Jesus and Scripture

I suppose that all of us at some point in school were assigned a play to read for a literature or English class, probably one of Shakespeare’s classics. Mine was Macbeth. Since the dialogue was so very difficult to understand, the teacher spent considerable time explaining what was happening as we read. We discussed each section and sometimes were asked to attempt a dramatic reading of a portion. All that helped, but it was only when I watched a production of the play that I really understood the story well. I had to see the story acted out and not just read the script.

For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. John 20:9

Scripture here refers to the Hebrew writings that we call the Old Testament, because for Jesus and his disciples that was their Scripture. Notice how John admits, though they knew the writings actually said, that they did not understand what they meant. 

Perhaps we can compare Scripture to the script of a play. It is difficult to imagine exactly what the whole story only from the script. The sacred writings from Moses, the prophets, and their poets was enough to give the Jews of the first century a rough idea of the messiah and God’s kingdom, of what God wanted for his people, but it was still vague in certain respects. This is why there was controversy over who the messiah would be and what he would do. 

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me. John 5:39

Jesus is the living out and full expression of what their Scriptures envisioned. If Scripture is the script, Jesus is the production put on by God. Without the official production of the play, by its author, we are not completely sure what is intended. When the writer of the play directs the actors in their lines, supervises the creation of the sets, and puts on the play, then we know. Only Jesus can open our minds to understand the Scriptures, even two millennia later.

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. Luke 24:45