1. Safari ya Kwenda Emau1. The Walk to Emmaus

Alasiri ya Pasaka ya kwanza, wanafunzi wake wawili walikuwa wakitembea maili saba kutoka Yerusalemu kwenda kijiji kiitwacho Emau. Mioyo yao ilikuwa imevunjika. Walikuwa wametumaini kwamba Yesu ndiye atakayewakomboa Israeli. Sasa alikuwa amekufa, mwili wake haukuonekana, na uvumi ulikuwa ukienea kila upande. Mgeni mmoja aliungana nao njiani na kuwauliza walikuwa wakizungumza nini. Wakamweleza — bila kumtambua. Kisha Luka anaandika somo la hermeneutiki lililo muhimu kuliko yote yaliyowahi kufundishwa:On the afternoon of the first Easter, two of His disciples were walking the seven miles from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. They were heartbroken. They had hoped Jesus was the One to redeem Israel. Now He was dead, His body was missing, and rumors were swirling. A Stranger joined them on the road and asked what they were talking about. They told Him — without recognizing Him. And then Luke records the most important hermeneutics lesson ever given:

Hubiri la kwanza la Kristo aliyefufuka lilikuwa darasa la ufafanuzi wa kifungu (eksejesia). Halikuwa hotuba ya ushindi. Halikuwa mhadhara wa mafundisho. Aliwapitisha katika Agano la Kale lote — Musa, Manabii, kila Andiko — na kuwaonyesha jinsi sehemu zake zinavyozungumza zenyewe kwa zenyewe na zinavyozungumza juu yake Yeye. Hiyo ndiyo maana ya Maandiko hufasiri Maandiko.The risen Christ’s first sermon was an exegesis class. Not a victory speech. Not a doctrinal lecture. He walked them through the whole Old Testament — Moses, the Prophets, every Scripture — and showed how the parts speak to each other and to Himself. That is what we mean by Scripture interprets Scripture.

2. Biblia Ni Kitabu Kimoja2. The Bible Is One Book

Vitabu sitini na sita. Waandishi takriban arobaini. Lugha tatu. Takriban karne kumi na sita za uandishi. Mwandishi Mmoja nyuma ya yote. Biblia ni mojawapo ya vitabu vichache sana katika historia ya wanadamu vilivyoandikwa katika upana huo mkubwa na bado vikawa na mshikamano wa namna hii. Fundisho la umoja wa vitabu vitakatifu (umoja wa kanoni) linasema kwamba, kwa kuwa Roho mmoja ndiye aliyevuvia kila neno, sehemu za Biblia si wageni kwa kila mmoja. Ni familia moja. Kila kimoja kinavijua vingine. Mwanzo kiliandikwa ili Ufunuo upate kusimama juu yake. Ufunuo uliandikwa ili Mwanzo upate kukamilishwa. Kila kifungu kilicho katikati kinashikilia ncha hizo mbili pamoja.Sixty-six books. Approximately forty authors. Three languages. Roughly sixteen centuries of writing. One Author behind it all. The Bible is among the very few books in human history written across that scale with this kind of coherence. The doctrine of canonical unity says that because one Spirit inspired every word, the parts of the Bible are not strangers to each other. They are family. Each one knows the others. Genesis was written so Revelation could rest on it. Revelation was written so Genesis could be completed. Every passage in the middle holds the two ends together.

Ndiyo sababu hakuna mstari wa Biblia unaoweza kufasiriwa kwa usalama ukiwa peke yake. Mstari usio na kitabu chake ni sentensi isiyo na aya. Kitabu kisicho na kanoni ni aya isiyo na sura. Biblia nzima ndiyo sura hiyo, na kila swali la ufasiri hatimaye lazima liletwe mbele ya Biblia nzima.This is why no verse of the Bible can be safely interpreted in isolation. A verse without its book is a sentence without a paragraph. A book without the canon is a paragraph without a chapter. The whole Bible is the chapter, and every interpretive question must ultimately be brought to the whole.

