Lesson Notes

Introduction

• Large portions of the Old (~40%) and New Testament (~60%) are narratives – they narrate the details of some historical event – the great stories of our faith
  • Genesis, Exodus, Numbers
  • Joshua – Esther
  • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts
• We often don’t interpret them very effectively or accurately because we get caught up in interesting details rather than engaging with the main point of the narrative
• Dr. Robert Stein, “The purpose of biblical narrative is not merely to tell what took place in the past. Rather, it is to relate these past events to biblical faith. Thus, the meaning of such texts involves not primarily what happened but rather the interpretation of what happened.”
  • A bible narrative is still a (true) story, with a coherent plot, because these are great stories told by inspired writers.
  • You can study the way the story is organized and learn much about its meaning.
  • That’s the most important goal for understanding and studying a bible narrative – what is the point of this story?
  • You can pull out many truths, but you absolutely must determine the point of the story – why did God inspire the author to include this story in the Bible?
• Use your skills of reading carefully in context – what we talked about
  • Context is very important to understanding narratives and their main point
  • Many narratives will include introductions, conclusions, summaries, or authorial comments that frame the story and reveal or emphasize the point

Narrative Analysis

• Stories have sections and a typical life cycle:
  • Setting & Characters – Don’t be offended, characters are real people in historical narratives and fictional when Jesus tells a parable.
  • There may be multiple scenes – often separated by the introduction of new characters, change of characters, or change of setting
  • There is rising tension – this is what makes stories compelling
  • Climax – when you’re on the edge of your seat
  • Resolution – “Ah” – when all the tension resolves
  • Following Action or Teaching (sometimes)
• Key parts of the process for studying Bible narratives (carefully, in context)
  • 3. Isolate the story (already part of reading carefully in context) – make sure you get all of it, even if it spans chapter breaks or several chapters
  • 4, (no 5), 6. Read it carefully a couple of times, as well as surrounding passages
  • 10. Look for repetitions of ideas, key words, or statements of cause and effect
  • 11. Identify each of the above story elements in that story
  • 12. Now determine the point of the story
• Determining the point of the story
  • Usually the point is in the Resolution or the Following Action/Teaching
    • If it’s a Jesus story, He’ll usually make the point and it will usually be close to or the last thing He says or does.
    • If it isn’t a Jesus story, look for a narrator comment either immediately before or after, including a comment by some sort of trusted outside observer established by the author.
  • If the point isn’t yet clear, were there repeated words or phrases – either within the story or echoing from other parts of that book of the Bible?
    • It’s probably related to that word or phrase in that case
  • If the point isn’t yet clear, who or what got the bulk of the space in the story?
    • Usually the point is there.
  • If the point isn’t yet clear, what happened last? Usually that’s the point then.

Practice Passages

• Read Matthew 9: 1-8. Possible points: Faith of friends, Jesus forgives sins, Jesus knows what we really need, Jesus reads minds, scribes are jerks, Jesus can heal paralytics, Jesus has authority to forgive sins.
  • Setting – 9: 1 – “his own city” = Capernaum
  • Characters – 9: 2 – Some people, a paralytic, Jesus, and (verse 3) scribes
  • Scenes – Usually indicated by a change of characters involved or location 
    • Scene 1 – Jesus forgives a paralytic (verses 1-2)
    • Scene 2 – Scribes accuse Jesus of blasphemy (verses 3-5)
    • Scene 3 – Jesus heals the paralytic to answer the scribes (verses 6-8)
  • Rising Tension – 9: 3-6a – the peak = “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”
    • This is the point – it’s the moment of maximum tension
    • It’s the last point of argumentation by Jesus
    • It uses a word that appears prominently through Matthew’s gospel
  • Resolution – 9: 6b-7 = “Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he  rose and went home. – This is Jesus’ last action in the story and it serves to prove his statement.
  • Follow-up – 9: 8 – Crowd is used by the narrator to reinforce the point – “given such authority to men“.
• Read 1 Samuel 17: 1-58 – Possible points?
  • Setting – The Valley of Elah
    • Characters – Saul (king), Israelite army, Goliath, David (anointed future king), David’s brothers
    • Scenes
      • Scene 1: Battle lines & the challenge of Goliath (verses 1-11)
      • Scene 2: David is sent to the battlefield with supplies (verses 12-18)
      • Scene 3: David arrives and hears the challenge and reward (verses 19-27)
      • Scene 4: David’s brothers throw cold water on his plans (verses 28-38)
      • Scene 5: David convinces Saul to let him fight (verses 31-37)
      • Scene 6: The battle! (verses 38-49)
      • Scene 7: Aftermath (verses 50-54)
      • Scene 8: Saul’s new interest in David (verses 55-58)
    • Rising action
      • The Israelite army stands paralyzed with fear (Scene 1)
      • David arrives and takes offense at Goliath’s blasphemy (Scene 3)
      • Convincing Saul to let him fight (Scene 5)
      • Preparation for battle (Scene 6a)
    • Climax – verses 45-47
    • Resolution – verses 48-51
    • Following actions
      • Total Israelite victory (verses 52-53)
      • David claims personal spoils of victory (verse 54)
      • David rises to prominence in Saul’s eyes (verses 55-58)
    • So, where’s the main point???
      • David’s final words during the peak of the story (verses 45-47)
      • The repetition (3 times) about defying the armies of the living God
      • So what are the consequences (verses 46b-47) – that’s the point!