I once heard Greg Koukl, a Christian radio talk show host, say, “Never read a Bible verse!” It sounded odd coming from him—he’s quite a good biblical scholar. However, when I realized what he meant I thought it was a great way to say something that is a time-tested principle of biblical interpretation. One of the most basic principles of rightly interpreting your Bible is to always look at the verse in its context.

We often times get into trouble when reading the Bible.  One of the primary ways this happens is when we read a statement (a verse or part of a verse) and severely misunderstand it.  I’m often times asked by people to help make sense of some verse.  The very first thing I do, whether I’m familiar with the passage or not, is to read at least the entire paragraph in which the verse in question is found.  Biblical authors, like ourselves, will often times clarify what they mean by a word or phrase in either what they have just said (preceding context) or in what they are about to say (following context).  So this is where we must go—the context.

Here’s an example.  John 12:32 records Jesus’ words, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” This verse is often used in an emphasis of worship to say that when we exalt Jesus people will be drawn to him.  Now, it very well may be true that our exaltation of Jesus could cause people to come to know him.  However, the only problem is that this passage (Jn 12:32) doesn’t speak to that issue at all.  How do we know this?  Context!

If we read the very next verse in the following context we see that Jesus was speaking of something very different than our exaltation and adoration of himself.  John 12:32-33 reads, “‘But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.’  [Jesus] said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.”  So, when we look at the surrounding paragraph we realize that the author meant to tell the reader about Jesus’ crucifixion.  If there still remains any doubt, look at an even broader context. 

Earlier in this same Gospel, (Jn 3:14-15) John records Jesus as saying, “‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.’”  Clearly, Jesus’ use of “lifting up” is a reference to the manner in which he would die on the Roman cross.

So, here’s how we move out—like concentric circles—into the larger context of any biblical passage.  From the verse go to Paragraph—Chapter—Book—Testament—Bible.

While this principle of biblical interpretation doesn’t stand alone or solve all the difficulties involved in reading the Bible, it certainly does help us avoid some common pitfalls of misinterpreting what God has said, and therefore, what God is still saying to us today.  If there’s anyone I don’t what to misquote and misrepresent . . . it’s God!