Four ways of understanding the Bible
Part 1 – Jesus

This year, I want to learn how to study the Bible focused on Jesus, and it will have 4 parts.

• Jesus
• Context
• Fruitfulness
• Flourishing

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.

Psalm 23, ESVUK

Know about Jesus

To read the Bible with a focus on Jesus, you first need to know about Him. Start with one of the Gospels; Mark’s Gospel is great because the first half talks about who Jesus is, and the second half covers His crucifixion. If you prefer teaching, begin with Matthew. John’s Gospel aims to inspire belief, while reading Luke helped me convert. Any Gospel is a good starting point.

Last Lent, I wrote several posts about different theories of atonement see here because I feel called to explore this topic further. How much of this do you need to understand?

God shows His love for you through Jesus and welcomes you due to what happened to Him, according to Bishop N.T. Wright. Paul said:

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

To Paul, believing in your heart is essential, and declaring Jesus as Lord is likely referring to the baptismal confession of faith. I’ve noticed that when you live for Jesus—though I don’t always succeed—signs follow, and God is there to guide you. This leads me to my next point…

Know Jesus personally

God comes close to us when we submit to him, when we say a simple prayer like “Come Lord Jesus” or “Come Holy Spirit”. In difficult situations this can really help.

Another helpful tip is to learn to listen while praying. It can be challenging, but slowing down and allowing time for God’s voice—whether it feels inaudible or appears as a picture—can be beneficial. Praying with a short Bible passage and pausing to visualize the scene is a common practice. When you see something troubling on TV news, picture Jesus in that scene. What is he saying or doing?

Just as human relationships experience both hardship and joy, a relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, Jesus never claimed that following him would be easy, only that he’d be with us through hard times.

The relationship is personal, evident in the use of “my,” “me,” and “I” in Psalm 23. It also includes others; Psalm 46 refers to “us” and uses a plural perspective, with the refrain, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” God’s love is often shared through the church, sacraments, or other Christians’ lives. This leads me to…

Join a group

For many, corporate worship is a time to feel God’s presence. While enjoying worship in a large crowd is nice, smaller groups can be beneficial. Here’s why.

Experiencing Jesus through the lives of other believers can help you know him personally, especially as you learn to trust them. Hearing testimonies from others can strengthen your relationship with Jesus and show you different ways faithful people connect with God. While Christians are called to unity, they are not expected to be uniform.

Trust in Jesus. He is not out to harm you; it’s all about Him, not you. You grow in faith as you trust and act on what you believe, even if your faith feels weak. How does this relate to reading the Bible this Advent? The more you know Jesus, the more your beliefs come to life through scripture.

Old Testament through the New Testament lens

We often view our Bibles as if Jesus first appeared as a baby in the New Testament. However, Jesus has been present since the beginning as the Word of God, who brought order from chaos and created light during the Earth’s creation in Genesis Chapter 1.

Jesus was promised to Eve, ‘God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”‘. (Genesis 3:15).

To Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3).

To Isaac. God told Isaac that He would fulfil the oath made to Abraham and that through Isaac’s offspring all nations would be blessed. “I will fulfil the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.” (Genesis 26:3).

To Jacob/Israel. God’s promise to Isaac is repeated to Jacob in a dream. (Genesis 28:14).

To Judah. Jacob prophesied that the royal line would continue through Judah until the coming of “Shiloh,” who is understood to be the Messiah to whom all nations will ultimately submit. (Genesis 49:10).

Then there are parts about the Messiah, who Christians believe is Jesus, suffering. Specifically, Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 9:9, which mentions the Messiah entering Jerusalem on a donkey and discusses God’s new covenant.

And now for the important footnote. Do not think you have to do all this at once or think that you have to go deeper immediately. Let God guide you.

Now go back to the top of the post to Psalm 23. Where in this passage is Jesus? Try replacing the words “the Lord” and “he” with Jesus, and when you see the word “you,” replace it with “Jesus, you. Now read it slowly as a prayer.

May God bless you as you do this.

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The Bible and Jesus
Intro | Jesus | Context | Fruitfulness | Flourishing