Jesus trusted the Old Testament, for it spoke about him. And he trusted the New Testament, because it would speak about him. “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you” (Luke 24:44). Though Jesus has ascended to heaven and no longer walks the earth in the flesh (at least, for a time), he still speaks to us through the words of the Old and New Testaments. He trusted them, and therefore so can we.
Perhaps you’ve heard reference to a “Bible-believing” church, or perhaps you’ve been told the Bible is the “Word of God” and can be trusted. But why is it that we can trust this book? And why would churches stake their reputation on believing it?
While I could give many reasons to support the essential trustworthiness of the Bible, perhaps the most important is reason is simply that Jesus trusted it.
The Bible Speaks; Jesus Speaks
Luke concludes his narrative of Jesus’ life with a brief discussion between the risen Christ and his disciples (Luke 24:44-49). And in this narrative, Jesus’ parting words are words of trust in the Bible’s reliability.
Then he 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 and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44
Jesus believes not only that the Bible speaks, but that it speaks about him. He refers specifically to the three divisions of the Hebrew Bible (what we call the Old Testament): the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (the Psalms were the most identifiable part of the poetic books, or “Writings”). And the things written in these three sections are about him.
In addition, those are the very words Jesus himself spoke to them while we was ministering among them. So the Hebrew Bible speaks about Jesus, and Jesus has spoken those same things about himself.