3. Yesu Mwenyewe Ndiye Mfafanuzi wa Kwanza3. Jesus Himself the First Exegete

Luka 24:27 si mahali pekee tunapoiona kanuni hii ikitendeka; ni mahali tunapoiona ikionyeshwa kwa mfano na Bwana Mwenyewe. Angeweza kuthibitisha ufufuo wake kwa kutokea katika ua wa hekalu saa sita mchana. Badala yake alichagua kutembea maili saba pamoja na watu wawili waliokuwa na huzuni na kuwafunulia Maandiko. Hermeneutiki inaweza kuwa vitu vingi, lakini zaidi ya yote ni taaluma ambayo Bwana wetu aliyefufuka aliiona inastahili kutumia alasiri yake ya kwanza ya Pasaka.Luke 24:27 is not the only place we see this principle in action; it is the place we see it modeled by the Lord Himself. He could have proved His resurrection by appearing in the temple court at noon. He chose instead to walk seven miles with two grieving men and open the Scriptures to them. Whatever else hermeneutics is, it is the discipline our risen Lord considered worth investing His first Easter afternoon in.

Baadaye jioni ile ile Yesu aliwatokea wale kumi na mmoja na akafanya jambo lile lile tena:Later that same evening Jesus appeared to the eleven and did the same thing again:

Angalia migawanyo mitatu: torati ya Musa, manabii, zaburi. Hivyo ndivyo Wayahudi walivyogawanya Maandiko ya Kiebrania. Kwa maneno mengine Yesu anasema: Agano la Kale lote limekuwa likinihusu Mimi. Kila sehemu yake. Lisome kwa jicho hilo nalo litafunguka.Notice the three divisions: the Law of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms. That is how the Jews divided the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus is saying, in effect: The whole Old Testament has been about Me. Every section. Read it through that lens and it opens.

4. Kamba ya Nyuzi Tatu4. The Three-Fold Cord

Katika matendo, kanuni ya Maandiko-hufasiri-Maandiko hufanya kazi katika ngazi tatu kwa wakati mmoja. Ifikirie kama kamba ya nyuzi tatu inayoshikilia kila mstari mahali pake.In practice, the principle of Scripture-interprets-Scripture operates on three levels at once. Think of it as a three-fold cord that holds each verse in place.

Kwanza, vifungu vilivyo wazi huangaza vile vigumu. Biblia husema mambo mengine waziwazi na mengine kwa namna iliyofichika. Mchungaji mwenye hekima huweka ufasiri wake juu ya mahali palipo wazi na kuruhusu mahali hapo pamulike mahali penye giza. Ikiwa mstari mmoja mgumu unaonekana kufundisha jambo ambalo mistari ishirini iliyo wazi inalikana, basi mstari ule mgumu lazima uwe na maana nyingine tofauti na ile unayoonekana kusema. Jenga mafundisho kutoka kwenye mwanga wa mchana, si kutoka kwenye vivuli.First, clear passages illuminate difficult ones. The Bible says some things plainly and some things obscurely. The wise pastor anchors his interpretation in the plain places and lets them light up the dark ones. If a single difficult verse seems to teach what twenty clear verses deny, the difficult verse must mean something other than what it appears to say. Build doctrine from the daylight, not from the shadows.

Pili, fundisho linalorudiwa lina uzito kuliko jambo lililotajwa mara moja tu. Fundisho ambalo Biblia inalirudia mara hamsini ni muhimu zaidi kuliko msemo inaoutumia mara moja tu. Kanuni za imani za kanisa la kwanza zilijengwa juu ya yale ambayo Maandiko yanasema mara nyingi na kwa msisitizo, si juu ya yale yanayosemwa kwa kufichika na kwa kupita tu. Mchungaji anayejenga mafundisho yake juu ya mstari mmoja anajenga juu ya msumari mmoja. Mchungaji anayejenga juu ya fundisho linalorudiwa anajenga juu ya boriti.Second, repeated teaching outweighs isolated mention. A doctrine the Bible repeats fifty times is more important than a phrase it uses once. The early church creeds were built on what Scripture says often and emphatically, not on what it says obscurely and in passing. A pastor who builds his doctrine on a single verse is building on a single nail. A pastor who builds on a repeated teaching is building on a beam.

