Biblical Texts as Oral/Aural

CommunicationTelling the Story

Luther Seminary

John 20:30-31

30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe/continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

30 Polla. me.n ou=n kai. a;lla shmei/a evpoi,hsen o` VIhsou/j evnw,pion tw/n maqhtw/n Îauvtou/Ð( a] ouvk e;stin gegramme,na evn tw/| bibli,w| tou,tw|\

31 tau/ta de. ge,graptai i[na pisteu,ÎsÐhte o[ti VIhsou/j evstin o` cristo.j o` ui`o.j tou/ qeou/( kai. i[na pisteu,ontej zwh.n e;chte evn tw/| ovno,mati auvtou/

Emily Dickinson

A WORD is deadWhen it is said,

Some say.I say it just

Begins to liveThat day.

The orality of the sermon begins with the reading aloud of scripture.

WRITTEN FOR THE EAR… “residually oral” or “textualized orality”

Images, images, images

Repetition, rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, puns, assonance

Melodies, echoes, resonances, reverberations

The how of the text communicates meaning as much as the what

The narrative mode makes a theological claim

Mutual interpretive possibilities

Plutarch – the listener of a speech is a “participant in the discourse and a fellow worker with the speaker.”

“Hindsight is Always 20/20”R. Luke Dubois

2008

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REPETITION IS A MUSICAL IMPULSE Come, my way, my truth, my life: Such a way as gives us breath; Such a truth as ends all strife; Such a life as killeth death.

Come, my light, my feast, my strength: Such a light as shows a feast; Such a feast as mends in length; Such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my joy, my love, my heart: Such a joy as none can move; Such a love as none can part; Such a heart as joys in love.

MARK 1:10 KJV Mark 1:10 And straightway coming up out of

the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

NAS Mark 1:10 And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;

NRS Mark 1:10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.

NIV Mark 1:10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

NKJ Mark 1:10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.

Mark 1:10

kai. euvqu.j avnabai,nwn evk tou/ u[datoj ei=den scizome,nouj tou.j ouvranou.j kai. to. pneu/ma w`j peristera.n katabai/non eivj auvto,n\

Mark 15:38NRS Mark 15:38 And the

curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Kai. to. katape,tasma tou/ naou/ evsci,sqh eivj du,o avpV a;nwqen e[wj ka,twÅ

JOHN 18:11B to. poth,rion o] de,dwke,n moi o` path.r

ouv mh. pi,w auvto,È NIV “Shall I not drink the cup the Father

has given me?" NKV “Shall I not drink the cup which My

Father has given Me?“ KJV “The cup which my Father hath given

me, shall I not drink it? NAS “The cup which the Father has given

Me, shall I not drink it?" NRSV “Am I not to drink the cup that the

Father has given me?"

“the one who

betrayed him”

REPETITION OF KEY WORDS/IMAGES

Judas 

Name appears 8 times in the Gospel (6:71; 12:4; 13:2, 26, 29; 18:2, 5)

Judas first mentioned in the Gospel at 6:64: But among you there are some who do not believe. For Jesus

knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.

Future, active, participle, masc, nom, sing of paradi,dwmi

Judas described this way at 6:64, 71; 12:4; 13:2, 11, 21; 18:2, 5

THE “I AM” STATEMENTS IN JOHN

Absolute “I AM” – without a predicate nominative: 4:26; 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5, 7

“I AM” with a predicate nominative:6:35; 6:51; 8:12; 9:5; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25-26; 14:6; 15:1, 5

Garden/Fold

Garden only in John

Jesus initiates his arrest = Jesus as the good shepherd

John 18:8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”

No cup of “suffering” = the good shepherd lays down his life

John 10:10 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

John 10:14-15 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.”

John 10:17-18 “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Thief

"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. (10:1)

All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. (10:8)

I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. (10:9)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (10:10)

He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it. (12:6)

LIGHT AND DARKNESSNow there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."

So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 30

So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. (13:30)