Volume 1 · Week 5 — The Word That Gives Life
Day 32 — Discovering Jesus in the Scriptures
Main verse
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
— John 5:39 (KJV)
Meditation
We may know many verses and still miss the heart of the Bible. Jesus spoke to people who studied the Scriptures seriously but failed to recognize the One to whom those Scriptures were directing their attention.
The Bible was given to us for more than increasing our religious knowledge. It leads us to a person. Its stories, promises, laws, prophecies, and appeals find their center in Jesus Christ.
Reading the Bible in the light of Jesus transforms our understanding of God. We discover a God who seeks human beings, hears the cry of the oppressed, forgives sinners, and gives himself to save. In Jesus, truth takes on a face and grace enters our history.
Every passage must be read carefully in its context. Yet one question can accompany all our reading: “How does this passage help me better understand the character, work, or mission of Jesus?”
The ultimate purpose is not simply to know the Bible better, but to know Christ more deeply and allow him to form his life within us.
Psalm
Psalm 40:7 (KJV)
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Further Bible reading
John 5:31–40; Luke 24:44–49
Suggested hymn
The Church Hymnal (1941), no. 217 — “O Word of God Incarnate”
Prayer
Father, lead me to Jesus through the Scriptures. May my reading make me neither proud nor hard-hearted, but more humble, grateful, and loving. Help me contemplate the character of Christ and transform me into his likeness. Amen.
A thought to keep
All Scripture directs my gaze toward Jesus, the center of our hope.
Personal Notes
What would you like to remember, pray about, or put into practice today?