How to Study the Bible - Week 5 Session 2

Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. (John 20:3-10)

How slow, careful observation of a single passage unlocks what the text truly says.

Be a Berean: Testing What You Hear

A question came in about the radio preacher I mentioned who interprets things that aren't necessarily there—how should we take their other teaching? Generally speaking, it's a good plan to be a Berean. That comes from Acts 17, where the author of Acts says the people of Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica, because they heard the things Paul preached and searched the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so. In a sense, that was first-century fact-checking.

We all know the smell test—you find something in the back of the refrigerator, open it, and it doesn't pass. If you've been under good teaching for any length of time, there are things you'll hear where you think, that doesn't sound quite right. You should go and search the Scriptures to see what is really being said.

The way I try to teach the Scriptures, I aim to make it very clear where a point is coming from—observation, interpretation, application. If I give you a point of application, my aim is that it comes directly out of the Scriptures and the line back to the text is clear. With everything you take in from other teachers, you have to learn to eat the fish and spit out the bones. I am not the foremost expert or leading authority on what the Bible says, and neither are the people on the radio. It's okay to say, "I'm not really sure I see that in the text."

Kinds of Commentaries

The individual I mentioned is very much focused on application—he's written an application commentary, not an exegetical one. There are different kinds of commentaries. A commentary is the writing of a student of the Scriptures on a passage they've studied. An exegetical commentary is normally put together by a biblical scholar, probably a seminary professor, who has done extensive study and research on the text.

There are also devotional commentaries, where someone reads a passage and gives a paragraph or two of devotional thoughts. It probably doesn't flow from a correct exegesis, and they might draw out things you're not sure are really there—nice, not heretical, but not exegesis. And there are application commentaries, focused primarily on bringing out applications for you. I would read those like a devotional, not as my place for determining what the text says from a scholarly standpoint. Some teaching gives you very little fish, so eat the fish and spit out the bones.

Observation: Identifying the Subjects

We're going to look at the inductive model of breaking down a text, focusing almost entirely on observation—just trying to see what is there—using the homework passage in John 20. Remember, this is Gospel, so it's narrative; it reads like a story. You'll find many more indicative verbs than imperatives. In fact, there's nothing in this text that is a command—just a lot of indicative telling us what was happening. We're asking the basic who, what, when, and where questions. Why is an interpretive question we'll save.

It starts with Peter. "Peter therefore went out." There's Peter, and Simon Peter. Now Peter is also called Simon, because Simon was his given name and Peter the name Jesus called him by. If you only had this passage, you might stop and do a character study to learn who Simon Peter is. But if you've been reading through John systematically, you've already read nineteen chapters, so you have some idea who he is.

Then there's another character, not named—just "the other disciple." Using the lens of reading with purpose, I go through slowly and identify only Peter, then go back and find only the other disciple. A spoiler: it's John. He's very modest and doesn't name himself, except he does inform us that he outran Peter, and that he's the beloved disciple.

So we take the text and go through highlighting and underlining. Some of you who've been in Calvary Chapels a long time did an inductive study course using Kay Arthur's program, where they had every symbol imaginable—key symbols, heart symbols—and you ended up with a Bible that looked more like hieroglyphics. But this is basically what you're doing: breaking the Scripture apart. Some pastors do this in the Greek and diagram the sentences, which looks crazy the first time, but once you understand why they're doing it, the passage becomes clearer. This is a simplified version of that.

We see Peter and the other disciple independently, and we also see them together—"they both ran together," "they" in verse 9, and in verse 10 "the disciples" went back to their homes. But there's a third individual mentioned right in the middle of verse 7: "His head," the handkerchief that had been around His head, and again in verse 9, "that He must rise from the dead." So our subjects are Peter, the other very fast and very loved disciple, and Jesus.

From Subjects to Actions

Now we move from the subjects to the verbs—subject and predicate. "Peter therefore went out." I underline the verbs. He went out; the other disciple too; and they were going to the tomb. They both ran together—there's urgency, something compelling them to go quickly. Why is interpretive, so we won't get to that yet; we just notice they ran.

The other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. When he gets there, he stoops down and looks in. This is a picture of a tomb in the northern part of Israel—the opening is only about two and a half to three feet tall, sitting about eight inches off the ground. It was found while they were digging a road. The tombs of that period were hewn out of the stone.

So John gets there first, stoops down, looks in, and saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following and went into the tomb. We see a difference: the faster, more loved disciple got there first but stayed outside looking in, while Peter—with that bull-in-a-china-closet personality—goes right in. Then, in verse 8, the other disciple who came first went in also.

