Jesus and the Scriptures

Some people make a big show of Jesus being “the criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted.” Doubtless, some or even many who say that are sincere. For others it is obfuscation. Notice for example the Lutheran Dawn Hutchings who in her talk implies she does not really care whether Jesus said the words of Matthew 28:16-20. Below is an excerpt from back in 2007 that I feel is worth posting again, relevant to present discussions. Making Jesus the true criterion, John Kohler wrote, “Jesus never involved Himself in higher or lower criticism, or attempted to recover the original autographs during his earthly ministry.”  He simply taught the Scriptures. Kohler points to three possible solutions to explain Jesus’s statements about Scripture:

• Jesus knew that the Scriptures are God’s word and correctly said they are.
• Jesus did not know whether the Scriptures are God’s word, but said they are.
• Jesus knew the Scriptures are not God’s word, but nevertheless said they are.

Kohler points to these facts about Jesus’s use of the Scriptures:

1. He believed in the Genesis account of creation - Mark 10:6.
2. He believed in the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch - John 5:46-47.
3. He believed in the historicity and universality of the Noahic Flood - Matthew 24:37-39.
4. He believed in the historicity of Abraham - John 8:56.
5. He believed in the historicity of Sodom and Gomorrah - Matthew 11:23-24.
6. He believed God gave manna from heaven to Israel - John 6:31.
7. He believed in the Davidic authorship of the Psalms - Matthew 22:43-45.
8. He believed in the historicity of Jonah and the whale - Matthew 12:39-41.
9. He believed the Jews had a history of rejecting God’s word - Luke 11:47-51.
10. He scolded the Sadducees for their ignorance of Scripture - Matthew 22:29.
11. He taught that every word of Scripture proceeded from God - Matthew 4:4.
12. He taught the doctrine of the preservation of Scripture - Matthew 5:17-18.
13. He taught that man will be judged by God’s word - John 12:47-48.
14. He taught the absolute authority of Scripture (it cannot be broken) - John 10:34-36.
15. He pre-authenticated the New Testament writings as Scripture - John 16:12-13.
16. He never corrected or criticized Scripture, even though he did not possess the original autographs - John 17:13-17.

Jesus never involved himself in criticism of the Scriptures. He never attempted to recover the original autographs, neither suggested any need to do so.