Live the Scripture
Good books have a way of changing us. For example, after reading a novel that features strong friendships we realize that we ought to put more effort into our own friendships. Or, after reading a story that highlights the struggles and challenges of the poor we are moved to empathize more deeply with their plight. When read well, good books change the way live.
If this is true of ordinary books, how much more so is this true of the Bible? Through the words and sentences of the Scripture God speaks and reveals himself to us. When we read the Bible we encounter God in Christ, and an encounter with the living Christ should never leave us unchanged.
However, there is a difference between recognizing words on a page and reading well. Jesus teaches us how to do the latter as it pertains to the Scripture. He delivers this lesson through an interaction with religious leaders so teaching us to read God’s word Christianly.
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law” (Matthew 22:34-36)?
In this passage, we notice first that a group of religious leaders confront Jesus, and among their cohort is an Old Testament expert. He steps forward and asks, “How do you read the Law?” On the surface it might appear that the scholar is initiating an impromptu group bible study.
It is worth noting that the Scripture encourages honest-to-goodness Bible study and discussion. The noble Bereans of Acts 17 are an example of such. They respond to Paul’s preaching by examining the Scriptures closely to see if what Paul said was true. The narrative applauds the Bereans sincerity, but Matthew records something different.
Matthew explains that the Bible enthusiast is testing Jesus. He is using his knowledge in biblical studies to put Jesus down, to put him in his place. He is attempting to use the Scriptue to prove that he is the real expert. He uses Scripture as a tool for his own personal ambitions.
For us who are committed to studying the Bible, we are also tempted to read the Bible for our own selfish reasons. We read it to win an argument with our neighbor. We read it to justify our life choices and preferences. We too can treat God’s word like a gadget to be used in our own self-improvement projects.
This reading strategy hurts everyone. According to Jesus it loads everyone down with heavy burdens (Matt. 23:4), and it forms us all into venomous snakes (Matt. 23:33). Jesus puts his finger on the issue when he warns, “Do not do what they do for they do not practice what they preach” (Matt. 23:3). You see, the religious leaders can dissect and explain the Bible, but they do not live it. According to Jesus, to read the Bible Christianly is to live it.
We must not stand outside of Scripture as observers like white-coated scientists with clipboards in hand. Jesus calls us to step into the world of Scripture and to immerse our lives in its commands, history, and poems. The scriptural words are to be consumed (Deut. 8:3), lived (Ps. 119:9), practiced (Luke 10:37), and pondered (James 1:25).
This is so because these are no ordinary words. When we read God’s book we encounter transforming, living, active, Spirit-breathed words that draw us in, change us, and demand to be lived. So we ask God to turn our hearts away from selfish gain (Ps. 119:36) and to enlarge our hearts that we may run in the way of his word (Ps. 119:32).
