I’ve met a significant number of people over the years who have told me they don’t read commentaries because “the Holy Spirit will enlighten them” as they read the Bible, and they don’t care about the “thoughts of men” when they’re reading scripture. Perhaps you’ve met some of these folks also. You may even be one (if so, you’re probably not going to like this article very much, but you need to read it anyway).
The nutshell response to this perspective is that it’s rather prideful to believe that the Holy Spirit has said nothing that’s worth knowing in the past 2,000 years to anyone but you.
Many theologians and biblical scholars over the centuries spent their entire lives reading and studying God’s word in order to explain the history, context, and language differences to the various cultures that would be hearing or reading it.
The Holy Spirit has inspired people to write biblical commentaries in the same way as, but at a different level than, scripture itself.
Same with sermons. Some people believe the Holy Spirit will show them what they need to know, and they don’t need to be taught any more anyway, since they already learned enough over the years (yes, someone actually told me that).
Apparently, they haven’t read Nehemiah 8.
The Israelites had been in exile since Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem around 582 B.C. until Babylon was defeated by the Persian Empire’s Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C., after which the Israelites were allowed to go back to Israel, which became a province under the Persian Empire. Under King Artaxerxes, in 428, Ezra brought the Torah from Babylon to Jerusalem (as described in Ezra 7) by decree of the king that also told the rest of the empire to accommodate the return journey and Temple reconstruction.
The exiled Israelites had stopped reading, hearing, following Yahweh’s instructions for his people (the Torah). This Sunday’s passage from Nehemiah picks up with Ezra preparing to introduce this new Israelite generation to the guidance from God that Moses and Joshua followed during the Israelites initial travel toward, and entry into, the Promised Land.
[After the Israelites had settled into their towns,] all the people gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. 2 Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. 3 He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. — Neh 8:1–3 (NRSV)
The people wanted to hear what God had told the patriarchs to share with them. But Ezra realized the task involved more than just reading the Torah to them, so he brought help up on the stage with him.
The scribe Ezra stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand; and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. — Neh 8:4
Ezra brought helpers he had trained for this particular ministry.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. — Neh 8:5–6
The people stood for the reading of God’s word, just as we do for the reading of the Gospel.
Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. 8 So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. — Neh 8:7–8
They read the text to the people, and then Ezra and his helpers went into the crowd and explained what they had just read. The people all spoke Hebrew/Aramaic and didn’t need translators; they needed explanations about the historical context, the background, and the early Israelite cultural and traditional differences from their own—the things that we today bind in a book that we call a commentary. This explanation of scripture that they just heard has another contemporary term as well: Sermon.
But rather than complaining that they already knew everything they needed to know, or that God would enlighten them on his own just like he did to Ezra and his helpers, they were overcome by emotion (as often happens when the Holy Spirit touches us).
And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them. — Neh 8:9–12
The people then gathered at their potluck for food and beverages. They also took some leftover food and drink to people who were unable to be there. At least Christians today seem to have incorporated that aspect into our worship.
They were rejoicing as they went out, because they now understood the words that had been read to them! What is the stereotypical image of Christians leaving their church services today? Christian humor is replete with comics showing parishioners complaining about the sermon: Too long (never too short), too much PowerPoint (or didn’t use enough PowerPoint), not enough humor (or too much humor)—and all about the same sermon.
A retired priest I knew who has since passed on (Fr. Frank Maguire) once told me about an incident he experienced at another church. Having retired from being rector for many years, he knew he had to go to a different church each Sunday to enable the new rector to function, so he visited various churches in the area. During one visit, he heard a sermon that he found particularly bad. The pastor had poor delivery skills, the content seemed unstructured, no logical flow—and Frank knew he could have done a much better job presenting that message. When it was finally over, he turned to the lady seated next to him to offer some critical remark about the preacher’s poor performance. She turned to him also, and with tears in her eyes said, “Wasn’t that the most beautiful thing you ever heard?” Frank learned at that moment that although it’s important for us to learn good technique, and we should do our best to deliver the message to God’s people, it’s the Holy Spirit who actually places it in their hearts. He was never critical of someone else’s sermon again.
Commentaries and sermons are tools that God makes available to his people since he decided to have a people. Nehemiah 8 gives us a clear example of the procedure in action, but Deuteronomy describes this command from God to all of his people.
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. — Deut 6:6–7
Talking about them each day involves a deeper understanding of the meaning than just reciting the text. The Israelites didn’t have individual scrolls, so they had to memorize scripture, in context, in order to recite it. Talking about what they recited is commentary.
Thankfully, God has provided over the centuries a plethora of theologians and scholars upon whose shoulders we clergy today stand. Those resources that used to be available to only cloistered monks or people willing to sort through thousands of pages in hundreds of books to look for answers to their theological questions are now available through a few mouse clicks on your computer.
Logos Bible Software allows you to search Greek and Hebrew origins of biblical terms without having to know any Greek or Hebrew; read what other theologians have discerned about a passage; learn cultural aspects associated with the text; and much more. Besides commentaries, Bible translations, and maps and charts, you can also get books by your favorite Christian authors like C.S. Lewis, Martin Luther, Thomas Cranmer, Max Lucado, et al.— all digitally searchable in a fraction of a second. It’s available at http://logos.com, and has multiple libraries to fit most budgets.
There are other online options also, and the physical book format is available through Amazon and Christianbooks.com.
We, like the Israelites in Nehemiah 8, are called not just to hear or read God’s word, but to rejoice at understanding it.
That requires commentary
Blessings,
Fr. Austin