Aug 29, 2020
John 5:39-40 and 2 Timothy 3:14-17
By Matthew Butler
I lied.
When I was in 4th grade, I thought it’d be “cool” to wear glasses. So, I lied.
I told my parents and teachers that I was having a hard time seeing the board. I would intentionally “strain” my eyes and squint in order to display my “struggle.” Truth is, I could see just fine.
But I wanted to be “cool” and wear glasses.
I even went so far as to lie on my eye exam. When I could see the letters clearly, I read back to the examiner different letters.
So, I succeeded. I convinced my parents, my teachers, even the eye doctor that I needed glasses. NOW, I’d be cool!
Trouble is…when I put on my new glasses, it actually made my vision worse. The corrective lenses were not the correct prescription because I hadn’t needed glasses to begin with.
This, of course, caused some issues. When I had been able to see clearly before, now my vision became fuzzy and blurred. Over the course of a couple weeks, wearing these glasses, unfortunately, caused permanent damage to my eyes.
Through tears, I confessed to my parents that I had lied (in so many ways) and that I hadn’t needed glasses at all. But now, because of the weeks of wearing my unnecessary (yet, oh so cool, mind you) glasses…I now NEEDED glasses.
I now wear prescription glasses, without which I would be severely impaired. Without these lenses, I cannot see clearly.
A few things we can learn from that are:
1. Don’t lie. It’s bad.
2. Glasses ARE cool.
And thirdly—it’s an illustration:
When we approach the Scriptures, many times we find ourselves wearing the wrong lenses.
We can come to the Bible with “The Rule Book Lenses”— I need to know what to do, what not to do, in order to be in “right standing” with God. As long as I follow these rules, God will love me, approve of me.
We can come to the Bible with “The Life Manual Lenses”— I know I’m broken and I need a fix. THIS is what will make me better. THIS is the pill I need to “get better.” Almost like it is a “Self-Help Manual.”
What we will find from our study is that Jesus Himself offers us a different approach; He offers us the correct prescription —He gives us “The Jesus Lenses.”
He says, “When you come to this Book…when you come to these pages…I want you to see ME.”
As the first session for this week of Bible studies, it seems quite appropriate to start with a focus on Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus in All of Scripture.
Please turn with me to John 5. We will look specifically at verses 39-40. I’ll be using the ESV translation.
To set the scene here, this is a moment in Jesus’ ministry where He’s just healed a man on the Sabbath. And the Jewish leaders of the day—these Biblical scholars/experts of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament)—began to accuse Jesus of breaking the Law. They’re trying to use Scripture to trap Jesus, trying to use His own words against Him.
Here is Jesus’ response in verses 39-40:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
These religious men had devoted their entire lives to studying every iota of God’s Word; they, arguably, knew the Scriptures more thoroughly than anyone else of their day, AND YET they were missing the point.
Jesus is telling them, “The Scriptures bear witness to ME.”
Do you want life? Do you want life eternal? It’s found in ME.
We won’t gain a single moment of life by merely reading words on a page. We read these words on the page to point us to the One to whom all these words bear witness— His name is Jesus.
As we approach the Bible together, let’s not approach it as a Rule Book. Are there rules and commands in there? Yes! And they’re good and right and just. But even those rules point us to JESUS!
When we come to the Bible, let’s not approach it as a Self-Help Book. Can it offer us help? Yes! How? By pointing you to Jesus, the One who offers help to the tired and heavy-laden.
To the One who says:
“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
(Isaiah 41:10)
Helping ourselves? I don’t think so. Our God, Jesus — He is our Helper.
At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, after He rose from the grave, before He ascended to the Father’s right hand, He wanted to make sure His disciples understood this. In Luke 24, when He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He said this (verse 44): “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Jesus is saying, “Whether you’re in the Law of Moses, the Prophets or the Psalms, I’m there!
The whole of the TaNaK (Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim/the teaching, the prophets, the writings)—the WHOLE of the Hebrew Bible, from Genesis to Malachi…“There are whispers about ME.” We can take the Scriptures of the New Testament that point directly at Jesus or point back to Jesus or show us how Jesus is working in and through His Church by the Spirit today—from Genesis to Revelation—and we should Fix Our Eyes on Jesus. Remember what He says, “It is they that bear witness about me.”
Now, an error perhaps on the other side, is to ask, “If we already know Jesus, then can I move beyond the Scriptures? Why have a 5-day Bible study?” Well, I’m glad you asked!
I want us to look at a second passage to help us in Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus in All of Scripture. Turn to 2 Timothy 3. Here, the Apostle Paul is writing to his younger protégé, Timothy. He’s encouraging him to “guard the good deposit” — which is the Gospel, the Good News…
And in your efforts, Timothy (Paul is writing here), you can’t neglect the Scriptures…and the purpose for which we have them.
Let’s start at verse 14 of chapter 3. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings…”
Paul is saying, “Everything you’ve learned and believed, hold on to that! You were not only taught by ME, but your grandmother Lois and mother Eunice—ever since you were a boy—taught you from Scripture” (the sacred writings).
This next part is what I want us to focus on. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, reiterates what Jesus Himself taught. He says (in the last half of verse 15), “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” All of the Scriptures are there to point you and encourage you to have faith in Jesus.
How can we trust that this is true?
The passage continues with verses 16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God [these are God’s words about Himself] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
The way that the Scriptures
—teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us…
—complete and equip us for every good work…is by pointing us to Jesus.
When, in ALL of Scripture, we Fix Our Eyes on Jesus,
we see
— He is the Perfect One: the Unequaled Standard
— When we see Jesus for who He is, we can recognize that we are not those things (we are not perfect, we are broken, we’re sinful and in need)
— But then we see from His Word that Jesus is our Rescuer, our Redeemer, our Savior AND that…
“there is therefore now NO condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
— And that by looking to Jesus, He is equipping us for every good work that He’s graciously prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).
So, as we dig into God’s Word—no matter where we are in Scripture— may we fix our eyes on Jesus.
Every time you lower your eyes to the pages of Scripture, God’s intent for you is to lift your eyes and see Jesus—who’s saying, “They bear witness to me. They bear witness to me.”
