Understanding a Passage

When preaching, the starting point is always the text of Scripture that we are preaching from. It is important that we draw out the truths that are contained in that passage (we call this ‘exposition’) rather than putting our own views and ideas onto the text (‘imposition’).

Critical to this is understanding the author’s intent. We want to know what they were communicating to the original readers, and so we look at different questions that we can ask of the text itself to ascertain this – both in terms of the narrative and the context. We also look more broadly and the context and how our passage fits into the author’s work. 

Having looked at the author’s intent, we don’t immediately apply this to ourselves, but rather place it within the whole Bible and see the overall Biblical narrative – and particularly the gospel of Christ – as the interpretive bridge by which we can understand the significance that these words have for us. 

Finally, having done this, we are ready to look at the contemporary application of our passage – both to ourselves and to those in our congregations.