Scripture as Following Jesus

The bible is a unique book. It is one of the oldest books in the world, and yet it is one of the world’s best sellers. It is a product of the Ancient Eastern world, but it has molded the Western world. Tyrants have burned the Bible, and believers revere it. It is the most quoted, the most published, the most translated, and the most influential book in the history of mankind.

Many agree that it is sacred writing, but question its relevancy.

Most would agree that this is a sacred writing, but has its time passed, does it relate to my life?

What space does the bible hold?

Confronted with the challenges of our time and personal experience

These questions are in light of the challenges of our time and of our own experiences

The Bible can be seen as confusing, dark, maybe even dead.

The Bible can seem confusing, dark, maybe even dead.

It seems confusing, dark, maybe even dead

The early 20th century was a time and had a culture where the Bible had been buried by generations of scholarship, Karl Barth passionately insisted that the Bible is not dead but sleeping.

Imagine there was a group of people who lived in a warehouse without doors – no way to get in or get out. But there were some windows, very high up, yet covered in grime.

One day one of them decided to climb up and scrape the grime off one of the windows and looked out. Surprised, he saw a world outside that he never knew existed and called to his friends to climb up and see it for themselves.

There were people on the street outside and they were all abuzz. They were pointing up to something that those in the warehouse could not see because of the roof that over-hanged the windows. They could only see the buzzing crowd and that they were pointing up to something.

They puzzled at it and puzzled at it but couldn’t figure out what the people in the street were all worked up about. Eventually, growing bored, they just climbed back down. So, what were the folks on the street pointing to? They were pointing to the sky! The sun! The stars! The wonders of creation! The people inside the warehouse couldn’t see it, but they could! And, though they certainly didn’t understand it all, they were captured by it. They wondered after it. But just imagine for a moment that one day one of the walls of the warehouse fell away and the people inside finally ventured out and actually saw the heavens!

They puzzled at it and puzzled at it but couldn’t figure out what the people in the street were all worked up about. Eventually, growing bored, they just climbed back down.

So, what were the folks on the street pointing to? They were pointing to the sky! The sun! The stars! The wonders of creation! The people inside the warehouse couldn’t see it, but they could! And, though they certainly didn’t understand it all, they were captured by it. They wondered after it.

But just imagine for a moment that one day one of the walls of the warehouse fell away and the people inside finally ventured out and actually saw the heavens!

Barth’s point is that this is precisely what happens when we finally discover the Word of God as the Word of God!

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the Word was God.

when we discover the Word of God as the Word of God!

The warehouse wall crumbles and we actually see the sky! We begin to comprehend for the first time all that God is and has done.

“We enter a world that stretches far beyond our dreams, a world of creation and salvation before us, inviting us in.

Today we will be discovering that

The Bible is about Jesus

The Bible is meant to form more than to inform

The danger in all reading is that words be twisted into propaganda or reduced to information, mere tools and data. We silence the living voice and reduce words to what we can use for convenience and profit. - Peterson

The bible must do more than stay on paper, it must be lived

We do not read the bible in order to find out how to get God into our lives, get him to participate in our lives. No. We open this book and find that page after page it takes us off guard, surprises us, and draws us into its reality, pulls us into participation with God on his terms.

His terms are familial and formational.

“The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.” - Augustine

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. -

Scripture Reading as Following Jesus

The Problem with the Bible

Origins of the Bible

Marrow for the Soul

The Bible is about Jesus

Let us Pray

The Bible is meant to form more than to inform

The danger in all reading is that words be twisted into propaganda or reduced to information, mere tools and data. We silence the living voice and reduce words to what we can use for convenience and profit. - Peterson

The bible must do more than stay on paper, it must be lived

English Standard Version Chapter 4

16 the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

Not the dust of the tomb

The dawning of the resurrection

15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

The talk

“Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Crushed

We hoped and we were wrong

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

They, like everybody else in Israel, had been reading the Bible through the wrong end of the telescope. They had been seeing it as the long story of how God would redeem Israel from suffering, but it was instead the story of how God would redeem Israel through suffering; through, in particular, the suffering which would be taken on himself by Israel’s representative, the Messiah.

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

They, like everybody else in Israel, had been reading the Bible through the wrong end of the telescope.

They had been seeing it as the long story of how God would redeem Israel from suffering,

but it was instead the story of how God would redeem Israel through suffering;

We can only now know Jesus, can only recognize him in any sense, when we learn to see him within the true story of God.

Old Testament

The Law anticipates Christ by exposing our hearts and persuading us of our need for a Savior.

The promises scattered throughout the Old Testament anticipate Christ by kindling a longing at several levels that only Jesus can ultimately fulfill.

Wisdom literature compels us to look to Christ for meaning and for the ability to live wisely

The psalmists and prophets sometimes spoke with the voice of Christ, anticipating his suffering and exaltation.

New Testament

Explicit proclamation of Jesus:

The danger in all reading is that words be twisted into propaganda or reduced to information, mere tools and data. We silence the living voice and reduce words to what we can use for convenience and profit.

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) introduce us to Jesus Christ and his ministry on earth, culminating in his death, burial, and resurrection.

The Epistles (Romans, 1 Corinthians, and so forth) offer sustained theological reflection on the significance of the person and work of Christ for the church.

Revelation gives us a window into the future glory of Christ as he brings in his heavenly kingdom.

We can only now know Jesus, can only recognize him in any sense, when we learn to see him within the true story of God, Israel and the world.

