Follow Me: General Introduction

Jesus was very familiar with the social norms that the Jews and Gentles lived
by. He often used words and phrases that were distinctive to their culture, region,
and religion. Let’s examine one of those terms to gain a clearer understanding of
what it means to be a disciple of Christ

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and ​follow me​”
Matthew 16:24.

The disciples knew exactly what Jesus meant when he told them to follow
him. Rabbis told their disciples to follow them. “Follow me” meant to cover
yourself in your rabbi’s dust; it meant to follow him so closely that sand from the
ground would cling to your clothes. While following the rabbi around (watching
him, studying his behavior, learning his words and character), the disciples’ hearts
changed; they were transformed from the experience. ​That’s ​what Jesus meant
when he told the disciples to follow him. He wanted them to watch him intensely
and adopt his character, faith, determination, strength, courage, knowledge, and
behavior, with the intention of being like him. This is what it means to be a disciple
of Christ. We must follow his footsteps so closely that his identity becomes ours.

Interpretation of Scripture

As we study scripture, it’s important that we remember the gaps that we

must fill in order to interpret scripture ​correctly​.

*Always remember: the text ​can’t ​mean something to you that it didn’t mean to the
person who wrote it (God and the actual writer)*

Language Gap:​ Some words in the Bible don’t translate the exact same meaning
from one language to another (i.e. from Hebrew to English, or Greek to English);
sometimes several words are needed to capture the “real” word that was originally
written. For this, we need to do “word studies”.

Cultural & Historical Gap​: How was the culture back then? We have to think
about the culture of the time in which the books of the Bible were written. What
historical events do we have documents of that we can align with the events of the
Bible to give us more clarity on what life was like back then?

Geographical Gap:​ Sometimes, the location of the events will help us understand
the text (i.e. having a clear understanding of the Middle East in biblical times will
help us understand the regions covered in the Bible).

Literary Gap​: What literary devices are used (e.g. hyperbole, metaphor, allusion,
personification, etc.) This is important because many words in the Bible ​aren’t
meant to be taken literally; we have to identify when the writer is using a device so
we know how to interpret the passage.

Overall Process of Interpretation

1. Determine the book’s occasion (the purpose it’s serving)

2. Study keywords (usually verbs)
3. Cross reference (many things overlap; check the topic in other books to see
what the Bible says about the subject in those books as well)
4. Identify figures of speech
5. Identify literary devices
6. Identify the type of literature (wisdom, law, historical, prophecy, gospel,
etc.)

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Spiritual Life:
Living in the Spirit
Study​: Romans 7:14-8:12
1. What is Paul battling? What is his struggle?

2. How do you deal with the battle between your flesh and the Spirit?

3. What is Paul’s conclusion?

4. Why are you not under the Law if you are led by the Spirit?

5. What does, “Against such things there is no Law” mean?

6. What didn’t you understand about the text? Write down your questions so
that we can discuss them in group.

7. How can you apply what you have learned to your life? How will you tackle
spiritual challenges and how can you help others to do the same?