Tatu, kanoni nzima hushikilia kila mstari mahali pake. Tuliliona hili katika sehemu yetu ya tatu wakati Shetani alipoinukuu vibaya Zaburi 91 naye Yesu akamjibu kwa Kumbukumbu la Torati 6. Tuliliona tena katika sehemu yetu ya nne wakati kitabu chote cha Esta kilipogeuka juu ya Mwanzo 12:3, ahadi ya agano kwa Ibrahimu. Kila mstari umo ndani ya kanoni, na kanoni huushikilia pale Mungu alipouweka.Third, the whole canon holds each verse in place. We saw this in our third unit when Satan misquoted Psalm 91 and Jesus answered with Deuteronomy 6. We saw it again in our fourth unit when the whole book of Esther turned on Genesis 12:3, the covenant promise to Abraham. Every verse sits inside the canon, and the canon holds it where God put it.

5. Mfano wa Kufanyia Kazi — Wafilipi 4:135. A Worked Example — Philippians 4:13

Chukua mstari unaonukuliwa zaidi kuliko yote kwenye kuta za vyumba vya kubadilishia nguo vya wanamichezo na kwenye michoro ya ngozi (tatuu) ya wanariadha: Nayaweza mambo yote katika yeye anitiaye nguvu. Mstari huo ni halisi. Tafsiri yake ni ya haki. Lakini una maana gani? Ukitolewa peke yake, unasikika kama nyongeza ya nguvu za kimungu — lolote nitakalojaribu, Kristo atanifanikisha.Take the most-quoted verse on locker-room walls and athlete tattoos: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. The verse is real. The translation is fair. But what does it mean? Pulled out alone, it sounds like a divine power-up — whatever I attempt, Christ will make me succeed.

Sasa tumia kanuni ya Maandiko hufasiri Maandiko. Rudi nyuma mistari miwili. Paulo anaandika: Nimejifunza kuwa radhi na hali yo yote niliyo nayo. Najua kupungukiwa, tena najua kufanikiwa; katika hali yo yote, na katika mambo yote, nimefundishwa kushiba na kuona njaa, kufanikiwa na kupungukiwa. Kisha unakuja mstari wa 13: Nayaweza mambo yote katika yeye anitiaye nguvu.Now apply Scripture interprets Scripture. Back up two verses. Paul writes: I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Then comes verse 13: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Hayo “mambo yote” ambayo Paulo anaweza kuyafanya si lengo lolote ninaloweza kuliota. Ni kuridhika katika wingi na katika uhitaji, katika kufanikiwa na katika kushindwa, katika kushiba na katika njaa. Kristo hamwahidi mwamini ushindi katika kila jambo analolianzisha. Anamwahidi mwamini kuridhika katika kila hali. Soma mstari pamoja na aya yake, na usomaji wa injili ya mafanikio unakufa papo hapo ukurasani. Soma mstari bila aya yake, na kizazi kizima cha wanamichezo kinajifunza kumtarajia Mungu jambo lisilo sahihi.The “all things” Paul can do is not any goal I dream up. It is be content in plenty and in want, in success and in failure, in fullness and in hunger. Christ does not promise the believer victory at every venture. He promises the believer contentment in every circumstance. Read the verse with its paragraph and a prosperity-gospel reading dies on the page. Read the verse without its paragraph and a generation of athletes learns to expect the wrong thing from God.

