{"id":4575,"date":"2019-02-28T10:29:31","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nafwb.org\/?p=4575"},"modified":"2019-02-28T10:29:31","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:29:31","slug":"the-reforming-power-of-expository-preaching-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/the-reforming-power-of-expository-preaching-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reforming Power of Expository Preaching Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Randy Sawyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Standing under the shadows of\u00a0Martin Luther and John Calvin,\u00a0Ulrich Zwingli has been called\u00a0“the third man of the Reformation.”\u00a0Zwingli was born on January 1,\u00a01484, at Wildus, some 40 miles from\u00a0Zurich. The home of his parents, Uly and\u00a0Margaret, was crowded with 11 children,\u00a0so Ulrich was sent to live with his uncle.<\/p>\n

Life of Constant Learning <\/strong><\/p>\n

Zwingli enjoyed the advantages of a\u00a0good education, eventually matriculating\u00a0at the University of Basel in 1502. By\u00a0the end of his university training, he\u00a0emerged as a young man inspired by\u00a0modem trends in scholarship but acquainted\u00a0also with scholastic learning.<\/p>\n

In 1506, Zwingli became vicar of\u00a0Glarus. Although a busy and popular\u00a0parish priest, he found time to continue\u00a0his studies. Having missed an opportunity\u00a0to learn Greek while at the university,\u00a0he began to study it on his own using\u00a0Erasmus’ Greek New Testament.<\/p>\n

Zwingli’s career as a reformer began\u00a0with his call as the people’s priest\u00a0at Zurich in late 1518. On January 1, 1519,\u00a0he initiated a systematic exposition of the\u00a0Bible, commencing with Matthew.<\/p>\n

Through his study of the Pauline Epistles\u00a0in Greek and his systematic exposition\u00a0of the scriptures, Zwingli reached an\u00a0evangelical understanding. He always\u00a0maintained that he had discovered\u00a0evangelical principles before he heard\u00a0of Luther, but admitted that reading\u00a0Luther’s books was a valuable assurance\u00a0to him that he was not alone.<\/p>\n

Life of Considerable Courage <\/strong><\/p>\n

With his expository preaching,\u00a0Zwingli laid the foundations for reform in\u00a0Switzerland. By 1521, the city had accepted\u00a0the scriptures as the standard,\u00a0and the time was ripe for charge. \u00a0The\u00a0transformation accelerated with astonishing\u00a0speed between 1522 and 1526:\u00a0the breaking of Lent, clergy marriage,\u00a0translation of the Bible, a new baptismal\u00a0order, removal of images, criticism of the\u00a0mass and severance from the Papacy.<\/p>\n

But Zwingli was facing physical danger from\u00a0the opponents of reform. It was\u00a0imperative that he win the support of the\u00a0Council of Zurich. The council agreed to\u00a0consider the question of reform in a public\u00a0debate on January 29, 1523. Zwingli\u00a0drew up 67 theses in preparation.<\/p>\n

The Bishop of Constance declined\u00a0to attend the council on grounds that\u00a0matters of theology should not be\u00a0submitted to the judgment of laymen.\u00a0Consequently, Zwingli alone was left\u00a0to expound on his theses. The debate\u00a0was a great success and Zwingli was\u00a0allowed to continue to proclaim the\u00a0pure “Holy Scriptures” in Zurich.<\/p>\n

Life of Committed Exposition <\/strong><\/p>\n

Very few of Zwingli’s sermons have\u00a0been preserved for us to examine, partly\u00a0because he did not preach from a\u00a0manuscript. This is not to say that he did\u00a0not prepare but rather that he wanted to\u00a0be free to maintain close contact with\u00a0the congregation.<\/p>\n

Zwingli’s sermons fall essentially\u00a0into two categories. First, it was his\u00a0practice to preach straight through a\u00a0biblical book before going on to the\u00a0next. He began his ministry in Zurich\u00a0by announcing his intention to preach\u00a0through the Gospel of Matthew.<\/p>\n

This approach was a departure\u00a0from the tradition of the scholastics\u00a0who preached merely from the assigned\u00a0torts for each week. This branded\u00a0Zwingli as revolutionary, and the\u00a0churchmen were justifiably worried.\u00a0However, before three years had\u00a0passed, the result of such expository\u00a0preaching was evident to all observers.<\/p>\n

