There is a saying that I hear quoted a lot these days. It is something along the lines of, “Jesus is all we need.” I suggest if that were true, Jesus, after being declared “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” by John The Baptist and coming out of the water would have simply said that and gone back to heaven immediately. That simply didn’t happen.
What did happen was that after hearing the affirmation of The Father, “This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased,” The Spirit led Him directly into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1, Luke 4:1). In fact the very first Words recorded by Jesus after His ministry began were, “It is written.” Matthew 4:4. These were the first recorded Words of Jesus after He was baptized after The Holy Spirit came down in bodily form and lighted upon Him.
Jesus quoted the Bible 78 times and alluded to it many other times. It was His normal language for conversation. That was His foundational message, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of God” (Matt 4, Luke 4:4, quoting His Father in Deuteronomy 8:3). He quotes or alludes to every single book in The Old Testament. His first three recorded statements are, “it is written” three times, which speaks of confirmation. One of His last statements on The Bible are, “heaven and earth shall pass away but My Words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35), again alluding to not just The Old Testament, but also the immutability of His Words.
So every Word that has been written is needed. This requires our minds to raise to the highest level for which it was created — the contemplation of the Ways of God and the record of His dealings with mankind, past, present and future...
“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
2 Peter 1:19-21 NASB
So is Jesus all we need? In a vague, gnostic, illogical way — kind of — but His advice was, search the Scriptures.” When He appeared to them on the road to Emmaus He gave them a seven mile Bible study and opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). Did He miss another chance to just simplify the things of God and just say, “relax fellas, God is in control. All you need is me? Wouldn’t it be more honest to say what God has already said, that we need every Word for which generations gave their lives so that we might have The Complete Bible in our hands (Wycliffe and Tyndale alone just that we might have an English translation)?
We write these things that we may learn not to go beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6).
“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
Romans 15:4 NKJV
What did happen was that after hearing the affirmation of The Father, “This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased,” The Spirit led Him directly into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1, Luke 4:1). In fact the very first Words recorded by Jesus after His ministry began were, “It is written.” Matthew 4:4. These were the first recorded Words of Jesus after He was baptized after The Holy Spirit came down in bodily form and lighted upon Him.
Jesus quoted the Bible 78 times and alluded to it many other times. It was His normal language for conversation. That was His foundational message, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of God” (Matt 4, Luke 4:4, quoting His Father in Deuteronomy 8:3). He quotes or alludes to every single book in The Old Testament. His first three recorded statements are, “it is written” three times, which speaks of confirmation. One of His last statements on The Bible are, “heaven and earth shall pass away but My Words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35), again alluding to not just The Old Testament, but also the immutability of His Words.
So every Word that has been written is needed. This requires our minds to raise to the highest level for which it was created — the contemplation of the Ways of God and the record of His dealings with mankind, past, present and future...
“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
2 Peter 1:19-21 NASB
So is Jesus all we need? In a vague, gnostic, illogical way — kind of — but His advice was, search the Scriptures.” When He appeared to them on the road to Emmaus He gave them a seven mile Bible study and opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). Did He miss another chance to just simplify the things of God and just say, “relax fellas, God is in control. All you need is me? Wouldn’t it be more honest to say what God has already said, that we need every Word for which generations gave their lives so that we might have The Complete Bible in our hands (Wycliffe and Tyndale alone just that we might have an English translation)?
We write these things that we may learn not to go beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6).
“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
Romans 15:4 NKJV
Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. | New King James Version (NKJV) | Download The Bible App Now
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
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