The Scriptures Bear Witness About Me

Reading the Scriptures and immersing ourselves in God's word is extremely essential in strengthening our faith. For "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). And as the psalmist cries, "My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!" (Zabur 119:28).

But it is not enough to stop there. We cannot simply read and hope for the best. Why? Because the reading is not the destination. Jesus is.

Listen to these words from Isa al Masih:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

This is a rather remarkable statement. Jesus is talking to very devout Jews who likely have most of the Scriptures memorized by heart. These people could often recite the entire Tawrat off the top of their heads. But Isa is not impressed. He isn't satisfied with their intellectual knowledge. He wants them to come to him.

The beauty of the Scriptures is that they are all pointing forward to Isa al Masih. He is the promised Messiah whom all the prophets foretell. (And while we don't have time to fully address this truth right now, it is something that we will continually come back to on this blog.) As Isa himself points out, Allah's blessings throughout the generations are ultimately fulfilled in His Word, Jesus Christ. It is the Sciptures that bear witness about him (John 5:39).

Reading the Scriptures is vitally important to our spiritual life. But we cannot stop there. We must soak in the word of God so that we will be directed to Jesus, and come to him that we may have life (John 5:40). If we simply read for intellectual knowledge, it's as if we're driving a car for thousands of miles with no specific destination in mind. Just as the car is meant to get us somewhere, so also are the Scriptures meant to get us somewhere: To Jesus Christ our Lord.

Isa is calling us to come to him for life. He says to those who hear, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). The Scriptures all bear witness about him. May we come to him that we may have life.