Even though Jesus was fully God in every way, it’s interesting to note all the different things He still had to experience or that He saw as that which was important to practice. One of which was studying and knowing Scripture. Scripture was extremely important to Him.
Luke writes at the end of chapter 2, “Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.”
This passage tells us something significant about Jesus. While He grew physically, He also grew in wisdom. So He had to learn things and come to understand them. And we know that Scripture is the greatest source of wisdom.
If you were to look through the gospels, you’d come across around 80 instances of Jesus quoting the Old Testament. So we can see that He learned it and that He understood it as well as understanding its importance. It’s been suggested that there are roughly 1800 verses where we find Jesus speaking (those red words in most Bibles). And of those 1800 verses, 180 of them, roughly 10%, are Jesus quoting Scripture. Think about that for a minute. What might it be like if 10% of the things you said were the very words of God from Scripture?
So Jesus not only understood the importance of Scripture but even its power. The Hebrew writer calls God’s word alive, or living, and active (which some translations also translate powerful) and sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword. And when considering that one of the last things Luke shares with his readers that Jesus did before ascending to heaven (24:45) was to open the minds of the apostles so they could understand Scripture, it speaks volumes.
There’s something incredible that happens each time we open God’s word to read it, meditate upon it, or even talk about it with others. And in return, if we open ourselves to The Word, it impacts and changes us. And as it does, we become another witness of everything the Bible contains and are also commissioned with the responsibility of going and sharing our experience with others. So we become messengers for God but that only happens when we know the contents of His Word.
As we mentioned before, one of Jesus' last acts was to help his followers understand the contents of Scripture to essentially help them know more fully who He is and who they are through who He is. And He uses His Word to do the same thing for us.
As you fast today, I encourage you to fill that time by meditating on God’s word. Paul shares with Timothy that all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is right and true, allowing us to realize when we are wrong, and to prepare and equip us for every good work. So open yourself to that truth today. I’d even encourage you to pick or memorize a passage to meditate on throughout the day whether it’s something encouraging you need to hear or some way in which you need to be challenged or shaped.
Open yourself to the power and activity of Scripture in your life and allow it to be what sustains and gives you strength today. May God bless your day as you seek to be more like Him.
Daily Reading: STUDY SCRIPTURE
2 Timothy 3:16-17