Part 4- 'Preaching'
- Tony Vance
- Aug 7, 2015
- 6 min read
Timothy Keller begins chapter three with the verse in Matthew 17:8, “When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.” Profound, in light of the chapter’s title; Preaching Christ From All of Scripture. The first section of his book ‘Preaching’ is Serving the Word, which begins with Chapter 1, Preaching the Word and the next, Preaching the Gospel Every Time, followed by our chapter of today’s article. Just as you would narrow down the facts of a criminal case to get to the ultimate truth, Keller takes us to Christ, the heart of preaching and God’s Word. Keller points back to chapter 2, in the first paragraph of chapter 3, stating, “The key to preaching the gospel every time is to preach Christ every time.”
He goes on to say that preaching Christ in any scripture, or from any scripture, takes understanding of the particular passages in light of canonical context and how it all fits in the grand narrative of God’s plan. This chapter, maybe has the most useful footnote section I’ve ever read in a Christian book. Keller’s footnote section, on the whole, would make an outstanding book on its own, without the great tome that it is attached, or part of. Footnotes to chapter 3 have resources and advice that are useful, enlightening, and simply, practical helps. Keller discloses that he thinks there are 6 effective ways to preach Jesus, but admits there are other effective ways, spelled out in great detail in the footnoted section.
Preach Christ from Every Genre or Section of the Bible, is the first section and way to preach Jesus from all Scripture. He points to three books, Alec Motyer’s ‘Look to the Rock’, Ray Dillard ‘An Introduction to the Old Testament’, and Ed Clowney’s ‘The Unfolding Mystery’ as useful resources to help with the task. The last, Clowney’s, is one I highly recommend for seeing Christ in the Old Testament. It was recommended to me by a friend and was an amazing read. As a slight side note, Clowney and Keller taught a course on finding Christ in the Old Testament available on iTunes here, which is useful in helping you see Christ in the Old Testament, as well as all scripture. Other genres, such as poetry and prophecy, fall within the Old Testament, as there are numerous genres in the New, all useful for gleaning Christ from.
Preach Christ Through Every Theme of the Bible, is the next suggestion, and part. There are numerous themes in the Bible, Keller lists a few; Kingdom, Covenant, Home and Exile, The presence of God in worship, Rest and Sabbath, Justice and Judgement, and finally, Righteousness and Nakedness. Jesus is essential in all these themes, both as a type or shadow, and ultimate fulfillment of them. On ‘Justice and Judgement’, to use as an example, Keller points to Psalm 130:3 (KJV) “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Who can stand under the judgement of God? Keller addresses this marvelously, “Jesus Christ is the judge of all the earth, who came the first time not with a sword in his hands but with nails through his hands-not to bring judgement but to bear judgement for us.” This is a good example of preaching Christ, Level 1, 2, or 3.
His next section, Preaching Christ in Every Major Figure of the Bible, is almost self-explanatory. Moses, David, and Joseph are all easily types of Christ, that any minister, or marginal Bible student can easily see. Keller declares every anointed, as Messiah (from the Hebrew, Christ in the Greek) is the ‘Anointed One’, position on scripture is a type of Christ. He shows Jesus is the true and better: Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. These are all major figures pointing us to Christ. Keller even mentions Ruth, Bathsheba, and Rahab, as examples of types and shadows that point us to our Savior. Keller pulls one such, more obscure, yet major character out, as an example, and shows how he points to Jesus; Jonah. Jonah is used by Jesus himself as a type and shadow, Luke 11:30 (HCSB) “For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.” Keller masterfully weaves the stories of Jonah on the boat and Jesus on the boat, and the storms, bringing them all in line as types and shadows. Again, showing that this book is as much a ‘what’ to preach as it is ‘how’ to preach.
Keller’s next part is; Preaching Christ from Every Major Image of the Bible. This is one of my favorite studies in the Bible. Keller is referencing inanimate objects and even patterns that serve as types and shadows, too. Just using the Temple worship and service there, Jesus is the sacrifice (Hebrews 10), bread (John 6), the temple itself (John 2), and of course the Holy Place (John 8). Other Images such as work or labor can serve as patterns of Christ. Keller spends a little time on the tree of life, pointing to its appearance at both the beginning, in Genesis, and the end, in Revelations. This Image, the tree of life, is clearly seen in the cross, as Jesus took a tree, Galatians 3:13 calls the cross a tree, of death and turned it into a tree of life, quoting from page 82, “Because Jesus got the tree of death, we can have the tree of life.”
Preaching Christ from Every Deliverance Story Line, is our next section. Life through death, Keller states, is narrative pattern throughout scripture. He points to; “triumph-through-weakness” as often, a point of the Bible’s story. Keller matter-of-factly points to Ester and Ruth as types of Christ, which fit in the deliverance narrative, and points back to Jesus (or forward). Keller brings the Exodus story and shows, in type, that deliverance came before the Law was given, just as Christians are saved then we begin living right. He later uses the Creation story as a type of Christ, Jesus redeeming all creation. In the final paragraph of this section, Keller shows how Jesus is the true Israel, “He fulfills all the obligations of the covenant and earns the blessings of the covenant for all who believe.” This is the essence of the Gospel, the heart of scripture, and the plan of God, laid symbolically before us.
The last section, titled, Preaching Christ Through Instinct, is the hardest to teach but the most useful to use. Keller employing a movie reference of ‘The Sixth Sense’, by Old testament Professor Tremper Longman, gives the reason for this, ‘instinctual’ preaching. The ending of the story (‘The Sixth Sense; and the Bible) reinterprets all the information you were given throughout. So, Keller is saying, after much practice (I interpret him to mean) one will not help but see in Christ in every aspect of the Word. It is a call to not rigidly introduce Christ, but an inference that can’t help be exposed. Keller shows this most clearly using Judges 19-21. This is one of the most gruesome, and would be R rated if a movie, stories in all of scripture. Its characters; a cowardly Jew, a concubine, and a cut-throat band of Benjamites, set the stage for a tale of rape, murder, and dismembering of a corpse. In short, to avoid harm to himself, the cowardly Jew offers his concubine (a second class wife of that day), the men of Benjamin rape her, to the point of murdering her. The husband cuts her into pieces, sending her parts to all the tribes, and inflames a war. How can we preach Christ in that? Keller points to Judges 21:25 (KJV) “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” And of course, as many bible scholars believe (as I do-and Keller mentions) the writer of Judges is pointing to the necessity of a king, ultimately to King David, who is of course, a picture, type, and shadow of Christ.
Again, as pointed out in previous BLOG posts, this book is more for the Level 2 & 3 preaching (see previous posts to get definition of levels-here). I also have pointed out that my hope for this review/study is to help all preachers (we all are, see here). Pointing to Christ as the essence of what God was and is saying is the lesson from this chapter. There is practical, biblical, and theological advice in showing Christ in this section, and can be used by anyone, presenting God’s Word and the Gospel to one or many. Keller ends this section saying, [everything in scripture] “…point us to Jesus far more than we think.” AMEN!