Ever been downright stumped by a verse you read? Has a parable left you scratching your head?
Each week during the #LentChallenge, we’re inviting YOU to ask your Bible questions. My friend and New Testament scholar, Dr. Craig Blomberg is weighing in and shedding light on even the trickiest Bible questions.
1. Is Matthew 27:52 literal? I’ve been in church my whole life and never looked into this verse. Did believers actually raise from the dead?
Great question. Mike Licona, in an amazing and amazingly thorough book, The Resurrection of Jesus, defends the reality of the bodily resurrection of Jesus from every angle imaginable but raises in just two or three pages the question of whether verses 51-53 might be what he calls an apocalyptic symbol. For asking that question, he lost his jobs at Southern Evangelical Seminary and the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention!
The irony is that whether literal or symbolic, commentators agree that what Matthew is teaching is that Jesus is the firstfruit (as Paul would put it in 1 Corinthians 15:22) of the coming bodily resurrection of all believers. In that light, I don’t see why a few select, holy individuals of Old Testament times couldn’t have been raised, but neither do I see it as remotely related to what someone should keep or lose their job over!
2. Jesus speaks pretty harshly against divorce in Mark 10. How does that translate to today?
Actually, the main point of the passage is to speak very strongly about marriage!
And until a generation ago in the Western world, it wasn’t viewed as all that strong, because the divorce rate among believers was strikingly low and noticeably different from among unbelievers. Tragically, that has all changed in one generation, but Jesus’ words haven’t.
Matthew allows for (but does not require) divorce for adultery; Paul does so for abandonment. Otherwise there are no biblical permissible exceptions.
But why these two exceptions?
It seems that each breaks one of the two very constituent elements of a marriage (exclusive sexual intimacy and closest interpersonal allegiance—to “leave and cleave” and to “become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). Other items may eventually de facto rupture a marriage to the same degree, but they should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and individuals considering a divorce need to realize that they are almost never the best people to be in a position to answer the question of whether they have truly tried everything realistic to salvage the marriage; they need the help of honest friends who will not just rubber-stamp their natural desires to get out of what they feel is a bad situation.
3. In Mark 16, I have a little footnote in my Bible that says “early manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses don’t have versus 9-20.” I don’t understand. If it wasn’t in the Bible, then why is it in the Bible?
There are over 5700 ancient Greek manuscripts of portions of the New Testament from the centuries before the printing press was invented ranging from a small portion to an entire copy and very few are exactly alike.
So which Bible are you talking about?
The vast majority of textual variants are extremely minor; the top 300-400 appear in footnotes or marginal notes in modern English translations. Only about two dozen affect an entire verse or two. Only two affect more than that, this so-called longer ending of Mark and the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 7:53-8:11.
The reason this passage has been printed in English Bibles is because it was in all the manuscripts used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when the first main English translations were made. The King James Version (1611) has had such a towering influence on the history of English-speaking cultures that translators get slammed by at least a few people whenever they revert back to the oldest and most reliable manuscripts, all of which have been recovered since the KJV was produced. So translators are loathe to set themselves up for more hostility by not printing certain passages altogether. But they also want to indicate when they most likely weren’t part of what the biblical authors first wrote in the languages of their day.
4. Is Jesus’ meaning of flesh and blood in John 6:48-58 literal? Is that part of the mystery in communion? Is He trying to communicate the total belief and trust we must have in Him?
It’s hard to imagine the words about the bread as Jesus’ flesh and about drinking his blood being literal in light of verse 63a: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” It’s also hard to imagine any first-century Jew envisioning it literally, given huge taboos against cannibalism or imbibing the blood of any creature.
But the language makes for powerful symbolism.
Jesus’ life, given over in death for humanity, provides spiritual sustenance and nurture for those who trust in him.
5. Jesus speaks a lot about fasting, but I have never fasted. Is it an actual command to fast, or an option? I have a medical condition now that prevents me from doing so at the time. Am I doing something wrong? What are the benefits of fasting?
Jesus never commands fasting. He assumes that some Jews will practice it and talks about how they should do so in Matthew 6:16-18. He anticipates some will do so after his death in Mark 2:19-20, but no New Testament text ever commands it.
