02-04 De Bijbel 1

Jesus’ unbreakable Bible Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 1 Foundations are important. I had a conversation with Daniel Pulley yesterday as he was trying to paint his loft. The primer on the wall was not dependable and every time he applied a top coat, it would bubble up as it dried. I think this happens in our Christian lives sometimes. Our foundation isn’t strong and someone asks us a question that we’re unsure of. We may survive the incident, but our paint has started to bubble. And instead of addressing the foundation… a lot of times we just a picture over it - or worse… we pretend like it’s not there. Truth is something that matters. And where we find our truth is perhaps the weightiest of matters. We claim that Scripture is our source of truth, but it has been startling to me how little understanding of the truth we claim to believe Christians have. In two weeks we will celebrate Easter - Christ rising from death. But can you defend why you believe Christ rose from the grave? Before we get there, we should have an understanding of our source of truth… and what better place to start then asking the question: What did Jesus believe about the Bible? Our faith is centered on Him, so we would do well to understand His thoughts about Scripture. Scripture cannot be broken John 10:35 Jesus is arguing with the Pharisees again. They just heard Him call Himself “Son of God” and they are picking up stones to deal with this problem. Jesus stops them dead in their tracks with Scripture. He quotes an obscure Psalm. Let’s face it - this Psalm would not be in your top ten of Psalms worth memorizing. And yet there it is - at the forefront of Christ’s thinking: Scripture has called men “gods” - so why are you ready to stone me? To understand this reference, we should take a quick detour to Psalm 82. God is speaking in judgment to magistrates and judges. Men of authority, who - just like all other humans - are going to face judgment and die. In their authority they are like gods (elohim), but they aren’t God, because they will die. Christ’s point in quoting this, is not to prove His divinity - simply to call their angry conclusions into question… which He successfully does. What is more significant in this altercation is their common ground, which Jesus appeals to in a sentence that we might almost miss: Scripture cannot be broken. The Scribes and Pharisees accepted this as well, but so does Jesus. Scripture will not fail and as a foundation and source of truth it will never bend or break. This goes to the heart of the matter: Jesus believes that Scripture is trustworthy. Scripture may not be abolished Matthew 5:17-19 Jesus makes another point in His preaching. During the Sermon on the mount Christ explains that He hasn’t come to abolish the law. This could have been a conclusion some of the hearers drew. He is destroying much of the traditions of the Pharisees. They were man-made traditions, but so ingrained in religious thinking, they had attained a similar level of authority as Scripture. So when Christ starts to correct man-made traditions, it might seem like He is doing away with the law. Not so. Christ underscores that not even a yoda or tittle will fail or be taken away from the law. He has come to fulfill the law. One of the most impressive evidences of this, is Christ’s attack of the Sadducees recorded in Mark 12. Jesus demolishes their denial of the resurrection by appealing to Exodus 3 - Moses and the burning bush. God introduces Himself as “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is not the God of the dead… but the living. Jesus bases this entire argument on the present tense of the verb. Even this is authoritative! No yod or tittle will fail and you can base precepts and arguments on the tense of a verb! This is a high view of Scripture. Scripture ought not be trivialized Matthew 12:38-42 Jesus quotes Jonah as a sign against the Pharisees. He believes it is true history. If you were going to waffle anywhere, it would probably be Jonah. Come on… swallowed by a big fish? Puked up on land three days later? And he survived? Sounds more like a fairy tale. Thing is, that no one would ever appeal to Snow White to argue against a serious point. Watch out for terrorists today… they might offer you something appealing that can kill you. Just like the poisonous apple. And even if you did, you would never follow it up with: "The seven dwarfs will rise up in judgment against you, if you fall for their trickery. Because you should have learned from this story." Christ’s argument only makes sense if Jonah is true history and Nineveh really did repent. Beyond that, adding the Queen of Sheba to the argument - a historical figure - only underscores the true accounts of Scripture. You can’t ignore Scripture as silly… Christ certainly didn’t. Scripture must be heard with God’s voice Matthew 19:4-6 One last example. Christ quotes - in another altercation with the Pharisees… they really don’t learn - that from the beginning divorce wasn’t the ideal. He quotes Genesis 2. In Genesis 2 it isn’t immediately apparent who said these words. They are attributed to perhaps Adam or maybe the narrator. When Jesus quotes them, however, they become the very words of God. For Christ, Scripture was written by human authors, but may be interpreted as the voice of God to mankind. Christ loved Scripture. He quoted it often, applied it to the various circumstances of the people He met - be it a disciple or a Pharisee. He fulfilled Scripture, memorized Scripture, taught Scripture, appealed to Scripture, and even at His weakest moments - with devil in the wilderness and tortured on the cross - it was Scripture that filled His mouth. He believed it to be true in its chronology, history, recording of God’s dealings with Israel and prophecy concerning future events. For Christ Scripture is important, sufficient and trustworthy.... And it is His source of Truth. Is it your’s?