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who
has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in
the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Jesus:
Ascension:
1.Enthronement of Son of Man / Great High Priest
‣Daniel 7

Daniel 7
13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me
was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of
heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led
into his presence.
14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power;
all nations and peoples of every language worshiped
him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not
pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be
destroyed.
Perhaps the MOST important OT text for NT Christology.

Hebrews 10
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice
for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God
This too is a reference to Daniel 7…

Jesus:
Ascension:
‣Daniel 7 (Heb. 10)
2.Enables the Spirit’s sending.
‣John 16.7: “Unless I go away, the Advocate will
not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to
you.” [speaking of cross, but not limited to that]

Jesus:
Ascension:
‣John 16.7:
3.Emphasizes Christ’s eternal humanity / physicality
‣Douglas Farrow

DOUGLAS
FARROW
“Our choice is between a doctrine of
the Ascension that truly affirms our
humanity in Christ and one that
secretly or openly denies it…
Our future involves incalculable
transformations, but a real man will
be there, and a real garden too,
though we know not what will grow
there, or how.”
GREATEST LIVING
SCHOLAR OF THE
ASCENSION.

Jesus:
Ascension:
‣John 16.7:
3.Emphasizes Christ’s eternal humanity / physicality
‣N.T. Wright: God always intended to have human
being at the helm of his creation.

Acts 2
1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all
together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind
came from heaven and filled the whole house where they
were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to
speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Church:
Pentecost
- The church is born as God’s Spirit fills human bodies,
making them his temple.
‣Three Signs:
1.Wind (Symbolism?)
2.Fire (Symbolism?)

Flames on lamp-stands
symbolize God’s presence
in his temple:
See especially the use in
Revelation

Church:
Pentecost
- The church is born as God’s Spirit fills human bodies,
making them his temple.
‣Three Signs:
1.Wind (Symbolism?)
2.Fire (Symbolism?)
3.Languages (Symbolism?)
• The overcoming of the effects Babel
• Note how redemption is never a mere reversion
(Garden > City; Diversity but with understanding)

Church:
Pentecost
- OT Promises on the Pouring out of the Spirit:
‣Upon the Servant Messiah (Isa. 42.1)

Church:
Pentecost
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.

Church:
Pentecost
‣Upon Israel (Ezek. 37.14)
13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the
Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from
them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I
will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I
the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the
Lord.’”

Church:
Pentecost
‣Upon All People (Joel 2)

Church:
Pentecost
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.

Church:
Pentecost
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

Church:
Pentecost
The New Testament follows this exact progression.
Yet in Acts 2 we are still dealing exclusively with Jews.

Church:
Two Symbols of the New Covenant
- Baptism
‣Significance?
‣Key Question: Its relationship to circumcision
- Eucharist
‣Significance?
‣Key Question: Its literal and/or symbolic nature

Church:
The Spirit falls on Gentiles:
- Key Text: Acts 10 - Peter and Cornelius
‣Artistic Representations:

Church:
‣Sheet contains clean and unclean animals together.

Acts 10
11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large
sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well
as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up,
Peter. Kill and eat.”

Acts 10
11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large
sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well
as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up,
Peter. Kill and eat.”
God doesn’t simply say that it’s
okay for Gentiles to eat
“unclean animals”
He commands Peter to do so too.

Church:
๏In the Torah, clean and unclean animals were
always symbolic of clean and unclean people.
‣When the Spirit fills uncircumcised, non-kosher
Gentiles, this is proof that such practices must not
be required.
๏Acts 10.44

Acts 10
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy
Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The
circumcised believers who had come with Peter were
astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been
poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them
speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way
of their being baptized with water. They have received
the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that
they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Church:
๏In the Torah, clean and unclean animals were
always symbolic of clean and unclean people.
‣When the Spirit fills uncircumcised, non-kosher
Gentiles, this is proof that such practices must not
be required.
Yet the church will resist the Spirit here;
It will take a very unlikely convert to drive this point home.

PAUL OF
TARSUS
THE INVENTOR(?) OF
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

Church:
Paul’s Gospel:
- N.T. Wright’s Description:

N.T. Wright Paul and the Faithfulness of God
My proposal is that Paul actually invents something we
may call “Christian theology,” in this particular way
(Jewish beliefs about God, reworked around Messiah
and Spirit), for this particular purpose (maintaining the
new messianic people in good order).
Note:
He is NOT claiming that Paul invents Christianity.
He is claiming that Paul was the first to engage in a
rigorous Christian “theologizing.”
Remember:
Paul wrote his letters BEFORE the Gospels were
written.

Church:
Paul’s Gospel:
- N.T. Wright’s Description: “The Paul Cube”

The Paul Cube
N.T. Wright: Paul and the Faithfulness of God
Jewish Theology:
• Monotheism
• Election
• Eschatology
For the:
Gentile world
Foundation: Hebrew Scriptures
Wright: This explains ALL that Paul does and writes.

