Preaching Christ from Ecclesiastes: Foundations for Expository Sermons

by Sidney Greidanus

As Sidney Greidanus points out, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes is especially relevant for our contemporary culture because it confronts such secular enticements as materialism, hedonism, cut-throat competition, and self-sufficiency. But how can preachers best convey the ancient Teacher's message to congregations today?

A respected expert in both hermeneutics and homiletics, Greidanus does preachers a great service here by providing the foundations for a series of expository sermons on Ecclesiastes. He walks students and preachers through the steps from text to sermon for all of the book's fifteen major literary units, explores various ways to move from Ecclesiastes to Jesus Christ in the New Testament, and offers insightful expositions that help the preacher in sermon production but omit the theoretical and often impractical discussions in many commentaries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

358 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2010

About the author

Sidney Greidanus (born 1935) is an American pastor and biblical scholar.

Greidanus studied at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary before obtaining a Th.D. from the Free University in Amsterdam. He served as pastor in the Christian Reformed Church and taught at Calvin College and The King’s College before becoming professor of preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary in 1990.

Greidanus is best known for his emphasis on preaching Christ from Old Testament texts. He has been described as one of the most important and influential authors today in the area of biblical preaching.

Reviews

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Something akin to a preaching workshop on every passage. The highly structured & repetitive format suited selective skimming each week rather than thorough reading. I found the preaching oriented discussions much more helpful than the actual expositions.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find this series incredibly helpful. This books is great if you are going to preach through Ecclesiastes, but might not be helpful for regular study.

[Ryan Linkous · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books is helpful to see one's exegetical method transition into sermon prep. That being said, it's a very boring book. Greidanus splits hairs over already ambiguous and disputed text structures. He has more steps than I think are necessary. For example, his "Textual Goal" and "Sermon Goal" are nearly exactly the same every time.

Also, sometimes for him, "Christ-centered preaching" could be as little as collating a passage in Ecclesiastes with something Christ said. If Eccl. says, "It is wise to invest and take risks," then Greidanus would mentioned the parable of talents. The problem I have with that is the theme of the "kingdom of God" in Jesus' parable is often lost. I understand Greidanus has a more sophisticated method, but some of his results fall flat.

[Will Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that this was the book I was most looking forward to reading as I worked through Ecclesiastes. And with all high expectations there is often disappointment. Greidanus' book is helpful in trying to discern the structure and the preaching section of a given text, but beyond that I just personally didn't find it helpful.

It's probably unavoidable given the structure of the book, but the constant repetition was a bit tiring. This book could have been (should have been?) a lot shorter.

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptionally helpful companion for sermon preparation on the book of Ecclesiastes. One comment I noticed on Ecc 3:21-22 was concerning. Greidanus seemed content to say that there was a contradiction between this passage and the NT teaching on the afterlife, and that's the sort of thing that only a liberal could say. Perhaps Greidanus didn't intend to say that, but it certainly seemed that he did to me. Use with caution on that point, but apart from that lots of helpful discussion. His section near the front about seeing Christ in the text was worth the purchase price.

[Landon Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just preached through the book of Ecclesiastes at my church, I can confidently say that this book was one of the most helpful - if not the most helpful - resource in my study and preparation. The format of this book (and this series) is brilliant. Griedanus explains why he has selected a particular text for preaching, he offers commentary on the chosen text, he highlights ways to preach the gospel from the chosen text, and he includes a sample outline for preaching. A tremendous resource!

[Erik Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greindanus books on preaching Christ are super helpful for those trying to make legitimate connections to Christ and the gospel in their sermons. Ecclesiastes can be especially vexing on this account. Pastors will be helped by Griedanus in this volume. My only quibble is that he takes “under the sun” to refer to life without God (i.e. unbelief) rather than just life in this fallen, post-Genesis 3 world. I don’t agree with his interpretation so it effected some of the connections, but I still benefited greatly from the book.

[Wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ecclesiastes can be difficult to understand, especially in certain sections. Greidanus helps clarify a lot of the difficult and show where this book repeatedly points to Christ. It’s not necessarily a commentary where he “gives you all the answers,” but more of him equipping your toolbelt so that you can do the work of seeing Christ in every page of Scripture. Probably a bit more for the academic/seminary-trained than for the church as a whole.

[Brian Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful commentary. Greidanus walks you through how he understands the structure and then how that points to the main point of the passages. Lots of good textual info and finally an example of his sermons for those passages. A very different kind of commentary really but super helpful for a book that often seems to have no structure at all!

[Gavin Breeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greidanus takes the principles from his book "Preaching Christ from the Old Testament" and applies them to a particular book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes. It's clear he's done his research and pulls from a large number of commentaries and sources. I didn't agree with how he interpreted every single verse, but mostly I think he's right on. I also agree with his overall interpretation of Ecclesiastes, that The Teacher (this is how Greidanus refers to the author since this is how the author identifies himself, fair enough) is considering life apart from God rather than airing his own doubts. Greidanus covers the entire book, carefully splitting the text into fifteen textual units (he offers compelling arguments for how he's divided the book up), and he also offers a very thorough outline of each text, which was very helpful. He also helpfully works through some of the literary aspects of the text and proverbs/wisdom literature in general. He also provides a brief example of a sermon exposition from each text with some a couple helpful possible illustrations to get your wheels turning. Finally, there are some nice appendices in which he discusses how to go prepare a sermon, so starting with Greidanus's earlier books isn't necessary, though it would certainly be helpful.

My primary complaint about this book (also my primary complaint against Greidanus's preaching philosophy in general) is that he sees the ways of preaching Christ from a given text very narrowly. To put it into my seminary's lingo, he sees meaning as a dot instead of a circle. So, according to Greidanus each biblical passage has one primary point (I mostly agree with that but I also think there are other ideas "inside the circle") and so you should only preach the primary point (I don't agree with that because, again, there are other ideas in the passage that are worth discussing/preaching) and the only appropriate ways to preach Christ from a passage must be related to its primary point (I don't agree with that). So though he provides multiple ways of preaching Christ from each text, they still seemed a bit rigid to me. I often followed one of his ways, but occasionally I thought of different ways to connect the passage to Christ. So I found him a bit narrow in this way.

My other quibble is how Greidanus defines "preaching Christ." I define it as preaching the person and work of Christ, with particular attention given to Christ's redemptive work. Greidanus defines preaching Christ as connecting the passage to Christ in any way. So since Ecclesiastes is wisdom literature, Greidanus would often note that one possible way of preaching Christ would be to point out something similar that Jesus had said in his teaching. That's helpful, certainly, but I'm not sure I'd call that "preaching Christ." If a Muslim or a Jewish person can hear your sermon and agree with every word (many Muslims and Jews consider Jesus to be a good moral teacher) then I'm not sure that you've actually preached a Christian sermon. I suppose I'm the one being narrow in this instance. (Note: Greidanus DOES often connect passages to Christ's redemptive work but only if the main point of that passage relates to it.)

Anyway, I only quibble because I care. This is a VERY helpful book. And actually I prefer reading guys that I disagree with just a little bit because it helps me formulate my own views more clearly. I used this as a primary guide while teaching through the book of Ecclesiastes to teenagers at my church August-January and it has been great. If I ever preach through Ecclesiastes (I hope so), this book will be close at hand.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for so much when this was recommended to me. His approach to preaching Christ from the Old Testament, from which his basic outline here was taken, has much to commend it. I felt that time and again, for the sake of getting a sermon, he took the easy way out on what the passage was actually saying. His outlines, on occasion, did help me structure my messages on the book. For that I am grateful.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Filled with practical thoughts and examples of expository sermons covering the book of ecclesiastes.

[Cole Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a fan of systematized sermon generating formulas and the hermeneutical philosophy they presuppose and the boring sermons they tend to produce.