Christ Is the Key
Introduction
What is the Bible about? In order to answer that, another question must be asked first: what is the Bible? Many have admirably attempted to answer that very question and come to various, somewhat satisfactory conclusions. Some would say that it is a history of God’s marvelous acts. Others say it’s a record of man’s disobedience to a holy God. Still, others say it’s a love letter, a self-help guide, a legal document, etc. As Christians, we want to know what the Bible says about itself, and I believe the answer to the questions “what is the Bible” and “what is it about” are one and the same: “the Bible is the record, the deposit, the testimony of God’s good news in Jesus Christ.”
What Did Jesus Think of the Bible?
In John 10:31–36, at the end of John’s section on Jesus and the Jewish feasts, Jesus interacts with the Pharisees and makes clear his lordship over the various Jewish feasts. This scene culminates at the temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah)—the feast which celebrates the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in 166 BC following the successful revolt against the evil Antiochus Epiphanes IV. The teachers ask Jesus point blank: “Are you the Christ, the new Maccabeaus?” Jesus’ response that he and the Father are one (John 10:30) causes the teachers to react by grabbing stones—skipping over the trial and going straight to the execution. Jesus courageously stands boldly before the mob and gives a reply. What is Jesus’ defense? In John 10:34–36, he references Psalm 82:6. You know Psalm 82:6, right? You probably have it memorized.
“Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
Crystal clear. Thank you, Jesus. Let’s pray.
But seriously … What is Jesus doing in this passage? Jesus uses the word “law” synonymously with “Scripture.” The reason the Jews sought to kill him is that Jesus was right in the middle of claiming that he and the Father were one (Jn 10:30)—he was claiming to be God. But Jesus uses an obscure Psalm—claiming it is from “your Law” (traditionally, “the Law” refers to the “Law of Moses,” or the first 5 books of the OT) when it’s actually from the Psalms—to make his defense. The word “gods” in Psalm 82 is referring to wicked kings who judge unjustly. Jesus is saying the Psalmist had no issues calling those men “gods,” and they were wicked, so why do the Pharisees have such issues with him doing the same? But the key phrase is in John 10:35: “Scripture can not be broken.”
The point: Jesus uses an obscure Psalm in the middle of the Old Testament to make the case that the Old Testament Scriptures are authoritative and “cannot be broken.” This is not a random or isolated belief for Jesus, either. In multiple places, Jesus makes clear that he has not come to delete the Old Testament, but that it is still authoritative. But if Jesus’ view is that the Old Testament is still authoritative and not to be done away with, then what is the OT about?
The Road to Emmaus
As a local church, our aim is to view the Bible the same way that Jesus and the apostles viewed the Bible. One way that we have sought to communicate that is in our name. We have named ourselves Emmaus Road Church because we love the story of Jesus’ Easter Sunday encounter with some obscure disciples walking on the road to the town called Emmaus. We named our church after this story because we love this story, and we love what this story communicates.
Scene: it’s Easter Sunday. These two disciples—neither of them of the Twelve, but clearly followers of Jesus—had just witnessed the brutal execution of the man they’d been following for years. The risen Christ, hiding his identity from them, approached them to ask what was going on. Seemingly annoyed, the two describe that just that morning some of the women of their party had gone to the tomb only to find that the body was gone! The women claimed that an angel had told them that he was alive, but the men knew better—someone had stolen the body. Thus, the men were discouraged and downcast. Luke 24:17 simply describes them as “sad.”
In Luke 24:26–27, Luke records the glorified Christ’s response:
“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
In these two verses, we see a summary of Jesus’ view of the OT:
What is Scripture? Everything between Moses and the Prophets—the whole Old Testament.
What is the message of that Scripture? That Christ should suffer and then enter into his glory. Everything in the OT—and all the Scriptures—point to Christ.
In short, Christ is the interpretive key to all the Old Testament.
Christ Is the Key
Without Christ, the Old Testament does not make sense. Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Testament is nothing more than fanatical mythology, and we are the most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:12–19). But with Christ, everything snaps into focus. All of the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Like all locked doors, without the key, the door stays locked. But with the key, the door swings wide open, giving entry into the endless joys of knowing God and his revelation.
So cherish your Bibles, both the Old and New Testaments. Both point to and find their culmination in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the incarnate son of God. And by cherishing your Bibles, we ultimately cherish Christ. And using that lens, mine the text for all that God has for us. And what do we find when we enter the mine? A treasure beyond compare—Christ himself.