I am a Jesus pusher!!! Our past few studies have attempted to understand the contrast of our passage with the insight of Jesus. “You have heard that it was said to (by) those of old” is contrasted with, “But I say to you.” We are highlighting it again! Jesus is not adding to or at all discarding the Scriptures. He brings a correct understanding of the meaning of the Scriptures. If we are to comprehend the Scriptures, we must see it through the life of Jesus and see Him through the Scriptures! The difficulty with this language is our approach to the Scriptures. Because it is a book, we see it as literature. In this academic framework, we analyze its pages from our reasoning. Because your experience differs from mine, we each interpret it differently. Who is to say which is right or wrong? The Pharisees’ debates about the applications and requirements of the Scriptures were long and loud. They progressed from debating the Scriptures to debating the oral traditions of the Scriptures. They moved from actually debating the Scriptures to debating the “oral traditions” of the Scriptures. Their academic approach caused them to miss the true intent of the Scriptures.
Jesus plainly explained the proper approach to the Scriptures (Matthew 5:17-20). He understood the Scriptures to be the written form of the nature of God. The Trinity God poured His nature into our world for man to see; it came in the written form of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus, the Second Member of the Trinity, became man. He submitted Himself to the nature of God, and the Scriptures shaped His life. Therefore, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). In my helplessness, I must do the same! I am a Jesus pusher!!!