In fact, after Pentecost, the only references to fasting are a voluntary fast in the context of choosing missionaries in Acts 13:2-3 and in the context of Saul’s temporary blindness in Acts 9:9.
Over the centuries, different Christians have found that refraining from food and/or drink can free up time for spiritual disciplines that have enlivened them considerably. But it is hardly for everybody, especially if it damages one’s health. Nor is it ever promised as a panacea for individual or corporate spiritual dryness or determining God’s will.
Dr . Craig L. Blomberg (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary, where he has taught for more than twenty-five years. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including A Handbook of New Testament Exegesis, Jesus and the Gospels, The Historical Reliability of the Gospels, Preaching the Parables, Making Sense of the New Testament, and commentaries on Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and James.
Pick up a copy of Dr. Blomberg’s latest book, Can We Still Believe the Bible? An Evangelical Engagement with Contemporary Questions, here.
#AskABibleScholar: What verse has left you scratching your head? Have you ran into a passage that’s tricky to interpret? Leave your questions as comments below. Dr. Blomberg will be back to weigh in next Friday.
Thanks Dr. Blomberg and thanks, Margaret for hosting this.
Great post answering these difficult questions! Thanks
Great post! Thanks!
Hi Margaret! Here’s a question we grappled with in our bible study today — can prayer change God’s mind?
Thanks!
Many churches practice that certain sins are worse than others.
A divorced person in the church may be treated differently and much
worse than say, a person who is a recovering alcoholic or drug addict for instance.
If a person is repentant, and all sins are sins and considered equal, then
doesn’t His blood cover them all and redeem them all the same?
Shouldn’t the church see everyone as redeemed and a new creation?
How one answers this question depends in a large part on where one falls more generally on the Calvinist-Arminian debate. The more a person leans in a Calvinist direction, stressing the sovereignty and omniscience of God, the more likely the answer to the question will be something like “God does not change his mind but he has determined that he will give some things to people who pray for them that he wouldn’t give them otherwise, and he knows ahead of time whether they will or will not ask so can orchestrate all circumstances accordingly.” The more a person leans in an Arminian direction, stressing human free will and God’s gracious love to allow us significant measures of freedom, the more likely the answer to the question will be something like, “Yes, prayer can change God’s mind” or at least, “Prayer may not change God’s mind but it will change how he responds, even if he knew all along what would happen.” I’m not sure we have to settle this debate, however, to claim James 4:2-3. On either scenario, there are things that God may give us only if we ask, so that should be sufficient motivation for prayer.
There’s a common misunderstanding on this topic. All sins separate us from God. All sins leave us with guilt that needs repentance and forgiveness. But not all sins are equal in severity, not by a long shot. I would assume that most people would far prefer that I occasionally gossip about them than that I murder them! No sin should be treated as an unforgivable sin, except the sin of persisting in unbelief. But some sins are more damaging than others and may have more serious consequences. I don’t believe there is any sin, including murder, adultery, divorce, etc., that forever disqualifies a person from church involvement and even leadership. But the period during which a person may have to demonstrate the reality of repentance and a transformed life, for the sake of the well-being of the entire church, may be much longer for the most serious of sins than for more trivial ones.
Thank you Margaret for posting this. Thank you so much Dr.Blomberg for answering these questions.
God bless ya!
Thank you for your response. Yes, certainly there are consequences for all
sin, (consequences from God) and yes, there are some sins whose consequences are more severe.
My point which you also made was we are not here to judge each other or exclude people because we believe their sins are so much worse than our own as many churches and its members do. The scripture that speaks to this would be about removing the log from your own eye.
and yet some gossip is so damaging that it can be a form of murder – just murder of a persons character which once the words are out can never be taken back.
Thrilled you’re enjoying, Kris.
Love his wisdom and depth!
In Mark 6:40 Jesus directed them to sit in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Luke 9:14 – sit in groups of fifty
Why did Jesus want them in those groups?
Sorry I missed this a few days ago. Margaret caught it, however, and made it one of the questions for me to answer for next week. So stay tuned!
Thanks Dr. Blomberg. This is really enjoyable and useful site. May God bless you.