Friday, October 21, 2016
SCRIPTURE ALONE: THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
One might think that Jesus used Scripture very little during His ministry. After all, He was the Son of God. He had perfect knowledge and application in all matters of life. From human perspective, we would think that He had no need to cling to Scripture, as we so often do. But, in reality, Scripture was the very pillar of Jesus' ministry. Everything He did was based and centered on Scripture.
Early on in His ministry, some people wondered why Jesus placed such a high emphasis on God's Word. His reply, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18). Later on Jesus taught a simple picture to prove this point when He said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24).
When we really see who Jesus was and what He came to do, it was absolutely essential that He made the Scriptures a top priority in His ministry. The inspired writer, John, would expand on this truth when he wrote, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14). Jesus relied on Scripture alone because He was the Word of God in human form. Therefore, to trust in the Scriptures is to trust in Jesus. In the simplest way possible, to have Jesus alone, without any human additives, is also to have Scripture alone.
