Why We Don't Know Jesus
Read John 5:31-47.
Jesus continues his dialogue (or monologue) with the religious leaders in this section of John 5, but he gets even more pointed toward their lack of knowledge about him. They refuse to accept him as the savior, he says, because they don't know their Scriptures. The Scriptures testify to the reality he came to bring, and more than that, they clearly point to him. In fact, he says the point of the Bible is not to help us find eternal life; the point of the Bible is to help us find him! And yet these men (the leaders were all men) refuse to see him. They're looking for other things rather than for the one the Father sent. They study and study and study—and yet they don't see the one reason the Scriptures exist, even when he's standing right in front of them.
And that might point to why we don't know Jesus well either.
According to research by Lifeway (done in 2017), 87% of Americans own a Bible, but less than half of them read it with any sort of regularity. Only one in five Americans surveyed said they've read the entire Bible at least once, and less than 25% have any plan for reading it regularly at all. This includes people who are often in church every week. I've said from the pulpit many times that it scares me more than a little bit that the only time some people have any contact with the Bible is when I read a few verses on Sunday morning before the sermon. We need so much more than that! That's like eating only one meal a week. How long would we be healthy in our body if we did that? How long can we be healthy in our spirit when we don't take nourishment?
Would Jesus say to us today, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (5:39-40)? Or would he even say that we "study diligently"? What would he say to us about the way we interact with the Bible?
We cannot survive on snacks. We cannot survive on Scriptural morsels. We need a meal, a regular diet of Biblical nourishment. When is the last time your Bible was opened? Do you have a plan for reading? Are you looking for Jesus on every page?
Jesus continues his dialogue (or monologue) with the religious leaders in this section of John 5, but he gets even more pointed toward their lack of knowledge about him. They refuse to accept him as the savior, he says, because they don't know their Scriptures. The Scriptures testify to the reality he came to bring, and more than that, they clearly point to him. In fact, he says the point of the Bible is not to help us find eternal life; the point of the Bible is to help us find him! And yet these men (the leaders were all men) refuse to see him. They're looking for other things rather than for the one the Father sent. They study and study and study—and yet they don't see the one reason the Scriptures exist, even when he's standing right in front of them.
And that might point to why we don't know Jesus well either.
According to research by Lifeway (done in 2017), 87% of Americans own a Bible, but less than half of them read it with any sort of regularity. Only one in five Americans surveyed said they've read the entire Bible at least once, and less than 25% have any plan for reading it regularly at all. This includes people who are often in church every week. I've said from the pulpit many times that it scares me more than a little bit that the only time some people have any contact with the Bible is when I read a few verses on Sunday morning before the sermon. We need so much more than that! That's like eating only one meal a week. How long would we be healthy in our body if we did that? How long can we be healthy in our spirit when we don't take nourishment?
Would Jesus say to us today, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (5:39-40)? Or would he even say that we "study diligently"? What would he say to us about the way we interact with the Bible?
We cannot survive on snacks. We cannot survive on Scriptural morsels. We need a meal, a regular diet of Biblical nourishment. When is the last time your Bible was opened? Do you have a plan for reading? Are you looking for Jesus on every page?
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