Day 311/365- Luke 24:27

"It's ALL about him"

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:27 ESV)

A fundamental shift in how I understand & approach the Bible has taken place in the last year. Reading, preaching, discussing, & blogging through the chronological Bible has been an eye opening experience. It has caused me to see the Bible as a whole. It has led me to see the main message of the Scripture from a bird's eye view.

This passage in Luke 24 has been the most life changing. Here Jesus is, post-resurrection & walking with these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He acts like he doesn't know what has taken place in the last few days. He then conducts the world's best small group discipleship study on what the Old Testament is essentially about. The disciple's hearts burn as he opens the Scripture to them. Can you imagine?

Jesus takes them through every part of the OT showing that the main message is him. The Law is about him. The Prophets are about him. The Psalms are about him. The whole of the OT is about him.

When most of us first hear this it's hard to take in. We read the Old Testament & grow up learning that they are stories that teach a lesson. And there are a myriad of applications for sure, but that is not what is primary. And the context for these lessons must be understood to get their force.

In other words, Tim Keller helped me realize that the Bible is not about me & what I must do but it is about Jesus & what he has done. All of the Bible is about this one message, cover to cover, page by page. This should not lead us to opening our Bible & searching for Jesus like we would Waldo. Rather, it should lead us to ask, "How must I read this text now that Christ has come."

This passage in Luke reveals that the Bible is primarily Christ-centered & gospel-centered. It is not about us but about him.

As we read the Bible, this must be the foremost thought in our minds. We must think, "What does this passage say about what Christ has done & how the gospel teaches us to live in light of it?" And we must avoid, "What does this passage teach about me & what I must do?" One is the gospel & the other is moralism. Moralism leads to outward religious conformity while the gospel is "The power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16)."

We begin to find that when the Bible is not about us it actually comes alive. When we begin to see the Bible as gospel-centered it starts to radically transform our hearts. When it's not about us, we begin to grasp its real message; the life-giving message of salvation through Jesus Christ.