At one point in His ministry, Jesus was dealing with the Sadducees (the liberals of His day). While the Sadducees believed the authority of the first five books of Moses (The Pentateuch), they did not accept the authority of the rest of Scripture.
This liberal group came to Jesus to challenge the teaching of the resurrection from the dead (which they didn’t believe). In response to their question, Jesus said,
“But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32).
What an odd response to a question about the resurrection from the dead.
Here Jesus quotes a passage from Exodus 3:6 (a passage the Sadducees saw as authoritative and true)—spoken by God to Moses nearly fourteen hundred years prior to Jesus.
But don’t miss a key point: Jesus took Scripture written 1400 years earlier and made it present tense. He said, “have you not read what was spoken TO YOU by God …”
For Jesus, the Scriptures weren’t a dry and dusty book to be used in the Synagogue once a week. The Word of God was present tense. Yes, it was written centuries earlier, but it is, as the writer of Hebrews described “living and active” (see Hebrews 4:12).
We find ourselves in a similar situation—as Christians, the Word of God was written nearly 2000 years ago. But we, like Jesus, must see ALL of Scripture as authoritative and in the present tense.
It is as if God just spoke and the ink is still drying upon the page.
Hear me correctly: we are not creating new Scriptures—the canon of God’s Word is closed—but the Bible (the canon of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation) itself is indeed alive. It is living and active. It is not some book describing things a few millennia ago, it is for this present day.
How do you see the Bible?
Is it a book you merely take to church or a nice decoration for your coffee table? Or is it, as Jesus saw it: alive, present tense, and necessary for today?
What a tremendous reality to remember that the Bible is never out of date! God is speaking to us today through His Word. The question is, will we listen?
Cheering you deeper into the Living and Written Word!
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