At this point we've broken the passage down to see the subjects—Peter, the other disciple, and Jesus. Even if you took the text off the screen, you could summarize it: Peter and another disciple ran to the tomb early, the other got there first and looked in, and Peter burst in.

"Therefore" Points Back to Context

Now we go back to the word "therefore." Whenever we see "therefore," we have to figure out what it's there for—it always points backward, and we want context. Just before this, in John 20:1-2, we read: "Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw"—there's that word again—"that the stone had been taken away from the tomb."

So we have a fourth individual, Mary Magdalene. Now, do the other gospels say only Mary went? No. But here John focuses on her. Some people make a big issue about contradictions—Mark mentions several people, John mentions Mary. But identifying Mary doesn't mean others weren't there; it's just a different telling of the same story. Notice she runs to Simon Peter and the other disciple, "whom Jesus loved," and says, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." For those who get upset that others aren't mentioned—she says "we." So therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, running speedily, because of the information in the previous verses.

Three Words for "Saw"

Many of you chose this passage for a word study, so let's look at the word "saw." In verse 5, "he saw the linen cloths lying there." That's the Greek word blepo, a verb meaning to see, discern, discover, look at. John just casually looks in and assesses the situation.

But in verse 6, "Simon Peter... saw the linen cloths lying there"—this word is different. It's the Greek word theoreo, from which we get "theorize." It means to view attentively, to take a survey of, to view mentally, to consider, to think about. John just sees that the body is gone, but Peter goes in and starts to think about it: something's wrong here. As he theorizes, notice Peter also sees the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded together in a place by itself. He's putting it together—the body's not here, the linen cloths are here, and this head cloth is folded meticulously off in the corner.

The third time, verse 8, "the other disciple... went in also and he saw." This is the Greek word eido, which means to see, to know, to understand. He's in now, he puts it all together, and he understands. And the result: "he saw and believed." So they both saw the linen cloths, but the kind of seeing progresses from a glance to consideration to understanding.

I keep highlighting other details too—the handkerchief "had been" around His head, past tense; it's not there anymore. Then comes the key turning word in verse 9: "for as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." That explains why they didn't understand at first.

When Mary went and saw, the word used is blepo—the same as John's first look. Like John, she saw but didn't understand, and came to the wrong conclusion: "They've taken away the Lord and we don't know where." But when John finally takes it all in, he discerns: He's not here, He's been raised. Great things going on in this passage, just by breaking it all down.

A Tool for Marking the Text

Let me show you a tool put together by Blue Letter Bible called ScriptureMark, found at scripturemark.org. It works on a computer but is very effective with a tablet and a stylus. You bring up a passage—John 20:3-10—and using the highlighter you can mark Peter, mark the other disciple, and do everything I just did on the screen. There's also a pen tool to circle things in different colors, underline, draw squares, and write notes. It's totally free.

Several pastor friends of mine start every study by printing a passage on a landscape sheet of paper and sitting down with a pen, going through to underline, highlight, write margin notes, and connect things—just observing what's in the text. You observe what's there so you can properly interpret, and interpret so you can properly apply. My whole approach to Scripture is: what does the Bible say, what does it mean, and how do we apply that for us today, straight out of the text.

Sadly, that's rather unique. There are billions of Christians and many teachers who just read a passage and comment, read a passage and comment, but never break it down to see what the text actually says. Often that's because people don't know how. But it's not rocket science. It takes time, diligence, and work, but you can do it—especially because you have the Holy Spirit to help and open your eyes. It's just slowly going through the text to see what it says.

This Week's Homework

The homework is fairly simple—one piece of paper, front and back. Pick a passage; I highly recommend something in the New Testament narrative, out of the Gospels or the Epistles. Choose a paragraph, not an entire chapter, or the space will be too small for your observations. Write down the passage, then identify the genre—narrative, epistle, poetry, law—checking the front of a study Bible if you're unsure.

Then go through observations, interpretations, correlations, and applications. Observations are everything you notice as you break the passage apart; you can even print it out and circle, underline, and highlight. Interpretations are a summary of what it means. For correlations, look for passages that connect—you can use the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge at Blue Letter Bible, or the tiny center-column references in your Bible, which give cross-references like Romans 2:8. If you have no correlations, that's fine. You can staple your marked-up passage to the worksheet and turn both in.

Closing Prayer

Lord, I pray that You would help us to grow in our understanding of Your Word, but also to grow in our desire to spend time with You in the Scriptures. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to behold wonders from Your law, for we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.