Loved this!! And absolutely love that you point up how simply reading the scriptures to know "what they say" without searching the scriptures to find Jesus himself will make us less like God and more like the Pharisees. I was actually listening to an interview with Derek Flood in which he insightfully mentioned that the reason the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus was precisely because they did know the Scriptures so well, at least in terms of head knowledge. Of course because their hearts were hard they missed the Messiah in their own Scriptures, but they absolutely "knew" the Bible better than any other group or class of people of the day. When Jesus refused to stone the woman caught in adultery, the Pharisees actually believed that Jesus was breaking God's law, because the law did in fact command the stoning. So the Pharisees were not exactly wrong in their assessment of Jesus, according to the way they were reading Scripture. And this kind of reading of Scripture makes me think of the way so many Christians in America seem to read their Bibles. And I don't think this way of reading necessarily puts Christ and his gospel and love in the center of a theology derived from such reading.We have to be so careful not to miss the very purpose of our reading, which is to find and know Jesus himself. Thank you for that wonderful, foundational reminder, and for this entire, beautiful message!
@MMLZombie Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I’m glad you liked this so much; it is very encouraging to hear this. Thank you. I have not heard of Derek Flood before; I’ll have to look him up. Thank you for letting me know about this interview. Yes, it’s a great tragedy that the Pharisees’ knowledge got in the way of their focusing on God, the one who gave them the Scriptures in the first place. And it is a great tragedy that they used their knowledge of God’s word as the basis to persecute God himself. I agree with you; too many today look to the Bible in the same way. And I fear with the same result. Rules are emphasized, and Jesus is missed. This reduces Christianity to being primarily a religion instead of a vibrant relationship with God, which leads to a religious expression of that relationship. A very, very different thing. Thank you again for this beautiful comment. And you are very welcome. Have a marvelous day.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Loved this!! And absolutely love that you point up how simply reading the scriptures to know "what they say" without searching the scriptures to find Jesus himself will make us less like God and more like the Pharisees. I was actually listening to an interview with Derek Flood in which he insightfully mentioned that the reason the Pharisees sought to kill Jesus was precisely because they did know the Scriptures so well, at least in terms of head knowledge. Of course because their hearts were hard they missed the Messiah in their own Scriptures, but they absolutely "knew" the Bible better than any other group or class of people of the day. When Jesus refused to stone the woman caught in adultery, the Pharisees actually believed that Jesus was breaking God's law, because the law did in fact command the stoning. So the Pharisees were not exactly wrong in their assessment of Jesus, according to the way they were reading Scripture. And this kind of reading of Scripture makes me think of the way so many Christians in America seem to read their Bibles. And I don't think this way of reading necessarily puts Christ and his gospel and love in the center of a theology derived from such reading.We have to be so careful not to miss the very purpose of our reading, which is to find and know Jesus himself. Thank you for that wonderful, foundational reminder, and for this entire, beautiful message!
@MMLZombie
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I’m glad you liked this so much; it is very encouraging to hear this. Thank you.
I have not heard of Derek Flood before; I’ll have to look him up. Thank you for letting me know about this interview.
Yes, it’s a great tragedy that the Pharisees’ knowledge got in the way of their focusing on God, the one who gave them the Scriptures in the first place. And it is a great tragedy that they used their knowledge of God’s word as the basis to persecute God himself.
I agree with you; too many today look to the Bible in the same way. And I fear with the same result. Rules are emphasized, and Jesus is missed. This reduces Christianity to being primarily a religion instead of a vibrant relationship with God, which leads to a religious expression of that relationship. A very, very different thing.
Thank you again for this beautiful comment. And you are very welcome.
Have a marvelous day.