Those Who Are For Him

Please extend some patience on this, as I am thinking out loud and proceeding with caution….

Luke 24: 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

There is a view – I cannot say widely held or not, but I believe it is – that not only is Jesus foretold in the Old Testament, but that the Old Testament should be read through the lens that is Jesus Christ.

From a post at Westminster Theological Seminary:

The Old Testament is not primarily a book about ancient history or culture, though it contains many things that are historical and that describe ancient cultures. Centrally, the Old Testament is a book about Christ, and more specifically, about his sufferings and the glories that will follow—that is, it is a book about the promise of a coming Messiah through whose sufferings God will establish his glorious, eternal kingdom.

From The Gospel Coalition:

God’s revelation throughout the Old Testament prefigures, anticipates, and announces beforehand the redemption that he would accomplish in the person and work of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.

In other words, to properly understand the Old Testament, one must recognize Christ – one can only properly understand the Old Testament by understanding Him, the Son of God.

I recall coming across a similar idea regarding the New Testament – I don’t remember if I read it, heard it, if someone left a comment somewhere.  The idea: read the four gospels without the lens of the apostle Paul, which I guess could also mean without the lens of any other New Testament books and letters.

Now, I don’t take this to mean to ignore Paul.  Instead, I think: read the apostle Paul – just as we read the Old Testament – through the lens of Jesus Christ.  To understand the Scriptures, we must understand the central figure of Christianity and read the Scriptures through the understanding of this central figure – and that is, of course Jesus Christ.

Why am I going on about this?  I have been thinking a lot about the work I did on The Sermon on the Mount and am thinking about the work I hope to start in a couple of months on Jesus’s parables.  What might it mean to understand the apostle Paul through the lens of Jesus and the gospels?

I am not sure I have an answer – at least not a good answer.  But I do think about all of the doctrinal controversies that arise when one considers what is written in the epistles.  Not to say that these controversies also cannot find sources elsewhere in Scripture.  But many of the go-to verses on each side of such controversies are found in these letters.  Read James for works or read Ephesians for grace and faith; read Romans for just about anything.

I keep coming back to this idea that Saint Peter is not going to be standing at the entrance of heaven asking us a doctrinal quiz to determine our entry: infant or credo baptism, frequency of the Eucharist (let alone is it really the true body and blood), a precise definition and explanation of Christology – Christ’s nature, etc., etc., etc.

No, I am not suggesting that the authors of these letters have caused controversies.  I am instead considering that our reading of these through any lens other than through the lens of Jesus Christ perhaps leads us into these controversies.

One critical lens – a lens of Jesus that I have spent significant time with – is the Sermon on the Mount.  This Sermon is a teaching designed to change our nature – a road map, if you like.  This new nature is to be born from above, or born again – the old man with his old nature is changed to the new man with his new nature.

No, the qualification for entrance, if you can call it that, is much simpler…and much more difficult:

Matthew 22: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

To love the Lord our God has at least three aspects: we must first know something of who He is.  Here, I would say the Nicene Creed is sufficient (setting aside the controversy regarding the filioque). 

In my view, the Christological controversies that arose after this creed (e.g., at Chalcedon) only complicated the matter.  It is almost unbelievable to me that Christians have allowed division on a matter that, in reality, is completely incomprehensible to mortals: how, precisely, to put into words that humans can understand the idea that God and man are found in one being?

Second, to love the Lord our God, we must worship Him.  Some will argue that the form of worship is of paramount importance.  I don’t hold to such a view.  Not that any form will do: focus on each of the Trinity, be respectful and humble about it.  I find it a blessing that God has made available various forms of good worship, giving different ones of us avenues through which we find comfort. 

Finally, to love the Lord our God, we must also do as He commands; for this, we have a book for guidance and instruction. 

As for loving our neighbor as ourself, we must first understand proper love, and how to properly love ourself.  We must let go of our being self-centered; we must put love of God in first place.  This humbles us; we see our sin.  Once here, we can then properly love our neighbor because we see them as we see ourselves, as the victim of sin and of Satan.

Which brings me back to something like the Sermon on the Mount.  Here, Jesus addresses how we should live; He spends little if any time on doctrine we must believe.

Conclusion

So, to ask again: what might it mean to read Paul (or any other apostles) through the lens of Jesus?  Perhaps we could be a little more generous and loving toward our neighbors who might believe doctrine that is slightly different or even contrary to our own.  No, not regarding who God is, not regarding worship of Him, not regarding doing as He commands, not regarding loving our neighbor.

Mark 9: 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.

Denominations, traditions, doctrines.  These all divide us.  Yet, are any of us, those of us who hold fast to the greatest commandment yet have segregated ourselves in this divisions, “against” Jesus and His disciples?  Hardly.

On the too-many things that divide us, perhaps we can be more generous.