RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-06-11	Why Jesus Did Not Write Any Bible Book
		Given the importance of the written Word it is natural to ask why Jesus did not record anything in writing. 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Many wonder why Jesus did not write anything, and why it is not preserved. The Bible does not give us the reason for this. Yet, we can make educated guesses. The most likely reason relates to humanity’s habit of over-emphasizing certain things and ideas, while losing sight of the larger picture. Near the end of Jesus' life, He told His disciples that He was going to leave them physically (Jn.16:5). He went on to tell them that His leaving was to their ADVANTAGE (Jn.16:7). That certainly was difficult for them to understand. With the advantage of hindsight, it does make sense. As long as Jesus was physically present, the disciples would always rely on His presence to control their faith. Only when Jesus left, and the Holy Spirit came, would the disciples rely on a personal, internal connection to God. If Jesus had stayed physically present in this world, their every decision would have been delayed until they could ask Him His advice in person. The reach of the gospel would be limited by where He was, physically, at any given time. Obedience to God and the outworking of faith would have been focused on seeing or hearing Christ physically. For us today some ignore or de-emphasize much Scripture except those “Red Letter” portions. The red-letter portions are the words of Christ during His ministry. To focus only on, say, the red-letter portion is a real problem. This will lead to setting aside important teachings from God. It is a misplaced effort to emphasize some of God’s Word over other parts. In truth, everything in Scripture is from Jesus, because it is all from God. If we had texts personally written by Jesus, many would go beyond honoring them to setting aside all other words of Scripture. Having a “book of Jesus” would invite people to ignore inspired statements outside that text. If the physical scrolls of any book of the Bible survived, people would treat those objects as idols. Jesus' only earthly possession when He died was His clothes. And these were taken by indifferent Romans (Jn.19:23-24). If Jesus left anything else, including writings, they would inspire idolatrous impulses. Knowing human nature God apparently avoided giving us things to worship. This may also explain why we do not know much about Jesus' childhood. Such details would likely provide temptation and distraction far more than they would tell us anything we need to know about God. We do know that Jesus wrote in the sand, but the Bible does not tell us what He wrote (Jn.8:1-11). Discipleship relies on individual understanding and an appreciation for ALL of God’s Word. As much as we would love to have handwritten words of Jesus, our sin nature makes it that NOT HAVING those things is better for us and our relationship with God. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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