What is the Bible All About?
What is the Bible All About?
The short answer is that it is all about Jesus. But, if you would like a fuller answer, keep reading.
“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.”
– John 5:39
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 24:13-25&version=NIV
#bible #ruleoffaith #matthew5
In today’s message, I want to address an important question: Can’t the Bible’s words and stories be twisted, so that they can end up meaning anything we want them to mean? In other words, can’t we end up reading the Bible in such a way that we end up hearing only what we want to hear? Can’t each reader just make the Bible mean anything they want it to mean?
The simple and truthful answer is yes.
So, how do we discover the Bible’s real message? How do we read it, so that we hear what God wants us to hear, and not just what we want the Bible to say? A part of the answer is that we read the Bible with the Church. By that, I do not mean that we only read the Bible at Church. Nor am I am I saying that only one particular denomination or part of the church has all of the right answers and that all of the others are wrong. I also am not saying that we are not supposed to read it during our own personal devotional time or apply or own mind and imagination to trying to understand it for ourselves.
When I say that we read the Bible with the Church, I mean at least three things: First, that when we read the Bible, we keep in mind that God’s people have been reading these words for thousands of years. And, because God has promised to lead his people into all truth (John 16:13), that means that if my reading strays too far from what the rest of God’s people have learned and understood from these sacred pages, I should probably have a reason for concern.
For example, for thousands of years, Christian people have discovered within the pages of the Bible the message that living a godly life includes the virtue of generosity and concern for others. This is the message Christian people have consistently learned from the Bible. So, if my reading of the Bible leads me to conclude that God is okay with me being selfish and that God only cares about me taking care of my own needs, I can be pretty sure I have not grasped the message of the Bible. How do I know? Because my reading of the Bible has led me to a radically different version of the Gospel than what can be found throughout the history of God’s people. Whenever that happens, it should be a warning sign that we have begun to drift off in the wrong direction.
Second, I also mean that Bible is not interested in my private spirituality. Yes, God cares about you and me. And yes, God cares about our individual needs and concerns. But, that is not where God’s concerns stop. Biblical spirituality has to do with our entire life. God cares about how we treat our spouses and neighbors. God is interested in how our personal choices impact the world around us, including people in other parts of the world. Being a Christian is never a private matter. If you are a Christian, it will have an impact on the way you do life with others. If it does not, then you do not really know what it means to be a Christian. Reading the Bible with the Church reminds us that we are one part of the larger community God is creating around Jesus. Reading the Bible in this way teaches us to be more aware of and concerned about the people around us; especially the way we treat them.
Third, by reading the Bible with the Church, I mean that we learn from the Church how to read the Bible. Reading the Bible as a part of the Church means reading it in a certain way.
Let me introduce you to an ancient Christian named Irenaeus.
Irenaeus lived in the early 2nd Century (130-202 A.D.). He had been taught to follow Jesus by a man named Polycarp. Polycarp had been taught to follow Jesus by John the Evangelist, who wrote the book of Revelation, as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John in the New Testament. Irenaeus, a third generation Christian, had been taught to read the Bible by a man who had known one of the human authors of the Bible. #irenaeus
Irenaeus said that the Bible has One central character: Jesus Christ. The individual writings of the Bible are like beautiful stones. “Together they create a mosaic of a King named Jesus. Sadly, some people take the stones and try to rearrange them, so that create a very different picture, such as a dog or a fox. Worse, they claim that this distortion is actually the beautiful image of the King. But their new image is neither what the prophets preached, not what the Lord taught, nor the apostles handed down. (AH 1.8.1).” https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm
When we read the Bible with the Church, we read it through the lens of what Irenaeus and other early Christians called the Rule of Faith. What they meant was that the early creeds and liturgy of the Church provide a lens through which we read and understand the Bible. This is what we call Orthodoxy, the belief that there is a right way to read the Bible.
