SUNDAY SERMON: Read the Bible in order to know Jesus
Biblical texts are not merely the written witness of people who lived thousands of years ago. God did use human authors to write the texts. But he inspired them to write only what he wanted and all that he wanted. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- What is the benefit of having Catholics saying one thing and Anglicans saying another, not to mention the various teachings coming from Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals and Presbyterians?
- I claim that there is one thing obvious to all Christians, and that it is neatly summarised by the first verses of the Letter to the Hebrews: “At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, these final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages. He is the reflection of God’s glory.”
WHEN IT COMES TO interpreting texts in the Bible, debates can be intense. Today, for example, Christians debate the meaning of the six days of creation narrated in Genesis. Some insist the text must be understood literally, as if God started creation at 12 midnight on March 25 about 5,000 years before Christ and finished six days later on March 31 the same year. Others interpret the word “day” as a metaphor for a period of time, pointing out that God created the sun and moon on the so-called “fourth day”.
Before getting caught up in this debate and others like it, look at the bigger picture. In an age when technology dominates, it is no small thing to believe, as Jesus said, that “scripture cannot be broken”. That is why Christians give so much importance to interpreting sacred Scripture.
Biblical texts are not merely the written witness of people who lived thousands of years ago. God did use human authors to write the texts. But he inspired them to write only what he wanted and all that he wanted. We read “not the word of man, but the word of God”, as St Paul noted in First Thessalonians.
This leads us to ask with greater urgency: Why so many disputes? Why can’t Christian groups lay aside their differences and agree with each other? What is the benefit of having Catholics saying one thing and Anglicans saying another, not to mention the various teachings coming from Lutherans, Baptists, Pentecostals and Presbyterians?
Hundreds of books have been written trying to answer this question. I do not hope to answer it with a single sermon. Instead, I claim that there is one thing obvious to all Christians, and that it is neatly summarised by the first verses of the Letter to the Hebrews: “At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, these final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the ages. He is the reflection of God’s glory.”
God chose to reveal himself to us not by publishing a book for everyone to read. Indeed, the Bible as we know it today did not come into existence until 300 years after Pentecost. God chose to reveal himself by sending his Son into the world – a man like us in all things but sin. This does not make the Bible obsolete. On the contrary, Christians cling to it because we come to understand Jesus only by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.
