For the past several weeks I’ve
been pondering 1 Corinthians Chapter Two, paying particular attention to the
idea that “the natural man does not accept or receive the things of the Spirit
of God…because they are spiritually understood” (2:14). My considerations have
been the result of thinking about the sacramentality of Scripture over the past
year – the idea that we truly encounter Christ through the Scripture, that
Scripture is a means of grace.
I have heard that Augustine said
something to the effect of, “When we encounter Scripture we encounter the face
of God.” I haven’t found the actual quote from Augustine, I’ve heard it and
read it quoted, but without a citation. Whether Augustine actually wrote it or
said it, it is in keeping with his high sacramental view of Scripture. Luther,
as I recall, viewed preaching as a sacramental event, something of which I’ve long
been conscious.
If what Paul is saying in 1
Corinthians Chapter Two is true, then only the Holy Spirit can reveal the Bible
to us. This means that as valuable as various forms of exegesis may be, and as
valuable as understanding history may be, and as valuable as historical context
may be (and we aren’t always certain about close historical context) – that none
of these things can take the place of the Holy Spirit and an encounter with
Christ in and through the Bible. A fair reading of John Chapters 13 – 17 suggests
that, if we are to believe Jesus, the Holy Spirit is vital to us understanding
the Word of God and the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Again, a fair reading of the New
Testament and of its authors’ use of the Old Testament challenges those of us
trained in Enlightenment and naturalistic exegesis to conclude that either: 1)
the authors had special insight into certain Old Testament passages and that
access to such insight is no longer available, 2) or the authors misinterpreted
the Old Testament, 3) or just perhaps our training has shut us off from the
possibility that the Holy Spirit is still revealing Jesus Christ in and through
the entire Bible, including the OT – which of course would be in harmony with
both the teaching of Christ in Luke 24 and with the way the Gospel was communicated
both orally and in writing in the New Testament period and in the Early Church.
It is possible to have a high
view of Scripture but not a high functional view of the Holy Spirit. It is
possible to be thoroughly trained in exegesis, in historical disciplines, in ancient
languages, and hold to a high view of Scripture, and yet to not encounter the
Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ in Isaiah, Leviticus, Job, Joel, and throughout the Psalms. What was natural
to Jesus Christ and his apostles and their associates has become foreign to us.
In Luke Chapter 24 Jesus reveals himself to his disciples in and through the
Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (what we call the Old Testament), and yet
we generally fail to experience the revelation of Christ in this manner and we
fail to model this sacramental and revelatory way of seeing Jesus Christ and
teaching Jesus Christ, as Christ himself and his apostles demonstrated to us. While
the Church Fathers had their faults, just as we do, many of them did not fail
to strive to follow the manner of teaching that they received from the First
Century Church – they looked for Christ throughout the entire Bible, and in looking
for Christ they not only found him, they also found his Church – in doing this
they did what the inspired writers of the New Testament did, they encountered
Jesus Christ sacramentally from Genesis – Malachi. This heritage of
transcendence is something we’ve lost; when we read Hebrews 12:18 – 29 we generally
have no idea what we are reading, we have no sacramental connection with “Mount
Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…the general assembly
of the firstborn…” In Galatians 4:21 – 31 we cannot look the text in its face
and actually believe that “the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.” We who
are earthbound cannot do this, we can’t see what we can’t see.
In fact, when we read much of the
NT book of Hebrews we simply cannot fathom what the inspired author is saying because
not only is he holistically integrating the Old Testament into the Gospel, but
he is also moving between heaven and earth, between the seen and the unseen, in
a seamless manner that is alien to our materialistic and naturalistic way of
thinking, of exegesis, and of teaching and preaching. In fact, the author is saying
in effect, “Do you want to see the Gospel? Let’s look at the Law, the Prophets,
and the Writings.” He is also saying, “Do you want to understand the Tabernacle
of Moses? Then let’s look beyond what the natural eye sees into what exists in
the heavens.”
Much of the professing church has
become functional Marcionites. We give lip-service to the Old Testament but we
don’t read it; and when we do read it we do not expect to encounter Jesus
Christ pouring through its pages, its images, its paradigms, its history; nor
do we expect to see the Church. We have split the One New Man of Ephesians 2:11
– 22 and don’t see the carnage.
Well, the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom (1 Cor. 1:22). Some of us are looking for
signs, for a therapeutic message; others are looking for the approval of the
academy born of the Enlightenment – naturally we will defend our positions, but
really, when we come down to the essentials, do we really need the Holy Spirit
in our preaching and teaching? Do we really need the Holy Spirit to reveal
Jesus Christ from Genesis – Malachi, and then from Matthew – Revelation? Are we
and our congregations encountering Christ in and through the Scriptures?
And so I was led to ponder 1
Corinthians Chapter Two, but I think in order to do that I need to ponder its context,
why is this chapter in Paul’s trajectory in this letter? So it seems good to
me, and I hope the Holy Spirit, to ponder chapters 1 – 4 in Paul’s Corinthian
letter. Let’s believe that God is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek
him diligently (Hebrews 11:6).
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