Sabbath School for Adults: Lesson 3: Jesus and the Apostles’ View of the Bible

   Monday  April 13

Jesus and the Law

Read Matthew 5:17–20; Matthew 22:29; and Matthew 23:2, 3. What is Jesus saying in these contexts?

Jesus taught His disciples obedience to the Word of God and the law. There is never a hint of Him doubting the authority or relevance of Scripture. On the contrary, He constantly referred to it as the source of divine authority. And to the Sadducees He said, “ ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God’ ” (Matt. 22:29, RSV). Jesus taught that a mere intellectual knowledge of the Bible and its teachings was insufficient for knowing truth and, more important, for knowing the Lord, who is that truth.

What does Matthew 22:37–40 tell us about Jesus’ view of the law of Moses?

In this statement to the lawyer, Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments, given to Moses nearly 1,500 years earlier. It should be recognized how Jesus focuses on the Old Testament law and elevates
it to the highest level. Many Christians incorrectly have concluded that here a new commandment is given, and thus somehow the Old Testament law is now replaced by the New Testament gospel. But the fact is that what Jesus is teaching is based on the Old Testament law. Christ had unveiled and revealed the law more fully so that “ ‘on these two commandments’ ” (summarizing the Ten Commandments, the first four of which focus on the human-divine relationship, and the second
six of which focus on human interpersonal relationships) “ ‘depend all the law and the prophets’ ” (Matt. 22:40, RSV). In this way, Jesus also uplifts the entire Old Testament when He says, “the law and the prophets,” for this is a shortened way of referring to the law, prophets, and writings, or all three divisions of the Old Testament.
“He [Christ] pointed to the Scriptures as of unquestionable authority, and we should do the same. The Bible is to be presented as the word of the infinite God, as the end of all controversy and the foundation of all faith.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 39, 40.

What (if any) competitive sources of authority (family, philosophy, culture) might be pitted against your submission to the Word of God?