How to Study Your Bible, Week 4

In an article I wrote earlier this month, I encouraged readers to study the gospels paying special attention to cross-references to Old Testament passages. Since nobody explains the Bible better than the Bible itself, it’s wise to consider each cross-reference within Scripture carefully. I see each like another line connecting the dots in a drawing. Each connection gives a better perspective of the picture until, finally, all of the connections are made and the picture is revealed. Similarly, each cross-reference in the Bible gives us a little more insight into the connected, coherent story of God’s redemptive plan for man.

Here is one that really hit me the first time I read it and keeps impacting me each time I read it again. It starts in Isaiah 61.

Isaiah 61:1-3. “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.”

I always thought that was an encouraging passage. But is it reality? How is God going to “bind up the brokenhearted”? There was a tremendous amount of mourning in Israel after that passage was written, and there is an awful lot of misery in Israel today. However, it all made perfect sense when I read Christ’s quotation of that passage in Luke 4:16-21.

“He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING. Wow! That gets me every time. Jesus is the fulfillment of this beautiful prophecy-He is the good news to the poor; He brings freedom to the captive and sight to the blind. Through Jesus, God replaces our ashes with a crown of beauty. He gives gladness in place of our mourning and drapes us in a garment of praise instead of despair. What a beautiful picture of all we have in Christ.

Connecting the dots between those two passages, seeing Christ as the fulfillment of this Old Testament promise, was a very important moment for me in understanding the relationship between God, Christ, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. There are many such connections between the Old and New Testaments. As I wrote in my first entry on Bible study, if you pay attention to the places in which a NT author quotes an OT passage, slowly but surely you’ll start to get the big picture of the Bible.

This is my 4th and last installment on Bible study, and I’d like to end with a strong exhortation. Many of us don’t FEEL like we get much out of reading the Bible. And our reaction is to cop out-to listen to what others say about Scripture in books or sermons but to avoid studying it for ourselves. Certainly the preaching of the Word is a primary way that God speaks to His children, so definitely take advantage of all opportunities you have to hear the preaching of the Word. But you CAN NOT abandon your own study of the Bible and expect a healthy relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The written Word of God is their Logos-their self-revelation and written expression of their character and purposes. The written Word alone is the hammer that breaks the heart of stone and the sword that pierces our thoughts. You cannot be thoroughly equipped for service to God apart from personal study of His written Word. And don’t let Satan ever fool you into thinking otherwise. May the women at Mars Hill long be known for their thirst to open the Book!