PREACHING CHRIST FROM LEVITICUS

Foundations for Expository Sermons

SIDNEY GREIDANUS

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.eerdmans.com

© 2021 Sidney Greidanus

All rights reserved

Published 2021

ISBN 978-0-8028-7602-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Greidanus, Sidney, 1935– author.

Title: Preaching Christ from Leviticus : foundations for expository sermons / Sidney Greidanus.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A guide to preaching the book of Leviticus christologically”—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020040446 | ISBN 9780802876027 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Leviticus—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Jesus Christ—Biblical teaching. | Sermons. | Preaching.

Classification: LCC BS1255.52 .G745 2021 | DDC 251—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040446

To Marie, my helpmeet for sixty-three years,

our children:

Renee and John Vandermeer,

Sheri and Frank Huizinga,

Nathan and Heather Greidanus,

our grandchildren:

Jeremy and Julie Vandermeer,

Jeffrey and Ashley Vandermeer,

Cara and Peter Klomps,

Caitlin and Michael Tius,

Zac and Kelsey Huizinga,

Anna and David Flickema,

Jessica Huizinga,

Mikayla, Solomon, and Katherine Greidanus,

and our great-grandchildren:

Caleb and Isabel Vandermeer,

Peyton and April Klomps, and

Carson Huizinga.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.… You shall love the alien as yourself: I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:18, 34

“Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.”

—Jesus, Luke 6:35

Contents

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

1. Issues in Interpreting and Preaching Old Testament Law

Difficulties in Preaching Old Testament Law

The Issue of Continuity and Discontinuity

The Issue of Law and Gospel

Proposed Solution: A Threefold Distinction between Old Testament Laws

A Better Solution: Torah

Continuity in the Midst of Discontinuity

Interpreting Leviticus

Literary Interpretation

Historical Interpretation

Theocentric Interpretation

Christocentric Interpretation

Ten Steps in Preaching Christ from Leviticus

Select the preaching text

Read the text in its literary context

Outline the structure of the text

Interpret the text in its own historical setting

Formulate the text’s theme, goal, and need

Understand the message in the contexts of canon and redemptive history

Formulate the sermon theme, goal, and need addressed

Select a suitable sermon form

Prepare the sermon outline

Write the sermon in oral style

2. The Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1)

Text and Context

Literary Interpretation

Repetition of Key Words

Structure

Symbolism

Theocentric Interpretation

Textual Theme, Goal, and Need

Ways to Preach Christ...

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About Preaching Christ from Leviticus: Foundations for Expository Sermons

For pastors who take seriously the commitment to incorporate the entire Bible into their preaching, Sidney Greidanus’s books on preaching Christ from the major genres of the Old Testament have been a welcome gift. In his last such volume, Greidanus engages with the Old Testament genre of law and treats a book that is often seen as the most challenging of all: Leviticus.

Preaching Christ from Leviticus reminds pastors and congregations that key christological themes—priesthood, sacrifice, atonement, holiness—first originated in Leviticus before they came to full flower in the New Testament with the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his call to holiness. Greidanus provides the basis for fully understanding these and other themes with an exacting analysis of Leviticus and then provides the foundations for ten sermons on Leviticus through topics such as the burnt offering, the ordained priesthood, the day of atonement, the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee, as well as the commandments to be holy, to love your neighbor, and to love aliens and enemies.

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Table of Contents