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Day 347

Luke 24:1-32 "A THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES"

Day 347 – Luke 24

Text: Luke 24:1-32

A THEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES

How did Jesus actually understand the Scriptures? What did He try to teach His Disciples as they followed Him? Luke well summarized how Jesus must have taught His followers in this verse.

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
The things concerning Himself.”
Luke 24:27

Let us be challenged to change, and to improve our approach towards the reading of the Scriptures. Quite obviously, Cleopas and his companion needed to re-evaluate their comprehension of the Scriptures. Their previous understanding of the Scriptures had failed to inspire them to have a deeper faith. The answer that Jesus offered was to teach them His theological approach towards comprehension of the Scriptures.

THE NEED TO HAVE A CORRECT SYSTEM OF INTERPRETING THE SCRIPTURES

How should we see the Scriptures? From Luke’s comment, Jesus’ attempt to teach His Disciples all over again, focused on a hermeneutical approach. What do we mean by this?

1. “Beginning at Moses and all the prophets…”

We are taught that there is wonderful harmony to be found in the careful study of the Scriptures. The writings of Moses and the Prophets actually span thousands of years! Nevertheless, the principle of perfect harmony remains unbroken.

2. “The Things concerning Himself…”

One of the most intriguing ways to study the Scriptures is to discover the doctrine of Christ. This approach was taught by none other than Jesus Himself. A strong Christology would help us fathom and appreciate the Scriptures that much more.

3. “He expounded to them in all the Scriptures…”

There is no question as to the “expound” the Scriptures. The word “expound” is where we get the idea of “hermeneutics”. The Scriptures need to be interpreted carefully, for this is essentially the meaning of the word “hermeneutics”.

Jesus knew that His Disciples had not yet mastered the system of interpreting the Scriptures properly, and thus they floundered. It was not a question of their love for Him. It was not a question of their loyalty. These are good things to have, but the fact still remains that the Scriptures must be carefully and correctly interpreted. If there is a defective system of interpreting and expounding the Scriptures, then grave errors can result!

MOSES AND THE SCRIPTURES

God gave His laws to Moses, so that he might teach them to Israel. The Mosaic laws were by no means easy to comprehend. God gave laws to Israel that covered every aspect of life.

1. There were laws that covered the religious aspect.

2. There were laws governing the moral aspects of life.

3. There were laws that the people could apply in a civil court.

These laws were great! They made the nation of God truly outstanding. No other nation had laws that could be compared to the lofty spiritual laws that God had given to Moses.

How many truly understood the Mosaic Law? Before too long, Israel turned away from the Lord, and instead chose to worship idols. Soon after the death of Joshua, the leader who succeeded Moses, Israel abandoned the laws of God. That resulted in Israel being plunged into one of the darkest periods of its history (Cf. Book of Judges).

THE PROPHETS AND THE SCRIPTURES

God had to raise up a special group of people called “prophets”. These were specially raised up and specially empowered. These prophets had many tasks.

1. They were to address Israel and to confront the nation for their sins.

2. They were to proclaim to Israel that they were given a choice:-

a) If they were to repent, they would be forgiven and restored.
b) If they were to reject God’s Word, then the Lord reserved the right to punish them.

3. The Prophets of God were to bring Israel back to God’s laws.

4. In the midst of their preaching, they were also given prophetic visions where God revealed to them His Divine plans.

a) Those plans centered on the Coming of the Messiah.
b) Included in the Master-Plan was the concept of a New Covenant.
c) The Messiah would play a pivotal role in the establishment of the New Covenant.
d) He would have to suffer and die as a propitiation of the sins of Israel and the world before He could redeem sinners and restore them to God’s full favour.

THE LOSS OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE SCRIPTURES

Israel’s loss of their knowledge of the Scriptures was deplorable! Their greatest treasure was not the beautiful Temple of Solomon. Their greatest heritage was the Scriptures. By the time Isaiah came on the scene as a prophet of God, the nation had as it were gone into a “deep sleep”. The people had become spiritually illiterate. They had very little comprehension and appreciation of the Scriptures (Cf. Isaiah 29:9-14).

There was only one solution left. The Messiah had to come and open the spiritual eyes of people who were concerned enough about spiritual matters to become His followers or disciples. To these faithful ones was given the blessing of understanding God’s Word in depth. One of the many goals Jesus had was to help His Disciples recover the loss of the knowledge of the Scriptures! How badly we need to have a deeper knowledge of the Scriptures too! What would you be willing to do to obtain a deep understanding of God’s Word?