Example: “It is finished!”
John 19:30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
When I taught youth group, we used this method to get them to open their eyes about OT and NT verses, as they usually have several meanings:
-spiritual (Jesus’ spiritual warfare with his physical body was finished- the prayers in the garden)
-physical (Jesus’ physical walk was finished)
-emotional (Jesus’ emotional strain while in the flesh was finished)
Here are some other areas that may not apply above, but can used to provoke seeking deeper meaning:
-health
-wealth/financially
-personally/small group/congregation/community/nation/world
-mentally
-this life (earth)
-eternal life (spiritual)
-flesh (carnal)
-spiritual (scriptural)
You can add to this list if you can think of any, pass them along.
Here’s another verse, you can pray over this and imagine dozens of ways we would “follow him:”
Luke 5:27
After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.”
A good allusion to hard work, sweat, stamina, staying the faith and “running the race”:
Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
and the verse which led me to start looking for multiple meanings:
Matthew 15:26-28
26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The long winded analysis of the above verse is at this link:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=4&contentID=1610&commInfo=5&topic=Matthew
The other thing I taught was:
-empathy: how did they feel?
-placement: place yourself in the shoes of the central character
-replacement: re-read it, and place yourself in the shoes of EVERY character in the text.
-what is NOT said…..imagine the dirt on their faces, the heat of the day, the long hours walking.
Here’s a good verse for the above:
Luke 9:60
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
-empathy: would you want to bury your Dad to show your love & respect? how would your mom feel if you did not?
-placement: would you want to bury your Dad, or follow Jesus?
-replacement: if you were Jesus, why not let him bury his Dad? What would onlookers have thought of Jesus?
Would the son have been right to go bury his Dad, or should he have followed Jesus away?
What would you have done?
-what is not said: how had the Dad treated this son? How did Jesus know the Dad and the whole family was “spiritually Dead” but the son was not “spiritually Dead” and could be used to further the kingdom?
John 19:30
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
When I taught youth group, we used this method to get them to open their eyes about OT and NT verses, as they usually have several meanings:
-spiritual (Jesus’ spiritual warfare with his physical body was finished- the prayers in the garden)
-physical (Jesus’ physical walk was finished)
-emotional (Jesus’ emotional strain while in the flesh was finished)
Here are some other areas that may not apply above, but can used to provoke seeking deeper meaning:
-health
-wealth/financially
-personally/small group/congregation/community/nation/world
-mentally
-this life (earth)
-eternal life (spiritual)
-flesh (carnal)
-spiritual (scriptural)
You can add to this list if you can think of any, pass them along.
Here’s another verse, you can pray over this and imagine dozens of ways we would “follow him:”
Luke 5:27
After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.”
A good allusion to hard work, sweat, stamina, staying the faith and “running the race”:
Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
and the verse which led me to start looking for multiple meanings:
Matthew 15:26-28
26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The long winded analysis of the above verse is at this link:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/commentaries/comm_view.cfm?AuthorID=4&contentID=1610&commInfo=5&topic=Matthew
The other thing I taught was:
-empathy: how did they feel?
-placement: place yourself in the shoes of the central character
-replacement: re-read it, and place yourself in the shoes of EVERY character in the text.
-what is NOT said…..imagine the dirt on their faces, the heat of the day, the long hours walking.
Here’s a good verse for the above:
Luke 9:60
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
-empathy: would you want to bury your Dad to show your love & respect? how would your mom feel if you did not?
-placement: would you want to bury your Dad, or follow Jesus?
-replacement: if you were Jesus, why not let him bury his Dad? What would onlookers have thought of Jesus?
Would the son have been right to go bury his Dad, or should he have followed Jesus away?
What would you have done?
-what is not said: how had the Dad treated this son? How did Jesus know the Dad and the whole family was “spiritually Dead” but the son was not “spiritually Dead” and could be used to further the kingdom?