Commenting on Zwingli’s expository\u00a0preaching, John Broadus writes:<\/p>\n

“Some friends objected that his expository\u00a0preaching would be an innovation\u00a0and injurious; but he justly said,\u00a0‘lt is the old custom. Call to mind the\u00a0homilies of Chrysostom on Matthew,\u00a0and of Augustine on John.’ “<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Broadus adds that the preaching of\u00a0the reformers (Luther, Zwingli, and\u00a0Calvin) gave the most effective exegesis\u00a0of scripture since the days of\u00a0Chrysostom. In the Archetcles<\/em>of 1522,\u00a0Zwingli had occasion to defend the\u00a0preaching he had done at Zurich.<\/p>\n

“I have never planted any other plant\u00a0than that which Christ planted at the direction\u00a0of His Father, which cannot be\u00a0rooted up. For three years ago now (to\u00a0give you an account of the preaching I\u00a0have done at Zurich), I preached the entire\u00a0Gospel according to Matthew.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He went on to document the other\u00a0books he had used as the basis of his\u00a0preaching. After finishing Matthew he\u00a0preached from the Acts of the Apostles<\/em>.\u00a0Following this, he preached from I Timothy<\/em>,\u00a0Galatians<\/em>,II Timothy,<\/em>I <\/em>andII Peter<\/em>and Hebrews.<\/em><\/p>\n

Occasionally, Zwingli interrupted\u00a0his series to preach on a particular\u00a0theme. For example, in the summer of\u00a01522 he preached two sermons on the\u00a0themes of the Word of God and the\u00a0Virgin Mary. However, even his topical\u00a0messages were based entirely upon\u00a0Scripture, with numerous Biblical passages\u00a0cited as proof texts.<\/p>\n

The Reforming Power of\u00a0Expository Preaching <\/strong><\/p>\n

One biographer summarized the significance\u00a0of Zwingli’s preaching by remarking that as a result of his expository\u00a0preaching, “the scripture now dominates\u00a0tradition.” Another writer added,\u00a0“Zwingli turned from what he thought to\u00a0be mere human invention and creation\u00a0to the primary source of true religion.”<\/p>\n

Gordon Rupp noted, “Shortsighted\u00a0and with a weak voice, he lacked\u00a0the gifts of the popular orator, but his\u00a0preaching is the secret of his dominance\u00a0of the great city.”<\/p>\n

Article adapted from Contact\u00a0<\/em>magazine, September 2001.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Randy Sawyer Standing under the shadows of\u00a0Martin Luther and John Calvin,\u00a0Ulrich Zwingli has been called\u00a0“the third man of the Reformation.”\u00a0Zwingli was born on January 1,\u00a01484, at Wildus, some 40 miles from\u00a0Zurich. The home of his parents, Uly and\u00a0Margaret, was crowded with 11 children,\u00a0so Ulrich was sent to live with his uncle. Life of Constant Learning Zwingli enjoyed the advantages of a\u00a0good education, eventually matriculating\u00a0at the University of Basel in 1502. By\u00a0the end of his university training, he\u00a0emerged as a young man inspired by\u00a0modem trends in scholarship but acquainted\u00a0also with scholastic learning. In 1506, Zwingli became vicar of\u00a0Glarus. Although a busy and popular\u00a0parish priest, he found time to continue\u00a0his studies. Having missed an opportunity\u00a0to learn Greek while at the university,\u00a0he began to study it on his own using\u00a0Erasmus’ Greek New Testament. Zwingli’s career as a reformer began\u00a0with his call as the people’s priest\u00a0at Zurich in late 1518. On January 1, 1519,\u00a0he initiated a systematic exposition of the\u00a0Bible, commencing with Matthew. Through his study of the Pauline Epistles\u00a0in Greek and his systematic exposition\u00a0of the scriptures, Zwingli reached an\u00a0evangelical understanding. He always\u00a0maintained that he had discovered\u00a0evangelical principles before he heard\u00a0of Luther, but admitted that reading\u00a0Luther’s books was a valuable assurance\u00a0to him that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4576,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions\/4576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nafwb.org\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}