Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 28:14-29; 1 John 5:1-21
”For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)
Some years ago I announced to our Sunday morning Bible class that for our next study we would be looking at the Book of Genesis. A dear, precious saint came up to me after class and announced, “Pastor, I'm so disappointed. I really love hearing about Jesus, and now we are going to be spending the next several months in Genesis?” Well, guess what? By the time we finished Genesis, he was asking me to jump to another Old Testament Book to show us Jesus. God be praised! The Holy Spirit had led him to “the patience and comfort” of the Old Testament.
Have you not heard? “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43)? And didn't Jesus, after He rose from the dead, begin with Moses (Genesis) and all the prophets, and explain to the Emmaus disciples the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27).
In all the Scriptures. That means not just those written by Moses and the prophets — but also Matthew, Mark, Luke, James, Peter, John, Jude, and Paul. For the church had already received many of their writings as Holy Scripture. I think it was Augustine who said it so well: the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old revealed in the New.
If you ever come out of a book of the Bible, even an Old Testament Book, with something other than or less than the knowledge that God forgives all my sins because of Jesus, or God receives me now because of Christ — you haven't read it right. You haven't heard what it is saying to you. Go back and read it again. Better yet, ask your pastor to conduct an Old Testament Bible study at your church. He'll be happy to show you Jesus in all the Scriptures.
And that is what you truly need. For like the saints of old, you, too, have trespasses to confess, fears that get the better of you, behaviors that often announce to God and the people around you what a sinner you are. Sort of like Abraham. And Jacob. And Lot. And Noah. And Judah. And Joseph. And David. And Thomas. And Peter. And ... you get the picture.
But, like the saints of old, God keeps telling us not to despair. He keeps putting into our ears His promises, spoken in Jesus' Name in all the Scriptures, and in His Washing and Supper. By those promises, you hear: “Now may the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).