Now, the Ecumenical Creeds and Liturgy of the Church are not a substitute for the Bible. They are more like the boundary lines in a football game, which provide the structure and context in which the game can be played. Orthodoxy is like that. Within the bounds of Orthodoxy, infinite variations of Christian spirituality and life can be developed and be played out. #orthodoxy #liturgy #creeds
The dangers of trying to erase or ignore the lines of orthodoxy are that we risk ending up without any structure, form, or meaning to our faith. We risk arranging the pieces of the mosaic in such a chaotic way that we forget what the picture was supposed to look like.
So, where did the early Church get such an idea? The answer is, from the apostles, who were Jesus’ earliest followers and those whom he authorized to take his message to the world.
For example, the author of the Book of Revelation tells the story of Christ through the backdrop of Old Testament imagery. Every verse of Revelation has at least one allusion to an Old Testament story or image. The Book of Revelation is incomprehensible apart from Christ. And, according to the Book of Revelation, the Old Testament is an incomplete story without Christ.
Or, take the book of Romans, for example. Romans is the Magnus Opus of the Apostle Paul. At the very beginning of the book, we read:
Romans 1 New International Version (NIV)
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.”
When I was growing up, it seemed that my mom always had something she wanted my dad to build or assemble. Sometimes she wanted something for herself, like having dad put up a porch swing. At other times, she had something in mind for the kids, like having dad assemble a swing set or a bicycle.
Whenever dad worked on something, it was always good sign if at the end of the project all the parts in the box had been used. It was always a sign of future trouble if there were extra parts still lying around after dad had finished the project. As most of you know, companies do not usually include extra and un-needed parts. Chances are good that if there are parts left over, some of the instructions have not been read correctly or carefully enough by the one doing the assembly.
If, at the end of the project, you have parts left over, you are probably going to have to go back to the instructions and re-read them.
The same thing is true of reading any portion of the Bible. If your reading strategy leaves too much unexplained, the chances are that you have not read it correctly or carefully enough. Paul and other early Christians believed that they and most of Israel had mis-understood the plot of the Old Testament. The destruction of Temple and the realization that they had failed in their vocation was quite shocking.
They expected a Messiah, but Jesus was not what they had been looking for. Also, Jesus had not done some of things they thought Messiah would do. And, he had done some things they thought he would never do, such as dying for his enemies on a cross. Realizing who Jesus was forced people like Paul to go back and re-read the ancient words of Scripture, re-interpreting them through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus changed the way they read God’s book.
Paul wrote the book of Romans to show how God is fulfilling his ancient promises to Israel, in and through Jesus. Paul is taking us on a tour of the of the Old Testament (what Jewish people call the Tanak) showing us how Jesus fulfills every chapter of the Old Testament and showing us how Jesus becomes the lens through which we come to truly understand the promises God has made to Israel.
Or, take for example, the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Each, in their own way, are written to show how God has kept is promises to Israel. Everything that the Lord promised to do and to be for his people has been fulfilled in Jesus.
For example, the reason Jesus called 12 disciples to follow him was because he was sending an unmistakable message that he was renewing Israel, even as the book of Deuteronomy and the prophets promised God would do. God was giving his ancient people another chance to live out their calling. And, when God renewed Israel, he would again set them to the vocation of making God known to the world. Matthew and other early Christians, all of whom were Jewish, were part of this calling. And now, they were calling their fellow Israelites to take up their vocation and calling to bring the good news to the world.
The story of Jesus is the fulfillment of the same story found in the Old Testament. Long ago, God made promises to his ancient people Israel. What Matthew and other Christians were sharing with others was that God had kept those promises. The story of Jesus is the climax of the story of the Old Testament. Jesus’ story is not a stand alone story or something new.
So, where did the Apostles get the idea that the whole Bible is about Jesus? According to Luke, they got the idea from Jesus. In Luke 24 we read about something that occurred shortly after Jesus’ resurrection:
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
The Bible is about Jesus. Every page and every story is meant to bring you to Jesus. Every book and every paragraph is about trying to persuade you to follow him, to worship him, to surrender to him, to give your life to him. The Bible points to Jesus, and if you miss him, you miss everything. #jesus