The Bible is not about you

God’s Word predicts, prepares for, reflects, or results from the person and/or work of Christ.

The primary purpose of Scripture is to disclose precisely what lies beyond the pages of Scripture: Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the Risen One who lives to be encountered.

The early Christians believed that the Bible was rightly read when it led to contemplation of, and participation in, nothing less than Jesus himself.

Christians talk about it all the time, though what they mean by “The Bible” isn’t always clear. That is to say, other than the catch phrase “God’s Word” I’m not sure what the Bible is to many who claim it as the sacred text that guides their life.

Luke reveals to us an important fact: that knowing Gods plan and gift of salvation is deeply rooted in knowing the entire story. The good news doesn’t just reside in part two of the Bible, the New Testament.

The entire story of the Bible is about one person, one plan, one goal.

That person is Jesus, that plan is redemption, the goal is the glory of God.

It’s quite appropriate that at the end of Luke’s Gospel, he recounts the interaction Jesus had with a couple of his disciples walking along the road to Emmaus. Jesus – the Messiah – has been crucified and the disciples are stupefied, unable to piece it all together. But along comes Jesus disguised as he has been throughout the Scripture and he opens their eyes to see that the whole of Scripture is really about him:

The primary purpose of Scripture is to disclose precisely what lies beyond the pages of Scripture: Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the Risen One who lives to be encountered. The early Christians believed that the Bible was rightly read when it led to contemplation of, and participation in, nothing less than Jesus himself.

Some passages—such as the prophecies and the messianic Psalms—clearly predict who Christ is and what he will do.

Isaiah wrote of the Messiah, that “his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” ().

This is a clear prediction of Jesus’s person and work, and there are many more such predictions in the prophetic portions of Scripture.

Other passages prepare God’s people to understand the grace God must provide to redeem them.

Grace doesn’t spring up like a surprise jack-in-the-box in the New Testament. God’s people were prepared for millennia to understand and receive the grace of Christ.

Not only do many Old Testament passages prepare God’s people to understand the grace of his provision, they also prepare the people to understand their need. When Paul writes in that the law was our schoolmaster or guardian helping lead us to Christ, we understand that the high and holy standards of the law ultimately prepare us to seek God’s provision of mercy rather than to depend on the quality of our performance to make us acceptable to him. The sacrifice system further prepares us to understand that without the shedding of blood there is no atonement for our failures to keep the law (). And because Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, we’re prepared to understand that our standing before God depends on trusting the provision of another ().

Because grace is the key to understanding God’s purposes, culminating in Christ, aspects of the gospel are reflected throughout Scripture.

When a text neither plainly predicts nor prepares for Christ’s person or work, the redemptive truths reflected can always be discerned by asking two questions that are fair to ask of any text:

What does this text reflect about the nature of God who provides redemption?What does this text reflect about the nature of humanity that requires redemption?

We understand how God’s redemptive message appears in Scripture through texts that result from Christ’s work on our behalf.

We’re justified and sanctified as a result of Christ’s atoning work and spiritual indwelling. Our prayers are heard as a result of his priestly intercession for us. Our wills are transformed as a result of our union with him. We worship as a result of God’s gracious provision for every aspect of our salvation.

Old Testament

The Law anticipates Christ by exposing our hearts and persuading us of our need for a Savior.

The promises scattered throughout the Old Testament anticipate Christ by kindling a longing at several levels that only Jesus can ultimately fulfill.

everything in the kingdom depends upon whether or not we hear the word of God.

Wisdom literature compels us to look to Christ for meaning and for the ability to live wisely

The psalmists and prophets sometimes spoke with the voice of Christ, anticipating his suffering and exaltation.

Particular Old Testament offices (prophet, priest, and king) foreshadow Christ’s redemptive work. They invite us to look for a prophet who is greater than Moses, a priest who is greater than Aaron, and a king who is greater than David.

Certain Old Testament rituals, such as the Passover (), foreshadow God’s redemption of his people through the Cross.

New Testament

Explicit proclamation of Jesus:

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) introduce us to Jesus Christ and his ministry on earth, culminating in his death, burial, and resurrection.

The Epistles (Romans, 1 Corinthians, and so forth) offer sustained theological reflection on the significance of the person and work of Christ for the church.

Revelation gives us a window into the future glory of Christ as he brings in his heavenly kingdom.

The Bible is not about you

God’s Word predicts, prepares for, reflects, or results from the person and/or work of Christ.

Everything in the kingdom depends upon whether or not we hear the word of God.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

"To know much and taste nothing of what use is that?" BONAVENTURE

But Holy Scripture is the source document, the authoritative font, the work of the Spirit that is definitive in all true spirituality.

48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.1

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

The bible must do more than stay on paper, it must be lived

“The Bible is not about you.” — Timothy Keller

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you—it’s about him.

English Standard Version Chapter 24

32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Old Testament

The Law (especially portions of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) anticipates Christ by exposing our hearts and persuading us of our need for a Savior.

The promises scattered throughout the Old Testament (especially prophetic books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) anticipate Christ by kindling a longing at several levels that only Jesus can ultimately fulfill. For example, God’s repeated promise to dwell with his people (; ) comes most clearly to fruition in the incarnation of God’s Son (“The Word become flesh and dwelt among us,” ) and the future kingdom of Christ ().

Wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and so on) compels us to look to Christ for meaning and for the ability to live wisely (see ).

The psalmists and prophets sometimes spoke with the voice of Christ, anticipating his suffering (the Cross) and exaltation (the Resurrection).