Jesus gets into it with the religious authorities at the end of John 5 with a debate on the very merits of the Scriptures themselves. Now, these are not the Scriptures we have, the Bible in 66 books, but these are the Laws of Moses, the first five, the Holy Book that would grow to include the New Testament. That was the authority of the religious leaders, not Jesus.
It is precisely there that Jesus goes after them. The Scriptures have become an idol to the leaders. They seek eternal life from its pages, instead of from Jesus himself. But the key is that Jesus does not make it a choice between Himself and the Scriptures. Rather, he zeros in on the fact that the Law of Moses is testimony to Him, that the religious authorities, if they were really listening, would see Jesus in the Bible of their time and place.
Which begs the question to our time and place. We have this book, it is still a best seller, but how many of us really seek to crack it open? Who has been through it more than what is shared at church? Does it really have a place in our lives? How does it connect to Jesus?
Using the Ten Commandments as inspiration, this Sunday, we will consider ten things to know about the bible. Being a great fan of the "shalt not's", nine are phrased as what we shalt not do. But one, the most important, is phrased as what we shall do.
After all, what else do we have besides the bible to speak to us of our Lord Jesus Christ?
1 comment:
Interesting last question. Got to think about that.
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