A Letter For You to Read
Over the past 10 weeks at Garden City, we have looked at a number of different passages across the Scriptures to look at who God is, what He has done and is doing, and what we’re to do about it.
Our normal practice is to take a book of the Bible and work our way through it, verse by verse. This Sunday, I am so excited to begin this practice again as we begin a 3-week study and series with a uniquely special book, Jude.
Here are a few neat things about Jude:
It’s only 25 verses. You can read it in 3-5 minutes.
All 3 members of the Trinity.
LOTS of references to the Old Testament.
Groupings of 3s.
2 of Jesus’ half-brothers.
Extra-biblical Jewish literature. Fun!
Fallen angels.
Devil.
Sodom and Gomorrah.
References to a guy who had a talking donkey. You read that correctly.
The first murderer in the Bible.
Jesus in the Exodus story?!
God’s design for human sexuality.
A rebellion that resulted in the earth splitting open and consuming rebels while others were incinerated.
A really cool prayer at the end.
And much more!
What’s available in Jude?
Killer apologetic.
A unique perspective.
The Lordship of Jesus.
The importance of doctrine.
Something to fight for.
A call to holiness.
The assurance of salvation.
Most letters are intended to be read in one sitting. That’s easier to do with some books than it is with others. You can totally read Jude in one pass. So, here’s a challenge for you this week…
Challenge: Read this letter.
Try reading it once a day. As you do, take note of things that catch your eye. Maybe it’s a question, maybe a person, maybe a statement. Pay attention to what you see. Reading the Bible is such a Life-giving and enjoyable practice. So is studying the Bible. If you’ve never studied the Scriptures, Jude is an excellent place to practice. Note: this is not the definitive way to study the Bible. There are a lot of ways to do it. This is simply a helpful method that I’ve used over the years mostly based on the inductive method:
Select - Chose a passage and commit to read it every day of the week.
Just read + pray - It’s amazing what happens when you invite the Living God into your time of reading a text that is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). Ask God to be near you and simply read the text trusting that He is.
Observe - What do you see? Who wrote the letter? Who was it written to?
Translations - My youngest son’s heart language is Cantonese. Needless to say, there’s much lost in translation when we try to communicate in English. The Bible was written in a number of old languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), and while we can rely on the Bible we read today, it’s incredibly helpful to dig more deeply into the languages the authors used. Don’t read Greek? A poor man’s way to get a better sense of the range of meanings is to read the same passage comparing and contrasting a number of different, reliable translations. We typically preach from the English Standard Version, but reading from versions like the NIV, NASB, NLT, and even the KJV can give us a more helpful understanding if we’re stuck on a word or phrase. Free resource. Take note of what you see.
Cross Reference - Ever notice those superscripts in your Bible above certain words? Check those out. They can give you a sense of what you’re reading in relation to the rest of the biblical narrative. Take note of what you see.
Commentary - Some argue it might be helpful to consult a commentary first. Personally, I think it’s better if this stage is employed toward the end. I find it immensely helpful to learn from someone else’s study. I need all the help I can get! The danger here is to treat someone’s commentary as scripture itself. Which one? That’s a tougher question to answer. In general, I like to approach commentaries like I approach translations: read a few different, reliable authors and take note of what I see. The ESV has an excellent, online study bible that helpfully runs parallel to the passage you’re reading.
Community - Read the passage with others. This is one of my favorites. Gather with other Christians, invite non-Christians too, ask the Holy Spirit to be with you, read the passage, and discuss what you see. Ask and answer simple interpretive questions. Consider our 2 discipleship questions: What is God saying? What are you going to do about it?
God’s Word can be transformational. It confronts us in every way as His kind self-disclosure of who He is and His plan for us and all He has made. I pray, if you haven’t considered making Bible reading or study a regular part of your life, that you will dig into this Life-giving habit and see what God does.