Church:
Paul’s Gospel:
- Background:
‣Perhaps a Shammaite Pharisee (“purity” / “zeal”)
‣Student of Gamaliel (clearly gifted intellectually)
‣Persecution stemmed from his pre-Christian view of
(1) monotheism; (2) election; (2) eschatology.
- Damascus Road Experience:
‣Seyoon Kim - The Origin of Paul’s Gospel
๏Apostleship; Gentile Mission; Church as Body of
Christ - All stem from Damascus Road Encounter

Church:
Paul’s Gospel: (again borrowing from Wright).
- “A Jewish theology for a Gentile world.”
‣Example: 1 Corinthians 10
‣Paul sees himself as “apostle to Gentiles” (Rom.11)
‣In this pagan / licentious / Gentile city, Paul’s tactic
is to get the Corinthian church to see themselves
within the story of Israel.

1 Corinthians 10
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers
and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud
and that they all passed through the sea.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in
the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and
drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the
spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was
Christ.
5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them;
their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

1 Corinthians 10
6Now these things occurred as examples [tupoi- types]
to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they
did.
7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is
written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up
to indulge in revelry.” 8 We should not commit sexual
immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-
three thousand of them died.
9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and
were killed by snakes. 10 And do not grumble, as some
of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.

1 Corinthians 10
11 These things happened to them as examples and
were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you
are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Church:
‣1 Corinthians 10
๏The point: You stand in a position like that of the
Exodus generation.
- You were in bondage/slavery
- Delivered by blood of Lamb
- Passed through the waters (baptism)
- But…don’t rebel like they did.

1 Corinthians 10
11 These things happened to them as examples and
were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you
are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!
Sidenote:
One might argue that Paul never got the
memo about “eternal security.”
It was possible to leave Egypt and yet fail to
reach the promised land.

Church:
‣1 Corinthians 10
๏“That rock was Christ!” (Terrible exegesis?)

Church:
‣1 Corinthians 10
๏“That rock was Christ!” (Terrible exegesis?)
- Exod. 17- Israel Grumbles, yet God says:
17.6 I will stand there before you on the rock
at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for
the people to drink.”

Church:
‣1 Corinthians 10
๏“That rock was Christ!”
- Edmund Clowney: This is a foreshadowing of
Penal Substitution.

Church:
‣Abraham and justification by faith (Rom. 4)

Romans 4
1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather
according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
…3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness.” […]
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for
the uncircumcised? We have been saying that
Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it
after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but
before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal
of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was
still uncircumcised.

Church:
๏Paul’s point is that justification has ALWAYS
functioned thus - By grace, through faith,
expressing itself in loving obedience.

Galatians 5
4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been
alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the
righteousness for which we hope.
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts
is faith expressing itself through love.

Church:
๏Paul’s point is that justification has ALWAYS
functioned thus - By grace, through faith,
expressing itself in loving obedience.
๏Using Abraham quells Gentile anti-Semitism.
๏Emphasizing Abraham’s justification apart from
Law or circumcision rebuts Jewish legalism

Church:

Church:
- “A welcome of Gentiles designed to make Jews
jealous (and thus bring them to Christ).”
‣Romans 11

Romans 11
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond
recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their
transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to
make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means
riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the
Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion
bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the
apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in
the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people
to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their
rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will
their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Church:
‣Q: What is Paul’s plan to accomplish this?
‣A: His “collection” (A “polite bribe”?)
A problematic, yet partly accurate portrayal of this collection:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg5bATZkoc4

Church:
‣While Paul’s trip to Jerusalem ends in betrayal…

2 Timothy 4
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but
everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,
so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

2 Timothy 4
16 At my first defense, no one came to my support, but
everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them
17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength,
so that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
This may include James
and many other Jewish Christians

Church:
‣While Paul’s trip to Jerusalem ends in betrayal, his
imprisonment and suffering become the means by
which the gospel spreads.

Church:
‣While Paul’s trip to Jerusalem ends in betrayal, his
imprisonment and suffering become the means by
which the gospel spreads.
This is also true for the church at large.

Church:
The Triumph of the Lamb (Victory through Suffering)
- A Paradox: Christ’s church conquers, not by worldly
power plays, but by sacrificial (suffering) love.
‣Example: 2 Cor. 4.12

2 Corinthians 4
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as
captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to
spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2 Corinthians 4
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as
captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to
spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
Romans 12
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper
worship.

Church:
‣Nowhere is this more clear than Revelation

The triumph of the “Lamb” may be
the central theme of Revelation

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639-1709)

Revelation 5
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain,
standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the
four living creatures and the elders…
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of
him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they
were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are
the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new
song, saying:

Revelation 5
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people
and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests
to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people
and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests
to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Note how many biblical-theological themes
come together here!

Church:
‣Revelation
๏To follow the Lamb is to suffer like him.
๏Yet through suffering comes redemption.
‣The Lamb is mentioned seven times in
Revelation 21-22 alone!
Thus we must return to this theme in our final session.

Week 7 Theo Interpretation of the Church

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