6. Mwigizaji Aliyekariri Injili ya Marko6. The Actor Who Memorized Mark

Eric Booth alikuwa mwigizaji wa jukwaani wa New York. Mwigizaji Mwingereza Alec McCowen alikuwa ametunga onyesho la mtu mmoja ambamo alighani Injili yote ya Marko kwa moyo. Booth alichaguliwa kufanya vivyo hivyo katika maonyesho ya wiki tatu huko Chicago. Kwa kukiri kwake mwenyewe, aliijia kazi hiyo akiwa mtu wa kidunia asiye na lengo lolote la kidini la kutetea. Ilimbidi tu ajifunze maneno yake. Alianza kuyakariri — kazi ngumu tu, bila kuguswa sana kihisia. Lakini kisha kazi ile ikaanza kufanya kazi yake ndani yake. Baadaye alisema: Nina hisia ya ndani kabisa kwamba mambo haya yote yalitokea. Sijui jinsi gani, wala sielewi, lakini sasa kwa namna fulani naamini kwamba yote yalitokea sawasawa kama yalivyoelezwa. Na hivyo naishi na jambo lililo juu ya ufahamu wangu. Mwigizaji aliyekuwa akijiandaa kwa nafasi yake jukwaani aligeuka kuwa Mkristo kwa kujazwa na Maandiko.Eric Booth was a New York stage actor. The British actor Alec McCowen had built a one-man show in which he recited the entire Gospel of Mark from memory. Booth was cast to do the same in a three-week run in Chicago. He came to the job, by his own admission, as a secular man with no ax to grind. He simply had to learn the lines. He started memorizing them — just plain hard work, very little emotional response. But then the work began to do its own work on him. He later said: I have this gut-level feeling that all these things happened. I don’t know how, and I don’t understand it, but now somehow I believe it all took place just as it was described. And so I live with something beyond my understanding. An actor preparing for a role became a Christian by saturation in Scripture.

Hivyo ndivyo kanuni ya Maandiko-hufasiri-Maandiko inavyofanya kwa muda. Haiijulishi akili tu. Inamjaza mtu mzima. Mchungaji anayeishi ndani ya kanoni muda wa kutosha huanza kufikiri kwa makundi ya mawazo yake, kuota kwa mafumbo yake, na kuliona kanisa lake kwa macho yake. Hahitaji tena kutafuta marejeo-mtambuka kwa sababu marejeo hayo yanaishi ndani yake. Biblia imemfasiri yeye.That is what Scripture-interprets-Scripture does over time. It does not just inform the mind. It saturates the man. The pastor who lives inside the canon long enough begins to think in its categories, dream in its metaphors, see his church through its eyes. He no longer has to look up cross-references because the cross-references live in him. The Bible has interpreted him.

7. Kanuni Hii Inatuokoa na Nini7. What This Principle Saves Us From

Nidhamu ya kuruhusu Maandiko yafasiri Maandiko humwokoa mchungaji na makosa matatu makubwa yanayostawi katika siku zetu.The discipline of letting Scripture interpret Scripture saves the pastor from three serious errors that thrive in our day.

Inamwokoa na madhehebu potofu ya mstari mmoja. Karibu kila dhehebu potofu la kisasa limejengwa juu ya mstari mmoja uliotengwa unaotumiwa kuifunika Biblia yote iliyobaki. Mashahidi wa Yehova hujenga ukanaji wao wa uungu wa Kristo juu ya usomaji wa kulazimishwa wa Yohana 1:1, wakipuuza Yohana 1:14, Yohana 20:28, Waebrania 1:8, Tito 2:13, na vifungu vingine mia moja vinavyosema kile kile ambacho Yohana 1:1 inasema. Dawa ya dhehebu potofu kamwe si kuiacha Biblia. Dawa ni kuuleta mstari unaopendwa na dhehebu hilo mbele ya Biblia yote iliyobaki — na kuiacha kanoni iushikilie mstari huo mahali pake.It saves him from single-verse cults. Almost every modern cult is built on one isolated verse used to override the rest of the Bible. Jehovah’s Witnesses build the denial of Christ’s deity on a strained reading of John 1:1, ignoring John 1:14, John 20:28, Hebrews 1:8, Titus 2:13, and a hundred other passages that say what John 1:1 says. The cure for the cult is never to abandon the Bible. The cure is to bring the cult’s favorite verse to the rest of the Bible — and let the canon hold the verse in place.

