Though we affirm the perspicuity of scripture and the fundamental clarity of its essential message, the ever-present issue when reading the Bible is this: how do I know I am reading it rightly? It is all too easy to read ourselves into the story when it isn’t necessarily about us, miss the main point of a passage or just badly misread what is said altogether. Whilst utter interpretative perfection is unlikely to any of us, there are some helpful guiding principles that can keep us on the right track with any passage of scripture.
What does this say about Jesus?
On the road to Emmaus, starting with Moses and the prophets, Jesus ‘interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures’ (Luke 24:25-27, 44-45). 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all God’s promises are ‘yes’ in Jesus. They all point to and are fulfilled in him. 1 Peter 1:9-12 tells us that the prophets were pointing forward to what has now been fully revealed in and through Christ and the gospel. As a starting point for reading the Bible well, we want to ask: what does this tell me about Jesus? It is all, ultimately, pointing to him. He is fundamentally the key to understanding any part of it.
How does this fit with/relate to other passages?
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us ‘All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness’. What this tells us is that scripture has one author (God) and functions as a unified whole. Though it is written by around 40 different human authors over a 1500 (or so) year period, writing in their own styles and within their own cultures, it has all been inspired by one ultimate author and each part relates to every other. The Bible should be read and understood as a unified whole and, therefore, must be read and understood as each part relating to each other. This means we can expect to see a storyline unfolding and we can expect other parts of scripture to help us understand other bits of scripture.
Read it knowing God ordained events as part of his story
Isaiah 46:10 states:
I declare the end from the beginning,
and from long ago what is not yet done,
saying: my plan will take place,
and I will do all my will.
God is ultimately sovereign, stating his plans, carrying them out and ensuring his will comes to pass. For example, having outlined the details of how Jesus conception came about, Matthew asserts in 1:22 ‘all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet’. God sovereignly orchestrated events to fulfil what he has previously said would take place through the prophet Isaiah. Similarly, Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 10:11: ‘These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.’ Things happen in history, at God’s behest, for the benefit of those who come later.
All of that is to say, God sovereignly ordains events in history to speak to his people concerning his plans. We, therefore, read the historical and prophetic narratives of scripture with an eye on the fact that God was orchestrating these historical events to point to future events or to function as examples to his future people. We, therefore, must understand the Old Testament as fundamentally pointing forward to the gospel fully revealed in the New Testament and the historic events are orchestrated by God to point forward to his full revelation in the Lord Jesus.
Let the clear interpret the less clear
There are things in scripture that are abundantly clear and painfully obvious. There are other things in scripture that are less clear and seemingly more opaque. Paul’s letter to the Romans, for example, is more strikingly obvious at face value in terms of what it affirms than (for us at least) the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Scripture itself affirms that there are clearer and less clear bits. The writer to the Hebrews says this:
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways. 2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
God’s speaking through the prophets was at different time and in different ways, but now he has spoken more fully and clearly through his Son. Lest we might doubt clarity is in view, v3 insists he is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature. Whatever the prophets revealed about God, it is more fully and clearly revealed in and through Jesus.
Given there are clearer and less clear bits of scripture, we do well to interpret the less clear by the more clear. It is unwise to first build our theology on deeply contested portions of scripture before we affirm the clearly and widely attested portions of scripture. We want to plant our stakes in the ground on what is abundantly clear and figure out how the less clear things fit within it rather than allowing more opaque passages to determine the meaning of what is clear and evident elsewhere. Linking this back to the first principle, if all the scripture points to Jesus, we want to interpret the less clear in light of what has been clearly revealed about him.
Helpful, but not as easy as one may think.
My readings today included two of the Psalms and 2 Chronicles 21. Not immediately clear how these teach us about Jesus. I’m not confident in assuming that the Psalms always reflect the experience of Jesus Himself, although I do find it helpful to think that He used the Psalms (as I do) to prompt His prayers.
Any further thoughts?
Yes, I appreciate not every passage is immediately clear how it points to Christ on face value. Nor does every passage point to Christ in the same way. But it does help to know that, somehow, this connects to Jesus so we ought to be trying to see him there wherever he may be.