Lesson 4: Understanding the Context

An Example (Matthew 3:7–10)

Let’s now walk through an example of this process.
The Sadducees and Pharisees in Matthew 3:7–10
Who were the Sadducees and Pharisees, and what does it matter? 
To answer those questions, let’s walk through the eight tasks from the previous step to help us bridge the gap.
Identify any unknown background details stated in the text (places, names, historical events, figures of speech, cultural practices, etc.).
Search for any other biblical references to the same (or closely related) details.
Supplement your study with historical/cultural background resources.
Describe how the original readers/hearers would have understood this text.
Assess the cultural differences. What has changed across cultures? What has stayed the same?
Discern the timeless truths the passage communicates. (Think especially with reference to the nature of God, man, sin, salvation.)
Examine your own cultural context. What related cultural assumptions and beliefs do we hold?
Apply the theological principles across the cultural gap to our contemporary lives.
Let’s begin by reading the text:
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 

    2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

    “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

        ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
            make his paths straight.’”

4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, 

    “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Step 1: Identify
Identify any unknown background details stated in the text (places, names, historical events, figures of speech, cultural practices, etc.).
For our purposes in this example, we will focus on the background detail from v.7: Who are the Pharisees and Sadducees?

Step 2: Search
Search for any other biblical references to the same (or closely related) details.
For this example, we used Biblearc’s “Search” module to look up other biblical references to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.


Our Observations on the Pharisees and SadduceespdfOpen this pdf to view our observations and summary regarding what we learn about the Pharisees and Sadducees from the New Testament.

Step 3: Supplement
Supplement your study with historical/cultural background resources.
For this example, we consulted the New Bible Dictionary. This work confirms the details we noted above, adding that reconstructing the exact role and ideologies of these sects is difficult. There are few details about them in extra-biblical literature. Thus, we should not overstate their theological positions or influence in public life.

Step 4: Describe
Describe how the original readers/hearers would have understood this text.

In light of what we have discovered about the Sadducees and Pharisees, what did John mean by calling them a "brood of vipers"?Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.

Here are a few of our notes regarding how the original audience would have understood John’s words:
Those who had gathered at the Jordan to experience John’s baptism might have been quite shocked to hear John so boldly confront these religious leaders.
Because both Pharisees and Sadducees were coming together, it is unlikely that the theological differences between them were much at play in either the minds of the witnesses or by John in his words of rebuke.
If the people understood John’s message—“the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—with reference to the day of the Lord spoken of by the prophets, they may have understood that day as both a day of gracious deliverance and a day of dreadful judgment. And so, John’s harsh words would be in keeping with that dual reality.


Step 5: Assess
Assess the cultural differences. What has changed across cultures? What has stayed the same?
Certainly many of the cultural details have completely changed. Most obviously, the Pharisees and Sadducees no longer exist, though modern orthodox Judaism emerged from the Pharisees and bears a clear resemblance. Nevertheless, presumptuous religion abounds among us today just as much as then.  The Pharisees, in particular, viewed themselves as the gatekeepers to God’s favor. Yet Jesus repeatedly labels these supposed insiders as self-deceived outsiders. No generation is immune to “the leaven of the Pharisees.” That is, the danger of religious zeal morphing into prideful hypocrisy, of spiritual leadership serving as a mere mask for temporal power.

Step 6: Discern
Discern the timeless truths the passage communicates. (Think especially with reference to the nature of God, man, sin, and salvation.)
No one, of any generation, should presume upon the grace of God. Those approaching God with an attitude of “well of course, I am in the fold, accepted by him,” will be most surprised when he casts them out. It is those whom he raises up by sheer grace, who sincerely repent and bear the fruit of genuine repentance that God shall uphold.

Step 7: Examine
Examine your own cultural context. What related cultural assumptions and beliefs do we hold?
Though they go by different names, we still have our theological camps: Progressive, Fundamentalist, Evangelical, along with a plethora of denominational camps. And each “party” holds a host of “of course we're right about that” assumptions.

Step 8: Apply
Apply the theological principles across the cultural gap to our contemporary lives.
If we, like the Sadducees and Pharisees, pridefully assume our inherent “right” to God's kingdom, then we will share in their condemnation. This warning is as relevant and timely in our culture as it was in John’s.