We are here because Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus written about in the New Testament of your Bible, said and did some incredible things. Many things that are hard to believe.

... keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 NET

If we are going to follow Jesus, or at least form an opinion about him, we should all better understand who he was and what he knew and believed. We should know how he lived and taught. And this brings us to focus on the ancient texts compiled into the Bible. Not just what you hear in church or Instagram. You have to get into the text.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17 NET

Law and the Prophets

Jesus spoke about scripture, using the phrase "the law and the prophets". Scripture was on his mind and heart and foundational to most of his teachings. Plainly put Jesus knew his TaNaK. The majority of the text we have today would have been circulating in his time.

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus said he came to fulfill what was in the text and he demonstrated a deeper understanding of the text than any scholar. 

In the text

There are many ways to learn, and we all learn differently, but I suggest in this age of instant gratification and tweet sized information that the best place to start is reading through the entire Biblical text in a single season, somewhere between 3 months and one year.

That means reading every page, all 24 (or 39) books in the Hebrew scriptures and all the 27 books and letters found in the Christian scriptures. If you haven't done it before maybe I can offer some guidance. If you have read it through let's do it again together.

The New Year is right around the corner. At least consider the idea of reading the Bible completely in 2023.

Breadcrumbs