Be with Jesus!

In Scripture.

1. We observe HIS ATTITUDE to Scripture:

Jesus believed that the Sciptures, which for Him, was the Old Testament, was the divinely inspired word of God(Mark 7:13).

(a). He was well versed in the stories of Scripture.

Throughout the Gospels, we find Jesus confirming many of the accounts in the Old Testament, such as the murder of Abel by his brother Cain (Luke 11:51), the destruction of Sodom and the death of Lot’s wife (Luke 17:29, 32) the calling of Moses (Mark 12:26), and the manna given in the wilderness (John 6:31–51) as well as the account of Moses erecting a bronze snake in the wilderness(John 3:14). He mentions the swallowing of Jonah by a great fish and the repentance of Nineveh(Matthew 12:8-45).

He reflects on the ministries of Elijah and Elisha (Luke 4:25-27) and He certifies the historical truth of Old Testament narratives when he makes the sweeping pronouncement that his generation will experience all the judgment due “for all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah” (Matt. 23:35; cf. Luke 11:50-51).

(b). He referred to Scripture as ‘the commandment of God’ (Matthew 15:3).

He taught that ‘the Scripture cannot be broken’ (John 10:35) nor its teaching be set aside: Matthew 5:17–20 (ESV) “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

(c). He accepted the whole of Scripture as equally authoritative.

Jesus quotes from all three major sections of the Hebrew Bible - “the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the the Psalms”/Writings (Luke 24:44) - and from all three major kinds of laws - moral, civil, and ceremonial.

(d). He settled theological controversy by referring to scripture!

In any matter of controversy, He would point to Scripture as the arbiter and judge of what was being disputed - ‘Have you not read that which was spoken to you by God?’ (Matthew 22:31); ‘Have you never read, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes thou has prepared praise for thyself”?’ (Matthew 21:16); and ‘Have you not read what David did?’ (Matthew 12:3).

So, one example we have considered recently is that of Jesus using Scripture to correct false notions about marriage and divorce - Matthew 19:3-6 “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

All of these examples could be multiplied to demonstrate that Jesus was conversant with the Old Testament and its content. He quoted from it often and he trusted it totally and beleived that its prophecies must be fulfileld(Luke 24:44)!

Indeed. though Jesus was sometimes accused of blasphemy for His claims, what Jesus was never accused of was a careless and casual approach to Scripture. Everyone who came across Him, knew that He knew the Scripture and took it seriously.

This is an important rebuke to those of us who claim to follow Jesus and serve Him whilst rejecting, ignoring or pouring scorn upon much of the Old Testament.

SO, PART OF OUR BEING WITH JESUS, IS TO LEARN WITH HIS ATTITUDE TO SCRIPTURE AND TO MIMIC IT. How then can we BE with JESUS in Scripture?

2. We observe HIS DEPENDENCE upon Scripture:

(a). He lived in daily dependence upon Scripture:

In Matthew 4, Jesus, having been tempted by the Devil to bow down and worship Him said: Matthew 4:4 “It is written,  ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

(b). He understood that reading and knowing Scripture was life-giving and transforming!

To live in daily dependence upon Scripture shows that this was not merely to gain knowldge or gather facts to win theological arguments.

For Jesus, there was always a connection between reading and knowing Scripture and obedience to it. Living by the bread of Scripture was not merely the reading of it but the life-giving, nourishment of Scripture to help Him live each day, doing the will of God - John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work”

“The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation.”― Dwight Lyman Moody

His attitude to Scripure and daily dependence upon it shows that Jesus could truly say, “Oh how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day.”(Psa 119:97).

“I’ve experienced His presence in the deepest darkest hell that men can create. I have tested the promises of the Bible, and believe me, you can count on them. I know that Jesus Christ can live in you, in me, through His Holy Spirit. You can talk with Him; you can talk with Him out loud or in your heart when you are alone, as I was alone in solitary confinement. The joy is that He hears each word.” – Corrie Ten Boom

3. We learn of HIS DISCERNMENT of Scripture:

(a). He recognised and distinguished between the lighter and the weightier parts of Scripture - Matthew 23:23-24

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!”

Jesus taught that all of the Bible is the inspired Word of God and taught that all God’s laws must be obeyed but at the same time, He warns against getting bogged down in the minutiae of line by line interpretation whilst conveniently ignoring its big message to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”(Mark 12:30-31).

(b). He pointed us to the spirit of the text not just the letter of it! - see 2 Corinthians 3.

This is what was missing in the controversy stirred up by the calling of Matthew the tax collector when Jesus was criticised for “eating with tax collectors and sinners”, and said to them:, “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13).

Jesus is not questioning that His religious opponents have an identical high respect for Scripture in their desire for purity before God BUT a desire for purity that cuts you off from doign saving good in a dirty world menas you lose sight of the mission of Jesus which is to “call sinners to repentance.”

This is fitting for in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, He would replace the requirment of blood sacrifice with a reliance on His own sacrifice for salvation. All of the OT sacrificial requirment is fulfilled in Him - see Heb 7:22-28;Heb 10:1-10.

(c). He fulfils Scripture:

When he challenged the Phrisees, He went beyond merely challenging their interpretation, He actually give them an authoritative interpertation! He was not ignoring or abolishing scripture but fulfilling it - see Matthew 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 3:15; 4:14

Jesus did incredibly radical things that upset the Religious establishment. He pronounced the forgiveness of sins over individuals, apart from their offering animal sacrifices in the temple (Mark 2:5-7).

He ended the dietary restictions by announcing all foods clean(Mark 7:14-15).

He prophesied the destruction of the Temple and announced the imminent arrival of an era in which the temple in Jerusalem would no longer be needed for “true worship” (John 4:21-24).

He challenged Sabbath laws which merely prevented activity remindindg us that it is always appropriate to do good on the Sabbath (Mark 3:4).

He intensifies the demands of Scripture in places, saying “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’ ”(Matt 5:43) and making prohibitions on anger, lust and divorce by comparing them to murder, adultery, and giving a wife a certificate of divorce. Likewise, Jesus forbids oaths and retaliation where the Old Testament actually commands the fulfillment of vows and commends “an eye for an eye” (Matt 5:33-42).

He declares that by believing the Scriptures and seeing their fulfilment in Him, you can have “eternal life” - Jesus tells us that Scripture points to Him(Luke 24:44) and learning from it, leads to eternal life - John 6:39–47 (ESV) - “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

So here Jesus is changing the requirements of the written Law itself and no one but the Son of God, indeed no one by the Divine Inspirer of Scripture, the Divine Logos, the “Word of God” could declare the fulfilment of Scripture(see John 1:1-4).

All of scriptue interpretation needs to be couched with this unique privilege in mind, so that the Church does not see itself as the writer of Scripture but merely the mouthpiece of Scripture.

APPLICATION

It is impossible to BE WITH JESUS and not notice His attitude to and love for Scripture and this is what he wants to pass onto us!

Jesus does not want us to settle for just reading Scripture. Studying the Bible is meant to transform us. So we should diligently be meditating, reflecting, and applying Scripture to our lives.

When this becomes a habit, God’s Word becomes far more empowering and intimate and life-giving, so that we can begin to BE LIKE JESUS and learn to DO WHAT JESUS DID!