5 Steps to Take within the Exegesis Process
The First Stage of Preaching Preparation: Exegesis
The aim of exegesis is to immerse oneself in the text with as direct an encounter as possible in order to understand its meaning. The Greek verb exēgeomai—which means to relate, explain, or make known—is used in John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” The exegesis process makes known the meaning of the text to us, an essential step before we can declare that meaning to others.
There is a danger, at this earliest stage of sermon preparation, that we may not give sufficient time and attention to the text itself. We live at a favored time in history when the number of study aids to understanding the Scripture proliferate. It is tempting to rush to the commentaries, allowing them to be the focus of our study, with the result that we preach the commentaries rather than the Bible. Similarly, although listening to others preach the text can provide the stimulus for fresh ideas and new angles, I advise not to do this first. The danger is that we adopt someone else’s material into our sermon and we become content with only a secondhand encounter with the text.
Our task is not to preach other men’s thoughts, however much we may admire them, but to preach God’s living word. We need to receive as much as we can from the Lord through the word before we consult any human authority or mentor. Commentaries, online sermons, and other aids must play a subsidiary role and never become a substitute for listening to God speak in his word and immersing ourselves in its truth. Reliance on these aids is never a shortcut to anything but a dead end. How then should we proceed?
Proclaiming the Word
David Jackman
In this convenient handbook, David J. Jackman presents a basic methodology for the study and preparation of expository teaching.
1. Read, Read, and Read Again
Start with prayer that God will give you open eyes and a soft heart as you seek to identify the original, intended meaning of this text. Then take time to read, read, and read again in your own language, using more than one translation where possible. If you know the original biblical languages, now is the time to use them. Regardless, the aim is the same—to hear the voice of the living God. As I read, I sometimes fold a blank sheet of paper into two columns and record my reactions to what I am reading under the two headings “Surprises” and “Difficulties.” This helps to shape my agenda for the first stage.
2. Locate the Text in Its Setting
No passage that we preach just dropped out of heaven, as it were, unconnected to anything else. We should learn as much as possible about the writer, his circumstances, and the situation of those he is addressing. What kind of literature are we dealing with and what genre does it represent? Especially significant are the contextual issues—that is, where and how this passage fits within the context of its biblical book and within the context of the whole Bible.
Our task is not to preach other men’s thoughts, however much we may admire them, but to preach God’s living word.
3. Divide Up the Text and Note the Connections
This step involves subdividing the unit into its constituent parts. These may be scenes in a narrative, sentences in a theological argument, or speeches in a dialogue. But it is important also to identify the connections between these divided parts—connections that move the contents of the unit forward to achieve its purpose. This will enable you to discover how one part of the text follows from another part and how the writer makes and uses these links. This often helps to resolve the issues recorded in the “Difficulties” column encountered during our earlier readings.
4. Explore the Meaning of Particular Key Words or Phrases
A lexicon or Bible dictionary can help as you seek to understand the meanings of particular words and phrases in the text. Since biblical words are best defined by their usage, the most helpful route may be to discover how such vocabulary are used elsewhere, first in the book you are studying and then in Scripture as a whole. Again, it is good to do as much of this work as you can on your own, but now is the time to consult the commentaries to check your understanding and to help you when you are stuck.
5. Summarize the Theme of the Text in a Sentence
After we have determined the original meaning, we write a summary theme sentence as a tool to help express in our own contemporary language the core content of the text. This is not a paragraph but neither should it be a mere phrase. The summary sentence identifies the essentials: what must be preached from this text to be faithful to its meaning. Thus, it will guide us regarding what should be included in the sermon and what should be left out. If we spend thoughtful time and energy on the theme sentence, the sermon will not suffer from the common disease of “muddle in the middle”—that is, a lack of clarity and focus.
Having completed this exegesis stage, pray over what you have accomplished and then leave it, ideally for a day or so, to allow the content of your study to percolate in your mind and heart—even though you may be unaware that this is happening.
This article is adapted from Proclaiming the Word: Principles and Practices for Expository Preaching by David Jackman.
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