Finding Christ in All of Scripture
John 5:39 is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture since it provides us with this crucial interpretive insight. This one verse helps us to see that the Bible isn’t a self-help manual, but instead should be seen as a compelling drama in which Jesus is presented as the central character. As John makes clear throughout his Gospel, he’s not merely a good teacher, but is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14), the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29), Jacob’s ladder (Jn 1:51), the Temple of God’s presence (Jn 2:21), Israel’s bridegroom (Jn 3:29), the source of living water (Jn 4:10), the bread of life (Jn 6:48-50), the light of the world (Jn 8:12), and the good shepherd who came to give his life for wandering sheep (Jn 10:11).
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life…If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me (John 5:39, 46).
In the above passage from John chapter 5, Jesus told the religious leaders of his day that they had essentially missed the main point of the Bible. In their view, Scripture was seen almost exclusively as a rule of conduct, which is why in sources from the Second Temple period it was often referred to as “the way.” In one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example, we find the statement: “If then the secret way is perfected among the men of the community, each will walk blamelessly with his fellow, guided by what has been revealed to them, that will be the time of ‘preparing the way in the desert.’” (1QS 9:18-22).
The problem with this approach is that no one has ever perfected his or her way, and no one has ever been able to walk blamelessly, just as David confessed in Psalm 143:2 when he wrote, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” What’s interesting is the fact that the author of the above Qumran scroll ended up citing a verse from Isaiah 40 related to Israel’s coming Messiah, but he ended up applying this passage to himself and members of his own community. In other words, he made the same mistake that Jesus spoke of in John 5—he missed the Bible’s main point.
Isaiah chapter 40 opens with a grand announcement of God’s solution to Israel’s problem. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned…” So, if David was correct when he said that no one living is righteous before God, then how could Isaiah proclaim such a message of good news and comfort? The answer is that God had graciously decided to intervene on behalf of his people. This is why the Bible, though it certainly does contain rules for conduct, shouldn’t be thought of primarily as a moral guidebook for life. Instead, we need to see it as a dramatic rescue story.
This becomes clear in verse 3, “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” First of all, we should notice immediately the “way” spoken of here is not “our way” but the way of the LORD. Yahweh is the one who is coming to rescue and redeem his people in the midst of their sin. As you may recall, Jesus specifically applied this verse to the role of John the Baptist who prepared the people for his arrival (Mt 11:10, Lk 3:4).
But if John is the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3, then what does this imply about the identity of Jesus himself? John’s role was to prepare the way for the LORD, and to make a highway for God himself. According to Isaiah, when God would eventually arrive on the scene to rescue his people, “the glory of the LORD” would be revealed. This is precisely what we find in the opening chapter of John’s Gospel, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory…” (Jn 1:14). In no uncertain terms, Jesus is being presented as Yahweh incarnate. Though “all we like sheep have each gone astray” (Is 53:6), “his way is perfect” (Ps 18:30). Therefore, Jesus is the divine protagonist of this grand rescue story. He doesn’t merely show us the way, but he “is the way, the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).
I’m convinced that John 5:39 is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture since it provides us with this crucial interpretive insight. This one verse helps us to see that the Bible isn’t a self-help manual, but instead should be seen as a compelling drama in which Jesus is presented as the central character. As John makes clear throughout his Gospel, he’s not merely a good teacher, but is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14), the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29), Jacob’s ladder (Jn 1:51), the Temple of God’s presence (Jn 2:21), Israel’s bridegroom (Jn 3:29), the source of living water (Jn 4:10), the bread of life (Jn 6:48-50), the light of the world (Jn 8:12), and the good shepherd who came to give his life for wandering sheep (Jn 10:11).
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Why I Changed My Mind about Deconstruction
I changed my mind about deconstruction. After researching this topic, I’ve come to see that deconstruction isn’t merely asking questions or a synonym for doubt. Rather, it’s a process with no correct destination, no ending, and no biblical authority. As a result, I don’t use words like “healthy deconstruction” or “good deconstruction” anymore. For me, that’s an oxymoron. Deconstruction is a fundamentally flawed process, and I don’t think that changes by placing a few positive adjectives in front of the word.
I changed my mind about deconstruction.
When I first began looking into deconstruction, I quickly discovered that people were using the term to mean different things. For instance, when someone says, “I’m deconstructing my faith,” they could mean anything from questioning a tertiary doctrine, like young-earth creation, to leaving the faith altogether.
Attempting to bring clarity to the conversation, I thought adding adjectives to the word deconstruction (like healthy versus unhealthy, or good versus bad) would help. So, for example, I would say that while unhealthy deconstruction rethinks faith without requiring Scripture as a standard, healthy deconstruction corrects mistaken beliefs to make them align with Scripture. Problem solved, I thought. However, this approach assumes deconstruction itself is a neutral process. I don’t believe that anymore.
While writing The Deconstruction of Christianity with Alisa Childers, we discovered some fundamental beliefs that undergird the deconstruction process. Moreover, these ideas are antithetical to the Christian worldview. This helps explain why so many who deconstruct their faith end up leaving the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Here are three reasons why I changed my mind about deconstruction.
