Expository Preaching #3 - "How Do You Know?"

How do you know if a sermon you are listening to is expository? It is really not that hard.

1. Do they have a main text or passage of scripture and do they stick to it? I like to have a passage that is 4-6 verses in length. That is not a hard and fast rule. It will be dictated by the passage itself. The authors think and write like we do. They have groups of thought. One group of thought should usually be one sermon. Much of the Bible was written in paragraphs. Those paragraphs usually contain one main thought. A sermon should never be just one word or just one verse. It needs to be taken in its complete context.

2. Does the preacher stick to that text for the whole sermon? Not to say that they can't refer to related or to supporting verses elsewhere in the Bible. But that should be at a minimum. If they jump to another passage and stay there for more than a few minutes then it is no longer an expository sermon. I have seen preachers go to 20-30 other verses in one sermon. That gets confusing to the listener. You then lose the thrust of the passage being preached. They need to preach the passage based on the interpretation from the original languages. What does it mean in the original Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic? There are many great tools you can use to accomplish that even if you aren't a great Greek or Hebrew scholar. More about that in a future post.

3. Do they often or even continually quote commentaries? Commentaries are just that, someone else's comments or opinions. I can count on one hand the number of times I have quoted a commentary in a sermon. I rarely use them even in preparation. I have heard sermons almost completely made up of quotes from commentators. I don't want to hear other people's opinions. I can get that anytime I want on TV, radio and the internet. I want God's Word and what does He say through His Word. Man will often be wrong. God will never be wrong.

4. Is the passage interpreted though the culture of the day in which it was written? I will give several examples of what I mean.

First is marriage. You will understand the Bible's teaching on marriage more completely and simply if you understand how a Jewish marriage worked from betrothal until death. It is much different from what we are used to in the western world. Divorce was only ever during the betrothal period of one year. Divorce could only be initiated by the husband, not the wife. See the story of Mary and Joseph in Matthew 1.

Second is adoption. You have to understand adoption in the Jewish culture of the first century. Their adoption was nothing like our adoption. No children were ever adopted into a family. There was the "spirit of adoption" when every child reached adulthood. I was "born" into God's family (John 1:12 and John 3). I was NEVER adopted into God's family. No more than my natural born children were adopted into my family. They didn't need to be. Understand the culture of the day of the writer and you will better understand the Bible.

Third is "the inn." This is from the birth of Jesus when "there was no room in the inn." There were no motel type inns in Israel in that day. Most families had a "guest room" attached to their house, sometimes on a roof top, where friends and even complete strangers could stay while they were on their journey. This "inn" had a completely separate entrance from the main house. They did not know things like home invasion in these instances. People trusted each other and provided for strangers.

A fourth is Jewish death and burial. The Jewish law forbid someone to be embalmed when they died. Most Jews even today are not embalmed. There was no public viewing of the body. It would be buried within 24 hours after the death. Most Jews follow this practice even today. If a Jewish friend dies, be prepared to attend the funeral the same or next day. This is why Jesus was buried immediately after his death. Embalming was only done in the Old Testament for Jacob and Joseph so that could be transported and buried back in Canaan. Fortunately they both died in Egypt which was well known for its embalming skills. 

When you understand Jewish laws and customs, you will much more easily and completely understand the Bible. 

More next week on how to build, prepare and preach an expository sermon. It’s not that hard. It just takes work

In Bonds of Calvary

Pastor David Johnson