“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
John 20:30-31
Reading the Bible often inspires many questions for which it
supplies no answers. But then, it was not the author’s intent in writing, to
answer every question people might ask. It is not as presumptuous as some might
think to claim to know the author’s intent—it is stated plainly by one of the
scribes.
In the literature classes I’ve taken, I am forever amazed at
the things assigned as the author’s intent that are read into a novel by those
analyzing it. I suppose I’m not that deep. Then again, maybe sometimes a cigar
is just a cigar. I have not begun to scratch the surface of the Bible as either
literature or as divine revelation.
I do have to admire the One whose hook is “In the beginning
God created the heaven and the earth.” No info dump of back story, no
introduction of the characters, just a giant jump in medias res—right in
the middle of things. Yes, the middle things.
What was God doing before in the beginning? It was the
beginning for us, not for Him. We don’t know and are given very few hints. The
book is not trying to deliver that information. The text is restricted to a
broad outline of the story of the relationship between the human and the
divine.
I had an editor that generally took exception to my writing
something like, “Jack walked across the room” because I didn’t first say that
Jack stood up. How Jack might have walked across the room without standing up
still escapes me. But the editor felt like the reader shouldn’t be left to
guess or assume.
Ah, if God only had an editor, what secrets we would learn!
People are often disappointed in their reading of the Bible
because it doesn’t explain everything
under the sun. In fairness though, it
does mention there is nothing new under the sun—great principles and themes are
eternal.
The Bible can speak to the skeptical. It has little to say
to those unwilling to give the author a hearing. The Bible is bound to be
disappointing when the intent of the author is thrown over for the predetermined
intent of the reader. The author wrote the Bible as the author’s call to make
peace with estranged readers—and that done—He promises to explain everything
else to them as their relationship blossoms. There really is no other reason
for God writing the story at all. The Bible was written for inquiring minds,
but the author chooses only to satisfy those, in His own time and in a
personalized fashion unique to each reader and then only as they became part of
the narrative.
A man was once told by Abraham that if his brothers could
not read the law of Moses and believe in God, they wouldn’t believe if someone
rose from the dead and recounted the same story. If you cannot read the Gospel,
hear the author’s words and believe them, seeing miracles or receiving answers
to outrageously crafted prayers won’t move you. Of course, you are free to
write your own version and many do.
Maranatha
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