No Correct Destination
First, deconstruction has no correct destination.
A defining feature of deconstruction is that there’s no right way to do it and no right destination. For example, Jo Luehmann, author of Decolonizing Traditional Christianity, expounds on this idea in a video titled Our Journey of Faith Deconstruction:
This is the thing with deconstruction that I really think it’s important to understand. Everyone lands wherever they land. There is no right place to land with deconstruction. Some people land away from faith. Some people land in a different type of faith. Some people become agnostic. Some people become a different type of Christian. Some people become atheists. And all of those routes in deconstruction are valid and to be respected.
Luehmann is not alone. “NakedPastor” David Hayward, who regularly creates social media content on faith deconstruction, puts it more concisely: “There isn’t a right way to deconstruct, nor is there a right destination. You do you.”
Why isn’t there a right place to land in deconstruction? The answer is that deconstruction is a postmodern process. What I mean is, deconstruction isn’t about objective truth. It’s about personal happiness. In one sense, the destination of deconstruction is like the destination of a vacation. Whether you end up in Hawaii or Jamaica or somewhere else, it’s all personal preference. It would be silly to say Hawaii is the “right” vacation destination for everyone.
Notice how deconstruction assumes there is no objective truth when it comes to religious beliefs. That’s why it doesn’t matter how you do it or where you end up as long as you’re happy.
Now contrast this with Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
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The Counterintuitive Christ
Written by Nicholas T. Batzig |
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
If Jesus came after the expectations and desires of sinful men and women, He would have come in a display of pomp and power that leant itself to human wisdom and pride. Instead, He came in weakness, poverty, obscurity, and ignominy. When, by faith, we receive Him as the eternal Son of God, though veiled in the weakness of flesh and set in the context of these counterintuitive circumstances, we have our eyes opened to see the wisdom of God at work.Everything about the circumstances of the coming of Christ into the world was counterintuitive. We tend to pride ourselves on the fact that we know this. However, the more we bring the pieces together into focus, the more astonishing it all becomes. Consider the following counterintuitive details surrounding the birth of Jesus:
The One who dwelt in inexpressible light with His Father and the Spirit, from all eternity, left that eternal glory to become man in the womb of a young, poor Jewish virgin (Luke 1:34). The One who rules and reigns as the King of Kings was not born in Rome, Greece, or Jerusalem (i.e., centers of power, status, and influence) but in the small and insignificant town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He who sits enthroned in the heavens, was laid in an animal feeding trough (Luke 2:7, 12, 16). He who brought the stars into existence, calling each one by name, went nameless during the first week of His incarnate life (Luke 2:21). The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, was born to a mother who was so poor that she didn’t have enough to offer the proper sacrifice for His consecration (Leviticus 5:7; Luke 2:24). On the eighth day, the infinitely holy One received a covenant sign that indicated His need for a blood judgment to cleanse sinful corruption and impurity–as the substitutionary sin-bearer, though He Himself was without sin (Luke 2:21). He who was the long awaited King of Israel was welcomed only by a handful of despised shepherds and traveling Gentiles at His birth (Matt. 2:2; Luke 2:15).
Of course, the counterintuitive circumstances of the coming of Christ into the world also serve to highlight the glory of His divine being. The eighteenth century Scottish theologian, John Maclaurin, captured the juxtaposition of the base humiliation and exalted glory of Christ throughout His life in his sermon, “Glorying in the Cross of Christ.” He wrote,
His birth was mean on earth below, but it was celebrated with hallelujahs by the heavenly host in the air above; he had a poor lodging, but a star lighted visitants to it from distant countries. Never prince had such visitants so conducted.
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The Simplest Way to Impact Your Community Right Now
It was the great missionary William Carey who said in the late 18th century: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
That resonates with most Christians; we want to see God move mightily, and we want to play a part in it. We want to see our homes, communities, countries, and world reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But where do we begin? Where do we start?We might get so fixated on “attempting something great” that we miss the opportunity right in front of us—an opportunity that is readily available and also very simple. The best opportunity you might have to impact your community right now is through hospitality. What’s more, that’s not a new phenomenon.
Hospitality was vitally important to the spread of the gospel in the days when the church was just beginning to flourish because when traveling to a new area, people were at the mercy of the people who lived in that city. Christians took hospitality seriously, and because they did, the gospel was able to take root as it spread through displaced Christians who were welcomed into the homes and lives of others. It’s not wonder, then, that the biblical authors of the New Testament put such an emphasis on hospitality:
“Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality” (Romans 12:13).
“Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).
“Be hospitable to one another without complaining” (1 Peter 4:9).
From a purely pragmatic perspective, the early church had to practice hospitality in order for the gospel to continue to move throughout the world and for the church to grow. But there’s also a deeper reason why hospitality is so vital – that’s because practicing hospitality is one of the simplest and most tangible ways we model the truth of the gospel.