Inamwokoa na kunukuu kwa mnyororo — tabia mbaya ya kuunganisha pamoja mistari mitano kutoka vitabu vitano tofauti ambayo inashiriki neno moja lakini haishiriki maana moja. Mchungaji anaweza “kuthibitisha” karibu kila kitu kwa njia hiyo: chukua neno moto katika Kutoka 3, Matendo 2, na Waebrania 12, lichukulie kana kwamba vifungu hivyo vinafundisha jambo moja, nawe utakuwa na hubiri. Pia utakuwa umesoma vibaya vifungu vitatu tofauti. Maandiko hufasiri Maandiko maana yake ni zaidi ya kushiriki msamiati; maana yake ni kushiriki muktadha, hoja, na teolojia.It saves him from chain-quoting — the bad habit of stringing together five verses from five different books that share a single word but not a single meaning. A pastor can “prove” almost anything that way: take the word fire in Exodus 3, Acts 2, and Hebrews 12, treat them as if they teach the same thing, and you have a sermon. You also have a misreading of three different passages. Scripture interprets Scripture means more than sharing vocabulary; it means sharing context, argument, and theology.

Inamwokoa na kutumia mstari mmoja uliotengwa kama ushahidi. Hata mstari unaponukuliwa kwa usahihi, katika muktadha wake sahihi, kwa maana yake yenyewe, bado ni busara kwa mchungaji kuuliza ni Maandiko gani mengine yanayosimama nyuma yake na kando yake. Msomaji mwaminifu anaweza kuuelewa vibaya mstari mmoja; mstari unaoshikiliwa katika ushirika wa wenzake karibu hauwezi kueleweka vibaya.It saves him from isolated proof-texting. Even when a verse is quoted accurately, in its right context, on its own meaning, the pastor is still wise to ask what other Scripture stands behind it and beside it. A single verse can be misunderstood by an honest reader; a verse held in the company of its fellows almost cannot.

8. Je! Mioyo Yetu Haikuwaka?8. Did Not Our Heart Burn?

Yesu alipowaacha wale wanafunzi wawili pale Emau, hawakusema, Kweli lilikuwa somo la Biblia la werevu. Walisema:When Jesus left the two disciples at Emmaus, they did not say, What a clever Bible study that was. They said:

Hilo ndilo tunda la kanuni ya Maandiko-hufasiri-Maandiko. Si maandishi bora ya mihadhara. Si tamko la mafundisho linalovutia zaidi. Ni moyo unaowaka. Sehemu za Biblia zinapoanza kuzungumza zenyewe kwa zenyewe mbele ya mchungaji, na kupitia yeye mbele ya watu wake, matokeo yake ni moto ambao hakuna zoezi la kitaaluma linaloweza kuuzaa. Neno lililotolewa na Roho hufunuliwa na Roho na huwapasha moto watu wa Roho.That is the payoff of Scripture-interprets-Scripture. Not better lecture notes. Not a more impressive doctrinal statement. A burning heart. When the parts of the Bible begin to speak to each other in front of the pastor, and through him in front of his people, the result is a fire that no academic exercise can produce. The Word that was given by the Spirit is opened by the Spirit and warms the people of the Spirit.

Ikiwa mahubiri yako yanawaacha wasikilizaji wako wakiwa na habari lakini bila joto, tatizo mara chache huwa ni jinsi unavyohubiri. Kwa kawaida tatizo ni kwamba sehemu za Biblia bado hazijaruhusiwa kuzungumza zenyewe kwa zenyewe katika masomo yako. Ziache zizungumze. Kaa na vifungu viwili mpaka uone jinsi vinavyoshikiliana. Moyo huwaka pale miunganiko inapoonekana.If your sermons leave your hearers informed but unwarmed, the issue is rarely your delivery. The issue is usually that the parts of the Bible have not yet been allowed to speak to each other in your study. Let them speak. Sit with two passages until you see how they hold each other. The burn comes when the connections come.

