ChosenRebel's Blog

Preparing to Study the Word of God: Get the Big Picture

Forest and Trees. Both are beautiful and mysterious. I walk through a forest and can view the conglomerated beauty of all the trees, rocks and fauna,
………..the moss, the dear trails,
………..the ponds and marshes,
………..the streams and creeks and rivers,
………..the ravines and hills and valleys,
………..the colors and shapes of the shadows,
but I can also focus on individuals trees, their barks, their textures and colors,
………..their girth and heights,
………..the leaf structure and the needles of the pines, cypresses, and firs,
but I can also stand back and view the collected color palette in front of me. All of these examinations help me to understand how the forest “works”, how it exists in the world and to understand its value to the eco-system of the region.

In a similar fashion, multiple readings of a book of a Bible allows us to see the complexity, beauty and mystery that was always there but our eyes were focused on too small a canvas. The whole book can emerge through (and maybe only emerge), through multiple readings. Knowing this, over the last 50 years, almost since I came to faith in January of 1974, I have set up “annual” and sometimes “monthly” projects to force me to see different things with each reading. Going back to the forest metaphor, I took my eye off the birches and focused on the pines, or off the maples to see the oaks. I took my eyes off the narrative to see the prayers, I lifted my eyes from the judgments to see the mercy and grace. I looked more intently at the commands to see the reasons that were connected to them. One year I wanted to see what the Bible said about conservation of land resources and found among many other things verses like Deuteronomy 20:19:

¹⁹ “When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?”  (NASB95)

God wanted the land protected so that future generations would have food to eat!

So, here is an introduction to one of the many pages that are available to the student of God’s word here on the ChosenRebel Blog. They are all FREE! You can find them by taking your curser and hovering over the Books and Resources Tab at the top of the blog. A pull down menu will appear titled “BIBLE BOOK BASICS”. Click on it and it will take you to the links for all the different Plans and Projects for reading every book of the Bible. Here’s the one for the Gospel of John. Happy studying to you of the-always- relevant-word of the Living God.

Plans and Projects for Multiple Readings
of the Gospel of John

1. Grab a mug of coffee, a comfortable chair and read the Gospel of John in one sitting. Try to come up with a chapter heading for each chapter as you go. Keep it under ten words per chapter.
   dd
   
2. Read the Gospel of John in 21 days, one chapter a day. Find every prayer you can and use them in your prayers each day.
   dd
   
3. Read the Gospel of John four times in four weeks reading three chapter a day for 30 days.
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4. Look for all the references to Jesus’ pre-incarnate existence. Some are explicit others are implied. Make a list of all of them. What do they tell you?
   dd
   
5. Make a list of all the different names and terms for God in the Gospel of John. Group in categories. (I.e, all the names that include the name Jesus in them, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, etc.)
   dd
   
6. Find all of the references to Holy Spirit and all of the terms that are used to describe Him. Examine the passages. Develop a “theology of the Holy Spirit” based on the book of John.
   dd
   
7. Examine all the references that includes “Jesus” as a part of the appellation. Try to write a one-page description of what the first century thought of Jesus according to the gospel of John. Consider the meanings of the terms and the reactions of the different persons in the narrative as they apply or hear others use different terms to describe Jesus.
   dd
   
8. Examine the cluster of names below: (What do you learn about how these terms were
   understood in the first century?)

     a.        “The only begotten God”
     b.        “The Son of God”
     c.        “The Son of Man”
     d.        “His only begotten Son”
     e.        “The Son”
     f.        “The One who is from God”

9. Read the Gospel of John and look for all of the “I am” statements. Classically, there are seven metaphors called the “Seven I AM statements” in John. There are actually six more I am . . . statements. Find all 13 and write a one-page biography of Jesus based on these names.
   dd
   
10. Read the book every week for a month using a different translation each time, ending with your favorite translation.
    dd
    
11. Find every passage that claims, assumes, or implies that Jesus is divine. Make a chart of your results. Plan to teach a Sunday School class on what you find.