Following God Series
Delivered at Harlem Reformed Church, 2013

Note:  See John Wenham’s, Christ and the Bible, 3rd Ed. for a more thorough treatment of this subject.

Recap

Images of God (Teaching 1 of 5) – Recap: Studying Jesus will show us what God truly is like (see Heb. 1:3).

Beholding Jesus: The Perfect Image of God (Teaching 2 of 5) – Recap: The Old Testament, New Testament, and Holy Spirit speaking to humble hearts are THE ways we can accurately know Jesus.  And the gospel accounts give us an authoritative and reliable picture of Jesus’ words and life.

Jesus’ view on the NATURE of Scripture

The Scriptures are God’s Word, Truth without error.

  • Matt. 4:4 – “every word” is from God (cf. Deut. 8:3); Luke 24:25 – “all” of the words of the O.T. prophets are to be believed
    • Matt. 5:17-18 (cf. Luke 16:17) – even the jot and tittle
      • The “jot” is the smallest letter in the Hebrew language.
      • The “tittle” is shaped like a comma, and was used to differentiate Hebrew letters that looked alike.
    • Matt. 22:32 – Jesus’ argument hinged on the English word, “am”
    • Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37 – Jesus’ argument hinged on, “my”
    • John 10:34-35 – Jesus’ argument hinged on the letter, “s” (“gods” vs. “God”)
  • Matt. 19:4-6 – Jesus quotes the words of Gen. 2:24 as words that God said 
  • Mark 7:9-13 – Moses’ writings were part of “the word of God” to be obeyed, and contrasted the “tradition of men” taught by religious leaders
    • John 5:37-47 — “[God’s] word” (John 5:38) = “the Scriptures” (John 5:39) = “[Moses’] writings” (John 5:47) 
  • Matt. 22:41-44; Mark 12:35-37 – Jesus recognizes David’s words in Psalm 110:1 to be the words of the Holy Spirit
  • John 10:34-36 – “your law” = “the word of God” = “the Scripture”
    • “Scripture cannot be broken” (v. 35)
  • John 17:17 – “Your word is truth”
    • “This verse is interesting because Jesus does not use the adjectives alethinos or alethes (‘true’), which we might have expected, to say, ‘Your word is true.’  Rather, he uses a noun, aletheia (‘truth’), to say that God’s Word is not simply ‘true,’ but it is truth itself…Thus we are to think of the Bible as the ultimate standard of truth, the reference point by which every other claim to truthfulness is to be measured.” (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1994, p. 83)
  • Jesus recognized that Scripture accurately predicted events before they happened: Matt. 11:10 (cf. Lk. 7:27); 26:24,31(cf. Mk. 14:27; Zech. 13:7),53-56; Mark 9:12,13; 14:21,49; Luke 4:16-21; 18:31-33; 21:22; 22:37; 24:25-27,44-47; John 5:39-47; 13:18 (cf. Ps. 41:9); 15:25 (cf. Ps. 35:19); 17:12

The Scriptures are the final authority and judge.

  • Matt 4:3-11 – Jesus’ only appeal to authority against Satan was the “written” word
  • John 12:47-48 – the word of God will judge on the last day (cf. Rev. 19:15)
  • John 10:35 – they cannot be broken
  • Matt. 15:3-9; Mark 7:9-13 – Jesus condemned those who did not obey Scripture
    • Matt. 22:29 – thinking and acting contrary to Scripture makes you wrong
  • John 17:17 – “This verse is interesting because Jesus does not use the adjectives alethinos or alethes (‘true’), which we might have expected, to say, ‘Your word is true.’  Rather, he uses a noun, aletheia (‘truth’), to say that God’s Word is not simply ‘true,’ but it is truth itself…Thus we are to think of the Bible as the ultimate standard of truth, the reference point by which every other claim to truthfulness is to be measured.” (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1994, p. 83)

The Scriptures are relevant to all people at all times.

  • Matt 22:23-33 – Jesus says to the Jews of his day, “Have you not read what was said to you,” (v.31), about words God spoke to Moses 1,500 years ago

The Scriptures are knowable to everyone willing to follow them.

  • Matt. 11:25; John 7:17 (cf. John 8:43; 10:27) – a surrendered heart to God will open understanding of the Scriptures, by the help of the Holy Spirit.
    • Mark 4:11-12; Luke 24:25; John 5:37-40 – those with hard and disobedient hearts will not understand
  • Matt. 9:13; 12:3,5,7; 15:3; 19:14; 21:42; 21:13; 22:29,31; John 3:10 – Jesus presumed that people could read the Scriptures and understand their meaning
    • John 20:30-31; Col. 4:16; Heb. 13:24 – similarly, John, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews all said their writing was understandable to those reading
  • Matt. 4:4,7 – we can avoid deception in the Scriptures by letting the Bible interpret itself.

The Scriptures maintain spiritual life.

  • Matt. 4:4 – the Bible is essential nourishment to live

The Scriptures provide a completely sufficient revelation of God. 

  • Luke 16:29-31 – The Old Testament was sometimes called “The Law and the Prophets,” therefore, Jesus is teaching that the Scriptures provide more revelation for those in this life to trust God than even observing a resurrection.

The Scriptures provide a sturdy foundation to build on.

