Inspired by Luke 24:36b-48
“Then [Jesus] said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” Luke 24:44-45
The disciples were observant Jews who had been taught the Hebrew scriptures since they were young boys. Some of those scriptures dated back several hundred years, some of them a thousand years, and some of them recorded oral tradition that had been around for much longer than even that. Scholars had been studying them for centuries, and believed they knew what the scriptures meant.
Yet the scriptures record some of God’s activity in the world, and God’s activity in the world is ongoing. Jesus opened the minds of his disciples to understand the scriptures in light of his own life, death, and resurrection. Words that had not changed and had been studied, prayed over, and lived by for generations suddenly had a new meaning, a new application, and a new call to action.
Two thousand years later the written words that make up both the Hebrew scriptures and what we call the New Testament are as fixed as if they’d been engraved on stone tablets. But God’s activity in the world is still not complete. He is still engaged with his creation, and he is still sending his Spirit to his people, opening their minds to the scriptures and helping us to find new meaning, new applications, and new calls to action based on his ongoing activity. The bible is a static document, but it tells the story of our dynamic God.
Let us pray. Living God, your story continues through today. Help us to understand your activity in the past, that we may recognize your activity in the present and follow your guidance into the future. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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