John Calvin on Christ in All of Scripture

Sacrifice of Isaac - Rembrandt (1635)

John Calvin, writing in the preface to Pierre-Robert Olivétan’s 1535 translation of the New Testament.

He [Christ] is Isaac, the beloved Son of the Father who was offered as a sacrifice, but nevertheless did not succumb to the power of death.

He is Jacob the watchful shepherd, who has such great care for the sheep which he guards.

He is the good and compassionate brother Joseph, who in his glory was not ashamed to acknowledge his brothers, however lowly and abject their condition.

He is the great sacrificer and bishop Melchizedek, who has offered an eternal sacrifice once for all.

He is the sovereign lawgiver Moses, writing his law on the tables of our hearts by his Spirit.

He is the faithful captain and guide Joshua, to lead us to the Promised Land.

He is the victorious and noble king David, bringing by his hand all rebellious power to subjection.

He is the magnificent and triumphant king Solomon, governing his kingdom in peace and prosperity.

He is the strong and powerful Samson, who by his death has overwhelmed all his enemies.

This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture: truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father. If one were to sift thoroughly the Law and the Prophets, he would not find a single word which would not draw and bring us to him. . . . Therefore, rightly does Saint Paul say in another passage that he would know nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

HT: Tim Keller, via John Starke and Justin Taylor 

It takes the Trinity to read the Bible

It takes the Trinity to read the Bible. The idea was suggested to me in Graeme Goldsworthy's book Gospel Centered Hermeneutics in this quote:

“Jesus as the divine communicator, the saving message and the human receiver demonstrates where the heart of true hermeneutics lies. The gospel is the power of God for salvation, which includes hermeneutical salvation.”

But then I thought of C. S. Lewi's's explanation of the Trinity in relation to prayer from Mere Christianity. Lewis wrote:

“An ordinary Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get in touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God – that Christ is standing beside, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying – the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on – the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. So that the whole threefold life of the three-personal Being is actually going on in that ordinary little bedroom where an ordinary man is saying his prayers. The man is being caught up into the higher kind of life . . . he is being pulled into God, by God . . .”

A similar thing happens when we read Scripture. In the Persons of the Trinity, God is above us (the divine Author who speaks by his Word), God is before us (Jesus, the Word made flesh, historical and immanent, to whom testimony is given in the Word written down), and God is within us (the illuminating Holy Spirit who opens our blind eyes to the divine testimony of the Word made flesh in the Word written down).

It really takes all three persons of the Triune God for the divine communication to take place. God is the Speaker, the Message, and the Interpreter.

Principles for Interpreting Old Testament Narratives

As a follow-up to Sunday's message on "Reading Scripture: How?" I thought I'd blog some further thoughts on how to interpret Scripture. Understanding Scripture demands patience and perseverance - we simply cannot learn it all at once or quickly. It takes years and years of regular reading and refining our reading skills and general knowledge of Scripture. But there are great helps out there. One of them is Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart's book How to Read the Bible For All It's Worth. I have found it very, very helpful. Here is a summary of principles for interpreting Old Testament narratives from page 106 of the book. It will give you both some immediate help in reading the OT and also a flavor for how this book could help you.

1. An Old Testament narrative usually does not directly teach a doctrine.
2. An Old Testament narrative usually illustrates a doctrine or doctrines taught propositionally elsewhere.
3. Narratives record what happened - not necessarily what should have happened or what ought to happen every time. Therefore, not every narrative has an individual identifiable moral application.
4. What people do in narratives is not necessarily a good example for us. Frequently, it is just the opposite.
5. Most of hte characters in Old Testament narratives are far from perfect - as are their actions as well.
6. We are not always told at the end of a narrative whether what happened was good or bad. We are expected to be able to judge this on the basis of what God has taught us directly and categorically elsewhere in Scripture.
7. All narratives are selective and incomplete. Not all the relevant details are always given (cf. John 21:25). What does appear in the narrative is everything that the inspired author thought important for us to know.
8. Narratives are not written to answer all our theological questions. They have particular, specific, limited purposes and deal with certain issues, leaving others to be dealt with elsewhere in other ways.
9. Narratives may teach either explicitly (by clearly stating something) or implicitly (by clearly implying something without actually stating it).
10. In the final analysis, God is the hero of all biblical narratives.