When Jesus walked the earth He often came into conflict with the religious Pharisees. There were many reasons for this, but perhaps the most significant reason was due to the Pharisees commitment to their traditional view of bible interpretation. They simply could not, and would not, allow themselves to interpret the Bible from any other perspective; after all, they were the experts! In one such conflict Jesus rebuked the Pharisees by saying:
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” John 5:39-40
They studied the Old Testament diligently, but they didn’t study with the perspective of looking for Jesus. Now I think, in all fairness, it was a tough ask of the Pharisees. They didn’t really see this coming; they were confronted from one moment to the next with a whole new way of understanding God, theology and the Bible.
As the church however, we’ve had Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Apostles and 2,000 years of awareness, we should know by now that this is how we should be studying the Bible. Looking for the person of Jesus and His testimony throughout all the Scriptures is the most important, and perhaps the only way we should be seeking to understand what the Bible is trying to tell us.
I believe that the whole bible is testifying to mankind about the person of Jesus. In my opinion, the Bible is not a moral guideline, a life coaching manual or a rulebook for living. It is a biography of the life of Jesus!
Jesus is just as present in the Old Testament as He is in the New; we just have to be willing to look for Him. With this in mind I am going to start blogging my discoveries of Jesus in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis. I’ll be starting from tomorrow’s blog, so stay tuned!!
Blue skies,
Mick
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
James tells us that Jesus himself was the one who gave the Law, for he is the only one able to save. In essence, Moses met Jesus on the mountain. He gave a Law that was perfect to an imperfect people. Then came as the perfect fulfillment of that Law, to set us free from death, and give us life.
But what did He mean then when He said, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." Jesus gave commandments to his disciples. We would follow his commandments out of love. He didn't say for righteousness, or to have eternal life. Only his sacrifice could do those things. But out of love we would follow his teachings.
He also said, "Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
He also said, "My words will never pass away." Surely Paul did not mean to do away with the very teachings of the same Jesus whose death Paul always spoke of.
Dustin,
You know I'm not going to try battle with you over the most basic of gospel truths. To try convince me that I am still obligated to the Law of Moses is never going to happen. The entire gospel is about Jesus bringing the Old Covenant of Law to and end so that He could establish the eternal New Covenant of the Spirit of grace.
If you think we are still under the law just have a fresh read of Galations. As I said in an earlier comment, I'm not here to convince you. God himself is the only one powerful enough to change any of our minds, and He loves you without limit, talk it over with Him and see what answers He gives you.
God bless bro
Funny how one's viewpoint is sometimes so obscure? We all look at the same thing, and each of us has our own conclusion and idea of what were looking at. Sometimes it's so obscure and different that we start a war…
If Jesus is not the focal point of the entire bible, it sure is amazing how much of it is devoted to Him. Maybe if we all start looking from one point of view, our differences would become inconsequential, and we would all see Jesus in the same manner…
Great comic strip Mick, keep it up!
So true Jacques, great comment
Also glad you're enjoying the comics