The “Why” and the “What”

The Jewish context is central to understanding the New Testament. Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews living in the land of Israel. During this time, the Jewish people were under Roman rule, which brought great cultural and religious tensions upon them. Jews strongly held onto their monotheistic beliefs, traditions, and the Law, creating a distinctive religious and ethnic identity. Various Jewish groups such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and revolutionary movements, had different responses and interactions with both the Roman rule and their Jewish heritage. They indicate significant diversity within the Jewish context itself. Each had their own understandings of Scripture on topics like the afterlife and what a Messiah, if any, might look like.

The Greco-Roman world significantly influenced the broader cultural, social, and political backdrop of the New Testament. Alexander the Great’s conquests in the late 300s BC spread Greek culture and language throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, a cultural phenomenon known as “Hellenization.” This Greek influence permeated various aspects of life, including language, philosophy, politics, and art, creating an unprecedented world where ideas and cultures intersected.

By the century before Christ, Rome had emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean world, inheriting and further shaping the Hellenistic culture. The Roman Empire brought political unity, infrastructure development, and relative peace (Pax Romana) across its vast territories, facilitating the spread of ideas and religions, including Christianity. However, the Roman rule also posed challenges and conflicts for different communities, including the Jews, as it sometimes conflicted with local traditions, beliefs, and aspirations for independence.

The New Testament emerged from this world where Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures intertwined, often in tension with each other. This multifaceted cultural context enriched and complicated the early Christian movement, which is reflected in the diverse New Testament texts. Understanding of this intricate cultural tapestry is important for grasping the depth and breadth of the New Testament's message.

In his video introduction to this Lesson, Dr. Joseph mentions several genres or types of literature in the New Testament. The Gospels are primarily biography, and Luke-Acts is primarily history. But they are not just biography, and they are not just history. They are “theological” biography and history, where theology is the study of God. To say they are theological biography and history is to say that they tell about Jesus and the early church with all the values, commitments, and presuppositions of faith in the God of the Old Testament. Indeed, to read them properly assumes that you are in relationship with this God of the Bible! 

Much of the New Testament is in the form of letters. As Dr. Joseph says, these letters were written to help the church with questions they had about how to live for God and with one another. Hebrews was likely a sermon to a congregation sent from an early church leader preparing to visit them. We are blessed to hear those conversations because they give us inspired insight on how we are to live for God and with one another. 

The final genre is that of Revelation, which is an “apocalypse,” a genre of literature that we do not really have today. Dr. Joseph calls it “resistance literature.” Revelation includes within it also the genres of prophecy and letters to seven churches. An apocalypse gave a window into what was going on in the heavenly realm and about to burst into the earthly scene. Such messages were brought from a heavenly figure to an earthly prophetic person, in this case Jesus to John on the isle of Patmos.

As Christians, the most important context within which to understand the New Testament is the theological. On the one hand, this context takes us beyond each individual book and its individual context to the overarching story of God with his people. As Dr. Joseph says, the human story begins in Eden with humanity’s alienation from God. That story finds its resolution in Jesus Christ, who makes possible the full restoration, reconciliation, and consummation of humanity as God intended us to be. That story is complete in the New Jerusalem of Revelation (Revelation 21).

However, we must move beyond the merely informational to the formational. The theological dimension of Scripture calls us beyond the “what” to the “why” of Scripture. As Dr. Joseph said, that why is transformation, both of us as individuals and of God’s people collectively as the Church. As Christians, we read the Bible to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. We read Scripture so that we can become and continue to be the people of God.