The Law

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people (John 5:37-41).

The Pharisees in Jesus' day loved the word of God. They spent all day reading the scriptures, striving and striving to gain eternal life, just one drop of God's righteousness, from the words on the page.

I imagine this must have been a very frustrating life. Have you ever read Deuteronomy? There is no way any human can fulfill every single mandate of the Mosaic law.

So Jesus' revelation in Matthew 5:17 was probably a bit shocking to everyone: "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

Say what?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made, writes John (1:1-3).

If that don't deserve a "hallelujah!", I don't know what does! Hold onto your head, because it's about to get even more mind-blowing.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him (Colossians 1:16).

My silly mind imagines Jesus as a nebulous plasma of God's Word floating around the throne of God. He looked down on man and said, "Well, I guess they can't fulfill me themselves. Looks like I better go down there and do it for them."

Clearly this is an oversimplification, but it shows the nature of God. His Word stands forever: it does not return void (Isaiah 55). It will be fulfilled, no matter what. That's just who He is.

So what Jesus was telling the Pharisees in John 5 was, "Hey, you have your nose in the Scriptures, searching for the Word that gives life, but I am the Word! Lift up your eyes to me, and receive eternal life!"

It's no wonder they didn't really get it. Whoever heard of the Word--God's promises, laws that characterize His righteousness, the spoken truth of His love, the creative power of His tongue--coming to life as a real, live human being? That's just crazy.

But it happened.

Jesus went on to say: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? (John 5:45-47)

The more you learn to love the Bible, the Word of God, the more you love Jesus, because He is the Word. And in fact, He hasn't stopped speaking. Just as easily as Jesus prophesied over the woman at the well, we can speak a true word of life to those around us who are dying and change their lives forever. Sometimes this word is an actual scripture, given to us by the Holy Spirit in that moment; sometimes it is not, but agrees with the character and desires of God as displayed in the Bible.

If you don't think you hear from God, I would encourage you to listen. Jesus came to open the door to the Holy of Holies so that you could walk in and have a conversation with Him. He longs to give you a word of direction and healing for every situation in your life. He wants to speak to us just as He spoke to the prophets--and even more clearly, because now we can all know Him (Jeremiah 31:34).

The Word of God laid Himself down on the altar to fulfill His own demand for righteousness. He never fails, and He will never stop speaking.