9. Hatua za Kimatendo9. Practical Steps

Tabia tatu zitamjenga mchungaji anayeruhusu Maandiko yafasiri Maandiko. Marejeo-mtambuka. Biblia ya kujifunzia huorodhesha vifungu vinavyolingana pembeni mwa ukurasa. Unapojifunza mstari, tafuta kila rejeo na ulisome katika muktadha wake. Usitupe jicho tu; soma aya ambamo kila rejeo limo. Nusu saa ya kufuatilia marejeo-mtambuka itakufundisha zaidi kuliko nusu siku ya kusoma vitabu vya maelezo kuhusu mstari mmoja.Three habits will form a pastor who lets Scripture interpret Scripture. Cross-references. A study Bible lists the parallel passages in the margin. When you study a verse, look up every reference and read it in its own context. Do not just glance; read the paragraph each reference sits in. Half an hour of cross-referencing will teach you more than half a day of reading commentaries about a verse.

Kazi ya konkodansi. Neno linapokuwa na uzito katika kifungu chako, litafute katika konkodansi (kitabu cha orodha ya maneno ya Biblia) na usome kila mahali Biblia inapolitumia. Neno halina lazima maana ile ile katika kila kifungu — hapo ndipo muktadha bado unatawala — lakini kulifuatilia neno kunakufundisha upana wa maana ambazo Mungu amelipa. Imani, haki, kuhesabiwa haki, mwili, roho, ulimwengu — karibu kila neno muhimu la Biblia lina vivuli vya maana ambavyo mchungaji anahitaji kuvijua.Concordance work. When a word matters to your text, look it up in a concordance and read every occurrence the Bible gives. A word does not necessarily mean the same thing in every passage — that is where context still rules — but tracing a word teaches you the range of meanings God has given it. Faith, righteousness, justify, flesh, spirit, world — almost every important biblical word carries shades the pastor needs to know.

Kusoma Biblia nzima. Mchungaji ambaye hajawahi kusoma Biblia nzima hawezi kuruhusu Maandiko yafasiri Maandiko, kwa sababu bado hajui Maandiko yanasema nini. Isome yote kila mwaka ukiweza. Isome polepole — si kama kazi ya lazima, bali kama uhusiano. Marejeo-mtambuka usiyoweza kuyatafuta yatajitokeza yenyewe unapohubiri, kwa sababu yanaishi ndani yako.Whole-Bible reading. The pastor who has never read the whole Bible through cannot let Scripture interpret Scripture, because he does not yet know what Scripture says. Read it through every year if you can. Read it slowly — not as a chore, but as a relationship. The cross-references you cannot look up will rise unbidden when you preach, because they live in you.

10. Hubiri Kile Kinachowaka10. Preach What Burns

Wale wanafunzi wawili hawakubaki katika nyumba ya wageni ya Emau baada ya Yesu kuwaacha. Luka anasema waliondoka saa ile ile wakatembea maili saba kurudi Yerusalemu gizani, ili kuwaambia wengine. Moyo unaowaka hauwezi kufungiwa ndani. Neno linapokuwa limewaka katika chumba cha masomo cha mchungaji, Jumapili yake si wajibu tu. Ni kuwasilisha zawadi.The two disciples did not stay at the Emmaus inn after Jesus left them. Luke says they got up that same hour and walked the seven miles back to Jerusalem in the dark, to tell the others. A burning heart cannot be kept indoors. When the Word has burned in the pastor’s study, his Sunday is not a duty. It is a delivery.

Hubiri kile kinachowaka. Hubiri kile kinachoshikamana pamoja. Hubiri kile ambacho kanoni imekifua kuwa umbo moja. Maandiko yanapofasiri Maandiko katika masomo yako, huhitaji kubuni shauku madhabahuni. Moto tayari upo. Kazi yako ni kuushusha tu kwa watu wako bila kuuzima njiani.Preach what burns. Preach what holds together. Preach what the canon has hammered into one shape. When Scripture interprets Scripture in your study, you do not need to invent enthusiasm in the pulpit. The fire is already there. Your job is only to bring it down to your people without smothering it on the way.