Scripture and the Life of Jesus

Finding Jesus in Scripture

In this chapter, we’re going to orient ourselves to the Bible. We’ll learn how to engage with scripture and learn some techniques for studying it. As always, we want to know if this is a discipline that we see in the life of our master, Jesus. How did Jesus use scripture?

Jesus did not have the Bible as we now have it, for obvious reasons—the parts that tell us about Jesus were written after he lived. However, Jesus did have what we call the Old Testament, which happens to make up the majority of the Bible. And it appears that Jesus knew the Old Testament exceedingly well, and that he used it to guide his life.

Take, for instance, Jesus’ face-off with Satan in the desert (Luke 4:1–13). Satan tempts Jesus with things like power and wealth, but Jesus refutes him by quoting scripture. It’s clear that the truth of scripture has a power over the enemy’s advances.

However, Jesus didn’t simply know the words of scripture. He also knew the point of scripture.

In a day where religious leaders often used the Bible to weigh people down with strict laws, Jesus recognized that the point of the Bible was to point to himself: “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life,” (John 5:39–40 NIV). If our study of scripture doesn’t bring us to Jesus, we’re doing it wrong.  

As followers of Jesus, there is no replacement for studying the Bible. If Jesus is truly our master, we’ll hang on his every word. After all, how can we claim to follow someone if we don’t bother to read what they said?

Let’s immerse ourselves in the Bible, just like Jesus taught us.

How have you experienced the Bible in the past?

How do you interact with God’s word today?

How might God be inviting you to grow with scripture reading and study?