Keeping the Faith; Never losing Hope; Always Loving

Matthew 22:29 “Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”

Here Jesus is responding to the Sadducees trying to trap Jesus into saying something that will get Him in trouble or be grounds for someone to arrest Him. In this exchange, Jesus tells the best interpreters of scripture of the day that they don’t know the scriptures. Jesus tells the men that Israel looks to for the interpretation of scripture that they don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. Jesus tells the men that have spent their whole life knowing the scriptures that it is void. Its as if Jesus is telling them that knowing the scriptures is not just about “knowing” the scriptures. Jesus is making a claim that just because one literally knows the scriptures doesn’t mean one actually knows the scriptures. In fact, Jesus claims that it is possible to literally “know” all of scripture and still not know any of scripture and in some way this is directly connected to knowing or not knowing the power of God.

I find this fascinating this morning; especially in light of me residing in the “bible belt” where everyone “knows” scripture. These Sadducees know scripture in a way that they manipulate it for their own good or to prove their beliefs over and against someone else’s. I find it fascinating that Jesus says that this reading of scripture is really not to know scripture at all or not to know the power of God. Perhaps the reading of scripture is not so we can prove why our ideas and beliefs are right and someone else’s are wrong and perhaps this kind of proof reading is to read scripture in a way that we do not know it at all. Perhaps we are to read scripture in a way that the priority is not to prove our way over someone else but we are to read it in a way that our reading exposes our brokenness and leads us to acknowledging that brokenness (repentance) that we might experience the forgiveness/restoration (the power of God) of the grace of God. Perhaps the point of reading scripture is not to literally “know” it but the point is that we would read it and “know” God.

Lord Jesus, I come to you today acknowledging those ways that I have used your Word to prove my own point or to try to prove why someone else is wrong and I’m right. I pray that you would forgive me today for this unfaithful reading of scripture. I pray today that my reading of scripture would draw me closer to you that I might experience your sustaining grace in my life and become closer to the person that you desire for me to be. Give me the grace not to be lured in to a Sadducees way of reading scripture but may my reading of scripture be first and foremost a tool that helps me to know you more. Thank you for this reminder today. Amen!!!

The reading of scripture is to help me know God; its not to prove my own point!

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