K
Khristeeanos
Guest
Jesus and Scripture
Relativism is defined as:
a theory that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.
This theory basically states that whatever a person wants to believe is true. If I want to believe that using cocaine is ok, it is true for me. And if some religious person comes along and says it is not ok, that only means that it is only not ok for them and my belief is no less valid for me.
The fallacy of this line of thinking can be stated by saying what happens to the one who thinks that murder is ok? Is it ok for me to murder someone because it is true for me? What about for the one whom I murder? Was it ok for them as well?
Some who hold to a relativistic thought process would say that something is only true for the one holding the opinion and use the argument that “There is no absolute truth or absolutes of any kind!â€Â
Yet the simple question “Are you absolutely sure?†shows how absurd this line of thinking us.
Jesus did not have a relativistic idea when it came to Scripture. He held the OT teachings with the utmost respect and followed all of what was expected of Him. His obedience was part of His sacrifice. He could not have been our sacrificial Lamb had He sinned.
So with that being said, let us look at several different ways that Jesus used Scripture and how He used it as a way of life.
Jesus speaks about Scripture
Jesus said the following about Scripture:
John 10:35
the Scripture cannot be broken
Luke 16:17
It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
Mark 12:36
David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
Jesus’ use of Scripture in the Desert
More important than what Jesus said about Scripture was how Jesus used Scripture! His high view of the written Word as the only means to live life is clearly shown in the temptation in the desert.
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Three times the Bible records a temptation by Satan and all three times Jesus rebukes and refutes these misrepresentations with Scripture!
One point that must be made is that Satan knew Scripture and misquoted it on purpose! He wanted to test the knowledge of Jesus. But Jesus clearly knew the Scriptures correct interpretation!
As a side note, the three fronts that the devil tempted Jesus here are the same three fronts that he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. These are defined in 1 John:
1 John 2:16 (King James Version)
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Jesus against adding to or taking away from Scripture
When Jesus became involved in a public controversy, there was the one and only thing that He used as the judge – Scripture.
Mark 7:1-13
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
The Pharisees were guilty of adding to Scripture – mainly their traditions. It has been said that they had volumes upon volumes of commentaries that were their interpretations of what the Mosaic Law was supposed to mean and commanded the masses to follow them rather than the Scriptures.
Mark 12:18-27
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead risingâ€â€have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"
The Sadducees were guilty of removing from Scripture – mainly the supernatural. We read in Matthew 23 the following about such people:
Revelation 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
John R. W. Stott said in his booklet “The Authority of the Bibleâ€Â
Jesus endorsed the Old Testament as the Word of God. Both in His view of Scripture and in His use of Scripture, He was entirely and reverently submissive to its authority as to the authority of God’s own Word. Now the disciple is not above his teacher, nor is the servant above his lord. How can we, the disciples of Jesus, possibly have a lower view of Scripture than our Teacher Himself had?
Now one of the foundational and most integrating of all Christian beliefs is the truth that Jesus is Lord. A Christian is somebody who not only confesses with his lips that Jesus is Lord, but brings every aspect of his life under the sovereign lordship of Jesus – his opinions, his beliefs, his standards, his values, his ambition, everything!
To us, then, submission to Scripture is part and parcel of this submission to the lordship of Jesus. We cannot accommodate ourselves to the idea of a selective submission – for example, agreeing with Jesus in His doctrine of God but disagreeing with Him in His doctrine of Scripture, or obeying His command to love our neighbor but disobeying His command to make disciples. Selective submission is not true submission at all; there is in it a reprehensible element of pride and self-will.
What the author is saying is that selective submission is more along the lines of outright rebellion!
So we see that Jesus not only spoke about Scripture, but also properly used Scripture, warned against adding to or taking away from Scripture, but Jesus also lived Scripture.
Let us, the followers of Christ, allow this same perspective to permeate our lives and live Scripture.
Relativism is defined as:
a theory that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them.