  • Matt. 7:24 – only those who heard and obeyed God’s word would withstand storms

Jesus’ view on the SCOPE of Scripture

Old Testament

  • Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:50-51 – “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” – The murder of Abel was recorded at the beginning of Genesis (Ch. 4), and Zechariah’s murder was the last killing recorded in 2 Chronicles (Ch. 24).  The Jewish Bible of Jesus’ time (and even to this day) held the exact same books that are found in the Old Testament of Protestant Bibles, though the order was different: Their first book was Genesis, and their last book was 2 Chronicles.  Thus, Jesus affirms the entire O.T. by referencing its bookends.
  • Luke 24:44 – “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” – The Jewish Old Testament (which holds the same content as current Protestant Old Testaments) was divided into three sections: (1) The Law of Moses, (2) The Prophets, (3) The Writings (with Psalms being the first and largest book in this division).  This is still true today, and Jesus here acknowledges this as the complete record of Old Testament books.
  • Throughout the gospels, Jesus references the Old Testament prolifically, and  always considers it authoritative and historically factual.

New Testament

When Jesus lived, no New Testament books had been written, so He didn’t refer to them specifically.  However…

  • Matt. 7:24-26; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 6:46-49; 21:33 – Jesus saw His words as necessary for a proper spiritual foundation and forever infallible.
    • Cf. Mk. 13:32 – “not even…the Son” — this verse goes with the previous, and shows that Jesus saw His words as the strongest authority on a matter, though this particular matter (of His return) was unknown to Him.
    • 1 Cor. 7:10-11; 1 Tim. 5:18; 6:3; Heb. 2:3 – the early church also saw a need to know Jesus’ words
    • John 18:9, 32 – Here, Jesus’ words are said to be fulfilled by later events.  Thus, they were seen as prophetic and authoritative (they needed to be fulfilled).  And, they are seen as on par with the Old Testament Scriptures that also had to be “fulfilled” (see John 12:38; 13:18; 15:25; 17:12; 19:24, 36; Acts 1:16; etc.)
  • Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; John 5:22 cf. 12:48 – Jesus claims that a person’s reception of His words directly relates to their eternal judgment
  • John 5:24-25; 6:63; 7:15-17; 8:26-28,37-38,40,43-47; 12:48-50; 14:10; 15:3,7,15; 17:8; 18:37 – Jesus shows in these passages that: (1) His teaching and words are the teaching and words of God; (2) A man’s eternal life depends on their response to His words (See John Wenham’s, Christ and the Bible, 3rd Ed., 1994, pp. 57-58).
  • John 13:13-20 – He acknowledged Himself as Teacher and Lord, and receiving Him (and thereby His words) is equal to receiving God and His words.
  • Matt. 28:18-20 – Jesus saw His words as carrying all authority and needed to be taught to others
  • Matt. 13:3-23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:5-15 – In “The Parable of the Sower,” Jesus is clearly the “Sower” and His word is the “seed.”  Therefore, He saw the reception of His words as directly related to what would happen in the hearers’ lives.
  • Matt. 5:18 – Jesus says that the Law will not have a jot or tittle pass away.  However, this comment was in the midst of His preaching about the law, where He repeatedly says, “But I say to you…”  Thus, it is implied that just as the law will not have a jot or tittle pass away, neither would His teachings (which carry equal authority to the Law) have a jot or tittle pass away.
  • “Truly I say to you,” – this phrase is a favorite expression of Christ.  He says it 31 times in Matthew, 13 times in Mark, and 6 times in Luke.  Similarly, He says the phrase, “Truly, truly, I say to you,” 25 times in John (See John Wenham’s, Christ and the Bible, 3rd Ed., 1994, p. 55).  These are words of absolute authority, and contrast the phrase of biblical prophets (“God says…”), or the words of great men (“I believe or think…”).
  • Matt. 13:16,17; Luke 10:23-24 – He saw His words as incredibly significant, and anticipated by prophets and righteous men for ages
  • Matt. 11:25-27; Luke 10:21-22 – Jesus claims special position as the ONLY one who truly knows the Father and can make Him known to others  
  • Matt. 28:19-20 – Jesus commissioned His apostles to teach His words to others
    • Matt. 23:34 – Scribes were sent as people who recorded words in writing. 
    • Rev. 1:19 – Jesus commissioned John to write His words in Revelation
    • John 14:26 – the Holy Spirit would remind the apostles of Jesus’ words
  • John 13:20 – to receive or reject an apostle sent by Jesus, is to receive or reject Jesus himself.
  • John 16:13-15 – through the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ words would extend beyond what He taught in the gospels
    • Acts 1:1 – the gospel accounts are only the beginning of what Jesus did and taught
    • John 21:17; Acts 26:16 – Peter and Paul were commissioned by Jesus to nourish the church by their message
      • Though Jesus only says to Peter, “feed my sheep,” in Matt. 4:4 He explains that God’s word is the true food people need, and thus He presumably meant for Peter to feed believers with God’s word, as he is seen doing at the very beginning of the church’s formation (see Acts 2), and the very beginning of Gentiles coming to Christ (see Acts 10).
  • John 10:3-4 – Jesus said His followers will differentiate His words from the words of strangers.  Thus, we can know that the 27 N. T. books received by Christians throughout history truly are God’s Word.
  • Rev. 22:18-19 – this warning not to add or take away from the words of “this book” applies to the book of Revelation primarily.  However, since the content of the book of Revelation demands it to be placed at the end of the N.T., it can secondarily be applied to the entire N.T., and even the whole Bible.

Conclusion

Jesus views the writings of the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament as the inerrant, infallible word of God, and the final authority on any content it touches.