DESCRIPTION
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.
Table of Contents
1. Issues in Interpreting and Preaching Old Testament Law
2. The Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1)
3. The Ordination of Priests (Leviticus 8)
4. The LORD Accepts the First Offerings (Leviticus 9)
5. The LORD’s Judgment on Unholy Offerings (Leviticus 10)
6. Be Holy, for the LORD is Holy (Leviticus 11)
7. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
8. You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (Leviticus 19:1–18)
9. You Shall Love Aliens and Enemies as Yourself (Leviticus 19:1–2,19–37)
10. The Sabbatical Year (Leviticus 25:1–7,18–22)
11. The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8–17,23–55)
Appendixes
1. Ten Steps from Text to Sermon
2. An Expository Sermon Model
3. Three Sermons by Ryan Faber
4. “Jubilee Justice”: A Sermon on Leviticus 25 by Sidney Greidanus
REVIEWS
“The voice of the Lord fills the book of Leviticus in chapter after chapter of direct speech, yet this portion of God’s Word remains neglected in our preaching. In Preaching Christ from Leviticus, Sidney Greidanus draws us back to the literary and theological heart of the Pentateuch to recover a voice speaking to the church with surprising and refreshing relevance. His thoughtful and reproduceable method provides a trustworthy guide along the exegetical journey from text to sermon. Students, pastors, and fellow scholars will benefit from his clear exposition of the text, his Christocentric approach to the theology of Leviticus, and his engaging examples of God’s holy Word proclaimed.”
— Christine Palmer
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
“Preaching from the Old Testament is crucial for the church but often neglected. After all, it is difficult to know how the Old Testament relates to the gospel of Christ, which is the heart of the Christian faith. . . . For those who need help, Sidney Greidanus is an excellent teacher.”
— Tremper Longman III
author of Confronting Old Testament Controversies
“Sidney Greidanus is one of the most gifted advocates of ‘redemptive-historical’ preaching. . . . In a time when there is much confusion about what it means to preach in fidelity to the Scriptures, we very much need the lessons that he offers us.”
— Richard J. Mouw
Fuller Theological Seminary
“Pastors today are rediscovering how to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ from the entire Bible, cover to cover. One of the foremost scholars leading us in this exciting adventure is Sidney Greidanus.”
— Ray Ortlund
Immanuel Church, Nashville