Nullifying Jesus with the Bible?

Reflecting on Mark 7:1-23

“You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.” (Mark 7:13)
As a Jesus follower, I use the bible to help me know how to follow Him.
The bible is inspired by God to help us (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
Jesus uses the bible to save us through our confidence/faith in Him.
And Jesus uses the bible to equip us for doing good like Him.
The bible is Jesus-focused and Jesus-centered; it points us to Him.

Is it possible for the bible to get in the way of Jesus?
Is it possible that we lose sight of Jesus because of the bible?
Is it possible that we nullify Jesus by how we use the bible?
Yes, yes and yes… it happened then, and it happens now.

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40)

These religious leaders were devoted to studying the bible.
They were teachers of the Moses Law, and took every word seriously.
The problem was with how they read and applied the bible.
They turned it into a religious system, one that subtly suited them.
They used the verses they liked to overrule the ones they didn’t.
They insisted on ‘reading the bible literally’, except when they preferred not to.
They were guilty of selective bible reading, picking and choosing verses.
Interesting, that is exactly what religious people today accuse others of doing.

I’ve heard christians insist that ‘the bible says it’, therefore do it.
And so I ask them about some things that the bible says:
* about trimming the edges of their beard (Leviticus 19:17)
* about women wearing head coverings in worship (1 Corinthians 11:4-6)
* about selling everything and giving to the poor (Luke 12:32-34)
And this is where they use the Pharisee trick to get out of it.
They explain why in this case ‘the bible says it’ does not apply.
They’ve developed a way of reading it to get out of it.
And then accuse you of that very thing for verses they do take literally.

I believe that we nullify the word of God when we nullify Jesus the Word of God.
God speaks through creation, God speaks through scripture.
In a sense these are the ‘word of God’, the created and written word of God.
But the fullest and clearest revelation of God’s Word is Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-5,14)

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1-4)

Jesus is the living Word of God, the Word made human dwelling with us.
Jesus fulfills and surpasses the created and written word.
These are but shadows; but the reality is found in Jesus (Colossians 2:17).
When we treat the whole bible as the final reality, we nullify Jesus.
We elevate the shadows alongside of Jesus, and the result is anti-Jesus.
We nullify Jesus and the Jesus Way by worshipping Moses and Paul with Him.
They are shadowy witnesses, they help us know and follow Him!

I admit that I pick and choose verses from the bible.
I pick and choose Jesus and the Jesus Way from the bible.
If something does not line up with Jesus, I go with Jesus.
This does not make it easier, this makes it harder.
Jesus takes us to the heart of the matter: love God and love people.
We can keep the 10 commandments without loving God and people.
But if we love God and people, we will keep what the 10Cs were all about.

By all means, read the bible for all its worth: a shadow pointing to Jesus.
But don’t lose sight of Jesus when you get lost in Leviticus or Revelation.
Don’t elevate Moses’s laws and Paul’s laws to the level of Jesus’s Laws.
For all of the scriptures hang on Jesus’s Laws, which are God’s Laws (Matthew 22:40).
Jesus’s Laws help us make sense of Moses and Paul, and the rest of the bible.

As a Jesus follower, we do not want to nullify Jesus, the Word of God.
Nor do we want to nullify the written word of God, by ignoring Jesus.
Live as Jesus lived, love as Jesus loved, serve as Jesus served…
This is how we honour the Word of God, fully revealed in Jesus.
As Paul witnesses…

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10)

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, forgive me when I nullify You with the bible. Help me not to fall into the trap of the Pharisees, studying the book and missing its point. You are my life, my truth, my way... not Moses, not Paul. And they would agree with that! I choose to follow You and the way of love, for whoever loves others HAS fulfilled the law.