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Vision Check Techniques: Fresh Eyes on Jesus' Miracles

CHAPTER 1: GOT WINE?

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

If You Were There  (VR)
Insightful Bible study often requires readers to imagine themselves in the situation. What would I have been experiencing had I been in the middle of the action? For example, don’t just read the words of a quotation. Imagine the tone of voice. If some characters are performing an action, imagine what you would be sensing and thinking if you were performing that action. 
CHAPTER 2: TIME WILL TELL

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Create a Timeline  (MG)
The stories in the Bible often jump from one scene to another without giving the reader an accurate sense of the lengths of time involved in the unfolding of the action. So it’s important to observe and piece together the raw data of the passage in order to stretch out the flow of time realistically.
CHAPTER 3: DAYWORKERS

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

The Relentless Why  (CL)
Little kids possess an insatiable need to ask the question why.

“You need to eat your vegetables.” “Why?”

“Because they’re good for you.” “Why?”

“Because they have lots of vitamins.” “Why?”

“Because God made them to help us stay healthy.” “Why?” And so on… 

Interesting discoveries await when you rekindle that childlike habit and ask why relentlessly as you read what people do and say in a Bible story.
CHAPTER 4: FISH SANDWICHES

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

W.W.I.D. What Would I Do?  (VR)
Years ago it was popular for Christians to wear bracelets with the initials W.W.J.D.--What Would Jesus Do? But to have fresh eyes on biblical narratives consider wearing a different reminder: W.W.I.D.-- “What Would IDo -- (if I were in this situation)?” People are the same today as there were in ancient times. Therefore,if you try to enter a biblical story and see a person behaving in a surprising or unusual way, let that be a signal for you to ask what you would have done in that situation.
CHAPTER 5: DEAD PIGS

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Craft a Backstory  (VR)
When fiction writers begin a novel it is common for them to write a backstory that never shows up in the book but that explains: What led up to the point this story begins? How did the characters become who they are? What was the history of the place or situation they find themselves in? Every Bible story has a backstory, something that happened prior to the part of the story that is actually reported in the pages of scripture. Using the facts in the biblical account to reconstruct, or at least imagine, some reasonable elements of a backstory often shines new light on the biblical passage.
CHAPTER 6: TRAVEL PLANS

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Read It Like a Letter  (CL)
What do you do when you get a long letter from a friend? Do you read it in chunks and pieces? A sentence here? A sentence there? Do you read part of the first page and then put it down for a couple days and read another section? Of course not. You read it in one sitting from beginning to end in one fluid motion. It’s hard to do that with the Bible, partly because of how long some of the books are. But also because the chapter and verse markers create the impression that you can read it in chunks. As often as possible get rid of the markers, or at least disregard them in order to more clearly see the flow of plot or line of reasoning the author intended.
CHAPTER 7: A CURE FOR CAN'T

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Try to Harmonize  (MG)
The four New Testament gospels are wonderful, but they can also be a challenge when two or more gospels record the same event differently. Or when one seems to offer a different timeline than the others. That’s when it’s important to harmonize, or blend, the multiple accounts. Start the account with the most detail as your baseline and then add words or phrases from the other gospels that don’t show up in the baseline passage. You might try using a different color for each gospel. That’s when new observations will pop to the surface.
CHAPTER 8: FAITH IN FAITH

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Word Collection  (MG)
Once upon a time thumbs were for thumbing through the pages of books. Now they are for entering letters on a cell phone or digital notepad. This is a real plus for people who want to study scripture. Hunting for all the places in scripture where some word or phrase is used is so much quicker and easier. So collect every time a particular word is used in a letter, book or the whole Bible. You’ll get a good sense about how a word should be understood.
CHAPTER 9: PULL THE PORK

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Trample On Your Convictions (CL)
Sometimes you’re toosure you know what a passage is about. That’s when you need to go to extreme measures to use the “Trample On Your Convictions” technique. Take a sheet of paper. Jot down in a couple sentences what you are “sure” the passage is about. Now physically set it aside. You may think, “I don’t need to go through those motions.” But actually it helps. It reinforces exactly what you should refuse to think temporarily. “I need to see if I can think something other than that.”
CHAPTER 10: WHY JESUS WEPT

TECHNIQUE CATEGORIES
MG - Magnifying Glass
CL - Corrective Lenses
VR - Virtual Reality Goggles

Chart Your Course  (MG)
There’s no way around it. If you want to get fresh insights in scripture, sometimes you need to do grunt work in the biblical text. Take notes. Underline verbs. Highlight observations. And make charts, charts, charts. According to the dictionary, a chart is a “sheet giving information in tabular form.” Sometimes you may need to identify every verb according who did the action and when. Sometimes new insights will come when you chart out the relationships between people and when they lived. Don’t expect to have creative insights in scripture without mastering classical skills requiring sharp pencils, copious notes and good charts.