This theory basically states that whatever a person wants to believe is true. If I want to believe that using cocaine is ok, it is true for me. And if some religious person comes along and says it is not ok, that only means that it is only not ok for them and my belief is no less valid for me.
The fallacy of this line of thinking can be stated by saying what happens to the one who thinks that murder is ok? Is it ok for me to murder someone because it is true for me? What about for the one whom I murder? Was it ok for them as well?
Some who hold to a relativistic thought process would say that something is only true for the one holding the opinion and use the argument that “There is no absolute truth or absolutes of any kind!â€Â
Yet the simple question “Are you absolutely sure?†shows how absurd this line of thinking us.
Jesus did not have a relativistic idea when it came to Scripture. He held the OT teachings with the utmost respect and followed all of what was expected of Him. His obedience was part of His sacrifice. He could not have been our sacrificial Lamb had He sinned.
So with that being said, let us look at several different ways that Jesus used Scripture and how He used it as a way of life.
Jesus speaks about Scripture
Jesus said the following about Scripture:
John 10:35
the Scripture cannot be broken
Luke 16:17
It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
Mark 12:36
David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
Jesus’ use of Scripture in the Desert
More important than what Jesus said about Scripture was how Jesus used Scripture! His high view of the written Word as the only means to live life is clearly shown in the temptation in the desert.
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Three times the Bible records a temptation by Satan and all three times Jesus rebukes and refutes these misrepresentations with Scripture!
One point that must be made is that Satan knew Scripture and misquoted it on purpose! He wanted to test the knowledge of Jesus. But Jesus clearly knew the Scriptures correct interpretation!
As a side note, the three fronts that the devil tempted Jesus here are the same three fronts that he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. These are defined in 1 John:
1 John 2:16 (King James Version)
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Jesus against adding to or taking away from Scripture
When Jesus became involved in a public controversy, there was the one and only thing that He used as the judge – Scripture.
Mark 7:1-13
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
The Pharisees were guilty of adding to Scripture – mainly their traditions. It has been said that they had volumes upon volumes of commentaries that were their interpretations of what the Mosaic Law was supposed to mean and commanded the masses to follow them rather than the Scriptures.
Mark 12:18-27
Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead risingâ€â€have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"
The Sadducees were guilty of removing from Scripture – mainly the supernatural. We read in Matthew 23 the following about such people:
- Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! [/*:m:fccf6]
- Woe to you, blind guides! [/*:m:fccf6]
- You blind fools! [/*:m:fccf6]
- You blind men! [/*:m:fccf6]
- You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. [/*:m:fccf6]
- You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?[/*:m:fccf6]
Revelation 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
John R. W. Stott said in his booklet “The Authority of the Bibleâ€Â
Jesus endorsed the Old Testament as the Word of God. Both in His view of Scripture and in His use of Scripture, He was entirely and reverently submissive to its authority as to the authority of God’s own Word. Now the disciple is not above his teacher, nor is the servant above his lord. How can we, the disciples of Jesus, possibly have a lower view of Scripture than our Teacher Himself had?
Now one of the foundational and most integrating of all Christian beliefs is the truth that Jesus is Lord. A Christian is somebody who not only confesses with his lips that Jesus is Lord, but brings every aspect of his life under the sovereign lordship of Jesus – his opinions, his beliefs, his standards, his values, his ambition, everything!
To us, then, submission to Scripture is part and parcel of this submission to the lordship of Jesus. We cannot accommodate ourselves to the idea of a selective submission – for example, agreeing with Jesus in His doctrine of God but disagreeing with Him in His doctrine of Scripture, or obeying His command to love our neighbor but disobeying His command to make disciples. Selective submission is not true submission at all; there is in it a reprehensible element of pride and self-will.
What the author is saying is that selective submission is more along the lines of outright rebellion!
So we see that Jesus not only spoke about Scripture, but also properly used Scripture, warned against adding to or taking away from Scripture, but Jesus also lived Scripture.
Let us, the followers of Christ, allow this same perspective to permeate our lives and live Scripture.